CH - examples of storyboards/call sheets

CH - examples of storyboards/call sheets

CH - examples of storyboards/call sheets

RC - Our PowerPoint for our evaluation.

Our PowerPoint presentation for our evaluation.

View more presentations or Upload your own.

RC - Script for our evaluation presentation.

Ro Rosie:

Q1. Does our media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of a real media product?

Plot:

Generally uses/develops

Unknown assailant chasing female victim, who is a stock character.

Group of female teenagers acting quite maliciously and making callous comments towards the victim. This plot is conventional as you do expect one person from the social group in focus to get killed and then a series of killings within that group to be carried out through the rest of the film. Similar to films we researched – ‘Scream’, ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and ‘I know what you did last summer’.

Unconventional in the way that that the group of girls are presented as antagonists, although in a subtle way, where we already have the unknown assailant acting as the antagonist. This is an unlikely combination.

Characters:

Generally quite conventional.

Female victim – stock character. Very archetypal…acts vulnerable.

Unknown assailant – presumed a male (this presumption is supported by the audience research) this is because it is assumed that it would be a male chasing a female victim.

Group of girls – there is always a social group shown within a teen/horror film, however, would be more conventional if males were present. Very female orientated.

Mise-en-scene:

Generally uses/develops

Dark lighting contrasting with bright lighting…highlighting the differences between the ‘danger’ scene and the ‘safe scene(s)’

This relates to the locations in our film opening. The dark alley contrasts with the school corridor and the bedroom/bathroom. However, although it is generally the alleyway that is meant to be the place of danger, the bedroom/bathroom is made out to be quite conspicuous, where the sinister phone call makes this safe, familiar place to be of slight danger. Just like in the film ‘Scream’ – this type of horror is quite conventional.

Characters wearing school uniform…typical of teen horror genre, as it identifies the age of the characters.

The girl character in the morning sequence wearing vest top with shorts as pajamas… gives the film more of a ‘sexually promiscuous’ feel, which is dominant in a lot of teen films.

The body language of the group of girls shows them to be acting superior – taking up all of the corridor space, laughing loudly so to be heard. Adds to the horror of the film, as their actions are sinister.

Girl getting ready acting calmly – walking slowly.

The NVC of the victim common of a horror film. She is running, constantly looking behind her – paranoid, she is screaming and breathing heavily.

No prominent props in the film that suggests it is a horror film, this can be seen as unconventional, as in the films we have researched there is a strong element of iconography within the use of props, i.e. Scream – knife, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – chainsaw.

Camera:

Again, our uses of camera techniques are generally recognizable in most films of this genre.

Use of close ups to show character exposition. Can be used to make a familiar object/person be seen in a different light/look distorted. Creates an eerie atmosphere – close up of the eye. At first glance not sure whom the eye belongs to….questions are raised; is the person dead/alive? Is the person male/female? Etc. This element of suspense and suspicion very typical for a horror style of film.

Use of the hand held camera also conventional of this type of film. This technique exudes an element of paranoia and confusion – a feeling that is felt by most victims in a horror film.

Low angle shots to make the group of girls look superior and to show the subtle element of antagonism being portrayed through their characters.

High angle shots used primarily for the victim to underline her sense of vulnerability.

However, unconventional camera techniques that we used include: the vertical pan that we used in the chase sequence is one that Casey and I were not familiar with in any other teen/horror films that we had seen. This shot was done by a stroke of genius on Casey’s part and fitted in well with our montage sequence, as the shot goes from darkness to light and then back to darkness again.

The other technique we used that we felt was unconventional for this genre of film was the diagonal pan of the girls walking down the stairs, as again it was one that Casey and I had not seen before.

Editing:

Casey and I felt that the fast pace montage editing, where we cut across two lines of action was not that conventional of the teen/horror genre. It is the sort of editing that you would expect to see in an action film. On the other hand, you do expect a sense of build up in a horror film, which is exactly what this montage sequence achieves.

However, there were more conventional elements to our use of editing. In particular our use of credits and titles, which appears in all types of films including teen/horror. Although, the way that we presented our film titles could be seen as slightly different, as you would normally expect them to commence at the beginning of the film, in particular, when stating what companies that are in association/presenting this film, whereas we do this towards the end of our opening.

This fits in with the ‘trailer’ feel to our film.

Font is eerie, colour = red – capturing horror feel through text.

The use of continuity editing in the morning sequence where we watch the teenage girl awaken and get ready is a very common sequence for many teen/horror films and can be seen as overused.

Sound:

Develops the forms and conventions by being layered, and not fitting to the characters being presented at the time

Generic sort of music, similar kind to what other people use. Discordant and creepy – a familiar tune for a horror.

Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our media product is a mainstream British film, which could be distributed by numerous companies such as, Optimum Releasing and Verve Pictures, which focus on these types of films that are not tentpoles and are not fully funded by huge conglomerates.

Verve Pictures known for releasing films such as, 'Bullet Boy'.

Would be an autumn release, so to miss the summer rush but to also match the genre of our film, as you generally expect a horror to be released in the darker months.

Our film does not require a high budget, as the general equipment that we need to produce this film is not that expensive and is mainly ready available stuff.

Platform release.

Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Discovered Adobe Premiere - learnt how to edit a film in a cohesive and effective way. This was done by finding out how to use filters, also how to create montage and continuity editing.

Presented our pitch using Microsoft PowerPoint, and explored the many ways to make a PowerPoint more visually creative.

Introduced to blogger.com, never experienced blogging before. Within this website, I learnt how to create a webpage that presented mine and Casey's work visually as well as just using text. Blogging also enabled Casey and I to work collaboratively, by communicating via the the blog.

Unlike Casey, I had hardly any experience with working a camcorder, so the process of making my film opening allowed me to be able to use a camcorder and a tripod with few complications. Through using a camera, I was also allowed to put the camera techniques that we discussed earlier on in the year into practice.

I learnt why you needed the rule of thirds, why you should not hold the camera sideways but also how to position a shot in the most effective way, using different camera angles and movements.

Using sound was a key technological thing I learnt, as this process included using a Dictaphone, which I had never done before but also using the timeline on Adobe Premiere, where I could change the sound by either amplifying or abbreviating the volume, or increase/decrease the pace, or even layer sounds to create a different one. Looking for sound for our opening familiarized us with several free sound websites, including freesound.org. This is where we researched pre-recorded sound to see if they would fit in with our opening, however, in the end one of friends who was a music student, came up with a couple of soundtracks that he had created himself, which came as a great help to us.

