Monday, 13 March 2017
Tuesday, 28 February 2017
Note To Moderator
Hello my name is Jody Olivia Cook. My candidate number is 1236 and the final product in which I have created is a 2 minute opening sequence to a Thriller film. I hope you enjoy my final product and also my blog!
Evaluation Question 7
Script for Vlog:
When looking back at our preliminary task, it is evident how far as a group we have all come. In our preliminary task, we stuck to the basic instructions of what we had to do, using basic shots and basic acting. Our final product is far better and of a much higher quality than when we first started filming our preliminary task.
When looking back at our preliminary task, it is evident how far as a group we have all come. In our preliminary task, we stuck to the basic instructions of what we had to do, using basic shots and basic acting. Our final product is far better and of a much higher quality than when we first started filming our preliminary task.
The basic shots in which we included consisted of the 180
degree rule, shot reverse shot and match on action and we did not think to
include any other shots in order to make this task more exciting. This is one
of the reasons why our preliminary task is not very entertaining to watch.
Moreover, in our final piece for The Absence, we incorporated a variety of
shots including worm’s eye view, wide shots, long shots, close ups and many more.
We decided to use the 180 degree rule, which we learnt in the preliminary task,
of the trees, in order to show that Nicole was trapped and surrounded by the
woods. The effect we were trying to create by using this was suspense and
tension build up in the audience as this is typical to a Thriller film.
As for our editing skills, these were also very poor in our preliminary task, we used basic transitions and did not think to use effects as we edited our prelim task on iMovie which is no where near as detailed as Final Cut Pro, the software in which we decided to edit our opening scene of The Absence with. Final Cut Pro offered a larger variety of transitions, effects, music and much more so that we could get the best possible results for our film, and we took full advantage of this. In our final piece, we decided to include a variety of different effects to make our film seem more creepy and solemn. We decided to stick to lower key lighting effects to portray the genre of the film, as by using these effects, specific scenes of the film stood out more so than others. We decided to use tracking and panning shots throughout the woods scenes to make out that the antagonist was chasing the protagonist and this built up a lot more tension and made the opening scene to our film a lot more exciting.
From looking at the difference of mise-en-scene that we included in our preliminary task to our final piece of our film, we can see that we have improved on this skill greatly. In our preliminary task, all we were concerned about was making sure that we completed all of the shots to a decent standard and did not think to focus on the mise-en-scene elements in order to make this task appear to be more real. However, in The Absence, through completing textual analysis on mise-en-scene in other films, we realised how important this element was to include in our film in order to get the best possible results. We focused largely on hair and makeup, props costumes and the setting so that we could get the ideas which we originally thought of through to the audience as best as possible.
In our preliminary task, we did not think to include any type of non-diegetic music. We decided to only use a script and dialogue which is a form of diegetic sound. This was a large factor which we decided to change in order to make the actual finished piece more interesting. We used two different types of sound consisting of diegetic and non-diegetic. The majority of the sound however, was non-diegetic as we felt this was the best option considering we were only producing an opening scene. The only diegetic sound we used was the voice of Nicole screaming and shouting 'Olivia'. The rest of the sound was non-digetic and this consisted of the voice over and the royalty-free soundtrack in which we found on YouTube. This made the whole opening scene more interesting and the soundtrack created a lot more tension throughout, some parts were amplified to emphasise the tension, for example when Nicole finds Olivia.
As seen in our preliminary task, we decided to only stick to one location. We also decided to do this in the final piece for our opening scene as we found that by sticking to the location, being the woods, it was the best option for our film as this is a typical location for a Thriller genre film to be shot. However, in our preliminary task, we were very limited as to where we could film, therefore meaning that our location did not exactly fit with our narrative and this evidently had an effect on the quality of the preliminary task. We found that location is actually a huge contributing factor in terms of making our final product successful.
