Main task filming

Part of our main task was filmed in Josh's house. This was the perfect location for the main task. It allowed us to have the right amount of space to film.

The first thing we did was to create a string board on Josh's wall. We did this by printing specific pictures of our crime scene, adding post it notes on the wall with pieces of information the audience may not be aware of yet, but will slightly inform then without revealing our story. We also added pieces of string to create the string board affect which we mimicked after seeing this created in another film and we took inspiration from it.

Then we decided our script for the part of the opening we were going to be filming. We arranged for Gray to play a detective talking to Josh. The string board was always positioned between the two when we filmed. As we figured out the script together, we decided that it wouldn't reveal too much. However, it would leave our audience with many questions as Josh's character receives a mysterious phone call. This cliff hanger is perfect for our film opening as the audience are left with little information wanting more.

After we made the script, we started to film. Initially, Sophie and I started filming at an eye line shot and got Gray and Josh to run through the whole script we had written. We then did the same in an over the shoulder shot and in a high angle mid shot. Afterwards, Sophie and I picked key moments to have extreme close up shots and close up shots. We picked three moments: Gray's hand opening the door, Josh pointing at evidence on the string board and Josh's phone ringing. These key moments help to build tension in their own way.

A close up of Gray opening the door helps to build tension as the audience are unaware of what is waiting in the room that Gray is just about to enter.

A close up of Josh pointing to evidence helps to build tension as the audience are being shown the evidence to a murder investigation. This makes the audience feel on edge as they will have many unanswered questions.

A close up of Josh's phone ringing is crucial to build tension as it is one of the last shot the audience will see of our opening film sequence. It builds tension because the number that rings Josh is unknown and the extreme closeness of the shot connotes the vulnerability that Josh portrays when he answers his phone. This portrays there's an unanswered story behind what is being shown.

Part one of our filming went really well. We were able to achieve everything we had planned. The pictures below show some of us setting up and some during filming.

Costume For Our Film Opening

These are our planned costumes for our characters in our opening film opening. The white top is to connote innocence and vulnerability to mine and Sophie's character. The black top is used to show a huge juxtaposition between Thana (me) and Lilith (Sophie), and Inspector Blake (Josh). The black is to connote some sort of mystery about the murder behind Josh's character and the black helps to connote our deaths. 

We think the best way to connote a difference between the characters, besides the general acting. It helps to make our audience question who is really innocent. 

Pencil Drawing of Ident

This is a pencil drawing of our ident, Intensity Films. We were told, from feedback, this was perfect for the genre of our film. The skull is foreboding the murders that are to come in our film opening. We were also told that the font is similar to the other one for our other ident, but the fact it is not the same and connotes a horror genre makes it perfect for our ident. 

Pencil Drawing of Ident

This is a pencil drawing of our ident, Shadow Pictures. After feedback, we decided to change the font of the ident. I feel as though this font fits more into the genre of our opening film sequence. Without it, our ident could give off the wrong interpretation for our audience and make them feel as though the genre is different to the one we are trying to portray (horror). The font looks sharper and scarier. This is perfectly appropriate for our chosen genre. 

Ident- Shadow Pictures

This is one of the idents we made for our story opening. We decided we would make an ident that fit with the genre of our film opening. As it is a horror opening, we picked darker colours and a name that wouldn't connote anything other than mystery and horror. The choice of the two child figures were to intensify the horror element of the production company.

Genre Research

Lighting, Sound and Editing Research

Lighting, Sound and Editing Research

The lighting we would use would be natural lighting for our scene located in a woods. We would want it to seem as natural and as least staged as possible, therefore we chose to use natural lighting. 

For the scene located inside, replicating a police mans office, we would have low key lighting. This would be to create a sense of mystery as the audience aren't completely able to see the evidence. 

We would have lots of diegetic asychronous sounds of heavy breathing to build tension. This would turn into diegetic synchronous sound at points as at some points you are able to see Josh and Sophie's characters.

We would also have diegetic sychronous of Josh's phone ringing. This helps to add tension as the audience can see the source of the noise, but are unaware of who is on the end of the phone.

