Evaluation

As part of a four person group I have completed the filming and overall production of a short film called “Fatality”. It revolves around the theme of fate and includes horror aspects with a clown figure present. In the production of our film we made use of many forms and conventions in varies aspects of filming areas.

In my film I made use of a large proportion of mid shots in order to show facial emotions and part of the background to give an overall sense of madness provided by the actions. We also used close up shots to reveal finer facial details and movement to create a greater felling of fear or confusion depending on the section. Long shots began every day’s events showing the main character walking along the sea front this shot was held to show that he’s alone and perhaps vulnerable for the films narrative and with the use of backtracking initiates suspense. In addition we used both dominant and submissive angled shots throughout to mediate the changing fate of the central figure. A sense of ambiguity is given by a shot revealing the clown as a reflected image upon the male figure so the viewer doesn’t initially know about the fate machine which is the following shot making sense out of the images.   

The lighting that we used was mainly direct light given naturally by daylight progressively fading showing time passing with the narrative; however we did include additional light provided by a torch covered with red Perspex. The torch was positioned below the clown in most of the clown’s appearances giving a reddish spot light symbolising a bad character and showing the clowns facial features clearly.

Our short film does not depend upon dialogue but a short passage taken from the Bhagavad Gita relating to the films fate theme has been incorporated into the mugging scene. This statement implements that of Pulp fiction used by Tarantino to shock and confuse the audience, as well as to go against the typical film convention and so mediating a well-educated violent character.

We filmed our film at Felixstowe sea front with the majority of it outside the Forum amusements. These settings are ironically used because they are regarded as a fun place but our narrative portrays them as places of horror and violence. The end scenes take place in a house with the character seeking refuge in the bedroom as a place of sanctuary.

In order to maintain an eerie sensation we used tracking shots to create suspense as implies the character is moving towards trouble. We also used pans with a slow pace to give a creepy impression and fast paced pans to show frantic movements of reaction shots.

We used two soundtracks within our film which were creepy carnival and original low base scary clown. Both are united with the narrative by the clown theme. Both tracks accompanies sections of film that relates to their pace and tempo. We also used distortion on the tracks in places to aid the confusion and weird atmosphere generated by the clown’s manic movements. A sound bridge appears so that the sound track could be heard before an image can be seen and bell sounds kick in when the main character is first made apparent. The second track includes sounds produced by a cello indicating darker moments of the film. We added a sound effect over peeling the parking ticket off the window signalling to the audience what it is. We did encounter a problem with the natural wind we tried to quieting it down but because the sound over sees the biblical speech and dubbing that wasn’t possible we left the original sound track.  

The large prop of a box that resembles a fate telling machine consisting of a clown handing out written tickets was created by Barry Hyde to a high quality. The box looked natural in our settings and gave our film anchorage in the fate theme and scary clown narrative.

We made used of the icon clown costume used in many horror films as it has become a symbol of fear with the introduction and increase of coulrophobia the recognised phobia of clown’s. Our main character appears in a suit to symbolise that he is on his way home from work, and a series of different ties over the course of the film showing time passing and indicating another day with a different tie worn for actions of each of the four days. The two muggers have brightly coloured hoodies on to disorientate the audience in their attentions, the framing used on the muggers suggests that both characters are of equal importance with a close up ending the speech showing the actors sinister stare.

We had to change the lighting of some of our shots to maintain continuity in the gradual darkening showing time passing. We also had to speed up the clown footage to create the frantic movements we desired to un settle the audience, and slow down some shots so that their actions can be seen more clearly. In addition to this we added another special effect of zooming in and out on the clown’s face and the faces of the two muggers.  This meant facial actions could be seen striking fear with the viewer.

The opening to our film sees a title sequence over the image of a clown with distorted sound effect providing a mechanical feeling which increases in volume revealing the film title fatality. These titles set the tone for the rest of the film of disturbance and confusion as shown through a series of dissolves. The films credits follow the classic film titles of white text on a black background with the credits scrolling up. This indicates to the audience that it is a typical film for entertainment and doesn’t address an issue. We made use of word play revealing the title fatality from the word fate in a bold impact font. Day markers were used to narrate the film a tradition used in silent films and by the well-known director Quinton Tarantino.

