Wednesday 30 November 2016
Friday 25 November 2016
Analysis of ‘The Smiling Man’.
Analysis of
‘The Smiling Man’.
The short
film opens up to a medium shot of a man walking what is most likely a street. This
scene appears to be shot in the night time, I know this because of the low key
lighting and the fact that the man is in the only one in ‘light’, this being an
example of spotlighting, (the light most coming from a street light). This
linking to horror conventions as spotlighting is a lighting technique used in
horror frequently, this being effective as because only the character can be
seen, it creates a mysterious vibe as we (the audience) are not exposed to
anything else (this feeding unto the ‘fear of the unknown’ theory), making us
at unease.
A few seconds
into the short film and we now hear non diegetic, background music, the background
music sounding like dramatic, dark piano music with an eerie feel towards it,
this being effective in setting the mood and a way to indicate to the audience
that the genre is a horror (by using sound that would automatically make them
feel nervous). The camera then cuts to another medium shot, however this time
in the scene we see the back of the man – neck down - touching a flower. This
is not quite an over the shoulder shot as the camera is located a certain
distance away from him, however, the fact that we can see behind him gives off
the impression that someone is watching him, or in some cases that we are in
fact in the point of view of someone following him. This is effective and links
to horror as it feeds unto the huge convention of someone watching the
protagonist.
To add on to
that, the fact the man is touching red flowers can work as a possible red
herring, this being due to the fact that red has connotations of evil, hell and
negativity, so this possibly being a way to indicate to the audience that
antagonist or negative situation is near, this also linking to horror
conventions as all the connotations are basically what horror films are based
in.
As the tone
of the music gets deeper (this linking to the last point of a red herring.
Deeper music = antagonist is near), the editing technique of a fade is used, a
fade is effective within horror films because it creates an unsettling feeling
as the audience cannot see the full frame of the scene and can basically can
only see ‘snippets’. We see the title ‘2AM’. The short film being titled ‘2AM’
is significant itself is because 2 am is clearly very late in the night, just
after twelve, this linking to horror and the supernatural due to the ancient
legend that between the hours of 12am – 3am is where the evil ‘spirits’ come
out. To add on to that, at this time in the night, most people are sleeping and
are in the comfort/security of their homes, so the fact that the main character
(the man) is out in the streets now puts him in a very vulnerable position,
making the audience fear and worry for his safety, this being effective as it
increases the fear factor.
The man stops
in the middle of the road and here we see the eyeline match when the camera
cuts to the next shot, which is a slightly long shot of an odd-looking man
dancing and smiling in the middle of the road. In this scene, we hear the
synchronous sound of the sound of his feet against the pavement, however it
quite loud and appears to slightly echo more than average, this emphasizing the
strangeness and abnormality of the situation the man is in. This slightly goes
against conventions of short films because of the fact it has not been based on
an average every day situation, as it is firstly not a normal thing for most
people to be out in the streets at this time and to encounter a man of this
kind.
We see
reaction shots of the man (the main character not antagonist) who seems to at
first find the antagonist’s behaviour not threatening but humorous, which
creates a false sense of security (another horror convention) for the audience,
as the fact he is unbothered and unaffected by the odd behaviour of the
antagonist automatically puts us – as the audience – at ease. This is because,
when it comes to films, they tend to offer a vicarious experience, this
meaning, the emotions that the main character/protagonist experience we tend to
feel as well, as we are living life through their eyes. Providing a false sense
of security is a major feature of horror because creating it leads the audience
into believing that all is well before attacking or doing someone bad, this
being effective as it would be easier to scare them further on in the film.
As time goes
on, the man start to realise that this situation is not normal and is clearly
making him uncomfortable, this represented by his reaction shots and eventual
action code of him starting to walk away, with the use of incidental music occurring
in the background. When the guy is walking away, an over the shoulder shot is
used to capture that moment, this is effective in increasing the fear factor
for the audience as it gives off the vibe that someone is following him (which
is true because the antagonist does follow him), and to add on to that, it is
also a camera angle convention of horror. The camera pans, following the character
whilst he crosses the road, this increasing the vicarious experience that most
films hope to achieve, as it is almost like the audience is following the
protagonist in his journey.
