Foundation Production - Group 6: 2014

This is the final cut of our production piece. It has changed very little from our rough cut, the main difference being shot lengths as we have now cut to the music as we planned during the storyboard process. We also took the time in deciding what font to use for production credits and finally agreed on "Skin & Bones", deciding to continue the variation of colour between the two lines of action, despite criticism. We also decided to move the title of the film from it's original position, for fear of it looking too much like a trailer. We believe the end result to be satisfying and are proud of the final piece

Feedback:

After sharing the rough cut with our classmates, we received this feedback:

People on the whole enjoyed our opening sequence, particularly showing interest in the two lines on action. As a whole, people said they'd continue watching
The use of masks was once again highlighted, being shown to be the scariest part of our production. The hanging scene also attracted interest
In general, people believed it "felt like a horror film", comparing it to other films such as "The Strangers" (Bertino, 2008) and "Funny Games" (Haneke, 2007), two films we researched for our production piece
However, there were still some qualms regarding the colouring of text. Text that appeared inside the car was in red to match the lighting, whereas the rest was plain white. Despite criticism, we believe that the colours of the text is not a problem
We also received comments regarding the face of the victim not being shown enough in our rough cut. We rectified this by adding an additional shot of the mother before the bag was put over her head

Evaluation:

We took into account the points made about our rough cut and acted on them with ease, presenting a far sleeker production. It was only after our initial final cut that we decided to change the position of the final title, but we believe this will benefit the production as a whole in the long run

Thursday, 6 February 2014

GROUP: Ttitles and Font Design

After analysing and examining the style and look that is used when it comes to credits in films we took a selection of different fonts and began to analyse each providing our likes and dislikes and comparing to other horror openings.

We decided that our font should be red for the shots in the first line of action in which the protagonist (Neil) can be seen driving home illuminated by a red light from the car radio, these shots provided a sharp contrast between black and red and so we felt that red text would give a good impact and present the titles clearly.

Not only do the red titles contrast well with the dark background they also contrast with the white text which is shown on titles in the second line of action, this contrast helps separate the two lines of action for the audience.

when selecting a font we decided that it should be in a block format in order for it to be clear and visible to the audience but that it should also be distorted as if it were eroded or splashed.

We didn't want the text to be still either and so in order to grab the audiences attention and perhaps connote a distorted, twisted atmosphere within the opening we have animated the text so that it flickers on the screen at various times during the opening.
Examples:

Monday, 3 February 2014

GROUP: Audience Feedback - Rough Cut

This is the rough cut of our final production piece. This is used to give us an idea of what shots work and which do not, as well as giving us an indication of how long the film will be, which seems to be exactly as we predicted, however, this is only a "rough" indication as we have not cut the shots to music as we plan to for our final cut. Some shots have changed over the course of filming, as well as new shots being put in due to complications with either filming inside a car or manoeuvrability inside the house. Overall, we believe the rough cut was a success for our group and portrays the image we intended

Feedback:

After sharing the rough cut with our classmates, we received this feedback:

People were impressed with the dual lines of action, finding it easy to follow and interesting to watch
The lighting for the shots inside the car were liked as the red connotes a demonic feel to the situation
Others were impressed with the cutting rate and how it was used to build tension in the final moments of the opening sequence
However, there were some qualms regarding the positioning and colouring of text. All the titles remained in the corners of the frame until the last one (intended for the director). This was described as "unnecessary" as the title of the film would appear in the same position several shots later. In regards to colour, text that appeared inside the car was in red to match the lighting, whereas the rest was plain white. Despite criticism, we believe that the colours of the text is not a problem, and that the font is what needs to be changed
We also received comments regarding the face of the victim not being shown enough. Admittedly, we had planned to show more, but failed to shoot the particular shot. However, this can be resolved

Evaluation:

We believe that the feedback we received was positive and the few issues raised can be dealt with easily. Ben BK plans to shoot several more shots showing the face of the victim, and as a group we shall relocate the position of the final piece of text. While these are solutions to the problems raised, we still have to consider cutting to the music we have "Beyond The Sea" by Bobby Darin, as well as fine-tuning the cutting rate and finalising the font to use for production credits

Tuesday, 28 January 2014

BS: Title Sequence

for out title sequence our group have decided to overlay our titles over a dark background whilst our protagonist Neil is driving home. This title sequence from "Evil Dead" (Fede Alvarez) is similar to what we hope to achieve from our opening sequence, although not in a car does show the contrast with red titles on a black background. this is something we want to achieve with the typical red and black combination to connote evil, blood and horror.

