Wednesday 20 April 2011
Final Project - Daddy's Little Girl by Kim Bradbury
As you can see I have made my titles placed in the same place throughout with a few exceptions and only if there was a better blank space on the other side of the screen and I am happy with the result. I have also made the text from font size 60 to 40 because before I though that it was too big and therefore distracted too much from the main event.
Friday 15 April 2011
EVALUATION activity 1 - Kim Bradbury
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)
In general, my film does not challenge many forms of the convention of real media products for my film genre thriller; at first I thought of ways that I could do this, but to include a brand new idea that no-one has ever thought of in my first two minutes I thought would be quite hard, instead I focused mainly on developing and using these conventions. Something that I thought was quite different though from many of the film openings from my school at least was the fact that I had made my own production logo that moved which was made in photoshop.
When using inspiration from other films I have not copied them exactly and therefore have adapted them slightly. For example the idea of the car coming towards the camera in the first shot is inspiration from the film Fargo however I have only made this clip last seconds however in Fargo it lasted several minutes.
A convention of a thriller could be filming something inbetween the camera and for example the characters. I have used this convention to symbolise that someone is watching others as the camera is assumed to be from another person's point of veiw.
The nine frame grid shows shots I feel best repersents the general feel of my film which I was trying to achieve:
Frame 1
Frame 2
This shows the car pulling into the drive from behind a hedge tracking slightly from left to right as though someone is watching; this shot also gives this illusion as it is filmed without a tripod and is therefore quite jumpy as if it is from the intrudor's point of veiw. This shot is just after the voice over so it allowes the audience to wonder if it is the ex-employee who has just threatened the father who it stalking them.
In general, my film does not challenge many forms of the convention of real media products for my film genre thriller; at first I thought of ways that I could do this, but to include a brand new idea that no-one has ever thought of in my first two minutes I thought would be quite hard, instead I focused mainly on developing and using these conventions. Something that I thought was quite different though from many of the film openings from my school at least was the fact that I had made my own production logo that moved which was made in photoshop.
When using inspiration from other films I have not copied them exactly and therefore have adapted them slightly. For example the idea of the car coming towards the camera in the first shot is inspiration from the film Fargo however I have only made this clip last seconds however in Fargo it lasted several minutes.
A convention of a thriller could be filming something inbetween the camera and for example the characters. I have used this convention to symbolise that someone is watching others as the camera is assumed to be from another person's point of veiw.
The nine frame grid shows shots I feel best repersents the general feel of my film which I was trying to achieve:
Frame 1
This first shot was from an inspiation of the film 'Fargo' where a car is driving towards the camera. This shot sets the scene and allows the voice over of the phone conversation to be heard without too much distraction. It is the first shot that appears on screen (excluding the production logos) and builds up atmostphere.
Frame 2
This shows the car pulling into the drive from behind a hedge tracking slightly from left to right as though someone is watching; this shot also gives this illusion as it is filmed without a tripod and is therefore quite jumpy as if it is from the intrudor's point of veiw. This shot is just after the voice over so it allowes the audience to wonder if it is the ex-employee who has just threatened the father who it stalking them.
Frame 3
This shot is only one second long, and I have editted to make it alot faster then it was when filmed by increasing the playback speed, and if you are not paying attention you might just miss it. It leaves the audience confused as to weather they saw anything at all. Although you may not always register that you see things your brain registers what you have seen and is therefore in your unconcious. However if you do see the figure you will understand that they are in black and are looking mysterious.
Frame 4
This shot is completely relevent to the first 2 minutes as her father has just told her to make sure she locks the doors but through this close up of the hand we are totally focused on the fact that she hasn't actually locked the door which therefore builds up the suspence.
Frame 5
Here we see the girl greeting her dog and we can totally focus on her costume - looking like she has just come back from school and wearing a neat jumper completed with a black skirt portraying that she is quite smart and therefore not the rebellious type to get herself into trouble. This leaves the audience to question why a stalker would want to harm an innocent girl. The dog walks off from this scene and we do not see him again leaving his destination unknown.
Frame 6
This shot shows the father leaving the house which emphasises the fact that the daughter is indeed alone in an unlocked house.
Frame 7
In this shot we see once again apart of the intrudor with the use of a tracking shot which edges nearer to the house. Here is an almost establishing shot as you can see that the girl is in quite an expensive house, which emphasises once again how she is not the typical rebellious type that would get herself into trouble (and therefore be stalked). On this shot we can also see the font that I have used throughout, it is called 'Nirvana Engraved' and I even used it to make my animation Production Logo. I used this font of text especially because I believe that it is quite eerie looking. The shot also gives credit to the composer of the soundtrack which I used, "Pulses and Drones" and because it was copywrite it had to mentioned as I wasn't going to allow the audience to believe that it was my own.
Frame 8
This shot includes the sound effect which I found on soundsnap.com along with the dialing and ringing tone found earlier in my film where the credits first begin. The sound effect is of a dog yelping and the daughter reacts perfectly to it, she then looks around for the dog. I used the shot from above to portray that the daughter was very small and in danger. It also looks like once again that someone is watching her and the blank space of the balcony allows space for one of my credits to fill it perfectly.Frame 9
This is the very last shot in the sequence (apart from the title of the movie). It pans from the worried daughter to see that the door is open and she wonders who could be in the house. The title of the movie then comes straight after, "Daddy's Little Girl" which matches the movie perfectly because it symbolises just how young and defencless this girl is and how one decision from a father can cause a huge regret. This suggests the genre, of being a thriller/horror.
