19/02/16

Sorry about this post being late!

On Thursday me Niamh and Rae went to the locko plantation to film our thriller opening. Believe it or not we actually got everything done in one day, although we did film for about 6 hours. It was very cold that day, but the lighting of the sun worked well with the camera. We all had a go with working with the camera, and luckily we found a den which someone had already made. This added to the effectiveness of the mise en scene. But here is a picture of us at the end up of the day!

The distribution process

Production Process

http://www.rawshorts.com/animations/OpvwrJZNyk6k1x5lDsVP6Q

The embed code unfortunately wasn't working so I have used the link instead, sorry. The source I got the context from is

http://www.mediacollege.com/glossary/p/post-production.html

Narrative codes

Deaden Hikes screenplay

DEADEN HIKES SCREEN PLAY

Characters:

Iyra- Pale skin, looks homeless, run down make up, bags under her eyes, back comb bits of hair, quite timid, has rips in her clothes.

Runner- Hair up, wearing a hoodie, trainers, looks sporty, outgoing personality, helpful.

1.  Wide Establishing shot that is sped up. Put the camera on the tripod or bench, and leave it there whilst the sun comes up to show that time has progressed and it’s still morning. There will be the diegetic sound in the background of the shot.

2.   The shot turns into a pan, where the runner will run swiftly past, so she disturbs the scene and there is no longer peacefulness. The Go-Pro camera could be used so the audience will be able to see where the runner is going. The sound will be a quiet heartbeat of the runner.

3.  Low shot of the runner’s shoes when they’re running, so you can see them traveling across the grass. The sound will be the footsteps in the grass and the rustle of the leaves.

4.  Quick cuts of hands tied together in rope. Movement of hands slightly, showing she’s not 100% comfortable and she wants to escape. Iyra is already in the woods.

5.  Next is a shot with the Go-Pro, showing the runner’s movement and what they can see in front of them. You can hear heavy breathing to show that it’s actually from her point of view.

6.  A close up of the runners footprint will be shown. The camera will focus on the footprint after the runner has ran in the mud, and a title will appear in the mud after it’s been stepped in. You will be able to hear the squelch of the mud.

7.  The camera will be set up on a tripod from a distance, then it will pan across, looking at the runner go across the screen. The runner has a paranoid look on her face, then looks behind.

8.  There is a cross cut to Iyra sat down on her own at the tree, she is looking confused and keeps talking to herself. After the video has been shot, there will be voices added into the scene when editing, so you can hear the voices in her head.

9.  The camera will go to a close up of Iyra’s face, where you will see her facial expression as being slightly frightened, the viewer will be able to tell this because  she will be fidgeting around (trying to escape the ropes)

10. Place the camera on the grass/ground between the leaves and the long grass, so you can see the runner. The camera is from Iyra’s point of view as she’s got closer (the runner). The vision is slightly blurred.

11. There will be two camera shots, one of Iyra and the other one of the runner. The screen will be split into 2 and we will see the runner getting closer to Iyra. This will show their two perspectives.

12. Super imposed images put together, use the shot of the trees spinning. Distort the images by adding sharp white tones to the pictures. There will be high pitch sounds added to this scene.

13. Iyra has now got changed and is wearing the clothes of the runner. This suggests that she will get away with living a normal life, and not getting caught or told off for escaping the mental asylum.

14. The main title will then come on at the end, to make the end of the opening

Student film analysis

A few lessons ago, we were showed previous students thriller openings. At first we had to guess what grade they got using the mark scheme and then after sharing our ideas we were told the real grade they received. This exercise gave me an insight into how our film will be judged so hopefully by carrying out this task, I will know what to include in my opening.
Here is the first video we watched, in my opinion I think this is the best out of all the videos we watched that lesson.

Strengths:
Camera shots- there were a variety of shots used in this and the camera was stable in most takes. There were many long shots and close ups which I think were effective as there wasn't any talking it was all voice over.
Typography- the white font was effective over a plane background, it wasn't over the top which fitted with the opening.
Editing- they used superimposed images which we're inspiring to do in our opening aswell, however they haven't over complicated it which is effective.
Mise en-scene- the location is rural and sort of out of touch with society which is effective as it suggests something sinister will happen.
Sound- you can hear the voice over clearly and the score is subtle but creates tension.

Weakness:
Editing could be improved.


I thought this opening was interesting, when I predicted the grade I thought it should of got, I was no where near the actual grade it got.

Strengths:
Editing- the quick cuts to the Barbie doll heads in black and white are effective as it shows what the character is thinking of. There is good use of match on action when he opens the door.
Mise en-scene- it is very detailed when the character goes into the garage, everything is laid out in a certain way suggesting he's a criminal maybe.
Camera- variety of shots used again.

Weaknesses:
Sound- I don't think that the use of contrapuntal music quite fits with this type of opening. The score is very jumpy and doesn't sync with what's going.
Typography- the font and titles could be worked on.


This one I thought was really good to start off with, however it looks more like a trailer instead of an opening sequence.

Strengths:
Editing- the montage of the clips at the start are effective aswell as the faces being scribbled out, this is a typical horror feature. The company logo looks professional, like a real film company has produced it. The fade in at the start is also good.
Camera- variety of shots used

Weaknesses:
Mise en-scene- the viewer can tell that there has been a change in the time of day, therefore this doesn't follow continuity.
Camera- the camera isn't held steady in some shots.
Sound- dialogue goes on for too long, could be cut down and it gets boring as it is only from one angle.

Character profiles

The images used are from google as I'm not very good at drawing what they would both look like.

Location scouting

On Saturday, me and Niamh took the DSLR and the Go Pro to do some practise shots for our thriller opening. We went to stubbing court in Wingerworth to film, however Rae couldn't get there so she went to our other location (Pilsley) to get some practise shots. We're thinking of using the Pilsley location instead of the Wingerworth location instead though. When me and Niamh went shooting we did experience weather change, as it first it was sunny but suddenly turned to hail so at times it was hard to keep filming. We also think that the Go Pro footage turned out abit blurry, we're unsure whether this is because of the footage being transferred? We tried to get some shots from the story board, however we did get some other shots which are not included. I think this experience has given us some useful idea's on what to do for when we actually go out filming.

This is a shot we wanted to include from our storyboard, the sunlight helped to define the footprint. With this shot we want to add in a title over the footprint, we haven't decided if we're going to animate it or write it yet.

This shot isn't apart of our storyboard, however me and Niamh thought this shot was affective as the tree's and sky look really dominating.

Here are the photos that Rae took when she went location scouting. The photos were took on an iPhone 5C, but the quality isn't too bad. We all prefer this location as it looks more like the background we're looking for, for our thriller opening. We will probably end up shooting in both locations to compare and get more footage.

Storyboard explained