Photos of the location

Here are some photos we took of the house we will be shooting at. There are a few problems with this house as there isnt a long corridor which is necessary for the last shot. We will shoot this a Peaslake House were there is a long narrow corridor which is perfect and sets just the right atmosphere. However, this will be our main location.

Asylum Storyboard

This is a better updated version of our story board. You have to remember when reading it that the dad will always be talking/documenting the tour of the house. The whole thing as well is filmed by him on a handheld camera, it is in the style of a home video.

1. Starts outside, dad fumbling with the camera - looking at it etc.
2. Gets it on and shows entire front of house (sort of establishing shot)
3. Then walks towards the front door perhaps pointing camera at his feet by accident, then realising his mistake.
4. Pointing camera at door handle
5. hand opens door and he starts to go in the house.
6. Outside is light, indie is dark, the camera will be unfocused and change automatically.
7. full shot of the hall - 1st shot of kids.
8. dad asks daughter to give them a tour, she replies, refuses etc. she runs off dad shouting after her. Camera CUTS.
9. we start again with the dad walking into the into kitchen.
10. daughter is reading/ipod - dad being cringworthy towards her.
11. goes to open draw, showing kitchen etc.
12. opens it, its empty.
13. flashes to surgical equiptment and blood etc.
14. then it flashes back.
15. point camera at daughter.
16. daughter runs off arguing shouting.
17.dad goes after her, pointing camera at his feet.
18. puts camera down. the camera is left on pointing at a window.
19. blood flys up window, very faint scream, still with daughter and dad arguing in the background.
20. blood dissapears.
21. sound of dad coming back.
22. picks up camera, he thinks its off so trys to turn it back on.
23. camera is turned off half way through dads sentence. CUT
24. starts with dad fumbling with camera, son at top of stairs saying come see my room.
25. dad sayign hang on trying to srot camera.
26. starts to run up stairs camera in hand point backwards and upside down. it is rolling up and down.
27. flash of body on stairs covered in blood.
28. flashes back to normal stairs.
29. gets to top pointing camera fowards.
30. walks to sons room, son runs in first.
31. dad walks in, kid jumping on the bed.
32. flashes to dead body on bed, bloody handprints up wall.
33. flashes back to son jumpig on bed.
34. dad says take us to your sisters room.
35. kid walks across room through door.
36. dad follows - pointing camera downwards.
37. points it back up when going into daughters room.
38. daughter looking in mirror, we see dad filming behind.
39. she opens mirror so it is angled at shower.
40. flashes of blood across the shower.
41. daughter closes mirror shouting at dad.
42. dad turns the camera in a random direction and it goes off. Cut
43. dad walks along a corridoor, turning camera back on.
44. he walks into lounge.
45. flashes to empty room with mental patient tied to chair screaming.
46. flashes back to louge.
47. dad says lets go see the dinning room.
48. he turns through the door.
49. patients face moving quikly screaming goes straight into the camera.
50. cuts to black, asylum written on screen. silence.

All these fonts are suitable for our title at the end. The most suitable i think is the middle because its hard hitting, powerfull and suits the scene. This title will come up at the end and appear crackled and eerie.

Asylum Storyboard

This is our storyboard for our sequence. The scenes are exciting and thrilling however this storyboard lacks detail. Detail is needed upon the different cuts, where the different cuts are and all the different angles we can shoot the film at to make it as thrilling as possible. We also have a write up of the film which we have addded detail to e.g how the films cuts.

"True Blood." An inspiring title sequence.

http://www.artofthetitle.com/

I believe the opening of this sequence if very effective. It’s fast paced and energetic which sets the sense of anxiety and pressure already by the start. They set the scene at the beginning which already creates a slight derelict and mysterious image and then go onto adding characters and imagery into the sequence. They way they jump from each shot is done well, jumping from filming done by a hand held camera to a steady camera shot back to a hand held camera shot creates a sense of discomfort and unease. During these jump shots quick flashes of images which can’t be identified but are presented as something daunting and frightening come up which also give you a sense of uneasiness. They present images of a disturbing nature which includes the rotting of the fox which is disgusting and distressing. They also manipulate time and edit the sequence well which creates tension and suspense. The contrast of all the different images that represent different ideas forms a feeling of confusion and uncertainty but also grabs the audience’s attention and makes them want to understand. Scenes of violent nature are also presented in contrast to scenes of sexual and culture nature which adds impact. They make images e.g. the child licking his lips with red juice all over his mouth be seen in a different way where the red juice is seen as blood. They have managed to grab certainly my attention to the film by not revealing too much information and making me want more and see more.

