Media lesson - 01/03/2013

Media lesson 1/03/2013

After running through our film opening so far, we discussed our ideas about the doll further with our teacher and decided that our film opening didn't quite match with the idea we had in our head. The fact that me and Amara were both playing teenage girls playing in the park with a doll didn't seem right as you would not see teenage girls playing in the park with a doll. After having this discussion with our teachers, we then decided that we needed to change our idea quickly and fast in order to come up with a sensible story plot and characters that we could both play.

Lullaby - First attempt at film opening

Lullaby - 

First attempt

With this film opening, after putting everything together and seeing what we'd done so far we realised how much it didn't work. The fact that two teenagers are playing the role of what should be two children in the park with a doll does not quite make sense. We like some of the shots we've used and the storyline, however, this would have worked a lot better if we knew children that could play these roles instead of two teenagers. We also like the fact that the doll is being shown repetitively in order to give the audience the message that something isn't quite right.

Media lesson - 18/02/2013

Media lesson - 18/02/2013

After filming in the park today, we then took shots of two teenagers entering the park and various shots of the doll - We then decided to put these things together and see how they worked.

Film planning - Storyboard

Horror Film Ideas

Horror Film Ideas

 

All of these names are potential film names that link with our plan of our movie - A doll that is 'haunting' two girls, the fact that most of the titles have to do with sleeping and children is something that makes it all the more scary and frightening.

These horror film ideas are things we thought of from the very start - We thought about what made a scary movie: The soundtrack being spooky tension building, the mise en scene involving different aspects such as a haunted house or a graveyard, incorporating different types of camera shots and editing wise including both straight edits and white flashes.

 

This story plot was another storyboard of our film beginning, we tried to made it so that each

 

 

 

 

All of these ideas were a potential story planning of ideas we thought about - We decided to put them into a spider diagram in order to try and link all the different ideas together.

 

Blackwoods - Amara Bullen

Non-diagetic sound is used in the opening of the film. It’s an upbeat rock song which may be used to forebode what type of film it’s going to be.

The filming has been sped up throughout the opening of this film.

This clips starts with a fade in tilt shot upwards of the trees, making the viewer feel small. Also the camera spins whilst looking up which creates a sense of confusion and may make the viewer feel dizzy.

Fog is used as a part of the mise-en-scene which can add to the sense of location and whereabouts.

The shot changes by flickering like an old television or CCTV filming that’s faulty. Creating a sense that something might be wrong

 This then carry’s on to a straight edit of a tilt shot down of a mountain.
This is quite contrasting as the mountains are peaceful places where as the music is heavy metal which disturbs and contrasts with one another. Also the flickering of the screens and sped up filming contrasts with it too.

  

The next shot flickers quickly to a long shot of someone walking down a hall way quickly, not showing his face. This may suggest that the person is up to no good.
The screen flicks off too quickly, not giving enough time for the viewer to take in exactly what the man looks like.

A straight edit is used to show another establishing shot of some more mountains which is panned across with the producers credits on it.

The screen jitters to a close up of the same man walking but not showing his face giving him a sense of mystery

The next shot used contains two clips at the same time, one in the background and one in the foreground slightly faded. The background clip is of mountains and the other clip is of a skull flickering. These two images contrast as the mountains show peace and nature where as a skull shows death. The skull adds to the mise-en-scene as it helps add to the effect of the genre of the film.

A shot of candles quickly flicks on and off the screen, creating a spooky affect



A sped up sun rise is shown, flicking closer and further away like a faulty camera.

The sun rise also contributes to a peaceful feeling and contrasts with the music being played.

This screen also has more production credits on it.

A dead fox is shown and the rotting process of it is sped up to gross the viewers out and make them worried as to what will happen in the film.

A straight edit is then used to show a snarling wolf, showing its teeth showing anger and aggression

Another straight edit is used which shows a cross with the name and date of ‘Willie Lahaye 1886’. The cross is representing that this person has died and is long gone. May make the viewers question how he died.

The film name ‘Backwoods’ straight edits in front of the cross


The next screen continues showing the ‘Backwood’ title, giving time for the viewers to read it. In the background behind the title shows a boy who looks like he could be from the country in a past time maybe. He seems to look scared by something and looks stereotypically uneducated.

The title still shows in the next screen which has a zooming in shot of an older man with long messy hair.

A bow and arrow is shown being pointed at something but you can’t see what it’s being pointed at or who’s shooting it.
The next couple of shots may seem random as there may be a link between them and the film or there may not be.