Thursday 14 April 2011
EVALUATION activity 2 - Kim Bradbury
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I decided to use Charlotte in my film because she has a real interest in scary films and thought that through the blonde hair and the way I dressed her it made her look totally innocent, quite wealthy and fits the stereotype of a girl that is completely vunerable; however because she comes from a good background and is intellegent she attempts to figure out who her stalker is later on in the movie. I got this idea through many of the survivors of the 'Scream' movies.
"Kirby" played my Hayden Panettiere in Scream 4 fits this stereo type and Charlotte in my film portrays this charector perfectly. They are both independant, have an interest in scary films (in real life and as their characters in their individual movies), blonde and wealthy. They are both in high school and will both be the charactor that figures out who their stalkers are.
Even these images are very simular from the facial expressions which look confused yet more brave then fearful, body positions where they are leaning forward to emphasise ready to spring into action and their costumes. They are both wearing purple which symbolises that they are quite girly and therefore would have the stereotype of being defenceless. They are in relitively casual clothing however are quite smart in the way they dress ie. not in tracksuits when they relax. They are both positioned with a wall behind and a door next to them which emphasises how they are alone, increases the intensity and allows for the audience to wonder if the door could open behind them.
However, there are some differences such as the long girly hair of Charlotte might make her seem a bit more fearful and defenceless; whereas the short crop of Kirby allows her to look a bit more vicious and agressive, being able to protect herself slightly more. Charlotte's hands are close to her chest and she is clutching her biscuit as though she doesn't know what she is going to do and Kirby's hands are out of veiw which allows the audience to wonder whether she is grabbing a weapon or maybe trying to find her phone so that she can call for help. Overall Kirby looks less fearful and more ready to protect herself if need be.
Wednesday 13 April 2011
EVALUATION activity 3 - Kim Bradbury
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Here is my finished film with the voice over on top:
Here is the script of my voice over if you cannot understand anything.
Here is my finished film with the voice over on top:
Here is the script of my voice over if you cannot understand anything.
I’m Kim, the producer and editor.
I’m Sam, I play the stalker and father.
Me: I have embedded the Icon Home Entertainment to the beginning of my film, I did this because it made my work look more professional and with the lightening it complemented the genre of my film. I then added my own production logo called Bradbury Productions and I made this in photo shop; using blood trickling from the top of the screen portraying the eerie atmosphere that I wanted to create.
The titles then appear as my ringing tones come in. The car coming towards the camera is an inspiration taken from the film, Fargo. This mid-shot of the father driving his daughter home shows the countryside which portrays isolation.
Sam: When he threatens me the music builds up showing suspense. The voice over is done so the car journey isn’t dragging out and becoming boring. However the filming had to be done a few times as I kept stalling the car!
Me: The first sections of match on action now appear as the car comes through the gate
Sam; I enjoyed doing this because it looks like the camera position is from my point of view, the stalker.
Me: This conversation is important as the father tells the daughter to make sure that she locks the door, with a nervous expression showing his fear, she disregards this and closes the car door.
Sam: the footsteps have a lack of identity and are done obscurely however your brain still registers what’s happening.
Me: I increased the playback speed to quicken the movement. The daughter then unlocks the door, walks through and then this close up emphasises how she did not re-lock the door.
Sam: This clips shows the father is in a hurry ignoring the safety of his child.
Me: The daughter then greets her dog, which shows that she could be the stereotype girly girl who wouldn’t normally get herself into trouble and is venerable. The dog then walks off and we don’t know where he goes. The sudden bang in music once again builds up suspense as the father leaves her home alone.
Sam: This is my favourite clip, I held camera making sure that I got my hand in view; I then walked towards the house as the girl comes into view confirming my secret presence without losing suspense.
Kim: This shot from above symbolises how the daughter is alone and being watched. It is filmed from a tripod to show the difference between the stalker and herself. The yelp of the dog is sudden and the daughter is terrified. The panning technique from left to right allows the audience to see the girl then the door which is open.
Sam: The sudden jump to the title works well with the music.
Extra questions that I didn't cover within my voice over include:
What does a production company do?
What does a production company do?
The production company are the people that produce and may even fund films. They then sell their films and other productions to a filming studio. For exacmple in my project "Bradbury Productions" produced my film and this was advertised within the first few minutes. The people that then work for the production company are then mentioned themselves with their own individual roles:
Produced By Martin Oursel
Co-Producer Kim Bates
Executive Producer Fredrick Sayer
What is the idea of a distributor, who that might be and why?
A film distributor is a company or an individual person responsible for releasing films to the public through the cinema, DVDs, Download and Television etc. For example I used Icon Home Entertainment as they have distributed many films, including Slumdog Millionaire, Knowing, Little Miss Sunshine and Twilight which are all very successful films to therefore this company have a good reputation and I could trust them to release my film and make it known to as many people as possible.
Where might the money come for such film as yours?
Bradbury Productions offered a large sum of money towards my film but I was also able to gain a government grant, and the use of debt finance where I borrowed money from a bank and also through equity finance to fund the costumes which means from my own personal funds.
Why the various people are named in the titles?
My titles begin at the start of the film because it is quite a calm opening and therefore they can appear and be read without any distraction from too much action in the film; also if I have them at the beginning I can repeat them in the end in the final credits also incase anybody missed them and they can find out certain actors or crew members names then too. I have not just included the cast in my movie because although their job is a major role in a film it could not have been accomplished if it were not for all of the hard work of the crew members aswell.
