This particular theory was suggested by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in 1972.It was originally suggested that the content that is presented in the media created a general public idea, in the sense that they can influence what to think, but they may also tell you what to think about. Within particular news displays, by editors and broadcasters, individuals can play an important part in shaping the view given to certain events in reality. Is often used in political ads, campaigns and news.
There are in fact two levels of the agenda setting theory:
- First Level:
The idea that the media uses objects or issues to influence the people what people should think about and this is mostly studied by researchers,
-Second level:
Media attempts to depict focuses on the certain characters in society and influence peoples view about them.
After completing our film opening, we were left with an immensely difficult decision of what to name our sequence. After hours of deliberation, we formed a spider diagram containing a huge variety of possible options:
We analysed all of our suggestions and formed a list of the top 5. We then did a survey for people to vote between our top 4 which were: -The Crypt -Possessed -The Martyr -The Sacrifice https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/L3NZVD6 We then gathered the results from out survey and discussed the outcome to help influence out decision:
From analysing our results, we could see that 'The Crypt' was the most popular option followed by ' Possessed'. We thought 'The Crypt' was very fitting as a 'Crypt' is an underground room underneath a church and since we included a lot of religious imagery in our sequence this name complements the theme perfectly. Additionally, there were several shots of our protagonist in an isolated underground location which could represent some sort of crypt too. Therefore we settled with this option and used this to name our opening sequence.
We wanted to ensure we had a variety of options of production companies to choose from before settling on a final decision. Therefore research on a major company such a Warner Bros was useful to expand our knowledge within this area.
Warner Bros. Entertainment inc. is an American entertainment company, head quartered in Burbank, California and is one of the "Big Six" major American film studios. It is responsible for the development and production of several blue -ray, digital distribution, comic books, video games and broadcasting with its most successful project being the eight Harry Potter films.
Being one of the most prestigious and valuable companies in the world, it consists of more than 75,000 hours of programming, along with almost 7,000 feature films and a huge 5,000 television programs which are individually comprised by multiple of thousands of individual episodes.
Warner Bros demonstrated its potential to create a huge revenue in 2015, as it was it's fifth consecutive year to reach over 3 billion receipts. This company have produced various horror films which is the genre we are interested in. These consist of 'Annabelle', 'The Conjuring', 'Lights Out' and 'The Exorcist'. This is useful to know as this makes it a strong option that may be suitable for out film opening. Below is the Warner Bros. Pictures introduction:
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 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.
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.
When filming our opening seen we wanted a large amount of focus to be put on the mise en scene, especially the props and lighting as we belived this would be the most effecive way to portray the film genre as well as hinting at where the story of the film was going to lead.
Props
We had previously done a significant amont of research into religous symbolism which benefited us during the process of choosing our props to include in our sequence as it provided us with an idea of what would work. We gathered bibles and many candles as they would portray a clear religious asthetic. Within the house of the artists, we discovered several items which we belived would be perfect for our set and to help produce the eery atmosphere we were aiming to acheive. We found these old books, (shown in the picture beside), which were extremely tattered and had several symbols on them. We thougth they complemented our film genre suitably so we added them to our set. Beneaththem is an old wooden box which we also found amongst the items in the house. We thought this also complemented the theme we were going for and I was please with this find.
We placed a candel next to the accumilation of books and the bible which, I belive, transformed the set into soemthing much more eerier and spookier to look at. The candle had a metal holder which had intricate detail surrounding the base giving it an ancient and more effective appearance. The candel also prodcued adequate lighting to light up the area and using this ensured that the lighing would stay consistent throughout.
In addition, we also found this chair which was clearly rather old due to the several marks and scratches it had attained. However, this gave it a more mysterious and synister look which we belived would work well for our protagonist to sit on. The rope upon it was also added to increase the effect of the mise en scene as it all worked together to produce a rather feared and mysterious appearance.
We felt it was relevent to include a cross during the opening scene since we were inspired by the large amount of religious symbolism in the film 'Stigmata'. In order to create this we found two planks of wood and created one longer piece and one shorter piece. We then tied them together using string to create the cross formation. After this, we added some fake blood at the ends of the horizontal piece and at the bottom on the vertical piece to replicate the areas that blood would have reached during Jesus' crucifixion.
Once the cross was positioned in place and amongst the candles, we thought that the tattered and broken look about it worked effectively and complemented the tattered style of the books and the old walls. Several, tealights were added around the room which not only produced light but also created a very mysterious and dismal atmosphere.