There were a few problems that Casey and I faced, that required us to 'creatively' overcome them, one being that at one point during our filming process I accidently filmed sideways, which meant that we had to reshoot that part of the film.

Survey monkey – how to construct a questionnaire, YouTube, Slideboom – learnt how to upload PowerPoint presentations onto this site so that we could embed them to other areas, this helped with putting presentations onto our blog.

RC - Our Evaluation.

This Thursday just gone Casey and I presented our evaluation by using PowerPoint.

In order to do this we had to do a lot of preparation, which included making our PowerPoint visually appealing and writing a script for our presentation that answered the evaluation questions to the best of our ability. We then proceeded onto video recording ourselves presenting our evaluation.

On the whole I am pleased with how it all went, Casey and I managed to answer the questions to a reasonable standard, which we hope will achieve us quite a high mark. As expected some of our words did come so easy to us, so there a couple of incidents where we stall or stutter for a brief moment, but obviously this is no surprise as we did not imagine that we would be able to speak a 20 minute presentation without a few blips.

For our evaluation we were expected to make good use of most media materials, which I feel we did so quite well, as we created a PowerPoint as well as recording ourselves and after the recording we used Adobe Premiere to edit our recording. From doing this we were able to alter any mishaps but also add in extra clips/soundtracks/trailers to show our use of different media.

So now that we have completed our evaluation there is nothing left for us to do but polish our blog up.

CH - Audience Interviews

CH - Embedding videos

For our evaluation, Rosie and I are creating a presentation in PowerPoint that will be shown to the class; many of the slides will include video clips/stills to emphasize our points or show evidence.
I recently learned how to embed videos into a powerpoint;

(In Adobe Premiere, with the movie you wish to embed OPEN)
- File, Export, Windows Media, Ok

(in PowerPoint, on the correct slide)
- Insert, Movies and Sounds, Movie from file, Ok

It is also possible to fix properties such as whether the film clip plays on command, automatically, full screen etc. These can easily be set by following the instructions on the properties menu.

CH - Evaluation

For our evaluation, Rosie and I were able to choose how we presented our evaluation; initially, we investigated Prezi, an online presentation software website, but that proved to be too difficult and time consuming for what was available to us. Next we explored creating a DVD extra, but finally decided to play to our strengths; a presentation will be created on Power Point, to which Rosie and I will narrate on film, answering questions by the audience. The presentation will include film clips, stills and screen shots.
My rough answers to the evaluation questions;

In what ways does our media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?- Camera; shots develop and challenge. Conventional: mid shots, POV shots. Unconventional; vertical pan,
- Mise en scene; develops conventions by conforming completely to white Hollywood stereotypes; high school, group of (presumably straight) girls
- Editing; challenges by montage, transitions (sweeping pan).
- Sound; develops by being layered, not fitting to characters, not recognisable music (eg pop track) discordant and creepy

How does our media product represent particular social groups?1) Presents females through characters. Presents males through the lack of them? Eg. The use of them in society as they are not needed. Could easily be misconstrued as sexism however.
2) Presents males through the atmosphere and environment; the school has signs up (NO BOYS IN CORRIDOR) suggesting a male school, as well as a boy in the background of many shots and a very masculine school bag in a prominent position. This could suggest that we are presenting females in a predominantly male society
3) Presents young people as all characters are as such. Presents older characters/younger characters through the lack of them? (same as male)
4) Presents western culture through mise en scene, sound and characters; mise en scene shows a typical western school, with a display of a good education system (clean, bright, well kept school). Sound shows western culture through not only the use of western instruments and composition (in contrast to that of say, oriental music) as well as the well spoken british voice-over

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Optimum Releasing; supports small british based companies who are not funded by huge conglomerations like most American/british films. Released Son of Rambow, an unconventional indie movie, as well as Shaun of the Dead, quite a conventional movie. Our film includes both aspects; the plot and stock characters are fairly conventional (save for the lack of males, which is extremely unconventional) whereas the editing/sound aspects are very unconventional. Our composition is quite unusual, and therefore may not appeal to the large companies. It would best be released in the autumn, as we have too small a production to compete against the summer blockbusters. Also, as our movie was filmed in the autumn/winter, it would best relate to the audience at that specific time; as it is a teen horror, we would be appealing to the students who recently returned to school and would be looking for entertainment. Would also possibly span a soundtrack, to encourage young independent artists such as Ben and make more revenue.

Who would be the audience for our media product?
Our audience would reflect the social groups reflected in the movie; mostly teenagers, fans of horror movies, middle class to working class (middle class because they are best represented in the film, working class because they have proved in research to enjoy movies similar to ours). Would hopefully attract teenagers 14-19 as well as possibly early to mid twenty year olds, as the themes involved are quite adult.

How did we attract/address our audience?
We attracted our audience by including many of the conventional aspects of movies that have proved to be popular in the past with our target audience; a secondary school, relatable characters (including aspects that wouldn’t be particularly pleasant to relate to, such as maliciousness and dishonesty, that would increase our sense of verisimilitude), and a plot that is very similar to many teen horrors already on the market (Scream, Eden Lake, etc. as shown in our preliminary market research). We addressed our audience also by using only teenagers on the production team; a teenager produced the music, a group of teenagers edited and filmed and created the storyline; as teenagers are our target audience, we have been able to directly address them as we are our own target audience, we know what is necessary to create a film that we ourselves would watch. We have also done extensive research (initial research, rough cut research, final cut research with interviews, questionnaires etc).

What have we learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Learnt to use Blogger, Youtube, Survey Monkey, Premiere Elements; to work DV cameras, digital editing software, dictophones, technology such as how to embed a video to a website. We learnt continuity and montage editing, how to edit the music (eg. lower sounds at specific times, layering sound), how to edit the basic elements of a film (the lighting, the contrast, the zoom/framing).

Looking back at our preliminary task, what do I feel I have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
- organization is key
- timing is important
- working through issues rather than around them
- working together as a team can make or break a movie
- keeping the artistic inspiration throughout is important
- having to keep working throughout whatever the consequences; eg. Staying after school

Here are my (Rosie) rough answers to the questions:

Q1. Our media product both use, develop and challenge the conventions and forms of a real media product. We can identify this throughout our use of mise-en-scene, our plot, our camera work, our editing and our use of sound.


