Equipment

Sony Camera: We used the camera to film the footage.

Memory Card: We used the card to insert straight into the Mac instead of having to use the USB cable

Tripod: This helped to enable shots were steady

Mac/imovie: This is what we uploaded our footage too, and the programme used for editing

Audience Feedback 4

Worked when he was dragged down the hill

Opening titles were good

Two boys on the phone, didnt work, very predictable

Good traditional setting



Audience Feedback 3

Music was appropriate (suspense)

More suspense could have been created, when killer approached

Could have been more interaction between characters (get to know them)

opening scenes worked well

Audience Feedback 2

The second person to answer the questionnaire, felt the music made you feel on edge

The montage of running was effective

Acting wasnt up to standard

Killers view was effective

Editing was good, masked killer idea was original and worked well.

Audience Feedback 1

The first person to answer the questionnaire, liked the sound effects at the begining (suspense), but felt more incidental music could have been used.
Camera angles were good (killers view)
Acting could have been improved
Scene could have started differently ( ie news report)

Audience Feedback

I prepared a short questionnaire for people to give me feedback of the video, the responses will follow:

Final Idea

Final Idea

We completed our editing and planning within a couple of weeks, a couple of problems we had were that as we needed so many of us to complete the task, if some of the footage didnt look up to standard we didnt really have time to re film as we had to find another day where we were all free. Instead of re filming we had to use some of the spare footage instaed of re filming. Obviously this wasnt ideal but it was what we had to do with the time and availabilty of 'actors' we had.

Final Idea

Our final idea is going to be four friends in the woods, two of the friends walk off ahead and two are by themselves, they are unaware of a killer approaching (showing first person view of the killer), one of the friends gets caught and killed, the other runs away in fear(quick montage of clips), he then comes across the killer again who either kills him or knocks him down and then the main character wakes to realise it is a dream/nightmare.

Then everyday life will begin, this allows the story to begin to introduce the characters properly, and will you find out if the dream will become reality, or what will happen ?

Props

We are going to base the looks of our killer to that of the famous Jason. From the start we liked the idea of a masked killer, and a weapon will be used (obviously fake), we will make the killer wear dark clothing to illustrate death and fear. We will be using our own clothing as we are not looking to spend alot of money on this task, so we will make the killer look as realistic as possible.

Me and Sam have enquired prices from 'clowns' a local fancy dress shop, and it wont cost that much for a plastic knife and a mask similar to the one in the picture.

Actors & Script

Obviously i will ask close friends to help me with my media, i needed a group of boys of similar age. I will ask the friends that are available at the time of filming, as we all have a busy timetable. The clothing the actors wore didnt have to be specific, we will all wear joggers and clothing we dont mind getting damaged due to the time of the year Mentmore will probably be muddy, the clothing is still realistic as they are the clothes, youth of today wear.

There isnt an exact script that we will use, instead we have ideas and brief notes on will be said, but it is more a guidline then a script.
We realise some parts we had planned arent going to look as good as how we imagine them to look, so having the script as more of a guidline will allow us to be able to change any ideas that dont work aswell on the day. 

Target Audience

After researching other films in the horror/thriller genre, they are either intended for an audience aged 15 - 18+ , the gore and horrific scenes would be to visual for the younger viewer, my opening scene obviously wont be as graphic due to equipment. As it is only a shot opening scene there wont be enough gore or violence for it to be rated any higher then a 15.

Obviously the film is available for both genders , and aimed at the horror/thriller genre lover.

Research : Lighting

Lighting is very important in films, it can easily be used to set the mood of a certain scene, also it can make the audience feel involved, if it is a dark scene with suspense the audience feel on edge and frightened.

Research : Sound

Direct Sound
A live sound, creates atmosphere.

Studio Sound
Created in a studio, gets rid of unwanted background noises.

Selective Sound
Remove sounds not relevant for your work, and then make the sounds you need more significant.

Sound Perspective
Someone close to the camera, the voice will clear and loud, people far away will be background noice and not very clear.

Sound Bridge
Sounds used to link two scenes together over a cut.

Commentary/Narrative
A voice added on after editing. Can be used for commentary, or talking over a clip as if a story is being told.

Sound Effects
A sound added in during the editing process, commonly used to dramatise a certain thing.

