Insanity- Our opening two minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSkl5GceRfk

Research and Planning - Storyboard (Animatic)

Evaluation - In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

 

Our title is 'Insanity' we got the idea for this title after shooting this scene. During this scene my character shows that she is losing sanity when she decides the only way to cope is if she kills her baby. The title 'Insanity' is short , and this is because it leaves more to the imagination of the viewer as to what is going to happen in the film. Short  titles are becoming more common in the film industry purely  because they can be easily remembered and because they leave more to the imaginiation.  For example Saw, Scream, Insideous, IT, etc. For example the film 'The Cabin In The Woods' already tells us the setting of the film and doesn't leave much to the viewers suggestion. howvever our one worded title does!

This scene is a typical convention of a horror film,  normally at the beginning of a horror film you will find a house house at night that looks bandoned and has a particular eery feel, that is the  reason we selected this particular shot. Jess and I originally got the idea for this scene after watching the film 'The Ring'. I hope for this shot to havee the asame impact as 'The Ring's' because it creates tension within the first few seconds. The location jess and I chose was a suburban road which is again very typical for a house to be placed within a horror film. The house itself is well kept on the outside as well as the inside so is really  like the saying 'no one knows what really happens behind closed doors' which I think  adds more mystery as to why the character of the mother character act the way she does.

 

Jess and I chose the scene where my character comes back as a ghost and is stood in the living room staring at the baby (Harriet). We chose this scene so the audience can see both my character in full costume as well as Harriet in her play centre, which is a main prop for her character.  We chose this scene for this evaluation task because it
links to the question which addresses
showed a major prop for Harriet and also Shanie's costume for her character all in one shot. Shanie's costume we had to think about quite a lot as her character was struggling with everything we had to communicate that with her appearence so a simple white nightdress which is what some horror films have women wearing when being a ghost or mentally unstable like Sidney's mother in Scream 3 as she was a figment of Sidney's imagination, it still created a very eerie and disturbing ethos to that scene, so to include an item of clothing similar just seemed right as she is a ghost and having had a baby recently she could be in a nightgown, everything linked together really nicely.










 

We have chosen the scene where my character comes back as a ghost and is stood in the living room staring at the baby girl Harriet, we have chosen this scene so the audience can see both my character in full costume as well as Harriet in her main prop that we used for her: the play centre. We chose this scene for this particular evaluation activity because it showed a major prop for Harriet and also Shanie's costume for her character all in one shot. Shanie's costume we had to think about quite a lot as her character was struggling with everything we had to communicate that with her appearence so a simple white nightdress which is what some horror films have women wearing when being a ghost or mentally unstable like Sidney's mother in Scream 3 as she was a figment of Sidney's imagination, it still created a very eerie and disturbing ethos to that scene, so to include an item of clothing similar just seemed right as she is a ghost and having had a baby recently she could be in a nightgown, everything linked together really nicely. The scene where Shanie's character kills herself we see Shanie's character in her nightgown so linking to further on into the 2 minutes, Shanie's character also has a pill bottle in her hand with the lid separate from the bottle implying that she collapsed after taking an overdose, we thought carefully about how Shanie's character actually killed herself as the topic we were doing is a sensitive one as things like this do happen, we were going to try and make it look like Shanie's character hung herself but we weren't sure how to accomplish this without actually harming Shanie and putting something that graphic into our opening 2 minutes, we settled for Shanie's character overdosing on medicine for depression as we had an empty medicine bottle which was the perfect prop for this scene. I thought that this scene worked out amazingly and hopefully our audience do too, we put a lot of consideration into this topic also and worked senstively towards it.

We have chosen the death scene of Shanie's character for camerawork as we really like the angle of the camera, the slow motion of the camera and how its perfectly timed with the lullaby in the background. This particular scene did take a while to capture as i was filming i had to try and move the camera steadily, slowly and to also capture Shanie's character fully as well as the pill bottle all while fitting it into the lullaby's rhythem. Once we got the shot we were ecstatic as it was everything we had imagined it to be and more, it really did do Shanie's characters death justice.

We have chosen the death scene of the baby for editing as we added an amazing 'Ghosting' effect onto it which gave Shanie's character a more edgy look about her and really made her look crazy which is what we were looking for in this scene, Shanie and I had previously used this effect in our preliminary task and loved it then so deciding whether to put it into this scene or not was easy, it looked jumpy at first and we weren't keen at all but after we rendered it and saw it in better quality it made the scene look 100% better by a long shot.

