Main Task- Film Opening

Main Task- Evaluation

Main Task Evaluation from Zoe Brant

Main Task- Head Shots

Head Shots

These are the head shots of the four actors used within our film opening. We used a Black and White filter to create a darker set of scene. 

Amy- Antagonist (Witch 3)

 

Ece- Protagonist (Unnamed Girl)

Mary - Antagonist (Witch 1)

 

Sinead- Antagonist (Witch 2)

Main Task- Treatment

Throughout the production and editing of our media piece we used a variety of different media treatments to edit our piece.  When editing our piece, we had already decided that we did not want to keep in the original format. For it to create an eerie and horror story like theme, it was decided that we needed to add some sort of effect to make the clips darker looking. We did this by using three way colour corrector, vignette, Luma curves on primer pro to create an either more darker or lighter tinted scene. We could also change the colour of the tint if we wanted to.

Upon using this effect we found that our clips look much more efficient and professional that how they had originally started out. Down below are two examples of one clip. The first picture shows the clip how it was filmed, with the original lighting and effect, it looks rather plain and just looks as if the actress is just taking a normal stroll though the woods. It does not look like the actress is staring in a horror film.

However the next picture which is a screenshot of the same clip but after the editing shows a much more professional image. The Colour Corrector, vignette and Luma curves we used whilst editing;created a darker atmosphere to clip. The background of the trees look much more eerie than how it looked in the original screenshot and the actress costume looks much more bolder, which allows it to stand out much more than the original.

Before Editing:

After Editing:

The make the film opening connect with the target audience, we felt it needed to have some sort of background music. Although we kept some of the natural noises that were captured whilst filming, such as one point when the unnamed girl is walking though the forest you can hear the chirping of birds over the background noise. This creates a false sense of hope and security in this lonesome woodland. Another natural noise we left in over the background music was the sound of leaves crunching, in the two clips where the camera primarily focuses on the unnamed girls feet at a  tilted angle.
The background noise we choose works well with our clips, it does not take any attention away from the storyline and is not to loud that it drowns out any natural background noise. It also works well along side the heavy breathing and the screaming. Without having any music, the opening would not have had the desired effect of a horror film.

When it came to creating the titles at the end, we decided on a font that looked as if it had been written centuries ago. We choose the dark red colour to symbolise blood, and also as it stood out with the black back ground and was very easy to read.  We also made it easily fade into the black screen after the clips had stopped playing.

We also could move the text around the editing box and make it bigger or smaller.

 Here is timeline of clips, and the vendor line. The light blue clips are the main clips. The Pink are any titles  that were added in. Dark blue, any background dames that purred within the clips, and the green were sound clips we had put it, such as music.
Below are some examples of how we added in titles over the clips,we used this for some other credits.

Main Task-Synopsis of Salem

Salem

The opening of the film starts with a lone girl standing in a open field, staring at the woodland. She's confused to why she is there, and why she is wearing a outfit of black. She then slowly turns and walks towards the forest, and begins to stroll though quite calmly. Unknown to the girls knowledge, she is not alone in the woods, as three other girls emerge. The new three girls are witches, and the fourth girl is their new recruit. The three witches start chanting and breaking twigs as the lone girl continuities to make her way though the woods, she passes signs that the witches are about. The signs are little wooden crosses hanging from trees. One of the witches then hears the lone girl after she accidentally steps on a few twigs. the witches then go back to chanting and crackling until the lone girl gets closer. When the lone girl finds herself in front of the witches, they all top and start smirking at her. Suddenly the lone girl screams and the screen goes black. this leaves the audience wondering what is going to happen next. Will the girl run away or will she join the witches?

Main Task- Camera Shots

The Camera Shot list is an in-depth analysis of all the shots we used. These are all the times of each shots in chronological order, angles, and movements. We added a brief description of what was happening in each shot.

Main Task- Logo

Our logo is called SMZ Productions. We decided to use the first letter of each of our names to create a company name. We also thought the tree helped symbolise what kind a film we was producing.

Sinead was the one who created the Logo, and she did so on a logo maker. She then edited the logo in photoshop to put the writing in at the bottom.
It's a very basic logo, that doesn't have bright colour's that take away from the Film opening. We chose to keep it plain and two basic colours, due to the fact that our film opening was rather dark and had no bright colours in. We wanted the logo to reflect what out film opening was about.

