What is a Horror Film? PERONNAL the audiences own identification with fears or threats of narrative - tapping into primal fears of the creature/others in the darkness, body parts being ripped/mutated, emergence of terror but from a distance. IDEOGICAL The implicit (hidden) or explicit (obvious) messages embedded in the narrative themes of punishment/redemption and/or revulsion at any subject which 'basic' textual massages (the virgin 'good' girl surviving at the expense of the ‘swity’ rebellious) and developing into more nuanced subtle 'fears' of strangers/hitchhikers/different religion / power of science to 'conquer' the darkness- new faith at the expense of 'old' religion. FINANCIAL/INDUSTRIAL - with out a doubt one of the most lucrative genres to continuality reinvent an exploit horror franchises regularly stretch beyond other genres in terms of sequels, spin offs and re-makers because of the proof.
When we had finished the filming we then put it on the computer. We got hold of our film of though the program ‘Final Cut Server’. We then had to check out the edit proxy onto the computer not the raw material. Edit proxy is a digital copy of the footage so it is a smaller more manageable file size.
Logging the shots We then created a log bin to keep it apart from everything else. We then looked at our footage and pick the best clip out of the shot in terms of best lighting and making sure that all the shots match and are the same otherwise it will look like they are in different rooms, best performance, making sure the acto5rs do the same action in each shot or it wont match and look odd. Also best camera work, if the camera is wonky or shaky in some shots and if you break the 180 degree rule. We then put it in the log bin. We cut out the clip by pressing ‘I’ for in to cut where you want to start and then ‘O’ for out where you want it to finish. You then go to modify and then modify shots and then it will come out in the clip bin and then we renamed it and dragged the clip in a then dragged that into the log bin. In the log bin then you have all your images and start to edit.
Organising the shots We then looked back at our story board and compared the shots that we got and the shots on the story board and short out roughly what order we want them in and what moments would be better for a close up and what would be better for a wide ect. When we where deciding this we had to think about what shots would be better to determine what side the audience it supposed to take. We thought that the audience should take the side of the girl so we thought we would but in an extreme close up of her eyes looking scared.
Shot Order This is important because if the shots are put in the wrong order then the story won’t make sense. If you do not match the action in the shots together the viewers will think that it is jumping backward and forward though time and it will become very confusing. They need to be in the same angles as well. Editing is important because it makes it flow and easy to watch. If the editing is done badly you will be able to notice it and it will brake it up. It also can set mode of the film if there are quick shots then it makes it more exciting and if there are slow shots it makes it tenser.
Editing In Final Cut The first shot we did was the girls fingers taping on the table and then we used the shot that puts up onto George as if we were looking though her eyes. This was not on the story board but we thought it was much more exciting and intense. We then went to the shot of a close up of George and an extreme close up. The extreme close up wasn’t in the story board either but it made it more exciting to. When then did a close up of the girl from a low angle.
Our group filmed it in a class room in the school. This location was good because it had a door which was useful as one of the characters could walk though it and make the scene more dramatic. Also the door didn't slam after him in the middle of his speech. Also the class room allowed us enough space to get in a good wide shot and maneuver around the actors to get a good shot. In the task we all took an equal role. There were 4 shots to set up I set up one of these shots which was the close up of character A. I also did the role of calling out the terminology. I also held up the rifle mic for a bit and I recorded the camera so I mostly took part in everything. The one thing that I didn’t do was to direct the actors however I was aware of what they were doing but i was more focused on the camera work as this is what we needed to concentrate on. We did tell the actors that for each time we started it again they had to do the exact same movment other wise it would look out of place and wouldn't work when editing because will need to do match on actio from one shot to the other.
Our plan was to was to have a dark shot to make the man seem more sinister, scary and superior. We then wanted to put on a back light on the girl because we wanted her to come a cross pretty and innocent and like she is the good girl and inferior. However as we were not in a studio we did not have the advantage of proper back light so we tried to compromise and use a desk lamp as a back light but it was not effective and made no difference. In the end we ended up putting the desk lamp on the desk facing downwards so it wasn’t really use at all. The lighting is important to the scene because it sets the mood of the location and the characters. It can make it scary or light hearted. The lighting was effective because it made the scene scary and more intense.