We chose these 3 screenshots as these were the 3 main frames where they had titles cleverly in place, the first title that you see is 'Starring Shanie Bradbury, Natasha Allwood and Harriet Allwood' these are fading in and out while Shanie's character is walking up the stairs which is what we like about them as they aren't taking your mind off the film at all they look like they belong in the film. The second title you see '2006' which is just as a scene is beginning so your focus is on the writing but it fades out just in time for your focus to be averted away to look at the scene that's beginning, we placed it in the corner as we wanted it to be in the same place as the very first title on the first scene which reads '1996' so then the audience subconsciencely links them together. The last title is 'Directed by Shanie Bradbury' we weren't really sure where to place this title at first but then we found the perfect location- on the back of the front door whilst its opening, this title then fades out as the door is opening to yet again not distract the audience from the opening 2 minutes itself but convey information about our opening 2 minutes. All of our titles are very subtle within our opening 2 minutes as we didn't want the audience to focus just on the titles but to notice them.

 

Our story is a supernatural horror story about a mother who cannot cope with a new baby and crumbles ultimately ending her child's life and hers, a new family then move in 10 years later to find out that their house has some dark secrets, this is where things get ghostly and scary. We chose Miramax to be the opening institution of our opening 2 minutes as you often see Miramax before well known old horrors which is why we chose it, the beginning of the 2 minutes should look like it's old so having a well known old institution would benefit the film and also the audiences reaction while watching it.

 

The genre of our opening 2 minutes is supernatural horror, the opening doesn't necessarily suggest that it's a supernatural horror but definitely a horror story, the opening scene is a house in the dark with only the lights on the inside gleaming through, we thought that the lights from the inside would create an eerie ominous glow, however you could argue that if there were no lights then it could be more scary but the next scene wouldn't flow. We are hoping that the house in the dark would create a link in the audience's mind to The Ring when the first scene is a house alone in the dark. I don't think that the audience will know if it's a supernatural horror or not until later on but it definitely looks like just like your typical horror film opening.

 

The characters are introduced whilst the mother is writing a letter to her unsupportive husband and family members about how much she's struggling with the new baby and how no one is offering help at all, in the voice over you can tell by the tone of voice that the mother is clearly distressed about the whole situation, the baby's face or body is never introduced but the sound of her crying is included so people know that the baby is in the house, this is when we are technically introduced to the baby. The second half of the 2 minutes is when we are introduced to the new family, the mother and the new child (Harriet).

 

On our opening 2 minutes we used a range of effects, as we are not computer whizz kids we didn't add any really amazing effects but we felt like they weren't needed. The effects we did use however were the 'Ghosting' effect, which we used on the death scene of the baby where Shanie's head was moving then had a delayed reaction soon after it, We also made the beginning scenes black and white to emphasize the fact that it was based on the past, We sharpened a couple of the frames as they weren't as clear as we had hoped, We auto coloured the door scene so that the door lock wasn't so orange as the lighting gave everything an orange tint.

Feedback

R&P = 10
Production = 0
Evaluation = 0

Total = 10 U

Targets:
Complete evaluation activities
Upload finished opening 2 minutes
Storyboard
More detail on audience profiling posts (see my last feedback post) Use this website: http://business.pearlanddean.com/filmplanner/filmdetail.html?FilmID=5370

A lot to do here Shanie. Make sure you are working very hard to get all of this completed. There is a real danger of you not passing this side of the course.

Research and Planning - Genre (Horror)

• Comedy-Horror: combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy-Horror films can cross over into the Black Comedy sub-genre. Comedy-Horror films aim to scare the audience, but also provide comical outlets that let the audience laugh at their fear.
• Examples: Scary Movie 2, Black Sheep, Shaun of the Dead.

• Teen-Horror: is a sub-genre that revolves around a teenager or a group of teenagers.These movies have a large cast and a clear hero or heroine. Teen-Horror films often play upon traditional teenage issues, such as dating and prom, and turn them into suspenseful and thrilling situations.
• Examples: Scream, Prom Night, I know what you did last summer.

 

• Monster-Horror: is sub-genre of Horror that centers on a struggle between human beings and a monster.Often, the monster in the film has been created in an “experiment gone wrong.”  Monster films have a long tradition within Science-Fiction and Fantasy film as well.
• Examples: Aliens, Godzilla, Creature from the Black Lagoon.

