Construction Evidence of Raw Footage (Last Recording)

This is a collection of all of our shots that we had taken for the third and final time for our opening. This involves all the mishaps and usable footage that we produced. We decided to take as many shots as possible (75) to ensure that when it came to the post production of our horror film opening we had enough content  to work with. As this is our last and most refines piece of footage we believe we can make the best opening, to the best of our ability.

Construction: Evidence of Reflection (Second Recording)

After we understood all the mistakes made in our first attempt of recording our opening, we made the several changes required to make our opening better. These changes included assigning roles to each member of our group. Such as choosing Sam and Pirooz to be in charge of sorting out props and scenes, and Marvin to be the director. While Lewis was responsible for recording the footage. 

The people we gathered where 2 girls and 1 boy to be the main character (Kai). We were unsuccessful getting a fourth character to record but this was not an issue as the script was easily altered, if it were two people, it would make our script and shot list confusing.

After seeing how bad the quality and stable our first recording was we decided to improve our equipment and get a DSLR camera to record with. Alongside our improved camera we decided a tripod was essential as our shots were very shaky and didn't seem like a professional recording.

We also considered changing our location to another room, but had no choice as we wanted the lockers and door to class to be within range to make editing seamless. We also added more crops such as books, bags and stationary equipment, this was because we wanted to make it look more realistic.

After recording for our second time we made a rough edit to spot any mistakes along the way, the following list shows all the faults we found in our second attempt:

• The camera was slightly tilted as it was not level on the tripod.
• The focus was off on the majority of the shots.
• The lighting in the classroom was too bright and did not contribute to our theme.
• Actors were not fully focused or prepared for the tasks needed in our scenes.
• Some scenes had characters looking into our camera during our scenes to make it seem that it looks like it was staged.
• The main character was confused when he was explained what he had to do making some scenes taking longer than they needed too.
• The battery was not fully charged before recording which lead us to having to recharge it during the middle of production.
• The time was limited this reduced the duration we had to record all our shots, this lead us to having to record another day which would not of worked as the characters could be wearing different clothes and maybe had a haircut, this would not have made sense in our footage.
• Our main character still did not look scared and occasionally grinned therefore they did not meet the role of our character.

After our second attempt of recording we still thought that it was not good enough, mainly because the camera was tilted and our main character was not a very good actor. Even if we decided to keep the footage and record again next time they would have to wear the same clothes, this would be difficult so we decided that recording for the third time was needed.

We learned from all the previous mistakes so that we were prepares and ready for the recording when we got there. After another week we were all ready and  went on to record for our third time.

Construction Evidence of Reflection (Second Recording)

After we understood all the mistakes made in our first attempt of recording our opening, we made the several changes required to make our opening better. These changes included assigning roles to each member of our group. Such as choosing Sam and Pirooz to be in charge of sorting out props and scenes, and Marvin to be the director. While Lewis was responsible for recording the footage. 

The people we gathered where 2 girls and 1 boy to be the main character (Kai). We were unsuccessful getting a fourth character to record but this was not an issue as the script was easily altered, if it were two people, it would make our script and shot list confusing.

After seeing how bad the quality and stable our first recording was we decided to improve our equipment and get a DSLR camera to record with. Alongside our improved camera we decided a tripod was essential as our shots were very shaky and didn't seem like a professional recording.

We also considered changing our location to another room, but had no choice as we wanted the lockers and door to class to be within range to make editing seamless. We also added more crops such as books, bags and stationary equipment, this was because we wanted to make it look more realistic.

After recording for our second time we made a rough edit to spot any mistakes along the way, the following list shows all the faults we found in our second attempt:

• The camera was slightly tilted as it was not level on the tripod.
• The focus was off on the majority of the shots.
• The lighting in the classroom was too bright and did not contribute to our theme.
• Actors were not fully focused or prepared for the tasks needed in our scenes.
• Some scenes had characters looking into our camera during our scenes to make it seem that it looks like it was staged.
• The main character was confused when he was explained what he had to do making some scenes taking longer than they needed too.
• The battery was not fully charged before recording which lead us to having to recharge it during the middle of production.
• The time was limited this reduced the duration we had to record all our shots, this lead us to having to record another day which would not of worked as the characters could be wearing different clothes and maybe had a haircut, this would not have made sense in our footage.
• Our main character still did not look scared and occasionally grinned therefore they did not meet the role of our character.

After our second attempt of recording we still thought that it was not good enough, mainly because the camera was tilted and our main character was not a very good actor. Even if we decided to keep the footage and record again next time they would have to wear the same clothes, this would be difficult so we decided that recording for the third time was needed.

We learned from all the previous mistakes so that we were prepares and ready for the recording when we got there. After another week we were all ready and  went on to record for our third time.

