CLOSED

It is with great sadness and regret that I have to tell you all that this blog is closed. We hope you enjoyed your stay after making your Reservation. It is now, however, that you must pack up your things, checkout your keycard and leave the building preferably minus a few limbs and dripping in blood.

Audience Screening Feedback

We took a random sample of 11 out of the 30 or so questionnaires (taking every 3).

Every sample was from 17-18 age group as they are in our year at school. About half were male and half were female, and traits did not seem to be based on gender as we expected. Common genre likes were action, thriller, comedy, horror and thriller. Someone even said slasher! These genres were shown in favourite films such as Saw, Scarface and Mean Girls.

Every single person recognised that it was an opening sequence and the title was 'Reservation', which was good from our point of view - our film was clear. Everyone also recognised from the sequence the genre, which was clearly horror with elements of thriller/slasher. About 9 out of the 11 people thought the film could be filmed at a normal cinema or multiplex with the other 2 opting for a student film festival. This tells us that our film could target a mainstream audience and be popular enough to show at a normal cinema. Most people opted for teenagers or 18-30's as the targeted audience with some adding horror enthusiasts or people that like to play violent games on the xbox/PS2. This was a pretty similar view we had for our target audience. Only 2 people mentioned that males would be interested so most people did not feel it dominated one particular gender.

The film seemed to make it obvious who the killer and victim was, and one pressed every single person was able to explain the victim was a captive and was being tortured by the killer. People described the killer as evil, insane, scarily polite, bad, mean, sadistic, murderer and psycho. Nobody described the victim so his personality can be identified as miscillaneous or "normal". Most themes identified were along the lines of fear, revenge, violence, evil and death, so that came across well.

All 11 people in the sample enjoyed the film and found it attractive to watch, with one person saying because they thought it had a clear narrative, and others saying it was tense and filmic. The favoured parts of the film were the hand at the end with the scream and Matt shouting, "I SAID BE QUIET!", which did not really suprise us - they were the most dramatic parts. People generally thought the lighting, music and location worked the best with some people suprisingly liking the flickering lights even though we were not sure about it. However, some people were not sure about the regular blackouts stemming from the flickering lights, and someone thought the acting was not up to scratch although we certainly do not agree with this. Alot of questions were asked about the random foot and then hand at the end - this made us pleased. These signified enigma codes and you were meant to be confused by them, as to continue watching the film to find out what they meant and who they belonged to (everyone commented on how they would continue to watch the film, even the people who said they did not like horror and would be terrified!) - so our film was successful in luring in its audience.

The following were the ratings given out of 10 by the 11 subjects: 10, 10, 9, 7, 8 and a half, 9, 8, 9, 10, 5, 9. On average this works out at about 8 and a half out of 10, which is not bad at all for an amateur film project. We realise some scores and comments maybe bias due to friends being present at the screening, but all in all we are very pleased with this feedback, and will take the criticisms on board in our evaluations.

The Final Sequence! :D

The weeks and weeks worth of work have finally paid off...

Enjoy!

Questionnaire

Our questionnaire will be designed to gain feedback to help answer evaulative questions on our piece, but will be asked in a simple non-technical-worded manner so everyone understands what they are doing. It will be average sized and to the point as all questionnaires try to be. Here are the questions we will probably ask (or along the lines of)...

About them:
Age.
Gender.
What are your favourite types of film?
What was the last film you saw at the cinema/on DVD?
What type of cinema do you visit?

About the film:
Does the film make sense?
Explain what happens in the film.
Is there anything that confused you?
Was it enjoyable?
Did it look like a film/was it attractive to watch?
What was most effective/least effective?
What have you just watched? (e.g. trailer/opening sequence etc.)
What was the title?
What are the main themes? (e.g. love/revenge etc.)
What type of cinema would you expect to see the film in?
What audience is it most likely to appeal to? (age/gender/interests etc.)
Do you think it was American or British made?
Explain about the characters and what role you think they will play in the film.
Would you watch the rest of this film?
Give the film a rating out of 10 (10 being highest).

We will try to cut these questions down to 10-15 precise questions to fit onto 2 sides of A4 (to save paper obviously by making them double-sided questionnaires!)

