Edited Image 2

Below is the original image I had taken of the actress lying down on wooden floor, I didn’t necessarily want either the background or the floor to be part of the picture. Although I found the angle of the shot to be interesting and different, she has both her hands gripped to the floor as though she is desperate in need of something, in this case human blood. The expression on her face implies that she is frustrated and almost in pain because she needs the fix of blood so badly. As she her eyes peer into the camera it makes the audience feel tense and uneasy as they imagine her popping out of the page, the vampire is ready and rearing to pounce on her victim whom the viewer believes is them.

The following image is the one which I have edited using photo shop, as I mentioned previously I wasn’t happy with the background so decided to erase this out, I then used the lasso tool to crop around the outline of the head and shoulders . I wasn’t too concerned about the wooden floor she lay on as this was dark to begin with, by simply adjusting the brightness and shadows I was able to make it appear even darker. The models nails were originally painted a pale pink, although this did not fit with the characters persona, we didn’t have enough time to paint her nails black so used the paint brush tool to change the colour to black. Similar to the first image I edited I also increased the contrast as the shadowing and highlighting were decreased.

I also cropped the floor so less of it was visible, below is the image presented as a poster which I am in the process of completing.

Pictures for Ancillary Task

Edited Images

I've took images of my main actress for the ancillary tasks I need to complete, I plan to use the pictures for my poster. Because I took a lot of pictures I've experimented with more than one. The following pictures are the originals and those that have been adapted with the use of Photoshop.

 

The image situated on the right is clearly edited. I achieved the look of the second image by using the tools available in photo-shop. I cropped the image firstly so I wouldn't have as much to cut out of the background. I didn't want the background as It was taken on stairs, although to achieve this shot I needed my model to sit down, in order to gain a slightly canted shot. I chose to shoot a canted shot because it allows the bloody teeth to be seen more clearly.

After using the lasso tool to erase the background , I was left with the single medium close-up shot. I decided to make the image brighter so the splashes of red would be more visible against the black. I then darkened the highlights so the black colouring looked more dramatic, lastly I changed the contrasting levels , this made the image appear a lot more sharper.

I transferred the picture into word processor as the programme allowed me to use the for formatting tools. I used the blur tool so the edges of the image would no longer be jagged, this made it look softer and neater.

Film Posters Conventions

Turn around Scare

Here are some shots I took earlier of the "Turn around Scare". This shot is commonly used within Horror films, hence why I have decided to use it in my short trailer. Overall I want this shot to symbolise how the vampire girl has just sucked a victims blood.



http://www.youtube.com/user/dancergal1909#p/u/2/MqMAOImsXcE
This First shot I took I decided to place my actress in front of a tree and directed her to stand still and whip her head around to face the camera on the count of three. The footage above is a bit shaky and resulted in y actress smirking towards the end of the shot.



http://www.youtube.com/user/dancergal1909#p/u/3/I__VUstQSMs
Becasue of this I re-shot the same action. Although this was a bit better it wasn't very focused on the zoom, as it looks as though I went off balance and resorted to zooming in on the side of her face rather than the middle.



http://www.youtube.com/user/dancergal1909#p/u/1/4m2h7sNDKOs
I found that the last shot I took was a lot more sucsessful as it was more positioned and the focus on the zoom was clearer, as it directly in the middle.

Film Magazine Questionnaire

In order to create a suscsessful film magazine cover I need some audience feedback, hence why i have put together a questionnaire , here are examples. I plan to print out questionnaires and distribute them around the school, I will then collect them back In and evaluate the results.

Preview Approved Certificate

At the start of any trailer or film a certain certificate is required to state how the production has been been approved, becasue this is an element that is  required ,i need to create something that will resemble a real one in order for my trailer to look more authentic.

Below is an example of real certifcate audiences would view at the very beggining of a film or trailer

Here is my attempt at creating something similar which i will use at the start of my short trailer when i add it in ,during the editing process.

Film Posters

For part of my Ancillary task I have to create a poster advertising my film, below is the research I have done; 

Twilight

The poster below is recognized widely around the world becasue it is such a popula film.  The poster features the two main characters  , the way they are situated within the picture highlights their actual characteristics. The male is dominant and protective as he leans over the female. The woman is present below the male she has her hand placed upon his chest, suggesting she wants his support. When analysed this poster portrays the role of the characters within the whole plot of the film.

The title of the film is placed in the bottom left hand corner, this perticular text is used again on follow up series of the film. Because this house style is kept the same it means that audiences can recognize what film it has orginated from.