Main Task- Call Sheet

The call sheet is all about the shooting of the film. They tell who was present on which days, how to get to the shooting location, what approatiate clothing to wear for filming, and the costume and makeup of the actors.

Main task - Risk asssment

The risk assessment insured that we knew about any sort of risks that we could come across whilst filming in the woodland area. Whilst we was filming we made sure that the area was safe to film in and there was no hazards or dangers that could harm our actors or that could cause our camera to be lopsided. That would have caused out footage to be at a angle.

Main Task- Location Release Form

The Location release form allowed us to legally film in our chosen location. Our location was the field and forest by Asda. Because at the time of filming none of us were eighteen we had to get one of our parents to sign the sheet.

Main task-Talent Release Forms

The Talent release forms insured that we had the permission of our actors to film then. If we did not have these then legally we would not have been able to film our piece due to not having any permission from the actors. It also insures that the actors do not mind that we upload our piece on Youtube, where it could be viewed by people outside of the classroom. Also if we ended up filming members of the public, by accident, we had to ask for their permission to let us use that clip within our media project.

Main task -StoryBoard

The Storyboard was significant as it gave us an idea of what kind of shots we wanted to plan. In our final piece we ended up keeping a lot of the scene from the storyboard. However some of them were placed in different orders. The shots we kept were shots 1,2,3,4,7,8,11,14,15 and 16. However as stated before some of the shots were used in a different order. For example shot 14 on the story board eventually became shot 15. We cut out a few of the shots on the storyboard as we changed our minds on how we wanted to film certain scenes or we could not find the necessary props such as the cauldron. So when shooting the scene when the witches are throwing things into the 'cauldron' we used a high angle shot so that it looked like the camera was the cauldron.

Main Task -Focus Group

Analysis of Salem (AS Media Project) from Zoe Brant

Main Task- Shoot Plan

Costumes:

Option 1- Black dress, black tights, black or dark jacket and boots.
Option2- Black jean or skirt, black shirt, black or dark jacket and boots.

Makeup:

Natural looking make up. So for example foundation, a small bit of eyeliner and mascara (Optional) and natural lipstick (Optional).

Hair:

Hair to be let down and hanging freely.

We decided that our director, Sinead would be in charge of insuring all the actors had the correct costume and make up. We choose on a having all Black costume based off the idea from a scene in American Horror Story: Coven, when all the 'witches' wear black. Also stereotypically witches are known for wearing black robes. The make up was kept to a minimal as we did not want the makeup to firstly, be different from some of the actors, so for example if one of the witches had winged eyeliner and the other two did not, it would not look correct. Secondly, we did not want the make up taking away the focus from the storyline by being bold and bright.

Sinead, Amy and Mary's Costumes (Above)

Marys Make up (Below)

Sineads Make up

Eces Make up (Below)

Props: 

• Stickmen
• Twigs and rags for breaking and ripping
• Cauldron
• Doll
• Credits

Credits- We used paper and rubbed them in dry mud to make them look like they had been trodden in.

 The Stick men were used to create a foreshadowing effect of the witches.

We decided that we did not need a lot of props for our shoot. The main ones we need are the stickmen, to create the eerie signs that the witches are around, the cauldron, which would be used for the witches to throw their twigs, rags and doll in.

However some of the props such as the cauldron were very difficult to find, so in the end we decided to cut the cauldron out, since we got not find anything that would have made a good stand in, and that would have been easy to take to out shooting location. It was decided that we would instead use to high angle shot to make it seem that the camera was the cauldron.

MAin Task- Focus Group Questionnaire

1. Do you like Horror films?


2. What do you like to see in a horror film?


3. What is your opinion on Horror witch films?


4. Can you give us feedback on our plot?


5. Do you think this film is suitable for it's age rating of 15?


6. Name a particular horror film that you like and what is your favourite part of it?


7. Do you like dialogue within a film opening or just background music?


8.  Have you seen American Horror Story: Coven, The Blair Witch Project or The Craft before? If you have, what are is your opinion on any of these?