Whilst filming and editing we made used of a master shot of the actor walking along the amusements anchoring the settings. The actor has an image that first appears ambiguous as his role seems hard to judge due to him not possessing stereotypical characteristics which identifies him as a heroic or villainous personality.  We included many edits of actions from different angles and reaction shots to the events. The scenes in the house were edited together to perceive a fast pace and so frightened movements and actions of the character. 

Repetition plays a major role within our film with repeating actions of the days event and sound track across the footage providing a rhythm to the film. Repetition is traditionally used in literacy and film providing security to the audience. Our repetition changes the expectations of the viewer by showing the ticket has a relationship with the following actions.

Our film is a typical short film with the fact it contains little dialogue of which the film does not depend. The film is a showcase displaying our talent across many areas of film and is within the stylings of Spin, in the fact it is indeed rather pointless but provides joy for any viewer.

We gathered a mixed gendered audience consisting of the films targeted audience of teenagers and young adults and sat them down in a darkened room to watch our short film so that we could gather their thoughts and get audience feedback about how well we have portrayed the theme and narrative. In conclusion of the viewing it was clear that our film was found to be more enjoyable for females as their reactions were more profound. The commonly shared opinions about the film was that it caused them heightened emotions of confusion and fear with the understanding of the narrative being fate and not being able to escape. A direct quote of music was used well across the entire film with it giving a feeling of increased intensity same as in the narrative let us know the audience felt all senses which were intended by us as the film producers. I am aware that the feedback that was shared by our audience may not be a hundred per cent representative of the entire targeted group due to possible dishonest responses in coherence with their relationship to each member of the group, personal differences in opinion and the role of the environment in which the viewing took place.

Each member of my group produced a movie poster for our short film “Fatality”. Mine in summary consisted of a dark sombre coloured background with an overall layout of a clown image vertically central on the left hand side with a heading title and underlining billing block. The large side view image of a clown’s face anchors the fact it is a psychological horror of a serious nature and provides clues into the films narrative by the generic link as an icon of horror film. Film posters come in variations of form this poster has the conceived purpose of advertising the films DVD release as shown clearly by text footing the poster as in all five movie posters that I analysed. The text that I used has a large impact font which is white in colour so that it is displayed clearly on the dark background as well as colour coding of an innocent perspective. The posters billing block is the only place actors and the directors name can be found because none of which are well known and so will not play a role in attracting an audience so are not displayed largely like the film posters that I looked at. I used A tag line of “you can’t escape your fate” which appears to the right of the image indicating the films theme of fate. The poster with the clown image targets a teenage and young adult audience as mediates being similar to a horror genre which is enjoyed largely by teenagers. This poster that I produced follows similar patterns used in the posters that I analysed such as a large central image having priority over all text, a heading title, underlining billing block constituting in the typically included information, and fonts and images giving genre coding.

All members of the group also had to create a film review concerning “Fatality”. I produced mine with a two column structure to resemble actual film reviews that appear in empire film magazine, with the title and star rating at the head on the left and an image on the right and an overall layout including a footer with page number and a side bar of colour to act as a marker of reviews within the magazine and boxes to indicate the magazines title and the fact the page contains a film review. My review consists of a number of paragraphs addressing various features of the film. It opens with a film summary and is followed with text concerning factual and opinion areas of cast, camera, highlights and weaknesses. Each paragraph uses slightly formal language of a light hearted tone to produce a review for an entertaining read but whilst expressing the writers individual opinion maintaining a friendly persona with knowledge of film meaning the reviews targeted audience is also a fan of film so that they will know the references to other films and directors made within the review article. The references that I included were to Stephen king’s novel, TV series, and film IT based on a horror clown and to Heath Ledger’s iconic role as the Joker in 2008’s the dark knight. The text generally states the film is of good quality and would be enjoyed by the targeted audience of teenager and young adults it comes across literately and in an understated friendly manner. This review that I produced follows similar patterns used in many reviews appearing in magazines and newspapers, including typical topic areas and knowledgably language about the specific form of entertainment.