Plot: Our story board shows how a female teenager is being chased by an unknown assailant, juxtaposing a bigger group of females walking through the corridors of a school corridor, laughing and acting quite maliciously towards the girl being chased. The girl who is being chased and is acting as a victim is typical of a teen-horror film and can be seen as a stock character. However, the unknown assailant and the other group of girls are characters that are also conventional of this type of film. This sort of storyline is a common one within this sort of genre. It is one where you would expect one person from the social group in focus to get killed and then a series of killings within that group to be carried out through the rest of the film. This is exactly what our plot involves and is similar to a couple of the films we researched such as, ‘Scream’ and ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’.

Mise-en-scene: Our use of mise-en-scene fits in nicely with the type of genre our film is.

- Dark lighting - alleyway, contrasting with bright lighting at school and in bathroom. These types of locations are also very typical of a teen horror film.

- The girls wearing school uniform. Girl getting ready in morning wearing shorts and vest top - stereotypical of teenage girl.

Sound: Built up sound at the beginning in conjunction to the pace of the girl running - conventional. The layering of sound is unconventional, as this type of layering is not evident in any of the films we researched to support our film. The Western themed music contrasts with the voice-overs, which are said in a well spoken British voice.

Camera work: Use of close-ups similar to the ones used in films we researched. These use of shots show character exposition. Jerky shots done by using handheld camera to underline pace of running - conventional. Diagonal pan of following girls walking down stairs - unconventional. The vertical pan used in the chase sequence is unconventional. Both these shots not evident in any of the films we researched but also any films that we had seen of this genre at all.

Editing: The cutting between two lines of action - unconventional. Building up pace - conventional. Waking up sequence very conventional - an over used sequence. Adding in titles - conventional.

Q2. We presented social groups in different ways, showing character exposition. Group of white/tanned, British girls. No males present in film - unconventional, almost sexist. You assume that the assailant is a male, as it is a teenage girl being chased - generic convention of a teen/horror film. Girls are from a grammar school...middle class. Speak in a well-spoken British accent. Clothing shows them in school uniform, smartly dresssed. However, the girls do look quite casual in respect to the way you would expect a grammar school student to dress. The characters in this film are also young, which is very conventional of a teen/horror film. The film shows feminity and the steroptyppes of females, as it shows how girls act in everyday life but also when in danger. Girl character being chased typically screaming, playing a vulnerable character and the group of girls talking nasty about girl being chased - conventional of females, acting sinister. The girl character getting ready in the morning seems approachable; concerned voice on the phone. Through the giggling and laughter of the group of girls it can be assumed that they are heterosexual females, which is underlined further because of our genre of film, as it is implied that these characters would be heterosexual.

Q3. Our media product is a mainstream British film, which could be distributed by numerous companies such as, Optimum Releasing and Verve Pictures, which focus on these types of films that are not tentpoles and are not fully funded by huge conglomerates. Verve Pictures known for releasing films such as, 'Bullet Boy'. Would be an Autumn release, so to miss the Summer rush but to also match the genre of our film, as you generally expect a horror to be released in the more darker months.

Q4 and Q5. Our audience for our film would be a young one, preferably teenagers but could range from the ages of 16-25. Our film would attract more of a middle class audience, as they are the ones that would relate most to our characters.

We attracted/addressed our audience by firstly, presenting our pitch of our film where we discussed our aim for our film to our class, in order to get the green light from our teacher. For this pitch we had to talk about audience research, so we asked about 20 people to answer questions in a survey we created, where we gathered results, which showed us what people would expect in a teen/horror film. Once our opening has been screened we will be allowed to ask the audience how they felt about our product, so to answer further how we attracted our audience.

Q6.
-Discovered Adobe Premiere - learnt how to edit a film in a cohesive and effective way. This was done by finding out how to use filters, also how to create montage and continuity editing.
-Presented our pitch using Microsoft PowerPoint, and explored the many ways to make a PowerPoint more visually creative.
-Introduced to blogger.com, never experienced blogging before. Within this website, I learnt how to create a webpage that presented mine and Casey's work visually as well as just using text. Blogging also enabled Casey and I to work collaboratively, by communicating via the the blog.
-Unlike Casey, I had hardly any experience with working a camcorder, so the process of making my film opening allowed me to be able to use a camcorder and a tripod with few complications. Through using a camera, I was also allowed to put the camera techniques that we discussed earlier on in the year into practice.
-I learnt why you needed the rule of thirds, why you should not hold the camera sideways but also how to position a shot in the most effective way, using different camera angles and movements.
-Using sound was a key technological thing I learnt, as this process included using a dictaphone, which I had never done before but also using the timeline on Adobe Premiere, where I could change the sound by either amplifying or abbreviating the volume, or increase/decrease the pace, or even layer sounds to create a different one. Looking for sound for our opening familiarised us with several free sound websites, including freesound.org. This is where we researced pre-recorded sound to see if they would fit in with our opening, however, in the end one of friends who was a music student, came up with a couple of soundtracks that he had created himself, which came as a great help to us.
-There were a few problems that Casey and I faced, that required us to 'creatively' overcome them, one being that at one point during our filming process I accidently filmed sideways, which meant that we had to reshoot that part of the film.

Q7. Looking at both our preliminary task and our final product it is recognisable that there are many differences between the two. Since filming our preliminary task I have learnt a lot, which include a number of things. The main one being that organisation is very important if you are to create a product that is worthy of a high grade. Using your time wisely is also key, as it would be no use if you spent most of your time filming and not editing, as editing is the most time consuming.
Other than these general points, there are more technical things I learned from filming my preliminary task. This process allowed Casey and me to experiment with different camera techniques and work out which ones are the most effective/creative. Whilst we were filming our preliminary task Casey and I discovered shots that we could possibly use in our final product, this allowed us to be prepared, as we had a few shots in mind.

CH - Evaluation interviews

As we continue through our evaluation tasks, we have decided to create a short film (embedded in a power point presentation, alongside market research results and the analysis thus).
During this short film, we shall personally interview a selection of the audience of our movie screening; after watching our film opening, they will be asked a series of questions, the answers to which we can use in our evaluation as further audience research.
Rosie and I shall complete both the filming, editing and interviewing on a rota to allow both of us to experience and explore the techniques involved.
These are a couple of rough ideas for our interview script;

Did this film appeal to you?
What was it about the film that appealed to you?
Did you enjoy the film? If so, why?
Did you relate to the characters or settings in this film?
Did you think the plot was interesting?
Would you want to continue watching this film?
Do you have any ideas for improvement?

We may return at a later date and make changes to these.

RC - Evaluating our media product

Beginning to evaluate our product:
After exporting and handing in our final product of our opening sequence, Casey and I had the opportunity of using the Easter holidays to prepare our responses to the evaluation questions we were asked to do. Once we returned back to school we spent time deliberating the way in which we were actually going to present these questions, as it is required of us to explore and develop are use of I.C.T and to show off these skills in our presentation.