Along with this is the erary atmosphere and theme portrayed within posters of this style. Because the theme of the film is on vampires , it highlights the depths of darkness that are ususally associated with vampires as they are "Night Walkers". Conventions of the Gothic are evident within the posters.



Film Magazines

Because I am creating a short trailer for my ancillary A2 task, I will also need to construct the front page of a Film magazine featuring my film. I have decided to start researching into the conventions of film magazines In order to gain wider of knowledge of how I should start piecing one together. 

 Total Film

 The front covers of this particular magazine tend to only contain an image of the featured film, as it is situated all across the cover.

The magazine contains the Masthead which is the name of the magazine, the main image usually overlaps over this text. The date , issue number, price and barcode are also conventions that will always be seen on the front cover.  Lures are tend to be situated either at the top , bottom or both ends of the magazine , In this case its the offer of a free “Giant Iron man poster”

Empire

The first thing i notice here is that although the Masthead of Empire is still the colour red its also been edited slightly to fit the theme of the featured film. It appears as though the title has been etched in blood upon the wall and acts as a reference toward the cut on the actors face.

The neon green Cover line is also the title of the film and matches the word “Fold Out” which is in fact a lure. Because the colour jumps out from the page it will also enable the audience to match the particular colour with something that they believe is a positive selling point, again matching the colour with a positive feeling.

Electric Sheep Magazine

Personally I don’t think this magazine cover appears to be very exciting, however house style is kept consistent which makes it seem neat and organized. The Masthead style and text matches that of the text on the featured article.

The issue number, date and price is presently clear situated at the top of the page. There is a plug in the corner telling the audience about the featured film, although unlike other film magazines I’ve researched there’s a still picture that would usually be in motion taken out of the film, whereas on others it’s a posed picture set up for advertisement.

 

Practice Shot of Tracking Feet

In order to achieve a good quality tracking shot I decided to practice filming with the camera . I asked a classmate to volunteer in walking and running up and down the class room , I then bent down low on the floor which enabled me to achieve this shot. After I tired this a few times i began to feel more comfortable in filming and ultimatly improoved my skills.

http://www.youtube.com/user/dancergal1909#p/u/4/xymk7lI5KH0
The first video i shot was very shaky so i decided to do another one.


http://www.youtube.com/user/dancergal1909#p/u/7/urmCrbl4bNI

Schedule of next filming session

I now plan to continue the rest of my filming stages on Thursday 25th November, this will take place at home in my back garden. Because I need a close-up shot of the vampire girl’s face in the forest, my garden is the perfect environment for this.

I plan to keep the same clothes and makeup when filming, I wish to achieve a close-up shot of the vampire girl as she glares her fanged teeth toward the camera and this shot is alternatively known as the turn-around-scare.

I will also attempt another tracking shot of her feet on the grass, as she walks steadily. The previous shot was not very successful.

I plan to use my own digital camera to take image of the vampire girl and I hope to upload these within my blog in order to provide evidence for my work.

Completion of first stages of filming

Over the weekend I managed to start the production of my film. In a previous blog I created I set myself a series of goals. Below is a list of things I completed including the goals i did and did not achieve;

I shot the opening scene were the two girl bullies walk out of the school gates , while the vampire girl is walking alone in front of them. The two girls barge past the vampire and cause her to spin veraciously as she is pushed to the side and out of the way.

The first footage I shot wasn’t very focused as the top of the bullies heads were cut off, so i re-filmed it again and then once more so I had a range of consistent shots.

http://www.youtube.com/user/dancergal1909#p/u/16/OwCm5q8cGPc


This shot seemed to work well than I expected I to have. I stood diagonally in front of the three girls which enabled me to achieve the establishing shot that I wanted. Once the girls had pushed the vampire out of the way I followed them with the camera. This way we could see a close-up on their faces and the back of their heads as they walked away.

http://www.youtube.com/user/dancergal1909#p/u/17/2C8jnsiXW3I

The weather on the day was very cold, wet, rainy and foggy. It began to get dark quickly. However this helped more than it did hinder, as it enabled me to achieve that gloomy dark eerie atmosphere that stereotypically you would find within a horror film.


http://www.youtube.com/user/dancergal1909#p/u/14/owMdGED1I6g
I next began to film the tracking shot of the girls feet, I found this to be harder than I had anticipated, although did achieve a couple of shots I was happy with in the end. I filmed the feet of the vampire on the pavement and then of her running. I didn’t manage to take any on the grass however because it was too slippery due to the wet weather.


http://www.youtube.com/user/dancergal1909#p/u/10/tAzw5THXD1k

Because it was so cold I insisted the other girls stayed inside as they were not needed anyway, while I filmed one of the bullies. The shot i wanted to achieve was a point of view, as though there was someone ie; The vampire girl, running after the bully.  The camera footage for this shot is extremely unsteady as it appears as though its through the vampires eyes enabling the audience to almost feel like they are running with her.

