Joshua Baker - Director & Camera Man
Daniel Elliott - Editing & Camera Man
Alice Mckenna - Editing & Actor
Ed Green - Director & Producer
Tuesday 11 May 2010
The DVD Setup
When creating our DVD, we needed to design a menu. We had two suitable menus in mind which were both very similar. Below are the two options we were faced with:
We chose the bottom DVD menu to go with our film, our outakes and our Director's Commentary on the disk. I believe all of these were really important for filling out our piece and making it what it is now.
We chose the bottom DVD menu to go with our film, our outakes and our Director's Commentary on the disk. I believe all of these were really important for filling out our piece and making it what it is now.
Thursday 6 May 2010
La Muerte De La Vida - The Widow's Death
Below is our finished copy of 'La Muerte De La Viuda - The Widow's Death', displaying everything I have talked about in my blog, showing all the influences and cuts which have made it what it is.
Our Final Film -
Our Final Film -
Film Influences and Movie trailers
In this post, I will display our influences and what interested me when it came to making an unconventional horror movie. The Hound of the Baskervilles Clip is the first 10 minutes of the 2002 T.V movie while the Dr. Jeckyll clip is a very famous scene, portraying the schizophrenic side and where we got our influences from. Another film containing brilliant schizophrenic scenes is 'Psycho' terrifing audiences in 1960, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The Shining trailer is an expertly-made fan trailer, depicting the true horror of a 1980s classic.
Sin City trailer -
From the film Sin City, we took the idea of shooting a whole film in black and white, but with bursts of colour, such as the Rose or the Axe head being red. After consideration about it, we found that it would be too hard to do, so we settled with parts of the film being in black and white, instead of Greyscale. The diary entrance is shot in colour while the murder scene in black and white. We did this in order to back the murder scene look more eerie and satanic, adding to the religious feel of the piece.
The Hound of the Baskervilles Part 1 -
We took the idea of having a countryside ruling the plot of the film. In the Hound of the Baskervilles, the Moors control what characters do due to the dense levels of fog and the haunting and murderous bogs. In our piece, we wanted to create a countryside which really seperated the character from the rest of humanity, much like the Hound of the Baskervilles.
Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde "Free At Last" -
This clip shows the unveiling of Mr. Hyde as the murderous creature gets brought to the fore. In our piece, this mental disease controls Elizabeth the widow entirely, with most of the decisions being influenced by her darker side, much like Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde.
The Shining Tribute Trailer -
From the Shining we took the murder Weapon and the idea of having terrifing close-ups - Some which are seen in the trailer. The Shining influenced our piece a lot due to how influentual it was when it was released in the 1980s. Therefore we thought it only fitting to include one of the best murder weapons of all time, bringing the older audience back to this great classic.
Psycho trailer (1960) -
From Psycho we took the Schizophrenia idea as, along with our plot, Psycho relied upon this mental disease - As seen in the infamous Interrigation scene at the end when Norman Bates is caught. We tried to fit this disease in, so we would also have something to help pull the plot along and we worked off this 1960 classic.
Sin City trailer -
From the film Sin City, we took the idea of shooting a whole film in black and white, but with bursts of colour, such as the Rose or the Axe head being red. After consideration about it, we found that it would be too hard to do, so we settled with parts of the film being in black and white, instead of Greyscale. The diary entrance is shot in colour while the murder scene in black and white. We did this in order to back the murder scene look more eerie and satanic, adding to the religious feel of the piece.
The Hound of the Baskervilles Part 1 -
We took the idea of having a countryside ruling the plot of the film. In the Hound of the Baskervilles, the Moors control what characters do due to the dense levels of fog and the haunting and murderous bogs. In our piece, we wanted to create a countryside which really seperated the character from the rest of humanity, much like the Hound of the Baskervilles.
Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde "Free At Last" -
This clip shows the unveiling of Mr. Hyde as the murderous creature gets brought to the fore. In our piece, this mental disease controls Elizabeth the widow entirely, with most of the decisions being influenced by her darker side, much like Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde.
The Shining Tribute Trailer -
From the Shining we took the murder Weapon and the idea of having terrifing close-ups - Some which are seen in the trailer. The Shining influenced our piece a lot due to how influentual it was when it was released in the 1980s. Therefore we thought it only fitting to include one of the best murder weapons of all time, bringing the older audience back to this great classic.
Psycho trailer (1960) -
From Psycho we took the Schizophrenia idea as, along with our plot, Psycho relied upon this mental disease - As seen in the infamous Interrigation scene at the end when Norman Bates is caught. We tried to fit this disease in, so we would also have something to help pull the plot along and we worked off this 1960 classic.