The use of
the incidental, deep based music emphasises and increases the suspenseful atmosphere
that has already been created, this being effective in the sense that it really
sets the mood for the upcoming scenes. The camera then cuts to a medium shot of
the man from behind, the camera panning up, this alone being effective as
further on feeds into the idea that someone is following him, this representing
the character as very vulnerable. Very soon we see a close up shot of the man
turning around to look at something, with an eyeline match revealing in the
next shot that it is the antagonist (the ‘Smiling man’) standing at the road in
a mannequin like posture, with a creepy, unnatural smile to his face. This
works as a jump scene because of the sharp note sound included when the
antagonist is revealed again, the sound being effective as it emphasises the antagonist’s
arrival and increases the suspense. However, this is not the conventional jump
scare scene as nothing actually pops out of the screen, it’s the use of sound
that makes it ‘jumpy’, (you could even say that the frightening use of sound juxtaposes
with the visuals on the screen as what the antagonist is doing isn’t actually
scary at all). I believe this is one of the reasons as to why this short film
was so successful as it used abnormal behaviour and going against social norms
to frighten and make the audience feel uncomfortable instead of relying on something
popping out of the screen screaming.
After seeing
a reaction shot back at the protagonist, although clearly alarmed by the
antagonist’s behaviour, he appears to get over the incident quite quickly and
goes on with his journey. We see in medium shots him walking down the pavement
again from behind him, however what stands out in these scenes is that there is
selective focus, only the man is in focus in the scene. This is effective in
creating fear from the audience as only allowing us to see certain sections of
the scene and blurring out the rest not only creates enigma codes (“What is he
hiding?”) but also puts us in a vulnerable state as the fact everything is not
visible to us means we are easier to attack because we are more unaware of the
surroundings in the scene.
The man
suspects something suspicious is going on again and after turning around
slowly, we see a point of view shot of what he is looking at, this being the
man who somehow transported to his side of the road, squatting down. This now
introduces the possible paranormal element to the short film, as what the
antagonist is doing – although being in a human form – is very near impossible.
Long, deep based, ghostly, suspenseful notes are used within this scene to
emphasis the danger that is evidently very apparent now. In the reaction shot,
we see a medium camera angle of the protagonist staring back at the antagonist,
his facial expressions clearly showing emotion of shock and confusion.
Furthermore, in this shot, lighting from below is also demonstrated, this
creating a distorted representation of his face.
When the
camera goes back to the man, we see a long shot of him starting to get up from
his squat position in a very spine chilling, odd manner, before starting to
approach the protagonist, however his walk being extremely abnormal and
unnatural. The sound in this part of the film is a mixture of short sharp notes
(these used to shock the audience, evidently because of the antagonist’s
unnatural behaviour) and very fast high pitched notes, this making the audience
feel immediate tension.
When the
antagonist finally reaches a close distance to the protagonist, immediately the
protagonist speaks and we hear dialogue for the first time: “What the hell do
you want?”. To which the antagonist does not reply to but instead maintains his
statue like posture with the creepy smile and oddly turns around – walking
away. The camera then cuts to another close up shot of the man, capturing him
breathing out, this symbolizing that he is now relieved as he believes that the
situation involving the antagonist is now over. This creates a false sense of
security as by this point we are slowly converting to a relaxed state of mind,
as because of the vicarious experience films offer (whatever the main character
feels/experience we also feel and experience) we also assume that the situation
is over. This is a technique/convention frequently used in the horror genre as
it makes it easier to scare the audience in the long run.