Overall, I feel that it is very clear as to how far we as a group have come. From all aspects of the preliminary task in comparison to our final piece, it is evident that we have improved on many skills that are made up to create a successful film. I feel that by comparing these two tasks, it really shows that we tried a lot harder in for the opening scene of The Absence. We took this a lot more seriously than the preliminary task and in conclusion, the outcome shows our effort.
As for our editing skills, these were also very poor in our preliminary task, we used basic transitions and did not think to use effects as we edited our prelim task on iMovie which is no where near as detailed as Final Cut Pro, the software in which we decided to edit our opening scene of The Absence with. Final Cut Pro offered a larger variety of transitions, effects, music and much more so that we could get the best possible results for our film, and we took full advantage of this. In our final piece, we decided to include a variety of different effects to make our film seem more creepy and solemn. We decided to stick to lower key lighting effects to portray the genre of the film, as by using these effects, specific scenes of the film stood out more so than others. We decided to use tracking and panning shots throughout the woods scenes to make out that the antagonist was chasing the protagonist and this built up a lot more tension and made the opening scene to our film a lot more exciting.
From looking at the difference of mise-en-scene that we included in our preliminary task to our final piece of our film, we can see that we have improved on this skill greatly. In our preliminary task, all we were concerned about was making sure that we completed all of the shots to a decent standard and did not think to focus on the mise-en-scene elements in order to make this task appear to be more real. However, in The Absence, through completing textual analysis on mise-en-scene in other films, we realised how important this element was to include in our film in order to get the best possible results. We focused largely on hair and makeup, props costumes and the setting so that we could get the ideas which we originally thought of through to the audience as best as possible.
In our preliminary task, we did not think to include any type of non-diegetic music. We decided to only use a script and dialogue which is a form of diegetic sound. This was a large factor which we decided to change in order to make the actual finished piece more interesting. We used two different types of sound consisting of diegetic and non-diegetic. The majority of the sound however, was non-diegetic as we felt this was the best option considering we were only producing an opening scene. The only diegetic sound we used was the voice of Nicole screaming and shouting 'Olivia'. The rest of the sound was non-digetic and this consisted of the voice over and the royalty-free soundtrack in which we found on YouTube. This made the whole opening scene more interesting and the soundtrack created a lot more tension throughout, some parts were amplified to emphasise the tension, for example when Nicole finds Olivia.
As seen in our preliminary task, we decided to only stick to one location. We also decided to do this in the final piece for our opening scene as we found that by sticking to the location, being the woods, it was the best option for our film as this is a typical location for a Thriller genre film to be shot. However, in our preliminary task, we were very limited as to where we could film, therefore meaning that our location did not exactly fit with our narrative and this evidently had an effect on the quality of the preliminary task. We found that location is actually a huge contributing factor in terms of making our final product successful.
Overall, I feel that it is very clear as to how far we as a group have come. From all aspects of the preliminary task in comparison to our final piece, it is evident that we have improved on many skills that are made up to create a successful film. I feel that by comparing these two tasks, it really shows that we tried a lot harder in for the opening scene of The Absence. We took this a lot more seriously than the preliminary task and in conclusion, the outcome shows our effort.
Evaluation Question 4
Who would be the audience for your product?
From the start and throughout the opening scene of The Absence, it is evident that it is not suitable for young children under the age of 15. This is because all of the conventions used, the non-diegetic sound and the content inside the film would be too much for a child to see, especially considering the fact that The Absence is a Thriller movie. The film is rated a 15 certificate rating due to the content inside the film. Teenagers and adults whom like thriller films and would want to be tested throughout the film will defiantly be the ones who want to give watching The Absence a go. Our target audience is aimed at those who enjoy a scary movie, but not to the extent of blood and gore to get them excited as The Absence does not offer this. Instead, those who enjoy being kept on the edge of their seat and experience tension throughout will be the perfect target audience to watch the film.