Thursday 22 April 2010
The Prelimary Film
We completely our preliminary task in order to get a feel of the technology used in Media Studies and at the precision everything should be set. This was from where the chairs should be to how the door should be shut. Our original plan was to film it outside, however, although it had many interesting and thought-provoking shots, it lacked in real dialogue which was something the Prelim needed. Also, we had certain problems with lighting and sound due to the Sun and the wind. So, for our second attempt, we filmed it in the room next to the Media classroom with stairs leading down from it. In here we could change the lighting to what we saw fit and easily change the noise levels. The main camera angle we used was the ‘Over the Shoulder’ shot, meaning we had to run the scene twice. This didn’t bother us though because this camera shot was so easy to do, yet so effective.
Daniel Elliot was in charge of the recording, although it was a group effort to choose the camera shots. Joshua Baker played the employee while I played the employer.
Here is our script – JB = Joshua Baker, EG = Edward Green
EG: So you're here for the interview then?
JB: Yeah.
EG: You're late, why?
JB: My bus was late.
EG: Hmm ok, what qualifications do you have?
JB: I've got a diploma in something.
EG: Something.
JB: Yeah, I've got some GCSE's, something like that.
EG: Something, something like that, right that's not what we're looking for, get out. This is over.
JB: Fine
Here is our Preliminary Film -
And here is our Storyboard -
Wednesday 24 March 2010
The Pre-Production
Our film was filmed on Saturday 7th November, taking up about half a day to get all the shots we needed to but together our 2 minute introduction. We filmed it on the same day and didn't come back in order to make everything look the same.
Filming Schedule:
11.30am - Arrive at filming destination and make sure all props were present.
12:00pm - Scout around for inspiring shots and destinations to fufill the story.
1:00pm - Start filming.
2:30pm - Break.
2:45pm - Finish filming.
3:15pm - Pack up props, replace Church equipment and go home.
Below is our Questionnaire which we tested on 30 boys and girls between the ages of 15-19, which helped us understand our audience and create a piece designed just for them:
1. Do you like Murder Mystery Films?
2. Do you prefer a movie of the horror genre or something more light-hearted?
3. Have you ever watched;
5. What murder weapon do you find the scariest?
The public opinion was as follows:
1. 85% of people responded with a stong "Yes".
2. 67% of people responded saying they prefered an intense horror.
3. The most popular films were: Sin City, The Shining & Psycho.
4. The people who had seen them thought they were "Very Good" films.
5. 76% of people thought an Axe was the scariest horror weapon.
6. 58% of people thought a Church would be eerier due to it's religious feel.
From the results we decided to make an intense horror film and we worked off all four of our options: Sin City, Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, Psycho, The Shining & Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles. From Sin City we took the idea of shooting our film in black and white. From Dr. Jeckyll and Psycho we took the idea of Schizophrenia, from The Shining we took the infamous murder weapon; The Axe as well as terrifing close-ups and from Sherlock Holmes we took the idea that nature controls the characters, adding to the feel of helplessness in the film.
Here are some clip ideas we drew up in order to use when planning and filming:
This is also a video with us talking about the possible ideas for the film:
Filming Schedule:
11.30am - Arrive at filming destination and make sure all props were present.
12:00pm - Scout around for inspiring shots and destinations to fufill the story.
1:00pm - Start filming.
2:30pm - Break.
2:45pm - Finish filming.
3:15pm - Pack up props, replace Church equipment and go home.
Below is our Questionnaire which we tested on 30 boys and girls between the ages of 15-19, which helped us understand our audience and create a piece designed just for them:
1. Do you like Murder Mystery Films?
2. Do you prefer a movie of the horror genre or something more light-hearted?
3. Have you ever watched;
- Sin City
- Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde
- Psycho
- The Shining
- Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles
5. What murder weapon do you find the scariest?
- A Knife (Seen in Psycho)
- An Axe (Seen in The Shining)
- Sharped Claws (Seen in A Nightmare On Elm Street)
- A Machete (Seen in Friday the 13th)
The public opinion was as follows:
1. 85% of people responded with a stong "Yes".
2. 67% of people responded saying they prefered an intense horror.
3. The most popular films were: Sin City, The Shining & Psycho.
4. The people who had seen them thought they were "Very Good" films.
5. 76% of people thought an Axe was the scariest horror weapon.
6. 58% of people thought a Church would be eerier due to it's religious feel.
From the results we decided to make an intense horror film and we worked off all four of our options: Sin City, Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, Psycho, The Shining & Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles. From Sin City we took the idea of shooting our film in black and white. From Dr. Jeckyll and Psycho we took the idea of Schizophrenia, from The Shining we took the infamous murder weapon; The Axe as well as terrifing close-ups and from Sherlock Holmes we took the idea that nature controls the characters, adding to the feel of helplessness in the film.
Here are some clip ideas we drew up in order to use when planning and filming:
This is also a video with us talking about the possible ideas for the film:
Film Titles
Our Portuguese film title came about due to the fact that we would like to engage a smaller audience due to its specialistic theme. The title 'La Muerte De La Viuda - The Widow's Death' is what we came up with, with the translation coming underneath to explain to a larger circle of citizens.