Construction: Evidence of Raw Footage (Second Recording)

This is a collection of the footage of our second attempt at recording our horror opening. The video below is the behind the scenes of our recording which clearly shows how many mishaps and errors that occurred during film. This video contains every shot that was taken, regardless if it was going to be either deleted or used in our final edit. This gave us a good understanding of what would need to be changed when editing it for our final piece.

Construction: Evidence of Filming (Second Recording)

As we did before, we took photos of our processes of recording our footage. We knew it would be necessary for our evidence part of our construction to show what we did to get our footage with help from the captions for each picture.

The first image shows our group organising how one of the first scenes will be done, with Marvin telling the cast what will happen in the scene, Lewis manning the camera (getting ready to record) and Me on the far left advising lewis on how he should do the shot.

This image is of Lewis carefully recording the scene in which the three characters enter the classroom, while I give advice and review the recording to see if any mistakes are made. I was also in charge of counting down the camera man and actors of when 

his image shows Marvin explaining the scene to each character as it was slightly complex and involves all three actors in the shot, this meant they all had to know exactly how to interact with each other and when to do so.

This image shows our cast and member of our group reviewing the shot to ensure it went well and if they spot any mistakes that we should repeat the recording of the particular scene.

This images shows me finding a sign that would be printed as a prop with the text (Do Not Enter) in a scary font. This would be used in the the later scenes on Kai walking up to it

Construction: Evidence of Reflection (First Recording)

In this post we reflected on everything that we had done in our first, we did this by making a rough edit of our footage which made it easier to spot all the things that had went wrong and possible changes which were needed.

We noticed several mistakes in our recording and this consisted of the following:

• Very shaky establishing shot
• People smiling to make it look like it was staged
• actors looking into the camera
• Diegetic sound being unclear to hear in certain shots
• Setting of the classroom being unorganised and unprofessional
• No books or bags in front of actors to make it seem like they are studying
• Quality of the camera was very weak and unclear (unfocused)
• Lighting of some scenes were different to others so characters were hard to see
• Main Character did not look scared and sometimes grinned
• Time was limited
• Shot list was not specific and complete
• Missing shots, meaning if the day looked different and we recorded again, it would not fit with our previous footage and did not look right.

After realising the number of mistakes that were made we decided to record for the second time and hope we can cancel everything that went wrong. For this it meant we had to gather and recruit new actors for our characters as some were in the process of doing mock examinations and our main character was severely ill and has no chance of coming in to record for us.

This also meant that we would have less time to edit as we had to wait a week to record again as there was only 2 periods in which all of our group members and cast were available

Construction: Evidence of Raw footage

Below is the collection of all the raw footage that we had recorded in our first attempt in the filming for our two-minute opening for our main task. It contains each and every mistake we had made whilst filming the scene (be it from mistakes made by us or the actors); whilst it contains the footage we wanted to use to produce our opening.
 

Construction: Evidence of Filming taking place

Research: The Importance of Sound in Horror Films

All films, not just horror films, use a variety of different sound techniques in order to convey or enhance the emotion in the scene.; such as subtle music cues. It is often the most overlooked aspect of the film, even though it is the most important part of setting the mood of the scene. Music may progressively build to a crescendo to signify that an important event is about to happen in the scene or trail away to silence in order to show that the action of that particular scene has ended. In the context of horror films, sound is used to build the suspense before a jump scare.

For example, it was the use of the screeching violins that made the Shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" of the most recognizable scenes in the history of Horror films and without sound, Psycho's shower scene would not be as dramatic (or iconic) as it is with the score. When Music is used in films it is put in at critical moments in order to elevate the mood of the scene and change how the audience perceives the scene.

Another example is Jaws, in which sound starts of subtly before picking up in speed and volume as the predator gets closer to its pray and the background music that expresses the child's vulnerability of the child on the lilo, who is completely oblivious to what is coming.

Research: The Importance Of Opening Titles

When first researching the importance of opening titles in Horror Films, I first went onto the website http://www.artofthetitle.com then I looked at the opening titles of several movies to get an idea of how they are presented and in which order they show the names of the people that were involved in the making and distribution of the film.

I then went onto watch to the opening titles of the movie "Se7en" to do some further research on the opening titles of horror films and learn how they are significant in films. Making notes on the time of each 'title' appeared during the two minutes.

Next, I wrote "Typography" on the other side of the piece of paper and began to make notes on the exact visual style of the credits that appeared on the screen in the two minutes.

I then re-watched the opening, albeit without the sound on, and wrote the words "Visual Elements". I then wrote a list of everything that appeared on screen during the titles in the order that they appeared.

In then wrote elements of sound on another piece of paper before closing my eyes and listening to the all the sound in the title sequence before I wrote down a list of them as they were heard