In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The first shot of our film displays the logo of the production company which we made in After Effects. We used After Effects as it produces a more sophisticated product than what we could have created using Premiere Pro. We used an animated logo in the hope of it being more interesting to look at and more successful at immediately capturing the audiences attention. We titled our production company 'Paranormal Productions' as it is suitable to the theme of the film and the alliteration of the letter P and the plosive sounds creates a catchy memorable name.

We titled our film 'Arabella' as it immediately introduces the antagonist of the film to the audience. It is an old fashioned Victorian name, and people can associate the Victorian Era with the horror genre due to the dull, eerie environment we see in black and white photographs and videos of the past. We decided to put our film title in an old fashioned font which we found and downloaded ourselves named 'Just Old Fashioned' to comply with the themes of the film. We chose a red colour as red is a typical convention of the horror genre. Due to it connoting evil, blood and danger.
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We filmed our opening in a sleepover setting and used stereotypical items that would be present in the mis-en-scene to highlight the modern time period the film is set. We also included the characters that are conventional in horror films, (naive teenagers that do not understand dangers until things begin to go wrong). With this close up shot, we aimed to lure the audience into a false sense of security as everything appears to be happy and normal and this point in the opening. 

This is a low angle shot that introduces the status of the characters. In our opening Effie (in the top left corner) is the main dominant character who is the catalyst for the bad things that happen within the film. We aimed to show this to the audience by physically raising her higher up and therefore displaying her higher status compared to Georgia (bottom right) who is victim of the film, due to Effie's actions. We aimed our film at a teenage audience and to make our opening appealing to them we tried to include conventions that were relevant to their age group. For example, we used soft lighting and colours in the mis-en-scene had the girls wearing light colours on their pyjama's with conventional hair cuts to emphasise their femininity. As women in horror films are usually conveyed to be very feminine and dainty.

This is a close up shot to display the emotion of the character at the time. At this point in the film, Poppy is scared by the story her friend is threatening to tell. By filming her face close up, the audience can see her expression of fear which is intended to trigger the same emotions within them. 

Here we use a point of view shot of Poppy turning the lights in the bedroom off which is a shot used frequently in horror films such as Cloverfield and other teenage horror films that like you to be put in the footsteps of the protagonist. This was used to create a transition which allowed the two characters sitting on the bed to move onto the floor without us having to physically watch them do so. The point of view shot allows the audience to see the film through one of the characters eyes, making it more interesting. The range of different shots generally create a more interesting atmosphere and allows the video to flow better and not just be continuous chunks of dialogue.

We used a candle as they are a typical convention of the horror genre. With candles come connotations of spiritualism, rituals, churches and religion which ties in with the themes of the opening. Candles are seen frequently within horror films similar to this one when people are summoning the dead to create an eerie atmosphere and because of how conventional they are, they instantly create this atmosphere when we see them. 

Here we used a match on action to highlight the turning point of the opening. This is where the film begins to get more conventional as the atmosphere intensifies, we used stereotypical music to highlight this. Again the main focus of the shot is the candle to force the audience to think of the eerie connotations that come with this. 

We used an over the shoulder shot to convey the expressions of the other characters whilst Effie tells the story of Arabella. Not only was this used to break up the continuous videos and create sound bridges, but to convey the characters emotions and build tension through them. We got the inspiration for this from the film 'Scream' and this technique is conventional of the horror genre. However, we challenged the conventions shown in the 'Scream' series as women are portrayed as weak and the female characters are usually sexualised wearing very little clothes whilst we have gone for the opposite approach in order to sensationalise the characters.

Filming

Before filming we encountered several problems, as the place we originally planned on filming was not available on the day and we had to find another location at the last minute. So instead of filming at Ashleigh's house we had to film at mine, which didn't match the RECCE photo's we had previously taken. So we took new photo's and adapted the previous ones to make them match. Also, due to the change of location, we were not able to get the child actor to participate in the film, due to my house being too far away with no suitable transportation. But we managed to adapt the film to suit the change and in the process actually make the film slightly more mysterious with more conventions of horror due to the ambiguity of not actually seeing 'Arabella'. 

