Schedule

Me and Eric have planned to film during the end of December , this is because the conditions are ideal and there will hopefully be no snow.  In addition the weather will be cold which is what we want, also during this time it will be the holidays, which will give us plenty of time to record and organise the footage.  This is also a good time for the actors too as they will also be free as it is their holiday time too. However, this could be bad as the weather may produce rain and snow, while the rain will not be so easily noticed in the dark, the snow will definitely be noticed and cause inconsistence.

Weather of the film

We have decided to film our scenes outside at night time, at 4pm-5pm, this is because the weather then will start to get dark but still a slight amount of light for the camera to pick up.  We have also decided to film soon as we do not want snow or rain to be in our film,  this is because we want the film to be consistent.  In addition, we would like the weather to be cold, this is because as a result of the cold the characters will look cold and fragile, which is the image we want to present to the audience.  This is because the characters should be scared after the experience in Eric's house.

Target audience of the film

We have chosen the target audience of the film, we have decided to target the age range of 16-21 year old teenagers/young adults, as at this age they are most likely going to be able to connect to the characters in the film.  The young adults will also most likely be interested in films of this genre. We also think that people of the age will be interested in society and be able to relate to the characters.

Costume and props

Today we have decided that we are going make our actors wear everyday clothes, this is because we think that by making the characters in the film look like everyday people, it will increase the tension and increase the realism to the film.

We have decided to not use too many artifical props such as fake blood or a knife, as drowning someone does not produce blood.  Therefore we have decided to cut the props down to the basics, such as a  TV remote control, and the lights. This is again because we wanted to reinforce the realism of the film and make the audience think that this could happen to anyone of them.

Locations of the film

We have decided to film the opening of our film in my house, as the house is old and the setting of the bathroom will help to increase the tension of the film.  The bathroom is also very small and the light fills the corridor and the top of the stairs, which is what we want.  Also, we will be filming the scene where the friends are walking together on

Museum Street

, which is where my house is, the street also lacks lights which makes the film scary.  In addition, filming the film in my house will seem like normal life to other people, which will connect with many of our audiences, mainly teenagers as most of them go out on Fridays with their friends to town. We felt that the location of the film will enhance the realism of the film and so will help the audience to connect more with the characters and therefore hopefully think more about the moral of the film that we are trying to get across to the audience.

Refined synopsis

It is a dark, cold night in Saffron Walden and unsurprisingly, a group of teenage boys are about to go out for what they hope will be an enjoyable night. The three friends, including Xiangyu Ge, are on their way to the house of their friend, Eric White, of whom they have organized to knock for. The boys are in full voice on their way to the house and are optimistic about the prospects of the night ahead. When knocking at the door several times, there is no answer and the boys presume there has been a change of plan with Eric. However, the front door suspiciously opens but after checking their appears to be no-one inside. One of the friends, Xiangyu, notices that the only light in the house is the bathroom light, and so goes up there to check if there is anyone there. The other boys, being rude, typical teenagers, make themselves welcome in the house meanwhile. Xiangyu, simultaneously, shockingly finds Eric, but he is in a very serious state in the bathroom but is unable to call for help due to the fact that he is in shock. The bathroom door then slams shut and thus concludes the opening.

Xiangyu eventually manages to communicate and goes to the friends downstairs in seek of help. They don't believe him as when they go, this time as a group to check the bathroom as a group, they don't find anything unusual. The friends begin to question Xiangyu, but are still uneasy about what he is telling them, and so leave the house quickly. It is very difficult for the friends to talk to each other as their friendship becomes masked with confusion and distrust. All of the friends agree to never go back to the house and to wait to see if Eric turns up for school as they all, Xiangyu included, are not sure about what happened. However, all of the former friends begin to see similar (what seem to be) hallucinations the day after, when they go back to their own houses, in various rooms and even at school. It soon becomes apparent to the former friends that they are the only ones who keep seeing Eric's dead body. They are continually tormented until it becomes clear that some of them cannot take anymore suffering. The former friends are taken back to the same Friday night where they knock for Eric and this time, he answers the door and joins them.

Camera shots of the synopsis

-         Friends walk to house.  Panning, mid shot.

-         Friends knocks on door, close up, match on action shots.

-         Friends enter house, mid shot.

-         Shows the interior of the house, which is dark and creepy, there are no lights except for the upstairs.  Panning shot for showing the inside of the house.

-         Friend 1 go upstairs slowly while the others go into the living room and watch TV, friend one will walk slowly and the camera with be a close up on his feet tracking on them.

-         Friend 1 sees the dead body of Eric, mid shot, he sees the dead body.  The camera will be from inside the bathroom and be a close up shot.

-         Bathroom door slams shut,  Close up shot of the friend’s face to over the shoulder shot from the friend.