It has been decided that I will answer the questions 1, 3, and 6 and Casey 2, 4, 5, and 7. Originally I was suppose to answer question 4 but we felt that question 4 and 5 were closely linked so could be answered almost as one.

Although Casey and I have decided which questions we are going to answer and present individually it was still asked of us to answer each question by ourselves over the easter.

CH - Editing and sound

Since we completed filming last weekend, Rosie and I have been editing our film. We have encountered many problems, such as the loss of some footage due to technical issues and the need to refilm a difficult sequence. However, I think that we have dealt well with these issues, prevailing with a rough cut edit (as of this weekend) which includes all the necessary film in the order we intend to keep it in; at the moment, I'm very happy with our progress, as well as the overall aesthetic results we are achieving within Premiere.
Sound continues to be problematic. After consulting many fee- and copyright-free websites, we decided to create our own music taylor made for our film. I am about to rendezvous with the musician in question and take a preliminary recording using a Dictophone on loan courtesy of the school. As a group we have used this equipment to record the dialogue and further diegetic sound necessary for our piece; using a sound proof recording booth in school, Rosie and I voice-acted a series of variations and situations, that we had previously written, that could fit our film. These included a conversation between numerous characters, enacted utilizing many layers of sound (to indicate the presence of more than the two of us), and a monologue of the victim to be run over the chase sequence of film.
We also recorded many diegetic sounds to use for the montage we plan to create (see earlier posts), which included continual laughter which could be made intimidating by sound technology in Premiere. This was incredibly hard to do, as neither of us are professional actresses, and found it difficult to maintain the level of composure needed for our film to retain its credibility.
Once all the sound has been recorded, I plan to post it online as a composition piece (via Youtube) and will embed said video upon this blog at a later date.

RC - Editing so far

Casey and I have been editing our opening sequence material for a couple of weeks now and it has definitely been an experience.

Using Adobe Premier has been quite an easy task (retrospectively), as I feel that I have now become accustomed to the mechanisms of this program and can use it to my advantage. Obviously there are some areas where my editing skills can be improved, but practice makes perfect.

We have exactly a week to go until the completion of our opening is due and I do think that, on the whole, things are going well. Through editing we have managed to capture the idea we envisioned from the beginning, although we do have quite a few things left do, which include: recording the necessary sound for each part of our sequence, editing the last section of our footage and adding the film titles and lastly, making sure we have all of the required shots to complete our opening.

This next week is going to be the most difficult and most challenging.

CH - Filming continued (Finished Draft)

Yesterday, Rosie and I filmed the remaining material needed for the final edit. Having already filmed it once (but experiencing problems, see past posts) we were quite familiar with the necessary methods in this particular shoot. Thankfully the actress we needed was available to film it once more, and we were very grateful to her for doing so; the filming itself took approximately 40 minutes.
The shots we had to complete were quite difficult, including the use of a ringing mobile phone and lighting specific to morning (getting increasingly difficult as time passed), but in the time we had we completed them to the best of our ability; the framing, in my opinion, was quite successful, with the use of doorframes and matresses to create interesting shapes to film within.
I liked the colours used in these shots, as they contrasted well with the chase sequence in our opening. The bedroom created a safe, reliable environment (much like the school would have done if not for the sinister aspects) that followed the conventions of a teen horror movie.
We can now continue editing our piece.

Group - Audience Research

During our lesson today our class sat down and watched each others film openings (what we had done so far of them anyway). We then reviewed each others and advised on how each could possibly improve theirs.

From our classmates watching and reviewing ours Casey and I came to the conclusion that the footage we had edited so far was of good standard and that we had achieved quite a few of the assessment objectives within the mark scheme. However, we did learn that some of the footage could be further edited to achieve greater effect, such as changing the colour tone for some of the clips to match the mood of the action.

It was also apparent from watching our classmates footage that the pace Casey and I were working at could possibly be quickened as the deadline for the completion of our opening sequence is now fast approaching.

Group - Further sound

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=37575

This link leads to another sound sample on www.Freesound.org; whilst editing, we came across some problems attaching the previously found sound to our rough cut. For rythym, pace, style and pitch to all fit correctly was near impossible.
After some deliberation, we continued to look through the free download sound, and found the above link. We may use this at the end of our chase scene, as it is appropriate and fits the timing perfectly.
However, we still had many problems concerning the sound fitting the rest of our film. I consulted many people of similar age to my target audience, and the overall results concluded that a piece specially constructed to fit the sound in the style of current popular music would be preferred.
Rosie and I spoke to a musician we know locally, and he agreed to design a few pieces of instrumental guitar music to fit the timing of our film, based loosely on the work of Muse (particularily Knights of Cydonia, see below).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_sBOsh-vyI

I particularily liked the riff at 3:14; the fast paced rythym and innovative use of scales creates the perfect chase sequence backing track.
Once we are shown the pieces created for our film we will evaluate them accordingly.

RC - More shooting troubles

This weekend I was able to film the bedroom/bathroom sequence, which I thought had gone reasonably well; managing to capture the required shots and more. However, it wasn't until Casey and I reviewed my filming the monday after that I realised that I had made an unrepairable mistake - I had filmed most of the shots sideways. This was a bad mistake to make, as it now means that these shots are unusable because even if we do rotate them the pixel quality will be reduced and the shot would have to be zoomed in so to fit the screen of the camera. Despite this, there are a couple of shots that can still be used.
Due to this unfortunate incident Casey and I are going to attempt this part of the filming again this weekend, which will hopefully go a lot more seamlessly. As they quite rightly say - you learn from your mistakes!

Group - filming the group sequence

Today Casey and I did some filming for our opening sequence, where we focused on the sequence where the group of girls are walking through the corridors of a school. On the whole I think that this went well and we managed to capture the correct amount of shots necessary to fit in with our sequence. Due to doing the filming during lunch hour (which was the only time that we could get all the girls together) it was clear that we were in a rush to try and get everything that we drew on our storyboard done.
After beginning to edit this sequence of shots we realised that the shots where we filmed the close ups of the girls' eyes may not have been shot for long enough so we may need to possibly go back and do these again, depending on what the shorter versions look like. It may also be that we do these shots again but this time a little bit closer, so that we are more focused on the eye(s) and not the whole of the face but like I said; we will just have to wait and see what it looks like when put altogether.
Conclusion after this session:
From filming so far it is evident that it is difficult for Casey and I to stick to the arrangement of our storyboard, as this was only our initial ideas put together in a series of shots, whereas now that we have come to the actual filming of the sequence it is easier to work out what works and what doesn't.
All we have left to do now is filming the bedroom/bathroom sequence, which we aim to do this weekend.