Other titles included:
Taken
The Murder of the Widow
God's children
All of these titles sounded great but the reason for why we chose the 'La Muerte De La Viuda - The Widow's Death ' was because it simply told the audience what the film was about while sounding intense and scary at the same time.
We thought of the name due to the fact that the main character - The widow - gets murdered in the 2 minute opening sequence.
Other titles included:
Taken
The Murder of the Widow
God's children
All of these titles sounded great but the reason for why we chose the 'La Muerte De La Viuda - The Widow's Death ' was because it simply told the audience what the film was about while sounding intense and scary at the same time.
We thought of the name due to the fact that the main character - The widow - gets murdered in the 2 minute opening sequence.
Wednesday 17 March 2010
Evaluation
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our film is very much based on the four case studies, Sin City, Psycho, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and David Attwood’s Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles on BBC 2. All of these play a huge part in influencing our piece and our piece helps develop them.
The use of Sin City helped us think about colour focus and correction. We ended up not using colour focus in order to make certain colours stand out in the black and white persona. However, due to the fact that we wanted out piece to be completely back and white and not just grayscale, we used the gamma correction tool to get rid as much as the grey colour as possible, copying Sin City more. We also followed in the film’s footsteps by having a section of narration at the beginning; A lot like Sin City also. In this sense, we developed on Frank Miller’s original ideas and took Media products to a whole new level.
Sin City Colour Correction -
A Widow's Death Colour Correction -
From Hound of the Baskervilles we took the countryside idea, very fitting for a film set in 1843. If we were to continue and make the whole film, we would set all of it in the countryside, perhaps in a location like Dartmoor, due to its natural spookiness and melancholy-type feel. We developed on the idea that nature will always take its toll on people and in our film, a very religious effect is cast, adding an eerie feel to this satanic piece.
Hound of the Baskervilles Countryside -
The Widow's Death Countryside -
The world-wide famous film 'Psycho', made in 1960 directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the 'Master of Suspense also helped to bring across the medical condition schizophrenia. Psycho is the tale of a lone woman who stops off at a motel off the highway and meets the motel owner; Norman Bates who offers her a place to stay. Later on, she is showering and gets murdered by a woman with blond hair - known as the infamous Psycho Shower Scene. In the end, the murderer is Norman Bates, who acts as both himself and his deceased mother who he talks to and responds to himself. It is a superb classic which has defined horror and suspense cinema for years, and working off it made us feel that our piece would gain some more definitive culture, attracting the die-hard movie fans and driving our plot.
Lastly, we developed on the idea of Schizophrenia from the classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, using a disease to keep up a movie. This disease is unlike any other and it is done extremely well in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde due to the fact that they use a metaphor to explain it. This being when Dr. Jekyll takes the potion, he becomes Mr. Hyde – a much nastier version of himself; portraying the condition. In our film, we kept the condition obvious to the audience, just so they would know how much it affected the actual film. Overall, our product took a lot of inspiration from this original classic, and it was developed huge because of it.
To conclude, the three movies we drew inspiration from helped our piece hugely and it could not have been done with that inspiration. Our film helps challenge the former products, pushing the concepts to new levels, creating a new, brilliant media product.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our Questionnaire was the main thing driving our social group representation, so we always referred back to it if we wanted help. Our film was meant to scare people into emotional discomfort because a lot of people get thrills of that as they are being edged out of their comfort zones. Therefore, setting the opening of the film in a church would bring a religious, maybe slightly satanic, feel to the piece – A lot like the Omen or the Exorcist. The church is very traditional, therefore making it very old. The crumbling graves and the faded stain glass windows really helped to set the mood and set an eerie atmosphere. George Green, who played the murderer, was dressed in a long black cloak, holding an axe. This is a lot like The Shining (which is also a much liked horror movie). We tried to relate to certain social groups purely through different old and new horror movies, like the Shining or the Omen. Another favourite was The Exorcist. This way we could relate to horror fans from across the board and in this sense, our questionnaire helped us hugely.
The Widow’s Death –
The Shining –
3. What kind of media institution might distribute you media product and why?
The reason for why I picked this media institution is because although our film is predominatly British, it's convention is that of a horror film and Lionsgate tend to back horror movies quite strongly. For example, Lionsgate to date have worked on all of the Saw films, with Saw VII coming later out this year and are working on a new product called 'Buried', a very unconvential horror film. Lionsgate also works with films of the Indie category such as 'Precious' and 'Why did I get married too?'. A recently released film called 'Whip It!' is an Indie comedy, supported by Lionsgate, with the director making her debut. This shows that Lionsgate are willing to take chances, making us a perfect pick. If the target audience found out that we were working with Lionsgate (which we would make very clear), they would show more of an interest because Lionsgate is so big. I can also see this film perhaps becoming big in America, due to its American actor; Robert Downey Jr. This will therefore help the movie become huge in the American box office and Britain would soon follow. Overall, I picked Lionsgate because of its favouritism towards horror and indie movies, which will help attract huge audiences from Britain and abroad.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
At first, the rating of 12A appealed to us the most, due to the fact that it would allow a bigger audience to come and see the movie, therefore increasing its popularity and of course, the Box Office totals. However, in order to achieve the horror feel, we had to raise the rating, just so we could make the film we always wanted to.