From looking at studies taken, we have found our that males are more likely to watch Thriller films than females, and although our film is not specified to a particular gender, we suspect more males will watch The Absence than females. We have followed the typical conventions of a Thriller or Horror movie and gave the role of the victim, and main protagonist - Nicole, to a petite, blonde, young female who would usually be seen as vulnerable and unable to defend herself therefore making her a more exciting character as it is evident to the audience from the start that something is going to happen to her. We also have a male antagonist whom we do not get to see a lot of, for the reason of keeping his identity hidden. By having both male and female characters in our film, this has made it obvious that the film is not aimed towards one specific genre.
From doing previous research and looking at The BBFC age classifications, we decided to not include strong violence so that we could lower our age rating down from an 18. We felt by including content in our film so that it would be rated lower than an 18 would allow us to get the most successful results for our film for a number of reasons. The first was because if we included a lot of violence in our film, we would have to have a rating of 18 which would not be very good for our film. This is because having such a high age rating cuts off a lot of our target audience and therefore would affect profits in our film. A lot of our target audience would be around the ages of 15-17 as this is around the age of the characters who are casting in The Absence and by getting a higher rating, these people would not be allowed to watch our film in the cinema. Considering we have a low budget and The Absence will be shown in independent cinemas, we want to get as many people seeing our film as we possibly can. However, on the other hand, we do not want to rate our film too low, for example a 12, as people will think that it will not be worth watching due to the low rating, they will assume the content inside will not be exciting or thrilling enough for them so they will not bother going to see it. We think that by having the film rated a 15 this will give the target audience an idea of what is inside the film and allow them to decide whether or not they want to see the film. A majority of Thriller movies are rated a 15 and as for our target audience of 15-25, we are aware that ages outside of these brackets will watch the film for different reasons.
Here is my Voki for a typical audience member http://www.voki.com/site/create?VkId=13829080&chsm=972cecd007adef667f0b57cd3c32505d&share=sharing
From the start and throughout the opening scene of The Absence, it is evident that it is not suitable for young children under the age of 15. This is because all of the conventions used, the non-diegetic sound and the content inside the film would be too much for a child to see, especially considering the fact that The Absence is a Thriller movie. The film is rated a 15 certificate rating due to the content inside the film. Teenagers and adults whom like thriller films and would want to be tested throughout the film will defiantly be the ones who want to give watching The Absence a go. Our target audience is aimed at those who enjoy a scary movie, but not to the extent of blood and gore to get them excited as The Absence does not offer this. Instead, those who enjoy being kept on the edge of their seat and experience tension throughout will be the perfect target audience to watch the film.
From looking at studies taken, we have found our that males are more likely to watch Thriller films than females, and although our film is not specified to a particular gender, we suspect more males will watch The Absence than females. We have followed the typical conventions of a Thriller or Horror movie and gave the role of the victim, and main protagonist - Nicole, to a petite, blonde, young female who would usually be seen as vulnerable and unable to defend herself therefore making her a more exciting character as it is evident to the audience from the start that something is going to happen to her. We also have a male antagonist whom we do not get to see a lot of, for the reason of keeping his identity hidden. By having both male and female characters in our film, this has made it obvious that the film is not aimed towards one specific genre.From doing previous research and looking at The BBFC age classifications, we decided to not include strong violence so that we could lower our age rating down from an 18. We felt by including content in our film so that it would be rated lower than an 18 would allow us to get the most successful results for our film for a number of reasons. The first was because if we included a lot of violence in our film, we would have to have a rating of 18 which would not be very good for our film. This is because having such a high age rating cuts off a lot of our target audience and therefore would affect profits in our film. A lot of our target audience would be around the ages of 15-17 as this is around the age of the characters who are casting in The Absence and by getting a higher rating, these people would not be allowed to watch our film in the cinema. Considering we have a low budget and The Absence will be shown in independent cinemas, we want to get as many people seeing our film as we possibly can. However, on the other hand, we do not want to rate our film too low, for example a 12, as people will think that it will not be worth watching due to the low rating, they will assume the content inside will not be exciting or thrilling enough for them so they will not bother going to see it. We think that by having the film rated a 15 this will give the target audience an idea of what is inside the film and allow them to decide whether or not they want to see the film. A majority of Thriller movies are rated a 15 and as for our target audience of 15-25, we are aware that ages outside of these brackets will watch the film for different reasons.