Evil Dead (Alvarez, 2013)

TIME	SHOT EFFECT	RELEVANCE
0.04 – 0.08	Red and black contrast	The same colour scheme we plan to use
0.22 – 0.24	Titles placed around what is happening	We will need to place our titles around the car as it moves
0.35 – 0.39	Red titles along with other red focal point	We plan to use our titles whilst Neil is driving home, in this scene he will be illuminated by a red light
1.08 – 1.14	Scenes of violence and gore whilst showing the titles	Whilst the titles are on screen we see Mary being beaten up violently by the villains
Throughout	Cutting to different scenes	We will be running parallel lines of action from Neil driving and Mary being beaten up by the villains

Monday, 27 January 2014

GROUP: Audience Feedback - Treatment

our group created a survey which included questions relating to the film industry; in particular the genre of Horror.

our first question was: How old are you? in response to this we found that 100% of the people that participated in our questionnaire were aged between 11 and 18. this was expected as our target audience for our horror scene opening was 15-24.

the next question we asked was: Are you male or female? this revealed that 88.89% of the people that took part in answering our questionnaire were male, this again is what we had anticipated as the target audience for horror are typically male. But also revealed to us that there is some female interest with 11.11% female participants in our survey.

next we asked How frequently do you go to the cinema? we asked this question to find out our audiences interest in newly released films. in response to this we found that 88.89% of the survey participants visit the cinema once a month, and the remaining 11.11% visited the cinema only once a year.

to follow we then asked: how frequently do you watch horror films? we found that 5 out of 8 survey participants watched horror films on average once every 2 months. we think that this is positive feedback and shows good interest in our chosen genre of horror. the remaining 3 participants responded that they very rarely watch horror films, this revealed that the majority of our audience watch horror films regularly.

what do you expect to see in a horror film? in response to this we found that 5 of the responses were positive in relation to our horror opening as they said thing that we have included, for example groups of villains and scenes that give the audience chills. the remaining 3 responses we are not able to include in our opening as they do not relate to our genre or to the look and style we are trying to achieve, an example is scenes of nudity.

we then asked a similar question which was: what do you like about horror films? four of the responses to this question related to building suspense, or being frightened. this is exactly the response we hoped for as this is a key part of our opening sequence, and a feeling we really tried to achieve within the opening couple of minutes.

in response to posting our treatment and asking does this sound like a film you would go to the cinema and watch? 37.5% of the feedback revealed they might watch the film, and a further 25% said they would watch our opening and 25% said they definitely would watch our film. this was extremely positive as only 12.5% of the feedback revealed they would not watch our film.

overall we found the survey extremely positive and helpful for our group. it revealed in most parts that we are targeting the correct audience and are including the correct material for our opening. the most positive feedback was from our treatment, it revealed that it sounded interesting and something our audience would watch before we started to shoot our footage.

GROUP: Shoot 2 - Ben's House (Callsheet and Risk Assessment)

Before going on our shoot on Saturday we put together a call sheet based on our story board, we discussed timing and organisation and decided that we would film all the shots that are set within the house first so that we wouldn't have to keep moving equipment in and out of the set.

We also listed the props and equipment we needed so that when it came to leaving go to the set nothing would be left alone.

We then prepared a risk assessment and discusses some hazards and complications that we may come across whilst filming and thought of way these could be avoided or tackled.

Sunday, 26 January 2014

CF: Feedback 2

Ben / Max / Ben
Well done on an excellent concept development so far; your pitch is well considered and informed by research, effective use of Prezi to visually represent your ideas. Your prop design is brilliant - absolutely terrifying! Your first shoot was very effective and as with all your previous tasks, you have been reflective of the technical strengths and weaknesses. I'm glad to see Ben's ideas on titles posted; this was missing from the pitch and needs to be put onto your animatic.
On viewing the animatic, you should consider the positioning of the titles; having the main title at the end does look a little like a trailer. It would be a good idea to add titles to animatic and post another draft.

In terms of planning, you have all submitted level 4 work; technical analysis most recently are detailed and reflective. Your practical work produced so far is of a very high quality technically, so you are working steadily towards an A. However Max and Ben S, there are some missing aspects from you both. You need to do the title analysis from last week and Max I can't see your second film analysis from last term. Both of you are also absent from the blog since Christmas; although the group posts are there, I would expect to see individual posts showing your contributions to aspects of planning / filming too. Can you also post audience research with results analysis.