The location we finally decided on was in an old cellar. This was currently being used as storage space and consisted of such materials and objects like paint pots and building materials which filled the area completely, however we saw potential within the asthetic of the old walls and the dark space to create an effective filming enviroment once the contents were cleared. Therefore, we took time out of our filming scedual to remove everything and carry it up to the landing untill we were satisfied with thelocation and when we felt it was suitable to film in and would produce the best picture possible. This is a time lapse i created to show evidence of the task:
This process was very strenuous and took some time however, fortunately, we had accounted for this time within our filming scedual and we were very pleased with the outcome of the location after the clearing procedure:
When reviewing our survey results, we analysed some of our key findings that we will take into deep consideration when filming our own opening scene and will be very useful when looking for inspiration for our own story line. They include:
Q- What time of day to film?
There was a clear result to this question as the most favoured time of day to film was at night. This may be because the dark setting connotes a more sinister and feared atmosphere which will be effective when achieving the horror genre. Q- Whether to include dialogue or not
We thought this was important to ask as when watching previous film openings there was a huge variety with the use of dialogue. We found that most believed it would be more effective without dialogue therefore we will try to keep it at the minimum when filming our opening scene.
Q- What age should our characters be?
From this question we identified that the age range 18 to 25 was most desired group of people. If we are unable to find actors within this age range we would be prepared to adapt our costume and makeup effects in order to meet this
Q- How should we deceive the killer
Our results present the conclusion that concealing the identity of the killer will be most preferred. This was closely followed by the 'masked' option. Therefore, we will incorporate the technique of ensuring the identity of the killer is not visible to the audience. Q-General comments about horror film expectations
We had a variety to responses to this question covering a range of topics. One in particular that gained our interest was 'possession' and 'religious imagery'. This lead to us down research on religious symbolism and see how we can develop those ideas into a horror film. We were then inspired to watching some religious possession films such as 'stigmata'. Other responses mentioned the idea of building up suspense as this is a main desire for a horror film. we feel this can be achieved with the technical use of sound and by creating fast cuts during a scene using postproduction as this is a would of building up tension. Others mentioned about the setting; 'dark setting' 'pathetic fallacy', and these comment all create an inspiration for us when creating our own story line.
Special effects makeup is a vital element within the creation of a film. Wen completed professionally, it has the ability to transform the look of a character to produce a completely different analysis of them. It can be used to make a character to look more beautiful and attractive or conversely make them look horrific and terrifying. In contrast to usual makeup, special effects artists will often make their prosthetics such as latex, silicone or rubber After doing research i have found aspects to stage makeup that we should try to avoid: -using fake blood which is too light -Going over the top with blood and cuts -Not blending he colour and the cuts into the skin to make it seem realistic -Using pain or ketchup for fake blood
With the accumulation of liquid latex and fake blood we feel like we can create the effects of cuts and injuries and make them look real. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
The character of Edward Scissorhands has completed a large procedure of special effects makeup i order to produce the final appearance of his character. Firstly, his bird-nest like hair gives a messy and reckless look. It not only emphasises Edward's wild and untamed character but it also strongly identifies the gothic genre of which the film is. In addition to his hair, Edward has been given a pale, white face. The pasty look of his skin is used to emphasise the scars he has on his face which appear to seen very realistic and slightly sinister. The scars also create an air of mystery as the audience may wonder how he got them in the first place. The dark makeup added around his eyes deepens his eye sockets which creates a contrast to the colour of his skin making him seem even more ghostly which portrays that he is not like the other characters. Overall, his special effects makeup is very effective as it adds the subtle indications of a gothic genre without going over the top. This make it seem very realistic thus making the whole film more believable.
Ambiguity at the beginning- wakes up- blurred vision and viewer doesn't know where she is, flash back montages
We gained inspiration for the flash back montages from the Harry Potter scenes was this is frequently included in them
Wakes up tied to a bed with holes in her hands in the crucifix position
candles flickering
Post production night vision
Blinks and contacts appear- match on action
Heavy breathing
Close ups of her face whilst lying on the floor, we see flash back montages of her in a church
We were inspired by the film 'stigmata' to include a relies aspect to our 'possession' genre so we then researched some religious symbols in conjunction to this-
We found out that the upside down cross is a symbol of anti christ therefore we were interested in including a close on the wall which slowly turns upside down
Secondly we saw that '666' was an implication of the devil which may be effective if we include
A lot of the relies scriptures were written in arabic so this may be something we include
Several montages of stain glass windows could be effective
When creating a project that will be viewed by an audience it is important to do research to see what the general public would prefer. Therefore, I created a survey on Survey Monkey as this is an effective way to gain information to help target our initial ideas on what is currently most popular. Our questions focused on the presentation of the characters and the plot of our sequence. Here is the link to our survey:
Sound has a very effective purpose in films to create a certain atmosphere or to create a desired mood. Each sound included has a specific effect which is usually taken for granted by the audience as the most effective sounds tend to go unnoticed. The sound used has the ability to change the entire way the audience interprets a scene and therefore it is extremely important to critically choose the right sounds that compliment the scene being shown. As a film maker, sound is a key tool required to control the way your audience to feels.
