Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

                I feel that I have realised that you can never have enough takes of the same subject. This is because in our preliminary task, we did not have enough shots, so the film looked repetitive.  Also, this was the same in our full production, as we were limited to the days we could film on.  This provided problems later on in the editing, where we realised that we needed to film more footage to add to the film. 

                I also found it was easier to plan everything in advance, which allowed us to know what we were doing and when, whereas in the preliminary task, we did not have enough time to plan and film, we just went straight into production.

                

Evaluation Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this film?

Technology is very important to film creation.  We have used;

• Blogs, provided by Blogger, to document our film in all stages of its creation.
• YouTube to upload the film to receive feedback
• Facebook to allow us to collect feedback
• Adobe Premiere Pro to edit and create our film
• Digital video cameras to film the footage, as well as digital cameras to take photos for locations
• Digital SLRs on a slow shutter speed to take our light-art letters for the text at the start of the film
• Adobe Photoshop to edit photos for use in the film and blog.
• Adobe Flash to create the production company logo

I believe that I have learnt quite a lot about these technologies, and also believe that these can strongly influence on how the film is shot, as well as the final outcome.  

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

To address our audience, we used actors of the same age as them.  This allowed the audience to relate to the film, and add to the realism of the production.  I believe that it is also allows them to relate, as they could believe that they are in the same situation, or could be in the future.  This adds a different take on the horror genre, whereas, for example in ‘The Thing’ or ‘Dreamcatcher’ is more unrealistic with a ‘monster’ being the main feature of the film. 

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your film and why?

The films we have looked at such as ‘Blair Witch Project’ and ‘REC’ were rated 15 and 18 respectively, so this is who we decided to target the film at.  The teen horror audience, aged 15 to 25, is a very large audience.  This audience is the most avid cinema-goers, which gives the film more chance of being watched in cinemas, if it is marketed correctly.    The film does not target any specific gender or demographic.  This also allows the audience to be widened, again making the film have more chance of being watched.  

Evaluation Question 3

What kind of media institution would distribute your film and why?

As a no budget film, we are more likely to get an independent film distributor to help us, rather than a multi-national company such as Liongate.  This is because these companies care for profits, rather than the art of the production.

I believe that the film would be best distributed online, via YouTube and film blogs and forums.  This will allow the film to build a hype online for a minimum fee, which is useful as there is no budget for advertising and marketing the film. I would also distribute it through art houses and maybe the cinemas in the local area, as they will have an interest as it is set in their area.

If the film reached so many views, and had a following, I would go to national distributors such as Optimum Releasing.  Optimum Releasing have released many low budget UK films such as 'Attack the Block'.  They also work closely with Film4 and are a subsidiary of StudioCanal.  Film4 may provide the film advertising on their TV channel, as well as showing the film as a whole.  StudioCanal is a multi-national company that could possibly distribute overseas.

Paranormal Activity would be my aspiration for distribution.  They followed the same process, before being bought by Paramount Pictures.   The film went on to make over $575,000,000 over 3 films, with a very low budget for each film.

Evaluation Question 2

How does your film represent particular social groups?

Evaluation Question 1.

In what ways does your film use, develop or challenge
 forms and conventions of real media products?

Our film uses many conventions of the shaky found footage sub-genre of horror.  For example, some shots are almost identical to the Blair Witch project and [REC].  For example, we have a close up or Rachael's eye that pans out, which is developed from the Blair Witch projects out of focus close-up in the opening scenes.  This gives the audience an idea of our inability to use the camera and naivety on how easy it is to produce a film.

However, we did not challenge any of the main aspects of the genre, as we wanted the film to look as realistic as possible to add to the realism of the footage.  We also wanted to get across the point that it was a shaky camera piece quickly and by using classic, well-known conventions of the genre, we believe this was achieved.

Final Feedback

The reviews we received were mostly good for our final product, and we were quite happy with the responses.

One of the negative points we received was that the camera was sometimes overly shaky, and that the technique was overly used.
          After looking back with hindsight, we realise that we could use the tripod more, but the shaky camera technique was one we wanted to ensure the audience recognised from films such as 'The Blair Witch Project'.