The Treatment

“Asylum” is the name of our production we will be filming. The sequence is based upon a family with two children whom are moving into an old house which used to be a metal asylum which is not known to them. The estate agent that is selling the house to them is married to an intellectual psychopath who is living underneath the house together joined with mental patients and knows everything. The reason for this is due to that fact that the mental patients need human flesh which they are attempting to get from the people who are buying the house.
We the audience experience disturbing footage of the house and what it used to be like. We experience sudden flash backs of the house and the events that occurred in the house. The whole sequence will be filmed by a hand held camera (video camera) used by the Dad. This will create more tension and make it more realistic. He will be walking around the house into rooms and down the corridors showing the camera the new house but as he enters that these spaces sudden flash backs of what a dreadful and disturbing place it used to be like will jump back. However, the family don’t see this footage and only we the audience know what’s going on. This makes it more frustrating and creates tension. We experience tragic and dramatic events that happened in the house which included: the escape of the mental asylums, the mental asylums being chained to chairs, abusing the doctors and nurses, them running around madly attempting and sometimes killing people. After adventuring around the house, having seen lots of flash backs of alarming imagery the last shot will be of a metal asylum escaping the house chasing a nurse trying to kill them. They will run into the camera to add anxiety and nervousness then the title will come up, “Asylum.”

Target Audience Profile

Our film is targeted at male and female ages 16-24. Our ideal profile audience type would be an 18 year old boarding school male. This male would enjoy sport activities such as rugby and football and is good at socialising. At the weekends he enjoys going clubbing and meeting new people. He would enjoy all types of music including: Hip hop, rnb, indie, alternative and would be open to listen to any other genres. Films he would enjoy watching would be action and comedy films such as: Saw, 28 days later, Saving private Ryan, Disturbia, Fight club and The Butterfly effect. The male would get pleasure from watching Southpark, Family Guy, Skins, Scrubs, Friends and all sport channels as he is interested in rugby and football. This would be our ideal audience.

There is plenty of detailed evaluation here, Imi, which demonstrates your understanding of this process. It would be useful to have some sense of the 'real' film products which have influenced you and shaped your thinking for the main task.

James

"Momentum" Previous Hurtwood Thrillers

"Momentum" Previous Hurtwood Thrillers Evaluation

From the beginning this sequence already gives you a sense of eeriness, mystery and confusion. Many shots are either extreme close ups or close ups on random objects which sometimes cant be identified. This creates suspense as you don't know what these objects are but you want to know. The dark and dim lighting gives away little identity of the character which creates even more tension combined with the continuous sound of the clock ticking which adds suspense and makes you feel like your waiting for something which in the end is the gun shot. I found the build up to the climax had been done well, however the actual part when he shoots himself, the sound effect is poor and not effective. The sound should be much louder and realistic.

"Stare" Previous Hurtwood Thrillers

"Stare" Previous Hurtwood Thrillers Evaluation

This sequence was filmed by previous Hurtwood Students. Already at the beginning of the sequence tension is high due to the emptiness and eeriness of the location, the changeable lighting and the non-diegetic sounds. Its everyone's nightmare to be on a train by yourself at night and for something to happen like that which makes it even more intense and scary for the people who are watching. There is no talking either in the whole sequence which creates suspense as well as the loud eerie sounds which create tension and confusion. They build up the tension well before seeing the girl, but I feel when we do see the girl we see her for too long which dampened the excitement and mystery. However, the final cut at the end makes me want to go out and see this film as it leaves you wanting more.

My Preliminary task film

Preliminary Task Overview

I am very happy with my outcome of the filming. I feel I managed to grasp the task well and use what I have learnt previously to better use. However, there are a few things I would have changed. First of all I would have liked to have more variety of shots to choose from. For example, we only had one take of Mell walking in to the room which didn’t give us much choice and wasn’t as effective as if could have been. I also think I needed to take more care over the continuity to make the film more realistic and so the sound and lighting don’t vary. I would have also liked to have more shots of shot/reverse shot of the conversation so the viewers could become more involved in the film and conversation.
We had some issues with the sound and making sure the sound e.g. the door slamming happened at the right point. If we had more time I would have liked to have pre-recorded the main sounds and then link them up with the action after. This would have made it more effective and the sound would have sounded more realistic. I could have also made sure that the microphone was positioned correctly and facing towards the sound.
Overall I believe the preliminary task went well and the mistakes I have learnt in previous tasks have been accounted for. Even though a few still did occur we managed to over come them and I was very happy with the end result.

An acount of my camera training

Setting up the camera and tripod
The past week I have been learning about how to use a camera. I have learnt how to set a camera up on a tripod, all the different camera displays, the shooting processes, zoom and focus.
Before I could begin filming I had to set up the camera and tripod. A tripod is a three-legged stand for a camera, used to stabilize and elevate the camera. They are necessary when slow-speed exposures are being made, or when zoom lenses are used. A tripod is also helpful in achieving precise framing of the image. For maximum strength and stability, most tripods are braced around a center post, with collapsible telescoping legs and a telescoping section at the top that can be raised or lowered. At the top of the tripod is the head, which includes the camera mount, several joints to allow the camera to pan and tilt, and usually a handle to allow the operator to do so without jostling the camera. You place the camera on top of the head and lock so it is stable and wont fall off.