Here is my Voki for a typical audience member http://www.voki.com/site/create?VkId=13829080&chsm=972cecd007adef667f0b57cd3c32505d&share=sharing
Friday, 10 February 2017
Tuesday, 31 January 2017
Focus Group For The Absence
In this focus group, we showed participants our first draft of The Absence and the final draft of The Absence. We then proceeded to ask Mia and Ayoola questions on what they thought about each of the drafts, what we should have improved on and more.
Monday, 30 January 2017
Sunday, 29 January 2017
Friday, 27 January 2017
Narrative Progress
In this Emaze, we show how we have changed the final piece of The Absence in comparison to the story arc.
Production Diary
Title Change:
We decided to change the name of our film from 'Cat And Mouse' to 'The Absence'. This is because we felt that there was not enough thrill or fear in our title from Cat And Mouse, and we felt that this title was boring and would not entice our target audience into watching our film. By changing the title of our film to The Absence, it creates a sense of mystery and missing, which is what we are trying to portray in our film. We felt that this name goes better with our film altogether, as the idea from Cat And Mouse was that the antagonist was chasing the protagonist, therefore wanting to capture her, however, without knowing what happens in our film, this could mean anything to the target audience. On the other hand, The Absence conveys that someone within our film is absent (missing) which is the exact narrative that we have come up with. Just by hearing this title, it is easy to tell the genre of our film, more so than it was from the name Cat And Mouse. Overall, we are more content with the new film name, rather than the old as it fits our genre better.
We decided to change the name of our film from 'Cat And Mouse' to 'The Absence'. This is because we felt that there was not enough thrill or fear in our title from Cat And Mouse, and we felt that this title was boring and would not entice our target audience into watching our film. By changing the title of our film to The Absence, it creates a sense of mystery and missing, which is what we are trying to portray in our film. We felt that this name goes better with our film altogether, as the idea from Cat And Mouse was that the antagonist was chasing the protagonist, therefore wanting to capture her, however, without knowing what happens in our film, this could mean anything to the target audience. On the other hand, The Absence conveys that someone within our film is absent (missing) which is the exact narrative that we have come up with. Just by hearing this title, it is easy to tell the genre of our film, more so than it was from the name Cat And Mouse. Overall, we are more content with the new film name, rather than the old as it fits our genre better.
Friday, 20 January 2017
Thursday, 19 January 2017
Wednesday, 18 January 2017
Tuesday, 17 January 2017
Test Footage Explaination
We decided to film test footage in order to get a better feel of different aspects of filming for the opening scene of our film. We also learned where we could potentially have gone wrong when actually filming for our film and therefore eliminated any mistakes, therefore the test footage formed as a sort of practice footage for us. We realised that by filming portrait on an iPhone created black lines and limited the amount of video you could actually see, therefore, from this we learnt that if we were to film on an iPhone we would need to film landscape rather than portrait. We then went back and filmed certain parts of our test footage again to correct where we went wrong.
In filming our test footage, we used camera angles and techniques which proved to work well for the effect we are going for in our thriller opening scene. We created some good shots and come up with a few that we are certain we can use in the opening to our film. Even though we did not go to the location we are going to film at, we went across to one of the possible locations when location scouting which was Shenfield Common as it is still a wooded area and creates a creepy effect. However, when filming for our actual film, we will be sure to go across to Thorndon to film the opening.
Test Footage Compilation With Edits
This video is a compilation of all the test footage we used (without the vlogs) put together, with different edits expressed over the top to give a show and variety of what we could use in our film. In this video different sound effects, transitions and effects will be shown which will indicate a taster of what could possibly come to be in our film.