The main positive was how the film cuts from shot to shot, as it makes the footage feel as if it has not been edited at all, and it is a chronological view of following the students.  Another positive was how the film ends, with the atmospheric ending cutting straight to a static like screen.  This added atmosphere and made the audience want to carry on watching.

The final cut!

This is the final cut for our Pendle Hill horror film!  

Changes to be made...

After looking through our feedback, we realised that we had to make some changes.

We believed that the first scenes were good, but the ending let down the film as a whole.  We decided to re-shoot the ending to make it more atmospheric.  This also removed the repetitiveness of 'Is the camera working?' scene.

We also thought the ending should 'hook' the audience more, so we would add a different transition, rather than the standard dip-to-black everyone else was using.

First feedback

The main points we received for the first draft that was the genre was not easily recognisable.  The general guess at the genre was of a documentary, not what we were looking for at all!  Another point was that there was no real 'hook' to the film, or any general idea of what was going to happen in the remainder of the film.

The major worry for us was that the opening was very repetitive.  After watching through again, we realise that this is the case, especially with Rachael and Lorna using the same lines, 'Is the camera on?', 'Is it working?'.  We may get away with using this if we created the full production, but as it is only a 3-minute opening, we won't.

1st Draft of Our Film

This is the first draft of our film.  We used this to get some feedback easily, by sending out links to friends and family using YouTube and Facebook.   This gave us something to see what we could improve on, and what looked good so far.

On location!

Rachael and Kit on Nelson Golf Course with Pendle Hill backdrop!

Title credits

Putting the camera on a slow shutter speed, Kat and I (along with two other students), were able to create light graffiti.  We plan to use these in our opening scene to explain the 'found footage', in the style of The Blair Witch Project.

This is Kat operating the camera.

And here are just some of the finished letters;

Scripting

As a group, we have decided that it would be best to have a brief outline for the script, and improvise as we go along.  This was due to the genre we decided on and the best way to make it look as if nothing was scripted or planned, like a found footage film should be.

We believe that we need to have a few points mentioned at some point, to allow the film to flow and give the right impression about what happens in the rest of the production.  These included;

• 'I don't believe in witches'.  This is to get the point that the film is about witches, and the research into them.
• 'How do you work the camera?'.  This is to show our lack of knowledge when using a camera, and to show we are student film makers.
• Pendle Hill and its folklore.  This is to show where we are, and where will be shooting, as well as the history behind why students would be researching Pendle and the witches. 

Storyboard

This is our storyboard for our film opening.  This will allow us to know whats shots we need, and the locations on where we should shoot.  This will hopefully shooting days run smoother, as we will know what we need to do. 

This will also help with with editing later on, as we can look back on it to see the order of the shots.

Group Roles

To do the tasks easily, we decided it was best to split our roles to fit in with our skills.  Below is the production roles we allocated ourselves;

1. Research: Kat and Rachael
2. Planner:  Rachael
3. Storyboard drawer:  Rachael
4. Scriptwriter:  Me
5. Location and props:  Shared equally
6. Main Actors:  Rachael and Lorna (Rachael's younger sister)
7. Camera Woman:  Kat
8. Director:  Rachael
9. Editing: Me

We separated the roles in this way as we believed it matched the skills we have.  Rachael is a natural leader and has a clear idea on what the film needed, and the shots we required, which made her perfect for the directors role.  Kat had prior experience with the camera, so knew how to use the different techniques we needed.  I had the appropriate skills using Adobe Premiere Pro, so I knew how to edit the footage to make it look how we needed.

Film Opening: The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project starts off with a simple motif for the two production companies 'Artisan Entertainment' and 'Haxan Films'.

It then fades to show the title 'The Blair Witch Project' on a black background with white text, then again fades to show 'In October 1994...'.  This adds suspense to the film as you do not know what is going to happen, but gives you a sense of the horror genre.

It then cuts to a close up shot, which is very blurry, of the leads face.  The camera is very shaky adding to the unedited feeling of the film, which is continued throughout the film.  This also creates a sense of realism to the film.  The woman does not know how to use the camera, shown with the blurriness of the shot, and the voice-over 'Is it recording?'.  

