Final piece- Lighting

Lighting in our final piece:

The location of our final piece was in an underground cellar which provided us with no natural light. This worked to our advantage in a way as it meant we would not have to worry about the changes in light, which would occur throughout the day. However, this meant we had to use our creative initiative to provide our own lighting. 

We gained the majority of our lighting through candle light as this granted a natural, warm glow which made the location seem more realistic:

This was effective as the warmness of the candles produced an eerie atmosphere due to the shadows created which highlighted the authenticity of the walls and the cracks within them. However, this candle light was not powerful enough to light the whole room so we had to improvise. We did not own any professional lighting equipment therefore we resulted to the torch on our phone. However, we realised that this created a light which was too white and dissipated the warm tones we were aiming for. Therefore we covered the light with a piece of yellow paper to act as filter. This ended up working very effectively and lighted up the whole environment fully whilst giving it an eerie appearance. 
We also liked the fact that the lighting produced many shadows around the room giving it depth which ensures some areas are darkened making it compliment the genre perfectly.   

Filming Schedule - Day 3

Filming Schedule

For our final day of filming, we have been able to get permission to go off site during school hours, to go to a church when it is open, so that we can film from inside. By doing so, we will be able to complete our montage editing part of the sequence. 

The day we have chosen to film is 31/1/17. Our aim for our final day of filming, is to get as much footage of religious imagery such as stain glass windows and crosses as possible. Our main aim, is to get as big as a variety as possible of camera angles, movement and framing.

The filming schedule for 31/1/17:

0745: Meet at location (church)

0800: Set up camera equipment

0810: Film as much religious imagery as possible

0900: Review our shots

0930: Try various camera angles, framing and movement of different shots

1000: Re-film any necessary shots (both inside and out of the church)

1030: Review shots again and re-film any necessary shots

1100: Back to school

Hopefully, by following this schedule, we will be able to achieve all the shots we wanted with the diverse use of camera framing, movement and angles. And by doing so, finish our editing of our film opening. 

-Caera Mendez

Film Deconstruction - 'Halloween'

'Halloween' -Opening Scene Analysis And Deconstruction

Directed by John Carpenter, the 1978 slasher film, is set in a small suburban town in western Illinois. It strongly sticks to the conventions of a usual slasher films by including gore and a masked killer.

Mise en Scene:

Location:

• The house is filled with normal day to day items to create the sense of realism for the audience.
• Also, as it is the victims home, it is more close to home for both the victim and the audience so therefore creating a more sympathetic and fearful feel from the audience. 
• For example, it has furniture which is usual and common to that time period which not only creates realism but also the thought that it can happen to anyone amongst the audience
• The house is also decorated modernly to incorporate the sense of realism again
• The house is shown as friendly family home to prove the innocence of the victims to make the audience sympathise with the victim more.

Furniture and interior 

• The house shown at the beginning of the scene contains muted colours for a  homely feel
• The decor is basic and simple with no extreme tastes or styles which may be distracting. This also keeps the scene relatable to as wide of an audience as possible.
• There is a large dining table which suggests the building is a family home.
• Also, in part of the sequence, there are children toys visible once again promoting the concept of a family friendly home. 

Clothing

• The characters are wearing very typical teenage clothes which makes them more relatable
• Towards the end of the scene the girl wears very little clothing, which may hint at her promiscuity. The conventions of slasher films mean that often the flirtatious female character is killed, so clothing her in this way foreshadows her death.
• At the very end of the opening, the boy is shown to be wearing a clown costume. Clowns are a common fear of many, so the use of this costume plays on the contemporary audience's fears. However, clowns are also often use for fun and pleasure for children, thus subverting there normal use.
• The young boy carries a knife which informs the audience that it was he who previously killed the woman.
• The two men surrounding the young boy are wearing smart suits, which is a symbol of their authority and power over the young boy. This is interesting because it is actually the young boy who has the power in this scene as he takes the life of another.