In the end, we chose the rating of 15 just so we could more substantial horror to achieve the desired effect. Therefore this film would appeal to older teenagers ranging up to older audiences. There is no specific limit on the age limit of people who come to see this, all that matters is that the wide stream audience meant for this movie, enjoy it to its full potential, making this small film a big hit.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
When starting off this film, we asked our audience: 'What makes a Horror Film?' and with the results we got, we based our final product on. The answers were mainly related around the actual sub-genres of horror movies, these being Slashers, Snuff, Physiological etc. We worked around the answer in order to please as many people as possible and although our film is of an Indie genre, we allowed different horror elements to be included to maximize impact.
In the media business, audiences are attracted by the content and the 'first look' of the product. In a film's case, this would be used by advertising, and our movie was no different. Through the use of posters, our film was advertised to the general public. If we were to make a complete film and not just the introduction, we would add a trailer, with certain movie shots explaining what the film is about and giving the audience a hunger for more. We used trailers like the ones in the 'Film Influences and Movie Trailers' to reel in our audience and to give them a taste for our newly-released film. 30 second T.V trailer ads would be shown in-between shows to grab the public's attention about this brand new thriller. To conclude, audiences would be attracted to our movie due to the use of posters, T.V spots and trailers, reeling in the older audiences.
Below are the two posters we designed for our piece:
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
DIGITAL VIDEO CAMCORDERS
We used a HD Panasonic Camcorder to film all the shots we needed and we found that it picked up a lot of detail, making it perfect for filming something professionally cheaply. It picked up the majority of what we wanted and the end result of our film was very good. However, I found, unless you are using an Audio Recorder alongside the Camcorder, noise was of the excess, ruining an almost perfect scene. In our film beginning, we have no sound – just recorded noise from the studio – however, it was impossible to rid the clips of all sound completely, leaving a faint buzzing behind, due to the camera’s sensitivity. The camera also had trouble picking up images in the dark, again strongly affecting the film’s quality. You will notice, as the widow proceeds into the Church, the lighting dims, changing the camera’s view. This affected us quite badly when it came to editing and took a lot of changing the gamma in order to get it right. Overall though, I believed we used the best equipment available and I have no come to terms with the workings of cameras fully.
APPLE MACS
I have never used an Apple Mac before in full detail, so to be let loose on one in order to create our video was great. Apple Macs are fantastic to use and they are specially designed for people who want to edit and play around with films and sounds, so it was perfect for creating a very detailed media piece cheaply. The programs we used were: Final Cut Express, Photoshop and Apple Film Titles and all of these helped us produce the quality of film we have now. Final Cut Express was the program we used the most, as it let us drag our film clips into it, add audio and effects or remove sounds. FCE is where we made the film into what it is and learning how to do so will come in handy in the future. Photoshop helped us with the advertising of the product where we dragged screenshots and added text. This helped us create the posters, displaying the title, a screenshot and the rating. Without Photoshop, I would have not been able to learn all about product advertising and what a great effect it had on products. Lastly, we used LiveText to create the very beginning of the film, with the blood red text, introducing the film and the characters. Without this, the audience would have no idea (without further research) who starred in the film and who directed and produced it. Without these three Apple applications, we would not have even known where to start when it comes to creating films.
CUBASE VST 3 & AUDIO RECORDER
We used Cubase as the main audio recorder for our film. Every single sound heard in the film was sat down and changed on Cubase. Without Cubase, we would have had to go through a lot of difficulty, changing and adding audio. It was relatively simple to use, even for my first time and I soon got the hang of it. Due to Cubase and its Audio equipment, I now have a through idea on how to work audio equipment for the future.
Overall, all three technologies helped us create a film which was of the highest standard because it allowed us to add, edit and remove any aspect we did not like and by doing so, our film came out of the highest quality. To conclude, I have learnt a lot when it comes to dealing with Apple Macs and its applications and I am sure it will help me in the future.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I was new to Media when I started it for A Level so my Preliminary task taught me a lot. It taught me the basics of camera and film editing usage, which came in handy because our product was entirely digital and therefore, learning these skills were vital. Not many of us knew how to use an Apple Mac or using Apple programs such as LiveText, Final Cut Express and Cubase VST3 so during the Preliminary Task we got to get to grips with using such complex equipment. Therefore, our Prelim task helped us learn and develop our skills when it came to creating short films.