Importance of the camera display
The camera display is very important when filming. Its displays lots of important information about the camera which includes; Battery and tape indicators, shutter speed, exposure, white balance and gain. These are very important when filming as if it’s not the right balance the shot will look unrealistic and possible not very visible.

Battery and tape indicators
Battery and tape indicators on the camera display indicate how much battery is on the camera and whether a new tape is needed. It is displayed in the middle of the screen. These are important so you’re able to see instantly how much battery you have left so it doesn’t waste time.

Shutter speed
Shutter speed is the length of time a shutter is open; the total exposure is proportional to this exposure time, or duration of light reaching the film or image sensor. Shutter speed is one of several methods used to control the amount of light recorded by the camera's digital sensor or film. It is also used to manipulate the visual effects of the final image beyond its luminosity. It is important as if it’s not in proportion the image can look fake and unrealistic and also makes it hard to see.

Exsposure
Exposure is the total amount of light allowed to fall onto the camera. The exposure will change whether your outside on inside. It is important to change it when you’re in different surroundings as sometimes it can be too bright or too dark making it hard to make out what’s on the screen and to make it look as realistic as possible. Obviously it depends what effect you want but in most cases they want the image to look realistic.

White balance
Colour balance is the global adjustment of the intensities of the colours. An important goal of this adjustment is to render specific colours – particularly neutral colours. White balance refers to the adjustment of the colour temperature of an image in order to achieve a white display of objects that are usually perceived as white. It is important to get this correct so the image can be seen clearly and the correct colours can be seen and identified. Again this is very important in shots so the colours can be seen correctly and signifies what they are meant to signify.

Gain
Gain is electronically brightening a dark picture image in camera. It is measured in Db. It is important to get this correct otherwise the shot will look different and not very professional. This control helps to set the contrast and make the shot look good.

Zoom and focus
Zoom allows you to close up on certain objects or people. However it’s important that this zoom is in focus otherwise the screen will turn blurry. Focus is when the point where light rays converge, to produce an image that is clear and sharp in definition. If your camera is focused you will able to see a clear and distinct image. Without the focus my filming with have been blurry and not visible. To focus I had to zoom in at a point, focus it to make the image as sharp as it could be then zoom out to where I wanted to begin filming.

Shooting process
Shooting process is very important when filming. It lets the actors or actresses, the camera men and everyone standing around know that filming is about to begin. The words are never really used in normal context of speech so it is recognized as a command. The words spoken are ‘standby, standing by, turn over, rolling, action’. The underlined words are those of which the camera man speaks. When they say ‘rolling’ the camera rolls for a few seconds before ‘action’ and the filming actually takes place.
It’s important when filming from several different angles that the positioning of the characters remain the same. As there are so many shots we did we had to make sure it didn’t go past the 90 degree line. As you can film a person from the left then the right looking the same way which is unrealistic so doesn’t set the scene and confuses the audience.

Storyboards
For our task we had a storyboard. A storyboard shows a series of illustrations or images with specific descriptions to tell the story of the scene. Storyboards are important as it has all the details of what type of shot and angle the image is and what the image is. It also reveals the story line so you understand what’s going on.

What i learnt from shooting my previous task
I learnt the basic key skills of the camera in my task last week. I learnt how to set up a tripod and how to apply the camera on top and lock it. I also learnt how to use the tripod, using it to pan and tilt. I learnt key angle shots to make people or objects have status e.g. low angle shot increases the person or objects status. I was taught about the importance of the camera display e.g. Shutter speed, exposure, gain and white balance which is imperative when filming.

What i learnt from the preliminary task
I was able to use this experience when shooting the preliminary task. I had made a few mistakes in the previous tasks which included the shooting process (not letting the tape roll before action) and the 90 degree angle. I also had trouble with the contrast and lighting. In this task I was able to take on board what I had learnt previously and make sure it didn’t occur again. The task was successful as I was more experienced and knew what I was doing and with the help of the storyboard and the training I hope I managed to show off what I was capable of.

Using Digitial Still Cameras

Our first workshop was camera training. I used a Fuji Finepix S900 digital camera which was set to manual settings. I learnt about aperture and shutter speed. The aperture is the cameras eye, which is like a pinhole letting in light. Turning the wheel will change the shutter speed. E.g If I was taking a picture of the moon at night, I would have to let a lot of light in (aperture) but would also have to take the picture with a fast shutter speed to avoid blurring of the image but making the image sharp.
We were asked to use the cameras to take pictures for a horror poster we were to make on Photoshop. I used long shots and wide shots for my poster. The wide shot was used for the setting and surroundings, and the long shot which was made into a masked human was put in front and duplicated. When taking the picture I had to take in to account the rule of thirds (seen above)

Introduction to Imi's Media Space

I chose Media partly because i enjoy using cameras and filming aswell as being very interested in media today. As media has become very important in our society today it is very interesting and imperative for people to learn about it to understand the life media life were living in.