Film Review Deconstructions

I have deconstucted a few different magazine film reviews so that I can understand which conventions I need to use in my own review.

Full Rough Cut

This is the full length rough cut of my film. Since completing this version I have found a number of areas that I can improve as I showed it to my class. The main feedback was that the middle section in the forest went on for far too long without anything happening which made it really uninteresting. I am going to take out a lot of the shots that I used in this sequence to keep the film moving quickly. I also still need to add all of the music and sound effects to the forest sequence which will increase the tension and will make it generally more gripping. Apart from this there are just a few shots which need trimming slightly to get the best effect possible.



(Picture here)

Poster Image Comparison

Here you can see the comparison of the original image that I took in daylight to the edited version that I used in my film poster. I started out by going around the outline of the mask with a black brush, so that you wouldn’t be able to see any of the background or the hood. I then used the clone stamp tool so that you couldn’t see any skin between the edge of the mask and his eyes. This took quite a lot of time to make it look convincing and was definitely the hardest part of the process. I then added a few adjustment layers. The first one was Hue/Saturation which I used to reduce to saturation a little which basically reduced the brightness of the colours. Next I added a red photo filter which gave the whole face a slightly red tint. The final adjustment layer that I added was Exposure. Within this effect I increased both the offset and gamma until I was happy with how dark the face looked.

Second draft of Film Poster

This is the second draft of my film poster. I think it the images might be a little too dark and there could be more text at the bottom of the poster however apart from this I dont think much will change between this version and the final one.



Horror Poster Wordle

I created a wordle using some of the most common codes and conventions that are found in horror movie posters.

First Draft of Film Poster

 This is the first draft of the poster for my film. I going to take another picture as the one that I am using currently is quite grainy and could be a lot better. There are also a few other things I might change like some of the fonts.

  

Horror Film Poster Deconstructions

First Rough Cut

I showed the first rough cut of my film to my audience and collected some feedback with parts that I need to improve on. From these notes I have made a list of what I need to change/improve in the film.

Film Improvements

• Re-do shots with water on the lens
• Narrative needs to be clearer
• Use actual game footage of the screen for variety
• Change POV shots (remove most of the effects)
• Fade between POV and feet/head shots slower
• Get a higher variety of shots of protagonist gaming
• Get some shots of antagonist looking at house, seeing what number it is, with protagonist visible in the window.
• Give the antagonist a phone with address on
• Put in shot of protagonist from outside through the window
• Shot from inside with antagonist’s face in window (Downstairs bathroom)
• POV shots are too dark and grainy (maybe re-do when lighter)
• Shot of antagonist with knife of some sort to build suspense
• Make sure there aren’t any household items/ bins in shots which may ruin mise-en-scene
• Power failure- Antagonist breaks power box on outside of house (explains why power wont work)
• Get downstairs light to turn off in sync with power going off
• Increase volume level of sound effects

Shots to do

(Remove items that might be bad for mise-en-scene before doing any shots)

• All of the shots of Protagonist gaming (Over the shoulder, close up of hands, close up of face etc.), Film game footage (at the same time as filming the other shots for continuity)
• POV shots outside (Walk for a longer distance, show him looking through window, looking on phone.)
• OTS of antagonist looking at house address on phone
• Protagonist trying to turn light on, scared face when it doesn’t turn on
• Shots of antagonist looking at door number

Filming Schedule

This is filming schedule that I made for the 2nd day of filming. I decided to make this because when filming the first session I struggled a lot with remembering with shots I need to do and whether any props were needed. This schedule helped a lot because whenever I wasn't completely sure what had to be done next I could just look at the sheet.

180 Degree Rule

It is very important to remember the 180 degree rule when shooting my film. This rule is when you visualise a line passing through both of the actors, and stay on one side of this line with all of your shots, as you can see in the picture below. Ignoring this rule is known as crossing the line or jumping the line. The main purpose of obeying this rule is to keep good continuity editing.  I also found this video on YouTube which explains the rule very well. 

Audience Theory

It is important to understand audience theory so that I can adapt my film to have the strongest effect on my audience. I dont think that my film will condone to the hypodermic needle theory as I have targeted it to a younger audience. I think the theory that will apply to it the best is the Audience Reception Theory as it will have a different affect on different types of people, for example in general it will appear more to a younger audience. The main reason for this is because the film is partly about a game, and in general games are much more popular with young males. This doesn't mean that the film wont appeal to females however, as most of them will have a brother/friend that spends a lot of time gaming and will quite enjoy the concept of a character from the game coming alive and chasing them down.