9.  Would this film opening make you want to carry on watching?


10. Do you have any additional comments?

Main Task- Salem Final Script

Scene opens by panning around a field at a long shot, showing the forest in the distance, the camera then does a jump to the forest and pans around an empty forest. All is quiet, peaceful and eerie. The camera then jumps back to the field.A person can be seen stood in the middle, staring at the forest. Jump shot to a close up of the person with a confused expression, looking around frantically. They are dressed entirely in black, and look down at their clothes. The shot changes to an extreme close up of the person's hand picking at their clothes, as if they are confused as to why they are dressed like that. The shot then changes to a mid-shot from behind the girl as she starts to walk towards the forest. 

Once in the forest, the pace of the cuts between clips begins to speed up. We also hear the heavy panting of the girl over the top of the clip to add dramatic effect. At first, it starts at a steady pace. It begins with showing  the girl looking around the forest, then switching to a shot of three figures dressed in black walking through the forest - their hair is covering their faces, they almost look like shadows within the forest, They are walking behind each other in a line, the camera uses different shots of their faces, feet, hands, lips and eyes. As they walk the sound of crunching leaves can be heard, and they get louder and louder. As it switches back to the girl, it is a close up of her feet as she walks, snapping twigs along the way. It again quickly cuts away to a clip  of the three figures, who quickly stop in their tracks and look sharply to their left, before turning that way and continuing to walk. Behind them in their trail in the background there are stickmen hanging from different trees, the camera then does a close up of one of the stickmen.

The three girls then stop in a clearing. In the middle stands a lone cauldron.  The three girls surround it and hold hand showing no emotion on their faces again. They each have their heads bowed and looking at the floor. After a few seconds the girls start silently screaming and chanting as the introduction pot the eerie music starts , the next jump shot is of a match being striked and thrown to the ground under the cauldron whilst the other two girls are ripping a doll up and rags and throwing them into the cauldron. Whilst the action is going on jump shots will be used to show close ups of the girls faces, they are smirking or crackling.

This is when the shot cuts begin to speed up. The shots include different angles of the lone girl walking towards all the action and clips such as burning matches, china dolls and rags being ripped apart and water dripping from a leaf on a tree (this will connote sadness and danger). These shots will also include the names of the actors and crew involved carved into the trees or written on burnt paper on the floor. When the jump shots finish, it will cut to a close up of the first girl as her expression turns from confusion to fear and she starts to scream.The other girls spin around and see her, after a few moments they all start laughing, it's a dark, evil laugh. The sound of the heartbeat stops and the screen cuts to black. There will then be a static sound over the black screen. The title of the movie will then fade into the black screen.

Main Task- Location Scouting

The Location we choose to film at was the field and forest by ASDA. This location was prefect for our horror film as it created an eerie and mysterious atmosphere, which connected well with our script about a girl who finds herself in the woods with a a trio of witches.

Another reason why we chose this location was because it was very easy to access. It was just across the road from our college, meaning we would't have a long walk and if anything went wrong we was a few minute walk from our teacher. This also meant we did not have to travel a long distance with all of our camera equipment and props. It was also convenient  as it meant we could film during our practical lesson time, since all three of us in the group had part time jobs and worked weekends, it meant we had no time to film outside of the lessons, and if our location was a distance away, we may have not be bale to complete out filming during the lesson.

The area is a public walking area, so we expected to see members of the public walking though the woods or sitting on the field. However we took that as part of our risk assessment, and if we did come across members of the public whilst filming, we would either wait for them to leave or ask politely for them to move on, since we were filming a media project.

There were a few dangers with choosing his location, such as crossing a busy road to actually get to the location, but there are traffic lights we can use to cross safely. Also with the location being a public area, and with the threat of members of the public being in the woodland, we would have to be very cautious about people just to be safe. So if we saw something that looked suspicious we would have to pack up an dove until we thought it was safe.

Main task- Original ideas for Script

Zoe's:

Camera pans around a empty forest. All is quiet, peaceful and eerie.

Then the sound of crunching leaves can be heard, and they get louder and louder, Camera pans to a extreme close up of  feet walking one behind the other slowly.

The camera then does an over the shoulder shot of one of the girls, in the background there are stickmen hanging from different trees, the camera then does a close up of one of the stickmen before flashing away to the four girls walking one behind the other still.