In theory, we knew all about different camera shots and angles due to the fact that we had learn about it, but we had never been able to put it into full practise. Therefore, by using them in the Prelim task (such as the Over-The-Shoulder shot) helped us learn what sort of shots would suit films of a horror convention, such as the First Person shot for when the widow gets murdered. This suited the horror convention but not the Prelim film. This meant, by completing the Preliminary film, we found out what shots were vital for which convention.
Our Preliminary storyboard came in handy hugely and therefore we decided to use a very detailed one for the Final Film. This meant we had something solid to work off and develop from. Our Preliminary therefore taught us how important storyboards where and why they are used so widely in the film business.
Lastly, in our Preliminary film we did not have a very good or detailed script, letting down a potentially very good piece. So, for our Final Film, we prepared hugely, buying costumes and props and writing a script so we could be completely ready for when it came to filming. This paid off hugely because we produced a film of extremely high quality.
To conclude, our Preliminary film taught us a lot so when it came round to making the final film, we were prepared, had a storyboard, props, costume and a script ready so we could make the best possible film.
Our film is very much based on the four case studies, Sin City, Psycho, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and David Attwood’s Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles on BBC 2. All of these play a huge part in influencing our piece and our piece helps develop them.
The use of Sin City helped us think about colour focus and correction. We ended up not using colour focus in order to make certain colours stand out in the black and white persona. However, due to the fact that we wanted out piece to be completely back and white and not just grayscale, we used the gamma correction tool to get rid as much as the grey colour as possible, copying Sin City more. We also followed in the film’s footsteps by having a section of narration at the beginning; A lot like Sin City also. In this sense, we developed on Frank Miller’s original ideas and took Media products to a whole new level.
Sin City Colour Correction -
A Widow's Death Colour Correction -
From Hound of the Baskervilles we took the countryside idea, very fitting for a film set in 1843. If we were to continue and make the whole film, we would set all of it in the countryside, perhaps in a location like Dartmoor, due to its natural spookiness and melancholy-type feel. We developed on the idea that nature will always take its toll on people and in our film, a very religious effect is cast, adding an eerie feel to this satanic piece.
Hound of the Baskervilles Countryside -
The Widow's Death Countryside -
The world-wide famous film 'Psycho', made in 1960 directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the 'Master of Suspense also helped to bring across the medical condition schizophrenia. Psycho is the tale of a lone woman who stops off at a motel off the highway and meets the motel owner; Norman Bates who offers her a place to stay. Later on, she is showering and gets murdered by a woman with blond hair - known as the infamous Psycho Shower Scene. In the end, the murderer is Norman Bates, who acts as both himself and his deceased mother who he talks to and responds to himself. It is a superb classic which has defined horror and suspense cinema for years, and working off it made us feel that our piece would gain some more definitive culture, attracting the die-hard movie fans and driving our plot.
Lastly, we developed on the idea of Schizophrenia from the classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, using a disease to keep up a movie. This disease is unlike any other and it is done extremely well in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde due to the fact that they use a metaphor to explain it. This being when Dr. Jekyll takes the potion, he becomes Mr. Hyde – a much nastier version of himself; portraying the condition. In our film, we kept the condition obvious to the audience, just so they would know how much it affected the actual film. Overall, our product took a lot of inspiration from this original classic, and it was developed huge because of it.
To conclude, the three movies we drew inspiration from helped our piece hugely and it could not have been done with that inspiration. Our film helps challenge the former products, pushing the concepts to new levels, creating a new, brilliant media product.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our Questionnaire was the main thing driving our social group representation, so we always referred back to it if we wanted help. Our film was meant to scare people into emotional discomfort because a lot of people get thrills of that as they are being edged out of their comfort zones. Therefore, setting the opening of the film in a church would bring a religious, maybe slightly satanic, feel to the piece – A lot like the Omen or the Exorcist. The church is very traditional, therefore making it very old. The crumbling graves and the faded stain glass windows really helped to set the mood and set an eerie atmosphere. George Green, who played the murderer, was dressed in a long black cloak, holding an axe. This is a lot like The Shining (which is also a much liked horror movie). We tried to relate to certain social groups purely through different old and new horror movies, like the Shining or the Omen. Another favourite was The Exorcist. This way we could relate to horror fans from across the board and in this sense, our questionnaire helped us hugely.
