Preliminary Filming and Directors Evaluation and Reflection

Before starting our actual short film we started with Preliminary Filming which gave us an idea of what we will need to do for our short film.



After looking back over our preliminary filming we have noticed some parts we need to improve on for example our continuity editing wasn't the best as at some parts in the video you might notice the actor jumping back from where he actually got too, this can be fixed with better filming or even editing and cutting at the right time. We noticed at the beginning of the film that the lighting was not great as the main source of light was from behind the actor which gave him a silhouette effect which didn't look good and didn't fit the type of shot we were going for and other than that light the film was dark which made the actor look out of focus. Another problem we had with this filming was the top plate of our tripod wasn't fitted properly so the first few shots were wonky and we didn't notice this until we got into editing.
          The main thing we have gained from doing the preliminary filming (and editing) is that we learnt that the filming isn't just point and shoot you need to carefully think out the location you are shooting in and check for noise and light. Another important step in getting good shots is that all you equipment is set up correctly.

Anamatic

Using my storyboard i created a anamatic to show how my film shots will flow, this didn't really work as my storyboard I didn't include each and every shot so it jumped around a bit and the quality of the pictures were not great. I still think it will be useful though as it did show how my short film will progress.

'The Good the Bad and the Ugly' - Presentation

How to get the most out of your practical (Pete's Media Blog)

Presentation nov 4 from petefrasers

I read through this presentation and I found it very helpful to my work it reminds me of simple things that I need to remember and do before going out and filming and then editing. It gives you small reminders such as timing, getting used to your equipment and knowing your location.

Target Audience

My short film has a large target audience like most other horror films that are released. The age range varies from around 15-40, Horror can be enjoyed be teens but then can also be enjoyed by older people as well, but to gain this you need to choose your story line well and not use lots of modern slang and a modern storyline that older people may not understand as well. I believe I chose my narrative well and it doesn't favor any age group and can be understood and enjoyed by any age group (15-40). Out of my age range It is more likely younger people will watch my film because people of an older age don't tend to have the time or money to go out and watch films at the cinema.

This is Rob and he is 18 and enjoys horror films, he isn't the typical person you would see who would watch horror films such as someone into more Gothic clothes and songs, but he still enjoys watching horror films which shows they can suitable for a very wide audience. He more enjoys realistic horror films instead of using a monster or creature as the antagonist he prefers having real danger which can be related to in real life.

I also videoed some more people from my target audience, to get an idea of what conventions they expect to see in a horror film, what horror films they enjoy and what they think of our idea. What we found good was when we asked them about a 'chase' horror film they said it would of actually been scary.

Filming Techniques

We recently went out with Cameras and started doing our preliminary filming which gave us a great feel for the camera and new techniques. I practiced lots of shots that I will use in my actual film so I could get an idea of how to shoot these shots without just going to my location and having to learn there as this will save a lot of time in the long run.

This is a picture of me practicing one of our shots we will be using in our film, this will definitely help when it comes to filming as know i have a feel for the camera and also techniques on how to shoot this shot.

We also experimented with using tripods and then not using tripods but we found it much harder to not use a tripod as even the smallest shake could ruin the whole shot, so we decided we would use a tripod in every shot it's possible to use it for.

Directors

Whilst in the planning stage of creating my short film I also looked at directors who work on similar types of films and genres.

Scott Derrickson

Scott is one director who is very popular at the moment in the last 3 years he has had over 4 successful films and his films always tend to be of the horror genre, some of his biggest work is, Paranormal Activity, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and he also has a new horror film coming out this year called Sinister.

Eli Roth

Eli is another director who's work is a good inspiration to do this short film, he started making short films when he was just 8. Cabin Fever is one of his films which is good to help me with my short film as it is a horror based in the woods and uses innocent protaoginsts who are just having a laugh and then it all changes which is great to get some ideas to help me create my short film.

Horror Deconstruction - Stay out of the woods

This short film is probably the one that relates most to my short film, it is called 'Stay out of the woods', It is based in secluded woods with only 2 girls and then the antagonist which will be very similar to mine and I will be using the lonely convention to help create horror in my short film. In the opening scene you can hear crows in the background which really connotes horror and death.

They even use similar type of protagonist as i will use in my horror film, young, stereotypical looking girls, who talk about 'chasing after boys' and 'smoking pot' and this just sets them up for being vulnerable when alone in the woods.

This is one shot i really liked from this short film they use a point of view shot from the antagonist which really builds tension and sets the film up for horror.

They use lots of shots from other the shoulder of the antagonist which I have included in the storyboard of my horror film which is a good shot in horror films.

They also use a mask on there antagonist which i have planned to use as well which really makes an ordinary antagonist a lot more scary, and they use a knife as a prop which again can turn a normal, non supernatural antagonist a lot more scary.




The music used throughout is also very good for setting up the horror conventions and it's constantly music that just builds up tension and then it goes a lot louder and then it goes back to building the tension again.

Dark Comedy (Horror) - Deconstruction

To help me create my short film I looked at other short films with similar genres to help me with ideas and the conventions of horrors.