The editing we would use would be quick cuts, we would completely avoid fades. This is due to the fact that a fade would loose the tension we would be creating. The quick cuts would make the audience feel as though they are part of a disorientating scene. 

Specific Target Audience

Our specific target audience, after research, would be males and females aged between 15 and 25. This is due to our genre of our film opening and the level of violence. As a result, our film classification is a 15. We think this is appropriate as our opening sequence includes blood and dead bodies. 

We decided to have a horror genre and limit our age limit because, after our survey, we realised horror was the most popular genre for people of this age group. As we want a mass audience, we thought it would be best to appeal to a wide age range, all at once, with their favorite genre.

It is also the easiest age range for us to appeal to as we are part of that age range. This means we know what they like and what appeals to this. Consequently, this leaves us in a prime position to appeal to our audience the best we can. 

Film Opening Sequence Ideas

Prop and Costume Considerations for Main Task

Possible Props and Costumes Considerations                                                                 

1. white tops (shows vulnerability)
2. black tops (connotes death)
3. lily petals (flower of death)
4. masks?
5. fake blood
6. make up-make us look dead
7. twigs
8. hand held camera
9. fake camera
10. weapon??            

Film Certificates

	Universal	All ages admitted. There is almost nothing unsuitable for children aged 4 years and over.
	Parental Guidance	All ages admitted, but some certain scenes can be unsuitable for young children. They should not disturb children aged 8 or older. May contain mild language or sex/drug references. May contain moderate violence if justified by context (e.g. fantasy). A parent may wish to check the content before they let their children watch or play it.
	12A	This category applies to cinema only releases since 2002. Films under this category are considered to be unsuitable for young children. Cinemas in the United Kingdom are only permitted to supply tickets to see a 12A film to children under the age of 12 if they are accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over. However, it is unlikely to be suitable for children under the age of 12. Films under this category can contain mature themes, discrimination, soft drugs, infrequent strong language, very strong language (introduced in 2015) and moderate violence, sex references and nudity. Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Sexual violence may be implied or briefly indicated.
	12	This category applies to cinema releases from August 1989 to 2002, and home media since 1994. Only suitable for people aged 12 or older. It is illegal to supply a VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or video game with a 12 certificate to anyone under that age. 12A-rated films are usually given a 12 certificate for the VHS/DVD version unless extra material has been added that requires a higher rating. The content guidelines are identical to those used for the 12A certificate.
	15	Only suitable for people aged 15 and older. It is illegal to supply a VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD, video game, or film tickets with a 15 certificate to anyone under that age. Films under this category can contain adult themes, hard drugs, regular use of foul language and limited use of very strong language, strong violence and strong sex references, and nudity without graphic detail. Sexual activity may be portrayed but without any strong detail. Sexual violence may be shown if discreet and justified by context.
	18	Only suitable for people aged 18 or older, which means adults only. It is illegal to supply a VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD, video game or film tickets with an 18 certificate to anyone under that age. Films under this category do not have limitation on the foul language that is used. Hard drugs are generally allowed, and explicit sex references along with detailed sexual activity are also allowed. Scenes of strong real sex may be permitted if justified by the context. Very strong, gory, and/or sadistic violence is usually permitted. Strong sexual violence is permitted unless it is eroticized or excessively graphic.

Ident- Intensity Pictures

This is our second ident made for our film opening. It was to follow the horror genre that we stuck to throughout our film opening and planning. We named our production company Intensity Pictures. We think this name is perfect as it connotes our film opening and allows for tension to build before our film opening has started which, literally, intensifies our film opening.

Costume and Location Considerations

Costume and Location Considerations

The costume we decided to use for one scene was a white top and jeans. We wanted to use causal clothing as we seem like ordinary characters, and didn't want to withdraw the audiences attention from the film by the costume. The white top is for a few reasons. The white tops connote vulnerability to the audience. This allows the audience to see the characters are at a state of vulnerability.
Furthermore, the white also connotes innocence which helps to promote the purity of our characters. This is important as we want the audience to understand who the protagonists are, in the opening, without having to explicitly tell them.
In addition, we used white tops to make the fake blood stand out. This way, the blood looks brighter and more severe. This promotes our genre of horror. 