Hypodermic Needle Theory- This implies that in the early days mass media had a very direct and powerful effect on the audience. The audience was seen as one mass consuming the same product, and there was a constsant stream of unchallenged media. There are several factors that have contributed to this- the fast popularization of radio and television and the emergence of persuasion industries, for example advertising and propaganda.

Two Step Flow- This is the theory that ideas go from media producer to opinion leaders, and then from them to more passive individuals in a given society, similar to a filtration process. It is similar to a cascade/pyramid model, for example Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

Uses and Gratifications Theory- This theory is about how people will proactively search for media that will do more than just meet a need but also enhance knowledge amongst other things. They do this for a number of reasons- a diversion to get away from everyday pressures, to compare their life to those portrayed in the media, and for surveillance to check up on whats happening in the World.


Audience Reception Theory- This is about how in the 1980's and 1990's a lot of research was done into the way individuals receive and interpret a text, and how their individual circumstances affect the way they perceive it. There are believed to be several steps to this- first the media is encoded by producers, then that product is decoded by the audience. Depending on the individual there can be multiple readings of the same text, and producers can use codes and conventions to connote a preferred reading to the audience.

Narrative of my Film

I am going to describe the narrative of my film as it is not fully explained in my storyboard.

Locations- Modern detached house and Forest

Genre- Horror

My film is based on a game which comes to reality. The protagonist is playing the game when a character from the game starts pursuing him in real life. This character acts as an antagonist and continues to pursue the protagonist throughout the film. It is a horror film with a few unexpected twists. I am subverting the stereotype by using a male actor as the helpless protagonist.

My film is going to be very successful because of the current popularity of gaming. It has become especially popular with teenage boys which is partly why I have selected a teenage boy to play the protagonist. This doesn't mean that the film wont appeal to females however, as most of them will have a brother/friend that spends a lot of time gaming and will quite enjoy the concept of a character from the game coming alive and chasing them down.

Preliminary Filming 2- Film Trailer

Due to the fact that all of my preliminary filming had been done in daytime and my proper film will all be shot in the dark, I decided to do some more Preliminary filming at night so that I would be better prepared on the night of filming. I used the opportunity of when one of my friends was at my house to film him whilst he was playing the game that I will be using in the film. I didn't use any of the face paint that I will be using in the real film because the main purpose was just for me to test out the lighting and shot types. 

Whilst filming this I learnt the most about lighting. Firstly I tried filming with the lights off completely, but then I realised that this meant the camera couldn't really see anything. I then tried using the torch on my phone, however this made the scene too bright and obvious that there was an unnatural light source directed at the protagonist. After experimenting for a while, I found that the best solution to this (although quite unconventional) was to wrap as tissue around my phone as this reduced the brightness of the torch, and yet still made it a lot easier too see what was happening in the shot. Before I shoot my film I am going to try and find a way to attach my phone to the camera, as when I shot this I was holding the camera with one hand and the phone with the other, which made my shots a lot more shaky.  



After completing the trailer I showed it to some of my class mates so that I could get some good feedback which I could use to improve my final film. The main good points about the film were: Soundtrack, camera shake effects, parallel editing and the cliffhanger at the end before the text appears. I was pleased with this feedback as all of the parts that they liked were things I had thought about carefully whilst filming and editing. The only thing that they said could of been better was the lighting as in some places it looked quite dark and grainy. This was partly because I made it too dark in the editing process, as I was trying to make it as dark as possible whilst still being able to see what is going on. Overall I am happy with this trailer and making it has definitely made me more prepared for making my actual film, as I leant more about both the filming and editing processes.

Target Audience

My target audience is men and women who are 15+, however I think that generally the enjoyment of the film will decrease the older that the viewer is. Also my film is partly about a game so this will attract a younger audience. Although it might sound like it will only attract a male audience, I think that most females will have a brother/friend that spends a lot of time gaming and will quite enjoy the concept of a character from the game coming alive and chasing them down.

This a description of my ideal audience member:

Ryan is 17. He spends a lot of his time watching films with his friends and his favourite genre of film is horror. In his spare time he enjoys playing video games and having a laugh with his mates. He isn't the stereotypical horror film fan but he enjoys turning the lights off and scaring himself by playing scary games and watching horror films.

