before and after film poster

This is my before and after final ancillary task film poster on the right. I decided to use a quote on the top line in a thin font as this font is the one that matches the beginning opening of my film. I then looked at some different film posters and seen that the majority of them had a quote with a star rating about the film, underneath would be where it was from, so on my film poster I used "the guardian". I also then decided to give it a slight blur so the mask would look more professional and as I had to add two oval shapes in to the eyes it made them look more natural and faded in. I used a red black and white scheme as I think bright positive colours aren't very suitable for my genre as a whole. I also added in a billing block in which I made on a website as I seen it on lots of posters and I thought it looked professional. The red colour I added in throughout can connote blood and death, which relates to my film. The name stalker I think links well with the rest of the film poster, the mask of the person is the stalker in the film but his identity is never revealed which gives it a sense of mystery in which we are trying to create from our film. You can also see in the corner I included the age restriction my film is.

existing films i have used

This blog post is showing the different film posters I took ideas from to make my own. The main one is the middle one called the babadook. I liked the quotes on either side of the main image so I decided to do this on mine. I also liked what the little film quotes said like "truly frightening" so I used these on mine. I also then used the stars underneath and added the star ratings of my film and then who the review was from. I also then needed to add in my age restriction so people could see what age it was, mine is a 15 which means you need to be 15 to watch it. I noticed on most of the film posters I looked at specifically in the horror genre they always have a main image in the centre of the poster, standing out this is mostly the main character in the film, or the killer. These images are also really zoomed in which is what I done with mine. I also noticed the colour scheme in most of the existing ones are red black and white, these are the colours I used in mine to connote different things. We got our inspiration from the mask from the original film "V for Vendetta" which is a killer horror film that we liked the look of the mask from (top right) as it was a bit more interesting than the original scream mask. We didn't want to copy the v FOR vendetta film poster completely so we used the lighting differently and had different fonts.

ancillary task progress

Here is a few pictures I print screened as I was building up my film poster. You can see I began to adapt the different things I got from existing magazine covers I changed it a lot, deciding things like if I should keep it blurred or clear which would be more affective. I also then changed around the different fonts and colour schemes I could find, I added in different things and then took things away like the text box at the bottom, whether it should be bigger, add more information. As I was making this I was researching existing posters, in which I will show in another blog post but also getting feedback from people around me and showing them it progressing.

feedback interview with target audience

 This is a video I done to get feedback from my target audience on how they thought my film was going. This is christel blanchard who is the target audience, 18 years old. We asked her what she liked about it, what she thought we needed to improve on and if she thought it was suitable for the target audience. The things she thought we could improve on was speeding things up, changing the order of things, from this we then reviewed our film again and adjusted these things and it looked a lot better. We found this excersise really important and helpful as it meant we could continue to improve our film finding out exactly what our real life target audience thought. I am glad some of the things that was said in this film, the positive things as it meant I could reassure myself the film in general made sense because I had watched it so many times!! also we gathered a few more ideas we could possibly add like adding a twist on to it that the news reporter was actually the killer and by doing our film so early it means we have a lot of time to add if needed as our film at the minute is only 3:30 seconds long so we do have time and room for improvement and criticism.

intertextuality

Within my film there are a lot of references to previous existing horror films like slasher, we used a split screen in which we were inspired by the 1976 film 'Carrie'. We liked this as we thought it gave it an extra traditional twist, a thing you see a lot in horror films. We edited this on through the MAC using final cut pro and we also added a hazy affect on to it. The music that we used resembles 99% of horror films, its a mix of 'tiptoe in the tulips' and a innocent lullaby sound in which contrasted together to come across as an unnerving sweet tune. The fact that in our horror film we use a mask that is already in a thriller film, V for vendetta shows we have took inspiration from existing films I liked the creepy mysterious mask from that film and thought it would look better than the ultimate original scream mask. overall horror films are obviously influenced by films such as psycho, Halloween etc. 

 

Castings

Another person that auditioned was Christel Blanchard, who auditioned for the role of the killer/stalker. We liked how in character christel would be even though she had a mask on which was what we needed. She had a lot of enthusiasm which we liked and seemed passionate towards the role so we gave it to her. We were excited to start filming with her.
She also auditioned for the role of the news reporter however she was suited to the stalker/killer character rather than the news reporter as she wasn't great at remembering a log script.


