The filming went relatively well and we did not encounter many issues once we got started. We used Ashleigh's DSLR camera due to the heavy demand for the school cameras and Ashleigh did the camera work and I helped the actors with their lines and adapted lighting and just generally directed the actors with the way I wanted the film to look. We managed to get all of the footage we wanted within an hour and a half and were generally happy with the way the film was looking.

However, the next day when Ashleigh brought the memory card into sixth form to begin editing, we could not find the footage on the memory card and discovered that the files had been corrupted when we had plugged the card into the card reader. We tried to recover the files in every way possible and took it to the technicians in the school who informed us that we would have to re-film as they could not get the footage back.

This technical problem set us back a few lessons as everybody else was editing their first cuts whilst we had no footage to edit. So we spent our time making an animated logo so we were not entirely wasting our lessons.

We got one of the school cameras and did several tests with converting the footage from the camera to the computer to make sure the files would not become corrupted and managed to get all of our actresses together again to re film a week later. The filming actually went better then the first time due to them being aware of the script and what they were supposed to be doing, so we didn't have to waste time learning lines and going over the way we wanted them to look. However, an issue we faced was that we were not able to hire a tripod from the library on that particular day so we had to adapt the shooting script to include quite a few hand held shots and find other ways to hold the camera still for the other shots. Fortunately, hand held camera shots are a convention of the horror genre so it was easy to overcome. We managed to import all of the footage onto the computer successfully and the footage was to a good standard that we were happy with.

Film Progress

Part 1 of After Effects Tutorial

Due to the delay in our filming, we did not have any footage to edit for one of our media lessons. So instead of wasting this time, we used it efficiently to create a animated logo to put at the opening of our film sequence. We decided that we wanted to make it sophisticated, so we watched a tutorial on YouTube of how to create a 'Laser Etched logo'.

Which involved creating a number of different compositions and solids and applying different effects and presets to them to create our desired effect. It was a challenging tutorial to follow, as it was very fast paced due to it being aimed at an advanced audience. We had to start again several times as even small mistakes could drastically set our progress back. I am really pleased with the way the animated logo turned out as despite the difficulty, we managed to create it to a good standard. We had to make some minor differences to the tutorial in order to make it fit our purpose for example the text in the logo, but we managed to do so well and overall using After Effects was a positive experience.

Feedback - Miss Spencer

First Cut Feedback - Miss Spencer

This is an interesting film opening. You have a clear narrative, and many conventions of the genre. This includes groups of teenagers having a sleepover, candles, myths etc.

You have used a variety of shots and camera angles and thought about characterisation.

However the overall impression is stilted and lacks a good flow in the action.

In order to improve this I suggest you go through and create sound bridges where you cut to a different actor before they finish speaking. This will run some dialogue under different actors and allow you to run the conversation more smoothly.

Also add more cutaways throughout, this will also help with smooth running.  

You should also import your opening graphic and get the titles done.

Think about sound, this will help to add tension.

Also get some feedback from peers and parents to help with your improvements.

Feedback - Miss Spencer

Can you fix the title of the 'recce' you have written about the risk assessment. A recce is when you visit the location and assess its suitability, take pictures and plan how you are going to film there.

The pitch and the mind map are detailed and work well, it is clear you are well on the way to planning your film opening.

Representation in Horror Films

Representation is how people are presented to convey their social class, gender, culture and other characteristics without the audience being physically told. It is that which stands in for something else and the way in which meaning is given to the things that are depicted.

Stereotyping

The portrayal of people or places through obvious characteristics.

Stereotypes of women and men in horror films.

Women

• Scared, screaming
• Scantily clad (Naked, provocative)
• Weak, not powerful
• Victims
• Innocent and helpless

Men

• Evil
• Powerful
• Protect women
• Vengeful

The seven key areas of representation.

Gender When somebody thinks of a male, they usually can connote suits, cars, muscles, adrenaline and sports. However, when somebody thinks of a female they think of clothes particularly dresses, skirts, high heels and jewellery. With females, you can connote long hair, makeup and the theme of love.

