Today we held our audience screening in front of around 40 people. All in all I think about 35 questionnaires were filled in and the reaction was very positive. Our sequence got a big round of applause and the shocking ending made nearly everyone in the room jump - exactly what we intended!
So we are very pleased with this feedback and are soon to consolidate it all into a table from which we can base some of our evaluation findings on as evidence.
Shaun
Today was our production deadline and we marked this occasion by adding a black title screen before our sequence with white writing proclaiming our group number, names and candidate numbers - basic procedure really!
We have now saved and met the deadline with plenty of time to spare - all done.
Lovely stuff.
We are planning to have a test screening today in lesson to get feedback from fellow media students on the sequence and the title, as well as looking for mistakes we might spot ourselves as it may look different on the big screen.
Miss Blackborow took a look at our (finished) project and gave us the go ahead for our test screening. However she did have a few issues which we will look at when we have a screening. There was issues with fuzziness on the audio of some of Matt's shots and it is noticeable when they cut to shots of Rob. She wasn't 100% on the title as well and thought the shot with Matt shouting should be closer shot but it is impossible to change now.
Miss Blackborow watched our sequence thoroughly and analysed it. Overall her comments were very positive about the titles, visualisation, pace and structure. She pointed out a few more little niggles for us to deal with to make the sequence perfect. This included making the fades between titles longer at the beginning to hold suspence, and bringing in the story slower. She also advised us to make the actor titles the same length, and take out one clip towards the end which is too dark. It was of Matt walking down a corridor towards the basement exit to link him walking away from Rob to him opening the door. However, taking out this clip made the sequence faster with this clip being irrelevant as the two fitted together fine for continuity. Other than this we still have to work on the sound with the help of Ryan, the media technition, and continue to work away at the tiny little bits of perfection such as cutting down shots slightly. This feedback was very useful and now we feel we have a finished sequence that we simply need to smarten up a bit, and Miss Blackborow agreed on this.
Here is what we will open our film with in credits:
"A film by
Live Wire"
"A Wall & Bayliss Production"
"Directed by Jack Downes"
"Robert Demont
Matthew Doyle"
"(film title)"
Shaun
Same issues as Ms Thrasher with the lights taking away from the action. Doesn't think the re-shoot clips are as good though. Suggest another re-shoot which is done excactly the same only brighter for the killers entrance and without flashing lights. Light needs to be brighter on victims face in conversation as well. The end should also not have the cross disolving part and instead have something which anchors that there is more then one victim. Need to re-shoot exit without getting light in. another issue was the acting when the victim has his tape ripped off as she did not find it believable enough. If possible we should do another long re-shoot and get it all done perfect but if that is not possible she says most of the footage we have now is alright except for the tape being ripped off, the killers entrance and the first shot of the killers exit.
Shaun
Work is coming on well however we can not use some of the footage is blurred due to the flicker of the light. Another problem with the flickering light is that it is too rhythmic so looks really unbelievable. Another problem is the light on each of the character varies so when we've edited the conversation it looks strange. So instead we are going to re-shoot again with a dim light but just constant instead of flickering. Next tuesday we are go9ing to re-shoot the conversation again.
Shaun
Hey guys, I'm going to an R.E conference so won't be there for the lesson on monday. So any descisions you make just take it that i'd agree with them and maybe post them up here so I can see or something.
Thanks guys, Shaun
Things we need to discuss:
- Who's bringing what from checklist.
- What we need to buy before shoot.
- Helpers/actors.
- Shoot dates/times.
Shaun
Stuff we need to bring ourselves:
- Ingrediants for fake blood (Jack's writing it out)
- Make-up
- Fake scars
- Black tape
- Small torch
- Bottle to carry water
- Trench coat
- Black boots
- Gloves
- White polo top
- Jeans (x 2)
- Trainers
- Any clothes for other victims i.e. hoody, jeans, shirt...
Stuff we need to get from media department:
- White sheet/throw
- Studio Lights (x 3)
- Blue filter gel (x 3)
Shaun
Title: ?
Slogan: ?
Location: Latymer school basmement
Actors: Kris, Shaun
People on set (need helpers): Kris, Shaun, Jack, Barney?