The Widow’s Death –
The Shining –
3. What kind of media institution might distribute you media product and why?
Lionsgate
The reason for why I picked this media institution is because although our film is predominatly British, it's convention is that of a horror film and Lionsgate tend to back horror movies quite strongly. For example, Lionsgate to date have worked on all of the Saw films, with Saw VII coming later out this year and are working on a new product called 'Buried', a very unconvential horror film. Lionsgate also works with films of the Indie category such as 'Precious' and 'Why did I get married too?'. A recently released film called 'Whip It!' is an Indie comedy, supported by Lionsgate, with the director making her debut. This shows that Lionsgate are willing to take chances, making us a perfect pick. If the target audience found out that we were working with Lionsgate (which we would make very clear), they would show more of an interest because Lionsgate is so big. I can also see this film perhaps becoming big in America, due to its American actor; Robert Downey Jr. This will therefore help the movie become huge in the American box office and Britain would soon follow. Overall, I picked Lionsgate because of its favouritism towards horror and indie movies, which will help attract huge audiences from Britain and abroad.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
At first, the rating of 12A appealed to us the most, due to the fact that it would allow a bigger audience to come and see the movie, therefore increasing its popularity and of course, the Box Office totals. However, in order to achieve the horror feel, we had to raise the rating, just so we could make the film we always wanted to.
In the end, we chose the rating of 15 just so we could more substantial horror to achieve the desired effect. Therefore this film would appeal to older teenagers ranging up to older audiences. There is no specific limit on the age limit of people who come to see this, all that matters is that the wide stream audience meant for this movie, enjoy it to its full potential, making this small film a big hit.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
When starting off this film, we asked our audience: 'What makes a Horror Film?' and with the results we got, we based our final product on. The answers were mainly related around the actual sub-genres of horror movies, these being Slashers, Snuff, Physiological etc. We worked around the answer in order to please as many people as possible and although our film is of an Indie genre, we allowed different horror elements to be included to maximize impact.
In the media business, audiences are attracted by the content and the 'first look' of the product. In a film's case, this would be used by advertising, and our movie was no different. Through the use of posters, our film was advertised to the general public. If we were to make a complete film and not just the introduction, we would add a trailer, with certain movie shots explaining what the film is about and giving the audience a hunger for more. We used trailers like the ones in the 'Film Influences and Movie Trailers' to reel in our audience and to give them a taste for our newly-released film. 30 second T.V trailer ads would be shown in-between shows to grab the public's attention about this brand new thriller. To conclude, audiences would be attracted to our movie due to the use of posters, T.V spots and trailers, reeling in the older audiences.
Below are the two posters we designed for our piece:
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
DIGITAL VIDEO CAMCORDERS
We used a HD Panasonic Camcorder to film all the shots we needed and we found that it picked up a lot of detail, making it perfect for filming something professionally cheaply. It picked up the majority of what we wanted and the end result of our film was very good. However, I found, unless you are using an Audio Recorder alongside the Camcorder, noise was of the excess, ruining an almost perfect scene. In our film beginning, we have no sound – just recorded noise from the studio – however, it was impossible to rid the clips of all sound completely, leaving a faint buzzing behind, due to the camera’s sensitivity. The camera also had trouble picking up images in the dark, again strongly affecting the film’s quality. You will notice, as the widow proceeds into the Church, the lighting dims, changing the camera’s view. This affected us quite badly when it came to editing and took a lot of changing the gamma in order to get it right. Overall though, I believed we used the best equipment available and I have no come to terms with the workings of cameras fully.
APPLE MACS
I have never used an Apple Mac before in full detail, so to be let loose on one in order to create our video was great. Apple Macs are fantastic to use and they are specially designed for people who want to edit and play around with films and sounds, so it was perfect for creating a very detailed media piece cheaply. The programs we used were: Final Cut Express, Photoshop and Apple Film Titles and all of these helped us produce the quality of film we have now. Final Cut Express was the program we used the most, as it let us drag our film clips into it, add audio and effects or remove sounds. FCE is where we made the film into what it is and learning how to do so will come in handy in the future. Photoshop helped us with the advertising of the product where we dragged screenshots and added text. This helped us create the posters, displaying the title, a screenshot and the rating. Without Photoshop, I would have not been able to learn all about product advertising and what a great effect it had on products. Lastly, we used LiveText to create the very beginning of the film, with the blood red text, introducing the film and the characters. Without this, the audience would have no idea (without further research) who starred in the film and who directed and produced it. Without these three Apple applications, we would not have even known where to start when it comes to creating films.
CUBASE VST 3 & AUDIO RECORDER
We used Cubase as the main audio recorder for our film. Every single sound heard in the film was sat down and changed on Cubase. Without Cubase, we would have had to go through a lot of difficulty, changing and adding audio. It was relatively simple to use, even for my first time and I soon got the hang of it. Due to Cubase and its Audio equipment, I now have a through idea on how to work audio equipment for the future.
