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.

Task 4.1 Mind Map

Logo's and Opening Titles

The logo's and opening titles are vital to setting the mood of the film. In horror films, they are usually intended to unsettle the audience.

For example, this film is titled 'Are you Afraid of the Dark?'. I like the way that the creators of this have used the red/orange colour for the title, which is a convention of the horror genre. They have used the lighted match creatively as it poses the only source of light, which is unreliable as the flame could burn out at any time, which is unsettling for the audience. The title asks a rhetorical question that makes us feel anxious, as it foreshadows that this film may trigger fear from us.

Using stereotypical images in the opening sequence is also a good idea. In this case, a clown. I like the way the editors have used this image, as it is a concept which we find "creepy". As we know the clown is intended to be scary, but his smiling face makes the image ambiguous, as a smile should make us feel comforted, but in this case, it doesn't. This is a good way of making the audience feel unsettled before the film begins, as we know that even the things that should make us feel at ease, are only there to fool us.

I particularly like this image taken from the opening sequence of 'American Horror Story' as it takes something that we shouldn't find scary and puts a twist on it. A photograph of a child should not be unsettling, but the distorted effect creates a feeling of chaos and conveys a "creepy" atmosphere. I feel like this would work well in our film, as our antagonist is a child too and a small child is not a character that is stereo typically feared. Doing something like this and distorting the image would subtly foreshadow our antagonist to the audience.

This image is taken from 'The Conjuring' and I feel it is a strong image, as the lighting is unsettling and the mis-en-scene displays a stereotypical convention. The scary house surrounded by broken branches creates an eerie feeling that automatically unsettles the audience before the film even begins.