Our project was influenced majorly by new media. In comparison to old media which is linear and means the producer can dictate the way that the audience experiences it is largely interactive with digital technology becoming increasingly flexible and providing instant consumer feedback. It means that us as the producers decide when ever thing including the film and blogs are completed because there are many means to continuously change and add additional pieces of footage or blog posts. Our film Fatality was designed with new media in mind with the proposed distribution of our film on a popular video sharing website YouTube. Media democracy is that everyone has the right and now the ability and quality to produce media texts and distribute them on the internet this has resulted in a shrink in the distance between amateurs and professionals and has increased the amount of media noise so that the internet is filled with many free films so that any one particular film may not be seen be a large audience. This means new media is not the big solution with today’s viral community providing evidence of the extreme qualities.

The three texts of a short film, poster and review which I produced are pieces of combination texts with the film poster being typically produced by the film’s producers with the intention of anchoring the films genre and target audience of teenagers and young adults. The poster limits the thoughts concerning film narrative and has a positive relationship with the film with the conceived purpose of advertising the film in a positive manner in order to attract an audience. The film review however is produced by an independent company and so is free to display an individual opinion which could be either negative or positive towards the film. The film poster is a similar text to the review in the fact it shares information about the film but the review may not be a parallel text as could aid the advertising in attracting an audience or could display the film negatively having a decreasing effect on a possible audience. Rupert Murdock on the over hand holds ownership of a film studio and newspapers in which film reviews are included meaning the review is not dependent and so may not be reliable. Viral reviewing is the expression of people’s views about a film they have seen on the internet these are becoming increasingly popular in decision about whether to view a film.      

Throughout all stages of our project we made use of different means of media technology. Whilst researching into the short film area of media we analysed digital texts found on YouTube and located information form the internet concerning what should be included in film titles, posters and review. During construction we used a small hand held camera and editing programme pro 11 to record, combine and include special effect with sound producing a complete short film. Planning our project meant looking at possible locations and costumes on the internet as well as taking photos to   ensure where appropriate and would be of quality for our film. Evaluations of forms and conventions used in our film, film poster and film review constitutes the entirety of my blog account with the inclusions of research in to media areas, production of three texts and evaluations of all areas.  This use of media technology meant all areas of our A2 project was able to be completed to a high standard.  

Film review text

A young man (Cross) on leaving his work place for the day finds a coin each day and uses it to have his fate told by an old clown box located on the sea front. The fortune’s he receives leads him down a problematic road with a threatening end.

The cast consists of up and coming actors with the main star Cross seeking an acting career with his limited theatrical success. I have been in contact with the production company but they concluded the clown’s identity remains unknown to keep up the mysterious pretence of the story.

Highlights include the special effects, camera movement, and the clown itself with the person sitting next to me physically appearing discomforted by the clown’s frantic moments. The entire clown situated in a box prop was inspiring bringing fears from what presents itself as a thing of joy.

Despite a thrilling tale and much technical greatness the failed attempt to show picking up a coin saw a real weakness. The gum layered floor gave the perception of the man perhaps picking gum off the street or making a decision on which of the many coins to pick up.

For those of you interested in your daily horoscopes and fate the films theme of not being able to escape your fate will target your reasoning and compel you to the edge of your seat.

Overall the film has been produced to a high standard with the delicate editing and film structure giving a movie experience no viewer will forget. The monumental use of the iconic clown strikes anticipation of heart pumping delight.

The film follows a cyclic chronological structure that comes to an amazing conclusion that prolongs the theme of fate and destiny. The story same as in the real world is that life repeats itself and is displayed through the reoccurring events within the narrative.

The film opens 30^th of March and will be available for viewing on youtube.com. It will be enjoyed by a teenage and young adult audience providing them with an eventful clown based creative showpiece.

The films narrative is within the genre of the well-known Stephen king horror novel and now hit horror film and TV series IT and should be watched and enjoyed by all those who found Heath Ledgers colossal joker personality entertaining.