However, we
are all clearly deceived as only a few seconds later extremely high pitched,
electronic rock music occurs and the camera cuts back to the long shot to
reveal the antagonist sprinting down the street to the protagonist. Within this
scene, tracking, panning and handheld camera are all used, this is to make us
(the audience) feel more a part of the action that is going on, this is helped
also by the use of the sound, as the electronic rock music being faced paced replicates
the action of both the two characters.
Eventually
the man stops running and we see point of view (these camera shots are still
hand held therefore creates a sense of verisimilitude/realism) shots off the
neighbourhood to see it completely empty, this giving off the impression that
the coast is clear and the antagonist is now gone, thus creating yet another
false sense of security. However, once again, we as the audience are deceived as
the protagonist is quickly face to face with antagonist, this being the closing
scene.
Overall, from
watching the short horror film, I can see it fit into two major conventions,
one convention being the cliff hanger/big twist aspect, because as an audience
we didn’t get a full understanding of what occurred after they encountered
again and enigma codes were still left unanswered, such as “Who was that man?”,
however it also felt like you had watched a full narrative. Another convention
that was used within this short film was one concerning characterization. As
you are evidently only provided a small duration of time when creating a short
film, the producer of this one kept the characters to a minimum and didn’t include
much character development, which links to context of the type of media product
this is.
Sunday 20 November 2016
Analysis of short film 'Lights Out'
The short
film opens up to an establishing shot of what appears to be a housing area,
with the title “Lights Out”. The scene is set in what appears to be very late
at night, this demonstrated by the low-key, pitch black lighting, the light
provided coming from the housing indoors. This automatically links up to
typical horror conventions due to the fact that low key lighting is a huge
element for this genre (as stereotypically, darkness has connotations of fear
and evil thus is effective in setting the mood for horror films as their
intention is overall to create an element of fear for the audience). To add on
to that, the title of the film “Lights Out” instantly connects to the visuals
that we see on the screen, as the lights are literally out. We here diegetic
sound of rain, the sound also been synchronous as if you look close enough you
will notice that it is actually raining outside.
The camera
then cuts to a medium shot of inside a house, in which a woman is coming out what
is most likely the bathroom. Costume wise, she appears to be wearing her
bedtime outfit, which is clearly a very normal thing to wear. However, what
stands out for me in this outfit is the colours, the outfit is all white, which
is evidently a light colour. Evidently, the woman is the victim within the
media piece, therefore, the use of all white clothing emphasises her innocence,
this being because white has connotations of purity, this representing her as
vulnerable, which is effective as she is the victim/protagonist. Her outfit alone
also juxtaposes heavily with the antagonist and also theme of the short film,
as “lights out” clearly is another way to indicate completely darkness, and the
antagonist is also a completely black supernatural shadow like figure (till the
end where the appearance is actually revealed).
Furthermore,
the short film already links up to typical conventions of short films by the
narrative, as the plot line is demonstrating an ordinary, everyday situation
which will eventually have a twist.
We see the
woman walk down her hallway with the use of a long shot and turning the hallway
lights, in which she turns around and has the shock realization that a
sinister, supernatural shadow figure is standing in the darkness. The fact that
the antagonist itself is a shadow automatically links to horror lighting
conventions of including prominent and projected shadows, the use of them being
to indicate to the audience that the antagonist is near/about to attack!
The first meeting with the antagonist is
exhibited by an over the shoulder shot of the woman, her looking back at the
hallway. The use of the over the shoulder shot is effective in creating
suspense and fear factor as it gives off the impression that although she is
directly facing the actual antagonist, she is also being watched by another
person, this almost working as a double threat. Over the shoulder shots are
also a convention of horror films for this exact same reason. The next camera
shot after this is taken from the opposite direction, within the hallway, facing
the woman. This can be seen from two different perspectives, either just simply
being a shot within the hallway to demonstrate to the audience that nothing is
actually there as the hallway is empty, this being effective as introduces the
supernatural factor properly (giving a “now you see me, now you don’t” vibe).