This short film is called 'Brutal Relax', and it is more of a Dark Comedy than a horror film but it does use a lot of the stereotypical horror conventions (just over exaggerates them). This short film starts off by using the stereotypical conventions of horror for example, it starts off in a scary, quiet, secluded area, in a doctors surgery is seen as quite scary. In the opening scene the main character has a very serious, evil look on his face, But in the next scene it changes to him  wearing a colourful shirt and the music has changed to a very upbeat,  happy and cheerful song, which completely converts the first scene.

The location used is also very different from a horror film it's a very crowded beach with lots of people having fun, but then the music changes from something up beat and happy with lyrics, to a deep beat which builds up a lot of tension and you can tell that it's going to take a more scary approach from here. The film then goes back to the horror conventions and used typically scary monsters, people covered in scars and dis formed, and there is a lot of blood which is conventionally used to portray horror.

Horror Deconstruction - Lovely Monster

I looked at other horror films and deconstructed them to help me get an idea of horror conventions. The reason i chose this film is because it is in the style of a documentary which was one of my original ideas for my horror film but since then I have changed this idea, but I still thing this is a good film to look at as it is a very stereotypical horror film so great for looking at the semiotics.

 This short film is called 'Lovely Monster', right from the title sequence you can tell it's a horror film, the music is already building tention and the font is a very bold font on a black background so it stands out which is used a lot in horror films.

Depth of Field is used a lot in this short film and is used in nearly every scene and has a good effect on the overall 'horror' feel to it and also the documentary theme running throughout. Another thing I noticed from watching horror short films is they tend to use a lot of swearing, because it's a great way to get across the anger and violence behind the genre and makes them seem more real as most people who are scared and worried for there life don't worry about keeping it PG. The scenes and locations are almost empty and quiet, they never tend to use areas filled with people as that would convey an idea of security which is not what they want, they want to put the person out of there depth. Another convention I liked is when they put the main character up against the wall and there was a sign that said 'Warning', which is great as it's using the location to the best possibility.

Documentary make great  horror films, a lot of popular horror films use the documentary idea such as the paranormal activity films as it makes it a lot more scary as it makes it so much more realistic.

StoryBoard Plans

For my short film i created a story board, and this will probably be one of the most useful things when it comes to filming and editing my film. Without my storyboard I wouldn't have an idea of what shots I want and what shots I need so i would probably end up going out and taking a lot less shots than I need and forget a lot of shots and not really have an idea of where everything is going. With the storyboard I will know what shots I need, when to film them and were.

Risk Assesment

This is the risk assessment for my main location which is a forest which is in the middle of no where and we chose this location because it really conveys the horror conventions, the problem with choosing this location and having to film in the dark is there is some risks that is why we created the table below to help us keep everything safe. We only use one other location and it is only for one scene right at the end which is a bedroom, so we did not feel it was necessary to create a risk assessment for this as it is an empty room with just a bed.

Risk	Solution
Filming from a car	Wear a seatbelt at all times, try not to go too quickly as it could lead to dropping the camera out of the window
Not being able to see due to dark environment	Bring a torch and possibly use headlamps from the car to light up the location
Equipment being knocked over	Check that all equipment is stable and set up correctly using tripods for the cameras
Falling over because of a slippery surface	Wear sensible footwear and watch wear we’re going
Getting lost	Make sure that we check out the location before hand to get to know the area, possibly take a map
Tripping over sticks or roots	Be careful and look where we’re going
Falling out of a tree whilst taking a high angle, or birds eye view shot	Use safety equipment and be careful
Falling over the cliff	Stay away from cliff

Cast/Costume/Props (Representation)

My short film consists of only 2 characters my young, innocent, protagonist and my older, scary antagonist, I've followed the typical horror conventions with this choice.  

Protagonist
For my protagonist we are using the stereotypical female you would usually see in horror films, the sort of vulnerable girl who comes across as innocent  and is easily scared and doesn't make clever decisions when panicking. We will also use lots of high angle shots to make her look small and scared a lot of the time. We are portraying here in unrevealing clothes to make her look as innocent as possible, we also are making her walk to meet her friends which should make the audience like her and can relate.

Antagonist For the antagonist we are again using a stereotypical antagonist in a horror film. The antagonist is about a foot taller than our protagonist which we think will help connote the idea of horror. We will also use low angle shots to make him look even bigger. We are representing the horror film antagonist in a stereotypical way. The actor we are using for this role is a drama a-level student so should be good at acting and also was in a film when he was younger so know he will be good at taking directions which will make the filming a lot more straight forward.


  



Costume
 For our antagonist we had a few ideas for costume to start with we were going to use quite stereotypical clothes, just a plain or checkered shirt with baggy blue jeans which were dirty and had holes in to connote the lack of caring and how rough and scary he is, but we had another idea to subvert the genre and dress our antagonist in a suit (still use dirt and mud to convey the horror genre).

For our protagonist we want to use the very stereotypical costume of a young girl who looks easily scared and comes across as innocent. For example in the first scream movie in the opening scene it's an attractive blonde women who looks very innocent.

Props
For my movie we are going to need a few props but not that many. We are going to need a plastic knife for our antagonist to hold and carry around which definitely connotes and conveys the horror conventions and makes an UN-supernatural antagonist appear much more scary. The only other prop we will need is a noose which again conveys the horror conventions as nooses are usually used to hang people so it is very scarey and is used it a lot of horror films to build tension and can be very jumpy.