Characters (need names): 1 - victim who wakes up chained in chair gagged up, moans and tries to free himself, is sent to sleep, 2 - killer who spies on victim, then sends him to sleep before walking out of the basement, 3 - one or two more victims, one covered in blood who grabs for the door before the killer walks out, one maybe banging a spade or trying to escape in some way
Equipment we have: camera, tripod, headphones, 3 lights, blue filter gel for each, white sheet
Props we have: weapons, chair, chains, rope, padlock, metal tray, any sinister objects in basement, pipes, electric lights, shelves etc
Props we need: fake blood, black tape
Other things we need: water source, something to clean up fake blood
Storyline: victim wakes up in chair, killer spies on him before walking in, killer looks like he will kill him with a weapon but instead rips off his gag, he talks to the victim reassuringly before forcing him to sleep with a drug, killer then walks out of the basement to desperate plees for freedom from other victims, he slams the door as a victim tries to escape - their hand imprinting on the door in blood
Techniques to use: starts with CU's of victim waking up, flash cutaways using motivated cuts to show he is chained up, then long shots and cutaways shots establishing where he is, POV shot showing killer spying on him, parallel editing between victim and killers footsteps as he enters, match on action as he enters, shot/reverse shot for conversation, POV tracking shot for killers exit, fade to black at end revealing title of film, cutaway shots of dripping pipes/flickering lights/random objects throughout sequence with titles/credits appearing alongside
Sounds to be added after: unsettling sounds such as banging/rustling/echoing etc, buzzing lights, dripping water, faint male screams and moans, maybe some unnerving music?
Shaun
For our real shoot we will need a bunch of props to make the affect of a killer's cell full of victims.
We will need:
Shaun
Our test shoot went very well and we got some great footage. We worked for 5 hours down in the basement. It took nearly an hour just to set up the location though with moving a lot of boxes and mops as well as seting up the lights. We then tested the lights for a good amount of time testing which ones looked best and recorded some different gels and intensities. After this we tried a few different shot types and came up with this idea of a really long POV track shot. We did this a few times each time adding extra things in till the end where we had a great shot. This was the best bit of our test shoot as it helped us come up with the idea for our whole film. Getting feedback from Ms Blackborow gave us loads of great ideas, and now we've basically got a final idea. However, there were problems with the shoot, most involving the lack of spacve in our location. Our shoot involved a lot of time spent on moving equipment, clearing space and removing objects which did not look right in the shot. The location wasn't perfewct as there was so much clutter and we didn't even remove it all. A lot of it we left and we also had to use a sheet to cover a lot. In the real shoot we plan to get helpers to help us clean up and make space for us.
Shaun
Group Meeting 1 - Notes
Genres
- horror (slasher or supernatural)
- thriller (gangster or crime)
Possible Locations
- school (latymer great hall or basement)
- graveyard (chingford cemetary)
- woods (epping forest, pole hill, high beach or ponds near butlers retreat)
- canal (waterhouse by 'halfords' at outer chingford retail or 'boat club' by chingford resevoirs)
- abandoned house (unused house next door to a friends)
- lonely bar (Jack's dads bar or a bar near to latymer school)
- old fashioned historic buildings (tudor museum, 'the harvester', a pub or 'butlers retreat' - all leading onto chingford plains)
- alleyway covered in forest (organ lane near Kris/Jack's house)
- car park and backstreet alleyways (sainsburys car park at chingford mount)
- abandoned littered streets and warehouses (near lea valley odeon and picketts lock)
- church (st peters and chingford green)
Possible Characters
- a female teenage victim (with loud scream)
- a small friendship group of either girls or mixed gender from a posh public school
- a couple of hard-looking italian or cockney gangsters
- a confident teenage boy who can run fast
- a teenage male or grown up to act as the villain (not necessarily ever seen in shot)
- a group of youngsters our age who can sing!
Available Actors
- ourselves and other media students
- sixth formers who do drama, are past media students or are willing to make themselves available to act
- Jack's cousin and his friends
Ideas
- a murder
- a past event (either a murder or supernatural happening in the 1950's or tudor times)
- a secret gangster meeting or confrontation (leading to a murder, shooting or bust-up)
- a monster/unseen creature attack
- a vampire musical (probably not going to happen!)
