Horror Film Feedback

James, Ashley and myself (Mart) presented our horror film idea to the rest of the class.

On feedback they felt that our idea was suitable for a 15 certificate and for the audience that the 15 rating would bring. We moulded our idea to make it into a 15 as we felt that having a 18 certificate horror film would be to 'samey' as most horror films are 18's and that it would limit the audience that we felt we could reach out to.

The class liked our idea and commented that it was a good idea as it was simple yet effective, this is exactly what we tried to make. When you look at many other great films or drama's the plot that makes it so good is very often a very simple idea but drawn to the audience in such a way that makes them wanting to know more along with being gripped into the storyline. Why try to over complicate things when you could stay simple, why create a average complicated film when you could make a brilliant simple yet effective film?

The location which is set in St. Matthews church in Pentrich was another issue that arose, did we have the location for definite? Yes we responded, we have to fit our filming into the events that the church host such as church congregation and other meetings that are held there but there is enough time when it is empty when we will be able to film at the location. Another question was how are we all going to meet up as we all live quite a considerable distance away from each other and for James and Ashley the church location. I live the nearest to the church (5 minutes at the most), Ashley has friends/family that live close by as well and James is willing to catch a bus to meet up with us the problem of meeting up isn't a very big one.

The victim and the 'monster' was next on the list. Was the victim going to be a male or female?
To be honest we aren't quiet sure but we are edging towards a female victim as they would be the sort of people who might go to a church when they feel upset where as a male would just brush it off. The 'monster' that comes to get the victim is going to be a child threat, we haven't decided if the child will have lots of make-up on and have a scary costume on but all these details will be decided when we next have a brainstorming session.

As our film will be filmed early in the year, lighting might be difficult to arrange especially if we are shooting bits of footage outside of the church. When we are inside lighting wont be a problem as we will have electricity from the church's mains but having to have cables everywhere for filming outside might be a problem as we wont have big portable lighting like they have in movie sets.

Issues of continuity was also brought up, as our 'monster' vanishes and appears again somewhere else when the lights turn on and off, the 'monster' does this and slowly gets nearer and nearer to the victim before they sense that something is directly behind them. As we would be cutting at every 'monster' move the victim and props will have to be exactly the same and be in exactly the same place when we start to film again as any slight movement or minor detail missing or changed will come up on the big screen very obviously.

The overall impression that the class gave to our idea was very good and we will use the feedback to our advantage to create a great horror film, we can't wait to get filming!

Homework - Marking of previous students work

- Firstly read through the mark scheme to get an idea of each level. (Level 1 - 1-15, 2 - 16-30, 3 - 31-45. 4 - 46-60) 

- Then watch all 5 videos

-  Mark each one out of 60 and explain why?

Ashley Radford Assignment

Our group decided to re-create forty seconds of 'Pendant', which was a Horror Film created by previous Media Students.

'Pendant' is a Psychological Horror, and this is what we plan to make we film our final Horror Film. Unfortunately, due to no fault of my own, I was absent when filming, so a lot more pressure was on the other members in my group to film with only two people as I had sorted out the actors. As I was unable to film, I have re-edited the clip to show my skills and prove that I have had a part to do with the preliminary exercise.

Use of the Camera

As I didn't film, the skills I will talk about are the skills of the other members in my group.

They used a variety of different shot types in appropriate places which I felt worked well and with good effect. The shots were very steady and looked good. There is one scene that I edited where the screen does shake in an 'earthquake' effect, but I feel this works well.

The shots we framed appropriately as there is enough lead room for the actor to walk into, but I feel on some of the shots there is a little bit too much head room, but only by a fraction. There is plenty of film to work with, which was a great help when editing as there were numerous takes on certain clips, so that I could chose the best one to edit. There was good used of composition techniques as the 'golden mean' was obviously thought about and was stuck to throughout when necessary.