Age When somebody thinks of young people, they can usually connote them being athletic and able bodied. Driving fast and playing their music loud. However, when people think of the older generation they connote serenity and class. Walking and driving slowly, false teeth and interesting stories.

Ethnicity

Sexuality

Class & Status

Disability

Regional Identity

Production Schedule

Production Schedule – Arabella

Date	Task	Complete Y/N
W/C: 3/11/14	·     Filming Kirst and Ashleigh	N
W/C: 10/11/14	·     Creating/sourcing sound/music Kirst	N
W/C: 17/11/14	·     Editing Kirst and Ashleigh	N
W/C: 24/11/14	·      Creating graphics/titles Ashleigh	N
W/C: 01/12/14	·      Uploading all elements from Foundation Portfolio onto your blog Kirst	N
W/C: 08/12/14	·      Blogging all stages of the filming/editing process Kirst and Ashleigh	N
W/C: 15/12/14	Film to be handed in to be marked over the Christmas Break.

Filming Schedule

Filming Schedule – Arabella

Filming date: November 9^th 2014

Meeting time: 13:00pm

Address for cast and crew to meet at:

359 Glascote Road
Glascote
Tamworth
Staffordshire
B77 2BT

List of crew and cast contacts:

Ashleigh Hewitt: (Crew) 07952862826
Kirst Sanders: (Crew) 07768919699
Danielle Cope: (Cast) 07934376066
Holly Morris: (Cast) 07910444977
Jessica Jones: (Cast) 07903854043
Caitlin Gilbert: (Cast) 07790314478
Tianna Cope: (Cast) N/A

Props and costumes:

An old fashioned candle, Bowls of food, Blankets and Pillows. Normal clothes for the teenage girls and a Victorian style dress for Arabella as well as white face paint to make her look pale and ghoulish

Equipment: A DLSR camera and tripod a hand held microphone and clapper board.

Time	Location	Scene	Shots needed	Cast/props/etc
	Living room	The girls being introduced, the candle burning, the food being laid out and they are casually sitting around listening to music.	An extreme close up/ long shot of the living room/ a close up of the food and extreme close up of the stereo playing the music.	A candle, A Cd player, blankets and pillows and food bowls. Sophie Effie Poppy Georgia
	Living room	The conversation between the girls that introduces the story of Arabella	A series of medium shots, over the shoulder shots and long shots. Wide shots, close ups of individual speakers and mid shots of the girls talking.	A candle, blankets and pillows and food bowls. Sophie Effie Poppy Georgia
	Living room	Effie passing the candle to Georgia and persuading her to challenge the urban legend.	A match on match action	A candle Effie Georgia
	Living room	Georgia summoning Arabella	Close up	A candle Georgia
	Living room	The girls faces as Georgia has summoned Arabella and nothing has happened.	A Pan	Blankets and pillows and food bowls. Sophie Effie Poppy Georgia
	Living room	Close up of the candle	A zoom	Candle
	Living room	A black screen	N/A	N/A
	Living room	Arabella appearing to the girls, the girls trying to scream but their voices have been stolen. Georgia has gone missing.	Extreme close ups, point of view shots, cut away shots. Cantered shots.	Blankets and pillows and food bowls. Sophie Effie Poppy Arabella

Risk Assessment

Recce Assessment research

A risk assessment is a document where you consider what might cause harm to people and decide whether you are taking reasonable steps to prevent that harm. It is something you are required by law to carry out. A risk assessment must be carried out by the employers of businesses to ensure that their employees are safe

 Risk assessments are important whilst making a film to ensure that the cast, crew and equipment remain safe and unharmed. Actors and crew have rights to be protected from harm and if they are therefore put in danger by the people above them, they have a right to sue and press charges which can be very costly for the production company and if serious enough, can even end in prosecution and imprisonment. The process of carrying out a risk assessment will help the production company to prevent injuries and ill-health on set. The company are ethically bound to do all they can to ensure that their actors and crew do not suffer illness, a serious accident or death.

Whilst on set, Actors and crew could be at risk from tripping over electrical wires and other objects which could result in injury. They are also at risk when filming shots that are close by to water or high up upon something that they could fall off of. If filming outside, they could be at risk from extreme weather conditions and the equipment may also be at risk here too, due to it being electrical and could therefore be very expensive to replace.