In conclusion the short film “FATALITY” is not the greatest film ever made but for free viewing on youtube will leave any viewer entertained and largely intrigued by the theme not being able to escape your fate.

Film review

Below is an image of the film review which i produced based on our short film Fatality. It displays the common structure of a two columns coloured border, title and star rating on the left nad and image on the right.

Film review analysis

We have been asked to produce a film review based around the short film fatality which we have completed. I began reading weekly film reviews from the sun newspaper and those featured in empire film magazine to get an overall perspective into the constitution of a review. I found a common layout of a two column structure with the film title and star rating on the left and an image and concluding paragraph on the right hand side. A border of colour is also used considerably in reviews as a marker for the reader within the magazine. I looked largely at reviews for the David Fincher directed the curious case of Benjamin button a recent children’s sensation Rango. Each had an information row including the films certification, running time, release date and actors followed by film summary and a series of paragraphs addressing individual areas of the film such as factual and opinion areas such as cast, camera as well as including one major highlight and weakness. Paragraphs about the targeted audience and final verdict are also present with technical language film references and the writer’s opinion being expressed throughout all text. In general the writers possess a knowing and friendly relationship with the reader by using formal but light hearted language with some witty sentiments.

Film poster

Above is the film poster that i produced for our short film "Fatality". I have included things that appear regulary in film posters and that were included in the five posters that i analysed. This poster has the purpose of advertising a DVD release and is designed to target the same audience as the film of teenagers and young adults by showing clearly by the clown face image and dark background the films theme, narrative concerns and film genre.

Poster analysis CASINO ROYAL

The final film poster that I chose to analyse was Casino royal it is a bond film an icon that has entertained families for many years. The 007 graphic is displayed prominently three times throughout the poster as is a well- known and easily recognised symbol for bond films. This symbol includes an image that represents a gun and so implies a violent narrative. The poster is for the actor’s Daniel Craig’s first appearance as the James Bond character and so it appears the poster is introducing him to the already established audience. The large image of Craig is presenting him to the current audience being dominantly male but also targeting a wider female audience. The poster has background images of scenes taken from the film showing individual parts of the narrative of action, and romance.

Poster analysis INVINCIBLE

The fourth poster which I decided to analyse is Invincible. It is a Walt Disney production the fact of which is shown clearly above the actor’s name Mark Wahlberg who is slowly becoming a well-known actor and so could attract an audience. The title is a bold white font communicating the main characters personality and role in the narrative of being pure as symbolised by the purity of the colour white. The poster includes yellow text displaying clearly and making apparent the fact the film is based upon a true story. There is some central black text which provides an introduction to the films narrative and therefore aids the basis of a true story by including textual references to facts of Joe Papoulis life. Text showing the films cinematic release date implies a narrative of dreams and sport as conveyed by the word side-line a phrase used in most sporting activities. The large image heading the poster shows part of the narrative concerning sport sand is indicates in particular about American football. The small billing block at the foot of the poster includes a website for further details.

Poster analysis SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

The third film poster that I analysed is Saving private Ryan which has a relatively small title but the word saving is shown in bold font making textual references to the films plot of entering a war zone to rescue one soldier. The tag line “the mission is a man” anchor’s the perceived narrative. Tom Hanks is recognized as a high standard actor and his name is used to attract an audience as is shown above the title and in a larger font than the other actor’s names which are shown below the title again attracting an audience by targeting the actors’ fans. A large image of all four of the mentioned actors is at the head of the poster with hanks face appearing larger than the others, they are shown in military clothing and are underlined with a silhouetted small image of a soldier ready for battle engaging the narrative of war and violence. The director’s name Steven Spielberg is shown clearly above all other text to show priority as he is hugely famous in the film industry. In total his name appears three times on the poster showing his importance in attracting an audience, with his name completing the billing block so that it is the last thing to remember.