I felt as though the order was important, so I therefore mentioned the distributor first as they are the company who have made alot of the advertisements and trailers to make my film apeal to the audience who are now watching. I then mentioned my production company as they paid the majority of my film and helped with actually making it. I then mention the main charectors in my cast followed by the casting director as I thought this followed on as it was Dasha who actually recruited the cast. I think mentioned the director and he is very important and without him the filming wouldn't have been able to happen because he had to be there fore every day of filming to oversea and direct the cast if they were going wrong or to advise them if there were improvements to be made. The editor then followed as the co-insided with the director because they have simular jobs in the way that they have to oversea a large job however in this case its the job of overseeing the whole editting process and giving their opinions on potential improvements. The writer is then mentioned who wrote the whole script and worked closely with the director and casting director to perfect the dialogue and with the editor to decide on the movements and directions within the script. The costume designer follows as she worked with the casting director and also the writer so she could understand what the charectors in the film had to wear. Each member of the production company are now mentioned because I felt it was not a good idea to mention them just as a company because they each had their own induvidual jobs. I then mentioned where I gained my music from because it was a copyright track and therefore wanted to show that I was not trying to take credit for "Pulses and Drones" creations. The director of photography and cinomatographer are then mentioned one after the other because they worked with eachother, for "A K.I.M. Picture" and their jobs were very similar as they both operated a motion picture camera. The title of the film is then shown as the beginning of the film is over.
The titles are, in order:
Icon Home Entertainment
Bradbury Productions
A K.I.M. Picture
Starring Chris Breese
Sam Rayner
Charlotte Woodward
Bailey Bradbury
Casting By Dasha Titova
Directed By Dylan Bowery
Edited By Kim Bradbury
Written Tom Allen
Costume Designer Janice Ma
Production Designer Louis Watkins
Produced By Martin Oursel
Co-Producer Kim Bates
Executive Producer Fredrick Sayer
Music By "Pulses and Drones"
Director of Photography Stan Shirokiy
Cinematographer Christina Bryan
Daddy's Little Girl
I have done them in this way by analysing "Panic Room" as I felt my film was quite simular to this film however as I didn't want to copy their order I did it in the way that I wanted to, however I made note at what times each title came in and also what titles were mentioned; I then added to the titles mentioned and fitted them into a time frame that worked well with how my opening began (ie putting the titles in blank spaces of the clips as the therefore not distract from the film.)
What is your film similar to 'institutionally'?
The films that would be released in a similar way would be Screm 1-4, The Strangers and Panic Room, this is because not only are they all in the same genre of my film, thriller, but also because they have simular plots including a stalker/stalkers coming into a person's house. Paranormal Activity could also be released similary as some clips of the film are done so in the same way (handheld) however that is the main focus of Paranormal Activity and not so much of my film and that is why it is not one of the main films that I could compare "Daddy's Little Girl" to.
Tuesday 12 April 2011
EVALUATION activity 4 - Kim Bradbury
Who would be the audience for your media product?
This is Nicole Adams she is 16 years old and 8 months and is in Year 11 at Presdales girls school. She lives just North of London, in Hertford and she enjoys spending her time with her friends and shopping at the weekend where she will spends most of her money buying clothes, extensions and DVDs. Her casual wear would be mainly a black or white top and jeans. She enjoys shopping at TopShop, River Island, Primark, AllSaints and H&M. She loves top designer accessories but explains that most of them are way too expensive.
When she is not with her friends she spends time with her large amount of family her dog and her boyfriend. When she is with her family she would either take her younger cousins to the cinema or spend time with her grandma and walking her dog with her. Her boyfriend Jack who is 18 has just bought a new car and she enjoyed helping him chose it because she is excited for her birthday which is soon and she hopes that she will get a car too. When she spends time with Jack they would normally spend the night in watching a new DVD or go out for a meal which Jack normally pays for as he has a job as a waiter in their nearby restaurant.
Her favourite television programmes are The Mentalist on Channel 5 wear she tries to figure out the reasons to the cases before the characters do, Drop Dead Diva on Living which is a comedy about the ghost of a lawyer, and Nicole finds this amusing because she says, "I enjoy the sub-realism of there because ghost but I think that it is matched well with the comedy that it co-insides with aswell." and the soap Eastenders on BBC1.
She explains, "I absolutely love scary films, in the way that I hate watching them but the suspence make me want to carry on watching. I enjoy trying to figure out who the stalkers and killers could be but I often find myself hiding behind my hands when I can sense that a gruesome bit is coming. My favourite films are the ones that literally make me jump out of my seat." Her favourite films are The Strangers, Scream 1-4, American Physco, The Grudge and The Butterfly Effect. She enjoys watching them at the cinema and also buying them later on DVD and watching them with her friends, during sleepovers as she explains "I don't like watching them alone!"
She enjoys various types of music but her favourite is indie and scene music. Recently she went to see her favourite band live in concert, Fall Out Boy. She has seen them three times now - once even in Australia when she went to see them when she was visiting her father who lives out there. The band that accompanied them on stage was the All-American Rejects which she says that she enjoys listening to aswell. On her way to school she says that she is constantly listening to her iPod and she puts it on shuffle because she says she loves listening to anything, "as long as it has a good beat!" And if she's not listening to her iPod the radio will normally be blasting, playing her favourite stations: XFM, Kerrang or sometimes Capital.