Use of Editing

I tried to apply the rules of continuity editing as much as possible when I editing the footage. As the footage had no continuity errors, this made my job a lot easier. For example the '180 degree' rule was stuck to. As said above, there was a lot of footage, so there was a larger amount to deal with, which made getting a good shot was easier. In the final edit, most of the shots did flow together, but I feel I could have edited them a bit better so they did look more professional.

I didn't use any transitions as I felt that there were no appropriate places in the film where they were needed. There is limited number of transitions that work well with Horror Films and none of them fitted into out film without them looking out of place.

Selection of Content

In this small film we have not really used any costumes that would be associated with Horror film. But as ours is a Psychological horror, with no real ‘blood and gore’ then we feel that the costumes that we have used are appropriate as in the original ‘Pendant’ the clothes the actor is wearing and everyday clothes. The film was shot in college, which isn’t ideal, but because we all live so far apart and had little time to film it, our schedule didn’t permit us to film on a possible better location. I do feel that under the circumstances the location does work reasonably well as all the props we needed e.g. a bench and bushes were there already. I had sorted out the actors and gave them a rough idea of what was going to happen, but as I was not there, the other member’s of my group had to improvise and Mart starred in it himself. This wasn’t a major issue, but would help if we had proper actors they the whole group could be behind the camera putting all our views together

Self-Assessment

We all had a lot to do the pre-filming preparation e.g. storyboarding so we can all be pleased with that stage of film making. As I was unable to film, I did edit the whole film again myself as well as the clip edited by James and Mart. I feel their edited clip is slightly better than the version I edited myself as they had two people to edit it, combining their ideas together. Obviously if we filmed again I would like to be there so I could put my input into the filming.

When we do our final coursework, none of us will be acting, so all of us can be behind the camera and directing our actors so that they know what we are looking for.

  

Preliminary Exercise Film

This is our short Preliminary film. As I missed last weeks lesson, the previous video was edited by James and Mart, and this was edited by Ashley.
I don't think the editing too well as I was unaware of the order in which clips were meant to go as as I was not here when filming.

James Gao Assignment

1.Use of the Camera
Our finished work  shows what we have learnt about the techniques of using camera during the last few weeks.
Since we used the tripod throughout the process,we successfully made almost all our shots steady,therefore the clip we made looks relatively developed.However we may also meet the situation where tripod cannot be used when shooting our final piece,  so we still need to practicing using camera.
We have framed our shots appropriately, because the way to frame a shot is often discussed by members of the group rather than decided by the camera man himself.Therefore the positions where camera is put are often well chosen.
We included a variety of shot types in the clip, using them appropriately at the same time.I think what we need to improve is make the shot types more expressive,which can make our clip more attractive.
Composition techniques were never forgotten while shooting.We always follows the rules of three thirds ,so the audience can see that characters are often conspicuous on the screen.We also managed to make some shots meaningful through using the composition techniques.
2.Use of Editing
We tried to follow the rules of editing but some small mistakes we made when shooting affected the continuity.Still, the clip looks fluent in general because the mistakes had been hidden while editing.
We did not use any editing transitions because we want to make our clip natural. 
3,Selection of Content
In the clip we just made  we didn't  pay much attention to costume or make-up because characters and plots are not complex.However it will become a big problem when we are making the final work  since these will be what the audience  see on screen and it helps create the whole atmosphere.
Since it was just a test clip so we chose the football field in college as our location for convenience.
It was not a very good location at first because there were always people walking around, however we eventually improved it by changing exposure when editing to make it darker.
Mart in our group was the actor.Although he did very well ,we still need more actor/actresses if we want to shoot a completed horror film.The advantage to use the member in group is  that he can understand the storyboard much better.
4.Self-assessment
Unluckily there were only two members who produced the short clip, so Mart and I need to share the work and do more than usual.My job was to draw the storyboard, filming and editing,which was what Mart did as well.The filming work was mostly done by me.I am happy with what i did because it doesn't look bad.Further more, through operating the camera alone this time, I am more confident when using the camera.
There are a lot of improvements can be made to the finished film.Music is a new but important problem for us to think about because we tried using several pieces of music to illustrate the atmosphere of the film but didn't achieve the best effect.I think we can improve it if we do more work about the soundtrack.
I don't think it will be different for me when it comes to the final work because I am very happy about what I do in our group and I think I can make some improvements in the final work. 
 