For each camera shot we had to re adjust the camera to get the right shot. Each time we checked the hight whether then angle was right to make then feel superior or inferior then we would lock it and make sure the camera is on properly. We then had to bubble the camera. This is done by leveling out the bubble on the camera by straightening up the tri pod. We have to do this for each shot other wise it could be wonky and then the whole scene is ruined and it would look really odd when edited with the other shots. We then had to check whether the focus was right and also the contrast and the brightness. We could changed this by using the shutter speed or the aperture. We then made sue that it was switch to indoor so that the lighting would look good. Each time we would make sure that it was framed correctly in the wide shot we made sure that the end of the table and the door was in shot so everything that happened would happen with in the shot. In the close ups we made sure that it was the head a shoulders in shot and there wasn't too much head space. Over the shoulder shots we wanted not too much of the characters who’s shoulder we were looking over was to much in the shot and the main focus was on the character we meant to be looking at. In each shot we made sure that there was no lighting equipment in the shot. When we were going to do the backing lighting on the girl we had to put a lamp onto a chair behind her. It was in not in the shot however it did limit her movement because if she moved to much it could have shown in shot. Also we made sure that the rifle mic was not in shot. We did chose good angles for the characters. In the wide shot we had it normal and level to the characters. Then in close ups and over the shoulders we did a high angle shot on the girl which made her look inferior and then we did a low angle shot on the guy which made him look superior. This was our aim to create a side that the audience could take and it gives it more meaning. When we filmed out shots we referred back to our planning using the story bored and our list of shots and what angles they would be at. We started with a wide shot and then moved on to the over the shoulder of the guy and then so that we didn’t have to move the camera again we zoomed in a focused. We then did the same for the girl. Because we had time we then experimented with other shots such as extreme close ups and close ups of hands and we even tried doing a shot hand held. We thought about the 180 rule and we made sure that we did not brake it. We made sure that everyone knew what we where doing and when we were doing it by using the correct terminology such as 'stand by' ect.
Over all I think that this task went well. I managed to experiment with lighting which I never really thought about before. I learnt that it ia really hard to get the purfect light and sometimes you need to compramise but sometimes it just doesn't work. I also learnt the importance of termiology and if you don't use it no one knows what they are doing so thats really imnportant. I also learnt that it is quite hard to get a purfect shot possibly because of the actors and there is a lot to think about on the camera such as apeture and shutter spped exectra.
There are many things to think about when filming other then the shots you will take and the story you are telling. The camera is set up is very important in film making because it can change everything about how the shot looks. First of all on the outside of the camera you will find that there is more then just one way to zoom in. Depending on where you are holding the camera there is an easy way to zoom. There is on top of the camera one on the side and there is the zoom on the lens which you twist. On the lens there is also a focus which allows you to zoom and then get the shot in focus, this is important because if there is a shot that is out of focus and the others are it will look really out of place and the editing will become noticeable and that is exactly what you don’t want. When you open up the screen you then can see the aperture which is basically a hole in the lens that lets in light or stops light coming in depending how big it is. You also have the time on the top right hand of the screen Which tell you how much time of the tape you have taken up. The last number in this is how many photos are taken in the second this only goes up to 24. You then have the shutter speed, this controls how many photos are taken in a second if it above the number 60 it usually makes things very sharp and if it is lower then 40 it makes things blurry when they move. The aperture and the shutter speed are very important together because if the aperture is high and so is the shutter sppen then the picture will look really overexposed and white and if it was other way it would look really dark and underexposed. The white balance needs to be right to balance the white in the picture. There is also another setting which controls what kind of light is picked up. Natural light and unnatural light is very different so you need to make sure that that is on the right one.
This is my thriller poster. I did this using photo shop. I chose to use this picture because it seems like we are looking up on her and there fore we feel more inferior because she is looking down on us and they make us feel more scared and vunrable. I used red for the title because the colour is associated with death, danger and blood. I had the background dark because it bring out the title and draws more attention to it. I used that font because it looks like the type of writing that is used in. This makes it more scary and thrilling. I used the burn tool to make her eyes look dark and posessed and much more scary. I also used liqudfy to make her face a little more abnormal and evil. I used fire as a back ground because it is associated with hell and with evil. Also i had her standing the fire because this gives the impression that she is not human and she is abnormal. In the first hot spot and the second in the title which draws more attation into it. In the third and the fourth hot spot there is the girl going down into the fire and into the coming soon sign.