I think my film would appeal to Nicole because it is a thriller which she enjoys however there is not too much gore which she explains that she dislikes this if it is too excessive but mainly because it is filled with suspence. My film is one where you can watch with a group of friends or with your boyfriend. It is for those who enjoy scaring themselves when watching it at home in darkness, eating your popcorn. Nicole would go to watch this film at the cinema with her friends then buy it on DVD to show to her boyfriend afterwards so that she knows when she scary parts are coming so she can impress him by not acting too scared.
I think my film would appeal to Nicole because it is a thriller which she enjoys however there is not too much gore which she explains that she dislikes this if it is too excessive but mainly because it is filled with suspence. My film is one where you can watch with a group of friends or with your boyfriend. It is for those who enjoy scaring themselves when watching it at home in darkness, eating your popcorn. Nicole would go to watch this film at the cinema with her friends then buy it on DVD to show to her boyfriend afterwards so that she knows when she scary parts are coming so she can impress him by not acting too scared.
Monday 11 April 2011
EVALUATION activity 5 - Kim Bradbury
How did you address your target audience?
In this clip I am interveiwing my friend Catherine Wright who is 16 years old. She is in my year at school but as of this year she has moved school so she has no idea of my project that I have made. I showed her my film and then with my pre-decided questions I asked her on the spot without preparing her so that I got her imediate reaction. These questions including elements of my film such as: the genre, soundtrack, camera shots, overall thoughts and other films that could be compared to mine. Catherine does A-Level English and described my movie very posivitely and with a high detail of description which allowed me to feel very happy at what I had achieved, afterwards she explained to me that she felt as though she had answered completely truthfully which increased my happiness.
Sunday 10 April 2011
EVALUATION activity 6 - Kim Bradbury
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Tool Bar - the tool bar offered a range of things to do on the editing software which allowed you to add many effects under the tabs of: edit, caption, audio, share, title and effects.
Film Clips - this was where the film clips would be stored in their 'library' until they were needed.
Film Being Edited - in the left hand corner, I could pause and play my clips. It is here that I can edit my clips so I can get effects such as match on action. You use the arrows just below this image to move the film on one frame at a time so that you can cut as accurately as needed. This was how we would see what we had done so far. We could make the screen full-sized if needed.
Timeline - this is where to clips go from the library 'when they are needed' they can be moved around and cut with effects such as a soundtrack or sound effect can be added on top of it.
Add New Post - Here you see that I am on the website called blogger and this is the button that I click which would take me to where I then can add a new post to my blog.
Blogs - Each blog contains evidence of where I upload many pictures and anything that is relevent to my project. They are in date order and I can arrange to see my own post by clicking on my name label so I can edit any drafts or unfinished posts.
Camera - This is the camera that I was using and here (with a vacant expression!) I am learning as to what each button means.
Camera - I used a cam-corder to record all our movie footage, it was good because the focus was good and it was easy enough to zoom and pan etc.
Tripod - this was what I placed the camera onto so that it was safe and I was able to have a smooth and even film with varying angles.
Extendable Legs - I could adjust these legs depending on where I wanted my clip to be filmed from. eg. being filmed from below makes the actor seems bigger and therefore more important.
The‘Art of the Title’ is the website where there are many openings to films. On here you can also see a few tips to make a title sequence better. This is where I decided to find the opening to “Panic Room” so that I could figure out what titles came in and when.
Blogger if the web use which I used to make my blog, put up posts, videos, pictures and I was able to view my teacher’s blog which was available to my whole class which gave us tips on how to improve out blogs
This cannon Camera is the one that I used to do the practice shots which are on my blog earlier on. I found doing this was really useful because it gave me the practice that I needed.
Corel Video Studios is the programme that I used to edit my film. I can edit my video clips, the music, sound effects and titles etc so that it all works well together. I thought that this programme was really good as a first time editing software; however it crashed quite a lot which obviously delayed my editing which was very frustrating. However apart from this, it was easy to use.
Keep Vid is the website where you can download youtube clips. So you use the url of the youtube video that you want to use and then you convert the file so that you can save it to use in your video. It is here that I downloaded the Icon Production Company video. It made my movie look more professional.
Paint is the programme where I would paste my screen grabs from various programmes and also where I would analyse many pictures and then from here I would save it and then post the finished result onto my blog.
Photoshop ad Dreamweaver programmes helped me to make my “Bradbury Production” ANIMATED LOGO. At first I found it hard to do this but I followed the instruction manuals of these programmes whilst at home and in a couple of hours I made a simple yet effective production logo.
Sound Cloud allows you to upload videos and convert them into audio files which you can then save and use in your film.
SoundSnap is a website where you search any sound effect that you want and then it plays out loud where you then record it and use in your film. This was very useful and I got the sound effect of the dog from this website.
Vimeo is the website where all of our final drafts of our films were finally uploaded to. It gives you a section called ‘edmundsmedia’where you can view all of the videos from our school; this is good because it allowed me to compare my film with other very easily.
Youtube is the website that I used the most because it allowed me to view many film openings, sound effects, production companies, interviews with editor and so on. It is a very simple website to use and it has so many things on it. I also used it to embed videos onto my blog with their individual embed codes.
Saturday 9 April 2011
EVALUATION activity 7 - Kim Bradbury
7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
- These first three set of screengrabs are from my preliminary tasks.