Helpful Powerpoint

I found this powerpoint whilst browsing a media blog. I found it very helpful as it includes lots of tips to get the most out of my practical project. The main things that I learnt were:

• Keep researching even when you are making your film
• Plan thoroughly before doing any filming
• Take screenshots of yourself editing
• Keep ideas simple and realistic
• Get feedback at all stages and keep records of it
• Be prepared before you film
• Practice with the equipment before 
• Check all parts of the equipment are there before filming

Presentation nov 4 from petefrasers

Media Preliminary Task

To get used to the cameras that we will be using to film our short film we did some preliminary filming in school. I tried out a variety of camera angles and shots that I have planned to use in my film, so that I could find out for myself how effective they were and which shots to use when doing the proper filming. Before doing the filming we had a lesson on how to film the most important things that I learnt were:

• Bring in arms close to body to keep the shot steady
• Get someone to hold your shoulders to prevent you from walking into anything
• Direct the actors well
• Film more footage than you need to
• Countdown from five when you are starting filming
• Tripods will keep your shots a lot steadier than by hand so use one whenever possible
• Continuity editing- one shot should flow on to another
• Use a wide variety of shots
• The 180 degree line

You can see my shots that I took edited together here, I edited it using Sony Vegas because I have used it in the past and so didn't have to spend any time learning the program. I got some feedback from my classmates and teacher so I could learn what I need to improve on for the next time I film, and also so that I could find out what I did well. The main positive feedback that I got was that the framing was good, there was a good variety of shots, and that the fade-in from darkness at the start made it look quite professional. The things to improve on were mostly about the shot where the character comes out of the door and walks up the stairs as the top of his head was cut out of the shot. Also I think that I could of cut this shot sooner as it is very important to keep the audience's attention and thirds shots just drags on for slightly too long.

Equipment List for shooting

This is a list of all of the equipment I will need for shooting my film. I am going to collect all of the equipment the day before I shoot so that there will be time to charge up the cameras and delete what is currently on the memory cards to give me more space.

Equipment	Use
Panasonic Lumix FZ45 (Main Camera)	Filming almost all of the shots.
GoPro HD Hero 2 (Secondary Camera)	Filming shots where slow motion is necessary and for POV shots.
Tripod	Stabilizing the camera for most of the shots.
Gorilla Pod (Mini Tripod)	Smaller tripod with flexible legs that can be used with the GoPro.

Horror Film Directors

An important part of the planning process is to look at existing directors and to find out why their films are so successful.

Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi is a very popular horror movie director, holding the #1 spot on the IMDB 'Best horror movie directors list' (http://www.imdb.com/list/vde6RgSz3Hs/). He is well known for 'The Evil Dead' which was released in 1991, however more recently he has moved away from horror as he directed 'Spiderman 3' in 2007. One of his trademark shots is a POV shot from antagonist's perspective, which is a shot that I am going to use in my film as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Raimi

Marcus Nispel

The next director that I chose to research was Marcus Nispel. His most successful film is 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', which he is very well known for. He also directed 'Friday the 13th' and 'Pathfinder'. His main trademark technique that he is known for is using harsh washed out colour tones.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Nispel

Film Storyboard

These are my complete storyboards for my horror short film. Making them helped me to visualise my film, and will also help me whilst filming so I know which shots I need to film. 

Horror Deconstruction - 'Hard to Concentrate'

I have chosen to deconstruct this film because it stood out to me when watching it for a number of reasons. Firstly I like the way that at the start it doesn't feel like a horror film at all. This is because the protagonist is just in a well-lit room by himself studying, and not suspecting that anything bad is happening. Also the calm music makes the viewer feel at ease. In this opening sequence I also like the variety of shots used, especially all of the close ups on the household items. The two that I have screenshot-ed below were the most effective for me because firstly the clock shows how it is late at night which sets the tone for the film, and also the timer could be a reference to a fact that the protagonist is running out of time.

 

It is not until the protagonist starts hearing banging sounds roughly a third of the way through the film that we start to find the conventions of a horror film. My favorite shot in the film is this close up of the protagonist. As well as the actual shot, I think that the RGB split effect (which splits up the red, green and blue colours) really adds a lot of panic to the shot and makes it more effective. After seeing how effective it is in this film I am definitely going to try to use it in mine.

Lighting is also used to great effects in this film. The second time that he goes back into the kitchen to try and find out what is happening, there is red lighting throughout the whole kitchen which creates much more of an eerie feel. This lighting works well both on the close up shots of the household items moving by themselves, and on the medium close up of the protagonist's face, as it only illuminates one side of it.

The last shot is really effective, as suddenly all we can see is the protagonist surrounded by darkness with a nosebleed, before suddenly he is snatched away into the darkness.Throughout the whole film we never see the antagonist, which adds to the mystery surrounding him.

