Audience feedback

We have shown our film and allowed people to anomynously submit their opinions and sugestions about our film. This is important in the industry because this allows us to reflect on our work and see if we suceeded in engaging with our key demographic.
We were given 4 good, 1 average and 2 excellent marks overall. We were also given 4 'some imagination', and 4 'high imagination & creative flare'.
Our shot composition was graded overall as a very good, with only one other person scoring ours as average. Our mise-en-scene was graded overall as very good also. Our editing was marked at very good, and our sound and music was graded an excellent, and our titles were given an average. This was the weakest score we recieved.
The constructive crticism we got back was, our storyline was a bit unclear to figure out, and i agree that it is hard to figure out, however as it is only the opening two minutes, a element of mystery is meant to be maintained. We were also told we could use more props, and that our titles were too close together.
The positive feedback we recieved, was praise for our use of music and sound, our editing and smooth transitions.

Evaluation

In our production we had strengths and weaknesses. One strength we had was flexibility so far as filming. We changed our ideas alot to make improvements, we were able to work around our problems. We were available to film most days and were well organised.
Our evaluation went quite smoothly, with the exception of a few nervous stutters.
I enjoyed this project and learnt alot from it, for example the importance of efficiency and organisation. I learnt alot of technological information which i can use in a variety of different situations and will always be of value to me.

Editing

We've been editing our film and its been alot of work. First there was the logging and capturing which took a while to sort out. However with the help of our Edit decision list didn't take half as long as it could have done. Our Edit decision list contains all the scenes and clips we actually need in our film. The list would have been hard to compile if it wasnt for the Recording log which contains all the clips we have filmed, whether they were out-takes, perfect or just a blank screen. At first i suggested we use a soundtrack which sounds like people speaking on the radio to give a slightly eerie feeling and support our storyline (Bloc Party- Hunting for witches). However after putting this into practice we realised that the song was too fast to accompany our slow and creepy film and had to find another soundtrack. We used a black background for the titles which is conventional of a thriller film, and originally we had red font, but we decided that looked more conventional of a horror film than a thriller and changed the font to white.

Filming

Over the past few weeks we have been filming and have come across a few technical problems and filming difficulties.

On day #1 of filming, the camera battery died after five minutes of filming.
On day #2 of filming, the public disrupted our filming and we had to change our location.
On day #5 of filming, we needed to continue a scene we had previously began filming, however the weather was dramatically different and would ruin the continuity of the film. We decided to go back to that scene when the weather was more suitable.
On day #10 of filming, we forgot to check the tripod before disembarking and later found out one of the legs was broken.

Alot of the time we had to remind ourselves of pre-roll and post-roll and the 180° rule, and in some cases we had to film sequences again. However all of these problems we overcame and learnt from them.


"Crime scene" photos took whilst filming.

Planning

As soon as an our idea was formed i started on the storyboard right away. With the storyboard, filming will be alot easier as we know what shots we need, where to film them, and how long it should take. This helps us make our ideas practical.
We decided on alot of the transitions and effects we would use and also what framing and camera movement.
We then began a production schedule deciding where and when we would film. This organised us and helped get the job done.

Choosing a story

I had lots of ideas for different genres, so I narrowed it down to one idea for each genre that i could later present my group with.

#1-Thriller
A detective is researching a series of murders and begins to realise that all the evidence leads to one person: Herself.

#2-Horror
A girl is walking away from a creepy stalker who coincidentally chases her so she is in a part of a neighborhood she doesnt recognise. She goes into the only shop she can see and asks for help and she is given a broach of protection which awakens a evil entity who wants to kill her.

#3-Romantic comedy
Boy who works in shop serves a beautiful girl, after flirting for a while she gives him a contact card. Later when he is home he calls her phone and realises shes a acting scout, but he is too embarassed to admit he thought they had relationship potential and agrees to work for her.

#4-Horror
Modern take on the story from mythology; Pandora's box. A girl opens a box which unleashes evil on the world.

After conversing with my group we decided to concentrate on idea #1.

Questionnaire results

After recieving my questionnaires back from those who had filled it out i sat down to take a look at their answers and see if it would benefit my film and help decide what to do.
Seven out of ten people said their preferred choice of genre is the thriller genre. I thought age and gender would affect this so i distributed my questionnaire to a range of ages and genders. Suprisingly only two people preferred the horror genre and one person liked romantic comedies.
It became apparent to me that a thriller film would appeal to the biggest range of people.
Most people agreed that slow and eerie music is most effective in the horror genre, and four people said they like horrors to be psychological, and four said they like horrors to have a detective theme, two said they like gore.
There was a tie as to whether people preferred to watch an authority figure/celebrity or and everyday person. Only one person disagreed that the ending should be a cliffhanger and wanted a happy ending. Six people said that a horror film should open with a flashback two said with a murder, one said with information and another said straight to present events.