Our Recce

Casting

Danielle Cope as ‘Sophie’    07934376066

Holly Morris as ‘Georgia’     07910444977

Jessica Jones as ‘Effie’        07903854043

Caitlin Gilbert as ‘Poppy’     07790314478

Tianna Cope as ‘Arabella’   N/A

Role Allocation

Kirst Sanders (Director) A film director is in charge of making sure that every component of a movie runs smoothly. They have a say in how the scenes unfold, what props are going to be used, how the characters should look and who should play specific parts. Directors also work with individuals in charge of lighting, scenery and writing and so forth to make sure that all of the elements come together. The director is in charge of the three main phases, which are pre-production, production and post-production. 

Ashleigh Hewitt (Producer) Producers are responsible for facilitating a project from beginning to end. They are involved in every stage of film or video, overseeing the project from start to finish, both in a studio and on location. They are essentially the team leaders and are responsible for securing the permissions for filming locations and rising funding. They hire the staff and organise the shooting schedules and generally overlook the project from beginning to end.

Ashleigh Hewitt (Camera Woman) A camera operator, also called a cameraman or a camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film or video camera. In film making, the leading camera operator is usually called a cinematographer

Kirst Sanders (Runner) A runner deals with a range of jobs in the location and will be responsible for completing any small tasks that will contribute to the overall success of the shoot. For example, fixing costumes, operating the clapper board and making sure that everything is in place for the actors.

Ashleigh Hewitt (Researcher) A researcher acts as an assistant to the director/producer and generally researches information that the director and producer need to make the film successful.

Arabella Storyboard

Arabella Script

Arabella

First scene: The film opens with one of the characters lighting a candle (extreme close up) we zoom out to reveal the location that is a girls bedroom; we see a few cut away shots of the girls, pouring food in to bowls, collecting CD's etc.  Whilst this is happening an upbeat dance song is playing, to make the audience feel comfortable and lure them into a false sense of security.

(Sophie enters with food)

Poppy: Well I don’t know about you losers but I’m not sitting around the whole night listening to this rubbish, is this even music?

Sophie: Well do you have any better ideas?

Effie: We could tell scary stories? It is nearly Halloween

Sophie: Scary stories are stupid

Effie: Not the ones that are based on true stories. Have you heard about Arabella?

Poppy: (Her face stiffens) Don’t tell that story, you know I hate it

Georgia: No, come on, enlighten us,

Effie moves quickly to switch of the lights and holds a candle in front of her. Girls start laughing.

Sophie: Oh you can’t be serious

Effie: Shut up and let me speak, you won’t be disappointed

(Girls finally fall silent all attention is on Effie)

Effie: Well.. There is an ‘urban legend’ shall I say? Of a girl named ‘Arabella’ a girl that died a brutal death a long time ago. Legend has it if you say her name six times by candle light; she will come and make you regret disturbing her from her rest.

Georgia: Yeah right, you’re so convincing

Effie: If you don’t believe me, try it

Poppy: No, don’t

Sophie: Don’t be so stupid

Georgia: Sure, I’ll do it, why wouldn’t I? I’d quite like to meet Arabella; maybe she can come hang out with us and play truth or dare (rolls her eyes)

(Georgia takes the candle and the room is silent, Poppy cowers closer to Effie and Georgia closes her eyes, Sophie looks slightly concerned but moves away from Georgia also)

Georgia: Arabella, Arabella, Arabella (She swallows) Arabella, Arabella (She takes a deep breath and opens her eyes) Arabella.