Overall, all three technologies helped us create a film which was of the highest standard because it allowed us to add, edit and remove any aspect we did not like and by doing so, our film came out of the highest quality. To conclude, I have learnt a lot when it comes to dealing with Apple Macs and its applications and I am sure it will help me in the future.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I was new to Media when I started it for A Level so my Preliminary task taught me a lot. It taught me the basics of camera and film editing usage, which came in handy because our product was entirely digital and therefore, learning these skills were vital. Not many of us knew how to use an Apple Mac or using Apple programs such as LiveText, Final Cut Express and Cubase VST3 so during the Preliminary Task we got to get to grips with using such complex equipment. Therefore, our Prelim task helped us learn and develop our skills when it came to creating short films.
In theory, we knew all about different camera shots and angles due to the fact that we had learn about it, but we had never been able to put it into full practise. Therefore, by using them in the Prelim task (such as the Over-The-Shoulder shot) helped us learn what sort of shots would suit films of a horror convention, such as the First Person shot for when the widow gets murdered. This suited the horror convention but not the Prelim film. This meant, by completing the Preliminary film, we found out what shots were vital for which convention.
Our Preliminary storyboard came in handy hugely and therefore we decided to use a very detailed one for the Final Film. This meant we had something solid to work off and develop from. Our Preliminary therefore taught us how important storyboards where and why they are used so widely in the film business.
Lastly, in our Preliminary film we did not have a very good or detailed script, letting down a potentially very good piece. So, for our Final Film, we prepared hugely, buying costumes and props and writing a script so we could be completely ready for when it came to filming. This paid off hugely because we produced a film of extremely high quality.
To conclude, our Preliminary film taught us a lot so when it came round to making the final film, we were prepared, had a storyboard, props, costume and a script ready so we could make the best possible film.
Friday 22 January 2010
Synopsis
'La Muerte De La Viuda - The Widow's Death' is a tragic horror story based on a young woman, who's life is taken from her. This sequence happens at the beginning where we as the audience wittness the murder at a local church. This happens on the 19th of June, 1843.
The rest of the film is set before this event - leading up to the finish, explaining why this woman was brutally murdered by this savage man in the 19th Century thriller. The film will contain two main characters, a lone Detective and a schizophrenic widow, played by Robert Downey Jr. due to his recent success with the new Sherlock Holmes movie and the new actress, Alice Mckenna. We picked these actors because I believe they have a lot of hidden potenial when it comes to a thriller/detective story.
After the murder at the beginning, it brings us back to a quiet household with a young woman making dinner for herself. There is a knock on the door and she answers it - but no one is there. The story goes on and the lone woman gets brutally murdered by a mystery man, with the audience not knowing who the murderer is. However, the audience suspect it is the same man as the murderer in the beginning sequence.
Throughout the film the audience see certain murders by the same mysterious man and have the detective follow his every move, eager to find out who the man really is. The audience will also view more flashbacks of the widow's life while her husband was still alive, leading to where it all went wrong.
Towards the end, the audience find out that the murderer is in fact the widow's husband and this eventually leads to the clip at the beginning, of the widow's death. The film then resets to the current time line having all of it been set before the murder at the beginning. The rest if the film is the final confrontation between the detective and the brutal killer with the killer being arrested and hung.
The rest of the film is set before this event - leading up to the finish, explaining why this woman was brutally murdered by this savage man in the 19th Century thriller. The film will contain two main characters, a lone Detective and a schizophrenic widow, played by Robert Downey Jr. due to his recent success with the new Sherlock Holmes movie and the new actress, Alice Mckenna. We picked these actors because I believe they have a lot of hidden potenial when it comes to a thriller/detective story.
After the murder at the beginning, it brings us back to a quiet household with a young woman making dinner for herself. There is a knock on the door and she answers it - but no one is there. The story goes on and the lone woman gets brutally murdered by a mystery man, with the audience not knowing who the murderer is. However, the audience suspect it is the same man as the murderer in the beginning sequence.
Throughout the film the audience see certain murders by the same mysterious man and have the detective follow his every move, eager to find out who the man really is. The audience will also view more flashbacks of the widow's life while her husband was still alive, leading to where it all went wrong.
Towards the end, the audience find out that the murderer is in fact the widow's husband and this eventually leads to the clip at the beginning, of the widow's death. The film then resets to the current time line having all of it been set before the murder at the beginning. The rest if the film is the final confrontation between the detective and the brutal killer with the killer being arrested and hung.
Sunday 3 January 2010
Textual Analysis
Inspiration from other movies always played a key part in our production, due to the fact that we worked off some particulary good pieces of film. The movies we fed from included Frank Miller's 'Sin City', Victor Flemming's 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho' and the brilliant 'Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles' (2002).
All 4 films were used to the maximum extent when it came to inspiration, with all sorts of shots used, mirroring ones from the movies themselves. The style used in our piece was influenced also, by the storylines and characters themselves, adding depth to our piece. This helped make our film gain more of a standing, therefore improving its quality.
