Planning over Christmas

Over the Christmas Holidays:

• Scout for places to film, go to possible locations such as Linton Camp, Middleton Hospital,
• Get a clear picture of what the characters will look/be like
• Wathe films like Sleepaway Camp, Camp Blood, I know what you did last summer, prom night, terror train

Pitch for Coursework Idea

Idea: The film will be set in a summer camp for teenagers. A group of  teenagers come to stay at the camp for the summer, and they dont realise that they are staying in the cabin where 10 years ago, another group of teenagers disappeared without a trace. The staff at the campsite covered up the disappearence.

The twist in the plot is that the group of teenagers that disappeared have turned into a gang of killers, and the present group of teenagers are stalked by the killers.  Narrative enigma could be used throughout the film so that the viewer thinks there is only one killer, and at the end it is revealed that there is more than one killer. The final girl stereotype will be used in this film. She will be brunette and intelligent.

SlasherEG7: Sleepaway Camp 2

Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers 

Michael A Simpson, 1988

PRODUCED BY: Double Helix Films

DISTRIBUTED BY: MGM Home Entertainment Anchor Bay Entertainment  (click here to see the full list)

RATINGS: Rotten Tomatoes 20% IMBD 5.4/10

The first shot we see is a point of view shot from the killers perspective behind a curtain looking at the victim as she walks into the cabin looking for someone.

The next shot is a medium long shot of the victim in a mirror.







Then we see a close up shot of the killer waiting behind the curtain for the victim, with a knife in her hand. 

We then see a medium shot of the victim and the killer, but the victim is still unaware of the killer at this point.

Then we go back to a close-up shot of the killer, who pulls the curtain back with the knife raised ready to kill. 

We  then see a close up of the victim so we can see her emotions fully, as she screams. 

The next two shots show the killer and the emotion on her face as she talks to the victim before she kills her.

We then see a medium shot of the killer as she grabs and then stabs her victim.

The full killing is not shown, all we see is the view from the mirror from a few shots before. We can clearly see the knife being stabbed down and then brought back up with blood on it. 

Titles and Idents Conventions

Slashers 2001
Low budget indie film, no idents, and no main titles.









Urban Legends (Jamie Blanks, 1998)
Budget - $14m
Box office - $38m (USA)
The titles begin with company names then the producers. The key titles come up, then a small killing, usually a killing, the titles resume.

Scary Movie (Wayanes)
Budget - $19m
Box Office - $157m (USA)
Clear from the start that the film is a spoof, lots of intertextual references to Scream.

Madhouse (William Butler, 1994)
White titles on a black background. Last title is usually for the for the director.

Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974)
White font, black background

All The Boys Love Mandy Lane (Jonothan Levine, 2006)
Low budget movie with only one ident. The title of the film use a serif font, clear that it is a slasher, as blood drips down the white title of the film.

April Fools Day (Fred Walton ,1986)
One ident for Paramount. The actual title of the film is shown 3mins into the film, and the titles end at around 5mins in. The colour of the titles would normally signify a comedy film.

Babysitter Wanted (Jonas Barnes and Michael Manserri, 2008)
Two idents are shown, then the title of the film is shown in white serif with lots of small red blood splatters.

5ive Girls(Warren P. Sonoda 2006 )
Colours are bright yellows and orange. Non- Diagetic rock music signifies a horror film.

Completed Ident

Slasher Titles and Idents Vodcast

Slasher Franchise Vodcast: Friday the 13th

wiki on the franchise

List of films in this franchise:

Friday the 13th (1980)

Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Jason X (2002)
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
Friday the 13th (2009)

Reviews

Friday the 13th -  "A hugely influential film that contributed to the 1980s horror boom." Matt Ford

BBC

Friday the 13th Part 2 - "Not as good as the original, but still pretty fun, it serves up more of the same and continued to be fresh enough before its many other sequels got too silly." Kevin Carr

7M Pictures

Friday the 13th Part III - "Not since Psycho has a movie taken such advantage of the phallic nature of slasher horror." Peter Canavese

Groucho Reviews

Friday the 13th original VS. Friday the 13th remake

There are only a few differences in the plot, but the biggest difference between the films is that the attitude of the kids. In the original series, the kids were sometimes strange and quite annoying, but for the most part they were likeable. In the remake, the kids were shallow, self centered, and seemed to have never worked a day in their life. Most of them were there to party and nothing more, it became difficult to care what fate had in store for them. The main exception to this rule in the remake is Jared Padalecki’s character who is roaming the wooded area looking for his sister who is missing and who locals believe is already dead.

Ident Idea

For our slasher opening coursework task we need an ident to put at the start of the opening.

Firstly, I came up with a name, FireLine Productions. I decided to use the theme of fire in the animation of the ident.

Possible Images:

To make my ident more memorable it will have a large explosion sound, with fire surrounding the text. I would like the text to be a serif font.