Hairstyles and Makeup

• The scene features very little evidence of creative hair and makeup design - the costumes are kept simple to make the characters as relatable as possible.
• The 'killer', when shown has a mask on, perhaps hiding not just his identity but also his age as he is such a young child.

Lighting:

• The scene is set at night time which gives an eerie low lighting effect.
• The house, when the killer enters, is shown to be low lit, so therefore, also low key lighting, so continuing the eerie atmosphere of the scene.
• There seems to be full shadow over the victims face, using backlight only; thus promoting her insignificance and lack of sympathy for her death to the killer.

Camera Framing and Camera Angles:

• When killing his victim, a point of view shot is used to create an ominous effect for the audience. Also, the framing of this shot seems to be quite low down, perhaps foreshadowing for the viewers that the killer is a child.
• Also, in the final scene, the dolly shot moving away from the child, also creates a foreshadowing effect for the audience as it leaves an unanswered question as to whether or not the child actually committed the crime. 
• The point of view shot, also implies that the crime was committed purposely by the killer.

Editing:

• During the murder scene, there is an effect to show that the killer is wearing a mask perhaps to hide his identity and human like features from the victim. - However, it later shows that this does not work because of the the victim then questions his identity.

Sound:

• The off-screen diegetic screaming of the victim promotes her fear and terror as she is being killed.
• The off-screen non-diegetic music has a slight build up to create tension for the audience. It is also very much the stereotypical slasher genre music, making it obvious to the viewers the type of film and what to expect. For example, gruesome and gruelling scenes.
• The off-screen diegetic sound of the crickets the desolation and isolation of the location and how far they are from everything else and therefore conforming with the slasher genre. 
• The off-screen diegetic sound of the knife coming into contact with the victim accentuates the gruesome extent of the attack. It also makes the scene quite difficult to watch as it sounds so life like, making the audience quite uncomfortable. 
• At the end of the opening, the music builds up greatly to emphasise the significant of his crime as well as who the killer is himself. 

-Caera Mendez

New Line Cinema Research

New Line Cinema Research

• New Line Cinema was founded by Robert Shaye in 1967 as an American film distribution company when it later became an independent filming studio.
• After merging with Turner Broadcasting System in 1994 and then with Time Warner in 1996, it finally merged with Warner Bros in 2008, which it still remains with today.

It has created some of the most successful films in the industry, with it's highest grossing films including top horror films such as 'The Conjuring' and the 'Final Destination' series. Pictured below are New Line Cinema's highest grossing film to this day:

We decided to use this distribution company for our opening along with Twisted Pictures for multiple reasons:

1. As it is paired with one of the biggest film companies in the industry (Warner Bros.)
2. It has also helped distribute some of the most well known and successful horror films in the business, as well as other genres such as the Lord of the Rings series. 
3. Unlike other independent studios such as Orion Pictures or Cannon Film, New Line Cinema has grown to become one of Hollywood's biggest production companies, proving its ability and successes.

Shown below is the New Line Cinema logo:

-Caera Mendez

Review of Filming - Day Two

Review Of Filming

The Church:

Due to us having to wait until around five o'clock to begin filming so we could get consistent lighting, the church was closed so we could not get inside. However, we were still able to film numerous shots from the outside of the church of religious imagery which we could incorporate in our montage editing flashbacks. We also had the opportunity to work and practise with the camera and the stabiliser. 

Due to us filming at night, we found it quite difficult to get perfect lighting so that objects could be seen on camera. However we were able to overcome this by using torches on our mobile and standing around ten feet behind the camera itself. 

We were also able to play with a range of shots with numerous framing and angles. We got numerous mid shots as well as low shots, this will vary our sequence and help advance our opening as much as possible.

We were also, due to the location, really able to play around with mese en scene, as shown in the images below. We had the ability to use real stain glass windows and crosses from the church. This meant that we can up the amount of religious imagery and symbolism we use in opening to make it as effective as possible. 