The girls are all dressed in Black and show no emotion on their faces, the camera does a close up on a few of the girls faces, it's almost as if they are shadows within the forest. They continue to walk until they reach a clearing in the woods, during this the camera uses shot cuts of the girls faces, feet, hands as they walk. The leading girl stops and the others follow. The camera does a mid shot.

In the middle of a clearing stands a lone cauldron, the camera primarily focuses on the cauldron for a few seconds before panning as the four girls surround the cauldron and each slowly reaches for each others hands. The camera zooms into a 180 degree shot, showing each girl from behind as they hold hands, the camera then shoots to the front of the girls, showing no emotion on their faces again. They each have their heads bowed and looking at the floor. 

The camera the goes to a longshot and in the distance there is the chiming of a church bell.

The Camera then pans to a extreme close up of one of the girls who reaches into her pocket and produces a rag doll covered in needles and with a small lock of real hair tied to the top of the doll. Another girl produces a knife, the camera does a mid shot to show the full extent of the girls body holding the knife. The third girl withdraws a box of matches and the final girl, the one who was leading produces nothing. The camera pans away slowly as the four girls drop hands and line up in front of the cauldron.

The girl holding the matches steps forward and slowly pushes the match box open. The camera slowly pans into an extreme close up of the girls hand and the match box. In the match box is a single black match. The girl then reaches into the box and plucks out the match and drops it into the cauldron unlit and steps back into line. The camera then pans onto the next girl with the knife, who slowly steps forward. The camera goes to mid shot as the girl holds her left hand over the cauldron and places the knife over the top, quickly the girl makes a fist around the knife before using her right hand to move the knife shown the skin of her hand. The camera captures blood dripping of the girls hand into the cauldron. She then moves back and the third girl with the rag doll steps forward. She smirks and quickly rips the head of the doll off and chucks then into the cauldron .The camera pans to a longshot during this to show capture of the girls during this part. The girls then create a circle again and the fourth girl steps forward towards the cauldron. She looks at the other three girls and laughs. It's a dark laugh. The camera then speeds up and creates a mid shot of the girl as she starts talking.

Girl four:  Are you ready?

The other girls all start laughing and the camera then goes Black and the titles start.

Sinead's

Scene opens by panning around a field at a long shot, showing the forest in the distance. A person can be seen stood in the middle, staring at the forest. Jump shot to a close up of the person with a confused expression, looking around frantically. They are dressed entirely in black, and look down at their clothes. The shot changes to an extreme close up of the person's hand picking at their clothes, as if they are confused as to why they are dressed like that. The shot then changes to a mid-shot from behind the girl as she starts to walk towards the forest. 

Once in the forest, the pace of the cuts between clips begins to speed up. We also hear the heavy panting of the girl over the top of the clip to add dramatic effect. At first, it starts at a steady pace. It begins with showing  the girl looking around the forest, then switching to a shot of three figures dressed in black walking through the forest - their hair is covering their faces. As it switches back to the girl, it is a close up of her feet as she walks, snapping twigs along the way. It again quickly cuts away to a clip  of the three figures, who quickly stop in their tracks and look sharply to their left, before turning that way and continuing to walk.

This is when the shot cuts begin to speed up. The shots include different angles of the characters walking and clips such as burning matches, china dolls and water dripping from a leaf on a tree (this will connote sadness and danger). These shots will also include the names of the actors and crew involved carved into the trees or written on burnt paper on the floor. When the jump shots finish, it will cut to a close up of the first girl as her expression turns from confusion to fear and she starts to scream. The sound of the heartbeat stops and the screen cuts to black. There will then be a static sound over the black screen. The title of the movie will then fade into the black screen.

Mary's

• based on ahs
• age rating 15
• set in woods
• characters; 4 all dressed in black
• scenes of; voodoo, magic, fire etg

No sound, just a forest, girls appear in  the shot. Opens on a wide shot of 4 girls standing in a woods (staggered) heads towards the floor. All of them are dressed in black, no expression on their faces. A flash appears and a jump shot change occurs; to a close up of all the girls faces, focusing on different parts of their face (eyes or lips) Jump shot again; the girls are ripping a doll apart, running through the woods. The girls move

in sync with each other, in time with the eerie music which plays in the background throughout the duration of the opening titles. 