Target audience- Questionnaire

I composed a questionnaire to help me decide on what to film for my project. In getting opinions from the demographic my film will be aimed at, i have more chance of producing a film which will be more enjoyable.

Preliminary Task

The preliminary task helped me to get used to filming. I worked behind the camera, making the edits and positioning the shots.
Our story had a simple narritive of a dodgy deal. A woman comes to meet with another woman who gives her money. Although the narritive isnt very clear or overly exciting, this tasks' aim was to allow us to build confidence with the camera.

UK Film Council Summary

I have looked at the UKfilmcouncil statistics and have been able to draw results about different genres.
The most popular genre with the most films made, and biggest amount of revenue made is the Comedy genre making £206.6 million. Following after is the Thriller genre which got the second biggest amount of money £149.0 million. Judging through these results would lead us to believe that comedy is the most popular with the UK and Republic of Ireland, however looking closer, it took 127 Comedies to give it the highest amount of money, but it only took 50 thrillers to be second best. Perhaps if both genres released the same amount of films, the thriller genre would have proven more popular.
The horror genre appears 10th on the list, with 24 releases, showing that it isnt as popular as comedy, Thriller appears 5th with 28 releases, and with around the same amount of releases and a much less amount of money made shows that thrillers are much more popular that horrors.
The romance Genre is much further down the list, showing that a romance film is only carried by its comedy aspects.

Conventions of different film Genres

In preparation for my coursework, i have been looking deeper into the different genres of films to see the tecniques adopted by script-writers and directors to captivate their audience.

Horror
In the horror genre, a strong soundtrack is very important. Whether it be a simple yet eerie tune played during the credits (though many times this simple tune builds up to a creschendo), or a heavy (usually guitar-based) soundtrack, both are very effective in letting the audience know what type of fim they're about to view.
Audio in this genre is very powerful and compliments the on-screen action. Most of the sound in horror films is non-diegetic or ambient.
Black and red are the predominant colours used in the genre. Black has connotations of isolation, disorientation and the unknown. Red has connotations of anger, blood and panic.
Every horror film has a hero/heroine, who will always survive the bloodshed. Typically, the main protagonist will be intelligent and courageous. In some (mostly slasher) horror films a young, provocative, teenage girl will be amongst the first to confront the predator.
The outcome of a horror film isn't always apparent and has many twists and suprises.
The horror genre covers a wide spectrum of film. Sci-fi horror, detective horror, psychological horror etc.

Romantic comedies
The soundtracks in Rom-coms usually link to the title of the film (E.g. Pretty woman). Or they are used as a way of expressing the characters thoughts, emotions or relationships.
Romantic comedies have alot of stereotypical characters: A family member or friend of the main character to provide comic relief, a gorgeous woman, and a charming male. Although sometimes the main character could be described as a underdog, a fumbling and insecure character who gets gradually more attractive and steals the heart of the love interest.
The storyline of rom-coms become apparent within the first few minutes of the film and is repetitive in most films; Eyes meet across the room, build up of relationship, breakdown of relationship and make up of relationship and happily ever after (at least until the sequel).
In romantic comedies there is always a obstacle standing in the way of the relationship, social norms dictate that the couple shouldnt be together (social class clash, family problems, hidden motives etc.) However despite the problems the couple face, love conquers all and a happy ending will occur tying all loose ends.

The Matrix (1999)- Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski.

The matrix is a action packed film right from beginning to end, throwing the audience right into the frenzy without hesitation. It starts with special effects. This tells the audience that this film is quite technological and modern. The soundtrack is a quite exhilirating composition of various instruments which eventually builds to a creshendo to support whats happening on screen and an electric synthesized sound, suggesting technology. sure enough after this a telephone rings and we hear a conversation between two people who's dialogue suggests they are a secret organisation. A woman and a man who speak of the "chosen one". We can hear the ambient sound of electronic clicking and looking at the screen it looks a computer displaying a code. The black background has connotations of secrecy and evil, and the green code contrasting with the black suggests millitary activity and on screen we become aware that the camera is in subjective point of view listening into the conversation, and later in the film the code, telephone and secretive talk is explained.