-         The camera switches to downstairs where the 2 other friends are watching TV, They have a conversation, the camera with be doing a shot reverse shot for their conversation.

-         The camera switches back upstairs to the friend, who is frozen in shock. The camera will be doing a close up shot on his face, he will be looking at the door, and the floor will then creak.  There will then be a noise down stairs.  The title will then appear.

Research and Planning

Today I look at some film openings, one that I liked particularly was the opening to the film Scary movie 3, as the genres between this film and the one that we are doing are similar. I think the use of the lighting was very good and we will try to use the same in our film, as the darkness of the room and the sudden change of the lighting bulids up tension very well, in addition, the opening also takes us by surprise as it lowers our guard by making the film seem sexual and fun at the start, as the girls are wearing very revealing clothes and are sitting in very sexual postions, but then the film suddenly changes pace and becomes dark and scary. Altough this does not always make a film scary, it does make people jump as the outcome is unexpected.

Overall,I have decided to put some of the dark lights and the sudden changes in the mood of the film into my film opening, to surprise my audience and hopefully make them scared.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhb64fV12do

Initial Synopsis of mystery/crime/horror film

The basic storyline of this opening is that a group of friends are preparing to go out for a drink and a good time. When they go to pick up Eric, However, Eric doesn’t answer the door, then the door opens by itself, the 3 friends enters the house to check on Eric, The house will be dark and creepy, the music will also be a slow paced music to build suspense. 2 of the friends will stay down stairs to watch TV, while one of the friend to check upstairs for Eric, it is very dark upstairs, except for the bathroom which is lit, which reveals that Eric has drowned in the sink, the boy runs up to check on Eric, and is horrified to find that Eric is dead, as he is staggering back to leave the bathroom, the bathroom door slams shut behind him the boy is then horrified and stands still. Then the floor creaks. And the title comes on.

Level 4 analysis

I watched a level 4 video against the criteria of a level 4 48-60 mark scheme, and I picked out how they achieved the criteria.

First of all, it is required that they are able to use a variety of shots, they achieved it by using mid shots ,panning shots for when the murder is running, they also used close up shots for intense scenes such as the interview. In addition, they also used mid shots to show the upper body of the murderer, who was covered in blood. I think they achieved this criteria very well.

Next, they recorded material appropriate to the task set, such as blood on the shirt after the murderer killed, and the dead body on his legs. They recorded what needed to be recorded and ignored what was unnecessary to record.

They also selected the mise en scene very well, the town in which he was running in seemed abandoned and lonely, this gives the viewer a sense of despair. In addition, the editing of the scenes were always dark and gloomy, and this makes the film seem very sad and scary. This also matches the next point which is that it manipulates the content with editing very well.

The language used in the film was also very accurate and when they panicked they made it seem like they were panicking . In addition, the language used in the blog was very advanced and the terminology were very well worded.

The text was very well formed and the film came together very well. The scenes which carried on from one and another shows suspense.

The layout of their blog was very well layout as all they sections were neatly organised, the research parts contained the research parts and the planning were planning parts.

They also showed awareness of the need for variety in font and text size, the titles were sometimes big and sometimes small, when the actor is running about the text is small and out of the way so the audience can see the text but not get in the way of the film.

The ICT used for the task was well organised also as they made posters using ICT programs.

Overall I believe this film deserves the level 4 it was given as they matched these criteria very well.

Juno Title Timeline

Below is a table of the title sequence from juno, I think this timeline is amazing as the timing is all perfect and thought out very well, as you can see from the table below, the titles are spread out through the whole video instead of being piled into one large text block at the end of the video. This is amazing and inspirational and in my opinion is one of the best films out there, however, the music did not go very well with the timing as it was very annoying and got stuck in my head, this made me angry. But overall, I found this opening very interesting and I will use some of the camrea shots and timing because this is structured and professional and I want my opening to be just like this. Other things which interested me is the amazing use of increasing the time when the title is important

Research into openings

I watched in detail the opening to star wars, a new hope. as it was rated as one of the best movie openings ever, although the genre of my opening will not be action/adventure/sci-fi, the camera shots was fascinating

PRELIMINARY TASK

We filmed the preliminary task by making a fan movie for big-tymer, I worked together with Eric, Samuel, and Sebastian, we started with a long shot of me entering the toilet, then we filmed a match on action of me opening the door, then we filmed me going throught the door, then we filmed me opening a cubicle and a match on me picking the lock. then we had an over the shoulder shot of me looking into the cubicle, which reveals that eric is inside the cubicle, we then exchange a conversation about big-tymer, following the 180 degreee rule, and using shot reverse shot. The conversation reveals that big tymer is dead from gang warfare, as many gangsters are these days. after which I ran out of the toilet and I am recorded with a long shot with shows that I am crying and in distress as the worlds best rapper has just died.