Possible fonts:  

Final Girl Concept

Carol Clover

The final girl is a term used in thriller and horror films that specifically refers to the last woman or girl alive to confront the killer, and the one left to tell the story. The term was invented by Carol J Clover in her book 'Men, Women & Chainsaws; Gender in the Modern Horror Film'. The final girl has been observed in lots of films, including Halloween, Friday the 13th, Alien, Scream & The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.


CLASSIC 'FINAL GIRL' CHARACTERS

Laurie Strode in Halloween

Laurie Strode in Halloween
In 'Halloween' Laurie Strode defines the Final Girl archetype. She carries around lots of books. Another signifier would be her clothing. She wears thick, unattractive clothes. Also her hair colour is a signifier, as usually the final girl is brunette. Laurie Strode doesnt have a boyfriend, and most final girls are portrayed as virginal. The final girl is always responsible. In Halloween, the binary opposition between the 'scream queens' & and the final girl is made very clear by the scream queens smoking, but the final girl isnt.




Sidney Prescot in Scream

Sidney Prescott in Scream

The final girl in Scream (Wes Craven) is called Sidney Prescot. The first signifier is her brunette hair, and also she is wearing a long, childish, unattractive nightgown. She is also doing her homework in the scene, another signifier that she is the final girl. When her boyfriend sneaks in, the conversation they have signifies how she is a virgin, which is a classic signifier for a final girl.

Media Language in 2 Shane Meadow Films

A Room For Romeo Brass (Shane Meadows, 1999)

Box office information:

Budget - not available

Gross - $18,000 (USA)

(Failed to get a UK cinema release)

Company idents:

Alliance Atlantis Communications.

This film was funded by The Arts Council of England and the BBC. These companies often to fund a lot of low budget films like this one. The opening take lasts for 1:10, which tells us it is going to be a drama,

Dead Mans Shoes (Shane Meadows, 2004)

Box office information:

Budget - not avaliable

Gross - $6,000 (USA)

(Failed to get a UK cinema release)

Company idents:

Warp Films
Big Arty Productions
Film4

This film has appeared in many lists of all time greatest films, despite making very little money in the USA and not getting a UK cinema release. The music is non-diegetic. The first few shots are like a documentary. The footage shown is home video, and the crackling effect and washed out colours of the film make it seem aged.

ASFF short film festival

On Friday 9th of November we went to the ASFF short film festival in York. We went to two
masterclasses, one where Danny Cohen (Cinematographer) talked about some of his work,
and a talk from the head of production at Warp films, Barry Ryan.

Warp Films Masterclass

Barry Ryan talked about the latest in film productions and a lot about Warp films and its achievements
as this year it is celebrating its 10th year. He talked a lot about how to get ahead in the business and
all about budgets and how much you truly make off box office intakes once all your financers and
people who put money into the project have been paid.


It was really interesting to hear all about what his experiences have been working for Warp and he
gave a lot of opinions on current issues and what the future looks like for film makers. He took some questions at the end of the session and this led into a discussion about how he got into the industry and he earlier also talked about how competitive it is and that the majority of aspiring young film makers are unlikely to become big and successful.

He spoke a lot about how they were celebrating 10 years and he mentioned all the achievements and
what they have accomplished over that time, for example 18 films , 5 tv series and much more. He also
mentioned a few future projects they are working on and it sounds like they are just going to continue
to be more successful. He said that the 10 year celebrations are taking place all this year and in
particular they are doing a special viewing of dead man's shoes but with the whole score
being done by a live orchestra.


Danny Cohen Masterclass

Danny Cohen started by talking about how he got into the industry and how initially he did a social science degree and then became a photographic technician which gradually led into him being the cinematographer he is today. Throughout the master class Danny gave useful tips to any aspiring cinematographers, for example he said that you have to be very resourceful, you're never going to have enough equipment or crew. He also said that you start small and make mistakes that then become something interesting. They then showed different clips from films that Danny had worked on and discussed what it was like and which were
more of a challenge. Danny Cohen worked on This is England(Shane Meadows, 2006) which was made by Warp films. This linked very well with the Master class from earlier and both master classes will come in very handy when talking about British cinema in coursework and the exam.

He also gave more general tips not just about cinematography but he talked a lot about location and how directors like Shane Meadows got a lot of ideas and inspiration on location meaning that you have to react a lot to what you see when on location. He talked about some of the problems he comes across when working. He said he was recently working on the film version of the musical Les Miserables. The director wanted all the actors to sing live and to preserve there voices this had to be done in as little takes as possible and with a few cameras on them at once so they then didn't have to re-shoot from different angles. He then also talked a little bit about how by making them sing live this would also make post filming harder as people would have had to edit out mic packs attached to them etc.


