Definite Location.

We have decided to film outside Northwick Cinema for the first part of our film, as it has a classy jazz - style look that were aiming for. This isn't to say however, that we will film inside, as that is near-enough impossible due to filming restrictions.

After watching "Manhattan"'s title sequence, we were inspired by the

outside shot of the Manhattan sign on the side of a building, similar to that of Northwicks.'

Possible Locations.

Northwick theatre

This is Northwick theatre, made in 1922 so it is perfect by giving of the old effect and it's easy to access.

Huntingdon Hall









Huntingdon Hall, Worcester is a fantastic 'old fashioned' venue, this would be great to film at as it's such a historical and popular venue.


The Swan theatre

The swan theatre has a professional stage and will look very slick though the camera giving our project a classy feel, this would be a great place to film at.

Research into target audience.

First of all we made a mood board on face book and asked our friends certain questions such as:
1. What emotions arise after first viewing these images?
2. Do you find the images disturbing, if so, any in particular?
3. What age group do you feel would be most disturbed by the above?
4. Does the rejection of colour suit the 'mood' of the images?


These are the replies.



However some of the people that answered wanted to say anonymous, here are their responses. 


Male : 29 Years of Age

1. The image evoke Fear and Angst. Something hidden and dark.

2.I find all of the images shown disturbing, particularly the clown to the left, as it subverts the traditional meanings of clowns as happy, and instead portrays them as deceiving and hiding and that they might be fighting internal emotional conflict.

3. I don't know.

4. Yes, black and white is often used in film as light is more subjective than colour.

Female : 43 Years of Age

1. I think the pictures are quite spooky and sad.

2. The images are sad more than disturbing, and the top left picture of an empty warehouse is almost the exact same location of my recurring nightmare.

3. Well I find the pictures quite disturbing, but I don't think children would do so really, as they probably wouldn't understand what's 'so scary' about a clown and an empty warehouse .

4. I think colour would give the same effect quite honestly.

Male : 48 Years of Age

1. Creepy pictures! Although I don't find the withered rose scary!

2. The most disturbing image to me is either the dead body at the bottom, or the x-ray of broken hands.

3. I think kids would find them quite disturbing, but I wouldn't show my child these pictures!

4. Darker pictures do seem to be more emotive than colour, but colour can sometimes be pretty powerful. I think only colour would work well with the clown, for example.

We have concluded that  The age group of our target audience is 25 - 50, as we researched that mature audiences would relate closer to the themes present in our title sequence (Regret, Loneliness, Heartbroken, Anger), than those below 25 would. Not only based on asking members of our demographic, but studying user data for Se7en athttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114369/ratings allowed us to see that the majority of those viewing Psychological horrors were over 18 and were mainly male, with their viewings of 207, 562 far outnumbering 32, 110 females who posted user ratings. This was surprising and caused us to reflect on our film, and consider how to appeal further to the populated male audience. Steven Casey Murray, is 'Bellaonline's horror film editor, however and believes "Horror films cross gender-boundaries because they deal with the primal emotion, the basic instinct in all human beings - fear". We decided to aim to keep our film appealing to both genders, as alienating certain gender audiences is not necessary in horror, in comparison to age.

Our target audience are intelligent, mature and experienced. They realise the complications that love can cause, and the problems it can create. They prefer well thought out, sensual and deep meaning film rather then the 'jumpy', 'blood and guts' horror often associated with a teen audience. They realise the disturbing effect objects such as clowns and empty locations can create, and realise that subverting traditional connotations is an effective form of 'horror'. Understanding light in film, they realise the strengths of using black and white in horror, but are welcome to all aspects of colour.
Their interests are reading and watching films that are not always advertised and marketed but are more obscure, discussing the message behind films.

Our Choice In Music.

This is "Swan lake waltz" composed by Tchaikovsky. This digetic music will be played of the record player so it gives the classical effect when the character is dancing with the mannequin. This is available on http://freeplaymusic.com/ copyright free.

Editing in Premier Pro.

I am using Adobe Premier Pro to edit my film; this is a non-linear time line, making it easier to edit the clips.

Props.

These are the props that we are planning to use in our opening sequence:

Why we are using each prop:

We are clothing our main and only character in a pin strip suit very similar to this one.

We are getting 4-5 half mannequins as props on the stage.                                                                                                                      

                                               

We also need old clothes to dress the mannequins to make them more life like. 