The next shot is of as dead deer so viewers could think that the bow and arrow has killed the deer

There is a clip of a hand and finger pointing over a map around a ‘Military Reservation’. Credits are shown on the page whilst the clip is being played and the same music is being played

This may suggest that the film has something to do with the military

A ‘No Trespassing’ sign is shown on the floor so it’s probably been ripped off the fence or ignored maybe suggesting that it’s going into the military reservation .

This screen also carry’s on showing more credits

Weapons are being fired in the next short clip suggesting death as this could kill a person or animal

Let Me In - Amara Bullen

Let Me In, directed by Matt Reeves, is about a bullied young boy that befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian.

I chose this film because the soundtrack to the opening of this film drew me in and stood out as a good example of a horror movie. I thought that the sounds used were quite threatening and the shots used were interesting as they leave the viewer guessing and making up stories in their heads as to what's happening in the film.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjL7VEFvOxM

 

While the producer credits are shown on the screen by fading in at the very beginning, an echoing choir is singing in one tone that gradually becomes clearer and louder. On top of this, a harp is very slowly playing in a minor tone making the atmosphere sad. The plucks of the harp strings echo so that they end up combining into the sound of the choir singing. The sound drifts off into a minor scale which makes the choir sound haunting almost as it comes across as harsh and drifting out of tone. The sounds put together enhance a scary surrounding making the viewer feel tense and adds to the scary affect making it seem like something is wrong but they don't know what yet so it keeps the viewers guessing the worst.

 

A black screen is shown and the choir becomes quieter and a fade in of each word of the title is shown in big, bold letters, written in red. The colour red is often referred to blood and death as it is written in front of a black screen. This may give the viewer an image that death may occur in the film. After the title has fully appeared, the choir fades out into nothing as well as the title which fades out into blackness once again.
 

A loud booming drum breaks the silence which repeats while a place and date appears on the screen (Los Alamos, New Mexico, March 1983) which can scare the viewer as this relates more to real life.

The sound of wind builds up before a picture is shown on the screen. The wind gets louder and a low brass instrument accompanies the drum, playing the same haunting note over and over.

A small, orange light is show in the middle of the screen is zoomed into it to see that it's an establishing shot of an ambulance and a few police cars going round a winding road surrounded by some trees. Sirens fade in and become louder as the camera nears closer to re-enforce the audience that they are police cars. This shot can make the viewer interested in what's happening but nervous at the same time as the sirens are on so something must have happened and they're surrounded by trees on a winding road so they could be far away from a safe place.

A factor of mise-en-scene is that this scene is filmed at night as its pitch black which can scare people as some people are afraid of the dark and most bad things happen at night. I can also be quite threatening as you can't see what’s lurking in the dark, if there is anything there or not.

 

A tracking shot of the police cars and an ambulance is shown from in the trees and the sound of the vehicles is emphasised to show that they are driving quickly, building suspense to show that they need to get to the destination quickly.

 

A shot shown from the inside the police car is of the front of the window showing that it's snowing heavily as the window-wipers are moving quickly.
 

  A straight edit to a shot of the radio which has a radio transmission of a man asking for them to reply in code. The voice is stereotypically a man's voice as he must be a police man and this role is stereotypically carried out by a man as they are known to be the braver and stronger gender.

 

 The next straight edit is blurry and isn't very clear as to what it's showing. It seems to show a trolley bed as the camera moves to show the bottom of the foot of a person that is laying down on the bed. The camera is quite shaky so suggest that it's shot inside of the ambulance. To add to the fact that they're moving quickly, creaking and shaking of the bed and things in the ambulance are cluttering noisily.

Scissors are shown cutting the material, supposedly belonging to the person's on the bed showing that he must be injured, leaving the viewers with no idea of what's going on making them wonder how they got there? Who he/ she is with? What's wrong with them? etc.

 

The hand of the person reaches up and grabs one of the uniformed men who tries to stop him/her. The uniformed man is stereotypically male as it seems they're dealing with something major and women aren't seen to be able to handle too much pressure and blood.

 

Another straight edit changes to show the radio again and the voice replying, inside the ambulance describes the 'male' that is injured in the ambulance. This is typical for the person lying on the bed to be a male as they tend to get up to no good and misbehave more than women.

 

Different shots are shown to be helping the man on the bed  but faces haven't been shown yet so this also adds to the curiosity of the viewers as it leaves things unknown.

 

 
Sounds of the patient being sick and making strange noises may freak the viewers out, still not fully understanding what's happening. The report on the radio said that he had swallowed acid so this could link in which can gross the viewers out and feel his pain almost.

All the while, the brass instrument and drum had been playing quietly in the background, unnoticeably yet still haunting like.

 

 

All sounds come to a sharp, high pitched sound and all is quiet. A straight edit is shown of the back of a man in what looks like a hospital.