Audience Screening

Some time next week we are to have an audience screening in the media block, to gain feedback from our target audience. We are planning to this at school in the media block on Monday at 12.45pm. It should last about 20 minutes to half an hour. Lots of organisation is required before Monday and on the day:

- We must know our target audience (18-30's core, 12-60's secondary, all genders, horror enthusiasts mainly).

- We must decide who to invite. We think a wider audience will be accepted for our big audience screening to gain feedback from every party. At school it will only be possible to test the 12-18 bracket. Fellow sixth formers will provide core audience feedback, whilst year 7-11's will provide wider audience feedback. Other age groups over 18 will be shown the film out of school and we will collaborate all the feedback we individually gain out of school.

- For the big screening on Monday we are going to prepare a questionnaire, which I will write about in a new post. This is to gain quick and simple feedback from a large group of people. For smaller screenings, say at home with family, we can just talk to them about the film in a more detailed and personal manner. This we decided would be the best way of gaining large amounts of feedback. Group feedback from the big audience screening will be posted on this blog, whilst individual smaller screen feedback we individually gain will go on our individual blogs.

- Between now and Monday we will have to advertise for the screening, by a poster or by word of mouth amongst our friends. We will be busy doing this mainly in the sixth form common room and some around the rest of the school (younger year groups).

- On the day of the screening we will split up roles between the 3 of us. Beforehand, one will be in charge of technical things, making sure we have a DVD copy and testing it out on the big screen for perfect playback and volume. One will be in charge of photocopying the questionnaires and preparing the pencils and pens for people to write with. The other person will be responcible for setting up the room with lots of chairs and closing curtains and windows, whilst controlling lighting for a cinematic experience. During the screening, the technical person will be in charge of obviously playing the DVD etc. The person with the questionnaires will be at the door directing people into the right media room and giving out the questionnaires (also collecting them and the pencils after). The person setting up the room will probably have to deliver a short speech before the film explaining what we want from the people invited and a bit about our project.

So, before now and Monday we have plenty of things to get on with to keep us occupied before we begin our evaluations.

Kris, on behalf of the group.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

As our good friends the shakin stevens would say...


"Snow is falling, all around me, children playing, having fun, it's the season, love and understanding, merry christmas everyone."


Yeah we are taking a break for christmas but more blog posts and keen media work will be back on track in 2 weeks time. See you then!

Kris, Shaun & Jack xxxxxxxxxxx

Title: Final Result

We have decided to go with the title, RESERVATION, as it looks good on the sequence.



Please call 0800-I-KILL to make your reservation with us...

THR feedback

After watching our near-finished edited sequence, Miss Thrasher was overall convinced by it and was complimentary of the sequence as a whole. However she gave us a few things to work on, or as she put it... a few little "niggles". We have to work on the sound of the dialogue with Matt's voice being a bit too quiet compared to Rob's. We also need to work on the lighting in the clips of Rob and the entrance/exit clips which are all too dark. We can fiddle about with the brightness and balance of these without making the thing too grainy by adding too many effects. Miss also suggested tightening up some of the shots for better continuity and faster flow, working on the cut points and making them spot on. She thought the titles were perfect.

Title Ideas: The Semi-Final Results

The Host and Host had both already been done before.

The Service sounded too boring or church-like?

We like Reservation because it sounds like a good thriller.

Out of Guest, The Guests and The Guestroom we like the Guests the best as it anchors the meaning of the end part of our sequence.


So... its either RESERVATION or THE GUESTS.

The winner will be anounced on next weeks live show.

Title Ideas

Host
The Host
The Service
Guest
The Guests
The Guestrooom
Reservation

Which one shall we choose???? You decide, call 0800-I-KILL to have your say.

Shooting Schedule

Re-Shoot
Date: 11/12/08
Day: Thursday
Time: 3.45pm +
Location: Latymer School Basement
Actors: Rob Demont & Matt Doyle
Helpers: Barney Carter-Phillips (for continuity)?

Changes to be made

- No flickering lights, more directed light on actors faces but at a dim intensity.

thats it for now...