The first person that auditioned for the role of the stalker/killer was charlotte bowers. However after the audition we didn't feel like she was suitable for the role as she was very shy and not very confident. Also we needed the stalker to have an aggressive manor about them and she seemed too sweet and kind about it so we didn't give her the role.

This is one of our casting members, her name is Jessica bates and she is applying for the role of the teenage girl that is being stalked. We needed someone quite young and just to look like your average teenage girl like jess does. We liked her because she would get in to character and take it seriously and really fulfil the role. Jessica also applied for the role of the killer/stalker however we decided that se would be more suited for the role of the teenage girl as we needed someone a bit taller and broader to do it so the mask would stay on.

call sheets

Short film analysis

Exsisting films - analysis

Here I done another analysis of an existing film I am going to take ideas from. This is the original first Halloween out, directed by John Carpenter. One of my favourite things about this opening is that it is all from the killers perspective, so we as the audience follow the killer round building up tension so we don't know what the killer is going to do. I am going to do this in my film and I am going to use a mask within my film. I will then add an effect on the mac which make it look like the audience are seeing the stalker from the stalkers point of view. I think this is effective and will make it look professional. Again I like the screeching sound that is used in this, it seems to be common in old horror films I think I will use a sound similar to this when I do sound for my film. I think the film is very dark at the beginning but this builds up tension, I will try and film mine when it is dark as possible to create a mystery, if not I will use filters and effects on the mac t make it look darker and scarier. 

Exsisting films - carrie

Here I have began to find conventions from previous famous directors and adapt things that I can use in my short film. Here is the original Carrie director is Brian De Palma. I decided to use this as an existing text because I like a few of the unusual techniques he uses that aren't really used anymore. Here are a few examples, I like the affect of the split screen idea to show two different things coming together or two different scenes. I will use this in my short film so I can show what the stalker is doing and what the girl he is stalking is doing. Along with copying that technique I am also going to include the red hazey filter that is used throughout the whole of this scene. I think this effect is clever and I think it can be used professionally to connote certain thing but also to be a bit unusual. I will use this affect on a close up of the killer/stalker face, when he has just killed the girl, I think this will work and we will really emphasise the red of the blood on the knife.

Previous directors

Here I have included a scene from the world famous Psycho created by Alfred Hitchcock. I have decided to use this as an existing text to look at as it is a well known horror world class film. The shower scene in particular the motion of the knife stabbing violently is something I am going to use in my short film, I think I will copy the length and size of the knife being used and the motion, just because its well known. I want my killer/stalker in my film to be as violent as they are in this film because I think that is one of the conventions that makes it a classic scary horror. The loud screeching noise in the back ground, along with the screaming I think is a good way of showing what Is happening, I might use a particular noise every time my stalker appears because then I think the audience will understand the storyline better. The dripping of the blood I found effective and im going to use fake blood on the knife in my film.

script final draft

News report - opening

Good morning and welcome to channel 5 news. Our top story today is all about the one year death anniversary of Jessica green. This poor young girl was violently murdered by what we believe to be a duo kill.
She was brutally stabbed 3 times in her neck and 7 times on her torso. She was left in a pool of her own blood to die a slow, painful death.
This is still an ongoing investigation involving the local police and crime team. Forensics have found traces of Jessica's DNA in the local area, however not enough evidence to piece together a full story. There has been rumours however that Jessica was being stalked up until her death.
The criminals who did this are still out there so we urge all parents and children to have a safe but happy Halloween and if anyone knows anything please contact the hotline that will be on screen in a second.
Thank you and goodbye!


news report - emergency newsflash

We are interrupting programmes to tell you there has been another tragic death. The victim identified is a 13 year old girl named Angie White.
It has been said she has been stabbed several times in her neck and around her torso area, because of this MO we believe it was linked to Jessica's death a year ago today.
Once again if anyone knows or suspects anything ring our hotline which will be on screen in a second.