On the other hand, this could also be seen as a point of view shot from the
antagonist staring back at the woman, this being effective as it putting the
audience in the perspective of the antagonist emphasises their power, depicting
the woman as even more endangered now as the audience aren’t even there to
protect her (as we cannot see things from her side anymore, forced to take the
side of the evil entity).
To add on to
that, this particular scene also demonstrates spotlighting as the light is
directly focussed on the woman (the spotlight is all on her), which is a horror
lighting convention and also effective in emphasizing how alone she really is
in that house.
The woman
turns the light back on and off and each time we see the antagonist’s shadow
getting closer and closer with each light switch, ironically, the antagonist
only gets closer when the lights are off, this making the visuals and title of
the short film link. We see reaction shots of the woman each time the lights go
back on to reveal the shadow mysteriously disappear, this linking to the
stereotype that people within the horror genre (specifically women) act in a
very dim, naïve manner, loosing basic common sense. This is demonstrated in the
woman’s behaviour, as instead of leaving an evidently threatening, harmful
situation she continues on to put herself in danger even when the antagonist is
getting closer to her.
Music wise,
the sound is diegetic (so you hear the synchronous sounds of just the light
switches), this works well in creating the atmosphere as it the sound is close
to silent with the exception of the light switch, it is effective as the
silence emphasises how alone she is in her house, highlighting her isolation.
This linking to horror as isolation is a narrative/setting convention as it
puts the protagonist/victim in a position where it is hard for them to get help
because of it.
The sound is
like this until the woman switches the light off one more time to see the antagonist
directly in front of her, in which we hear typical jump scare music - this
being deep based, eerie music, this clearly being another convention of horror
films as jump scares are a huge feature. Jump scares tend to effective when a
scene beforehand has led up to that moment (creating tension/suspense) which is
what has been done and presented within this scene.
The lady then
puts duct tape over the light switch to stop it from turning the lights off,
before proceeding to go to bed. This is another example of characters within
horror films lacking common sense because instead trying to find help and get
out of the place which clearly has a dark entity inside, she stays there –
putting herself at more risk. To add on the to that, I feel that symbolism has
been used within this part of the clip with the use of black duct tape over the
white light switch. This is because white evidently has connotations of
innocence, this juxtaposing with black, as the colour has connotations of evil.
To add on to that, duct tape is clearly a very strong tape which is hard to get
rid of. How this works as symbolism is that is that the black duct tape
represents the antagonist and the white light switch the victim, and how the
antagonist is now latched to the woman and it is going to be a challenge to get
rid of the villain.
We are then
introduced to a medium shot of the woman’s room, in which a table light is
provided as a source of light source within this scene, the camera then cuts to
a medium shot of the woman in bed evidently trying to get to sleep. Soon after,
we are then shown a point of view shot of the door in her room, being slightly
open, the light from the hallway being visible. What builds suspense within
this scene is the use of sound, we as an audience hear footsteps in the
hallway, however the footsteps appear very eerie and unnatural, making the
floor creak, this being a way to indicate that the coming of the antagonist. We
then see a reaction shot of the woman who is clearly full of unease at the
abnormal behaviour, to then we are introduced to an eyeline match of the door
again, however this time the light from the hallway turns off. Automatically,
this works as a warning sign to the audience as we already know (from the
previous scene) that when the light turns off the antagonist is at its most
powerful.
Sound is used
heavily to create suspense as we hear the footsteps pace dramatically down the
hallway, the sound quickly increasing in volume indicating that the antagonist
is getting closer and closer. This is effective because as an audience we still
cannot see the actual threat character therefore it puts us in a position where
we have little power because we are in a position where we are getting intimidated/frightened
but cannot see what exactly is causing that emotion. As a response, the woman
frantically pulls her bed covers over her in an attempt to hide from the
antagonist, within this portion of the scene it is particularly quiet, this
increasing the fear factor for the audience because at this point it is very
suspenseful and we are expecting something such as a jump scare.