In the next shot the girls can be seen silently screaming and chanting, the next jump shot is of a match being striked and thrown to the ground. Whilst the action is going on jump shots will be used to show close ups of the girls faces and then will return back to the action.

The opening credits will be written across the trees and outfits of the girls. They will fly across the screen appear for a second and then disappear.

Main Task- Timed Analysis of The woods

0:00 - 0:04 - Age classification.

0:04 - 0:09 - United Artists company title.

0:09 - 0:18 - low angle, moving shot of a woods followed by the words "deep in the woods". This is followed by a moving birds eye view of the woods and afterwards the words "in the heart of New England". This sets the scene of the movie and builds tensions with the continuously changing shots. The music playing over the top is a slow piano tune, which builds suspense.
0:18 - 0:20 - a close up of a girl riding in a car. We can assume that this is the main character as she is the first person we see in the trailer.
0:33 - 0:39 - the girl - Heather - is at a table with two other girls. A group of girls introduce themselves, but knock over Heather's drink on purpose. This lets us know that Heather is troubled as she is bullied by these girls.

0:45 - 0:50 - slightly low angle mid shot of the girl sitting at a desk. She balanced a pencil on its tip on the desktop. This shows us that she has powers and so we start to learn more about the character.

0:53 - 0:58 - a birds eye view of the girl in bed, who jumps up from her sleep after witnessing herself hitting something/someone with an axe. This is followed by lots of flashing jump cuts of different scenes (doors shutting, girls fighting, the students in her school, etc). In this time slot, we hear Heather on the phone to her mother. Her mum tells her to "stop being such a weakling", showing us that she possibly has a bad home life.
0:58 - 0:17 - whilst the fast cuts continue, we hear the headmistress telling the students that a student has gone missing. This is followed by someone talking about 'the woods', saying that you should not got in there because it is dangerous. As this follows the statement about a missing girl, we can assume that the girl went into the woods. 

1:18 -1:20 - the text "a door has been opened" flashes onto the screen. This implies that something has been let loose and is going to interrupt the peace.

1:26 - 1:28 - after more jump cuts, another phrase flashes onto the screen. This says "and fear has been unleashed". This confirms suspicions that the open door will release something evil and this lets us know that this film is a horror.
1:28 - 1:35 - the headmistress tells Heather to "put her gifts to use". We then see heather break something by throwing it down. When the camera shows the headmistress, she looks worried and scared of what Heather did.

1:28 - 1:56 - again, we see more fast paced jump cuts. These, however, show more violent scenes. This is because these clips follow the phrase about fear and so it shows us how fear is being inflicted upon the characters. The music playing over it is a fast beating sound, which speeds up with the speeding up of the clips to create more tension.
1:56 - 2:02 - the title of 'The Woods' flashes onto the screen with a voice over reading it out.

Main task- Three Film Analysis

Blair Witch - Textual Analysis from Zoe Brant

The Craft Film Opening Analysis from Sinead Grace

American Horror Story textual analysis from mary lawson

Main Task -The Witch -Timed Anyalse

In 1630 New England, panic and despair envelops a farmer his wife  and four of their children when youngest son Samuel suddenly vanishes. The family blames Thomasin , the oldest daughter who was watching the boy at the time of his disappearance. With suspicion and paranoia mounting, twin siblings Mercy  and Jonas suspect Thomasin of witchcraft, testing the clan's faith, loyalty and love to one another.


(0.00-0.05) Age classification 


(0.7-0.10) Eerie music plays as the camera pans to a shot of an empty woodland.


(0.13) Jump shot to a  over the shoulder shot of a village. The camera is set in the back of a wagon as it leaves the small village. People are staring at the people on board the wagon.


(0.17) A long shot of a women and two girls riding on the back of the wagon with a lot of furniture.


(0.18-0.20) One of the characters talking over the top of scene of the gates closing on the little family.


(0.20-0.43) The farmer (Ralph Ineson) carries on speaking over the top of the trailer. His saying some sort of prayer. The clip shows him and his family in a long shot,keeling in front of the woods. The camera then slowly pans towards the woods.


