PLANNING: Extra Blogpost (Practise shots)

Practise shots

We're going to use over-the-shoulder shot in our title sequence. All of these clips aren't going to be used in our actual title sequence, they are just an example of the shots that we've planned to use.

This is a high angle shot that we've decided to use. 

This is a birds eye view shot that we thought would look really good with our location as it has a long staircase that looks never-ending. 

This shot looks as if it's somebody spying on me. This would be good to use as it creates suspense.

PLANNING: Casting audition evidence

Casting audition evidence:

PLANNING - (extra blog post)

Planning our route

We have to travel to Lamas house so we had to research how to get to her house and how long it will take. Here are the screenshots:

PITCH FEEDBACK + GROUP ANALYSIS

Is the bad guy a 'ghost' or 'spirit creature'?

We decided it was going to be a dark outline of a supernatural human figure. We thought this because it has connotations of the horror genre, which we need to show more to make it clear to the audience what our genre actually is. Also, the figure will have no face or body features to make it more mysterious for the audience as they will wonder what the creature is.

How long is it going to take to film?

We're starting to film on Sunday 29th November. We are going to meet at Lamas house every Sunday until the 15th December. Also, we will film during lesson times on Tuesday mornings.
We won't be filming this Thursday 26th because our opening title sequence starts in the day time but by the time we get to our location, it will be very dark.

THE PITCH

PLANNING - Blog Post 24: Individual Idea

Individual Idea

My original video idea was to have a young lady get ready for her big wedding day. Her makeup, hair and outfit all being done. However when the bride-to-be is walking down the idea all the guests are already laying down dead on the floor behind her and dead people on the chairs to, while she walks down the aisle. There would be blood everywhere and down her dress, implying that she may be involved with the killing. All while she's happy and excited that she's getting married. The audience will then realise that she is mentally dysfunctional and needs help.

However, what went wrong with the idea is that, we did not have a location that could resemble a wedding hall enough to make it look realistic. Also we didn't have a wedding dress/wedding dress look alike to make her look like a realistic bride. Another thing is that we couldn't gather enough people to take part in being the dead wedding guests, which would also be very hard to control a big amount of people. Another reason why it didn't work out was because the first two minutes of her 'getting married' would give away the whole story and wouldn't leave any suspense or confusion for the audience as they would of have already known what had happened. Therefore we decided to change the whole idea into something more suitable and realistic.

PLANNING - Blog Post 28: Use of sound

Analysis of sound in previous student title sequence

SHUTTER
In the title sequence shutter their is various sound effects to create a tense atmosphere and intensify foley sounds.
1. Firstly they used a non-diegetic soundtrack when the second title credit appeared.
2. Then they added a non-diegetic foley sound of a heartbeat overlapping the soundtrack, to show the characters emotion of feeling anxious.
3. Next there was a car approaching the parked vehicle and there was a diegetic foley sound being intensified, of the car tyres on the gravel, where is started of quiet then gradually become louder as the car got closer.
4. All whilst the non-diegetic soundtrack was playing but softer than the beginning.
5. Then the non-diegetic soundtrack changed to tenser music to match the genre of thriller and gradually becomes louder.
6. Then comes the diegetic foley sound of camera shutting like taking a photo.
7. In the background there was diegetic ambient sound of bird's chirping.
8. A diegetic foley sound of the car slamming shut when a character exits the car.
9. When another character leaves the car, another diegetic foley sound of car door slamming.
10. Diegetic foley sound of camera clicker when the spy is taking the photo.
11. Diegetic sound of walkie-talkie, static and unclear of someone talking.
12. Non-diegetic soundtrack intensifies dramatically.
13. Loud static sound coming the radio and then character turns it down and tunes it to become clear.
14. When the film title appears there is a shutter to resemble the film name 'shutter'.

Blog Post 47 - Blogging Health Check 2

My Progress:

I am currently working at a level B, with a mark of 15. What i need to do is finish all blogs up to 48 and fill in any missing blogs or improve them.