• Slasher: is a sub-genre of Horror film that revolves around a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims usually in a graphically violent mannerm, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe.Although the term "slasher" may be used as a generic term for any horror movie involving graphic acts of murder, the slasher as a genre has its own set of characteristics which set it apart from related genres like the splatter films.
• Examples: Friday the 13th, halloween, savage weekend

• Supernatural-Horror: film is a sub-genre that includes ghosts, demons, or other depictions of supernatural occurrences. Often, Supernatural-Horror films combine elements of religion into the plot. Common themes in Supernatural-Horror films include the afterlife, the devil, and demonic possession. Unlike Religious Thrillers, Supernatural-Horror films are not limited to specific religious elements and can contain more vivid and gruesome violence.
  Examples: The Exorcist, The Ring, The Omen.

• Zombie-Horror: is a sub-genre of Horror film that portrays mindless human beings who are raised from the dead. These films often include a Zombie invasion, and center around Zombies feasting on human flesh. The plot of a Zombie film then revolves around the struggle between the living, and the living-dead. Zombie film not only falls into the Horror genre, but Sci-Fi, Thriller, and Comedy as well.
  Examples: Night of the Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later.

Research and Planning - Questionnaire (and feedback).

We created a questionnaire in order to gain feedback from ten people to ensure we were on the right tracks to making a good opening two minutes. It included questions that would help us make our opening two minutes. The majority of people had the same opinion, therfore I have only seleceted a ferw peoples answers,so that you can see what they thought.

1) What do you think should be included in the first opening two minutes of a horror film?

- 'Normally, I would expect to see a death, or a cliff hanger. as it creates tension and engages the audience early on.'

- 'I love a good horror film and the main thing, I think that grabs the audiences attention most is a death scene at the beggining. Especially,if you don't know who the killer was!'

From this feedback jess and I can say that if people expect a death to be within the opening two minutes of a film,wes hould include one in ours.To grab the audiences attention,and to make them want to carry on watching it.

2) Do you think that their should be a certain type of music that is played during a horror film?

-'Yes I think that it should be eery, and create lots of tension as there is nothing better then sitting on the edge of your seat!'

-'I think that its important to make sure you dont play the same songs throughout the whole film, but during the first two minutes its shouldn't really chop and change as it will loose the effect that you are trying to create'

- 'I think that the music should be a certain type otherwise you do not get the feel that you should,and then the opening two minutes.'

From our feedback we need to make sure we have music that create tension and that will make people dit on the edge of their seat in order for people to be enaged in our opening two minutes.

3) How often do you see horror films? (select appropriate)

- Weekly
-Once a month
- More than once a month
-Every  year
-Only when there is a new one out at the cinema that looks appealing to you.

Our feedback for this shows the following:

Once a month: 1/10
More than once a month 3/10
Every year 0/10
Only when their is one in the cinema 6/10

From this feedback it implies to us that people will only really see them when they are out in the cinema.


4) Would you like the opening two minutes of a film to give much away about the storyline/plot?
-yes                                                                 
-no
-explain why

Our feedback shows the following:
yes 3/10
no 5/10
explain why
-'I think the opening two minutes needs to inlude little about the storyline/plot to leave more to our imaginaition, keeping us in suspence is a good thing!'
-'I like to know a little about the story line but no more than the characters know. I like to associate myself with one of the characers and follow the journey they are in the film.'

From this feedback it is better if we include a little, but not too much of the storyline. Although we want people to keep wondering whats going to happen next, in order for them to stay hooked we need to make sure it is a straight forward storyline, so that we risk confusing our audience.

5) Which horror do you find the most scariest?

-Thriller
-Gory
-Slasher
-Teen Horror
-Comedy Horror
-Zombie Horror
-Supernatural Horror
-Monster Horror
-Other

Our feedback shows the following:
Thriller 1/10
Supernatural 9/10
 The rest of the possible answers were not selected. Therefore the one that came out as most scariest was the supernatural horror. Because of this reult jess and I are going to do a supernatural horrror as it will appeal most.

From our feedback its shows that supernatural was the most scariest horror films. Therfore we are going to use our feedback and aslo create the opening two minutes of a supernatural horror.

6) Do you think there should be a single antagonist or more than one?
 -more than one
-not more than one

Feedback shows the following:
More than one 2/10
Not more than one 8/10.