The first few seconds are of the bully walking steadily with her bag on her arm , then she suddenly looks around as she realises the vampire is picking up pace in her walking and then begins to run. The bully returns her focus forward and begins to run , as she drops her bag from her shoulder when doing so.

http://www.youtube.com/user/dancergal1909#p/u/11/zjxHPbEqzGE

http://www.youtube.com/user/dancergal1909#p/u/13/YiLsPM0-q0Q

I didn’t manage to take pictures of my actresses as I was not as prepared for doing so. I had no plan of how to position the girls and decided to complete this another time when I had more time.

Bullying in Schools

Within my short trailer the issue of bullying arises as the vampire girl is bullied by two girls, they follow her into the forest and she then gets her revenge on them by capturing one of the bullies. The audience become aware of this as they can see the girls pink bag thrown amongst the leafs and the other girl running away from forest.

Children will bully for a number of reasons ;

Children may be frustrated and will become resentful because the source of their difficulty has not been identified; child feels they have to perform at a level that is required of them by the school.

The child bullying has been bullied them-self meaning the responsibility adults hold for their child have failed in their duty of care. The child tends to slowly and reluctantly start exhibiting aggressive behaviours because they feel it’s the only way to survive in an bullying-entrenched environment.

Either there is no role model or the child has parents whom are poor role models, as they themselves may not have had the opportunity to learn behaviour skills.

Abuse and neglect may be present within the family household causing the child to rebel as a means of escaping. The child will feel inferior and un-loved if they are not cared for.

Its easy for a child to fit in with the wrong crowd particularly within a school environment, they feel the need to conform and find a sense of identity.  Those that socialize amongst the a ‘bad’ group of people usually indicates that they have low self-esteem.

Bullying in schools can include:

Verbal harassment
Hitting, hair pulling and kicking
Teasing and name calling
 Spreading rumours
damaging posessions
Intimidating

Plan of Filming 1

I have decided to use 2 girls to play the role of the bully characters, rather than two boys and two girls. Although the original idea shows diversity between the two sexes it also means that it’s harder to get that many people to commit. However I will now research the issues involving bullying between the female sexes, this is a very serious common problem that happens day to day in social environment’s, in particular schools.

I have arranged to continue filming on Friday 12^th at 3:20 outside of my school and told all actors to meet me at a certain place. I will bring the costumes and makeup into school in the morning and leave them in a secure place for me to collect and use at the end of the day.

My goals:

To shoot the opening scene where the bullies (2 girls) are walking out of the school gate whilst following the vampire girl whom is in front walking slowly along the paved path. I wish to get an establishing shot of the gate, fence, grassy embankment and paved path, along with the three characters.

To film the tracking shot of the vampire girls feet walking and then building up to a pace.

The Bullies feet running as they do so out of the forest

The back of the bullies as they run out of the forest. I may run whilst filming as this will then come across
as a point of view shot, because the camera focus will be jolting and unsteady.

 Finally take full length/ profile pictures of my characters which I may use when producing my promotional creations and it will also establish what they appear to look like in case I forgot when next filming other scenes involving them. 

Filming Birds eye view shot

Over the weekend I began to start filming. I placed a pink bag amongst the wet leaves in my back garden, I was aiming for this particular shot to represent how one of the girl bullies has been captured and the vampire girl (main character) has repelled the bag. I wanted the bag to look as though it been aimlessly chucked in the forest. The reason I decided to make this shot Birds-Eye view is because the bag signifies the girly-girl aspect, the colour is sickly sweet which contrasts nicely with the leaves. The leaves consist of dark brown colours these highlight the theme of secrecy as there is a dark secret that is yet to be uncovered. This is shown through the positioning of the leaves as some are scattered over the bag and the pink surface is not completely covered , suggesting the Girls secret is about to be revealed.

The high angle represents how she had no idea about what was coming. Similar to the angle her expectations were also “Up in the air”, the circling around the bag emphasises the extent to which it is a symbol of what has happened.