Mart Smith Individual Assignment

AS Media Studies
Half Term Homework Assignment

I worked with James and Ashley to produce a 40 second clip of a horror film produced by previous years students. 

We decided to reproduce a clip from 'Pendant' in the psychological genre in horror films. On the day we filmed and edited the clip Ashley was absent so he has subsequently edited the film that we shot to show his skills.

1.Use of the Camera

For our reproduction of the 40 second clip we had to use our new found skills in camera work. Throughout the film we shot the camera shot was steady throughout and only shuddered when we felt the need in the editing stage. 

We appropriately framed the shots following the golden mean rule and the rule of thirds. We made sure that the actor was in the camera shot in the correct position for the shots which meant that the clip was easy to edit afterwards. 

We used a variety of shots when we initially filmed the clip but in editing we cut out a lot of close ups as we felt that it detracted from the atmosphere of the overall clip. We used composition techniques to our advantage as they helped to keep a pace on the clip so that the acting and movements led into something that the viewer would expect.

2.Use of Editing

We used the rules of continuity editing to make the shots flow and merge together without the viewer noticing too much. When we were editing we had a lot of shots that seemed right and good at the time of filming but when we looked over them in the editing suite we felt that they wouldn't be of use which narrowed down the amount of clips that we could actually use in our reproduction. 

We didn't include any editing transitions for the clips that we shot but we looking at the final version of the clip we think that if we had used any transitions then it may have made the clip look dodgy.

3.Selection of Content

Our finished work doesn't really show that we can choose appropriate costumes, make-up and props as they weren't used in our clip as we didn't have any monsters etc that needed to be in the clip. The only prop that was used was a mobile phone which was used in replace of the pendant as we couldn't get one to use for filming. 

The location was the best we could use due to the circumstances in that we filmed, we feel that even though it was in college the use of the surroundings made it not feel like a basic location. 

When we came to film the clip we had to use ourselves as the actors as one of our group members was absent and he had arranged for his friends that the other group members didn't know to act for us. So instead of having actors we had to multi task by filming and acting at the same time.

4.Self-assessment

As we only had two people in our group when we came to filming and editing the two members had to split the work of the absent member between ourselves that meant that we had to film, act and edit when if the absent member was present we could have shared out the roles. In the planning stage of our clip drew half of the storyboard and found the location for filming. When we were filming I did most of the initial camera positioning and shot framing before I then become the actor in the clip. In the editing suite I gave my opinions on how the clips should go and edited them together to show James.

We worked well together when we were editing as we both could tell if a shot looked good or if something didn't and either of us could make it look right. If we could reproduce what we had already reprodued then I feel that we could make it even better as we would find a better location outside of college and by having the third member of our group present along with actual actors then the whole clip would look a whole lot better. By cutting out the sound and merging different sound clips we could add more presence of the fear that we tried to replicate from the film 'Pendant'. 

The things we would do differently when we come to do our final coursework film is shoot on location, have actors instead of acting ourselves, produce background music that works well with the visual film to create a tense, fearful atmosphere and to film a lot more than we actually need so that when we come to editing we can use a lot more different show types without sacrificing the look of the clip.

Mart Smith

Video Skills Practical Assessment

AS Example Film

This is the Psychological Horror film that we are going to create for our preliminary exercise. We are going to remake the first 40 seconds bar a few scenes, which we think will make our remake better. 