The other films mentioned and talked about included, dead man's shoes (Shane Meadows,2004) another warp films production, Dive (a film for tv aired about 3 years ago), This is England 88 (the tv series) and Peer point (2005 another film for tv) and The Kings Speech (Tom Hooper, 2010).

Microdrama editing

To edit our microdrama we split up into two groups, Poppy, Hannah, and Tilly, and me and Kate. The first thing that we noticed was that a part of our footage was missing, and originally we decided to go and re-shot   this part, but then decided that it would work better if it was left out as it would create narrative enigma.

Our microdrama starts and ends with a 'live news report', so me and Kate researched live news reports on YouTube and tried to recreate the same effects using Final Cut Pro. At first we found this hard to do and find the right format of text to use, but eventually we got to grips with it and decided on a format that resembled a live news report.

We also edited part of our footage to make it look darker and scarier.

Microdrama shoot

On the day that we shot our microdrama, we did come across a few problems. One of the main problems was that the day we decided to film was fairly windy, so we did get quite a lot of background noise. The second problem we had was that as we had decided to film in the daytime, and edit the microdrama so it looked like it had taken place in the dark, there were quite a lot of people in the park and a few times we had to stop filming to let people past.
The next problem we encountered was that the camera ran out of battery, and we had to use Hannahs iPhone to film the last few parts of the footage. Fortunately the iPhone camera was HD so the change in quality wasn't a problem, but we did struggle slightly during the editing process as we filmed with the camera in landscape and the iPhone on portrait.
Overall, I think that the shoot went fairly well considering the problems that we had, and I think this was down to careful planning.

Microdrama Planning

The microdrama task was to create a mini drama based on the horror genre, using the key narrative theories. In my group there was Kate, Hannah, Poppy, Tilly, and me. We started by talking about different plot lines and eventually decided on a simple idea, which we then developed into a more interesting plot line. Planning did take quite a while as we changed our minds a lot about what should happen in the microdrama. We drew a storyboard for our microdrama, and also this did take a while as we decided what shot types/camera angles to use for each shot.

We then decided where abouts we were going to shoot the microdrama, and we chose to film it in Ilkley Park as it wasn't too far away, and there was a tunnel which would create different camera angles. At first we were going to shoot in the dark, but decided against this as there would have been too many problems.

Key Narrative Theories

Todorov

Todorov is associated with the theory that every narrative can be broken down
into 3 basic stages. Equilibrium, dis-equilibrium and new equilibrium. People 
usually refer to the 3 part model but he actually proposed 5 stages.

1. a state of equilibrium at the outset
2. a disruption of the equilibrium by some action
3. a recognition that there has been a disruption
4.an attempt to repair the disruption
5. a reinstatement of the equilibrium

Levi Strauss
When we consider the use of stereotypes it is often evident how a binary opposition 
is at play. For example how we describe a stereotypical poor or working class person 
in broadly the oppositeof how we would describe a middle class or upper class 
person. Scenes within dramas often reflectthis idea with clashing pairs. These binary 
opposites are what often cause conflict or tension.

Vladimir Propp

Propp argued that there are essentially 8 different character types, also known as an archetypes.

1. Villain - also known as the antagonist they are the 'bad guy' of the film and they never
 usually end up 'winning' or having the best outcome at the end of the film.
2. Donor - this person usually helps prepare the hero for for what they have to overcome
or gives them something to help them.
3. Helper - helps the hero in their quest.
4. The princess or prize - the hero that deserves her/it throughout the story but is unable
to marry her at he beginning of the story due to whatever villain is doing to stop them.
5. The princess and her father - gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, 
marries the hero.Propp noted that the father and the princess can be quite hard to 
distinguish between.
6. The Dispatcher - character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
7. Hero/Victim - also known as the protagonist, reacts to the donor, weds the princess. 

8. False Hero/Anti Hero/Usurper- takes credit for the hero's actions or tries to marry the princess.

These roles could sometimes be distributed among various characters. 
Also once character could do things that mean they apply to more than one role.

Barthes
Another basic but vital component of most narratives is the concept of narrative enigma. 
These are the puzzles created within the narrative . Trying to figure out these puzzles 
is part of the enjoyment of watching the text. This is often done by not showing 
someone's face or key information purposefully being hidden from the audience.

Semiotics Rap

First you need a denotation of what you see or hear
and then from there you see what you can cohere
if there's one symbolic detail it is the signified
but if its polysemic there is a downside
if a text is polysemic it could mean anything

To see a text from different angles use the commutation test
change a signifier to see if it changes the rest
or it could be intertextual and linked to an existing text

Semiotics: The Key Terms

Key Terms:

SIGNIFIER: detail from a text which has a symbolic meaning.

SIGNIFIED/SIGNIFIES: the symbolic meaning/interpretation which links to the reading of the text. 