-Caera Mendez

Pre-Production - Make Up

PRE-PRODUCTION

Due to our theme of stigmata, we had many pre-production practices with SFX to create as life-like and effective scaring as possible. Here is some small short clips of our numerous practices with the latex and the fake blood.

-Caera Mendez

Filming Schedule

Filming Schedule

Filming Day 2

We decided to create a filming schedule for the second day of filming in order to organise our time efficiently.

We had obtained satisfactory footage of all shots including the makeup special effects which left us with the other half of footage to complete, this being the religious montage we wanted to create. We decided that the best location for this would be within a church setting as this is epitome of religious mise en scene.

The day we have chose to film the second part of our footage is 25/01/17. Here, we aim to form several shots of religious objects such as stained glass windows and statues. We will form a variety of camera movements and try and include some camera techniques such as match on action. 

The filming schedule for 25/01/17 :
1630: Meet at location (church)
1645: Set up camera equipment  
1700: Filming inside of the church
1800: Review shots on the camera
1815: Continue filming or re-filming shots
1845: Move to the outside of the church
1900: Filming the outside of the church 
1920: Review the outside shots
1935: Continue filming/re-filming
1950: Pack equipment away
2000: Finish 

We have finished at 8 therefore if any misfortunes are to occur we are prepared to spend time after 8o clock  to film if it is necessary. 

Twisted Pictures Research

Twisted Pictures

While editing our horror film, we decided that we needed to settle on a film production company to show at the beginning of our film opening. One that immediately sprung to mind was Twisted Pictures, which is an American independent production label. 

Upon further research, we learned that the production company was initiated in 2004, with their most famous project being the Saw series. 

Twisted Pictures appear to take in a large revenue. As shown in their filmography below, on some of their more popular films they have made a huge profit. For example, the film Saw saw a 8,591% return on their million-dollar investment. Hopefully this provides evidence that Twisted Pictures would be a suitable candidate in terms of handling and promoting a horror film.

Twisted Pictures also produced two horror games based on Saw, which shows that the company are interested in horizontal integration.

Why would we potentially want to use Twisted Pictures as our production company of choice?

• It is an independent label - due the to the fact that we have a low budget, an independent company would best assist us and meet our needs
• It focuses on the horror genre 
• It places a focus on unique horror narratives, which would be suitable for our religion-based horror

Review of Filming Day One

Review of Filming

Day One: The Cellar

To organise our day efficiently, we stuck to the filming schedule as rigidly as possible. This allowed us to ensure we fit a substantial amount of work in a day's filming.

Objectives We Overcame:

• The candles we used to light the cellar ran out after around 45 minutes - we had to replace these frequently, carefully ensuring we placed them in the same places.
• The ceiling on the staircase to the cellar was extremely low - we had to carry objects to the landing one by one which was fairly time consuming.

Overall, our filming day was successful and we managed to film everything we had planned to. As it stands we should not have to re-film any of the scenes involving SFX makeup, which is good to reduce the likelihood of continuity errors.

Media Techniques

Media Techniques

Match on action: 

Match on action is a term used to identify a technique which is commonly used within film production. It is created during the editing process where one shot cuts to another portraying a movement creating a sense on continuity. The shots should be cut seamlessly as though the viewers attention is not drawn to the cuts but to the continuous movement. The shot should seem fluid and mask the cut. One of the most common examples of match on action occurs when someone passes through a door and an example of this is below:

180 degree rule:

The 180 degree rule occurs when all filming only takes place in the 180 degrees which is maintained one side of the object. The camera remains on one side of the 180 degree axis for the entire scene. An imaginary line should be drawn perpendicular to the cameras viewpoint when establishing the scene but must remain on this side throughout. Is often used in conversation scenes where several over the shoulder shots will occur to really engage the audience within the conversation. 

 

Shot, reverse shot: 

The shot reverse shot usually enties with the 180 degree rule in order to maintain the sense of contituity by not distorting or confusing the view of the audience. It is an editing techniques where a shot is shown of one person looking at the second person and then a second shot shows the reverse of this where the second person is then looking at the first.