Re-Shoot List

Re-Shoot - Tuesday
- ECU victims eyes waking up
- CU victim conversation
- MCU killer conversation
- LA MLS conversation
- HA OTS MLS conversation (from behind)
- POV track killer entering and exiting
- CU victims hands and feet (and some struggle)
- MCU of victim tilt up from feet
- CU killers hand on chair arm
- CU killers hand reaching for weapon and stroking it
- MCU killers feet pacing around chair

To shoot at other times
- MCU weapons lined up on bench
- MCU killers feet walking downstairs
- POV track killer entering and exiting
- CU box falling to ground where a second victim lies
- Cutaways of random points in room (left and right of Rob)
- Cutaways for credits (drainpipe, lights etc)
- Sound clips (buzzing, banging, scraping, screams etc)

Shoot

Date: 02/12/08
Day: Tuesday
Time: 3.45pm +
Location: Latymer School Basement
Actors: Rob Demont, Matt Doyle & one of us to play an extra victim
Helpers: Barney Carter-Phillips? (if not we have someone else lined up)

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!

Actors

Playing the part of the victim...

Name: Robert Demont

Age: 16

Gender: male

Size: short-ish

Hair Colour: blonde (short)

Eye Colour: blue

Acting Experience: 'Mickey' in Latymer School production of 'Blood Brothers', 'Magwich' in Latymer School production of 'Great Expectations', drama student.

Playing the part of the killer:

Name: Matthew Doyle

Age: 16
Gender: male
Size: massive

Hair Colour: dark brown (long)

Eye Colour: blue
Acting Experience: part of the chorus in Latymer School production of 'Great Expectations', drama student.

Treatment

1. The action: identify the event your idea is based around; what actually happens (discovery of a body, an illicit meeting, a witness seeing a crime being committed, a criminal act taking place, a telephone call, a chase, a short journey etc)?
A man is bound and gagged, in a chair in a basement. The character wakes up and is very dazed. A new character walks down to the basement. He appears to be the killer but holds a reassuring conversation (if not ironic) with the victm. Instead of killing him he ungags him before sending him to sleep again. The killer then exits whilst other victims in the basement can be seen pleeing for mercy and trying to escape.

2. The theme(s): what should it make the audience think about or feel, what ‘issues’ will it raise (revenge, sexuality, voyeurism, stalking, obsession, greed etc)
Revenge, murder, torture, claustrophobia, trapped, watched, cold, psycho, irony, possible obsession?

3. The narrative: how is it structured - classic narrative pattern or break with convention, real time or different time zones, flashbacks/forwards, dreams etc. Will there be dialogue? What about diegetic/ non-diegetic sound?
It will be real time in a continuous sequence. It will be structured in a way to not establish the location of the victim until about 30 seconds in, not reveal the killer until about 1 minute in, and not reveal the actual situation (more than one person being kept there) until the end of the sequence. It will have dialogue in the final minute but most sounds will be added on over the top despite being diegtic. The only possible non-diegetic sound will be any music we make to build tension.

4. The character(s): who are they, identify their roles, what are their characteristics, including gender, appearance etc?
The victim is male and normal looking with plain clothes such as a white polo top. His personality is unclear except for the fact he is terrified and wants to break free. He could be fairly well built and tall to scare the audience that such a male is powerless to the killer. He will look bruised and battered with black eye, cuts, dirt and messy hair. His clothes could be ripped and slightly dirty or blood-stained. The killer is male and suspicious until he begins to talk. He wears a dark trench coat but other than that is fairly normal looking despite him being tall. He seems normal as he talks but holds tones of twisted irony. As he walks away he murmers and sings to himself and it is clear despite acting normal and charming around his victims, he is a bit of a psycho. He is also strong, ruthless and powerful in occasional sudden movements such as forcing a victim to sleep. He could be pyschotic and seems to pretend he is running some sort of hotel, looking after his "guests".