The first thing you will realsise is that we used 2 different cameras and because at the time this was our first filming experience we did not realise that they were in the same mode. In the first picture the film fits the screen where as in the second camera the height of the clip isn't quite high enough. However I believe that I managed to acheived match on action well as my teacher taught me how it was possible to veiw the clip in the editing programme that we use frame by frame and by this method it was easy to cut the clip exactly when I first saw the door open from both cameras to create a smooth effect.
This is another example of my use of match on action however if I were to do this know I would probably have Dasha pulling out the chair now with her hand so we could focus on that aswell to give an even better match on action.
This is the conversation between Janice and Dasha and by obeying to the 180 degree rule we were able to make the conversation look as though the two girls were indeed looking at eachother, the new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle. Because they were facing eachother we had to make sure that we couldn't see the other camera in the background. This therefore obeys the 180 degree rule which can be defined as a basic guideline in filming where two actors in the same scene must always have the same left/right relationship to eachother. If the camera passes over the line that runs between them (or on the other side of them) it is called crossing the line.
-These next three sets of screen grabs are from the beginning sequence to my movie:
As you can see from the first to the second frame of these it is another match on action however I have used other techniques along witht this basic one. The fact that the first clip is from infront of the car shows just how big this space is that the girl is going to be alone in; and the second shot is done handheld and from behind a bush portrays how it is from the stalkers point of veiw. I've learnt this since my preliminary task, and also from the varying camera angels which used to be basic but now show that there is a close up, and they're not just all long shots.
Here is the match on action of the girl walking through the door but instead of just matching up when a door opens which was the basic idea that I used in the preliminary task I decided to have a close up of the daughters hands on the lock as it varies up the clips but also the third shot in this three shows how eventhough the father told the girl to lock the door she ignored this, thinking that what he said wasn't important and by leaving the door unlocked we see this.
Both of these shots portray another way of filming from the stalker's point of veiw. In the first clip I made sure that we could see the actors hand and by moving towards the house this looks as though he is walking towards the daughter. In the second shot the girl is being filmed from above which symbolises that she is being watched again. The fact that some-one might be above her makes her look defenceless and gives the stalker a higher level of importance. I learnt this through watching film openings such as Terminator where Arnold Shwartzanager is always being filmed from below, giving him the control which uses to his advantage.
Friday 8 April 2011
EVALUATION activity 1. - Charlotte Woodward
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)
Here is a 9 frame grid of my project, "Number Withheld":
Frame 1:
This shot is the second shot which appears (excluding production logos) portraying that it is the scene that builds up the atmosphere, as the phone call shows its relevance to the first two minutes. The audience may be wondering what relevance the phone call has, and why it is shot from a mid-shot angle. It also reveals her costume - easy wear lounging around the house clothes, so the audience knows she's not going out anywhere.
Frame 2:
This shot suggests the location of where the project is set. It shows that it is a detached house, its in the evening on a dull nights, no lights are on other than the porch light, suggesting that she is home alone.
Frame 3:
This is the shot that reveals the first image of the stalker. As you can see, she is unaware that he is peering through the window behind her. At this point, she assumes it is her friend/boyfriend Josh on the other end of the phone, when it's not. As he comes into the shot, we see that he is on the phone, suggesting that it is him that is calling her.
Frame 4:
This shot is one of my favorites. This is a tracking shot, filmed from the field behind my garden. I filmed this from behind the fence to portray the stalker watching her. She is looking out the door window to see if anyone is there, yet she cannot see him watching her.
Frame 5:
This shot is when she is locking the back door. This is right after the scene before when she is looking outside. As she gets suspicious she locks the door. This is filmed through a close-up shot. This way, the audience can see that something is going to/or has happened that has made the character lock the door. In this shot we can also see that it is a dark night.
Frame 6:
This is another close-up shot of the girl. This is due to the suspicious noise that she hears. She hears the sound of a door closing, and her facial expression shows this - shocked and scared. Her reaction shows the audience that something big has happened which has made her react like this. Immediately, we know that this is not a easy film to watch.
Frame 7:
This shot shows that she is looking up the stairs to see anything. This is right after she moves into the hall due to the loud door closing sound she hears. Timidly, she walks slowly into the hall and looks up to see something rather disturbing, and ultimately, threatening to her. To show her looking up suggests that she is going to see something, making the audience want to know what is there.
Frame 8:
This shot shows the legs of the stalker, and also half of his chest. The position he is standing at is a way of exposing himself fully to her. Now the audience are aware of what this film is all about. The fact that his face isn't exposed, leaves the audience on edge of what it is like. We see his face briefly in the window at earlier scenes, but we have never seen him fully. Now that there are no other filming scenes, makes the audience wonder what is going to happen next.
Frame 9:
This final frame shows where my main titles come in. This is the title of the film, "Number Withheld", i used a simple font to enable the viewer to read it clearly, yet I used a title effect to that the words merge together separately, then descend out again once the titles display for around 4 seconds. This is shown alongside of a dial tone that is played to emphasize the title of a number, withheld.
Here is a 9 frame grid of my project, "Number Withheld":
This shot is the second shot which appears (excluding production logos) portraying that it is the scene that builds up the atmosphere, as the phone call shows its relevance to the first two minutes. The audience may be wondering what relevance the phone call has, and why it is shot from a mid-shot angle. It also reveals her costume - easy wear lounging around the house clothes, so the audience knows she's not going out anywhere.