 

carol clover - final girl theory

This final girl theory was create by a woman named Carol Clover. The final girl is a trope in thriller and horror films, particularly slasher films. It refers to the last woman alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story. The final girl has been observed in a lot of films such as alien, Halloween, a nightmare on elm street and Friday the 13th.
The term was coined by Carol clover in her book men, women and chainsaws: gender in modern horror film. She suggested in these films the viewer began by sharing the perspective of the killer, but experienced a shift in identification to the final girl partway through the film.
An example of this is as follows. Buffy Summers, the protagonist of the buffy vampire slayer, the TV series, was deliberately designed by the creator Joss Whedon as an alternative to the 'final girl' cliché. Buffy is subverting the final girl trope of horror films. Jason Middleton observes that although buffy for fills the monster killing role of the final girl, she is the opposite of Carol Clovers descriptions of a final girl in maydays. Buffy is a cheerleader, a beautiful blonde with a feminine first name and get the have sex with the boys and still kill the monster. I think with examples like this it can really support or undermine carols theory.

With my horror film, I think it is too risky to try and undermine any of the theories so I am going to go with what I think people will enjoy and understand. In my horror film the poor young girl does get killed and the killer does win, like we would expect in a normal horror film I just don't think the final girl theory would work for my short film.





 wiy

reece - filming locaton 1

here is a recce of out first filming location. There are also a few pictures showing the props and us in action when filming. This scene was supposed to look like a normal housing estate where the stalker is following a young girls everyday move. There are a few up close shots you can see, I think I am going to use these and put quick flash effects on them to make the audience jump at the end. There is a few collaged pictures of where we were filming, for example the school, a normal street. We set up the tripod in the different locations so we could film accurately.

synopsis

synopsis...
this is the first synopsis I wrote, because of filming we had to change this.

my film begins with a mid shot of me reading out a news report, with the green screen behind me with a news reporter back ground, and then me being projected onto an old fashioned TV. the camera then zooms in onto me reading a news report about a missing child anniversary one year today. In the news report I will mention that it is Halloween, to make the audience aware, also explain how the killer of the young boy is still out there and may strike again. There is then a graveyard mid shot of a grave, this will quick flash to the different graves, and then a quick shot of the killer (jess) with a mask on. Then there will be a cut to a happy, fun Halloween party, there will be banners, sweets, kids, food, games etc., showing everyone having a good time. The next scene is cut to a dark scary woods, where the killer is around in the mask, scampering off behind trees and being creepy, this Is the killer who killed the young boy a year ago today on Halloween, and he's out to do the same this year. After cutting back to the news report saying 'be careful this Halloween, he is still out there' there is a cut to the killers black gloves knocking on the door of the party, the film will end there.


Here is the updated version of my synopsis..
My film begins with a news report, this is done with a green screen and a news report background is put in as the background. The news report is talking about a one year anniversary of a little girl who died and the murder is still a mystery, the news report urges anyone to get in contact so they can find the killer, in which they believe there are two of them, that stalked the young girl so they knew her everyday life.There is then a series of shots of a young girl doing day to day activities, walking home, walking in to school, but in the corner, secretly hiding/watching is one of the killers that the girl is completely unaware of. These shots are shown through a shot that is called 'mask', hence why there is a black circle around the shots, as the other killer is watching her too. The last shot you see of the young girl is walking into her house... The next shot is one of the killers knocking on the door of the young girl with a knife. There is then a flash back to the news report but this time it is an emergency announcement, that another little girl has been killed and it is the same MO as the young girl a year a go today. The next shot is the killer leaving the house with a bloody knife, laughing. The last shot cuts to the killer stood over the young girls grave he has killed, creepily staring...

Stick Up For Me

This film is called stick up for my by a previous student called Sarah Johnson. It is about a girl who is being bullied and then finds out her only friend she thought she had was one of the bullies. I chose to analyse this film because there was a lot of things that I liked about it, in particular I liked that the texts that the character were texting were on the screen, I think this worked well and it worked for the target audience, younger people due to it using slang and smiley faces and things. I also liked the whole storyline of it, I think people our age can see that things like this do happen. I liked the silhouette used of the mystery person she was texting, this is a simple but effective way to show a conversation between the two of them however I wont be able to cooperate this into my film. There were a few shots used where I thought it looked a bit messy, by this I mean there were things in the background or a shadow that you could see, I think without these it would of looked more professional. The music over the top worked well, it almost made us feel more upset for the girl. There are a few camera angles I will use in my short film that i copied, like the over the shoulder shot that was used, along with the black and white affect that was given too, I think the black and white affect made it more sad and we felt more sorry for the girl.