Group Meeting 2 - Notes
Idea 1
Location: Latymer School Basement
A victim wakes up tied up in a chair and gagged. With only the sound of dripping water and faint echoes, he begins to hear footsteps. The scene will cross cut between shots of the man in the chair and shots suggesting someone is walking down towards the basement where he is. The sequence will provide some sort of twist, with one idea being that a climax to the scene will quickly switch to a friendlier scene from 24 hours earlier via a graphic match. A link maybe shown between the killer in the present scene and a friend the victim is with in the past (possibly showing the victim who is his friend the same knife used in the present scene, or an item of clothing, tattoo or accessory seen in the same way). This will lead to the audience already suspecting the killer in the opening sequence, but the film will lead on to reveal a different killer in a surprising twist. Another idea is that the two scenes using parallel editing (of the victim and of footsteps etc) are at different points in time, with either the footsteps being a few hours before the victim scene, or a few hours after. The first of these would make the audience think the victim was about to be attacked but would be surprised to see the killer simply setting up his trap (possibly using a knife to cut a rope or something, instead of killing the victim). The second would reveal what you think as a killer to be a friend of the victim who has apparently been lead to believe he will find his friend here (through what he says as he enters and his shocked reaction to find his friend not there). With the audience confused, the friend would face an empty chair and a wall marked with blood saying something along the lines of 'too late'. Then out of the darkness a figure would suddenly appear and grab the friend before presumably killing him. The audience would then want to know what happened to the victim in the chair but will not know until later on in the film. Themes or genres involved in this film would probably include aspects of murder, slasher horror, revenge and suspence thriller.
Idea 2
Location: Path by canal/Bridge
The sequence could be a mysterious continuity-based opening showing a teenage boy walking by a canal. He will look troubled as if in a bad way (messed up life, possibly on drugs). Sinister noises and images disturb his walk in an eery silence. The sequence will either involve someone following the boy and killing him, him witnessing a murder on the other side of the canal only to be murdered in exactly the same way moments later, or his route to be disturbed by the presence of perculiar hooded beings (possibly to look like normal youths, only to be wearing hoodies backwards to mask their faces). Another idea would be to show the boy entering onto a plain bridge to find a dead body lying in the centre. Curious, the boy could move towards the body to find it either dead, a doll or dead but with a sinister and chilling appearance such as a painted face or mask. Then two hooded figures on either side of the bridge he had entered could appear and close in on him, trapping him. They could either kill him or he could jump off the bridge into the canal (which would admittedly be dangerous to film). In each of these ideas it would be hard for the audience to distinguish imagination from reality due to the boys confusion and possibly the sight of him carrying or doing drugs that may make him see halucinations. The end of the opening may show the victim dead with scratch wounds and bruises having supposedly been attacked by the silent hooded figures (zombie-like?) but the last shot could steadily zoom out from the body to show no beings around, suggesting he was seeing things and was attacked by his own mind and ended up killing himself through the horrible images he was seeing (with the bridge scenario ending up in him being drowned in the canal because of images he had seen in his mind). The film could have a moral message against drug use and youth gang crime. I thought the rest of the film could be about a a new drug which is disguised as a standard drug such as LSD, but is actually designed to kill its victims - a possible mass murder or terrorist attack on youths of the western world. Themes or genres involved in this film would probably include aspects of murder, thriller, psycological and creep-out horror.
Idea 3
Location: Abandoned house or 'White House' at Gilwell Park
We do not have a particular idea for these locations but is simply a back up idea in case the other 2 locations are not available. This would probably involve mainly interior filming too, to be safe. One idea we have is a group of teenagers arrive to check out the haunted legends of the abandoned house. One character (a girl) stays outside on look out as she is too scared. Sinister going-ons around her unsettle her and she calls for her friends. The opening sequence could involve her entering the house upon panicing that there is no shout back from inside. She could, to her horror, discover the bodies of her friends inside and either be caught herself, or run away. In running away, the rest of the film could be centered around her trying to escape from the forested area she has entered, entirely from her point of view, or just following her character. The film could be disorientating and end up in her being trapped by her surroundings (unable to leave the park) because of this curse/legend - although this will appear as her lost and apparently going around in circles. She would eventually be killed, possibly in a twist of events. Themes or genres involved in this film would probably include aspects of murder, slasher horror, disorientation and supernatural horror.
Shaun