Frame 2:
This shot suggests the location of where the project is set. It shows that it is a detached house, its in the evening on a dull nights, no lights are on other than the porch light, suggesting that she is home alone.
Frame 3:
This is the shot that reveals the first image of the stalker. As you can see, she is unaware that he is peering through the window behind her. At this point, she assumes it is her friend/boyfriend Josh on the other end of the phone, when it's not. As he comes into the shot, we see that he is on the phone, suggesting that it is him that is calling her.
Frame 4:
This shot is one of my favorites. This is a tracking shot, filmed from the field behind my garden. I filmed this from behind the fence to portray the stalker watching her. She is looking out the door window to see if anyone is there, yet she cannot see him watching her.
Frame 5:
This shot is when she is locking the back door. This is right after the scene before when she is looking outside. As she gets suspicious she locks the door. This is filmed through a close-up shot. This way, the audience can see that something is going to/or has happened that has made the character lock the door. In this shot we can also see that it is a dark night.
Frame 6:
This is another close-up shot of the girl. This is due to the suspicious noise that she hears. She hears the sound of a door closing, and her facial expression shows this - shocked and scared. Her reaction shows the audience that something big has happened which has made her react like this. Immediately, we know that this is not a easy film to watch.
Frame 7:
This shot shows that she is looking up the stairs to see anything. This is right after she moves into the hall due to the loud door closing sound she hears. Timidly, she walks slowly into the hall and looks up to see something rather disturbing, and ultimately, threatening to her. To show her looking up suggests that she is going to see something, making the audience want to know what is there.
Frame 8:
This shot shows the legs of the stalker, and also half of his chest. The position he is standing at is a way of exposing himself fully to her. Now the audience are aware of what this film is all about. The fact that his face isn't exposed, leaves the audience on edge of what it is like. We see his face briefly in the window at earlier scenes, but we have never seen him fully. Now that there are no other filming scenes, makes the audience wonder what is going to happen next.
Frame 9:
This final frame shows where my main titles come in. This is the title of the film, "Number Withheld", i used a simple font to enable the viewer to read it clearly, yet I used a title effect to that the words merge together separately, then descend out again once the titles display for around 4 seconds. This is shown alongside of a dial tone that is played to emphasize the title of a number, withheld.
EVALUATION activity 2 - Charlotte Woodward
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I decided to chose my friend Grainne for this role because, as i based parts of my project on Scream, I thought that she would be best to portray the role of Casey (Drew Barrymore) as they are both young and innocent. They are both stereotypical young adults who are easy targets for stalkers/killers.
They both share many similarities, such as their age and how they are both seen to be home alone on a dark night. Even these two images are very similar, as they are both filmed close to windows/mirrors, just to show the audience the surroundings, and to increase intensity, always wondering if something or someone will appear out of no where. They share similar facial expressions once they know they're trapped and have to fight for survival.
However, they have some differences: notice how Drew is seen to be wearing all white and creme colours, and the phone is white, the walls and window/door panels are white? This is to make the blood that will appear more noticeable. The blood will show up more when applied on white colours. This makes blood seem even more scary and dramatic as white emphasizes the colour contrast. Whereas Grainne, my main character has been put in darker colours, has a black phone in her hand, has dark surroundings, and is in a kitchen with dark materials. This is to show that there won't be any gory moments in the first two minutes, as it only illustrates that someone is in the house. What happens next, we don't know...
I decided to chose my friend Grainne for this role because, as i based parts of my project on Scream, I thought that she would be best to portray the role of Casey (Drew Barrymore) as they are both young and innocent. They are both stereotypical young adults who are easy targets for stalkers/killers.
They both share many similarities, such as their age and how they are both seen to be home alone on a dark night. Even these two images are very similar, as they are both filmed close to windows/mirrors, just to show the audience the surroundings, and to increase intensity, always wondering if something or someone will appear out of no where. They share similar facial expressions once they know they're trapped and have to fight for survival.
However, they have some differences: notice how Drew is seen to be wearing all white and creme colours, and the phone is white, the walls and window/door panels are white? This is to make the blood that will appear more noticeable. The blood will show up more when applied on white colours. This makes blood seem even more scary and dramatic as white emphasizes the colour contrast. Whereas Grainne, my main character has been put in darker colours, has a black phone in her hand, has dark surroundings, and is in a kitchen with dark materials. This is to show that there won't be any gory moments in the first two minutes, as it only illustrates that someone is in the house. What happens next, we don't know...
EVALUATION activity 3. - Charlotte Woodward
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Originally, my plan was to create a voiceover commentery of my project, but as its the holidays, I don't have the software (video coreal studio) to overlay the audio, and I would have an extremely limited time in which to complete the commentery a we have one day back at school before the deadline. So I will have to write out the script. The task was to explain in detail, scene by scene what is going on. I think this task is a good idea, because now the audience can understand the process of how I have made it, and they may even notice things that they didnt before when watching it. It is very easy for me to say this because me being the producer and editor, I was able to notice these things as I made it, however once the audience read through the script, they can understand how it all came together. I have scripted this with my main character; Grainne McIntyre. This way, the audience can see her point of view as well as mine, as she was acting, and i was producing.
Me: Hi, I'm Charlotte Woodward, the producer and editor of this movie.
Grainne: Hi, I'm Grainne McIntyre who plays the young girl in this movie.