Diegetic sound In film, diegetic sound is the sound you are able to hear in the world you are watching. The source of the sound will be visible on screen such as:
a door closing
voices of characters
sound of objects within the film
The digits sound can either be on-screen of off-screen depending on weather the source of the sound in in the frame or outside the frame. The purpose of diegetic sound is to create a sense of realism for the audience for the to become aware about what is happening. An example of where diegetic sound is used is in the train fight scene in Spectre. This scene is embedded with a lot of diegetic sound to make the action taking place seem more realistic for the audience. It emphasises the gun shots and the sound of them punching and throwing each other about to exaggerate the intensity of the fight. We hear the sound of glass shattering, gun shots, punching, grunting, doors opening and these are all examples of diegetic sound. You are able to view the scene mentioned below:
Non-Diegetic
Non diegetic sound is the sound added in post production. It is sound which its source is not visible within the scene. It is used to create a particular effect such as a soundtrack or voiceover as this techniques can create what the audience should be feeling. Without this sound, the scene would undoubtedly be rather confusing or boring as no effect will be given to support the visuals. Example of non-digeic sounds are:
Sound effects added for tension
Background music
Narrators voice
An example of where non-diegetic sound is used effectively is in the famous jaws scene. The famous jaws music is an iconic piece that we instantly link to the scene of a shark attack. The simple two note piece effectively builds up tension and makes the audience aware of a danger that is occurring in the scene. An example of this famous Jaws sound is inserted below:
Trailers will present the story line of the film however not giving away the resolution
Long shots to establish character, setting and the 'dilemma'
Short shots and quick cuts of some of the most exciting moments from the film at its climax, the ‘events’ that lead to resolution but not necessarily in chronological order
Accompanied with music often quiet music to establish a story and menacing music to highlight villains
Sudden moments of quiet and silence between and after music and SFX, which have equal impact on mood and pace.
Commonly fades of black may be used to suggest a shift in time
Often uses shot cut pieces of speech not a full conversation
Features of a film opening-
The film opening will need to establish the main idea of the plot and where the story line of the film will go
May introduce the antagonist and protagonist early on
It will have to be arguably, one of the most tension building sequences in order to grasp the attention of the viewer
We need to ensure that our opening is not too trailer-like by exposing the main idea of our film very clearly. Furthermore, we will need to build up the tension throughout the short clip in order to hook the audience to the film early on. In addition we will try to limit the dialogue in the opening scene to attempt to build up focus on the suspense.
Tzvetan Todorov in 1969 simplified the idea of narrative theory into his own theory of equilibrium to apply the every film. He split this up into five stages called the equilibrium disequilibrium, acknowledgement, the solution an then returing to the equilibrium once again.
The five stages can be summerised into: 1) A state of equilibrium where everything is as it should be in a state of solidarity 2) A disruption of that order by an event that damages the equilibrium 3) A recognition that the disorder has occurred 4) An attempt to create a solution for the disaster and repair the damage of the disruption 5) A return to the new equilibrium where things have been solved This theory should be able to fit to any film which doesn't have a sequal as this may not necessarily end with and equilibrium.
A film that Todorov's theory fits perfectly with is Avatar: 1) War against Na'vi and Jake Sully is sent to become part of tribe. 2) Hometree is planned to be destroyed. 3) Hometree is destroyed. 4) Jake Sully unites the tribes of Pandora to fight back against the humans. 5) Jake decides to stay in his avatar permanently. We can use the stages of this theory in our own film when creating a horror film as it is an effective way of portraying a storyline.
There are many features about The Women in Black that are applied to make her an effective main character. I was interested in her character particularly as I feel she incorporates the genre of a gothic horror film extremely well.
Costume-
The woman herself is dressed completely in black. This colour is usually representative of negative elements such as death and evil, portraying her as a more sinister character.
This colour is useful to clearly identify who the antagonist is.
Her outfit covers her head to toe and does not reveal much of her skin apart from her face. This could arguably create a sense of mystery as little about what she actually looks like is revealed.
The Women in Black also wears long black gloves on her hands. Again this shields her true identity and covers her human features makes you question the 'human' aspect of her.
The entity of her outfit including the old fashioned style of clothing all correlate to produce the impression that she is a dangerous character.
Make up-
From the few glances you see of The Woman in Black's face, you can tell she is made to look extremely pale. This implies that she is ill or suffering from something terrible and with the absence of any life, warmth or happiness.
The whiteness of her skin could indicate death, again portraying her as a dangerous character.