CH - Shooting troubles and initial filming

Yesterday, I completed the filming for a sequence of our opening piece; the (predicted) eleven shots of the alley chase scenes. The filming went particularily well, with the lighting not only suiting the atmosphere perfectly but also being satisfactory conditions for our non-professional camera equipment.
In this shoot, I found myself following the conventions of a teen horror film; the female protagonist was presented as a very obvious victim, with many overhead shots (insinuating she was small, needy or vulnerable), shadows interspersed with shafts of light (much like that of a film noir movie, but still creating a sense of danger), and the POV action shots that follow the protagonist as if she is being chased by a sinister, threatening figure.
Even though we ended up following the conventions of a horror film, I was quite pleased to find myself straying from some of the iconography; our protagonist was portrayed as a victim, yes, but unlike the victims in many teen horror films she did not openly show her fear; this was only suggested by the soundtrack and the fact she was running in an environment that suggested danger. Also, although as a white female she was a stereotypical victim, her cropped hair and dark clothes strayed from generic victims, becoming more similar to a noir character in that they varied from the naive innocence of bleach blonde hair and feminine, overtly attractive clothing which is most common among thriller/horror victims.
I am pleased that editing can now start; we have not hit any issues yet that have caused us significant damage, and I am glad we are off to a good start. However, the weight of how far we have yet to go is slightly overbearing.

CH - Music Trials

Possible diagetic sound tracks to use on our piece from Freesound.org, a free download library of music, with no copyrighting limits due to independant artists.

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=22039

I liked this piece, it fits perfectly with our theme of a predator; it creates an eerie atmosphere that would be good for setting the scene (using aural signifiers related to our genre).

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=65915

This piece was very short, but for creating a dramatic ending to a piece that would have already created substantial amounts of atmospheric tension it would be perfect.

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=36406

This sound of breathing that has been distorted would be brilliant for playing underneath another non diegetic track, but alone it is not suitable for supporting such an important scene.

I will continue searching for appropriate music, possibly using other sites or looking for other options regarding copyrighting.

RC - Shooting troubles

Casey and I have experienced quite a few blips in our quest to film. We had arranged that we would film the alley sequence this weekend just gone (06.03.10 - 07.03.10), however, Casey unfortunately came down ill so we were unable to do so. We then arranged for yesterday to film the group sequence but we were let down by a few cast members who were unable to make it. We then rescheduled to film the alley sequence yesterday but yet again we were face with another obstacle due to Casey's camera not working, as we had planned to use her camera throughout. We have now talked to our media studies technician about what to do about Casey's camera and luckily he said that it should be easily fixed, however, we are going to now use the school camera so not to run the risk again.
Casey and I will hopefully be filming tonight, in the hope that we will finally have some footage to edit tomorrow! We have also re-arranged our group sequence to be done on thursday and we are making sure this time that everyone does turn up.
So fingers crossed!

Group - Pitch video

CH - Rekkie Shots

Group - Preliminary Task

CH - Evaluation of our pitch

We presented our pitch to the class, working from the information and research we had collected prior and arranged in a presentation (link to which below). The pitch itself was a success in my opinion, with positive feedback which supported our current research (concerning audience interest and possible topics to follow up further, such as a different project title to our original 'Chase', now 'Drop Dead Gorgeous).
The pitch was nerve wracking, because we had decided that by simply evaluating the information beforehand, we would have enough to present a well thought out and more personal pitch without relying on boring or dull scripts. I felt that this reliance on our public speaking skills alone helped build confidence within our group; we managed to put across our ideas in a manner that seemed to be appreciated, with a more personal edge as we were able to speak more freely one-to-one with the audience, improvising if they began to become uninterested or confused; theoretically speaking, we tried to build our pitch around the audience.
The pitch just ran over the 10 minute time base, including questions that we were able to answer to a suitable degree; the video of which is embedded upon this blog. I think to improve our pitch, we should have spent more time on the aesthetics of the presentation, so as to maximise the overall apperance and proffesionalism. I was concerned with our PP slides becoming too full or childish, so I decided on a minimalistic view; however, a colour scheme or basic design scheme could have been implimented.
Overall, I think that our pitch showed that our idea was well recieved and had enough viable audience research to implement further development.

Group - Pitch

Pitch - Group 9

View more presentations or Upload your own.

RC - Evaluation of our pitch

Overall, I do think that our pitch did go quite well...

From our presentation we made it clear that we had researched plenty of films to help aid us in our development of our opening sequence, however, I do feel that we could have analysed more films that were even more relevent to our treatment and it is clear that we need to find a film that has a good chase sequence in it, similar to the one we are trying to create. For this we may have to go past the first two minutes of a film.
I think that are audience research went really well, as we managed to get quite a few repsonses, which helped us to idenitfy what viewer's like to see in a teen-horror genre of film.
Another thing that I felt we did well at, was clarifying what we wanted our characters to be like in our opening sequence.
I also found the whole experience quite nerve wracking, as we were the last group to present so we were a bit rushed. However, I do think that it was slightly to our advantage, as it meant that we had put our nerves aside and just get on with it.
To improve our pitch I think that we could have possibly expanded more on our treatment and included photos from a rekkie of another location, other than just the alley way. We could have probably made it more of visually pleasing on some of the slides, as not all of them included the use of colour and images.

Group - Survey Monkey Link

Here is a link to the survey we created to gather research on teen horror films, utilizing the service 'Survey Monkey', a free online questionnaire generator.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JWR2HYJ

CH - Mood Board

Feedback #2

Rosie/Casey
There is some excellent, through work here - but some gaps - Casey I can't see your technical analysis? Also, at this stage, you should have reccie photos up.

Group - Treatment

Follows a female protagonist being chased down a dark alley by an unknown assailant, cutting between shots of her in the presumed past with friends walking by their school; ending with the female being 'caught' after the rythym increasing between lines of action creates substantial tension. The credits begin to roll, with shots of another girl starting the day in a bright manner, whilst cheerful music plays in a Tarantino type contrast between horror and lighthearted humour.

RC - Moodboard

CH - Analysis of an opening sequence

Analysis of an opening sequence - Scream

Genre
The film belongs to the slasher-teen-horror genre. The audiences expectations are fulfilled by the opening sequence to a large degree, with many of the conventions of this genre being met. The text conforms to the characteristics of this genre; such as the stereotypical white female victim alone at night in a desolate house, being hunted through a drawn out chase scene.