(0.45) Shows a long shot of the home the family have built in front of the woods.


(0.46-0.50) Non dietetic sound of tapping and chopping over the eerie music.


(0.51-0.52) The sound of rain joins the other sound of tapping.


<-(0.55) Close up of the baby, who's crying. His sister laughter can be heard in the background. Jump shot to his sister in a close up of her saying 'Peak a….Boo' to him. The baby starts giggling along with his sister.




(1.00-1.02) Close shot again of Thomasin covering her face with her hands to play peak a boo. As she removes her hands her face drops into a look of horror.


(1.03-1.09) Theres a close shot of the empty blanket that Samuel as dispersed from. The camera then pans up to look at the entrance of the woods. Over the top we hear Thomasin scream her brothers name.


(1.11-1.17) Shows Thomasim running thought the forest with the camera following her at a long shot. Very quietly the non dietetic sound of a baby wailing is heard.



<-(1.20) A high angle shot shows the father looking down.
father was looking down at his wife in a  hole.


(1.22) A extreme close up of a goats nose and a little girls nose that appers saying 'Bah bah bah'


(1.25-1.29) Shows reviews about the film, whilst the little girl repats the 'Bah, bah, bah"


(1.29- 1.31) Thomasim is attempting to Milk the goat. The first shot is a mid shot of her, it then jumps to a close up o the contents of the bucket and the blood that has come out of the goats tit. I then jumps back to the mid shot as Thomaism stands up quickly and kicks the bucket over in shock and fear. In then jumps to a close up of the fear and confusion on her face.


(1.32) Is a quick mid shot that shows the twins and the black goat in the picture, all starting at Thomasim. It then jumps to the mother looking on saying over the top of the music. 'You've cursed this family'


(1.33-1.37)  Another review of the film.


(1.38- 1.43) Shows a vary of different jump shots and cuts within the film. It ends with the eldest boy standing alone in the woods,a armed with a rifle, looking around frantically as he asks. 'Who's there?'


(1.43-1.48) Is another review and very quietly over the top is the non dietetic spun of feet walking along.


(1.49- 1.55) Is a close up of the boy, Caleb, walking very slowly. His facial exressions shooing him being scared. The camera then jumps shots,and slowly pans towards a cave, a sound of a women can be heard and gets louder as the camera edges nearer. It ends when a foot appears out the cave.


(1.56-2.00) Shows more jumps shots of the clips within the film and the voice of caleb talking over,saying a frantic prayer.


(2.00-2.02) Shows another review with Caleb voice still prayer is played over the top.


(2.02-20.4) shows a shot of a silhouette of a boy,tied up on a fence and then to a close up of the father as he attempts to shot something. 


(2.04-2.05) Shows another review.


(2.05- 2.07) A extreme close up of straw with blood slowly flowing out. Jump cuts to a high angle, close up of caleb,with blood dripping down his face and him screaming in pain. again his voice is still over the top of the clip saying the prayer. The camera then cuts to a mid shot of Caleb body and his mother trying to calm him down.


(2.07-2.08) Another review.


(2.08-2.10) Shows a quick moving shot of the twins skipping onwards the camera, the camera then using the 180 degree rule shows what hey a re skipping to. The Black goat rears up and Calebs prayer continues to play.


(2.10-2.11) Another review


(2.11-2.15) Shows shots of The father and mother trying to help Caleb, to the father then pulling Thomasim along the grass as she screams, and then to a close up of his face as he does so. Another clip shows a close up of the other covering her ears and to another shot to Thomasim sitting down screaming, then to the long shot of the father cutting wood,with the house and wood directly behind him. Suddenly Caleb's prayer suddenly stops when the last shot shows him sitting up.


(2.15-2.20) The screen goes black and the music dies out and a voice over says 'There is evils within the wood.'


(2.22-2.25) The title of the film slowly appears flicking slightly like a fire.. The non dietetic sound of the background noise is the sound of a fire crackling.


(2.25-2.26)  After the title it jumps to a clip of a naked person, covered in blood. It is believed to be Thomasism.


(2.26-2.30) The screen goes Black and the date 'Coming 2016' flicks on the screen before the screen goes black.

Main Task-Timeline of Horror Films

Timeline of Horror films from Zoe Brant