Firstly, 'Sin City' was the first movie to come to mind when we all thought of effects for the film's introduction. Sin City's black and white effect was of a great interest to us when we first started to get it to the drawing board, so to speak. Sin City's colour scheme was a great attraction to us all, with it's compete black and white personna, with certain, vibrant colours standing out. With that in mind, we decided to make our introduction also in complete black and white, not greyscale. I believe that this was extremely effective because it gave it a more haunted look - therefore creating the desired effect.
When influenced by 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', directed by Victor Flemming in 1941, we decided to pick at certain aspects of the story line when putting our piece together. The idea of a split personality, or schizophrenia in other words, played a huge part in our own plot - with the un-named widow suffering from the condition. This is seen at the very beginning, with the diary entry. The condition will be used throughout the film as we look back into the widow's former life and see how the condition eventually led to her downfall. In this sense, we took from the movie of 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' on the condition of schizophrenia and how it drastically changes peoples' lives.
We chose 'Pyscho' because of what an influenctual horror it had been when released in 1960. At that time, Alfred Hitchcock was the best regarded director around and nicknamed 'The master of suspense' and for good reason too, 'Psycho' was one of his many films which thrilled and terrified audiences across the globe. I decided to work of 'Pyscho' for the reason for why I worked off 'Dr. Jeckyll...' because it had a plot about the disease schizophrenia, as well as being a brilliant horror film. We can also relate ours to it because of how ours looks. 'Psycho', being made in 1960, was set in black and white and because we were trying to work off 'Sin City', ours was too. This made the two more relateable and our piece a lot better for it.
Lastly, a great influence which worked its way through to our piece was 'Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles' directed by David Attwood, made in 2002 and broadcasted over the BBC. This is my favourite adaption of the Hound of the Baskervilles purely because of its intense take on a Sherlock Holmes classic. The version fell into our piece due to the surroundings of the plot - with the whole story taking place on Dartmoor. The moors were done in a very spooky way, increasing the tension to the film. We wanted the same effect throughout our film, so we picked a church to film the introduction and the death of the widow. This gave the place a timeless setting, and with the 'Sin City' black and white effect, it worked extremely well. Also, the rest of our story contained a detective, a detective modelled on Sherlock Holmes. The Sherlock Holmes in the chosen film was found as a very solid adaptation to base our detective around. This is what we took from the brilliant adaptation of a very original and very spooky story.
All 4 films were used to the maximum extent when it came to inspiration, with all sorts of shots used, mirroring ones from the movies themselves. The style used in our piece was influenced also, by the storylines and characters themselves, adding depth to our piece. This helped make our film gain more of a standing, therefore improving its quality.
Firstly, 'Sin City' was the first movie to come to mind when we all thought of effects for the film's introduction. Sin City's black and white effect was of a great interest to us when we first started to get it to the drawing board, so to speak. Sin City's colour scheme was a great attraction to us all, with it's compete black and white personna, with certain, vibrant colours standing out. With that in mind, we decided to make our introduction also in complete black and white, not greyscale. I believe that this was extremely effective because it gave it a more haunted look - therefore creating the desired effect.
When influenced by 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', directed by Victor Flemming in 1941, we decided to pick at certain aspects of the story line when putting our piece together. The idea of a split personality, or schizophrenia in other words, played a huge part in our own plot - with the un-named widow suffering from the condition. This is seen at the very beginning, with the diary entry. The condition will be used throughout the film as we look back into the widow's former life and see how the condition eventually led to her downfall. In this sense, we took from the movie of 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' on the condition of schizophrenia and how it drastically changes peoples' lives.
We chose 'Pyscho' because of what an influenctual horror it had been when released in 1960. At that time, Alfred Hitchcock was the best regarded director around and nicknamed 'The master of suspense' and for good reason too, 'Psycho' was one of his many films which thrilled and terrified audiences across the globe. I decided to work of 'Pyscho' for the reason for why I worked off 'Dr. Jeckyll...' because it had a plot about the disease schizophrenia, as well as being a brilliant horror film. We can also relate ours to it because of how ours looks. 'Psycho', being made in 1960, was set in black and white and because we were trying to work off 'Sin City', ours was too. This made the two more relateable and our piece a lot better for it.
Lastly, a great influence which worked its way through to our piece was 'Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles' directed by David Attwood, made in 2002 and broadcasted over the BBC. This is my favourite adaption of the Hound of the Baskervilles purely because of its intense take on a Sherlock Holmes classic. The version fell into our piece due to the surroundings of the plot - with the whole story taking place on Dartmoor. The moors were done in a very spooky way, increasing the tension to the film. We wanted the same effect throughout our film, so we picked a church to film the introduction and the death of the widow. This gave the place a timeless setting, and with the 'Sin City' black and white effect, it worked extremely well. Also, the rest of our story contained a detective, a detective modelled on Sherlock Holmes. The Sherlock Holmes in the chosen film was found as a very solid adaptation to base our detective around. This is what we took from the brilliant adaptation of a very original and very spooky story.
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