From this quetionnaire we will take away all the valuable points which will help us create an opening two minutes that will hopefully have all the right things included.

Research- Costume And Location

Our opening two minutes begins in 1996. I have chosen costumes which reflect the time period in which it is set in.

For the mother in the past (1996) should be wearing fairly simplistic clothing in order for the audience to keep focus on the plot and story rather than being distracted on her outfit.

-leggings

-baggy dull coloured jumper

-hair up (messy bun)

Make up:

-pale face

-dark circles under eyes

-no make up otherwise (bronzer, eyeliner) this will degrade the look for both the time period and mother that we are trying to create.

 

The mother in the present however, will be wearing clothes that were worn in 2006, as that is ten years later.

-jeans

-top

-jacket

-jewellery

Make up:

-natural and fresh faced look.

 

 

Research and Planning - Drama Mind Map

Research and Planning - Teen Mind Map

Research and Planning - Action Mind Map

Research and Planning - Comedy Mind Map

Brainstorm - Horror

Filming Practice *what are you doing*

In todays lesson we practised our film techniques. Once I was put into a group we then had to create a scene where the phrase 'what are you doing here' was said. We were able to choose the atmosphere in which the phrase was said. The first atmosphere that 'what are you doing here' was stated was an angry atmosphere. The second was suprised, and last was nervous.The purpose of this task was to make sure we understood different camera angles and the way in which certain angles can connotate certain feelings to the audience. We learnt how to steadily hold the camera and keep it in place.

Research target audience and similar films

Similar films to the one we have created the opening two minutes to, include:
-The poltergeist
-The sixth sense
-Paranormal Activity (1,2,3 and 4)
-Insideous
-The others
-Possesion
-Lady in the water
-The Gathering

The target audience for the films above are either 15 or 18 this is because the genre of film is not suitable to be viewed by anyone below those ages because of its content.

Research and Planning - Soundtrack Research.

For our film we have researched eery sound effects and songs played by instruments such as the piano. We have also researched songs sung by small children because a cliche used in most horrors have a small child either singing or speaking slowly with an echoey effect creating a tense atmosphere throughout the film. I came across the perfect soundtrack that was easy enough to replicate on the piano (deck the halls) it is a well known christmas song which it why we thought it would be appropriate. However, when our idea changed so that the time of filming was no longer christmas we were no longer able to use deck the halls. So instead, to still fit in with the theme again, we willl use a babys lullaby, which the audience will hear more than once in the opening two minutes.The lullaby is more suited to the plot then deck the halls. Jess and I are very happy with our new soundtrack.

Research and Planning - Film Certificate

The U logo on films represents Unrestricted Public Exhibition, suitable for all age groups. Films

under this category shouldn't negatively affect children under the age of 4 years old. The films under this certificate should include:
-No Drug Innuendo
-No Nudity
-Mild prafanity or crude humour
-Mild sexual references
-Educational or family-orientated themes
-Mild violence





The PG logo stands for Parental Guidance. This means a film is suitable for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for younger children. A PG film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. Parents should consider whether the content might upset younger or more sensitive children.












The 12A logo stands for accompanied and 'advisory, 12A means that anyone aged 12 or over can go and see the film unaccompanied. Children younger than 12 may see the film if they are accompanied by an adult (eg someone over the age of 18), who must watch the film with them.

The 12 logo is just for videos, DVDs and games. The 12A logo is for films only.




No-one under 15 is allowed to see a Certificate 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a Certificate 15 DVD or video game. Parents are warned that Certificate 15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age, Certificate 15 films could include any of the following:
-strong violence
-frequent strong language
-portrayals of sexual activity
-strong verbal references to sex
-sexual nudity
-brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
-discriminatory language or behaviour
-drug taking




No-one under 18 is allowed to see a Certificate 18 film at the cinema or buy/rent a Certificate 18’ rated DVD or video game. No ‘18’ rated works are suitable for children.

-very strong violence
-frequent strong language and/or very strong language.
-strong portrayals of sexual activity
-scenes of sexual violence
-strong horror
-strong blood and gore
-discriminatory language and behaviour

Researching and Planning - Mood Board

Research and Planning - Filming and Editing.

During our filming, we were faced with many complicatons at the start, such as how to get a steady hold of the camera to create the best effects we can to our characters and script.