Ben Sinden - I appreciate you have been absent due to illness; see me on your return for strategies for you to catch up.

Wednesday, 22 January 2014

BBK: Title Sequence

For our title sequence we have decided to overlay our titles over the first shots of the first line of action which is taking place inside the car with Neil Peck (William Key) our protagonist, this sequence will involve Neil being illuminated in a bright red light with a high contrast between him and the surround darkness, we have decided to use this darkness around Neil to place our titles, this way our titles will be clear and sharp with the contrasting white font on a black background.

An example of this use of darkness to overlay our titles can be seen in the opening sequence to the 2013 remake of "Evil Dead" (Fede Alverez), although not a driving sequence as we will be doing this sequence depicts the splatter of blood coming from the darkness creating a mix of red and black which will be seen in the style of our opening.

Along with this we have taken a lot of inspiration from the opening sequence of "Funny Games" (2007 Haneke) as not only is this also a home invasion/psychological horror but the opening also includes a driving sequence.

Like "Funny Games" we are using asynchronous sound to make the audience feel uncomfortable from the outset of the film, however what we found that was distracting was how the titles continued to cover the faces of cast , although this is incredibly effective for the main title when anchored with the non-diegetic soundtrack but we felt that the rest of our titles should be placed around character blocking in order to make them more effective.

GROUP: Shoot 1 - Fackenden Lane (Callsheet)

Our shoot on the 18th was extremely helpful giving us an opportunity to experience what it will be like to film in dark conditions and organising time whilst filming along with experimenting filming within a moving vehicle.

Although we were able to gain some good shots which we may be able to use for our final piece some technical difficulties with the camera meant that the length of our shots were dramatically shorter than we would have liked and the class of our SD card was not to the standard we were hoping for.

Because of this we have purchased a class ten SD card and using the experience and organisation we learnt from our first shoot we have organized a second shoot where we will be able to improve the quality of our shots.

GROUP: Storyboard and Animatic

This is the final cut of the animatic for our production piece. We as a group believe that we are able to carry out all the shots necessary and make our horror opening worth while and entertaining for the audience in question. Also included are the original storyboard frames for closer examination of the step by step shots we will capture.

Tuesday, 21 January 2014

BBK: Masks

We decided to mask our antagonists in order to make them appear more hostile and add a sense of mystery to the plot.

We took inspiration from masks from other horror movies such as those from "The Strangers" and the mask worn by Hannibal in "Silence of the Lambs" as well as more recent films such as "You're Next". Through experimentation and design came up with the three masks below.

We wanted the masks to cover the whole face but to have their basic layer as white as this will allow their faces to be more visible in darker conditions as well as adding a pale, soulless representation.

Then by using matches, we burned and melted the masks out of shape so that they appear distorted, appealing to the "uncanny valley" affect that is known to make the audience uncomfortable.

We then added Spray paint put only the use of red and black as these colours connote mourning and death along with the resemblance of blood.

Finally to make each mask unique and identifiable to the audience as a different character a different design was added to each with an added detail such as the mouth being sown up on one and staples being used to hold another together.

GROUP: Film Schedule Update

Due to complications with filming dates, we have updated our filming schedule so as to allow all members of the group to be present while filming.

Shots	Location	Date/Time
Practice Shoot: Protagonist (Neil Peck) Driving sequence. (First line of action)	Fackenden Lane, Sevenoaks Kent	Saturday 18^th January 17:00-
Protagonist (Neil Peck) Driving sequence (First line of action)	Fackenden Lane, Sevenoaks	Friday 24^th January/Sunday 26^th January 19:00-?
Supporting Role (Mary Peck) kidnapping and home invasion (Second line of action)	Ben. S’s House (Summerhill, Goudhurst, Kent)	Saturday 25th January 18:00-20:00
Neil discovers Mary and aftermath of the home invasion as he arrives home	Ben. S’s House (Summerhill, Goudhurst, Kent)	Saturday 25th January 20:00-?

Foundation Production - Group 6

Thursday, 8 May 2014

8535: Ben Sinden

Wednesday, 7 May 2014

8188: Max Boyden

8186: Ben Bovington-Key

Thursday, 20 March 2014

8186: Ben Bovington-Key - Evaluation Questions

8188: Max Boyden - Evaluation Questions

8535: Ben Sinden - Evaluation Questions

Monday, 3 March 2014

GROUP: Audience Feedback - Final Cut