Ben Webster - Links to blog posts
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Questions 4 & 5
Question 6
Question 7
Monday, April 30, 2012
Group: Hyperlinks to Group Tasks
Final Cut of Horror Opening
Preliminary Task
Animatic
Location Reccie
Pitch
Audience Research and Feedback:
Preliminary Task
Animatic
Location Reccie
Pitch
Audience Research and Feedback:
MS: Evaluations Q1-7
Evalutions - Michael Steadman 12G
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Questions 4 & 5
Question 6
Question 7
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Questions 4 & 5
Question 6
Question 7
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Group: Preliminary Task
This is our new preliminary task. Our previous one was lost on the computer's D drive. We all feel that this is a huge improvement on our previous one. We feel this way because it is much more imaginative than our previous one. We have used a much wider range of camera angles such as a birds-eye view shot when Michael walks through the door into the building, as well as a close up of the door handle as Michael opens it and a close up of the Twirl when Ben picks it up off the table.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
JG: Evaluation Question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of making your film opening?
Throughout this task we have used technology extensively, whether it is the use of web 2.0 features for example taking advantage of Blogger. We used Blogger in order to write our notes analysing other horror or thriller films, comment on each others content and to work collaboratively in order to plan our idea. Technology also had a huge impact on creating our film opening for example the use of digital camcorders allowed us to playback some of our footage and look for ways to improve it on location and we could then re-shoot straight away in order to improve it. When filming we used a tripod for the majority of our shots so that they looked more professional as this meant that the camera was steady, it also allowed us to pan and tilt easily while keeping a smooth motion. Our opening sequence used few special effects mainly just transitions e.g. dip to black, soft glow, etc. as we wanted to make it as realistic as possible so that the audience felt they were there as it happened. However we did use tint and colour balance to make it seem gloomier especially on the second day of filming outside as it was a rather sunny evening, this meant we could still give it an eerie darkness and make it look like a miserable day. We also used lighting in the form of candles while on location so that the Church was lit up enough that we could see what was going on where we were but the background was dark. This left the audience to wonder whether anything was hiding in the shadows and created tension as something could jump out at any point.
I think the limitations were in editing as the software we used was Adobe Premiere elements 9.0 which is rather basic and you couldn't try anything complex in terms of effects. Other limitations are due to the equipment used as it didn't pick up everything going on in the church however as it made it darker than it was to the human eye it was very atmospheric and had a slight claustrophobic feel as there was only a small amount you could see at a time.
When filming inside the Church the main problem was that we hadn't anticipated how rapidly it would get dark as we filmed in the evening in order to get the lighting we desired. We overcame this problem by lighting candles in the Church as you can see from the picture above this actually worked really well as it enabled us to see just as much as we needed to but everything else inside the Church was left blacked out making it creepy.
When editing our film opening we used continuity editing for most of it such as the boys walking up the hill towards the Church to make it flow as it shows their confidence. Another thing we did was a quick montage to show some of the old items you would usually find inside a Church so that the audience saw some of the things the characters did flashing by making it tense as they think about the significance of each item. Our best editing idea was to use a tracking shot of the boys walking to the Church while the camera passed behind gravestones and we tried to make the members of the group and their roles look as though they were on the graves. We did this by using an old looking font and made it a dull colour so that it was suitable as writing on the gravestones and tried to make it look embedded. The soundtrack was what made the film (in my opinion) and without it the film wouldn't have been anywhere near as nerve-racking. It was made by Michael and both Ben and I felt that it really helped capture our idea and that the sound effects on top of the low drone and drums helped to make everyone edgy.
The production process was not overly different to that of a real film production as we went through the same process of shooting until we were sure the footage was of a high enough quality. Then during the editing we selected the footage we would use put it into the correct order and started to edit it. First of all we worked on the continuity and made it smooth by cutting bits of the footage out and using appropriate transitions to cut from clip to clip.
This image, for example, shows an effective transition, which I believe worked really well. We used a soft glow as the transition between footage of Michael walking towards the altar having spotted a mysterious item on top of it. Due to the candle in the next shot it faded in superbly and made the continuity easy as it appeared to fit together perfectly. Once we had edited a large amount of our opening sequence, we showed the rough cut to the class for feedback, similar to what the editor would do with the director in order to see if they approve. After taking into consideration their comments, we implemented any changes we deemed to be necessary and then made the final cut ready to be exported. We exported it onto the D-drive and then copied it onto an external hard drive ready to be distributed to the makeshift cinema that was put together in the drama studio for exhibition.
Throughout this task we have used technology extensively, whether it is the use of web 2.0 features for example taking advantage of Blogger. We used Blogger in order to write our notes analysing other horror or thriller films, comment on each others content and to work collaboratively in order to plan our idea. Technology also had a huge impact on creating our film opening for example the use of digital camcorders allowed us to playback some of our footage and look for ways to improve it on location and we could then re-shoot straight away in order to improve it. When filming we used a tripod for the majority of our shots so that they looked more professional as this meant that the camera was steady, it also allowed us to pan and tilt easily while keeping a smooth motion. Our opening sequence used few special effects mainly just transitions e.g. dip to black, soft glow, etc. as we wanted to make it as realistic as possible so that the audience felt they were there as it happened. However we did use tint and colour balance to make it seem gloomier especially on the second day of filming outside as it was a rather sunny evening, this meant we could still give it an eerie darkness and make it look like a miserable day. We also used lighting in the form of candles while on location so that the Church was lit up enough that we could see what was going on where we were but the background was dark. This left the audience to wonder whether anything was hiding in the shadows and created tension as something could jump out at any point.