We are using a full size mannequin which is going to be dancing with the character.

A record player like the one shown is going to used to play the music and set the classical theme.

Light health and safety brief.

I have received a health and safety brief from my teacher to use the cold lights that my college can supply. We are debating in using these lights because we want to film in a theatre and the lighting would be provided. 

Why We Don't Need A Script .

In our opening sequence it does not require a script because it doesn’t use dialog but instead uses the classical music to show a classy and sophisticated effect of the character. So a detailed dialog is not required as there’s no communication between characters. 

Storyboard.

 Click to zoom.

Idea.

We have come to the conclusion that we are sticking to the psychological horror theme but were not sticking to the crowd, we’re doing something unique. We plan to film in a theatre and only have one character who is wearing a suit with a rose attached. We’re going to start the scene with a close up of a record player/radio which gradually tracks back revelling the character dancing with a plastic mannequin to the classic music played of the record player. While dancing a petal from his rose hits the ground and drives him mental so that he beats up the mannequin showing his mental state.

Time management

 

On December 1st we sorted of the time management sheet that we created on Outlook Web App and include every detail of our project that needs completing in a certain date to have full organisation on our project. I have included the idea process, the final research summary, and research into target audience. Also finding a location, writing a script, finding props and performers, and completing a story board.

Research summary .

The film genre I researched was a mixed between horror and  psychological thriller, the two films that I analysed were natural born killers and se7en.


The first film that I researched was "se7en", The titles where in a very crooked and white and progressively got bolder.  This very much portrayed a scruffy handwriting effect connoted the characters personality which seemed deranged.

The music is a Trent Reznor Song this is from the heavy metal genre, it sounds very metallic and scratched . This music very much tells the audience the films genre. It creates a very manic and twisted atmosphere.

The character in this scene is very mysterious, the only thing for the audience to see is the characters hands.Which are organising his inhumane activities.This leaves the person as a mystery and the endorses the plot to find the killer and creates a ideal plot for this genre.




The props used in this title sequence are all in the semantic field of a organised serial killer. Such images as books, tools and gruesome photo's of victims. This gives the audience a insight on the activity's he underlays, so this leaves no shock when the plot is introduced.
Metalic tools are dominantly used in this clip which are used by the killer in dramatic and weary ways. This makes the audience consider different use of the tools and changes there ordinary state of thought. Books are frequent in this title sequence to show the killers intelligence and sets the psychological thriller genre.

The short takes of the objects builds The Proairetic Code also builds tension, referring to any other action or event that indicates something else is going to happen, getting the reader to guess what will happen next. Also the random images suggest a semantic code This code refers to the way images or music might be used to mean something in addition to the 
thing it shows.


The director starts the sequence with a series of long takes to build up the tension, as the clip progresses the cuts and shot time become a lot vigorous and random. The shot time is very shorter and camera behaves very unpredictable. Many images pop up for a slit second on the screen as a form of a cut; this is aform of montage editing. The images flashed are very much unrelated to the film but reinforces the films genre of a psychological thriller as it effects the audience imagination theses images are enigmas


Natural born killers.

The second film that I researched was natural born killers. The title scene is very basic as the jazz style text centres a sunny background smeared by blood which connotes there bloody mentality. However the casting text is very different. It's very basic and appears randomly. The reason of this is not distract the audience from what's happening behind it.


The music changes from classical music, to dialogue, to rock and roll track. This is because in scenes change so rapidly. The classic music is perfect to connote and romantic to sleazy and the different changes in there life and emotions.. The last track used in called “Rock N Roll Nigger" (Flood Remix) - Patti Smith” this is a very upbeat track and connotes the mayhem that is their life, it also gives the rebellious and criminal effect that they are.

The two characters that are dominantly shown in this clip are the two main killers, Mickey and Mallory: outcasts, lovers, and serial killers who are glorified by the mass media and become celebrities and portrayed like the modern day Bonnie and Clyde. Also the other   
characters shown in this are the victims of these killers, this is just a male at the start who was murdered. 

The lighting in this sequence is very random but very much directed towards the two main characters to show that they are centre of attention. The props used are very basic too, the majority of the sequence is filmed in the car. A green screen is very widely used as it shows the usual images and video's the couple is driving though. Mickey is always shown to be carrying a handgun which shows and reminds the audience of his brutal ways.