Poster analysis D3 The MIGHTY DUCKS

The second film poster that I have chosen to analyse is D3 the mighty ducks. It consists of a large central known image of a duck shaped mask which targets the existing audience for the films as the poster is advertising the cinema release of the final  film of a trilogy of mighty duck films so those who saw and enjoyed the first two will be targeted into going to see it. The large red and yellow title indicates that the film has been produced for a young audience which is also symbolised by the well-known production company Walt Disney being shown clearly at the head of the poster. The title and actors name’s layout provides the graphical resemblance to the back of a hockey shirt indicating a narrative link to the sport hockey. The actors name (Emilio Estevez) is displayed above the title and his image appears central to hockey players as he in 1996 when this film was released was a big name in Hollywood after his role in young guns.  The poster is backed by a plain blue background which anchors the narrative of hockey with an associated colour of ice. The billing block is not shown clearly but the iconic Walt Disney logo  is included and is made apparent. The posters footer includes a pun “Duck season opens oct.4” showing the cinema release but again showing part of the narrative of an ice hockey teams sporting season.

poster analysis BRAVEHEART

For our media project we have produced a short film but we also have to produce a movie poster so I have chosen five different film posters to analyse so that I know what to include when designing my own.

The film poster for “Braveheart” is based around iconography with the main actor appearing as the central image and his name included in large font at the head of the poster to attract an audience as Mel Gibson is a well known actor. All text including the title is white and spatial providing symbolism for the films narrative of freedom as shows purity and peace. The actual film title is shown with priority for connection with the book and the tag line “every man dies not every man really lives” with background images of romantic embrace and battle conveys parts of the narrative concerning love, violence, and death. The included billing block although is small in comparison with the other text makes apparent that Mel Gibson is the director as well as the main actor. This poster is designed to advertise cinema release and shows clearly with bold increased font in the billing block a date.

Institiutional context of the film

Our short film FATALITY had many institutional contexts which includes running the film over the course of four days to present reoccurring events of finding a coin and using it to have a fate told so that when it came to the fourth day the character would be expecting and so searching for a coin. We decided to have the main character wear a suit to provide the reason for him to be walking past the machine every day as the end of his working day so that he was heading to his car to travel home. The clown we decided on as is a well-known icon of horror film and to aid the locations of the amusements in relating to our targeted audience of teenagers and young adults. This will also give an uneasy sense the same which the actions within the film provide because mysterious and shadowed events are taking place in a supposed happy filled enjoyable place.

Distribution

Our short film “Fatality” is not suitable for distribution into cinemas and then onto DVD after a short period of time like most films because it is less than fifteen minutes long. Our film is designed to be distributed on the internet on either private or well-known video sharing websites such as www.youtube.com where it can reach the targeted audience of teenagers and young adults easily as it is easily accessible and free.

The internet has quickly become a significant retail outlet for the distribution or sale of DVD releases. Due to technical limitations of bandwidth, connection speeds, and legal reasons the internet has no rights to distribute Hollywood films so the independent short film has become a common occurrence online. One of the most popular viewing sites for online film is www.AtomFilms.com, which was launched in 2006 funding independent producers looking to create short films specifically for distribution on the internet. Today the internet possesses an ever increasing number of websites dedicated to sharing films including IFILM.COM and you tube.

Editing sound

With all the editing completed in terms of the footage we now had to include sound. We had found two pieces of music that we all liked and thought would chaperon the film narrative and actions. These were creepy carnival (www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuisPf8M40U ) and scary clown music low base original (www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FuNdgQkOkk ). The creepy carnival we added to the first three sections of film with the music repeating as with the actions of the three days. The third sections however includes dialogue so we because had decided that we wanted the music to continue throughout increased the volume of speech so that it could be heard clearly above the underlying sound. The other sound track scary clown music we added to the footage of the clown frantically moving in the box and the actions that follow of rushing to his car and see the clown in the back window. We stopped the music but faded it back in over the drive buy’s and house scenes with the creepy carnival music coming back in for the films credits.