Film language
Mise-en-scene conveys meaning in this sequence in many ways; for instance, the white jumper and blonde hair of the victim portrays innocence and naivety, or the large, wealthy house could portray that the killer is indiscriminate towards social class.
The camera shot size is mostly MS or CU, conveying imminent danger and emotional suspense. The movement is fast paced, and the angle is horizontal as if the camera is the POV of another character watching the scene pan out.
Sound anchors the images well; for instance, the shrill peal of the phone signifies danger, and the husky voice of the caller sets a tense undertone behind what could be a casual flirtatious conversation.
We learn a lot about the characters; the female character is a stereotypical female victim, beginning with open, playful, flirty non-verbal language and dialogue, such as ‘Are you asking me out?’ which quickly becomes helpless and scared, easily intimidated by an unknown assailant; his dialogue shows him as a natural predator, with a charm that puts his victim at ease but a dangerous temper when his authority is undermined (such as when she hangs up).
Another visual technique the director uses is the continued use of knives and fire. The victim casually plays with carving knives, whilst a fire is lit on the stove in ECU. These are iconic enigma which signify danger.

Narrative
The narrative is organised in a continuous, linear form, with no flashbacks or montage editing.
The audience is positioned within the narrative, largely with the female victim. Through this, the audience are made to feel her fear of the unknown (as we are not given any extra information about her future or the whereabouts of danger).
Identification and alienation are portrayed well through screen time; the victim is the obvious protagonist for her extended recognisable time on screen, whereas the antagonist is only recognisable for his actions or his voice, his identity being hidden in a very alienating manner.
Major themes in the narrative include family, relationships, trust, and violence inducing a fight or flight reaction.
Tension is created through the use of sound and visual imagery; by following the victim, we are unable to assess the impending danger therefore we are tense because we are in the position of the victim and feel their fear as our own.

Representation and Ideology
Only one main social group is presented in this sequence: the white middle class social group is presented in the main protagonist, and as we don’t know the identity of the killer we are unable to assess his/her social group.
Values and beliefs such as loyalty and bravery are shown in this sequence. The victim is asked to make a choice that may end her boyfriends life; the victims father makes a decision to keep his wife safe whilst looking for the victim himself even at great risk.

Media audiences
The target audiences are young adults from 15-25 who enjoy the horror genre, or the gore/thriller genres. Also included are the teen genres and slight romantic tendencies, so there are many possible target audiences.

Institutional context
Many stars have been used in this film; Courtney Cox, David Arquette and Drew Barrymore. This increases the target audiences, and the possible financers.
Cathy Conrad produced this film.

RC - Analysing an opening sequence

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

The first two minutes...

Genre
Q. To which genre does the film belong?

A. This film belongs to the slasher/teen-horror genre

Q. To what extent are the audience's generic expectations of the text fulfilled or challenged by the opening sequence?

A. The audience's generic expectations are fulfilled, as the first two minutes highlight the various conventions of a 'slasher' film. This incorporates: the use of iconography, for example the chainsaw; the use of sound, which is very eerie; the mise en scene such as, the dull lighting and the desolate house. Other common conventions include the use of camera and editing,

where the cutting rate is very quick, the picture has been filtered to be black and white and there are plenty of close-ups. This is just a brief overview of how the audience's generic expectations are fulfilled.

Q. Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre, or does it treat them playfully or ironically?

A. I think that the text does conform to the characteristics of the 'slasher' genre. This is because the film is based on a true story, so I do no think that they would treat the characteristics in a playful or ironic way. The opening sequence underlines what I think as well, this is due to the use of the voice over narration, which is narrating the history behind the film and also the mise en scene, which includes newspaper headlines of the events, which accentuates the truth behind this story. Similarly to what I have answered in the previous question, I think that the use of camera, sound, mise en scene, editing and even iconography is the reason for why the text does conform to the 'slasher' film characteristics, but does so in a serious manner.

Film language

Q. How does mise-en-scene convey meaning in the sequence?

A.The first thing that we see in this opening is two men carrying a dead body into the back of a van, which we assume is an ambulance. Immediately, this establishes enigma as people would be curious as to why that person is dead in the first place. The mise-en-scene here shows the ambulance to be in a deserted area, which definitely creates tension. We then see someone pulling across a 'police line do not cross' tape, which amplifies further that someone is dead, and they are investigating as to how and why. We then see another dead body in a lake, with lots of police men surrounding it, their body language shows them to be searching for clues and evidence. Another use of mise-en-scene is when there is a shot of a huge house, which seems to be desolate, this comes under the conventions of a 'slasher' type film and would instantly build up suspense for the audience. We then see lots of close ups of different objects, which include broken glasses and parts of a human skeleton, this connotes an ominous feeling to the film, which bodes will with the genre. We then see someone typing up an autopsy report, again signify the theme of death in this opening. An empty corridor is then shown and the lighting here is very dull and it almost seems as if there is a green/blue filter to the picture. The dull lighting again supports the 'slasher' genre. There are also more objects shown, which are seen to be pieces of evidence, as they are concealed in a plastic bag. The objects include such things as a hammer/mullet, teeth, a dead fish with a hook going through its mouth, and most importantly a chainsaw, which again implies that a lot death takes place in this film and that they are trying to put together all the evidence to catch the killer. Overall, mise en scene is used effectively to convey the meaning of this film.

Q. How does camera shot size, movement and angle also convey meaning?

There are a lot of close ups used in this opening sequence, which helps the audience to understand the content of this film, particularly when close ups are used on objects, which most of them are seen to be evidence for a homicide case. They are used to highlight what is going on in the film such as, when there is a close up of the 'police line do not cross' tape, signifying that something very bad has happened. A lot of panning shots are used as well to also help establish what is going on, this is evident when one is used to show a police crime scene of a dead body lying in a lake. High angle and low angle shots are also used to create tension within the film, this is obvious when a low angle shot is used to show us the desolate house and because of the low angle the house is made to look bigger than it actually is, which builds suspense as not only is the house isolated but is also huge. It is obvious that camera shot size, movement and angle are very important in establishing enigma, as it is shown to be key in this film's opening.