I think the limitations were in editing as the software we used was Adobe Premiere elements 9.0 which is rather basic and you couldn't try anything complex in terms of effects. Other limitations are due to the equipment used as it didn't pick up everything going on in the church however as it made it darker than it was to the human eye it was very atmospheric and had a slight claustrophobic feel as there was only a small amount you could see at a time.
When filming inside the Church the main problem was that we hadn't anticipated how rapidly it would get dark as we filmed in the evening in order to get the lighting we desired. We overcame this problem by lighting candles in the Church as you can see from the picture above this actually worked really well as it enabled us to see just as much as we needed to but everything else inside the Church was left blacked out making it creepy.
When editing our film opening we used continuity editing for most of it such as the boys walking up the hill towards the Church to make it flow as it shows their confidence. Another thing we did was a quick montage to show some of the old items you would usually find inside a Church so that the audience saw some of the things the characters did flashing by making it tense as they think about the significance of each item. Our best editing idea was to use a tracking shot of the boys walking to the Church while the camera passed behind gravestones and we tried to make the members of the group and their roles look as though they were on the graves. We did this by using an old looking font and made it a dull colour so that it was suitable as writing on the gravestones and tried to make it look embedded. The soundtrack was what made the film (in my opinion) and without it the film wouldn't have been anywhere near as nerve-racking. It was made by Michael and both Ben and I felt that it really helped capture our idea and that the sound effects on top of the low drone and drums helped to make everyone edgy.
The production process was not overly different to that of a real film production as we went through the same process of shooting until we were sure the footage was of a high enough quality. Then during the editing we selected the footage we would use put it into the correct order and started to edit it. First of all we worked on the continuity and made it smooth by cutting bits of the footage out and using appropriate transitions to cut from clip to clip.
This image, for example, shows an effective transition, which I believe worked really well. We used a soft glow as the transition between footage of Michael walking towards the altar having spotted a mysterious item on top of it. Due to the candle in the next shot it faded in superbly and made the continuity easy as it appeared to fit together perfectly. Once we had edited a large amount of our opening sequence, we showed the rough cut to the class for feedback, similar to what the editor would do with the director in order to see if they approve. After taking into consideration their comments, we implemented any changes we deemed to be necessary and then made the final cut ready to be exported. We exported it onto the D-drive and then copied it onto an external hard drive ready to be distributed to the makeshift cinema that was put together in the drama studio for exhibition.
JG: Evaluation Question 3
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
As our film is a small budget film with low production values such as the use of prosumer cameras and Adobe Premiere Elements 9.0 editing software, it is likely to be distributed by an independent production and distribution company like Vertigo Films. They have produced and distributed films such as StreetDance 3D (Giwa and Pasquini, 2010) and Monsters (Edwards, 2010). Depending on how successful they believe our film would be influences whether it would be distributed to multiplexes and shown by major cinema chains like Odeon, Cineworld, or Vue which have a predominantly mainstream audience. The more likely option is to distribute it to and show it in art-house cinemas like Curzon as it is a low budget horror/thriller and has more of a niche audience who are much more likely to go to an art-house cinema than mainstream audiences. This means that it wouldn't go on blanket release.
As our film is a small budget film with low production values such as the use of prosumer cameras and Adobe Premiere Elements 9.0 editing software, it is likely to be distributed by an independent production and distribution company like Vertigo Films. They have produced and distributed films such as StreetDance 3D (Giwa and Pasquini, 2010) and Monsters (Edwards, 2010). Depending on how successful they believe our film would be influences whether it would be distributed to multiplexes and shown by major cinema chains like Odeon, Cineworld, or Vue which have a predominantly mainstream audience. The more likely option is to distribute it to and show it in art-house cinemas like Curzon as it is a low budget horror/thriller and has more of a niche audience who are much more likely to go to an art-house cinema than mainstream audiences. This means that it wouldn't go on blanket release.
It is likely that only these types of companies would distribute our film as the members of our group are completely unknown and this means they wouldn't create any buzz before the movie release, therefore distributing our film would be an incredible risk for the major studios especially as they would need to make 2.5x the budget to cover the costs involved like marketing, distributing and exhibition. Vertigo Films is more likely to help our group by distributing our film because part of the company's reason for setting up is to help independent production companies and improve British skills in order to make British independent cinema a big player in independent cinema worldwide. The company was formed for the express purpose of distributing and producing two films, The Football Factory and It's All Gone Pete Tong. Its current goal is to produce and distribute four films per year. Taking all this into account it would be a great company to have on board especially when it comes to marketing and distributing. This can be seen by the success of StreetDance 3D (Giwa and Pasquini, 2010) as it created a successful marketing campaign using the ITV show Britain's Got Talent to attract a large number of potential viewers as the film starred previous winners of the show George Sampson and Diversity. This led to it beating Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Newell, 2010) at the UK box office on its opening weekend which was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Thus showing us just how great it could be if we were to work with them in the distribution and marketing of our film, as even though they are a small production and distribution company they can still compete with some of the biggest and this is further displayed as they have won numerous awards in the company's history.
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