When she
eventually takes off the bed covers we see an eyeline match of the door, but
this time fully opening and it slightly banging the wall. This is paired with
incidental spooky, high pitched music. The woman puts the cover over her head
again quickly (as the audience we see this as a reaction shot) before the
camera then cuts to a low angle shot of the table lamp dramatically turning on
and off, this being paired with deep based, low key, spooky incidental music,
appearing to replicate the sound of an earthquake. Within this scene, we
witness point of view shots, close up shots from inside her bed (so handheld
camera shots) and shots through internal frames (the point of view shot of the
plug is done from inside her bed, us seeing the plug from a gap within her covers).
This is effective as it creates a feeling of verisimilitude, and we as the
audience get to see things from her exact perspective and shoes, this making us
feel whatever emotions she is feeling and overall feeding on to the whole idea
of films being a vicarious experience. This continues for quite a while before
the woman finds the plug and takes out, making it all come to an abrupt halt.
Peace seems
to have formed, as this time when the woman comes out from her covers, we see a
point of view shot of the door again, this time half closed like before with
the light from the hallway being visible. From what it looks like it was all in
fact a dream. However, this is a special convention of horror films frequently
used called ‘false sense of security’ – a cliché used to lead someone into
believing that all is well before attacking or doing someone bad). This is
effective because it relaxes the audience and makes them feel all is well, this
making it easier to scare them/make an impact later as they would be in a calm
state of mind – not expecting this.
The short
film clearly acts on this because as soon as the woman looks around and gets
comfortable again, she turns around and to see the antagonist next to the lamp
in a very threatening, unnatural manner (clearly being non-human) before
turning off the lights, this being paired incidental music, working as a jump
scare.
Thursday 17 November 2016
Sunday 13 November 2016
Target Audience feedback
Question 1:
The majority of people who answered this question were female (70%). This actually came as a surprise to me as - looking back at my research - I found out that it is usually males who watch horrors/short films. This is due to the stereotype that men are more thrill seekers.
Question 2:
The majority of people who answered this question were female (70%). This actually came as a surprise to me as - looking back at my research - I found out that it is usually males who watch horrors/short films. This is due to the stereotype that men are more thrill seekers.
Question 2:
The majority of the age groups of people who answered this question ranged from aged 16 – 26, this getting a mathematical average age of 21. However despite this being the average age, I knew that realistically the people who answered the questions from my questionnaire were actually my peers, so the average age was actually 17/18. To add on that, it also linked to the target audience convention for the horror genre as age 18 (a young audience) is the stereotypical target audience for horrors, therefore my target audience feedback fit this demographic. This is because of many stereotypes associated with young people such as them being thrill seekers and a horror film being a first date. This was effective and helped influencing my text on giving me an idea that I may possibly need to change my age certificate, as initially I was going to make it 15, however after seeing the results I considered changing it an 18. However, after looking through the context and plot of my actual movie it made me come to the realization that my short film wouldn’t fit an 18 certificate requirements and standards, therefore, it remained a 15.
Question 3:
I included this question to see if the short film convention that the majority of the people who watch short films are into media/creative arts or either getting into the industry or already a part of it. And surprisingly enough it was true! When looking at the responses, it was clear that the majority of the people were into hobbies that had a creative aspect (reading/writing) to it or directly involved in media such as photography, film and music! Thus, this proving my target audience research to be correct!
Question 4 & 5:
Response – The responses for specifically question four aimed at horror films mainly consisted of just how the film provided an emotional response for the audience, so this being things such as thrill, drama and excitement. I slightly struggled with this, because I know that when doing a short film it is slightly difficult to create character development/an emotional response.
When looking at the responses for short films, however, they were equally quite similar, with the general attraction being towards the narrative and story provided in the short duration of time. This made me realize I have to really make my media product stand out, try and make the most out of the little time I had.