The Hermeneutic Code refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained and hence becomes a mystery to the reader.  (Enigma Code) The purpose of the author in this is typically to keep the audience guessing until the final scenes when all is revealed and all loose ends are tied off and closure is achieved,this is very much the title sequence as the images used are sequence. The audience doesn't know what's reality and what's fiction. This is very good as the title sequence is very questionable.

The cinematography is very basic in the clip but very effective, at the beginning the a medium shot is used to show the couple dancing, however the rest of the clips in this sequence are high angle shots and point of view shot’s from the back of the car.

Natural Born Killers.

Natural born killers was made in 1994 directed by Oliver Stone, the story was written by Quentin Tarantino. The film is about two victims of traumatized childhoods which consisted of beatings and abuse; they meet and become lovers and psychopathic serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media and become celebrities and portrayed like the modern day Bonnie and Clyde.

The opening sequence to this movie mainly shows the audience the chaotic life that the two characters are living which is very deranged but romantic in their traumatized way. At the beginning of the sequence it shows the couple dancing to classical music very romantically surrounded in fireworks. This shows the important relationship between the characters and connotes celebration and romance which has cross faded from the opening scene. Green scene is important in this sequence; the camera is mainly placed in the back of the car as a POV that seemingly takes its cue from brash noir “Gun Crazy. This is hermenuetic code as the audience doesn't know whats entirely going on on the screen.

The green screen is used to show scenario’s that the couple are driving though, these places are very unpredictable but mainly show cities in the US, old footage that is black and white and news paper articles that headline the criminal offenses that they have done. This connotes to the audience that the couple’s activity’s and it has an insight into their imagination. But mainly I think these green screen backgrounds show the unrealism of the movie as it skips though history randomly and the places that they are driving though.

The only other prop seen in the sequence is the car that the couple are driving, and the images that are been portrayed though the green screen. Two creatures are mainly shown on the screen and these are horses and dragons. These two creatures are metaphors of the couple, they portray them self as a horse to represent their movement in the car though the desert (strong and powerful). The dragon connotes there ferocious and fierce personality and mentality, this is also backed up by the flames that cut certain scenes over people and things they detest. Also many other images highly connote there psychopathic mentality’s such as bombs exploding and blood stained shadows, the blood is proairetic code and it suggests these characters are going to implode.


The music is very variable in this clip, all of the music is non-diegtic bar the “woo” said going through a tunnel in excitement. The music changes from classical music, to dialog, to rock and roll track. This is because in scenes change so rapidly. The classic music is perfect to connote and romantic effect however the dialog used in the speech is very interesting. It’s a very sleazy speech but very powerful. You can relate the characters with the speech in your own way, it has no real purpose but it can easily be related to the couple. The last track used in called “Rock N Roll Nigger" (Flood Remix) - Patti Smith” this is a very upbeat track and connotes the mayhem that is their life, it also gives the rebellious and criminal effect that they are.

The cinematography is very basic in the clip but very effective, at the beginning the a medium shot is used to show the couple dancing, however the rest of the clips in this sequence are high angle shots and point of view shot’s from the back of the car. The high and low angle shots are with a canted angle, this demonstrates that the car driving upwards or downwards. This connotes that the couple has highs and lows and the relationship between them and the audience is very clear all of these shots are in the semantic theory as the audience doesnt really know what to think of them but can only have there own idea.

Se7en

Seven is a psychological thriller directed by David Fincher made in 1995. It stars Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey. The movie is based upon the crimes of a deranged serial killer who murders his victims violently in ways that embrace the seven deadly sins. The film follows a pair of detectives that have been given the job to stop him.

The opening sequence represents the serial killers personality giving the through the use of a collection of images, props and text. Books and writing have been exposed a lot in this sequence; this connotes the killer’s organised and collective approach to such an inhumane subject as murder. Also many rough, metallic props which are highly associated with pain and torture can be seen in the sequence. The Hermeneutic code is building up the question also the killer still remains a mystery to the audience.

The main thing that grips me in this sequence is the cold, crooked text is used to show the credits, it’s displayed as white, maundered handwriting which get bolder progressively. This is so effective because it’s so simple; it gives the audience a brief understanding on the contents and direction of the movie and connotes the loathsome and deranged characteristics of the character displayed on the screen.