Her eyes are made to look dark and deep suggesting a sense of evil.
Several wrinkles and dark shades are added to her face to make her look old and wasting. This implies a sense of sickness about her and her not being a character the audience would warm to.
Masks-
She wears a black wedding veil over her face concealing what she looks like as well as her facial features making you question is she is human or not.
This also keeps her identity hidden, portraying elements of secretiveness and the unknown, in turn creating an air of mystery.
Body language-
There is little physical interaction between The Woman in Black and any other character. instead we just see glimpses of her staring over people. This reveals little about her personality but you can see that she isn't the type to warmly interact.
The location in which the scene is filmed is very isolated with the only humans present being the couple who enters the water
The image of the sun setting creates a calm, idealistic environment which contrasts to the devastating scene to come of the girls death. This is effective is it enhances the impact the death has on the audience making it seem all the more shocking
In addition, the calmness of the water is used to create this peaceful environment to emphasise that contrast
You can argue that the image of the sunset symbolises the end of her life; just as it sets as she is being attacked
Hair and makeup
The girl has her hair down and clearly shows she has not made and effort with her appearance showing her innocence.
Furthermore, her makeup is very minimal which emphasisers her venerability and naivety. This, in turn, makes her death more tragic to the audience
Clothing
However, the fact that the girl is in nudity after being pursued by a boy can suggest that she is promiscuous which may be a reason why she ends up dying
Furthermore, the nudity may suggest she is even more vulnerable as she doesn't have anything protecting her from the dangers in the water
Sound and Music-
Diegetic sounds
At the benign of the scene the digits sounds consist of the couple talking and laughing with each other which sets a positive mood and adds a sense of realism. Then as the girl enters the water, there are very minimal digits sounds with the waves crashing being the only sound present. You could argue that this creates a slightly eery and uncomfortable atmosphere. We then hear her breathing and shouting to the boy whilst in the water which promotes a positive atmosphere. During the attack there is minimal non-diegetic sounds as the sound of her screaming as this is what the audience is meant to focus on. This panicked screaming connotes terror, fear and utter desperation to stay alive.
Non-diegetic
The main use of the non-diegetic sounds in this scene is to play in the position of the shark and build the tension. The girl creates many diegetic sounding in the water but this is followed by the non-diegetic sounds from under the water of a slow and eery noise. As the camera becomes closer to the girl the sound builds up and becomes quicker, perhaps indicating something bad is going to occur. At the time where she initially gets hit by the shark we hear a high pitched noise of a string instrument which is commonly used at the most intense moments to build fear. Towards the end of the attack we hear the high pitched background sound which builds up the fear until the girl is pulled under and all the sounds are eliminated leaving just silence which effectively emphasizes the tragedy of her death. Lighting-
Very naturalistic which makes the death of the girl even mire tragic in order to create a bigger impact on the audience
This also makes the characters seem very naive and innocent as they are unaware of the danger of their surroundings
Hoever, the scene is shot in the late eveing so there is little natural lighting left giving a darker view which arguably creates a more sinsiter atmosphere
Camera techniques-
Whne the girl is in the water, there are many shots of the girls head quite close up giving the impression that the audience are in the water with her
At the begining of the attack the camera is placed beneth the girl and is under the water. This is done to mimick the position of the shark so the audience has the view that the shark has. This works together with the music as rhis is where it begins to build up.
This underwater shot pans sideways and follows the girl swmming filmed with a hand held camera giving the impression that the shark is stalking the girl
we then breifly see a wide shot of the surface of the water when we can see that the girl is isolated and alone emphesising her vunerablility
At 51 seconds the camera returns to the underwater low shot, looking up at the girl however this time it is a lot closer which increases the tension and fear of the viewer
The camera is unsteadily getting closer and closer to the girls body representing the shark preparing for its attack
We then see a shoulder shot eyelevel to the girl on the surface of the water which is efctive for the beginign of the attack fro the shark
At 1:00 we then see a close up shot of her face to highlight the fear and terror she is feeling
Following this we see a still shot of the surface of the water which is effective as the girl is frantically being dragged iinth water from one side of the shot to the other
The camer then cuts to the boy who is lying asleep on the beach shore showing the helplessness the girl has as she is ultimatly alone in the sea
The next shot is lower withing the surface of the water so we can see several splashes from the sea slightly concealing the girl actually being attacked but the audience knows that she is due to the distruption in the water
The rest of the attack is filmed using a more unsteady camera more like a hand held camera to represent the unsteadyness of the water emphesising the climax of this scene.
What I have learnt from this deconstruction-
The importance of music within scene and the power it has to portray a specific emotion to the audience
The effect sound can have to build up tension and how it compliments each camera shot