Music
Often used to help establish the pace of the scene. Can also be used to show what mood the character is in and also to try and give an emotion to the audience.

Silence
Often used to create tension or something dramatic

Editing Techniques

Cut
A visual transition created in editing in which one shot is immediately replaced on screen by another.

Continuity editing
Editing that creates action that flows smoothly across shots and scenes without seeing any obvious clip joining. Establishes a sense of story for the viewer.

Cross cutting
Cutting quickly between two or more lines of action, indicating they are happening at the same time.

Dissolve
A gradual scene transition.  A scene overlaps the end of one shot with the beginning of the next one.

Establishing shot
A shot, normally taken from a great distance or from a high view, it sets the scene. 

Eyeline match
The matching of eyelines between two or more characters. E.g. Sam looks to the right in shot A, Pete will look to the left in shot B. Shows continuity. 

Fade
A transition between shots or scenes that appears on screen as a brief interval with no picture. Used to show a change of scene.

Jump cut
A cut that creates a lack of continuity by leaving out parts of the action.

Matched cut
A cut joining two shots whose compositional elements match, helping to establish strong continuity of action.

Montage 
Quick brief clips put together, shows quick pace, used to emphasise fear or action. 

Shot reverse shot cutting
Usually used for conversation scenes, this technique alternates between over-the-shoulder shots showing each character speaking.

Research : Filming

Now I had a few ideas on the back of my mind, i thought i would focus on other aspects such as filming, audience, actors, shots etc. I looked at the different camera angles that could be used in our opening scene, i knew some basic knowledge on shots and angles, here is what i found.





I looked at these shot angles in lesson, when I saw the worms eye view i thought that would look really effective if someone was looking up towards an evil character. As the camera is so low it makes the character look really powerful and intimidating.

We looked at these shots too, the majority of these shots will be found in our opening scene, when the camera is focused on people talking the medium shot and medium close up will be used, wide shot will be used to capture action.  

Planning : Idea 2

As the initial idea wasnt possible to do, Me and Sam thought we would keep the idea of the woodland setting, but change the idea from a suicide off Ashridge Tower and more a killer in the forest. We thought this way we wouldnt have to rely on anything as we could film at Mentmore which was easily accessible and was open all the time, we just had to decide on what props were going to be necessary, the camera shot, what happens when the group of friends arrive in the woods, and arrange a day and date that everyone would be available to carry out the filming.

Initial Idea

Our initial idea was to film at Ashridge Park. Our idea was to have a group of mates camping in the woods. A narrative story was going to be told of how someone committed suicide off Ashridge tower. We were going to film the suicide scene in black and white and have a narrative voiceover telling the story while the footage was playing. I emailed Ashridge estate office to ask permission to carry out our media project at the tower, but unfortunately the monument is only open at seasonal times and permission could not be granted to make an exception.

We needed to re plan our ideas and due to the time of year (winter) we were quite limited for time to be able to film in daylight hours. We also had to compare school timetables to see when everybody was free to complete our project.

Freddy vs Jason Review

I watched a trailer for Freddy vs Jason, Freddy's character is good as he has the common disfigured/damaged face which makes you automatically think he is an evil character in the story, also Jason is easily identified as the evil character as he is wearing a creepy mask, also he is carrying a sword/blade covered in blood, the fact you cannot see his face is mysterious and puts you on edge.
I like the idea of Freddy and he only appears in peoples dreams, the dream aspect is good and scary.

Eden Lake Review

I watched the film Eden Lake, it is from the thriller/horror genre. I like the setting of the deserted woods, it added mystery and especially when it became dark/night. The film was about a couple who went for a weekend break at a place called Eden Lake, it is meant to be quiet and not really known, but when they arrived they were companied with a group of teenagers causing havoc, they attacked their car and became stranded in the middle of nowhere. The group of teenagers try to terrorise and make their lifes hell, as they try to escape.

We will probably use the idea of the woods as there is one local to us, and is easy to get there.

Scream 4 review

As part of our research and planning we looked at other films in this genre, we looked at scream 4 as we liked the idea of a masked killer, and as we had seen the film before we knew that the film went straight into the action and we liked this aspect. As we were doing an opening scene we thought going intio the action would be the best thing as it works in Scream and it grabs the audiences attention and makes them want to watch on.