A Trent Reznor song is used as a non-digetic soundtrack which makes the audience agitated from the beginning; the music is in the heavy metal genre and creates a manic atmosphere within the scene. It sounds very scratched, metallic and twisted and has been cross cut with everyday tools that in this scene conote torture and mutilation such as a wood shaver, scissors and a needle. Also theirs digetic sound of a twisting motion of chains, this sound deconnotes different meanings. As the chain reels it becomes tenser causing hypothetical tension; however it also gives a physiological reaction because you feel like the tension is building within the sequence as the music is more upbeat and quicker cuts.

The director starts the sequence with a series of long takes to build up the tension, as the clip progresses the cuts and shot time become a lot vigorous and random. The shot time is very shorter and camera behaves very unpredictable, conflicting against the controlled mentality at the beginning. This connotes panic within the audience and causes an uncontrollable apprehension, this is Roland's Barthes theory of proairetic code and this highly suggests that something bad is going to happen.

The use of close ups in this sequence are very persistent; they mainly focus on the characters hands so this portrays his much organised approach towards his brutalities this hermeneutic code.Also this connotes to the audience that this killer is very much unidentified and mysterious leaving the plot open but with certain key details of his personality are left in their mind. This is mixing both theory's of hermenuetic and proairetic codes which interlink the negative feeling and the tension which make the audeince uneasy.

Many images pop up for a slit second on the screen as a form of a cut; this is aform of montage editing. The images flashed are very much unrelated to the film but reinforces the films genre of a psychological thriller as it effects the audience imagination theses images are enigmas. This is reminding the audience what’s in stall for them and the strange perpetual images that are within the film. The use of colour in this sequence in is interesting, it’s majority black, dull and metallic. However towards the end red begins to play a part. Blood red only connotes one thing and that is blood, this tells the audience that the film is going to be very gory and this is heavily backed up by the sanguinary images. This is very much the semantic theory and proairetic theory           and the proairetic theory combined as the images are suggesting negative things,

When we were filming our short clip, we were very unconscious about our movements and limb positioning. This was visible in the process off continuity editing. In certain situations body positioning is different from the cut before, this is a very minor error but can be identified if studied closely. Next time I film I will be more conscious on movement positions, so the editing will be easier with a slicker finish.
Also when we filmed our conversation scene we repositioned our camera instead off filming both of the shots in one sitting. This made our shot angles slightly different to the one before. Next time I will film both off the scenes in simultaneously so that the shot angle is identical.
However I think our continuity editing was very slick for our first time attempting it. We achieved very good visual effects though basic cuts. This made our footage look very continuous and professional. We cared for small details e.g. foot positioning and hand movements when opening a door. We enjoyed filming and it was a very overwhelming experience to see a successful final outcome. Also the variety of shots that we used worked very well; no shot was more compelling than another. All of the shots will used served a purpose and all added to the small story.
Overall we enjoyed filming and worked well as a productive team. Our footage was efficient yet slick. This task has taught me alot out filming and editing that I’m sure to later in the course. I enjoyed learning and using Adobe Premier Pro were my skills have expanded.

Story Boards.

Health And Safety.

One of the first issues we encountered was the large amount of chairs in the room. This is a hazard because of the possibility of falling or tripping over such objects. We fixed this by removing the chairs from the film location, and only keeping the two chairs which we needed for filming, on set. Another we had to think about was a slippery floor outside, in the hallway where our establishing shot is filmed. The danger here is the possibility of slipping and injuring yourself. We can maintain this risk by keeping the floor clean, and walking across it at an appropriate pace. Yet another danger was the uncovered electrical cables by the entrance to the room - next to the door hinge. This risk would be if we came into contact with the cables, which could cause an electric shock. We didn't have the facilities to be able to cover the cables, but we made sure when filming that we were aware of the cables.

After highlighting the different hazards and risks in the film location, we were able to begin camera work.

Continuity editing

Continuity editing firstly suggests taking the audience through a sequence of events in a fluid movements.This is the dominant form of editing in television and film, the idea is smooth over discontinuity footage to make a clear flow between shots. also continuity editing refers to arranging the sequence of shots to suggest a progression of events. 

A match and action is when some movement or action before the initial cut is immediately regained in the following shot. The 180° is a basic rule in film making it's also known as the line of interaction, it shows two characters in a scene should have the same right to left relation to each other to make it look real and not confusing for the audience.