Blog Post 47 - Blogging Health Check 2

Blogging Health Check 2

Since my last blog post, I have used more technology such as emaze, prezi and vlogs. This got me to a higher grade.  Now, I need to customize our blog so it suits the genre more. Also, I need to embed my prezi presentations instead of posting a link.

Blog Post 47: Blogging Health Check 2

I am currently at a B with a mark of 14.

I think I'm doing pretty well in terms of progress. However i need to finish off my last blog posts and use Prezi before i get my next marking grade. I think i am quite effective at using different types of ICT software apps, and i haven't shown much of that. This is because i haven't used enough Prezi or Emaze presentations, videos, gifs and photos. 

PLANNING - Half term planning homework Blog Post 30

Planning Mise-En-Scene Ideas

Part 1
Location:
- Lama's house will be using in establishing and long shots to get the scene.
- The staircase inside will be used as long shots to show the killers staking movement.
- The bedroom will be used as long and close ups to show the character getting ready for her evening party.
- The bathroom will be used as long shot as the killer will be attacking the character in there.
 
Part 2


EXAMPLE 1





EXAMPLE 2

EXAMPLE 3







LAMA'S COSTUME

- Dress

- Makeup

- Diamond Pendant

- Flats

Part 3

Prop 1:

- A pendant

- Selina has a pendant which we can use

- The pendant will be used whilst the character gets ready as it hangs on the vanity and then in the last scene is puts the pendant on

- The pendant has a significance to the killer and he wants to retrieve it

Prop 2:

- Black gloves

- Alexandra has plain black leather gloves that we can use

- The gloves will be used for the killers hands to keep them secret so that when he kills the character no-one knows who it is

- The gloves will hind the killer identity which makes it more mysterious

Prop 3:

- A knife

- Lama has a kitchen knife we can use from her house

- The knife will be used when the killer is attempting to cutting away the pendant

- The knife will cause tense atmosphere as it's a dangerous object and will not know what the killer will do

Part 4

 

Film Idea:

Our film idea is that a young girl will be getting ready to go out for an evening meal with her friends however there is someone who broke into her house and is trying to steal this special pendant. The person who broke free realizes that the young girl is wearing the pendant and therefore following her around the house making various attempts to steal it without being caught. However it he not success and so as she goes to put the pendant on he grabs the pendant whilst strangling her in the process to make sure she doesn't see him.

Key Props:

The pendant as it's very special, various close ups of the pendant to show its significance. The black gloves to represent horror and to create a suspenseful atmosphere for the viewers, lots of close ups. The knife to also represent the genre but to also add extra tension between the young girl and the killer.

Locations:

- Lama's house

Settings:

- Staircase

- Bedroom

- Bathroom

- Kitchen

Costume:

A black dress to add the connotations of death, mystery and danger. The diamond pendant to represent the uniqueness and wealth. Jewellery to represent the fun of her evening meal with friends. Her hair all nicely done. Flat shoes. Her makeup all done up to make her look glamorous.

Lighting:

The lighting on the stairs and kitchen will be dark/dim as that is where the killer passed and will mainly be seen. But the lighting in the bedroom will be quite warm and bright to show opposite of the young girl being happy and excited. The killer is represented negatively and the young girl will be represented positively.



THE PITCH - Technology Skills audit

Technology Skills Audit

1. The first technology software was 'blogger.com' as I had never used this website before so at first it was a little bit confusing. However, a couple weeks in I got the hang of it and was able to use it adequately. Blogger has allowed me to organise my blogs and keep them together. This was really useful as I knew were all my works was and that it was easily accessible at any time. Also I learnt how to embed videos and photos.


2. Prezi helped me gain skills such as designing a presentation in a creative, fun way. It helped develop my project in making it more creative and pleasing to the eye. It can also help with other projects, in the future, that need to be more creative.