Thursday, 12 January 2017
Tuesday, 10 January 2017
Test Footage 4 With Production Diary
This is the fourth part of test footage we filmed. We again, added a vlog which explain why this footage was bad and not going to be used.
Test Footage 3 With Production Diary
This is the third test footage we filmed. We added a vlog at the end to explain why we used this test footage and why we liked it.
Test Footage 1 With Production Diary
This is the first bit of test footage we done. We also added a vlog to explain the why we used this test footage, and why we liked it.
Wednesday, 4 January 2017
Script 2 (Narration)
Production Company Name (dissolve)
Fade in:
Billie (Narrating):
This is my story...
Rear of car drives in and parks up at Thorndon Country Park.
My name is Nicole Ann Smith. I'm a pretty and popular 17-year-old. But none of that matters; what matters is, how I'm still speaking.
Fade to black
Billie Ayres (typography)
Undoing seat belt, looks at herself in mirror. Checks if she is looking okay. Gets out phone and looks through twitter.
This was my mate. Olivia.
Fade to black
Jody Cook (typography)
See's tweet urging people to look out for a missing girl (Olivia). Gets out of car and starts walking dog.
She was taken from us.
Fade to black
She continues to walk.
By someone… or, something.
Walks and sees poster on the floor, ahead of her path there is a shoe
No one knew where she was, or what had taken her.
Dog runs off into the distance
But I saw something that day.
Nicole trips over, looks up and sees Olivia on the floor tied up with antagonist standing over her
That wasn't… human...
Nicole:
OLIVIA!!!
Nicole gets up and runs away, antagonist chases her. Gets in car, drops keys by feet and sees antagonist in wind mirror
AHHHHHHH!!!
Fade to black: Title name on screen (typography)
Tuesday, 3 January 2017
Use Of Sound
Trailer Music - In order to find a backing track for our film, my group listened to a variety of 'Royalty Free' sound tracks that fit our genre of Thriller. In the end, we come to a decision of using the 'Forsaken' trailer music track as it was the track that most fitted our genre and the feel of our film. The high pitched, almost lullaby gives a creepy solemn feeling, which is what we are going for in terms of how we want to make our audience feel. The length of the soundtrack is also convenient as it is 26 seconds longer than what we would need for the duration of our film to be, therefore if we want this soundtrack to play the whole way through our film, then we will be able to do so.
Dialogue - We have decided to change the dialogue which we wrote on our script as we think that the dialogue of narration over the top of the film will sound a lot better and create a more sadistic feel on our film. We have decided that Nicole (the main protagonist) will speak over the top of the film, and therefore narrate each scene that we have filmed, however she will be talking in the past tense, not the present which will be seen on the film. The only diegetic piece of dialogue in this film will be when Nicole screams when she sees her friend Olivia tied to the tree.
Sound Effects - The only diegetic sound which will be in our film will be the sound effects of a variety of different things in order to make our film sound more realistic as there will be no actual dialogue in the film. We have decided to use heavy breathing in various places when Nicole will be running, and maybe even the sound of a heartbeat as this will make the film more tense. We will also use the rustling of leaves and other possible noises that would be conventional of noises from woods.
Dialogue - We have decided to change the dialogue which we wrote on our script as we think that the dialogue of narration over the top of the film will sound a lot better and create a more sadistic feel on our film. We have decided that Nicole (the main protagonist) will speak over the top of the film, and therefore narrate each scene that we have filmed, however she will be talking in the past tense, not the present which will be seen on the film. The only diegetic piece of dialogue in this film will be when Nicole screams when she sees her friend Olivia tied to the tree.
Sound Effects - The only diegetic sound which will be in our film will be the sound effects of a variety of different things in order to make our film sound more realistic as there will be no actual dialogue in the film. We have decided to use heavy breathing in various places when Nicole will be running, and maybe even the sound of a heartbeat as this will make the film more tense. We will also use the rustling of leaves and other possible noises that would be conventional of noises from woods.
Monday, 2 January 2017
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