Our location was chosen due to the genre of our film opening and the content in it. The first part shall be filmed in our local woods in Bywood Avenue. This would allow for the perfect setting as it would make the audience feel scared and vulnerable as it is quiet and a large woods. This is a perfect setting for a horror film opening and would really help to express the genre with clarity to the audience.  

We will also film part of our film opening in Josh's house. This is because we need a more formal setting as we wanted a scene with investigators and a string board. An indoor setting would be important as we would want to replicate a police office. 

Conventions of a Horror Film

Conventions of a Horror Film

1. spooky houses
2. cobwebs 
3. sharp, tension building music
4. dark, low key lighting 
5. blood
6. a mysterious object/person to be feared
7. young female protagonist 
8. an abandoned building 
9. no body near to help
10. pathetic fallacy (raining weather) 
11. supernatural 
12. deaths 
13. a creepy book
14. weapons
15. screams 

Analysis of Questionnaire

Questionnaire and Analysis of Questionnaire from thetaleofdemise

Conventions of a Horror/Thriller

Opening Credits Through the Ages

Casting For Roles

 We decided to cast Gray as our evil detective as he had previous knowledge of drama skills and we assumed he would be able to perform this role well. We also asked him, before he was to get the role, if he would be able to perform some particular lines from our script and how he would perform them. Gray did this so well. He realised the type of character we wanted him to play and produced a great performance. As a result, Gray was cast as our main detective.

We then auditioned Josh, one of our own group members, to play the second detective. We thought Josh would play a great second detective because he has a loud voice but can use this to emphasise his need to solve this case. After auditioning Josh, we knew he would be the perfect person to play this role. 

Media Vlog Progress Check

Brainstorm Ideas for our Main Project

While brainstorming ideas for our opening sequence the topic of the name of our movie came up. We created, with the help of some people within our class some names which we could use. We picked the best five and wrote them onto large pieces of paper. We then asked some people in a year 12 class (aged 16-17) to write their name on a sticky label and put it on whichever name they most liked.

We selected to ask this class of people because they fall directly into our target audience, teenagers, we kept the task open to both males and females.

As you can see the name "The Tale of Demise" was the most popular, receiving 5/11 votes. We therefore will be using this name as the title of our film.

Preliminary Task Conclusion

Preliminary Task Conclusion 

Essentially, the Preliminary Task is a practice task we need to make before our final idea of coursework. It allows us to see where we could make mistakes, adjust these and understand them before our final piece of coursework. The preliminary task required us to use a variety of camera angles and shots to showcase our ability. 

Our Preliminary Task was difficult to edit and film. One of our group members who we planned our preliminary task with was not in. Therefore, the two of our members left, quickly made up a new preliminary task idea and asked another member of our school to star in our Preliminary Task. 

Our concept was after eating some gum, it gave our friend Laura, super cool powers. She was then going to share this with her friend Freya when they had a conversation. This allowed us to complete all the shots that would be necessary in the Preliminary Task. 

We experienced difficulty when filming as we couldn't find a quiet area to film. We could fix this by choosing a better room/time to film at or in an our time so our own environments to film our Preliminary Task in. 

We also experienced some continuity errors. The way to fix this would be to take a picture of the initial shot. Therefore, we know the proxemics of the shot and the mis-en-scene and we are able to replicate this with ease. 

The Preliminary Task was tricky for us to edit as our school has lower budget editing software. By having this, it was tricky for us to edit our Preliminary Task professionally. However, we were able to add the credits that we wanted and after exporting, the footage was no longer jumping. 

When we were filming, we wanted to add music over the top. However, copyrighted music was off the cards and the school system blocked many of the websites.

Overall, I am happy with our preliminary task entitled 'Chew Chew Chew.' However, I would like our real coursework to not come into these errors.