Here are the videos of what I had filmed;

This footage is  unsteady as I found it difficult I had to hold the camera vertically up in the air , as I  walked around the bag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX85KNUhCFg

Again this filming is also unsteady . To achieve the birds-eye view angle I decided to set up 4 chairs around the pink bag, I held the camera at shoulder height as I stepped onto each of the chairs , going in a clockwise direction and then anticlockwise. This was more difficult than being on the ground as I wasn't as stable and found myself concentrating on my balance rather than the actual filming hence why the filming was very unfocused .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yhf6-e-jcM

In the next video I took I decided to move the camera in a circular pathway a lot slower, this enabled me to achieve a better focus that than i had done in the previous videos, although it still was not perfect. the chairs situated around the bag and my feet can be seen as I'm standing upon the chair. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/dancergal1909#p/a/u/0/XmX9CvL-5y4

Music and Sound effects in Horror films

Music and sound effects in Horror Film

Classic Horror Music

Orchestral music is the most characteristic type of horror film music and has been used since the birth of the genre, even today it is the most popular type of music to be used in Horror films, thrillers and adventure films. One reason for this type of music being so popular is the open-endedness and great dynamic range of genre allows the composer to follow the events of a film as he is able to vary tones within a composition. Another reason is that its very neutral and appeals to a wide audience.

Modern Alternative Horror Music

This type of music generally tends to use synth-based and industrial. A good example of this is Blair Witch 2 which uses alternative Rock and metal music. This particular section works well as it is dark, brooding and suits the visual style of the film. Other directors take this concept of modern music a whole step further and replace classical orchestral music with music that the audience do not expect to hear in a Horror film.  American Psycho mainly used American 80’s rock and pop music, to me this would highlight the Horror element even further as it adds suspense and makes the audience feel tense as it’s not the kind of music they imagine to be included making them wonder what else is to expected.

Musical Cues

Audiences will recognize a certain audio sequence within a Horror Film. For example a long eerie musical build-up containing strings or horns as the victim approaches a closed door , followed by a violent orchestral hit as the door is opened by them and they discover what is hidden behind it. 

The Auditory Symbol

Many Horror films have a melody or sound serving as a symbol to portray the monster in a particular film. This is usally achieved by extracting a small portion of one of the films prominent musical score or characteristic sounds and playing them whenever the "main character (monster)" is around.  This then allows the film makers to inntroduce the monster to the audience with a visual representation.

Sound Effects

Both Music and sound effects are directly linked to visuals the visuals of a film.  Sound effects tend to be tied even closer than music in regards to the events in a film , they create otr adjust a certain mood or atmosphere. In most cases these effects are applied to intensify and mark direct movements such as movements and impacts , majority of sound is very exaggerated this is so the audience become more aware of the effects.

Auidence Feedback

I handed out a set of 15 questionnaires consisting of 10 questions to a range of different people, in order to gain some audience feedback, here are my results. 

Q1) What age are you?

12-15    16-19   20-30   30+
1             11          2       1

I found that the majority of the questionnaires completed were done so by those between the ages of 16-19 so they were all teenagers. I have come to the conclusion that I will now aim my short trailer at these ages; considering I am of this age myself it may be easier to create the trailer so the audience can relate to it.

Q2) What genre do you enjoy watching?(tick 2)

Horror       Sci-fi          Action        Comedy       Romantic/chick flick     Thriller

5                  1                   3                 12                            4                        5

Participants were asked to tick two out of the three genres available, the highest amount of ticks came out as Comedy and the lowest was sci-fi. From these results I found that often teenagers want to watch something that excites them, isn’t too complicated to understand and is overall something they can laugh about , whilst still being frightened at the same time due to the Thriller and Horror aspects.

Q3) Would you rather the main character Male or Female?

Male      Female    Not bothered

7                5                  3

From the results for question 3 it suggests that more people would prefer to see a male as the main character as apposed to a female. This may be because they like to see the male as the hero and the female as a damsel in distress. However three people also stated that they were not bothered about what gender the main character could possibly be.

Q4) What qualities would you want this character to have?(tick 2)

Charming       Cute     Funny        Athletic        Unfit          Young       Old      Ugly       Pretty

1                       5             10               4                   2             4                3             0             3

More participants ticked that the main character needed to have the quality of being funny as there was total of 10 ticks. This suggests that the target audience want to watch an actor who is comical whether this is through dark humour or comedy and parody is an area I will research into.  Nobody ticked ‘Ugly’ which implies that they want to see a character whom is nice to look at, stereotypically in horror films many characters are disgusting and gruesome , however due to my results I will challenge this stereotype and use someone attractive to play the role of the main character.

Q5) What features would you like to see included in a trailer?

Cliff-Hangers   Flash-backs   Voiceovers   On screen text   Music   Names of Actors/directors

      6                        0                     3                   1                     4                              2

Majority of people that completed my questionnaire selected Cliff-Hangers as the feature they would most likely to see in a trailer. This suggests that the target audience want to have something to think about when they watch a trailer, as a cliff hanger gives them a clue about what the film may consist of without giving away the whole of the film.  Nobody ticked Flash-Backs this maybe because people would probably get confused by seeing these in a trailer before watching and following the film first.

