Friday, 29 January 2010
Logging The Shots
Today we finished logging the shots and captured them all on the computer. We then all worked as a group and started on a rough edit of shots. By doing one rough, quick edit, it allowed us to see where the improvements had to be made and if we needed to re-shoot some footage. We have all near-enough been present in all the Media lesson since Christmas,and so we have managed to move the project forward, quite swiftly, considering we had a setback before Christmas and not being able to film over the Christmas holidays.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Wednesday's Lesson
We are going to log and capture our shots today, and may even be able to start editing them if we work quickly. This hopefully won't take us long, so the quicker we can get a rough copy done, then the more time we have to re-shoot if we need to and edit the final piece.
We managed to get some good shots filmed in some woods near the college. As we are going to have really quick edits, like 1 second shots, we do have quite a lot of footage to use in the final piece.
We managed to get some good shots filmed in some woods near the college. As we are going to have really quick edits, like 1 second shots, we do have quite a lot of footage to use in the final piece.
Monday, 25 January 2010
Filming Off Site
Today we went off-site of college and filmed some footage for our Main Task. We now think we have all the shots needed to complete the task, but this can only be confirmed once we have made a rough edit of the footage to see what it looks like.
Today we managed to shoot the bulk of the project. We left the site and filmed and were back on site within an hour. We filmed the essential outdoor parts which we think we needed, like the running scene. We also improvised and filmed some shots, such as:
- 2 different trains going past, in opposite directions, at different times
- the scenery, such as a pond, and the prison like gate underneath the rail line
- running with the camera just capturing the bushes
These shots will be useful hopefully and it gives us more options on what can be put into the opening sequence. Now we can hopefully log and capture our shots and make sure we have sufficient footage in order to make a decent opening sequence.
Today we managed to shoot the bulk of the project. We left the site and filmed and were back on site within an hour. We filmed the essential outdoor parts which we think we needed, like the running scene. We also improvised and filmed some shots, such as:
- 2 different trains going past, in opposite directions, at different times
- the scenery, such as a pond, and the prison like gate underneath the rail line
- running with the camera just capturing the bushes
These shots will be useful hopefully and it gives us more options on what can be put into the opening sequence. Now we can hopefully log and capture our shots and make sure we have sufficient footage in order to make a decent opening sequence.
Friday, 22 January 2010
Filming The Board
Today, we were all here and didn't have enough time to go off site and film, so we decided we could get some indoor shots done.
We filmed the missing person board and filmed me eating fruit. We were told that peeling or eating fleshy food signifies like murder and danger and killing. I don't think we will use the shot, but it was funny to film.
We also tried to do some filming in the Dark Room as it was empty, but as soon as we were ready to film, we had to leave as it was needed to be used by Photography Students.
We filmed the missing person board and filmed me eating fruit. We were told that peeling or eating fleshy food signifies like murder and danger and killing. I don't think we will use the shot, but it was funny to film.
We also tried to do some filming in the Dark Room as it was empty, but as soon as we were ready to film, we had to leave as it was needed to be used by Photography Students.
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Filming
We planned to film on Monday, but Tim had a meeting which cut the filming time in half, and Dulcie hasn't been here. Me and Alice didn't think it fair on ourselves or Tim to shoot some footage with only 2 members of the group working, so we have waited to decide on another day.
We are now planning to film the missing persons board and maybe a suitcase being packed on Fridays lesson. The rest can be shot next week, on Monday, we all have a 2 hour break in which to film.
We are now planning to film the missing persons board and maybe a suitcase being packed on Fridays lesson. The rest can be shot next week, on Monday, we all have a 2 hour break in which to film.
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Main Task Idea
We have decided to go with the camping in the woods idea, with a murderer. There will be a group of teenagers going camping in the woods and having a party. Then all of a sudden a random suitcase appears in their luggage pile and it confuses the party slightly.
We plan to use shots of:
- a suitcase being packed for camping
- the wind blowing in the trees
- a newspaper board in the killers house
- a close-up of the suitcase in the pile, belonging to Natalie Grey
- a close up of the newspaper article saying Natalie Grey is missing
- a suitcase being packed, full of knives
- the newspaper articles of other missing people
- a girl running frantically through the woods, breathing really heavily.