Question 6:
The majority of my respondents (more than 50%) stated they wanted a cliffhanger. This linked up to conventions of short films regardless, as short films tend to include either a dramatic ending or cliff hanger, leaving the audience wanting more. Despite this being a convention, it motivated more to make sure my short film to not be the stereotypical, standard short film with a predictable ending and plot-line. The way I acted upon this way by going to my synopsis and making some changes to the plot-line, by making it more exciting and adding more jump scares/frightening scenes, I knew I had to do this in order to please my audience. To add on to that, I also searched up very famous short films that did well in the box office, looking at their plot-line to see what made them different, stand out and be so popular as inspiration and an end goal.
Question 7 & 8:
Likewise, the clear audience favourite for what was the most important feature was the narrative/plot. This was beneficial in the sense it simply offered me the motivation to do exceedingly well within my opening sequence.
Tuesday 8 November 2016
Shot List
Shot list
1
|
Shot type: Medium Shot
Diegetic sound: Slight sound of possible music through earphones. Synchronous sounds such as birds and cars on road?
Non-diegetic sound: None.
Lighting: Lowkey lighting and natural lighting. Outdoor scene
How would this be effective?: Medium shots are effective because they allow the audience to get a clear view of not only the character but their surroundings and background. This would link to be and be effective in horrors in the sense that it could be used in shot where the antagonist is following the victim/protagonist, whilst they are unaware. This would be effective in developing fear for the audience as it would create a sense of dramatic irony (the audience's knows something going on that the actual character does not), this being effective in creating an emotional reaction as they would have a rushed desire to help them, but would evidently be unable to - this increasing their anxiety and suspense.
|
Example of shot:
|
2
|
Shot type: Over the shoulder shot
Diegetic sound: None.
Non-diegetic sound: Deep dark background music with deep base
Lighting: Lowkey lighting and natural lighting. Outdoor scene
Mise-en-scene: Outdoor scenery, so simple roads and pavement. A sneak peak of the antagonist costume.
How would this be effective?: Over the shoulder shots would also be effective for the same reason as above, as the audience would have increased anxiety due to the fact we know that the antagonist is near the victim but we cannot do anything to help them. It also is effective as it gives off the impression that the protagonist is being watched. | |
3
|
Shot type: Close up shot
Camera movement: Tracking (following the woman walking looking down at her phone)
Diegetic sound: Synchronous sounds of music coming from her earphones.
Non-diegetic sound: None.
Lighting: Lowkey lighting and natural lighting. Outdoor scene
Mise-en-scene: As it will be a close up of her on her phone it will just show her outfit and phone in the scene.
How it is effective?: A close up shot is used in order to show and represent the emotion of the character. This would work well within reaction shots. This is good because we get see the character on a personal level by seeing the emotive response to something, this obviously due to the fact a close up shots gets into the personal space and very up close the character. | |
4
|
Shot type: Point of view shot
Diegetic sound: None
Non-diegetic sound: Deep dark background music with deep base
Lighting: Lowkey lighting and natural lighting. Outdoor scene
Mise-en-scene: Outdoor scenery, so simple roads and pavement. The antagonist will be revealed in this scene.
How it is effective?: Point of view shots are extremely effective because point of view shots put the audience in the perspective of the character, this providing a verisimilitude experience, so whatever the character feels and experiences it is passed down unto the audience. This is very beneficial for horrors because at the end of the day, it is all about getting an emotional response from the audience and increase the fear factor. | |
6
|
Shot type: Extreme close up shot
No sound at all will be in this complete. These will be reaction shots and be in complete silence.
Lighting: Lowkey lighting and natural lighting. Outdoor scene
How is it effective?: It is effective for the same reason as close up shots, this is because we get to get up close and personal with the character and get an emotional response from them, this working well for reaction shots and allowing us to feel how they feel. | |
7
|
Shot type: Two shot
Non-diegetic sound: Deep dark background music with deep base. Jump scare scene most likely.
Lighting: Lowkey lighting, slightly blue tint?
Mise-en-scene: In the bedroom, the woman is under the impression her husband is sleeping next to her when its really the antagonist.