After looking at both REC/Quarantine and The Blair Witch Project, we noticed some major similarities.  The shaky camera and blurriness of the shots added to the unedited feel, which make the footage feel as if it has just been found and distributed.

 The opening credits are very simple, and very short, and you almost forget them as soon as the footage begins.

There are no transitions between shots, and the footage has not been re-shot if any errors occur, as in REC.  All of the above make it feel as if the footage has just been found, and distributed straight away, which adds a different aspect of realism to the film.

Film Opening: Quarantine/REC

After deciding on the genre of our film opening, we thought it would be best to look at film openings in the genre.

The two films we looked at were 'The Blair Witch Project' and 'REC' or its American exact replica 

'Quarantine'.

Quarantine starts with a simple motif of the production company 'Screen Gems' and with a voice over of the two characters talking about using the camera.   The next few shots are of a news reporter and her camera man filming a show for the news called 'The Night Shift'.  The footage is shown to be unedited, as it shows the 'bloopers' and mistakes made by the film crew and presenter.  It also jumps from one location to another, with no obvious transition from each shot.  This adds to the effect of the film being 'found footage', as nothing has been changed to the original footage.

Genre suggestions, pt. 3

Although Hammer horror wasn’t the right sub-genre for us, horror seemed to stick in our minds.  The next sub-genre was ‘shaky camera’ in the style of ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘REC’, and more recently ‘Paranormal Activity’.  Shaky camera gives the viewer a first person view of what is happening, and makes them feel as if they are in the film and situations the characters are in.  We all agreed that it was realistic to shoot, with little or no production costs.  We then agreed that ‘The Blair Witch Project’ was the best for example for us as there is no CGI or clever filming tricks like in ‘REC’ or ‘Paranormal Activity’.

Genre suggestions, pt. 2

The 2nd suggestion was a ‘Taken’ style thriller genre.  ‘Taken’ starred Liam Neeson as a retired CIA agent, whose daughter goes to Paris with a friend on holiday.  When they tell a stranger they share a cab with that they are alone, an Albanian gang of human traffickers kidnap them.  The film is based on Neeson’s reaction and his will to find his daughter and her friend.

  

 We believed the title credits to be of the main character on the phone, with the kidnapper on the other end.  The audio of the two characters talking would bridge over and accompany a pan and fade to black of both characters, to show that they are talking on the phone.  A medium close-up would show the main characters fear and reaction to what was being said.  The kidnapper would be a dark shot, with no clear view of his face, which would build tension. This could be an over the shoulder shot of a pad, with a list of his demands.  We agreed that this would be a good genre to use, however it would not give us enough creative freedom as we feared it would look a little cliché and trailer-like.

Genre suggestions pt. 1

Working in a group allowed us to have different views on which genres we like, and which we thought we would be able to recreate.

 The Horror genre was the first genre we looked at.  This was because we all had a different taste in different types of horror movies. We liked the style of some older Hammer Horror films such as ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Dracula’.  However,in the end, we decided that this would not be the best genre to recreate as there would be a limit to our resources; such as an older lead role and the expertise of a make-up artist to make the ‘monster’. Also, although in 1957 when ‘The Curse of Frankenstein’ was first made, the effects looked good and were new and exciting; but with the evolution of CGI, audiences would now laugh at them and would expect high quality CGI created ‘monster’, something we do not have any experience in.

Using a blog

After looking at a few blog providers, we decided that it was good idea to set up a blog using Blogger, as it was easy to upload images, text and video clips easily.  We agreed that this was very important as it is a film production unit.  It also allowed us to upload from mobiles, which may deem useful for uploading from when we are filming off-site.

Preliminary Task

Our preliminary task was to film and edit a person walking down a corridor, into a room, and then begin conversation.  This was our first oppertunity to use the cameras we will be using and also Adobe Premiere Pro to edit the footage.    The main aim was using shot-reverse-shot and over the shoulder shots to show the conversation, as well as continuity editing using the Adobe software.  This is our preliminary footage.