Overall I enjoyed the film, however I think the use of sound could of been used more effectively to increase suspense at some points.

Costumes- Representation

Protagonist
The protagonist will be wearing clothes typical of an average male teenager. This will be a hoody with a t-shirt underneath, jeans and slightly scruffy trainers. I have decided to stick with the stereotypical image for a male teenager because this is what the audience will expect when they first see him, and I don't really need to shock them at that stage of the film when they first see him. I also think this will make him look more vulnerable than for example a suit which would give him quite a manly image. 

Antagonist
All of the clothes that I have selected contribute to making the antagonist as scary and shocking as possible for the audience. On his head he will be wearing a scary Halloween mask that I have had for a while. To make this look realistic he will also need grey face paint around his eyes so that it blends in well with the mask and you cant see any of his normal skin tone. As well as this grey face paint may also be needed on his neck in the areas where he isn't covered up by clothes . He will be wearing a black hoody which will look quite sinister, and will also cover up the back of his head where the mask will end. He will also have grey face paint on his hands, as I want all of his body parts that aren't covered up by clothes to be grey to keep the way he looks constant. On his bottom half he will be wearing plain black tracksuit bottoms, with plain black shoes. The reason I am having him dressed all in black is because you wont be able to see much of his body in the dark if he is black, which will add to the mystery. 
 
You can see the mask here: 

Casting- Representation

For my film I need two actors, the protagonist and the antagonist. I have chosen a couple of my friends to play each role, as I will need to be behind the camera.They are both confident people so I know that they wont be shy in front of the camera, and also they know each other very well which will mean that they won't find it awkward to act in front of each other. The actor playing the protagonist is called Dan Rugg and the actor playing the antagonist is called Harry Shayler. I have chosen to cast them this way around as Dan is shorter than Harry which means he will look more helpless as the protagonist. The main reason that I chose Dan to play the protagonist was because I knew that he had experience with acting on stage in the past, and more recently he has been with involved with events like house dance so I knew that he wouldn't have any problems with acting for me. I chose Harry to be the antagonist because is very tall, which makes the character look a lot more sinister and powerful. These two actors both seemed perfect for  the roles, and it also works well how the antagonist will be a lot taller than the protagonist which will make the antagonist seem a lot more powerful than the protagonist which is what I want to achieve with the film. 

I chose to subvert the stereotype by having the helpless protagonist as a male instead of a female for a few different reasons. Firstly, it would be quite uncommon to have a female playing a horror video game as this is very un-stereotypical, so the audience could get confused. Also I think it makes the antagonist seem even more threatening because it shows that even a male in his late teens who you expect to be quite tough is scared of the antagonist, not just a little girl.

            Harry                                                                                                   Dan

                                                         

Risk Assessment

Location	Risk	Solution
Home	1. Tripping over house objects in the dark	1. Take care whilst moving around the house
East Hill (Forest)	1. Falling over due to uneven ground 2. Bad weather conditions 3. Traffic in the car park	1. Take care whilst walking through the forest and use a torch if necessary. 2. Look at the weather forecast beforehand so that I will be prepared for all conditions. 3. Take care whilst traveling from the car to their forest

Horror Film Mood-board

This is my mood board for the genre of Horror. I chose to look at the conventions of different parts of the genre like the location, characters and sound.

Location Shots

I took some photos of the location that I am going to shoot most of my film at, which is my house. The first photo shows the location that the protagonist will be playing the horror game in when he first hears the weird sounds. Using lighting will be very important, especially as I am making a film in the genre of horror. This means that I need enough light so that you can see what is happening but dark enough so that it is still scary. My favourite location photo is the close up of the garden gate handle as I think it will work really well with a creaking sound effect.

Magnum Photographers

I have been looking at photos by one of the leading magnum photographers, Henri Cartier Bresson.
 

This photo is my favorite of his because the way he has framed the subject in between two large walls makes the subject look very small and powerless.
 
I chose this photo because I love the way he has used the water to his advantage to show the reflection of the running man. This also gives the photo a feeling of balance.

I like this photo because it captures death with the funeral car in the background, whilst also capturing two young children in the foreground, playing as if nothing is happening.










 This photo is another one of my favorites because of the perfect timing in this photo, as he managed to capture the cyclist just as he was in the middle of the gap between the railings and wall.








This photo stood out to me because of the surprise element to it. We are not used to seeing children with what we presume is alcohol, and you can see that from the expressions of the girls faces in the background that he has managed to capture.