This should be edited really quickly and disjointedly, to sort of confuse the viewer, and to create the theme of uncertainty. This will keep the viewer slightly in suspense and make them want to watch the rest of the film to find out why she is running, who Natalie Grey is, and what happened to her.
We are going to start filming as soon as possible, but we haven't seen Dulcie for weeks. We have just phoned her and spoken to her, but she is not in todays lesson because she has a cold. It has been really frustrating Dulcie not being here, because it means that we cant work together as a group properly. However hopefully this will be sorted and Dulcie will be here next lesson.
We plan to use shots of:
- a suitcase being packed for camping
- the wind blowing in the trees
- a newspaper board in the killers house
- a close-up of the suitcase in the pile, belonging to Natalie Grey
- a close up of the newspaper article saying Natalie Grey is missing
- a suitcase being packed, full of knives
- the newspaper articles of other missing people
- a girl running frantically through the woods, breathing really heavily.
This should be edited really quickly and disjointedly, to sort of confuse the viewer, and to create the theme of uncertainty. This will keep the viewer slightly in suspense and make them want to watch the rest of the film to find out why she is running, who Natalie Grey is, and what happened to her.
We are going to start filming as soon as possible, but we haven't seen Dulcie for weeks. We have just phoned her and spoken to her, but she is not in todays lesson because she has a cold. It has been really frustrating Dulcie not being here, because it means that we cant work together as a group properly. However hopefully this will be sorted and Dulcie will be here next lesson.
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Analysis of 'Shrooms'
The running scene from Shrooms gave us some ideas for our title sequence. Again, Shrooms has a group of teenagers camping in the woods when something goes wrong and it has the same effect on the audience as the Blair Witch Project did. It builds suspense and tension in the audience, and the audience feels like they are there, with the actors.
The running sequence in this has been cut. It flits quickly to other contrasting scenes in the film. This is unnerving for the audience, because although there is a pace and rhythm to the editing, there is also the uncertainty of them flicking between the running and numerous of contrasting shots like the hands and the silhouette. I like this opening sequence. This sequence if edits is cleverly done and i like how they quickly jump to 'random' shots, although after doing media studies, i see they aren't actually random and are organised to create a pace and continuity for the audience. The atmosphere in this title sequence is eerie and scary. It made me feel nervous and uneasy.
The title sequence in Shrooms has more relevance to our title sequence than the Blair Witch Project did.
The lighting in these shots is all dark and mysterious, with lots of fog, which clouds the camera space. This makes the audience feel uneasy because the fog symbolises the unknown because you can't see through it. The lighting is distorted in some shots which adds to the uneasiness of the audience, creating more tension and adding to the atmosphere in the title sequence.
The girl is slim and looks quite pretty, even though we only see quick flashes of her in the shots. She is wearing normal teenage clothes, just jeans and a vest and a hooded jumper. This signifies the audience where she is and why, because she is dressed casually running through the woods. If she had a prom dress on whilst running through the woods, we would be able to understand, as an audience, that something had gone wrong on Prom Night. She has blonde hair, which plays to the stereotype of the American Dream Girl, and I think she will be one of the main characters.
These outdoor, running shots contrast with the indoor shots of people in masks and wielding knives. These shots are dark and scary because only little lighting is used and silhouettes are created. The actors are dirty and grimy and wearing sacks on their head, so we know there is something wrong with these characters because we know it is modern times in American Society because of the girl running through the trees.
There are numerous of shots of the girls feet running through bushes, which dehumanises her because we cannot see her face. We can tell it is the girls feet because of the trousers she wears and the breathing, it matches with the shot of her when her face is shown. This makes the audience feel sorry for her because she is obviously running away from something, and by showing her feet, signifies she is not running fast enough and may be caught.
The diegetic sound heard is the heavy breathing she makes herself, she can obviously hear it, and the rustling through bushes. The non-diegetic sound the audience can hear is the creepy music. When played together, it creates tension and creates an atmosphere for the audience.
The fast pace of the editing and how they contrast also creates an ominous feeling for the audience that disconcerts them and makes the audience feel tension. This will make the audience want to watch the film and see what happens, no matter how uneasy they are feeling.