 

technologies i will use

I have planned what technologies I intend to use to create my text. The first technology is the Mac computer. I have used the mac to do my research for my short film and use blogger to upload things. Google/YouTube I have used on the macs to look at existing films and doing my textual analysis'. The mac I will be using to do all my editing on, using software's such as final cut pro, where I will upload all I have filmed and edit lighting, transitions etc. There is also software's such as pic monkey, or pixlr which are used for editing too but my main software will be final cut pro. Another technology I m using will be a video camera and my iPhone 6. The video camera I will be using, along with a tripod to balance it on to do my filming, ensuring all the settings on the camera are put how I want them. With the video camera I am also doing a scene where the camera is going to be hand held and look shaky, this is good with the school cameras because they are small and practical. My iPhone 6 I will be using the camera on it so I can do a recce, take pictures of the location, props, costumes, cast etc. I decided to use my iPhone because it will be quick and easy to take a picture and then upload it. I will also use my iPhone to take shots for my film review page, to make it exciting. For my evaluation questions I may use prezi or sound cloud as another form of technology to do these, I will use these so I can keep my evaluation exciting and show my blog in different forms. In terms of editing and sound, I will need a creepy lullaby in my short film so therefore I will have that playing over the top. I will make this sound on garage band and upload it to fit with my short film. The green screen will be in use when filming my film, this I another technology in which is effective and will look good for the background I will be needing.

 

 

Here I am using the green screen to film my news report part. As you can see I also used the studio lights to get a good bright background. I thought the lights made it look professional and make it look clearer on the camera. I really enjoyed using the green screen it meant I could change the background and add other things on to it and take things away. However once we had filmed the news report we uploaded it on to the mac and we found that once we had inserted a background of a news report on to the back of it that there was a bright reflection on the end of the table, and this meant it went all hazy and pixilated. We decided to change this and we filmed it again but this time we lowered the professional lights and made it less dimmer and by doing this meant the light reflection would hopefully disappear. The pictures below show the improved green screen where the light isn't as bright and it is clear. We added the news reporter background and we are going to add a picture on to the TV screen which is linked to the news report that we are talking about. I think our outcome of this looks professional and I am glad we overcame this problem and I am happy with our end result.

Camera shots and angles used in horror movies

Here I have attached a YouTube video as it talks about the different camera shots and angles in horror movies. The majority of the shots used in the video I will be using, like the close up, the panning shot, the hand held camera. I think this YouTube video explains why all of the shots are used for different reasons and sums up how I am planning to use most of these shots in my own short film.

Slideshare wouldn't embed and post to blogger so here is the link for my presentation on Vladmirr Propp.





http://www.slideshare.net/lillytrkulja1/vladmirr-prop

planning for short film

first draft of news interview script

audience profiling - Psychographics moodboard

My audience profiling is mainly mainstreamers. These people tend to be domestic, conformist, conventional, sentimental - favour value for money, family, brands. Nearly always the largest group. Above you can see I have done a mood board for my target audience. My target audience is 15 years plus. At this age I think they are developing teenagers so social media would be very important in there lives. There social status in schools would be important to them because I think they would have their designated friendship groups and be quite close. As we have said the target audience is 15+, what a 15 year old does may be completely different to what an 18 year old does, my profiling for an 18 year old would be things like looking at university, driving, socialising, festivals. This is why I think my horror genre works well because there is two different groups (15+18) but I think they will still understand the horror genre as it is just scary, they will go for the thrill of it.

uses and gratification theory - horror genre

This uses and gratification triangle is the basis for every human being and its all about our needs in every day life to survive. I think this is a good template however I don't completely agree with it. I think some of the things we obviously need to survive but some of the things we can survive without.

This uses and gratification theory is about how people use media for the gratification of their needs. It propounds the fact that people chose what they want to see or read and the different media compete to satisfy each individuals needs.
My genre for my film is going to be horror therefore there will be different gratifications for why people enjoy it.

Surveillance - An audience gets pleasure from the knowledge that the text is offering to the audience as they feel more secure watching a disturbing text knowing the story isn't 'real'. I think this also can test the audience, for example if the text said 'based on true events../real life story..' the audience see it as a text and in particularly males, it may make them feel strong and masculine, while in females they may be cuddled up and scared and expect the man to look after them. 