(Nothing happens and the camera pans to all of the girls faces as they smile with relief, but as the camera pans to Georgia her smile fades and the candle blows out, the room is in darkness and a high pitched scream escapes one of the girls, the candle relights itself and Georgia is missing, in her place the ghost of Arabella. The girls open their mouth to scream but no sound escapes their mouths. Arabella raises one finger to her mouth to highlight silence. The camera zooms quickly into a close up of her face accompanied by the ambient sound of screeching and she smiles sadistically into the camera. The screen goes blank and the film title appears on the screen, a voice whispers ‘Arabella’ to accompany this)

Task 4.3 Arabella Pitch

Task 4.2 Synopsis of the Film

'Arabella' begins with a group of young girls having a sleepover. One of the girls, Poppy teases the others that the night is boring her, so Effie suggests that due to it being Halloween, they should try to scare each other with stories. Effie tells a story about an urban legend she was told about when she was a child. The story suggests that a little girl who died in the Victorian Era still haunts the town that they live in, and if her name is said 6 times by candle light her spirit will reveal itself to you and make you pay for disturbing her rest.

Georgia, the most skeptical of the group, does not believe this story and makes it obvious that the legend does not scare her. So Effie challenges her to try it and say Arabella's name six times by candlelight. The other girls are not comfortable with her doing this but desperate to prove her point, Georgia does.

Initially, nothing happens and the girls display obvious signs of relief as the tension slowly dissipates. Suddenly, the candle blows itself out and Sophie screams as something touches her shoulder. The candle strangely relights itself and when the room is illuminated, Georgia is missing from the room.

The story moves forward in time to follow Effie into adulthood. As we see Effie go through her daily routine, we see a newspaper article in her house dated back to the night before Halloween. The night Georgia went missing. The newspaper article briefly informs us that Georgia is dead; she died on that night and her body was not found until three weeks later. Effie clearly leads a guilt ridden life as she feels a sense of responsibility for what happened to her friend.

It is the 10 year anniversary of Georgia's death later on in that week and the girls have decided to meet up to commemorate her death. 

The girls meet up and go for a drink in the local pub. Conversation gets out of hand and Sophie gets angry at Effie, blaming her for Georgia's death and asking her how she had the nerve to return to their home town after what she did. Effie, lost in rage goes back to the house they originally summoned Arabella in, lights a candle and says Arabella's name six times. Nothing happens and Effie screams, shouting Arabella and daring her to reveal herself. The candle goes out and Effie hears the giggling of a small girl, followed by the singing of a traditional nursery rhyme. Effie is not scared, she laughs back and screams questions to the spirit, asking why she took Georgia and why she haunts innocent people. The candle relights itself and when the room illuminates, Arabella is in Effie's face, smiling sadistically. 

Effie runs out of the house and manages to escape without being harmed, but Arabella's spirit is loose and will not settle until it has taken a life. Effie, desperate to stay alive researches Arabella's history and finds out that she is a 7 year old girl who was murdered by her mother who became obsessed with dark magic and witchcraft. Arabella's body was not found and the legend states that until it is located and buried in a stable, peaceful place Arabella's spirit will not rest. Effie tells Sophie and Poppy about her findings and persuades them to travel back to the town Arabella lived in and track down her body. 

During the journey, the girls are haunted by Arabella and have their lives constantly threatened in various ways. Poppy and Sophie are uncomfortable with the task and fear that their lives will end the same way that Georgia's did. Therefore, in the middle of the night when Arabella endangers them again, they pack up and leave. Effie, however stays to finish what she went there to do. Effie locates Arabella's childhood home, which is abandoned in the woods and goes inside to look around. Whilst inside, Arabella's spirit is angry that Effie is intruding and tries to get her to leave by endangering her life. Arabella waits until Effie is upstairs and then breaks the ceiling so that Effie falls through into the basement. 

In the basement, Effie is passed out from her fall and when she wakes, realises that she has broken her leg and is therefore struggling to move. She recognises a repulsive scent and uncovers Arabella's remains in the corner of the room. A candle in the basement lights itself and Arabella's spirit begins to walk towards Effie, her expression angry and ready to claim Effie's life. Effie grabs the remains and runs out of the basement and drives away quickly. Effie takes the remains to a graveyard and buries them, leaving a white lily on the grave. Arabella's spirit is rested and therefore no longer haunts the girls.

The story moves forward in time to show Effie in her old age, peacefully asleep in a care home. A candle next to her lights itself, revealing the spirit of Arabella watching her as she sleeps. Arabella looks into the camera and smiles sadistically, the shot cuts to show us the graveyard her remains were buried in, her grave dug up and her body missing.

THE END.