The establishing shot shows an extreme close up of an officer with a torch and a gun scoping the dark, musty, almost derelict building with his comrades, which gives an eerie feel to the film. This confirms the theme of spies and secret organisations. The atmospheric sound adds to the creepy vibe. The men then walk into a room where a person is sitting facing the wall which creates tension along with the dramatic pause. The camera then pans upwards to show a medium close up, showing her determined face and the lights behind her imply power. The camera now jump-cuts to the outside of the building, panning downwards showing a sign that reads "HEART o' the city hotel". Men in black suits, shirts, ties and sunglasses show up in a black car, their costume suggesting authority. There are alot of police cars outside denotating that the woman seen inside the hotel is dangerous. This is confirmed when after being scolded by the men in suits for not listening to their instructions, the police officer says; "I think we can handle one little girl, i sent two units, they're bringing her down now" and the slow speaking, seemingly wise man in a suit replies, "No lieutenant, your men are already dead." Then the camera cuts to the action inside the hotel where this woman (who comes to be known as Trinity) has her hands behind her head with the camera doing a close up of the officer getting out his handcuffs. He slowly walks up to her and the violence commences. The impressive fight scene includes a freeze frame when Trinity does a jumping kick in the air and the camera does a 180 degree clockwise rotation around her whilst she is seemingly frozen in mid-air.

This trick was actually done by setting up 120 normal cameras in a circle around Trinity with two motion picture cameras. By merging all of the photos one after the other it creates the illusion that the camera has moved at an impossibly quick speed. After the fight sequence Trinity speaks with Morpheus on the phone who tells her to get to a phone booth as quickly as possible. The non diegetic music starts up again as she begins to flee, running through long corridors. Eventually the chase ends up on a roof where Trinity jumps across a large gap, landing on another rooftop. This action is caught by the camera in an aerial shot and slow motion. This shot allows us to see how high up Trinity is as we can see the cars underneath her and we hear the diegetic sound of a police siren. The camera zooms in on the police officers face when he sees that the man in a suit has made the same incredibly high jump as Trinity. All is eerily silent as the man in a suit closes in on Trinity, but as the camera focues on a tiny window, the music starts up again as her next escape plan is made clear to the audience. Her jump is super imposed into the film but looks realistic. She lands at the bottom of a staircase and a shot reverse shot between Trinity and the window shows her fear of being chased. The mise-en-scene here of a light moving back and forth because of Trinitys movement caused the build up of suspense and is the only diegetic sound here. Next she is heading towards a phonebox when she sees a truck with the men in suits controlling it. A shot reverse shot shows that the race is on to the phone booth and Trinity reaches it first, just as the truck crashes into it. A close up of Trinitys face with the phone to her ear makes us wonder if she'll survive. The camera pans across the rubble and it is confirmed that Trinity has dissapeared. The suits then speak about tracking down "Neo." And the film properly begins.

Just Married (2003)-Shawn Levy

The establishing shot of this film shows a blurred crowd of people moving in slow motion. We become aware that the location of this scene is an airport because of the diegetic sound of an airport announcement. This dialogue supports the mise-en-scene; a sign which reads 'Flight 217, Venice -Los Angeles'. The titles are white and a plain font, not wanting to distract the audience of the action happening on screen. The incidental music is a popular song, 'Do your thing-Basement Jaxx'and isnt a very serious song and supports the comedy on screen. When the two main stars of the film, Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy walk into the centre of the frame the camera pans to capture their movement. The action is now brought back to a normal speed, as we see the two characters interact as if competing with eachother. The camera does a horizontal tracking of them walking down the airport hall, then jump-cuts back to the view of them walking towards the camera and freezes on a medium shot of them looking angrily at eachother and the title 'Just Married' appears across the middle of the screen. This part of the scene is full of comedy potential and is ironic that the two people who just got married are already getting on each others' nerves. After a few seconds pause, movement begins again and the camera switches to a medium long shot of them walking, and Kutcher knocks Murphy into a man holding coffee who spills it all down her torso and the camera moves into a medium reaction shot of her being scolded by the hot coffee. Then the camera jump-cuts to a medium close up of Kutcher looking pleased with himself. Then an extreme long shot of the couple travelling down the escalators, switching to a slightly low angle of kutcher still revelling in his victory, which jumps to Murphy taking the chewing gum out of her mouth and throwing it at the back of Kutchers head. We see a reaction shot of his face, and then a high angle shot shows him turning around to glare at Murphy. We then see a medium close up of Kutcher plotting revenge as the camera shows a luggage trolley. Then a long shot shows Kutcher push the trolley to trip over Murphy, and we hear the diegetic sound of her yelp. The low angle camera then tilts down to show Kutcher fall onto the ground after tripping over himself. The camera then shows the two coming out of the airport in a long shot, and the incidental music fades out, leaving us with the ambient sounds of traffic, chatter and airport announcements. The pair squabble, indicating theyre going their seperate ways. The camera focuses of Murphy and does a horizontal pan of the cab line, and does a reaction shot of her looking unhappy, her dialogue "Cheese and rice" supports the connotations of the shot reverse shot between queue and Murphy. The camera now jumps to Kutcher in his car, the camera focusing on his pen knife and as the pen knife moves to behind his head the camera does also, showing him severing through his hair to remove the chewing gum. When he throws the chunk of hair away, the camera sees from behind his head, Murphy standing in front of the car. At this point the bass guitar sound of a western standoff starts up. The connotations; confrontation. She sighs showining she doesn't want to ask his help, "I need a ride". A medium shot of Kutcher shows him indicating for her to move out of the way of the car, "Get 'outta my way". The camera then reverts back to the angle in which Murphy is the subject and she shakes her head. The camera moves back to show Kutcher starting up his engine, and then shows Murphy not looking bothered. Then the diegetic sound of his engine revving is heard and she sarcastically pretends to quiver in fear. Eventually he gives up. "Get in" We see her looking pleased with herself and walking to get in the car. Then the incidental music of a glockenspiel is heard. This angle allows us to see Kutchers eyes in the rear view mirror. Then we see Murphy get into the car, slamming about as she goes. "Just try and keep it on the road for a change." Kutcher speeds off and as the car turns we see the words 'Just married' written on the back of the car which is once again ironic.