Personal identity - this is all about the audience connecting and relating with a character. In horror the killer might go on a killing spree and kill loads of people, or vice versa the 'good guy' might go and kill the killer. We then as the audience opt for them to do this, and almost adopt them traits of bravery, putting ourselves in that position, making it realistic to us. This is another reason why people enjoy horror, the sense of the build up of what the outcome is going to be.


Personal relationships - this is another gratification as to why people watch horror films. This gives them a chance to discuss and share the experiences they had with the film. It may be a social thing, where a group of friends all went to see a horror film, and after spoke about how someone jumped, or someone couldn't watch. This links another reason why people get the thrill out of it, and it makes it into a social thing.

Escapism - is another gratification as it allows the audience to escape there normal lives and put themselves in a world of fantasy. I think this is really common in horror as there may be a lot of killing or unnerving characters, the audience imagines themselves in the place the character is. I think with horror its such an intense genre that they want that person to die and believe people should die, I think it takes them out of reality and lets them use their imagination.

continuity editing VS montage editing

There are two types of editing, continuity and montage, these vary with what type of film you are going to be making.

Continuity editing is the predominant style of film editing and video editing in the post production process of filmmaking narrative films and television programmes. Its purpose is to put scenes together in chronological order so it provides a continuity narrative. Hollywood movies tend to use continuity editing a lot more than montage editing.


Montage editing is a different to continuity editing and is commonly used in Avant garde/art films. It involves a mixture of scenes that clash with one another therefore bringing another meaning to the shots that follow. An example of this is Kurt Cobains Eraserhead. It is a fast paced that compresses time and conveys a lot of information in a small space of time.

genre worksheet

storyboard

As my storyboard isn't very clear on the writing part, I will write out each of what the boxes say.

1) This is where the news report is talking about a girl's one year death anniversirry. The news report urges all parents and children that are going trick or treating to be careful and stick together. The news report also explains how a story hasn't been pieced together still and the killer that did this is still out there. A hotline is then shown on screen for anyone with any information.

2) The next shot is the beginning of a series of shots showing the duo killers beginning to stalk another young girl, angie. The shot shows angie walking in to school, but in the corner of the camera, the stalker/killer is watching her.

3) The next shot is continuing on from the series of shots showing the stalker following her everyday routine. This shot shows her at the park, having fun, completely unaware of the stalker staring at her right behind her.

4) This next shot is a shot of her normally walking in to her house and the stalker is still watching her, once again she is completely unaware.

5) The next shot shows the stalker walk up to Angie's house and knock on the door that she just went in, with a knife in his hand. To make this shot exciting we used jump cuts and special flashing effects and knocking sound effects to make it more intense, the stalker then turns round and stares at the camera.

6) The stalker has killed angie, we know this because then the stalker is walking away from her house with a bloody knife. We see no sign of angie.

7) The next shot is a quick newsflash, using the green screen and it is an emergency breaking news. It states that a little girl has been killed, it has the same MO as the little girl that was killed a year ago today, it talks about how they believe she was being stalked ad urges all parents and children again to be careful and call the hotline if they know anything or recognize anything dodgy.

8) Sadly there is a slide saying about Angie's funeral, the last shot is the stalker/killer still stalking her even though she is dead. He is stood over her grave laughing, the credits then begin to roll.

initial idea 2

horror idea 2

1) news report on a street, explains about the death of someone a year ago. Explains that the mystery is still unsolved and warning parents to look out for their kids.

CUTS TO

2) body of child/ or close up of a graveyard

3) shot of houses/sweets/banners/kids - letting people know its Halloween - happy music

4) MUSIC CUT - creepy daunting music, woods shot, sky/ mask appears behind trees. Long shot then gets closer and closer.

5) POV shot, knocking on the door

horror movie draft initial ideas

horror movie

•  weird stalker/creepy man, beginning staring at a computer screen
•  fades out, ends with shutting computer screen
•  digital fuzzy camera broke

                                                      OR

- flash to family, Halloween                                                     - use captions to ell the story,
, getting ready, sweets, costumes,                                           keep it as minimal, creepy still.
decorations.



- filming in the woods, head camera                                      - woods filming, appears in
his point of view, following children                                          different places, quick shots,
                                                                                                  point of view cameras.