Editing titles

We have filmed a sequence of the clown with spot light and camera movement around the face. This footage was edited together creating a sequence of various clown movements and angled shots which we positioned at the beginning of our film before all sequences. We had discussed what should be included in starting titles and began adding them to the images. We added the production company PACK followed by an associated company of WSC media and distributer JFE. We included the actors that appeared in our film and each member of our group with job titles that was randomly chosen as each of us played the roles of director, producer, editor and sound incorporator for our individual sections of film that we chose to take control over. The final part had a play on words to reveal our film title. First the word fate appears but is gradually replaced by the word fatality signifying the parts of narrative concerning not being able to escape your fate.

The credits that we added to the end of our film was placed on to a black background and consisted of the film title, the location of filming and a special thanks to the forum amusements and prop designer Barry Hyde. The credits concluded with a website, contact details and a copyright trademark with date. This was done as in theory our short film is an advertisement to the film industry showcasing talent.

Editing combining sections

Each of us had completed editing the sections of film that we were made responsible for so finalised the editing process by adding Karlene’s and Chloe’s with the collective sequences of mine and Adele’s. We included fades between each part to signify time passing and added markers of the first, second, third and final day to make apparent the narrative running across a four day period. The use of the final day marker also aids the sense of the final day in terms of the main characters fate. With all footage gathered an edited our A2 media short film was completed in terms of the film and narrative, however we now have to produce a title sequence decide on music going to include, and add credits so that the film is finalised.

Editing special effects

Our short film consists of four sections of film that each member of the group where individually responsible for. The narrative runs across four days with Karlene’s part being the first and second day’s events Chloe’s the third and Adele’s and mine the final day. Due to the fact my section and Adele’s constitutes the fourth days actions we added our scenes together to ensure that they accompany each other in a way that appeared natural in the way the actions followed each other.

Adele’s scene consists largely of the clown’s frantic movements, the footage of which we decided to add special effects. The editing programme that we used made many options of special effects available to us. We had the opportunity to change light levels, colour concept, and many methods of distortion. We changed the colour perception known as hue and colour saturation, of the images creating a variety of actions which appeared different and gave an uneasy sense. Slowing down and distorting the footage created a sense of manic behaviour and ominous appearance.

Editing my section

Individually with the big picture of what each of us believed our completed short film should look like began editing the section that we each produced the shot script for. I first opened all the footage of the house scenes in the editing programme pro 11 and arranged them into the order in which the actions should appear in the overall narrative of the film. I spliced the different angled shots of the same actions together to create a sequence that can be seen by various angles providing a greater perception of the movement. I then edited every consecutive shot together adding fades and jump cuts when necessary to allow the footage to continuously flow throughout. The final shot of the clown appearing in the bedroom I included a gradual zoom in from a mid-shot to show a close up of the clowns face. Once I believed I had completed the editing of my section I showed it to the rest of my group to ensure each of us was happy with how the footage appeared collectively. When we have all completed the editing of our individual sections we will begin to create the overall film by adding all sections together and constructing a title sequence.

Post production meeting

We returned to school on completion of filming and firstly viewed all the footage we had gathered to decide if any of it needed to be re filmed or if we required any extra scenes for our short film. We came to the decision that none of our footage needed re filming but we had no sequence in which to add a title sequence. With this in mind we discussed and decide to film another sequence of the clown which we recorded several lessons later so that we are all ready to begin editing.

Shooting diary 3

We went back to Felixstowe to complete filming our project but no longer required the box so transport was easier. We began filming the mugging scene following Chloe’s shot script and creating the actions that we discussed would resemble a mugging that were not to elaborate. We collected the remaining footage that required the Felixstowe amusements setting swiftly and finished filming with the series of shots that sees the clown at various places as the male figure drove past. On a hole all four of us were organised in terms of our individual shot scripts and the overall picture of what we wanted to include in our media project.

Shooting diary 2

The second time we filmed we travelled to Felixstowe transporting ourselves and the large prop of the box that was generously made by Barry Hyde. We went about again with a high level of organisation filming Karlene’s and Adele’s section with some of the sequences being the same as in Chloe’s repeating them with the male character changing his tie. We although was filming our A level project enjoyed our time taking a little time out to have fun as had the problem of requiring a decreasing light change for some of the shots.