(0:19 seconds)
Me: As you can see, at the start of this movie, I have embeded the New Line Cinema distribution onto the beginning of my film so it looks more professional, and it was a suitable distribution company. Here, I have made my own production logo 'A Woodward Production' as it is infact a family production - my sister Carly helped, being the director of this film. I have added in my own audio of chimes into that clip of the logo, in time with the letters and they come together.
(20:29 seconds)
Me: in these 9 seconds, there were 3 different uses of camera shots. The first is the establishing shot of Grainne's hand reaching towards the ringing phone. This is a close up shot. Then she takes the phone to her ear and it is a mid-shot, focusing on her waist upwards. This way I could include the background surroundings to make it clear that she is in a kitchen, and also to throw emphasis on the large window behind her. Also, this is when we see he first set of credits. After no one is on the phone, she puts it down, again showing a close up shot.
(30:50 seconds)
Me: the shot stays the same as the phone rings again, introducing our second credit that appears. This is also when our audio comes in, the slow, menacing drowne which is now obvious to the audiene that it gets spooky! She takes the phone to her ear yet again, filmed at an eye level camera shot. This way, you know something might happen as she is positioned slightly to the right, sllowing a gap of window in view, so we sort of know something may or may not appear in view. Also during this clip, I cut the scene and overlapped the audio on a shot of my house. It fits in well as Grainne says "stop messing around you know i'm on my own" which is when the audience see the look of the house and the surrondings. The scene goes back to her at the window, and thats when Josh comes into scene.
(51-1:11)
Me: After she hangs up the phone, the shot becomes a close up of her hand on the light switch, as she becomes suspicious so turns on the lights. She walks towards the back door, showing her image at a mid-shot angle. She walks towards the camera at eye-level, and looks out the door window. Personally, this was my favourite/most exciting scene to take as it was from a different perspctive, showing that now the camera is the eyes of the character, watching her. We filmed this from over the fence behind my garden, focusing on Grainne having a look out the window. Then an extreme close-up of her hand locking the back door in fear.
Grainne: Everyone seemed to love being a part of this scene, but it actually scared me! Not only was it cold out, we had to film this a view times because the camera light kept going out. This was due to filming in the dark. I had many instructions to go by aswel from Charlotte, such as which dirrections to look at, avoid contact with the camera etc.
(1:12-1:20)
Me:this part of the film was my least favorite, just because I didnt think thoroughly through how the camera shot goes from her walking out of the utility, hears the noise, then straight to her facial reaction. I thought it was a bit messy and sudden. As we see her facial reaction, its an extreme cloe uip of her face. Again, more match-on-action as she turns the door handle and comes out of the kitchen into the hall.
(1:21-1:40)
Grainne: this scene was very hard trying not to laugh as I was in a different part of the house, and knowing that Josh would be standing at the top of the stairs kept making me smile! Despite this, I enjoyed being a part of the ending scene because it made me want to carry on acting! I wanted to know what was going to happen next.
Me: this scene was quite difficult in terms of filming because at that moment, the hallway was filled with boxes, possible health and safety risks, and it was quite narrow. My favourite part was the position of the stalker at the top of the stairs, all in black. It emphasises his lack on identity. I love how suddenly and unexpected it is when you hear the scream. This was intended to make it sound as if it came from Grainne, but the scream was actually embedded from a website. And finally how it emerges with the dial tone, with the ending title.
Originally, my plan was to create a voiceover commentery of my project, but as its the holidays, I don't have the software (video coreal studio) to overlay the audio, and I would have an extremely limited time in which to complete the commentery a we have one day back at school before the deadline. So I will have to write out the script. The task was to explain in detail, scene by scene what is going on. I think this task is a good idea, because now the audience can understand the process of how I have made it, and they may even notice things that they didnt before when watching it. It is very easy for me to say this because me being the producer and editor, I was able to notice these things as I made it, however once the audience read through the script, they can understand how it all came together. I have scripted this with my main character; Grainne McIntyre. This way, the audience can see her point of view as well as mine, as she was acting, and i was producing.
Me: Hi, I'm Charlotte Woodward, the producer and editor of this movie.
Grainne: Hi, I'm Grainne McIntyre who plays the young girl in this movie.
(0:19 seconds)
Me: As you can see, at the start of this movie, I have embeded the New Line Cinema distribution onto the beginning of my film so it looks more professional, and it was a suitable distribution company. Here, I have made my own production logo 'A Woodward Production' as it is infact a family production - my sister Carly helped, being the director of this film. I have added in my own audio of chimes into that clip of the logo, in time with the letters and they come together.
(20:29 seconds)
Me: in these 9 seconds, there were 3 different uses of camera shots. The first is the establishing shot of Grainne's hand reaching towards the ringing phone. This is a close up shot. Then she takes the phone to her ear and it is a mid-shot, focusing on her waist upwards. This way I could include the background surroundings to make it clear that she is in a kitchen, and also to throw emphasis on the large window behind her. Also, this is when we see he first set of credits. After no one is on the phone, she puts it down, again showing a close up shot.
Grainne: personally, I enjoyed this first scene as it was quite exciting. However, we did have to shoot it a couple of times because I didnt really know how to work the phone! Also, we had to get the phone ringing right on time (which was Danielle's job).