The mise-en-scene changes in every shot. It is mainly bushes and trees where the girl is running away, but the indoor shots are quite weird. They flit between close-ups of grubby disfigured hands to someone's dirty, bloody face. These distorted anatomical images makes the audience wonder what is going on and why they are disfigured and dirty. It makes the audience uneasy and makes them feel slightly nervous.
The running sequence in this has been cut. It flits quickly to other contrasting scenes in the film. This is unnerving for the audience, because although there is a pace and rhythm to the editing, there is also the uncertainty of them flicking between the running and numerous of contrasting shots like the hands and the silhouette. I like this opening sequence. This sequence if edits is cleverly done and i like how they quickly jump to 'random' shots, although after doing media studies, i see they aren't actually random and are organised to create a pace and continuity for the audience. The atmosphere in this title sequence is eerie and scary. It made me feel nervous and uneasy.
The title sequence in Shrooms has more relevance to our title sequence than the Blair Witch Project did.
The lighting in these shots is all dark and mysterious, with lots of fog, which clouds the camera space. This makes the audience feel uneasy because the fog symbolises the unknown because you can't see through it. The lighting is distorted in some shots which adds to the uneasiness of the audience, creating more tension and adding to the atmosphere in the title sequence.
The girl is slim and looks quite pretty, even though we only see quick flashes of her in the shots. She is wearing normal teenage clothes, just jeans and a vest and a hooded jumper. This signifies the audience where she is and why, because she is dressed casually running through the woods. If she had a prom dress on whilst running through the woods, we would be able to understand, as an audience, that something had gone wrong on Prom Night. She has blonde hair, which plays to the stereotype of the American Dream Girl, and I think she will be one of the main characters.
These outdoor, running shots contrast with the indoor shots of people in masks and wielding knives. These shots are dark and scary because only little lighting is used and silhouettes are created. The actors are dirty and grimy and wearing sacks on their head, so we know there is something wrong with these characters because we know it is modern times in American Society because of the girl running through the trees.
There are numerous of shots of the girls feet running through bushes, which dehumanises her because we cannot see her face. We can tell it is the girls feet because of the trousers she wears and the breathing, it matches with the shot of her when her face is shown. This makes the audience feel sorry for her because she is obviously running away from something, and by showing her feet, signifies she is not running fast enough and may be caught.
The diegetic sound heard is the heavy breathing she makes herself, she can obviously hear it, and the rustling through bushes. The non-diegetic sound the audience can hear is the creepy music. When played together, it creates tension and creates an atmosphere for the audience.
The fast pace of the editing and how they contrast also creates an ominous feeling for the audience that disconcerts them and makes the audience feel tension. This will make the audience want to watch the film and see what happens, no matter how uneasy they are feeling.
The mise-en-scene changes in every shot. It is mainly bushes and trees where the girl is running away, but the indoor shots are quite weird. They flit between close-ups of grubby disfigured hands to someone's dirty, bloody face. These distorted anatomical images makes the audience wonder what is going on and why they are disfigured and dirty. It makes the audience uneasy and makes them feel slightly nervous.
Analysis of the 'Blair Witch Project'
We have used other films to get an idea for our title sequence. One of these films was the Blair Witch Project. The opening title sequence of this isn't really relevant to our project, however some scenes are.
From 1:08-1:24.
These are the running scenes shown in the trailer. We have based our title sequence on this because of the tension. We liked the shaky cam effect and that you couldn't see their face; that just their back as they ran away from whatever was chasing them. It creates a bit of tension for the audience because it appears as if they are closer to the scary thing than the actors on screen. We liked the idea of teenagers camping in the woods and that something scares them. It could of turned out to be really cheesy, but I don't think the Blair Witch Project is, nor our title sequence.
The lighting is also quite good in these shots because they are at dusk and night fall, which is scarier because the audience can't see as much as broad daylight.
The atmosphere of this trailer is disconcerting and ominous. Quite mysterious really. The scene where Heather is talking into the camera, making her apology to her parents etc, from 1:26-1:34, is good as it adds to the ominous feel of the film. She is saying goodbye basically, so there is clearly obviously something wrong and she is scared she will die. This is implicit in the footage but does make the audience feel uncomfortable and slightly scared for her, a feel which i think would be good to add into our title sequence. This makes the audience feel uneasy and want to help her, want her to be ok, because she is pleading for help directly to the camera.