• opening caption "a year ago to this day..."
• a shot of grave/dead person in somewhere
• another caption.. a mystery still unsolved
• POSSIBLE - shot of house decorating sweets/ houses HALLOWEEN. a "Halloween special"
• Shot of the woods, behind trees, flashshots of man, close up of mask

short film beginning ideas

http://aso.gov.au/titles/features/romeo-and-juliet/clip1/

for the beginning of my short film, I wanted to have a news report reporting a death that is still unsolved however I didn't know what t say or where to film it! I was looking at previous ones and came across this romeo and Juliet scene where it begins in a TV news report from far away and slowly gets closer. I think this could work with the green screen and then we have an old fashioned big TV in which we could reflect my face on to it to make it look more professional and like im sat in an actual studio. This is better than my original idea of doing a news report in the middle of the street because with the green screen and technology we can make the lighting perfect and make it look a lot more professional! The youtube clip above is where I got my inspiration from.

questionairre and target audience

here I done a questionnaire to find out what my target audience was going to be for my short film. Results shown that it was a split between male and female, either would watch it, obviously there was more film watchers which was a good thing. Also they prefer watching films at home rather than the cinema. The age groups were all very similar so we could choose any really, our target audience is over 18 year olds due to it being a horror, which on our questionnaire was the preferred genre of all of them. The audience we were looking at only watched films weekly so that is quite often.

difference with qualitative and quantitative data

 

 

 

 

QUALITATIVE
- text based
- more in depth information
= unstructured or semi structured response options
- no statistical tests
methods include focus groups and in depth interviews
- less generalizable
- more subjective


QUANTITATIVE

- number - based
- not as in depth but covers a wider range of information
- fixed response options
- statistical tests are used
- more generalizable
- surveys, structured interviews and observations
- more objective

when looking at research for my coursework and looking for ideas with my short film I would choose qualitative data as I need to look for detail and existing films to analyse.

 

textual analysis

textual analysis short film - pudding bowl

Pudding bowl – directed by Vanessa Caswill – textual analysis

Lilly trkulja

 

Camerawork

There were a variety of shots used throughout this short film and I believe they represent different things. The first shot I noticed was a mid - shot, I think this shot was used to really emphasise that there was something odd about her brother. This is a shot of him sat Blankley staring at her, I think this shot was held for quite a long time, therefore the audience may believe there’s something mysterious about him. I also like the use of the low angle shot, when her mum is cutting ivy’s hair off, this really emphasis how much hair is being cut off and it’s portrayed in a unique way but I think its effective and works and it’s such a simple shot to use! Another shot where the low angle was used was where the mother is staring down at ivy shouting, I think in this case it represents the power that her mum has over ivy and we almost feel sorry for her as she looks helpless sat on the floor. I like the use of the panning/tracking shot when she is pretending to be this lady on a bike, it’s like she’s in the fantasy world and I think the tracking shot following her on the bike works well here.

Editing

I liked the use of the jump cuts used when her mum is cutting off her hair, this is fast paced and exciting and I think it works well because it’s got shouting along with it, it’s like the more she shouts, the angrier she is getting, the more hair she is cutting off and it keeps us watching because we want to know if her mum will calm down. I’m not sure what the technique is called but I like the switch to the imaginary world of her riding the bike, and the hazy, colourful effect on this, I think this fits well with the 50’s/60’s theme that the whole film is set around too. Then to get back to the normal scene they used a fade which I think was smooth and neat. They used a slow motion technique when the hair was being cut off and I think this is effective as it goes silent and we see the last of the hair fall to the floor slowly, I think this then makes us excited and nervous to see what ivy is going to look like.

Sound

There isn’t much dialogue in the beginning however they do start with a classic 50’s/60’s themed music which I think is good as it then relates and we know exactly what time era it is going to be set in. I think the music works well with the photographs and magazines ivy is cutting out, it all links. After ivy had her hair cut, there is a non-diegetic gentle, quiet piano playing a few notes and it shoes ivy staring in the mirror. I think the piano is effective as it isn’t a full on sad song but it makes us feel really sorry for ivy! I think the sound works well here. After ivy becomes happier and goes to get revenge to her brother we then hear a happy, exciting song being played, upbeat and as the audience we then feel hope towards ivy and are almost cheering her on.