We are doing this to improve and bring together all the skills that we have learnt so far since we have started. It will be a good experience, to prepare us for when we shoot our actual film in weeks to come.

Composition Exercise

This week we had a go at shooting a short film, focusing on composition. The film was based on someone waiting for another person, them having a short conversation, then them both walking off with each other up the stairs.


While shooting most of the time we filmed using the golden mean which means splitting the screen into 9 boxes, commonly known as the rule of thirds. We feel we have took to the rule reasonably well with a few exceptions where we feel we could improve our work if we shot it again.


Another key point whilst thinking about composition is looking at the amount of headroom above the actors head. We had to make sure there was enough room, but not too much as if there was a large amount the viewer would be drawn to the space above his head, rather that the actor himself. If we could do this again, I think we would as on a few shots we have left a bit too much room and the viewer immediately spotted this and pointed it out.


In our short film we had to think about giving the actors lead room to walk into or talk into. We think we have given enough lead room for the actors whilst not having too much as it would appear to the viewer as 'dead' space.


When we came to editing the film we realised that we hadn't shot a clip which was necessary to make the clip flow. If we would have shot this, it would have improved our short film, whilst thinking about composition.

Practical Continuity Exercise

This week, we filmed another short clip based around continuity and coverage. The footage was of Mart walking up the stairs, looking at his watch, then leaving out of the door.


Although our clip is relatively short, we feel we have gave it a good go. The reason for our clip being so short is because we edited too much out as our camera skills weren't up to scratch. But we now know what we did wrong, so hopefully next time, this mistakes will no longer be apparent.


Our continuity of our short clip is reasonably good as the individual clips do flow but not as well as we would have liked. Considering that it is our first attempt at these kind of shots we are quite pleased with the results.


The framing of shots along with the variety of shot types make the short clip look more professional even though we were still rookies at filming. 


In our original plan we planned to have a number of varied shots, all but one of these are included in our final clip. The one that isn't is a extreme close up of the watch but due to our basic filming skills the shot wasn't long enough as the arm was shaking. 


The final clip does flow and has a bit of pace to it as it is easy to watch on the eye and there are no obvious mistakes.


If we had to do this again we would try to film for longer on each shot so when we come to editing we aren't left with a clip a second long instead of a longer on that has more editing freedom. 

Shooting Exercise

We have used a variety of different shots, and filming techniques such as panning. A few examples of different shot types that we have used are close ups, long shots and high angled shots.

We planned to do the different shots on the staircase and stuck to our original plan. Also we added extra shots to enhance our film further.

We created the relationship between characters so that we have a good atmosphere of stalking. We also change the speed of some clips to make them creepy.

If we were to do this exercise again, we would ask drama students to do the acting, as this would make our film look more professional. This would also enable us to concentrate more on our filming skills and help us to improve them.

First Blog

Over the next few weeks we will be learning about the following things;
camera framing, shot types, continuity, story boarding and genre conventions.


Camera framing will be important for our horror film as doing this successfully enhances the atmosphere of the film. Framing is very important as by having a number of shots all framed differently, this will make the film look more professional.


Different shot types will be useful as they give a range of different perspectives from all angles that will engage the viewer. In horror film, there needs to be a variety of different shots to give an extra edge to the film.


Continuity will help us arrange the pace of film, so it help the film to flow more smoothly. For example, if the actor/actress has his/her shirt untucked in one scene, then in the next scene, it also has to be untucked until the shirt is tucked in on screen. Little errors like this down grade the professionalism of the movie/clip itself.


Storying boarding enables a basic structure of the film to be replicated from head to the final film itself. If storyboarding isn't used then the planning stage of production is missed out and this may lead to clips not being filmed in the way they need to be and the whole film not flowing as well. 


We will be assessed by recreating a 30/40 second clip of a previous year students horror film, in a group of three. This will be our preliminary exercise, and for our main assessment, we will be creating our own horror film, based on our own ideas.