5. The setting and choice of location: where is it set?
The location is the school basement. We have cleared out some space in a corner for the chair, with a white sheet covering alot of boxes that will add clutter. Here there are pipes and a flickering lights. We also will set up a light with blue filter gel here to give it a cold, metallic look. The rest of the basement is dark and it could be any basement - this is unclear to the audience. There is a stairway and then a door where we will set up another blue light behind to create the effect of this cold light coming from the doorway. This will also show another victim covered in blood in the blue light. Between this door and the corner of the room with the chair, there is an aisle between some shelves. This will be nearly pitch black to not show the clutter and to disorientate the audience by not showing so much perspective in the room from location to location. We may shine one more blue light behind one of the shelves to cast half the aisle in shadow, but being able to see little glimmers of the corridor.

6. The mise-en-scene: identify colours, lighting, dress codes, the overall visual look
We are using low key lighting using 3 standard studio lights with blue filter gel. The overall look will be blue, metallic and cold like many modern horror films. There will be lots of shadows and darkness to add to mystery and tension. This is not hard in a basement with no naturl lights on. It will create an eery atmosphere boosted by the sounds we will add. The dress code will be plain to keep focus on the situation and setting (plain such as white polo tops, jeans etc). The killer will where a dark trench coat to set him apart from the others.

7. The camera work: the style you are aiming for
The fist minute will show the character waking up, using CU's at first (a montage of different angles) to show his reaction. Next we will establish the scene using motivated cuts (the actor looking down followed by flash cutaways showing his chains etc) and then LS establishing shots. We will then parallel edit between shots of the victim and POV shots of the killer spying on him (shot framed by shelves) and his footsteps. Next a shot/reverse shot and continuity editing will show conversation between the 2 and reveal the character and situation. Finally, a long POV tracking shot will show the killer leave the basement and reveal that there are more victims trapped in the basement. The final shot will be of a hand coverd in blood smeering down the glass on the door as the killer closes it and says something ironic before his footsteps are heard leaving. This will fade to black revealing the film title. The whole sequence will be cut up by random cutaways establishing the basement feel of the scene and eeriness, accompanied by credits. The style will be disorientating and as if we are spying on the victim. LA's will make him look small and powerless, with CU's amplifying his terrified expressions.

8. The editing: edited as a continuous sequence, use of cross cutting, use of montage, or combination?
A combination of montage (flash montage), cutaways, some continuity edting (dialogue and conversation) and a long POV tracking shot.

9. Has your idea been ‘tested’ against the key criteria (the 8 questions)?
We tested the 8 questions on test shoot and now can say the idea is practical and uses the strengths of the group and the location (the darkness and lighting). The combiantion of camera techniques will show off what we have learnt this term and we can definately shoot in the time and available and using the resources we have in the media department, as the test shoot was successful and we are filming at school. We have gained permission to the basement for the next 2 shooting weeks and we have access to the 3 studio lights and blue gel filters we need. The sequence will include conversation and dialogue and we are most likely to act ourselves so are extremely reliable as it is for the benefit of our own projects. The only issue we have is space in the basement as we have to move lots of things, and we would like the blue lights to be flashing (flickering) so we need one person on each light. 2 to 3 helpers maybe recquired to help on lights, play extra victims and their sounds, and to help clear out the space before shoot and put everything back. We have reliable friends who are willing to help out and be part of the project by helping out in such a way.

10. Group responses?
We have gone through many ideas and after test shooting we have cut our ideas down to this last idea. We have realised it will be hard to get quality actors to play a completely psychotic killer, so have changed this to make the killer almost normal-like. The discovery of the long POV tracking shot has boosted our idea and the lighting is perfect for this idea. We have come up with this final idea through the props and resources available to use in the basement.

11. Teacher responses?
Miss blackborow wanted us to not make our idea so complicated so we have avoided a time change, more than 2 main characters and too much going on. She also suggested we build up tension for the first minute and not introduce too much action. She liked the idea of the killer being normal and suggested he be charming whilst being ironic, as if seeing to guests. She decided the long POV track would be better with the killer leaving as to not establish there is more than one victim until the end. With these changes we have come up with this final idea with which both we and the teacher are happy will work.

Hello!

Hello and welcome to our blog.

We already have some great ideas for our project - an opening 2 minutes of a film.

We have ideas for mainly the horror genre, although a gangster thriller remains an option.

Hope you enjoy it. Now its time to work boys!