Q6) Would you like to see real-life situations?

 Yes     No

12         3

More participants stated how ‘yes’ they would like the trailer to include real-life situations, this may be because they would then be able to relate the film in some way. Real life situations will occur within my short trailer as we see bullying outside of a school although unnatural situations are involved also because the trailer consists of vampire’s.

Q7) What is your occupation?

Nearly all the people that completed my questionnaire were students, in total 9. Two were teachers and 3 others had others forms of jobs. This meant that a lot of the results from students were the same, if  i re-did the questionnaire i would hand them out to a larger sample and variety of people, this way my results would have probably been more valid.

Q8) Which title excites you the most? (tick1)

Victoria        The Vampire Runner            Dead Runner          Lonely Death

    0                                    1                                               12                                     2

The title ‘Dead Runner’ proved to be the most popular amongst all of the titles available to tick, Whilst  ‘Victoria’ wasn’t ticked once . I chose to put down this title name because its very old fashioned name and the myth of Vampires is also very old fashioned and that’s how the two interlink, not to mention this would be the name of the main character.

Q9)Would you like to see all the main characters in a film to be included in the trailer?

 Yes     No

13        2

More people chose yes for this question , below are some of the reasons why people chose the answers above;

“Yes because it gives you a better idea of the film”

“You know what to expect”

“Gives you an idea of whom the actors are within the film”

“It encourages viewers to go and see the film”

“It’s good to know and see all the main characters beforehand so you get an insight into the film”

“Creates more suspense if you don’t know all characters”

“Entices you into watching the feature film”

Recognizing the features of a sucsessful horror film

In my last lesson I studied and analysed the film paranormal activity , we achieved this by look at the three following aspects;

How Characters are established

The audience get to know the characters through the setting and surroundings they are emerged in. All the filming in Paranormal Activity was done within the house, this enables the audience to gain an insight into the characters personal life , for example we understand the main male enjoys playing the guitar as it is shown in the footage suggesting he is a music enthusiast , along with the female making jewellery  which implies she is creative.

The Dialogue plays a key factor in how the audience get to know more about the role that characters play. We understand that the main female is the males girlfriend as she express “I have the best boyfriend” , also when the two have conversations and interactions with each other and people such as their friends / Professor/Doctor. When the professor asks the female about her problem she reveals her life story , beginning at her childhood, this gives the audience some exposition.

Considering how Setting is used

As I mentioned previously majority of filming is done in rooms within the house. Overall the house depicts a very modern feel and although it’s not a traditional setting for a horror, there are certain signifiers which set the overall idea/theme off. This includes the staircase, the knife and mirrors situated around the house.

Because the filming is done by a main character within the film makes it seems more authentic and real, therefore allowing the point of view to be strongly established within the film. When the audience see the reflection of the male holding the camera in the mirror it indicates this further, we as an audience automatically feel part of the film and can relate to it with the angle and shot sizes used, as we would observe this through our own cameras as if we were filming. Footage is not shown in every room, which creates suspense further more as it suggests that there is something lurking around the corner.


Sound

There is no non-diegetic sound within Paranormal Activity , this adds to the atmosphere as it portrays how the film is not professionally made and as a I mentioned before the audience can then relate to it. The main male character however does play horror music on the computer that is shown in the filming footage, this is cleverly done as they joke about how cheesy it sounds yet it would be used in traditional horror films. All of the sound is diegetic ,example's of this are the fuzz through the camera which implies further how the film is made by an amateur. Beeping of the alarm clock which is also a signifier for how a lot of strange going on's happen in the bedroom. The constant noise of the couples dialogue and the contrast of how it then goes deathly quiet when they are sleeping , this is noticed as the camera is placed in a fixed position and night vision is switched on. There are also ordinary household sounds such as clanking and clashing of pots and pans etc, the audience will be familiarized with such noises.


Other points of evidence to suggest the film was made to appear as though an amateur had filmed the footage ;

Time and date appear upon the screen
Unsteady camera movement: when he passes the camera to his girlfriend
Reflection of him holding the camera in the mirror
The fact its done in and around the house implies how its a home-made film 

Story Board

Shot One

Shot Two

Shot Three

 Shot Four

Shot Five

Shot Six

 Shot Seven

Shot Eight

Shot Nine

Shot Ten

Shot Elleven

Shot Twelve



Shot Thirteen

        Shot Fourteen

 Shot Fifteen

Evidence: