IIIIIT'S CHRIIIIISTMAAAAAAS!

This blog is going to be closed for two weeks as it's now the Christmas holidays.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

- posted by Mia on behalf of the group

Today's Editing

What we have is looking a lot better now - Bisma and I added in a music track that Mary [I think] downloaded onto our edit suite, and we made the cut from the knife pan to picking up the knife a lot less weird-looking, as there's a sudden bit in the music that makes it work really well.
We also played around with colour, brightness, and contrast to try to make the shots look the same, which we achieved with the lipstick/blusher shots :) Yay!

Problems

Aggh, Bisma and I were editing yesterday and cut together all our footage - the shot/reverse-shot worked really nicely, but we realised the lighting is completely different in shots in the same room, as we had to use a desklamp to make the knife get that nice glint. We could probably sort this out with brightness & contrast on Premiere, but the shots just don't link together properly, from opening the drawer to taking out the knife. Oh dear.
We still don't have music, although we found a lot of good possibilities yesterday - there's so much to choose from, but it's hard to find something that will specifically go with our sequence, as it changes quite a lot - the main issue is the dialogue.
We asked Miss Thrasher for feedback, and she gave us some pointers - she said that:
1) the flashes in the beginning 'suddens' are too long - they should either be really short or not there at all
2) the echoing in the nail-painting shot is a bit weird - what's the reason for it?
3) the LA shot of Bisma going upstairs is too long - put in one of the different angle ones
4) the dialogue shots are cut together really well and the match-on-actions are good, but it looks weird that the killer is in the left of the frame rather than the centre - we will probably have to reshoot
5) sort out the cutting with the knife shots
So there's really quite a lot to do. However, she was very positive and also said that it didn't matter if it wasn't quite 2 minutes if it was good quality.
We have two more editing slots today, so I'm hoping we can sort some of that out, including getting some music and adding it to our timeline - once we add that in it will all look a lot better and we will know what we're doing more.
We also need to choose a title fonts and decide what the titles are actually going to be - and think of a title for the film! But these are obviously not our priorities right now. We're a hardworking group so I'm sure we can work everything out : )
- posted by Mia

Editing!!

Bhavika is very ill again today =[

We really need to get some music to go with our foley - preferably with synth and a low bass drone that matches our aeroplane foley. This is now PRIORITY when any of the group have free time, because we need to get it done by the end of this week at the absolute latest.

Today we were editing the stairs scene. Our main issue was that the sound on the majority of the footage had mysteriously disappeared since capturing. We also had one or two continuity editing issues, because of blurring within the shots we needed. We experimented a bit more with foley, and a lot with brightness and contrast, because our lighting had shifted between shots (the paglight battery faded towards the end of the shoot).

We also need to replace the old shoes shot with the new one, and change the titles. But overall, good work, guys! =D
~Mary

THE FINAL SHOOT - 14th DEC

Hello all!
Today we set out to get all our footage on tape, ready for exciting editing sessions (which i have become a Pro at!!! If i do say so myself!)
And amaziiiiiinglyyy...we managed to meet our target. There was a slight catastrophe in the form of Bhavika being unwell and therefore unable to join us :(

We wish her a speedy recovery and are certain that even though she's wrapped up in bed, media ideas are oozing out of her mind! Can't wait to hear them, Bhav!
With regards to the actual shooting, it was mainly the parts of me acting. Oh my goodness! Having to walk up and down the stairs AT LEAST 25 times killed me! But, we got some brilliant angles and a variation of shots, which was very pleasing :)
As for the remainder of the shoot, and final finishing touches to our necessary footage, me and mary worked together with sound, lighting, camera and admin! Tough, but we managed it spectacularly!
I'm very pleased with the whole process of doing stage 1 and 2 of production, and i think our FANTASTIC group truly deserve a pat on the back for effort AND achievement :D
I shall be updating with stage 3 and 4 coming along beautifully!

Bisma

Still not well

Hey guys

I'm really sorry but I'm still not feeling well. It's really annoying because I'm going to miss the shoot today. I will ring you again during todays shoot.

I most probably won't be in tomorrow because I doubt I'll be better by then. Good luck with all the capturing and editing if I'm not.

Make sure you don't forget any shots! I will speak to you all soon.

- Bhavika xx

4.30 at mine tomorrow?
-Mia xx

Yesterday's Shoot (Friday 13/12)

[Twelve Days Till Christmas!]

Unfortunately, Bhavika was unable to make it to the shoot yesterday and we wish her a speedy recovery - hopefully she'll be well enough for our shoot tomorrow.

Despite the absence of Bhavika, filming was really successful - hopefully there won't be any problems when we look back at our footage on Monday. We got all the shots we'd planned completed - the dialogue between the killer and the housemate and the shot of the housemate knocking on the door and going into the room - we also shot the killer saying "Come in", which we hadn't planned to do but realised it would be a lot better to... We reshots the shoes shot with different shoes too, and hopefully it'll all fit together nicely :)

All that remains now are the pre-entering the bedroom shots for Bisma - going up the stairs and across the hallway, with the crane/HA shot, and the killer picking up the knife from the drawer and something along the lines of caressing it fondly and creepily. And then that's it, unless we need to reshoot but here's hoping we won't!

- posted by Mia

Not well

Hey guys

Really not feeling well today so I’m not in school. That also means I won’t be able to make it to our shoot tonight. :( Really sorry.

Good luck with the editing in school and the shoot afterwards. Will ring you and keep in touch to see how it is going.

- Bhavika xx

Friday - Lesson, pre-shoot

Our main setback today is that Bhavika phoned in ill, meaning that she's unavailable both during the lesson and for our shoot after school. She texted ahead of time to let us know, though we did phone just in case to check up on her. She said that she'll try her best to make it to the shoot, but not to hold out hope, as she's not feeling much better than when she texted.

In the lesson today, we've been experimenting further with effects and writing the dialogue script between the two characters. One recurring problem was trying to balance out the number of effects between various CUs - we had too many on the eyes and not enough on the nails. We also had difficulty in creating a visual style that lasted throughout the title sequence but wasn't overly repetitive.

In the shoot tonight, we're planning to re-shoot the shoes shot and also to film the dialogue scenes between the two roommates. We'll also be filming the pre-dialogue shots of Bisma on Sunday. We hope to get everything sorted so that we can edit on Tuesday and have cross-cutting between the dialogue. We'll also be attempting a tricky overhead shot, so wish us luck!

~Mary

Script

Hey guys This is the script we came up with for our opening sequence. It is a conversation between the killer (Emma) and the housemate (Yasmin). It will come after the titles in the second half of the sequence. Emma: (Knock on door) Come in Yasmin: (Opens door) Hey. You look dressed up. Your not going out at this time, are you? Emma: Um yeah…I’m just out to see a friend. (Pause) She’s dying to see me. Yasmin: Okay…well be careful, I’ve just heard some terrible things on the news. Emma: Oh, yeah, about all those poor women? I heard. It really scares me. Yasmin: Yeah, me too. Well I’m gonna go to bed anyway. Goodnight. Emma: Okay. Night. Yasmin: (Smiling) Have fun. (Closes door) - Bhavika xx

Possible Problem

Um, you see how we're using my sister's room... she's coming back from Bristol for Christmas next Saturday (13th I do believe) sooo is there any chance we can get all/most of the shots in there done before that?
It's also worth mentioning that the Latymer Christmas Concert is next Thursday the 11th.
- Mia xx

Group Piccies!!!

We took some pictures before and during our filming process (06.12.2008) So here they are!
Bisma xFilming: a pan of the contents of this draw. Lighting was perfect!


Mia: Doing all the smiling she can before she gets into character!

Filming!!! The best part of this project by far! Mary does Admin, as Bhavika covers sound.

Aww!! We do love being part of this group sooo much :D

Gettin' Jiggy With It

So, with our inspiration from Se7en, we've done some experimentation with the fonts and making them 'jiggy'/jittery/jumpy - whatever you want to call it. We tried out making two seperate titles, one with white text (saying 'directed by Bhavika Popat') on a black background, the other with the same text and background, but in red; we made the one with red really short and put it in the middle of title screens with the white text, which when played created a flashing effect. It's quite a good effect for now, but we're sure there are better ways to do it, and we're definitely going to explore this further!
- posted by Mia

'Se7en'

We watched the beginning of Se7en (David Fincher, 1995) in class and we were really inspired by it. I've embedded the opening of the film from where the titles start, after the little bit at the beginning where Brad Pitt's and Morgan Freeman's characters are introduced and the setup is established. We really liked the whole style of it - the title sequence was designed by Kyle Cooper, and is really original and is very memorable, from the music to the font.

The soundtrack:

• diegetic sounds - traffic, creaking, clattering of keys on a typewriter?
• steady drum rhythm that sounds like heartbeat
• electronic-sounding
• screechy bits
• features song 'Closer' by Nine Inch Nails - lyrics heard are 'You get me closer to God' -> the film is based around two detectives on the case of a series of murders inspired by the seven deadly sins, and the word 'God' is one of the words we see being cut out of a newspaper in quick flashes
• crime thriller sort of music

Credits/Text:

• jumpy/jittery
• white on black
• scribbled handwritten style font
• image comes after they're shown, and they stay on screen for a bit before fading out
• big names first - David Fincher, Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwenyth Paltrow - audience knows this director and these actors -> acts as guarantee, quality seal

Transitions:

• dissolves over shots
• fades (into opening)
• numerous, fast-paced clean cutting

Camera Work:

• BCUs and ECUs showing detail of killer's work
  

We loved all these effects combined to create such an impressive opening - they really help to build a sense of unease and jumpiness, and to give an impression of the killer. We want to do something similar with the credits and music, so we'll see what we end up with!

- posted by Mia

Mrs Thrasher Feedback

Mrs Thrasher kindly gave us some feedback in our lesson today, and said basically what we need to do is:

1. decide on final shooting dates that everyone can make
2. remember we can shoot at times other than the weekend
3. carefully & finally plan what we're going to do and shoot
4. carefully plan what each person needs to bring & do it, so no more valuable time is wasted

V for Vendetta (James McTeigue, 2005)

Ok, so this is the opening for V for Vendetta as talked about in my previous post. The getting ready bit is from 1:44 to 3:36 minutes - I think that makes 1 minute 52 seconds but my maths is truly terrible so you might want to check that... This cross-cuts between Evey and V getting ready, has lots of cutaways to the TV news thing - again, fairly similar to our idea - but obviously we're focussing on a killer getting ready so it'll be much more sinister, and from what we discussed today we know we're going to have a lot of ECUs and BCUs in the actual getting ready bit. Also, we're going to have title screens in between, and the housemate conversation. Anyway you might wanna watch a bit before and a bit after the getting ready bit - afterwards there's a low-level pan of her feet as she's walking - quite similar to our idea of a shot of the housemate's feet as she goes upstairs? I'm sure this will be helpful to us so do watch it :)

-Mia xx

Inspirizzled!!

So I was very kindly leant Se7en by Selina & I had another look at that just now for the opening, and Eamonn leant me V For Vendetta at some point so I thought, well, what's the harm in having a look at the opening for that too?
AND to my pleasant surprise what did I find but a girl getting ready!! AND THEY DO THE LIPS AND THE HEELS AND STUFF TOO!! I know right, wow-wow-wow-wow.
So I'm gonna find it on the wonderful youtube and post it up on here with some notes at some point 'cause I think it may be rather helpful to see how they do it. I know we've changed it a lot but I think this will still help, it's all quite close range I think.
So yeah, keep yo' eyes peeled liked a banana for it appearing soon!!
-Mia xx

[also, why is there not a bright pink font colour to reflect my extreme excitement & enthusiasm??]

Group Meeting Notes

Bhavika's idea changes:
-change the first pan from the widn chimes to CUs & ECUs of the killer getting ready
-in between pans (slower) of everything on teh dressing table, pictures of models etc. - this would make it clearer to the audience that they're supposed to take note of it
This prompted Mary to suggest that we alternate short & long shots (timewise, not distance), to keep the audience on their toes and build more suspense. Wooh! We're referring to short shots as 'suddens'. :D It is now an official media technical term.
When we have the housemate coming in it's gonna be normal distances and slower - everything's normal that side of the door, but on the inside it reflects her state of mind.
The Se7en opening titles inspired us to have sort of 'flashy', jittery titles - white text on a black background, not sure on the font yet, Mary suggested one but it's a bit too flurly - and sort of.. flashing.. shots. There was a suggestion of the suddens quickly turning negative before the title screens appear, but we're going to try it all out and see.
We're shooting this Friday and Saturday at Mia's house again ( - can everyone remember to bring their respective equipment/props and food as well as these things for Saturday! Cheers x)

-posted by the group

Inspiration from the Opening Sequence of Legally Blonde (Luketic, 2001)

Hey guys!

As our opening sequence involves a female killer (who is obsessed with the way she looks) getting ready I thought I might try to get inspiration from a film involving a girl getting ready. Legally Blonde is probably one of the most obvious choices and is very much about image and the way Elle looks and dresses. So, I have broken down the sequence and analysed shots and aspects that we might gain some inspiration from for our opening sequence.

The first shot is zooming out of Elle’s hair as she brushes it. It is effective because it starts as an Extreme Close-up and the audience is therefore not sure what exactly they can see. All of Elle’s actions appear slow and deliberate so that the audience can clearly see what she is doing and has time to take it in. We want the actions to be clear but also not really slow because we need pace. We could try using Extreme Close-ups at the very beginning in order to withhold information from the audience and make it slightly more creepy/sinister.

In general, lots of Extreme Close-ups and Close-ups are used as they effectively show Elle getting ready in detail. For instance, when she puts on a necklace and is painting her nails. The audience does not see her face until the end of the opening sequence, which is an aspect I particularly like. The whole sequence is a build up to this point. Perhaps we could have a slight build up before we see her face properly? Obviously, the actual build up is towards the draw being opened when we see the knife so it would have to be a smaller build-up before seeing her face.

Slow pans are used in between in order to tell the audience about Elle’s character and this provides the mise-en-scene. We have already thought about our mise-en-scene and are using pictures of models and beauty products to reflect the character’s frame of mind. We could pan these pictures that are on the mirror and the beauty products on the dressing table in between shots of her getting ready. We decided that we wanted it to be subtle but I’m not sure if the audience would necessarily understand or even take much notice of it unless we make a point of showing the beauty products and pictures. This would make it clearer that the main character is obsessed with her image and kills other attractive women.

- Bhavika xx

Response to Problem

Hey Mary

Ok don't worry. The only reason we weren't doing sunday is because everyone preferred to do the shoot on saturday. We were going to keep sunday as a sort of back up. If we have to do the shoot on sunday then we will. We need to have a meeting tomorrow so that we can sort it out together with Bisma and Mia too.

- Bhavika

We have a problem.

Guys, I know that this is really going to muck everything up, but I honestly can't get the time off work this Saturday. I know Ms B is going to kill me for this, but there's really nothing I can do. I can come straight after work ends, or we can rearrange to the Sunday. I don't actually remember why we couldn't do the Sunday anyway.

Friday is absolutely fine, though. Cancelled youth club again. =3

Please respond ASAP.

~Mary

Comments and Reflections

Yeah I've just read over the many comments/reflections that have been put up on the blog. We definitely need to do something about the emptiness of the draw and I'm up for trying out the paper idea. Aghhh reflections in the window! Did you guys find out if we can do anything about them yesterday when editing? And yeah Mia's idea about having the flatmate watching the film - we might be overcomplicating things again! I'm not sure if it is needed unless you guys all really want to do it. Plus we don't have to have the credits coming up onscreen over the shots we have filmed now. We can have then on a black background that comes up in between the shots or something if you get what I'm saying...

- Bhavika xx

Possible Idea

I know it's not necessarily going to be a problem at all, but I just had a little idea just in case and knowing me I will forget it! Basically if this isn't taking up enough time, we could possibly have a bit of cross-cutting to the housemate, maybe sitting downstairs in the dark watching a horror film - we wouldn't see the TV but would see her on the sofa in her PJs with a mug of tea or something, looking a bit scared, with the light of the TV flickering over her face. She can mention it later - 'I was just watching Pyscho' or something... but got too scared so went up to see her lovely [killer] housemate instead....
Just an idea... :D Don't wanna make it too complicated or anything
- Mia xx

Test Shoot and Real Shoot (Friday 28th and 29th November)

Reflections Both shoots took place at Mia’s house, as this is now the location for all of our opening sequence. We tried out plenty of different shots on Friday and did some planning. We got a lot of planning done on the real shoot on Saturday. We did all the planning and decided on the actual shot order in the first two hours and then filmed all of this in the next two hours. All in all it was very productive and loads of fun…I can’t wait to see the footage and actually edit it! Good work guys! - Bhavika xx

Mise-en-scène

Good grief, that room is cold! No wonder she's a killer.

[I don't know why the toilet roll thing is there... ignore it..]

Before we started filming yesterday, we took some time to make sure the mise-en-scène was right...

...so we had a think about what kind of person our killer character is.

Because we're going to have a housemate in it later, she couldn't be too obviously psycho so we tried to construct something...

...that would convey the idea that she is very vain and cares a lot about the way she looks...

...that perhaps she's not happy with the way she looks...

...and aspires to be like the models she sees and envies in magazines.

In fact, she is so envious of these beautiful women that she kills them.

To do this, we cut out some pictures of models from some magazines...

...and stuck them around this fabulous mirror sitting on the desk...

...which is scattered with all sorts of makeup & hair products.

Some of it is in a rather pretty little pot, because that's obviously what girls do...

You can also see a mug in the reflection (it's not in all the shots because my mum had moved it and I had to put it back) because, well, she is human...

Our shock shot is a pan across this very drawer (filled with innocent girly things that also fit the character) to a knife!

Apart from nail varnish and an ipod, there is the Complete Beauty Book...

...and a reading book, because you might keep one in your desk drawer, with a lovely fluffy bear bookmark and some nail scissors on top...

...in case you didn't see before, the book is Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, which we thought was rather fitting. This is where the knife is meant to be, but alas it was needed in the kitchen :( However, I will take a pic of it at some point, although we may be using Bisma's instead, because it wasn't shining properly... unlike the scissors!

This is that darned window with its silly reflection...

...which you can't see in this one! Apart from the camera's flash.

The windchimes which we use for our opening shot (the bottom window will be open too).

Yeah Bhavika, it's a man.

Favour from Mia Please :$

heyyy mia
Sorry to ask, but i think our blog is lacking some pictures showing off our efforts :P
I was wondering if you could put up some pics of our INCREDIBLE mise-en-scene? I didn't take any yesterday, so if you have a cam..could you take a few?
Thanks,
Bis x

Mia's Response to Bisma's Response to me..

Oh wicked :D Okay, so for next shoot if you could bring the killer heels (lol) & the pretty knife, that would be woooonderful. And some PJs! Preferably really cute ones if you have some, I reckon, what d'you think?
And yeah, that's a good point, we'll see what it looks like then. About the reflections, it might not have been in all the shots, I really can't remember - tbh I might have dreamt it... like that other thing :P which I may not have. Again, we'll see when we're editing! Hopefully there will be something we can do in that stage about reflections if there are any.
I agree about editing and script-writing - it'll be quite good to see how much time what we have so far takes up as well. What do Bhavika and Mary think?
Mia xx

Bisma's Response to Mia

Heyyy Mia
:P lol glad to hear it was just your mum! Yeah, it was really bugging me as well that the knife was gleaming. I have quite a 'pretty' knife. I shall bring it to te next shoot, i swear! LOL
About the emptiness of the drawer..i like the idea of laying the paper down, but maybe we should wait and see how everything looks once we've done some editing?
Also, the reflections! noooooo!!! :( are you serious? I really want to double check that there's nothing we can do in terms of editing.
Finally, i think Monday should be editing and script-writing, ready for the next shoot. Yes? No?
Let me know, and well done again for yesterday, everyone. :D
Bisma
x

Sound

Mia, I think I know what you mean. When there is a song playing in the background that you think is non-diegetic but then it sort of becomes diegetic and is playing on the radio, which someone is listening to or something like that.

I can’t think of any examples of where it is the other way round, so it goes from diegetic to non-diegetic. I remember seeing a scene on Neighbours where somebody is singing and then you continue to hear them sing while they show clips of other characters but I don’t think that’s the same thing. It’s the closest thing I can think of.

We could try it out but I think there is a big chance our audience what necessarily understand unless we make it really obvious. If it doesn’t work and isn’t clear, it might seem a bit amateur. If the others want to I’m up for trying it because you never know, it might look really cool!

- Bhavika xx

Actual Shoot

Well, I've posted my reflections and stuff on my own blog. I still think the drawer looks a little too empty, like you can see a bit too much of the wood? If we just put some random paper in the bottom it might be a bit better, possibly paper that's been written on? I dunnoooo, and also, I really want the knife to gleam properly & I think you agree. There was another shot where you could see the reflection in the window - I think it was the bit where I get up and turn on the radio? I can't remember but there was one :s We'll see on Monday anyway.
Oh yeahhh when you'd all gone I was watching CSI while I was blogging so I wouldn't hear anyone breaking in, and at about half ten there was this tapping on the window, but it was just my mum. Phew. Yesterday was a brilliant day guys, well done :)
Mia

THE REAL SHOOT - Bisma's Thoughts

Helloo all! I just returned from the REAL SHOOT! WOOHOOO
I'm so pleased to tell you, it went AMAZINGLY. As soon as Mia, Bhavika and I came together, we began writing out a shooting script and arranging our mise-en-scene. By the time Mary arrived a few hours after, we were ready to shoot and everything was going smoothly!
We worked together incredibly well and the mise-en-scene looked SOOOO convincing! Luckily, as aimed for, we managed to finish shooting everything from this scene. I just hope the footage is as good as I'm expecting!
Well done guys! Great job!!

Bisma

Second Test Shoot

Here are a few pics from our second test shoot at mine yesterday, which went so much better than last weekend's!

It was so helpful and I think we all have a better idea of how it will look now we've done some filming in a location we've decided on and have tested out some shots and props.



They're a bit blurry... but I'm sure you can see that we had loads of fun setting everything up!

Sound

Okay, I just spent a while on youtube trying to find a clip of the beginning of an episode of Hollyoaks, because quite often the song in the background becomes diegetic, playing on the radio or something, but I couldn't... I'll have a look again later and see if I can find it, so expect this post to change! Hopefully..
But yeah, I don't think any of you watch it, but basically they start a lot of episodes with some crazy style things & music playing in the background (non-diegetic), and then all the crazy things stop and it'll be like, someone's house and they'll be eating breakfast, and the song will be on the radio.. I thought it might be helpful for our thing with the whole song playing, possibly becomes non-diegetic, even though it's the other way around. Anyway, I'll have another look and try and find an example - or just try and see an episode this week or something.

Second Test Shoot

Bisma, if you could bring the heels that would be brilliant! And also, has anyone got red lipstick/know where we could get some red lipstick that's cheap but has a nice tube thingy?
I just looked through some of the test footage - and I thought I'd say now in case I forget later, but you know the bit with the wind chime pan? You can see you three and the camera reflected in the window! So we need to think of a way to get around that.
I think that was it, I'll see you guys later!
-Mia xx

Second Test Shoot -REFLECTIONS :D

heyy guys :)
Just thought i'd do a quick update having just finished our second test shoot. I have to say, we made a lot more progress this time around.
I also think we successfully used everything we learned from the first shoot and helped it to develop and improve today's footage.
I hope every one is excited and prepared for tomorrow's REAL SHOOT!!! Please do let me know if you guys need anything at all in terms of props or costume. I have a pair of high heels which could be used btw?

Also, i really think we made a smart move in changing the location. The predominantly indoor setting makes our jobs much easier!
See you tomorrow, everyone.
Bisma Xxx

Meeting Notes: Friday 28th November

During this meeting we made a joint decision to drop the location of the alleyway/carpark and instead stick to the killer getting ready in her room. We thought this would be a good idea as the idea was quite complicated and we thought having two scenes might be too much for the audience to take in in 2 minutes. We wanted to have some dialogue in the sequence and decided to have the killer's housemate come into her room at one point and then have them both exchange a few lines of dialogue.

We also came up with an idea which was inspired by the opening sequence of Seven. We are going to use loads of ECUs and CUs and add in effects such as flashes. We are also going to make the shots move/jig about. In between these shots we are going to have the credits as well as some pans of the beauty products and pictures of models. Now that the idea is simpler, we can now focus on building the mood and atmosphere through the mise-en-scene etc. Things are heating up...

- Bhavika :) xx

Idea Development

We've decided to alter our original idea a bit, and scrap the outside shooting because there's so much to think about with it, & we can focus a lot more on character if we just have the getting ready bit. Mary's going to use her superfantastic mad skillz to storyboard this before we shoot it, and we're going to test it out tonight. Wooh!
posted by the group xx

Test Shoot

I think we can book out the equipment tomorrow…well we’ve got no other choice!
Not to worry - I’ll print off the equipment forms now. Doing it as we speak!
Looking forward to the test shoot guys!

- Bhavika xx

'Halloween'

I thought it would be a good idea to post up some notes on other film openings - like John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), the opening of which is all shot as subjective POV shots.

Soundtrack
-ticking background
-high pitched piano
-starts with creepy children chanting Halloween rhyme
-has high pitched, sustained, clashing/dissonant notes; also quite childish
-diegetic sound; crickets, owls etc., clock striking 12?
-sudden noises when something changes e.g. seeing his sister, stabbing her...

Credits/Text
-orange, capital letters for names of actors etc. on black - turn red before fading away; connotations with blood, violence, danger, passion...
-sans serif, bold
-white text for setting
-black background
-glowing pumpkin on the left getting closer and closer; orange links to Halloween & pumpkin
-text to set up location & setting (time)

Transitions/Filters
-fades
-cuts
-slow-paced; builds suspense that way
-not many as it's subjective

Camera Work (position, perspective, framing, composition)
-subjective POV shots: when he puts on the mask we see through the eyeholes (changes the frame)
-handheld camera, looking through windows etc.
-end of opening switches to objective shot
-shot of house at start is slightly Dutch angled
-low-key lighting
-long takes (because it's subjective)

Character(s)
Position/Dress/Gesture/Representation
-child (Michael Myers) dressed up as a clown for Halloween
-boy & girl in normal teenage clothing of '60s

Action/Enigma Codes
-Michael picks up knife, there's scary music, it's dark, he goes upstairs - action code; we know he is going to stab his sister (except we don't know it's Michael yet)
-enigma code: we don't know it's Michael until the end of the opening
-sister says "Michael's around someplace" - who is Michael and where is he? (enigma code)

Dialogue/Narration
-boy and girl; couple, go upstairs together; there's no one else in the house so when he leaves she will be alone
-"Michael's around someplace"

Location
-big house
-Halloween
-dark
-empty after boyfriend leaves
-nice neighbourhood

Iconography
-pumpkin
-rocking chair in house
-low-key lighting

Subversion of Convention
-the killer is a young child

Juxtaposition
-little boy dressed up in a clown costume on Halloween holding a knife & killing his sister

GROUP TREATMENT

This treatment is designed to check the practicality of our idea and whether it needs re-thinking or changing. Here goes...
1.) Is it practical?
Yes. Set indoors meaning we have easy access to equipment and fewer problems with lighting, sound or weather.
2.) Is it an idea that will work to the strengths of the group?
Most definitely. As a group we all love horror and know quite a lot of horror conventions. We only require female actors for the opening, meaning we can use good quality acting directly from the group!
3.) Will it show off the skills you have learnt so far on the course?
Yes. We plan to use a variety of shot types including; shot-reverse-shots, crane-shots, montages and pans. Also, we plan to adhere to most opening sequence and horror conventions, and think carefully about when we can challenge them.
4.) Is it something you can reasonably shoot and edit in the given time?
Yes. We have thought about how much of the plot we want to reveal, and how much action to include. We think that we can get an excellent two-minute sequence, edited to perfection within the time that we have.
5.)Can you get permission to shoot in the chosen location at the chosen times?
Yes. Mia very helpfully let us use her house. This means we have permission to use it whenever we need it.
6.) Can you organise lighting to use in that location?
Yes. It should already be well lit as it is a house. We also have access to pag lights and a studio lighting kit from the school's equipment store.
7.) Have you included dialougue? If so, will it work to shoot a conversation in that loaction?
Yes and yes. We are shooting in a quiet, closed environment and therefore, won't suffer any technical, sound-related problems.
8.)Do you have guaranteed high quality, reliable actors to play the characters?
Yes. Using actors from within the group definitely gives us the upper hand! In any emergency situations, the actors will always be present.

Bisma

Test Shoot

Guys we need to book out the equipment for tomorrow!

We can do it tomorrow right?

It would be good if we all printed off equipment release forms beforehand I think,

to make it a bit quicker

And nooow m'off!

Byee my lovelies!

Mia xx

Meeting Notes for Tuesday 25th November

• Discussed Enfield cinema car park as possible location. Too many obstacles and problems found when shooting there for the test shoot.
• Discussed alleyway near Southgate station. Everyone liked pictures taken by Mia of the alleyway. Decided we need to test out alleyway.
• Arranged a second test shoot for Friday 28th November after school.
• Use of car park as location means we do not extra actors.
• Discussed possible actors and actresses.

Individual targets to be achieved by Monday 1st December:

Mary
Focus on storyboard which is to be completed
Bisma
The Treatment,
Asking possible actors/actresses if they are willing to act in it
Bhavika
Update group blog with meeting notes etc
Research
Mia
Research

- Bhavika

Props

Heyy! I just thought I would make a list of the little props we are going to need so that we can start preparing for the shoots. We might not need them all but I've them up in case.

• Black gloves
• A weapon (knife?)
• Red lipstick
• Heels/boots possibly red
• Hair brush
• A photograph of the killer with her ex boyfriend

And I looked at Mia's slide show and really like the dressing table. Plus there is a long mirror which we wanted to use so it could work!

- Bhavika xx

My House

btw guys I put loads of pictures of the beds and stuff in cos I sort of imagined her sitting on the bed lol I don't really know why? But obviously we're probably not gonna do that, but yeah. Hope this helps!

love Mia xx

Characters

V I C T I M S

Ok guys, I tried to make a moodboard of victims in horror films to look at dress codes and stuff - bearing in mind I've not seen most of these! Yeah, it might be a bit small, sorry about that. As you can see there's always a lot of gore, and disturbing imagery - and often the characters are portrayed as being more vulnerable at the time, e.g. not wearing many clothes.... They're all familiar settings, but with horrific situations for the characters, which makes it all the more scary because the audience can relate to it, and it makes it seem more likely to happen to them. You'll notice a lot of the victims are female - I thought that would be good seeing as our killer's victims are girls, and they always tend to have a lot of females to kill off in horrors anyways. There are a couple of zombies in there - victim or villain, take your pic, but I'd go with victim... normal people turned into killing dead things. So yeah, hope this is helpful. :)

V I L L A I N S

... and this is a moodboard of villains from horrors (Dark Knight isn't really a horror but the Joker is the most amaaazing villain and it would just be wrong not to put him here). A lot of them have masks - and we know all about masks and disguise etc. etc. from Lord of the Flies and Jack and his painted face... But yeah, for whatever reason they have the masks as characters, for the audience it can be a whole lot scarier, and really really iconic. On the other hand, Norman Bates just uses his face (well, Anthony Perkins who played him in Hitchcock's Psycho), and it's so incredibly creepy, but just brilliant. The costume/dress codes of the villain is really really important, and because ours is really more thrillerish atm, it's a bit different, but we can still do other things to make our killer memorable and scary. Look at the ghost girl thing from The Grudge, and again, Norman Bates. But yeah, hopefully this will be inspirational =]

- love Mia xx

The Killer

Hey guys, I was just thinking a bit more about costume and horror and all that jazz, and it's not really whole-post-worthy, but d'you think it would be a good idea to have the killer wearing some kind of mask to make it a bit more horror? I dunno it doesn't necessarily have to be a scary mask though... je ne sais pas, but then it would be easier to not show it's a girl straight away? Thoughts?
Mia xxx

BLK feedback

Glad you enjoyed the test shoot girls - you clearly learnt a lot (and it's great to read your posts that focus on the learning experience), but I have to say it sounds like you are making life awfully difficult for yourselves with all the complicated factors you have to consider. Are you sure there isn't an easier way??

Looking forward to seeing the footage, I must say!

can we have a group photo please . . .

Music AND Test Shoot

Hey guys! Music I really think The Tender Trap could work. I listened to all the ones suggested and like them all but think this one would work best. So unless we find anything else, a definite yes to this one from me! Test Shoot – What Did We Learn?? Although it was loads of fun J we have all realized there is a load of stuff we have to take into consideration/prepare for when we do the actual shoot. I know Mary has already covered some of this, I just thought I’d add my thoughts too and kinda summarize it. Firstly, next time we need to check the weather forecasts and prepare for the shoot according to this. We also need to think about the lighting and need to bring extra sources. Linking to that, we need to decide an appropriate time to film (when it is dark enough) and also when there will be less people and cars around so that we don’t have to keep stop filming. That is if we actually use this location. I liked the car park as our location but if someone finds something better I’m all for it. To sum up, it was all in all a very interesting and fun test shoot. And Finally, I think we all need to make sure we have set our alarms for the right time the night before and haven’t gone to sleep ridiculously late so that we only get like an hour of sleep!! (not naming names you know who you are) Bhavika xx

Location recces

They're posted on my blog. I did the park and the forest. Go check 'em out.

Mary

TEST SHOOT WOOOP!!

Okay, so, Mary's already done her little (or not-so-little) re-cap. Very biased i must say!
Overall i have to say i was very pleased with the test shoot and the final creases we managed to iron out in terms of story boarding. so GO US!
Despite numerous interruptions, snowy showers, strange cleaning staff and a very smelly car park, we managed to get everything we'd planned to shoot in the can!
We now have some set aims each, to be completed by our next meeting date, so, hopefully we're on the way to being the most organised group of Media-loving Latymarians!

Last reminder guys..sorry. If we could all possibly upload some stills of any location ideas for the first part of the shoot, that would be fantastic.
Other than that, happy planning guys! Let me know if you need me for anything...
Bisma
:)

Things we learned from the test shoot

1) Never trust alarm clocks. Ever. Always set at least three. If possible, construct a device to pour water over you or hit you with a heavy object at a certain time. NB: Not TOO heavy, you'll knock yourself out.
2) Listen to the weather report, and prepare for all eventualities. Everyone was freezing their socks off, and I got fairly soaked in the rain later on. From now on, we bring an umbrella, three pairs of socks, two scarves, a warm hat, two pairs of gloves, and handwarmers.
3) Lighting doesn't always stay the same within an interior location. Even underground, we were too exposed to outside light, and it didn't look like dusk. Also, for when we film later in the day, we ought to bring torches and stuff. =3
4) People have never seen cameras before, particularly little children. They always want to come over and have a snoop, and generally get in the way. I suggest getting some of that "Police Line, Do Not Cross" tape as a solution to this.
5) Not everybody in a suit is the manager. Sometimes they really are just cleaning staff.
6) If we act like we know what we're doing, people leave us alone. OK, this might not prove true in all occasions, but we got away with it today.
7) Just because you feel colder, doesn't mean it actually is. Which probably explains why we could no longer feel our toes, but why the snow had turned to rain.
8) We ought to THOROUGHLY double-check locations first. Why a church service is being held in a cinema, I don't know...but we ought to know beforehand.
9) It is difficult to disguise three people as one, particularly regarding footsteps. I can only hope there's something editing can do about that, but...it shouldn't be getting this desperate.
10) Test shoots are just test shoots. At the end of the day, we deserve a warm, comfy seat and a mug of hot chocolate, and it doesn't even matter if everything goes wrong. That's what test shoots are for, to reveal problem areas and give us time to consider how to fix them. Great job guys, and keep up the great work.

Mary

Miaaa's Music

Heyyy guys!
Mia i heard the song i think its great! I could really see that working. I've been looking up some others in case Bhavika and Mary don't agree. I know that we liked The Unchained Melody and i found an early version of that which we may be able to use...?
Anyway, that's just a back up, i think Sinatra is great! :D so yay!
Also, We are meeting outside the cinema tomorrow for our test shoot. So be an early bird and meet at 7.00 am if possible please: there'll be less public getting in our way! I'll bring an extra digital camera for some still shots which we can show off on this blog!
So keep your eyes peeled guys.
love, Bisma xxxx

Music

Hey guys, I was looking up more Frank Sinatra songs and I reckon The Tender Trap could possibly work? Here are the lyrics, I think the first verse is particularly good?

Ya see a pair of laughing eyes,

And suddenly you're sighing sighs.

You're thinkin' nothin's wrong,

You string along, boy, then SNAP!

Those eyes, those sighs -

They're part of the tender trap.

What d'ya think, yay or nay? Obviously there are a lot of other options and this is just a suggestion for our list of possibilities kinda thing... This is along the lines of Frank Sinatra stuff. Alternatively there's also Strangers in the Night which could work quite well. Or Something Stupid... This might also be rather useful : ) We shall see..

- Mia xx

More Pics

Ok, I realise this is a lot of pictures... and you can only put 50 on a slide.. and it might take a while.. so here's a link to my photobucket page with all the photos which should work. But yeah, it took a while to upload them all so I'm posting these! And the TV thing is quite cool - well the fact that there are 4 kinda ruins it but oh well. Yeahh, so these were just me checking out the locations near me and they could help us decide whether or not to go with them, because it's easier to visualise with the photos (I hope!). So enjoy! Sorry there are so many

Mia xx

Meeting Notes - 20/11/08

- set deadline (Wednesday) for individual tasks

• Bisma - group treatment
• Bhavika - shooting script
• Mia - blogging
• Mary - storyboarding

- details of shots for storyboarding

- shooting script & script

Idea Development

- killer getting ready - radio in background, news for backstory

- OTS MS - camera behind girl standing before mirror - focus & reverse zoom from blurry ECU of brushing hair

- girl turns towards radio, profile shot

- motivated shot to radio, CU of her pressing the button - sound changes to CD (mellow, slow, surreal)

- pan back across to LS of girl sitting down at dresser

- glance across to photograph, zoom out

- tilt down to putting on heels (LS)

- cut to ECU of lips - red lipstick

- glance across to photograph, motivated cutaway, (zoom out?)

- tilt down to killer putting on heels (LS)

- or CU of putting on heels, tilt upwards as she gets up

Location Recce!

Locations Locations Locations!
we thought good places to use for our sequence would be:

• Trent Park
• Epping Forest
• Other parks - the playgrounds, forests, paths, lakes etc.
• Houses (any of ours really)
• A random alleyway
• Alexandra Palace
• Cineworld Enfield car park

Anyways, I thought it would be a plan to go out and take loads of photos to see what they turn out like and for some inspiration, as we've gone with an alleyway and house as main locations - also it was gonna have to be dark and I didn't want to be hanging around any of those other places on my own with a camera! So, I've ended up with 167 photos... which is rather a lot to post them all on here, so I've picked out the best 15:

This is one of the shots I took on my road - it's a bit blurry - I blame the camera, it's pretty old and has fewer megapixels than most mobile phones... and it was kinda dark... and ok, I do have quite shaky hands. BUT anyway. Not particularly scary, the sky's a bit too pretty for that, but I like the lighting and the shadows, particularly the way the trees are all silhouetted against the [very very pretty] sky. Also, just as I was taking the photo, a car was pulling out and driving downt he road, so you get those crazy beams of light which are a bit strange - but quite cool, à mon avis.

This is on my road again, and I was trying out different effects - this one's in black and white (clearly). I like it 'cause there's the postbox in the foreground which makes it a bit more interesting. The light's also reflecting nicely from the street lamps - the effect of which I love - in black and white they look like little baby moons! But yeah, it's dark - bad things happen at night etc...



Again, this one's in black and white, and is the same place as the previous one, but more over to the right. In this one the focus is more on the pavement and you can see less of the road and cars, and you can see the houses, lights on in some windows, which I think has a good effect. It's a long road - long corridors/roads etc. are things I found to be conventional in the genre of horrors and thrillers (click here for more), and so I've got quite a few like this. You get that sense of ambiguity and that you can keep running but you won't escape..

Yep, black and white again. And again, long road, (that postbox again.. haha), darkness, nice street lamps. It's kinda blurry - although I quite like the effect of it in the photo (if you don't look too closely!). The postbox in the foreground is in sharper focus. I like the trees and blurry lights.

This is an alleyway I thought we could use for our opening - it's convenient because it's literally just down the road from my house but is fairly interesting-looking.. I like the lighting and how you can see it's dark - there's the whole section on the left that isn't lit up (there is in fact a gate there 'cause there's some kind of generator or something so it's quite scary to be taking pictures around in the night). There's a street lamp, a corner, lots of trees... I love it! However, the garage might be a problem if we're doing the whole night club thingy...

This one is the same alley without the corner, and I think from the other end. I can't really remember to be honest. I think it gives quite a good sense of perspective (as in getting narrower, not like on the 'bigger picture' or something like that) - that's good for that being pursued thing, and it's just nice for framing (yeah, I know this isn't particularly well framed but hey..)

This is just the same as the above but in BLACK AND WHITE!!

Yes, I am rather a fan of the black and white in photos :D So in this one, I've taken a shot of the alley with a bit of wall in the foreground - we're going to be making use of a subjective point of view (POV) shot in our opening, so I thought this was quite in the spirit of that - it's as though someone's peering from behind the wall, waiting for an unsuspecting victiiim, of darkness in the alleeeey...

You know what I like about this one? It's not all blurry!! :D Yeah, there's barbed wire and sort of scratchy-twiggy-wiry tree/bush things at the top of the walls on either side of the alley, and I thought it might be good to get a picture... I like the colours and lighting, especially on the tree branch on the right.

Other view of this end - just good because it's a different perspective. Also, there's the corner out of the alley too, and the street lamp an bollard make it a bit more interesting.

This is the alley BUT from the ground - not at a particular angle, but just at a different level which is quite interesting, as though it could be something/someone creeping along on the ground.

This one is interesting because what you can see of the alley is framed within the shot by a bit of the lamp post and the darkness of the wall - again you get that stalkerish, someone hiding/watching/waiting in the dark. Also, I took it at a canted angle, which makes it a bit scarier, helping to build tension and giving a sense of 'psychological uneasiness'.

I love this shot!! It's not blurry!! [Probably because I was resting the camera on that bollardy thing.] I really like the lighting in it, and the way the trees sort of lean over the wall, and they look kinda claw-like, as though they're gonna reach down and take a swipe at you... And again, you don't know what's around the corner - and whether you're in the POV of the victim or the villain. I just love the location to be honest - but obviously it might not work so I don't mind either way.

This is just outside my house, and although the shot itself is really blurry etc. I really like it. The shadow of the tree is really foreboding and sort of reaches out to you, and the lights have a nice effect. It's very dark and you just don't know what might be lurking in those shadows!! It's also kind of pretty though.. I like how in these shots you have an ordinary setting that you see everyday, but it can look quite scary.

This is just a shot taken inside my house at the top of the stairs, looking down between the banister posty thingies, so it's high angle, and the little bit of banister posty thing that you can see makes it kind of POV. It's looking down into the hallway to an open door with nothing but darkness inside. The effect is kind of ruined by the kitchen light being on but hey... maybe it emphasises it? :D haha.. Again, everyday setting taken and made look a little bit scarier.

So yeah, that's that. Please bear in mind I wasn't using anything other than a [really old] camera... They'd be better with people in them, to get more of an idea about them as locations for things actually happening... But what the hey.

: )

- Posted by Mia