3. Camtasia software of annotating videos. It learnt how to use the software by uploading the video chosen to the camtasia program, then adding annotations onto the video explain various different sounds. The software helped develop my project for when we record our film and when it comes to the editing, if we have to annotate the video for sounds or camera shots, I will be able to upload my film and do annotate it sufficiently.

4. Adobe Premier Pro for editing, as first was really confusing for me as I've never used the software before. So when making our remakes it was quite the challenge. However, gradually I got a hang of the software and was reasonably good as using it. Although, I still haven't learnt everything eventually, with lots of practise, I will improve of my editing skills. The skills I have gained in the meanwhile was to: import a recording, cut parts out and keep the parts that I only need, to do different transitions between cuts, different effects on the scene such as flip or rotate.

5. After Effects for emerging title credits onto out film. After effects was even more confusing for me than premier pro as it had much more tabs and buttons that could potentially be used. Although I managed to added title credits and change the font size and colour, I still need to learn how to place effects onto the credits to that the transitions would look more professional and suitable to the genre.

THE PITCH - Technology Skills audit

THE PITCH - Technology Skills audit

Technology Skills Audit

1)  Adobe Premier Pro- This software has allowed me to make a whole video by editing and using little clips. When I first started using it for the preliminary project, I was confused as it was all new to me, the easiest bit was cutting clips but the rest I didn’t really get the hang of until the end of the lesson. I still get confused how to do certain things on it, but I am definitely much more confident in my skills.

2) Adobe After Effects- This software was used for adding credits such as the title, names of the stars and director. In my opinion, this software was harder to use than adobe Premier Pro as there were more buttons and settings. It was easy to write the credits however my group was confused about how to add specific transitions and effects. 

3) Camtasia- I needed to use this software to analyse the sound in a title sequence for a blog post. The skills I’ve learnt are how to actually screenshot the video and how to put it on the Camtasia software. I annotated the whole video and then posted that onto my blog. That was a difficult part so I asked my friend for help. Now I know what to do. 

4) Blogger.com- So far, I’ve posted around 49 blog posts. This website allows me to post one piece of work at a time and lets me know when I’ve posted it at what day and time. Also, if I click on my name, it shows all of my work and makes it easier for me to find my work if I want to improve it. I have learnt how to embed presentations, videos and photos. Also,

5)Snipping tool- At home, I use a different laptop/computer than the ones in college so I didn't know how to screenshot. I found a software on my laptop called 'Snipping Tool' and it screenshots what you want it to screenshot. This was useful as I needed to screenshot a lot for my blogs. It has helped me make my blogs look more creative and interesting.

6)Prezi - Prezi is just like Emaze however it looks more creative than Prezi as there are bubbles that are the presentation pages. 

7)Emaze- Emaze is an online presentation software just like Prezi however it is more professional looking in my opinion. I prefer using Emaze as I feel it's easier.

8) Professional Video Camera- I've never used one so of course it was difficult at first however once the technicians talked through what to press and how to connect the tripod to the camera, it got the hang of it. The cameras play an important role in media as we need them to film our title sequences, the remake, and the prelim. 

9)http://gifmaker.me/ - I used this website to make the gif that is shown in the beginning of this blog. I only recently found out about how to make them and it isn't that hard. I just have to be able to save images from the internet. Before I saved the gif, I changed the speed and size of the gif to make sure it is possible to actually see the images.

10) http://www.zamzar.com/ - I tried changing the formats of our voice recording (for the initial ideas blog.) 

THE PITCH - Risk Assessment (Written by Alexandra)

THE PITCH - Production schedule (Written by Selina)

Production Schedule

Location: Lama's House (City of Westminster)
Why: Because her house will colour theme will be very useful because it goes with our horror film. Also she has four stair cases which we can use to our advantage when the killer is following/stalker her.

The following calendars are the dates that we will be filming and editing.