(30:50 seconds)
Me: the shot stays the same as the phone rings again, introducing our second credit that appears. This is also when our audio comes in, the slow, menacing drowne which is now obvious to the audiene that it gets spooky! She takes the phone to her ear yet again, filmed at an eye level camera shot. This way, you know something might happen as she is positioned slightly to the right, sllowing a gap of window in view, so we sort of know something may or may not appear in view. Also during this clip, I cut the scene and overlapped the audio on a shot of my house. It fits in well as Grainne says "stop messing around you know i'm on my own" which is when the audience see the look of the house and the surrondings. The scene goes back to her at the window, and thats when Josh comes into scene.
Grainne: I loved this scene! When I was standing with the window behind me, i'm showing how vulnerable I am, on the phone to a stranger, thinking its my friend Josh, when Josh (the stalker) is right behind me looking at me. I love how he appears as if out of nowhere in the dark. I thought the use of lighting was brilliant here, it was like a spotlight was focusing on him. Again, this scene had to be filmed a few times as Josh didn't respond to Danielle's hand signals, therefore missedhis que. Or the look on his face was just too ridiculous to seem convincing!
(51-1:11)
Me: After she hangs up the phone, the shot becomes a close up of her hand on the light switch, as she becomes suspicious so turns on the lights. She walks towards the back door, showing her image at a mid-shot angle. She walks towards the camera at eye-level, and looks out the door window. Personally, this was my favourite/most exciting scene to take as it was from a different perspctive, showing that now the camera is the eyes of the character, watching her. We filmed this from over the fence behind my garden, focusing on Grainne having a look out the window. Then an extreme close-up of her hand locking the back door in fear.
Grainne: Everyone seemed to love being a part of this scene, but it actually scared me! Not only was it cold out, we had to film this a view times because the camera light kept going out. This was due to filming in the dark. I had many instructions to go by aswel from Charlotte, such as which dirrections to look at, avoid contact with the camera etc.
(1:12-1:20)
Me:this part of the film was my least favorite, just because I didnt think thoroughly through how the camera shot goes from her walking out of the utility, hears the noise, then straight to her facial reaction. I thought it was a bit messy and sudden. As we see her facial reaction, its an extreme cloe uip of her face. Again, more match-on-action as she turns the door handle and comes out of the kitchen into the hall.
(1:21-1:40)
Grainne: this scene was very hard trying not to laugh as I was in a different part of the house, and knowing that Josh would be standing at the top of the stairs kept making me smile! Despite this, I enjoyed being a part of the ending scene because it made me want to carry on acting! I wanted to know what was going to happen next.
Me: this scene was quite difficult in terms of filming because at that moment, the hallway was filled with boxes, possible health and safety risks, and it was quite narrow. My favourite part was the position of the stalker at the top of the stairs, all in black. It emphasises his lack on identity. I love how suddenly and unexpected it is when you hear the scream. This was intended to make it sound as if it came from Grainne, but the scream was actually embedded from a website. And finally how it emerges with the dial tone, with the ending title.
Here is some aditional information I didn't include in my commentary because I felt that the commentary should focus more on what is happening, and how it was all put together.
What does a production company do?
The production company are the ones who produced the film; e.g. for my project, it was "A Woodward Production" which is advertised at the start of my film.
What is a distibutor and what is he doing?
A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public.
A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public.
Where might the money come for such film as yours?
The money might have come from government grants, and also personal funds.
Why the various people are named in the titles?
I have included the crew members in the title because I feel that its very important. It shouldn't be all about the viewing of the movie, because the movies wouldnt exist if it wasnt for certain people. I have introduced the titles at the beginning because people are more likely to read and notice them, whereas if they were at the end of a film when everybody switches off the screen.
The titles are (from the beginning):
A Woodward Production
A Woodward Production presents
Introducing Grainne McIntyre
Josh Kershaw
Producer and Editor Charlotte Woodward
Director Carly Woodward
Production Designer Danielle Jordan
Number Withheld
What is your film similar to 'institutionally'?
The films that would be released in a similar way would be The Scream Trilogy, The Strangers, Halloween. This is because all of these are in the same genre as my film, and are also similar plots, all including a stalker(s).
EVALUATION activity 4. - Charlotte Woodward
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
She is in year 11 at school. She enjoys hanging out with her friends, going shopping, the cinema, round each others houses, nights in watching movies etc. When her and her friends go out shopping, they shop in places such as Topshop, River Island, Allsaints, Urban Outfitters and H&M. When she's not with her friends, she's with her family or her boyfriend. Her and her boyfriend do the same things she does with her girlfriends. She also enjoys being taken out to dinner by her boyfriend, who is 16 - George.
She enjoys films such as: Double Jeopardy, Scream, Halloween, The Strangers, and the American Physco - a real thrill seeker kind of girl, just loves typical horrors. Not only will she watch them at the cinema, when they are released, she will then buy them on DVD, or watch them online.
She would watch programs such as Smallville on e4, Ghosthunters and Most Haunted on Living, and different types of investigation programs.
She enjoys all types of music, mainly indie and rock, but she has a variety of tracks on her ipod, varying from anything that has come out in the charts, to old classics. Mainly indie-rock. If her ipod is not plugged in on the speakers, she'll listen to XFM, Radio 1, or Kerrang on the radio.
I think my film would appeal to this girl because she is a stereotypical teenager, particularly one who loves horrors, and loves being with her friends on the sofa, all warm and cosy with popcorn and drinks to sit down and draw the curtains, and watch a good scary film. If this film was out in the cinema's, she would definitely consider watching this with her friends/boyfriend as it appeals to her interests.
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