Day One: After filming only scenes one and finding that it was going to be a lot harder than expedcted Jess and I stopped filming, and agreed to continue after better planning.
Day Three: After Jess and I had discussed what we were going to do differently about how we filmed we started a fresh and filmed scenes one to three.
Day three: we managed to finish filming all scenes.
Day Four: When we started to edit we realised lighting and movement was still a problem and so Jess and I borrowed a tripod and tried to film at different times of the day so that the lighting would be different from previous tries.
Day Five: Once everything had been filmed we started editing, this consisted of us changing lighting, adding transitions, sound effect, and trimming certain scenes.

Research and Planning - The Script

Shot 1
-Miramax (eery music)

Shot 2
- camera zooms towards the front door. Once inside the house the camera then follows through the hallway into the dining room where the mother in the past is writing a letter about her suicide.

-Voiceover (shanie) - Im sorry, I didnt mean for things to end up this way. But I cant cope, its too hard looking after her on my own. nobodys helping me and nobody is listening. I tried, I really really tried, and I love her but I have to put a stop to this now.  

- Baby starts crying.

Shot Two
-the camera then follows her footsteps up the stairs. the camera will flash so that you can see to black, until she reaches the top of the stairs.

Shot Three
Shanie then suffocates the child. (lullaby plays)

Shot Four
-Shanie overdoses.
-Screen turns to black
- Baby still crying

Shot Five
-Natasha: welcome to our new home sweetiepie, from now on it is going to be just us.
-Nastasha leaves the room once placing her daughter into a standing play area, whilst she leaves to get the childs walker from the boot of the car. Once she is out of the room harriet (the daughter) has caught the attention of something, the camera then pans out so the audience can see what she is looking at. It will reveal that she has caught the attention of shanie. Who has returned to the house.

Feedback

Research and Planning: Level 1 7/20
There is basic research into similar products and a potential target audience
There is a good level of care in the presentation of research and planning

To progress, you must update your blog. There is a lot missing:
Storyboard
Photos of your actors, locations, costumes and props
Institution research - who produces films similar to yours?
Age certificate research
You MUST complete this as a matter of urgency

You have progressed to a Level 2 10/20
Storyboard still needed as well as photos of your actors, locations and props.
Make sure you look into institution (paramount, universal, film 4 etc) to decide which company would be most suitable to produce your film.

Research and Planning-Titles For Our Opening Two Minutes.

We wish to includethese titles in our opening two minutes:

• Editor
• Producer
• Director
• Cast
• The film company that produces our film.

Having titles in the opening two minutes gives it moreof an effect and allows the audience to have some information and background about the film. By showing the film company who produces it will indicate to the audience what sort if film it is for example, Miramax and Dimension specialise in Horrors. Where as Pixar and Dreamworks, do childrens films/animations. Having list the cast will tell the audience who will be acting and could boot the amount of viewers if for example was a well known actor for example, Johnny Depp. By saying who produced the music, and who did the editing shows that a group of people made the film, teamwork made the success. It was just the work of one man/woman. Just by saying all of the above which I have mentioned makes the film clear about who's in it, what it's about and whats going on. Overall, I think it gives it a very sophisticated look.

Order Of Text (Titles)

• A waverly film production, is the first thing included in the opening two minutes.
• Secondly who prduced and directed, Nancy Meyers.
• Thurdly, the names of the characters and actors  within the film, from the main character.
• Then the title 'The Holiday' which indicates the film is starting. 
• Then it indroduces the people who cast in the film and it lists who does the music, the costume, who its editied by, the production desgin, then the direction of photography, then the executive producer andlastley who the film is prodcued by. 

 The order of the text included  the music, editing, and the cast of the film.

 Order of titles:

• The first to appear is the production company
• Followed by a large pause
• Director
• Gap
• Four main characters appear after eachother with short gaps inbetween
• Pause
• Supporting characters
• Cast Composer
• Gap
• Costume desinger
• Editor
• Production designer
• Director of photography
• Exectutive producer
• Producer

Mood Board.

 

Own Film Treatment.

Our film is a supernatural horror. Which briefly shows a distressed mother who kills her baby before kiling herself. Her life was struggling with her baby, and therfore puts and end to it all. When a new family moves in ten years later. The ghosts then return to what used to be there home and create fear for the family which are now living there. Will they be able to over come the problem? or will they have to move out?

Our target audience will be between 15-25 male and female and therfore our film will have a cirtificate of 15. We will appear to our audience through soundtrack, actors and the story line.