How is it effective?: A two shot would be effective because you can clearly identify both the antagonist and the protagonist in both one shot, making each character type easily recognizable. | |
8
|
Shot type: Long shot
Non-diegetic sound: Deep dark background music with deep base.
Lighting: Indoor scene will be here so most likely will just use the natural indoor lighting provided. However only kitchen and hallway lighting will be switched on.
Mise-en-scene: Within the kitchen. The antagonist will walk in the hallway unaware to the woman.
How is it effective?: This shot is effective in establishing a setting. In my house I have a hallway which is where I will do a similar shot to the one on the right screenshot. I feel this would be effective in the sense that I could do a scene quickly showing the antagonist walk across the room and then disappear. | |
9
|
Shot type: High angle shot
How is it effective?: This would be effective because it would show the character in a way that makes it look like someone is looking down at them. This is effective because it makes the person look smaller than they actually are, thus, representing them as weak and vulnerable.
| |
Friday 4 November 2016
Recce and Location shots
My intended idea for my coursework was to shoot the outdoor scenes during the nighttime. I specifically wanted it to be shot then because I felt like that it would have been the most effective, due to the key 'low-key lighting' convention. To add on that, my outdoor first scene was hugely inspired by the short horror film 'The Smiling Man', which was also shot in the night time, so I wanted to achieve the same effect. Originally, I had the assumption that the street lights would provide me enough light when shooting, but simply from taking location shots in the night on my iPhone camera, I realized that the quality of the shot would not be up to standard and that street lights would simply not be enough. Because of this, I decided to take my location shots during the day and also when just before sun down. I am aware that my iPhone camera quality would be significantly worse in comparison to a professional camera, thus, when I am doing my test footage I will test out some shots in the night time just to see if the quality is good enough.
Within this location shots, I decided to take only one location shot within my house due to mantain a level of privacy as family members would not feel comfortable having full on pictures of my house up online, however, I will still film inside.
Location Shot #1 & 2
Here I will shoot the scenes of the woman (protagonist/victim) walking down the street listening to music, this scene will be an over the shoulder shot of the antagonist looking at her walking down the street. The scenery of a long road and bushes create a dark feel as it almost gives off the impression that the woman is in an alleyway or a secluded area. To add on to that, the fact it is a long pathway possibly and the antagonist at the road almost waiting for her hints at the plot line (that she can't escape). I feel this will be very effective as it automatically puts the audience at unease.
In the image to the left I simply have shown the length of the road/pathway in a better way. It also was taken before the sun down which gives off a better representation of what the final shot may be if I am not able to shoot in the night time.
Location Shot #3
Within my short film, I am also going to do point of view shots from the victim/woman. This will be when she first notices them just standing in the middle of the road. After that it will be simple reaction shots of both their faces before the antagonist runs off in a crazy manner laughing to themselves. I feel that this will be effective as it will be a very tense scene of silence and just reaction shots before the antagonist's very odd exit, leaving the audience wanting more and answers (opening the door to enigma codes such as "Who are they?" "Why are they acting like that?")
Location Shot #4
When the antagonist runs into the road, I am planning for them to just stand in the middle of it for a while staring at the woman and waving. The woman will then turn around for a bit before turning back to see the antagonist has just disappeared and to see the shot on the left - a completely empty road. I feel this will be extremely effective as it now brings the supernatural element into the short film as it leaves the audience wondering how did this strange creature completely disappear from the scene in less than 5 seconds, they cannot possibly be human.
Location Shot Attempt. #
On the right you can see the location shot I attempted to take in the nighttime. Evidently - even though it would be ideal to shoot in the nighttime - the lack of lighting provided would possibly knock down the quality of the shot.
Location Shot 4 & 5#
One of my dramatic scenes that I will shoot inside the house before the climax is the laptop webcam scene (an idea that I recently had). The idea is for the woman to check her laptop to see her laptop is on with the camera open. Strangely enough, her blinds are also open which makes her assume her husband is home. Whilst her webcam is on, she get's distracted on her phone, but we (the audience) will see the antagonist through the window as the blinds will be open on the webcam, however, she will be unaware as she is distracted.