THE PITCH - Cinematic Details of the Storyboard (Written by Selina)

The Shot List

1. Establishing shot of a house
2. Long shot of Lama watching TV (killers perspective - balcony) (TV noise)
3. Long shot of Lama turning TV off and getting up (dog barks, doorbell, phone time)
4. Mid shot of Lama's back, walking downstairs (footsteps)
5. Mid shot of Lama walking (camera facing balcony) glimpse of spirit
6. Over the shoulder shot opening front door, nobody there (door creaking, dog barking)
7. Long shot closing door (camera outside perspective)
8. Close up of Lama's face (puzzled look)
9. Tracking shot of Lama (from behind) to stairs
10. Long shot of Lama walking downstairs to kitchen (CCTV) (footsteps)
11. Mid shot, opens door
12. Over the shoulder shot, checking CCTV
13. Extreme close up of time on CCTV screen
14. Close up of Lama's face (confused), looks up after hearing thuds (whistle and thuds)
15. Close up of Lama's hand tuning radio (radio music and static noise)
16. Close up (side face) applying blusher/bronzer
17. Birds eye view of vanity (picks out eyeliner)
18. Extreme close up of eye applying eyeliner
19. Birds eye view of vanity (picks out mascara)
20. Extreme close up of eye applying mascara
21. Birds eye view of vanity (picks out highlighter)
22. Extreme close up of cheek applying highlighter
23. Birds eye view of vanity (picks out lipstick)
24. Mid shot (mirror reflection camera) about to apply lipstick but hears thud (turns head) (radio static noise loud) but carries on applying lipstick
25. Close up of radio trying to tune radio
26. Long shot (side angle) of Lama (loud glass shatters)
27. Long shot of Lama walking across room towards stairs
28. High angle shot of Lama walking upstairs
29. Over the shoulder shot (Lama's perspective) looks around room, notices jewellery stand on floor
30. Over the shoulder tracking shot picking up jewellery stand
31. Over the shoulder panning the door (bottom to top) (wind)
32. Long shot walking towards balcony (camera)
33. Side long shot, Lama looks left and right (police siren, wind, dog barks, cars driving/honks)
34. Killers perspective, hiding behind sofa (Lama at balcony) (high long shot angle)
35. Killers perspective watching lama walk downstairs (low angle)
36. Killers perspective, gets up walks downstairs (creaking stairs)
37. Birds eye view of staircase (editing cuts of killer/demon walking downstairs)
38. Mid shot of mirror reflection, Lama fixing hair
39. Close up of hand putting rings on
40. Close up of necklace on vanity, takes necklace from vanity
41. Mid shot putting necklace on (camera in front of Lama)
42. Close up/high angle clipping necklace (behind shot)
43. Side long shot angle of both Lama and killer
44. Killer hiding behind closet (hand gesture) (swoosh)
45. Close up/mid shot her chocking on necklace
46. Lama's perspective blurry effects, eyelids opening and closing (high pitch ringing)
47. Long shot Lama turns to face killer and sees figure move hand (swoosh)
48. Lama's perspective falls downstairs and hits wall (thud)
49. Killer's perspective, walking toward Lama and hand gestures, Lama falls down second half of stairs (thud on floor, footsteps and swoosh)
50. Close up of Lama's face waking up (bloody face)
51. Mid shot Lama's hand on face (full of blood)
52. High angle (killers perspective) through railings (wobbly) (Lama's footsteps)
53. Long shot of Lama running into bathroom (footsteps, gasping)
54. Lama's perspective, peeping through door gap (deep breath, heartbeat)
55. Panning shot, Lama to Killer
56. Mid shot of killers outline/shadow against window
57. Tracking over the shoulder shot, killer walks towards Lama
58. Close up of killer wrapping hid hands around Lamas neck
59. Close up of Lama's face (gasping/struggling to breathe)
60. Extreme close up of Lama's eye closing

Black = Shots/Scene
Red = Sounds

The Storyboard

Title Credits

The Ident

The film producer company - S.A.L Productions

Actor 1 - Lama Alzughaibi

Actor 2 - Alexandra Prokhorova

The movie title - Visited By

Rest of actors

Casting Director - Jane Green

Sound designer - Luke Evans

Music producer - David Smith

Costume designer - Lucy Jones

Film editor - Amy Parker

Production designer - John Mills

Director of photography - Stewart Edwards

Executive producers - Neil Morris

Producers - Jake Cook

Screen player - Morgan Blue

Director - Selina Dennis

THE PITCH - Title credits (Written by Lama)

We think having titles that appear and fade away would be most suitable for our narrative film opening. 