Shooting diary 1

The first day of filming our media project was spent following my shot script recording all the scenes that take place inside the house. Overall we were well organised and knew the footage that we required and went about in an orderly manner, but uncounted and overcame the problem of the cameras reflection seen in the mirror by using the ninety degree rule.

Filming dialogue

In our short film we wanted to include a section of speech during the mugging scene so we found the 18^th verse from chapter 9 of the Bhagavad Gita, which is -

‘I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge, and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, and the resting place.’

This passage relates to the theme of fate as is based around Krsna the supreme ruler who is believed to own everything, everything of which exists on his energy. Fate is commonly deciphered as the development of events outside a person's control, and is regarded to be determined by a supernatural power. The supernatural power being Krsna, who is the extinguishable cause of everything having control over everyone's future. In relative terms meaning that you cannot escape your fate. 

filming casting

Our A2 media studies short film project required three actors with the additional person to wear the clown costume and an extra to appear once bumping into the main character. The main male figure was the only casting that we did to some extent as members of our group appeared as the muggers and me as the clown. The male character had to be of an age around mid-twenties  and readily available for filming so we thought about are families and friends and decided to ask Gareth if he would available to and willing to appear in our short film. With his agreement and the decisions made on both locations and costumes we were ready to film with concordance to our individual shot scripts.

filming costumes

The narrative of a fate telling machine and the character inside coming to life meant finding an appropriate costume that would suit being present in a machine and that would appear to scare the targeted audience. Looking at the many horror films came to notice a common character of a psycho clown as in IT and Chucky.  This resulted in us purchasing a clown costume that was half red and black and that had a creepily smiling mask.

Our main male character had to wear a costume that would mediate the reason for him to walk past the same place every day of being the end of his work day, so we had him wear a suit. Due to our low budget and the fact the narrative runs over a series of days instead of having him change suit we had him wear different ties to symbolise a different day.

The two female mugger’s costumes to go against the typical perception of male hooligans dressed in all black to hide their identity consisted of brightly coloured hoodies. The low budget meant that we used hoodies that we already possessed.

filming locations

Whilst planning our film we had discussions on the types of setting which our short film should be set. In conclusion we decided with a narrative point of view to have the main setting outside an amusement’s to provide a realist background of where the fate telling machine would be believed to be found so that the story can unfold and the natural perception of fate unravelling is anchored . The idea that an amusements is a place of enjoyment and relative tranquillity enforces the films persona of being unnatural causing confusion as is not a common setting for a horror stalking to take place. The other setting that our film required was a house providing the narrative a place for the main character to return to as a place of safety in his mind but a place of entrapment for the narrative.

Once we came to the decision we had to realize these settings so began scouting for possible locations. The house setting we made use of one of ours as limited by a low budget and time, but we added props to create a sense of realism that our main character could reside there. The nearest amusement as limited by transportation was Felixstowe so we got into contact with the amusements manager to ask permission for using there establishment as our films setting.

production of scrap version

Yesterday as a group we produced the scrap version of my section of film following my shot script. Whilst taking the shots we realised that it requires more shots of the clown so discussed the issue and came to a decision of having a few shots of the clown appearing at the road side as the man drove past. We then carried out this shot to see if it was plausible and when we played the shots back believe that they will fit well into this section of film and aid the sense of the clown stalking. The production of this scrap version also opened our eyes to the fact that we need to be careful to make sure that the clown and man can be seen clearly in the shots through the car windows. Over the course of this week we have produced scrap versions of all of our sections so that we will be better prepared for filming the real footage during the half term holiday, as we can decide on appropriate amendments that are required to increase the quality of our short film.    

Representation within our short film

Within our short film we decided on having a central male character which is threatened and comes into conflict with the clown to go against the usual female victim that appears in a number if horror films. We will also be making use of female muggers as typically the cinema makes use of male actors, she will appear to say a biblical speech contradicting that muggers are usually uneducated and middle class. We however have yet to decide if she shall speak eloquently or in slang so are going to film it both ways and decide at a later date which suits the rest of the footage.