Halloween (1978)-John Carpenter

Halloween, directed and written by John Carpenter was the first slasher film in the history of the horror genre inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho(1960).
My analysis of the title, and opening sequence of the film leads me to understand Carpenters techniques in gripping the audience and causing unease and apprehension upon them.
The title sequence of Halloween is quite simple but is full of techniques John Carpenter has used to reinstate the title and genre of the film. The black background is typical of a horror film as the connotations of black and dark colours suggests isolation, death, mourning and sadness, all of which are reccurring themes in the horror genre. The only mise-en-scene used in this scene is a pumpkin which supports the title of the film: Halloween, a night based around fear. The font used in this scene flickers from golden yellow to red which has negative connotations such as blood, danger and death. This editing is also reminiscent of the pumpkins candlelight. The soundtrack music (also composed by Carpenter) is made of atmospheric layers of sound such as staccato piano which creates tension and anticipation when blended with the chords as they rise in pitch and volume as the audience get nearer to the opening of the film. This music also compliments the camera movement which is a slow zoom towards the pumpkin from an extreme long shot into an extreme close up.
After this the screen is pitch black and the only audio is one of children chanting eerily. It could be argued that this is diegetic sound or incidental audio of trick-or-treaters however the presence of these characters isnt confirmed in the following scene so this audio was probably just placed here to set the scene of halloween.
The establishing shot of the opening scene shows a dimly lit house on a regular suburban American street. The house is a white colour, its connotations purity and innocence. It is a shadowy house and is the only lit part of the street. The handheld camera zooms in on the house and as the camera peers in the windows of the house we realise this shot is in subjective point of view. As the camera peers in on a couple embracing, the audience could gather that whoever is looking in on the couple may have a sexual motive for being there. This is confirmed when the camera moves to the front of the house, and the upstairs bedroom light switches off accompanied by a high pitched non-diegetic audio sound, almost like a signal to the pursuer to move inside the house. The camera moves around the shadowy house and inside the house, and we see a hand pull a knife out of a drawer, showing that this is indeed a dangerous potential murderer. The camera then moves through the dining room, which has long candles in a dark room; a location typical of a horror film. The ambient sound continues as we are given more typical mise-en-scene; rocking chair by window.
Then we see the boy who was upstairs with his girlfriend come down and exit the house, thus leaving murderer and young girl alone. As the camera moves up the stairs we hear the diegetic sound of a clock chiming. We see a hand grab a clown mask, and the camera frame is seen through two eye-holes.
We see the teenage girl, sitting at her vanity table, brushing her hair, humming a tune only semi clothed. This is accompanied by another high pitched alarm. The camera focuses on the bed, in which the bed sheets are untidy and all over the place. The camera turns to face the girl and she screams a name, revealing the identity of the murder, "Michael". The ambient audio begins as Michael takes his first few stabs at his victim, supported by her screams.
The film doesnt show all the gore of weapon meeting flesh like modern films tend to, but focuses on the knife moving back and forth reminding us of 'psycho'. Then Michael looks down on her naked, dead body.
Then the camera retreats out of the house and we can hear heavy breathing. He walks outside and we see two adults get out of a car and question his identity. All of a sudden, the camera switches from subjective point of view to a high angle crane shot, zooming out. showing that the murderer is in fact, the younger brother of the victim around 8 to 10 years old. This shows that we have been manipulated by the director to believe that the murderer was an adult. The techniques used to create this image are; high angle shots to believe the subjct is tall, and a long adult looking arm.