Q. How does sound anchor the images?

Right at the beginning of the clip, when the titles are appearing on the screen, the music is very ominous, with a slow tempo and a minor key and when moving image appears on the screen it then becomes a lot lower and louder. Then as soon as the voice over narration begins the music is drowned out. This suggests to me that the music at the start is preparing the audience for the film so that they recognise that this is a 'slasher', and when it becomes lower and louder when the moving image appears we know that no assumptions need to be made that the body on the trolley is dead, this is implied through the ominous feel of this music. When the narration begins it is very loud, connoting that what he is saying is very important, along with the images that go with his dialogue. Also, as the clip goes further on we are hear that every noise being made is being amplified such as, the slamming of the chainsaw on the table. This is building up suspense and puts the audience on edge.

Q. What do we learn about the characters through dialogue and non-verbal language?

In this sequence we are presented with many characters and there does not seem to be an obvious protagonist yet. However, the characters that we do see in this clip are mainly police officers of some form and it is apparent that they are all investigating in this one particular case. There is not much dialogue in this opening sequence until you get to the last five seconds of the two minutes, where you hear a police officer speaking into a tape recorder, here you understand that he is recording what he sees when at the crime scene. This tell us that this particular character is trying to find out who the murderer is.

Q. What other visual techniques are used?

Other visual techniques which are used, include a black and white filter to the picture, giving it an authentic feel, which suggests to us that the events in this film happened some time ago. This is supported by another visual technique where the picture seems to go fuzzy at some points, which implies that the camera is old.

Narrative

Q. How is the narrative organised and structured?

A.The narrative seems to be non-linear, as we keep going back and forth to different events and the sequence seems to be asynchronous.

Q. How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?

A. Although there seems to be no obvious protagonist yet, we appear to be positioned with the narrator, who is telling us the story but also the police men because they are the only characters that we see in the first two minutes.

Q. What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?

Although it is implied that there is no protagonist just yet, there is one point in the opening sequence where we see someone typing up an autopsy report and the name 'Hewitt' is being typed out. This could suggest that this person plays an important role in the narrative.

Q. What are the major themes in the narrative?

A. Death seems to be the most prominent theme in this film.

Q. How is tension created and maintained?

A. I think that tension is created and maintained through the use of the many conventions of a 'slasher' film genre. However, in relevance to this film I think that the fast cutting rate, which causes the audience to go back and forth in the narrative, plays an important role in maintaining the tension, as it keeps the audience mesmerised.

Representation and Ideology

Q. What social groups are represented in this sequence and how?

A. This is quite hard to say from just looking at the first two minutes, as it appears that the only characters we come to meet are the police officers, so they are the only obvious social group. However, you could say that the victims of the killer, who are dead, are some sort of group although you could not really define them as being a social group. Also, it appears that the characters in this film are mainly white-Americans.

Q. What values and beliefs / ideological discourse is evident?

A. There is the belief that a murderer should be caught because of his actions, underlining the values of the policemen - that sinners should be punished.

Q. How does semiotics as a framework see how the representation is constructed?

A. The tape, which says 'police line do not cross' is an obvious indicator for the representation constructed, as it shows the policemen secluding the crime scene area so that they can find evidence to catch the murderer.

Media Audiences

Q. Who is the target audience?

A. The target audience for this film would appear to be the youths aged between 16-25 and obviously audiences' who appreciate the slasher genre.

Q. What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text?

A. The preferred reading of this text is likely to be that we are to meant be positioned with the narrator or with the policemen of this film, so that we are to believe that whoever they are looking for we are meant to be against him/her. The oppositional reading of this text is that we are to sympathise with the killer and the negotiated reading of this text could be that we may understand the justification behind the killer's actions but we follow the morality of the policemen.

Q. How do you, as a British teenager, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background?

A. As a British teenager I think that I would read this text just like any person would and I do not believe that age, gender or background necessarily comes into it. However, I do feel that when you are of a younger age your comprehension of morals and ethics is not so clear to how they are when you grow older, so this could cloud your judgement on the justification of the killer. Also, if you have had much more of a rough background compared to others, where you are use to theft, murder, rape, etc. then your perception of this text could be that you understand where the killer is coming from, on the other hand, it may mean you are less inclined to sympathise, as you have come to detest these actions because you are so familiar with it. So, although I said that I initially didn't believe that age, gender, or background influenced your reading of the text, I do now believe that it does play a role.

Institutional context

Q. Has a star been used in this film? Why is this important?

A. Jessica Biel is the only actress in this film that could be considered as the bankable star. It is important that a bankable star is used because including a bankable star is most likely to increase the credibility of the film, in turn raising revenue.

Q. Which studio produced this film? Is it an 'industrial' film or an 'independent' film?

A. The film was distributed by New Line Cinema and Focus Features and the film appears to be an industrial one.

Q. Is the institutional context evident in the production values of the opening?

It is evident through the production values in the opening that this is an industrial film, as you can tell that to achieve the effects that this film does a lot of money would have had to have gone into it.

CH - Genre Analysis

1) My chosen genre is Horror. Sub genres include gothic horror, teen horror, slasher horror, gangster horror, psychological horror, body horror, science fiction horror and teen horror. We are following many of the conventions of this sub-genre, such as the proposed chase scene between a victim and an unknown predator, using darkness and teenage imagery of a rowdy group of friends (using iconography such as uniforms). Films that fit this genre include Scream, Eden Lake and Sorority Row.

2) Techniques/style of films that may be useful:Scream; the use of dramatic irony when the audience know the killer is with the victim before the victim realisesEden Lake uses a distinct tone of colour and lighting throughout the movie, which sets a dangerous and animalistic atmosphereSorority Row; by using the happy, bright atmosphere of a high school movie contrasted with the dark, horrific imagery of the murders it creates a stronger impact

3) A typical narrative for this type of film is a group or couple of teenagers in a secluded location, or familiar location (which would then be twisted, such as a high school) beginning with a dramatic occurrence before returning to seemingly normal life, proceeding a murder mystery scenario or an escape sequence. This would be used to create suspense by the contrast between high school life and the innocence of youth vs. the troubles and horrors then facing them and how they escape.

4) In this genre, conventional characters include:
- the ‘jock/cheerleader’,
-the ‘nerd’,
-the archetypal ‘hero/heroine’ (such as Sidney in Scream)
-and the obvious villain, who is usually apparent to the
audience

5) Typical locations for this genre are generally secluded, shadowed or dark, with some sort of twisted juxtaposition (such as a family home).