Target audience of our short film

In order to decide on the actors appearing in and the narrative within our short film we were aware of the target audience theoretically being older teenagers and young adults so we included a young tall ,male to be our main character and have chosen the setting of an arcade to mimic what a teenager would like to see. The inclusion of a homicidal clown and a mugging scene also targets the expectations and likes of teenagers within the film industry. Beyond the examiner we our aware that our short film is a showcase so that we shall include a number of camera shots, editing styles and mise en scene to show our collective and individual talents.

my shot script

This week we have been all working on the shot scripts for the section of film that we each have taken responsibility of. Mine begins with a long shot  through a car windscreen showing the man inside his panic is then shown through a series of close ups of his frantic movements putting on his seat belt and starting the car. A mid shot then shows him raising his head to look at the mirror and reaction shots shows him turning around and the clown standing at the back of the car. Then he is shown to drive away quickly with a long shot moving towards an extreme long shot. The man than appears in mid shots of several angles walking towards and through his house until he reaches the kitchen sink were an over the shoulder shot reveals his actions of having a drink and his reaction of fright to the clown laugh. A series of close ups of locking doors and windows leads to movement upstairs shown in a long shot and a point of view shot. More mid shots shows the locking of the bathroom window the man splashing his face and his reaction to the clown appearing in the mirror shown by a close up. The man leaves the bathroom in a mid shot and a pan until he reaches his bedroom where he is seen in a long shot to slam and stand up against the door in a panicked state. An ellipse occurs to show that time has passed and mid shots of the man rolling in bed finishes with a mid shot of the clown standing in the doorway.

idea for my section of the film

I have been given responsibility over the final chase sequence of our short film and have made use of the narrative structure we decided on to produce an idea. My section begins as Adele’s comes to an end and with the final fate ticket being the most threatening and reading beware the clown involves the clown escaping the box and following the main character. At first we will see the man panicking inside his car rushing to get away as the clown appears behind the car. I decided to make use of a car as it can be seen as a means of escape but also entrapment. The man then enters his home and is seen to rush around locking all doors and windows this behaviour is a typical convention of horror cinema giving the sense that he is not locking the clown out but is entrapping himself with the clown who is already inside. The final part of the film sees the man climb into bed which is a symbol of sanctum. This idea for my section of film has been planned to aid the other four sections in hopefully producing a short film that scares and entertains the viewer.

idea of narrative structure

As part of a group we have come to a final decision on the narrative structure that our short film should hold. We will be making use of the normal sense of a story consisting of chronological events. However the short film will possess an internal cyclic nature with the same events of receiving a fate ticket and it coming true occurring each day over the course of a four day period. Progression will also play a part in the structure where each day the fate tickets will read a progressively more threatening text until the climax is reached with the realisation of the fate box not being plugged in and a stalking sequence.

Outline of finalised decision on film in terms of narrative and themes

I am part of a four person group working along side my good friends and fellow media students Chloe, Karlene, and Adele to plan and produce a short film. We have been discussing ideas for our short film project and have come to an agreement on producing a film based on the idea of fate telling. With the most probable form of a five part film where each clear cut chapter concerns four different fates given  by the fortune telling machine. However we are still discussing what the fate tickets will read and how we are going to make them happen.

We are currently producing the fate machine and are in discussions over the shot script, costumes and props. We have made the decision that we will each be responsible for all the areas of a section of the film. I have taken control over the final chase sequence. Karlene has taken a lead role over the first two fate readings, Chloe the third and Adele will be producing the fight with reality.

We have also been considering target audiences but have yet to come to any decisions on an audience that are film should be directed at. We will however need to come to an agreement so that we can make use of appropriate actors and designs that will address the certain target audience. We shall continue our discussions for this and all areas that need to be considered before we produce our film. 

Thematically we have several options open to us but as a group we are yet to decide on a format, theme or a particular genre for our project. The intended topic of fate and fortunes being realised requires us to research the background beliefs, views and opinions surrounding the issue. I am a believer in science and so have no realised views of fate being part of our lives but I am aware of others views and am open to those of my group with respect to their ideas for our short film.

We are currently at an early stage of planning and my group have many topics to discuss before all areas of the film have been addressed and we are ready for its production.