A title sequence lists the most important members in production. In terms of title credits, more important people are usually 

• Located in middle of screen
• Bigger/Bolder font
• Different colour/ style

For less important people, the titles are usually on the sides of the screen, smaller in size and with a font thats within the film's style. 

We will be using this in our film opening, so for example the director of our film, Selina Dennis is the most important member in the producing the film. This means her name will appear bigger/ bolder, in the middle and in a different style to font. 

Title Credits:

1. The Ident
2. The film producer company - S.A.L Productions
3. Director - Selina Dennis
4. Actor 1 - Lama Alzughaibi
5. Actor 2 - Alexandra Prokhorova
6. The movie title 
7. Rest of actors
8. Casting Director - Jane Green
9. Sound designer - Luke Evans
10. Music producer - David Smith
11. Costume designer - Lucy Jones
12. Film editor - Amy Parker
13. Production designer - John Mills
14. Director of photography - Stewart Edwards
15. Executive producers - Neil Morris
16. Producers - Jake Cook
17. Author of the book the film is bases on (not with every film)
18. Screen player - Morgan Blue
19. Director - Selina Dennis

THE PITCH - Sound design (Written by Lama)

Sound Design 

Diegetic and non diegetic sound:
We want our non-diegetic soundtrack to sound Eery and mysterious. In the title sequence, the soundtrack will begin when the audience know that there is something wrong (when they sense the demons presence). This will make the audience more aware of what is happening or going to happen.                   
We will be using sound to make the audience sense the demons presence, for example i thought of light whispering sounds 

Using sound from the application in the Apple store 'GarageBand' will make it easier for us to edit and embed into our film. In this application i looked at some sounds and they are of high quality, this means using them would not affect the quality of our film opening negatively. Also, some sounds like loud glass shatters are difficult for us to record as foley, so using this app instead is much better.
For the non diegetic soundtrack, we will use a website called Freeplaymusic.com to download the music to edit/embed into the film. The only music that matches our genre is the 'Horror movie' sound, i thought it was good to have something playing throughout the film to grab the audiences' attention. Another thing that would make the audience more aware of whats going on is to have a consistent soundtrack. 


Sounds in film opening (in order):

1. TV noise
2. Dog barks/ Door bell
3. Lady footsteps (on marble)
4. Squeaky door, dogs barking 
5. Lady footsteps (on marble then carpet, as walking down stairs)
6. Whistle and Thuds
7. Radio
8. Static noise
9. Loud glass shattering
10. Wind
11. Police siren, dog barks, cars, honks)
12. Creaking stairs 
13. Lady choking 
14. High pitch ringing 
15. Lady footsteps (on marble)
16. Deep breath/ heartbeat 
17. Gasping/ struggling to breathe

We will also be using some sounds from this audio clip throughout the title sequence; this will make our film opening more horror than of it being thriller. This is one problem we are facing at this stage, we have been starting to realise that our film opening is actually more of a suspense type opening. 


 Influences from other films:

THE PITCH - Props, Costume, Make-up (Written by Alexandra)

Costume- The character ‘Emma’ will be going out to meet her friends so she won’t be  dressed up. She will wear plain jeans and a top. 

Makeup- Her make-up is going to be simplistic without anything standing out. Including foundation, mascara,  lipstick, blusher and eyeliner.

Props- The props that we will definitely use are a pendant necklace, make-up and  brushes  and a knife. If we think of other props that would create an effect then  we would  add it to  our title sequence, however, so far, we haven’t thought of anything else.