6) Iconography of this genre include school uniforms, knives, gloved hands, hooded assailants, ECU of eyes, blood splatters

7) Costume is normally casual clothing or clothing associated with that teenage group (such as jeans, or baseball hats) but normally the costume becomes dirty and ruined by the end, after multiple chases or fights

8) Lighting and colour is used to create tension and danger, such as the use of slanted shadows in Film Noir or the use of figure shadow to represent an impending danger. I would like to create the effect of a contrasting situation by juxtaposing light and dark in quick succession through two scenes compared. The connotations of red are fire, danger, pain; blue are cold, shock; green includes envy or safety.

RC - Genre analysis

1. What is our chosen genre?

Our chosen genre is 'teen horror', which is actually a sub-genre of a teen film. Therefore we will be following the conventions of a teen and horror film to help create our two minute opening. Other sub genres that exist within the teen category are teen sci-fiction, teen drama, teen comedy and teen musicals. Films that are placed in the teen horror sub-genre include 'Scream' (1996), 'I know what you did last summer' (1997), 'Halloween' (1978), 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1976)' , 'Prom night' (1980) and 'Swimfan' (2002). Out of these I am most interested in 'Scream' because the opening sequence for this film was cleverly done, using the conventions of horror to establish enigma and create tension.

2. Outline specific techniques or styles used within these three teen horror films

In the opening sequence of 'I know what you did last summer', the film that I analysed for my technical analysis, one particular technique that I liked was the blue filter used to make the images look a lot duller, creating this eerie feeling. Another one that also sstruck out to me was the choice of soundtrack, especially when two layers of sound were used. This layering of sound meant that the film could emphasise on the mood of the sequence by playing background music, whilst at the same time playing the diegetic sound that the character or his surroundings made. Both these two techniques could be applied to our opening to help establish the genre of our film.

In the first two minutes of the film 'Scream', many codes and conventions were used effectively to build suspense. I particularly like the idea of a teenager being home alone, creating this desolate feeling, which makes the character a lot more vulnerable. Any technique used to create vulnerability would be an impressive way of underlining the genre of the film. The dialogue in this film is also very effective, this is evident when Casey is on the phone to a stranger and asks, "Why do you want to know my name?" and the phone voice replies by saying, "because I want to know who I am looking at". We could attempt to do something similar to this.

In the opening of 'Halloween', the famous POV sequence is what I distinctly like best about it and this is similar to what Casey and I were thinking of including in our opening. The POV shot puts the audience on edge, as although they are positioned with the predator he/she is unidentifiable, raising curiosity.

3. What is a typical narrative for this genre of film?

A typical narrative for the teen horror genre, is for one teenager or a group of teenagers to be stalked by a predator, who eventually ends up killing them or in most cases one will survive, this is normally the character that is the protagonist in the storyline. Typically in this sort of teen horror the characters will be killed off one by one, to create dramatic effect for the audience. However, there are some types of teen horror films that contrast to the one I have just described, which follow a different narrative. An example of this would be 'Eden Lake', where in this film the teenagers are the ones who are considered to be the threat. Despite this though, most conventional teen horror films are typical of the narrative I outlined at the beginning.

4. What kind of characters are conventional to this type of genre?

In every teen horror film there will always be an antagonist, who most likely will be a murderer, typically this character would be played by a male. The females in this type of film normally play vulnerable characters, and sometimes will be the protagonist, as they are likely to be the antagonist's obsession. However, in some films such as, 'Swimfan' the female plays the role of the murderer and the male the vulnerable victim. It is common that the teenagers within this genre of film will all have some sort of connection like a love relationship or a friendship, which only dramatises the film as you become more attached to each character. In reference to the teen aspect of this genre, common characters would include cheerleaders/jocks and maybe nerds.

An example of an archetypal heroine would be 'Sidney' from "Scream"

5. What are typical locations or settings for this genre?

Many teen horror films are situated in a location, which normally prove to be desolate. Common locations include a school, an isolated house, a grave yard, or possibly a carnival/festival. The settings are commonly dull lighted, with an eerie feel to it. The weather that takes place during the film traditionally mimics the mood of the action, which is called pathetic fallacy.

6. What iconography would you expect to see in this genre?

Iconography is key in teen horror films, with things such as knives, blood, school inform, masks, distorted faces, etc. allowing the audience to clarify what genre the film is.

7. Find examples of suitable costume.

Suitable costumes for this type of film genre would include iconic outfits such as the ones in "Scream" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", this would be in particular reference to the villains. However, for the teenagers their clothing could include school uniform and quite casual clothing.

8. How is lighting/colour used? What effects would you want to create with particular lighting?

Lighting is very important in teen horrors, as it helps to create the mood of the film. Colour can also be used to establish the mood, as each colour signifies a different meaning. For example, red always connotes danger and blood, yellow represents happiness and safety and blue is common for representing coldness and death. With our opening sequence, lighting will play quite an important role. In the part where the teenage girls are on screen, the lighting will be bright and highly saturated, however, when the chase scene is in action the lighting will be dull, maybe with even a blue filter over it?


9. Find examples of fonts which would be suitable for this genre for the title sequence.

CH - Technical Analysis

Scream, 2 minute opening cut list : cut sound camera Mise en scene- Black screen stretch transition phone rings in background ‘SCREAM’’ appears- layered sound screaming, heartbeat, phone ringing, lightning, knife (All horror enigma)- a red wash appears over the writing, the writing expands to fill the screen- dissolve transition to CU of phone on table, (ringing) steadicam tilting pan to MS of female picking up phone, (Dialogue of female and caller, crickets outside) zoom to CU and following pan continues throughout scene between CU and MS - (Phone rings) Motivated cut back to original bird’s eye view CU of phone , hand reaching, tilting pan to female MS (dialogue between female and caller, continued crickets signifying desolation?) - jump cut to outside, low angle shot of a tree tilting towards long shot of the females house, swing moving inexplicably in the oreground (wind creaking, crickets chirping) - jump cut to (flame lights, exaggerated diegetic sound of cooking popcorn and continued crickets/phone rings once more) high angle of flame on cooker, females arm reaching to cook popcorn, tilting pan to MS and steadicam to long shot as (phone rings, she picks up) she walks around kitchen, focus on knives, following with tracking dolly shot throughout ending on a MS (Rule of 3, her in 1st knives in 3rd, picks up knife) exaggerated sound of metal knife, continued conversation and diegetic popcorn/crickets- sound bridge as conversation continues as popcorn increases leading to a motivated cut CU popcorn and kettle on oven - shot reverse shot returns to MS of female and knives on counter steadicam pan and tracking shot following female as she picks up videos and walks into a different room, continuing her conversation on the telephone as popcorn noise increases building tension as she enters the hallway, an over the shoulder shot of a dark room, slanted light (enigma of film noir)