Mise en scene

I think from the costume it tells us a lot about ivy, the old fashioned little dress and the big geeky glasses straight away we assume she is a lonely little quiet girl that keeps herself to herself. Later on in the film there is a scene of ivy putting her mums wig and lipstick on, I think this demon straights the typical stereotype of the little girl wanting to be like someone, this is then reflected as throughout we see the picture of the lady she cut out in the beginning and we link the two. The lighting when she is pretending to be the lady on the bike it bright and sunny and she looks pretty and flawless and the boys are running after her may contrast with how ivy really feels.

When watching this short film I realised that my short film doesn't have to be too complicated, a simple storyline is effective. Also I don't need many different locations or tons of characters to make it a successful short film.

short film VS feature film...

primary and secondary research

primary research - also called field research, involves a collection of data that doesn't already exist. Examples are things like; surveys, focus groups, letters, email, social media.

secondary research - use someone else's findings to help your research. Examples include; newspapers, internet, books, lectures, TV programmes, apps, radio, textual analysis.

There are positives and negatives of all of these. I have chosen a few research methods I am going to use for my coursework. I think the research method I am going to be using most is the internet, this is accessible at home and in school, it is easy, quick and gives you a wide choice of things to look at. The internet comes in really handy when wanting to find existing clips to analyse and get ideas from. I also think one of the main research methods I will be using is television, it is easily accessed and as my film genre is going to be horror, I can look at the horror channels for idea and inspiration. However there is the possible situation of the TV having a power cut, which is highly unlikely. Another research method I think would come in handy is a questionnaire/survey. I think I could use this with people in my school and find out things like what would they want to see in a short horror clip? I think this would be useful to find out the film review page, get some honest opinions to write about. They are quick and easy to make and cost nothing. The last method I think I could use is the industry websites, these provide reliable information however this information could be from a biased point of view.

There are still a few research methods that I wont use but I could consider for the future. For example, phone calls, they are quick, easy and straight to the point. Emails are a more direct and personal way of researching and finding information out however they are time consuming waiting for someone to reply. Magazines and newspapers are a quick and easy way of getting hold of however they could possibly be unreliable. I wont use letters as a research method because I think they are old fashioned and there is the possibility they could get lost, also I don't think they would help my coursework. Textual analysis I think is an interesting method to use but it means you may interpret things wrong. I am going to practise this with short films, it just wont be my man method of research.

codes and conventions of short films

history of the cinema

history of the cinema..

 

The IMR

The key code is the international language of film or Institutional Mode of Representation (IMR)
IMR is the style of films that developed during the Classic Era of Hollywood.
Elements of IMR are:

• Invisible camera and editing
• Psychological realism
• Linear narrative
• Continuity editing
• Codes of sound and image mean the same in every film

The Primitive Style

All cinema started with the primitive style which was very simple and like normal life, some features of Primitive Style are:

• Frontal staging
• Tableau style - long shots
• Exaggerated gestures
• Hardly any camera movement
• No point of view shot
• Silent, unsophisticated - more like melodramatic mime (e.g. Lumiere Brothers 1895)

D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation in 1915 is a great example of a morally wrong film but applied great film making at the time, for example the use of long shot to close-up. It was also the first very long film - lasting 3 hours long!


The Jazz Singer by Al Jolson in 1927 was the first ever film to feature sound.

Classical Hollywood Cinema (CHC)

Bordwell and Thompson had a theory there are 6 principal characters of CHC, these were:

• Individual characters as casual agents
• Desire
• Change in characters
• Appointments/deadlines
• Opposition that creates conflict
• Closure

Markers in Cinema

A marker provides information to the audience quickly and economically. Markers can provide information about:

• Location - Geographical marker
• Time/era - Temporal/historical marker
• Genre - Generic marker
• Information about a character - Character marker

narrative structure

A narrative is a spoken or written account of connected events (like a story). There are also different forms within narrative structure..

- linear; linear narratives follow a straight line, starting at the beginning, then to the middle and then the end of a story.

- open; open narratives are usually found in television series. It is difficult to define the beginning, middle and end of a story in an open narrative. it also has more than one story line.

- closed; a closed narrative structure is most commonly found in movies, They contain a clear, beginning middle and an end. The audience are aware they are watching a complete story, watching a film knowing what the ending will be. 

- circular; a circular narrative is a story that ends in the same place it began.

difference with story and plot

short film analysis

short of the week - film analysis