The diegetic sound heard in these shots is the heavy breathing of the people running and the rustling of the bushes and trees as they run through. The non-diegetic sound isn't played with clips, it is just a steady pounding of one drum, when title sequences are coming up onto the screen. This makes the audience more aware of the clips being played because the attention is put back on the sound in those clips. The pounding of the drum creates a steady beat and creates a bit of anxiety for the audience.
The mise-en-scene changes in every scene. From running away into the forest, to half of the frame being filled with her face. This is strange for the audience because it is such a contrast in framing and zoom, which changes the perspective to the audience.
The editing is quite fast and goes from person to person in an interview like manner and talking about the Blair Witch, and the folklore on it. Then it cuts to the forest where they are arguing and running away and crying into the camera and the audience knows something bad will happen to them in the forest, creating tension. The fast editing is even more disconcerting because it happens fast.
From 1:08-1:24.
These are the running scenes shown in the trailer. We have based our title sequence on this because of the tension. We liked the shaky cam effect and that you couldn't see their face; that just their back as they ran away from whatever was chasing them. It creates a bit of tension for the audience because it appears as if they are closer to the scary thing than the actors on screen. We liked the idea of teenagers camping in the woods and that something scares them. It could of turned out to be really cheesy, but I don't think the Blair Witch Project is, nor our title sequence.
The lighting is also quite good in these shots because they are at dusk and night fall, which is scarier because the audience can't see as much as broad daylight.
The atmosphere of this trailer is disconcerting and ominous. Quite mysterious really. The scene where Heather is talking into the camera, making her apology to her parents etc, from 1:26-1:34, is good as it adds to the ominous feel of the film. She is saying goodbye basically, so there is clearly obviously something wrong and she is scared she will die. This is implicit in the footage but does make the audience feel uncomfortable and slightly scared for her, a feel which i think would be good to add into our title sequence. This makes the audience feel uneasy and want to help her, want her to be ok, because she is pleading for help directly to the camera.
The diegetic sound heard in these shots is the heavy breathing of the people running and the rustling of the bushes and trees as they run through. The non-diegetic sound isn't played with clips, it is just a steady pounding of one drum, when title sequences are coming up onto the screen. This makes the audience more aware of the clips being played because the attention is put back on the sound in those clips. The pounding of the drum creates a steady beat and creates a bit of anxiety for the audience.
The mise-en-scene changes in every scene. From running away into the forest, to half of the frame being filled with her face. This is strange for the audience because it is such a contrast in framing and zoom, which changes the perspective to the audience.
The editing is quite fast and goes from person to person in an interview like manner and talking about the Blair Witch, and the folklore on it. Then it cuts to the forest where they are arguing and running away and crying into the camera and the audience knows something bad will happen to them in the forest, creating tension. The fast editing is even more disconcerting because it happens fast.
Analysis of Films
Whilst we are on the Snow Days, I thought of some films and opening sequences we can analyse to build on our idea. We were shown the opening sequence to 'Se7en' in class and so it inspired us in some way because we then thought of our original idea's. I also think that 'Shrooms' is relevant to our idea, as is 'The Blair Witch Project'. I will analyse the opening sequences or the trailers for these films to show how horror films have inspired us to make our opening sequence.
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Snow Days
We came back to College on Monday and began discussing when we were available to film. We hadn't discussed a solution to all of us having outside commitments such as work and radio shows throughout the week, so we knew we wouldn't all be able to film outside of college hours.
We then planned to film some indoor shots on Wednesday whilst we were all hopefully in college and this allowed us to get some filming done and not waste anymore time.
However, the college was shut due to Snow and so we missed Wednesday and Fridays lesson because of this. I understand everybody had these days off, and no-one could really progress with their media project much, but some groups had already filmed and were ahead anyway. This was quite a setback, but couldn't be helped, by anyone.
We then planned to film some indoor shots on Wednesday whilst we were all hopefully in college and this allowed us to get some filming done and not waste anymore time.
However, the college was shut due to Snow and so we missed Wednesday and Fridays lesson because of this. I understand everybody had these days off, and no-one could really progress with their media project much, but some groups had already filmed and were ahead anyway. This was quite a setback, but couldn't be helped, by anyone.
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