When she does eventually get a strange feeling, she turns around and we will see a shot like this on the left, where nothing is actually there. This adding to the supernatural feel. I feel like this will increase fear factor for the audience as it provides a "Now you see me, now you don't" type atmosphere.
Within this location shots, I decided to take only one location shot within my house due to mantain a level of privacy as family members would not feel comfortable having full on pictures of my house up online, however, I will still film inside.
Location Shot #1 & 2
Here I will shoot the scenes of the woman (protagonist/victim) walking down the street listening to music, this scene will be an over the shoulder shot of the antagonist looking at her walking down the street. The scenery of a long road and bushes create a dark feel as it almost gives off the impression that the woman is in an alleyway or a secluded area. To add on to that, the fact it is a long pathway possibly and the antagonist at the road almost waiting for her hints at the plot line (that she can't escape). I feel this will be very effective as it automatically puts the audience at unease.
In the image to the left I simply have shown the length of the road/pathway in a better way. It also was taken before the sun down which gives off a better representation of what the final shot may be if I am not able to shoot in the night time.
Location Shot #3
Within my short film, I am also going to do point of view shots from the victim/woman. This will be when she first notices them just standing in the middle of the road. After that it will be simple reaction shots of both their faces before the antagonist runs off in a crazy manner laughing to themselves. I feel that this will be effective as it will be a very tense scene of silence and just reaction shots before the antagonist's very odd exit, leaving the audience wanting more and answers (opening the door to enigma codes such as "Who are they?" "Why are they acting like that?")
Location Shot #4
When the antagonist runs into the road, I am planning for them to just stand in the middle of it for a while staring at the woman and waving. The woman will then turn around for a bit before turning back to see the antagonist has just disappeared and to see the shot on the left - a completely empty road. I feel this will be extremely effective as it now brings the supernatural element into the short film as it leaves the audience wondering how did this strange creature completely disappear from the scene in less than 5 seconds, they cannot possibly be human.
Location Shot Attempt. #
On the right you can see the location shot I attempted to take in the nighttime. Evidently - even though it would be ideal to shoot in the nighttime - the lack of lighting provided would possibly knock down the quality of the shot.
Location Shot 4 & 5#
One of my dramatic scenes that I will shoot inside the house before the climax is the laptop webcam scene (an idea that I recently had). The idea is for the woman to check her laptop to see her laptop is on with the camera open. Strangely enough, her blinds are also open which makes her assume her husband is home. Whilst her webcam is on, she get's distracted on her phone, but we (the audience) will see the antagonist through the window as the blinds will be open on the webcam, however, she will be unaware as she is distracted.
When she does eventually get a strange feeling, she turns around and we will see a shot like this on the left, where nothing is actually there. This adding to the supernatural feel. I feel like this will increase fear factor for the audience as it provides a "Now you see me, now you don't" type atmosphere.
Tuesday 1 November 2016
Risk Assessment
Hazard
|
People
who might be harmed
|
Property
which might be damaged (if eligible)
|
How
this risk will be controlled?
|
Risk
Assessment
(LOW,
MODERATE, HIGH)
|
As
we will be working in a public place, we might cause distribution/alarm in
the neighbourhood. Especially as one of the actors would be wearing a creepy
doll costume
|
The
people living in the area (our neighbours)
|
Property
would not be damaged as we would take care of our surroundings we just might
cause alarm to people who aren’t aware of the project we are doing
|
We
will tell our neighbours and everyone in the area who might be directly
affected about the project beforehand so that they are not shock/fear on the
day of filming.
|
MODERATE.
|
Other
cars on the road when having the road scene. The antagonist is set to stand
in the middle of the road for a while.
|
Drivers
on the road, cars going down the same road.
|
Not
eligible.
|
I
will make sure that when I record the road scenes I am very quick with timing
and it does not drag for a long time to avoid these situations.
|
HIGH
|
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