DENOTE/DENOTATION: a description of what we see or hear within in a text.

CONNOTE/CONNOTATION: the symbolic meaning of these factual details.

BINARY OPPOSITION: they are a key device for generating conflict and drama and when they're placed together we can talk of binary opposites being juxtaposed meaning they're paired together to emphasise the contrast and difference.

POLYSEMY: every media text is essentially polysemic as it has many possible meanings.

ANCHORAGE: this is when we fix an interpretation to a text, because signifiers have been embedded within the text which point the audience towards a preferred interpretation.

COMMUTATION TEST: considering how the meaning of a signifier would be influenced if it was to be changed, which tells us if a detail in a text is important or not.

READING;

- PREFERRED: how the creators hope you will respond to their media.

- NEGOTIATED: the audience mostly understand the preferred reading but don't fully follow it, meaning they reject/are                unaware of some of the signifiers in the text.

- OPPOSITIONAL: the audience constantly rejects the meaning and interpretation that is being encoded by the directors.

NARRATIVE ENIGMA: certain elements are purposely hidden from the audience, to build up a sense of mystery and drama.

INTERTEXTUALITY: creating an overall impression of a text which targets a certain audience, however the meaning is tied to another, earlier text.

Up The Junction Opening Scene Analysis

Up the Junction 

Director: Peter Collinson

Release Date: 25th January 1968 (UK) 13th March 1968 (US)

Company Idents:  Paramount Pictures

Shot 1: This shot shows a medium shot of quite a posh car pulling up outside a large house. This shot is through a tall black gate, and this shows straght away what the social class of the characters in this scene is like. The medium shot continues showing a young woman walking out of the house. The driver gets out of the car to open the car door for the woman, again showing what the social class of these characters could be.

Shot 2: This shot is a medium close up of the car driving away from the house, and a medium shot of the girl in in the car before it drives away.

Shot 3: New characters are introduced in this scene. An extreme long shot shows three women walking out of a terraced house on a busy residential street. The camera stays on the girls as the walk right up to the camera, so that we see a close up of the girls. The girls stay in shot for a few seconds talking to each other.

Shot 3

Shot 4: The next shot cuts to a high angle shot of the same car from the first few shots of the film. It shows the car driving down a long road, before slowly stopping. The girl gets out of the car, walks off down the pavement and out of shot. The camera then pans off to the distance and non-diagetic music is played. This is where the opening scene ends.

Film Opening Conventions Vodcast

Films Mentioned:

• Be Kind, Rewind
• Hidden Agenda
• Star wars
• Atonement
• Heathers
• Up The Junction
• For Weddings and A Funeral
• About A Boy

 

Comparing 2 Past AS Film Openings

The Cellar & Deception

I compared 'The Cellar' and 'Deception' film openings.





I thought that the mise-en-scene was the strongest feature in this opening. In 'Deception, there was a better range of camera angles, however the mise-en-scene was not as strong. Something that lowered the quality of Deception is that we can see the shadow of the camera/person filming in some of the shots.The Cellar uses narrative enigma to intrigue us, and also Deception uses this but not for all of the characters.

Final Cut Pro X - First Impressions

Before doing Media A Level I had never used Final Cut Pro, and after using it for the first time I found that it was not as complicated to use as I thought it would be. There are still a few features that i think will take some time to get used to but the basics are quite easy to use. The things I found most difficult to understand were importing and especially exporting files into the right format.

21 Jump Street Opening Scene Analysis



21 Jump Street Film Poster

21 Jump Street

Director: Phil Lord

Budget: $42m

Release Date: 16 March 2012

(UK) 12 March 2012 (US)

Total Gross (Worldwide): $201.3m

Opening Scene Length: 1 min 29 sec

Company Idents: Columbia Pictures
                              Metro Goldwyn Mayer
                              Original



The first few seconds show the company idents for Columbia Pictures, Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures, and Original Film.

Shot 1 (0:44)

Shot 1: We are given some information about the setting in this shot.



Shot 2 (0:48)

Shot 2: The next shot is a high angle shot of a typical yellow american school bus, with children coming out of the bus.

Shot 3 (0:53)

Shot 3: Next it flashes to animated writing which says 'Columbia Pictures and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Present'

Shot 4 (0:59) 

Shot 4: In this shot the camera moves down from a high angle shot to a medium shot of one of the people who got off the bus. There is narrative enigma as we can only see the back of this characters body.           

Shot 5 (1:01)

Shot 5: The next shot again shows animated writing in the theme of the film, which says 'In association with Relativity Media'

Shot 6 (1:04)

Shot 6: The shot then cuts back to a medium close up of the character who got off the bus's head, and still narrative enigma is used as we don't yet know what the person looks like. The camera follows this person walking up some stairs in a high school setting. 

Shot 7 (1:07)

Shot 7: This shot is again animated writing which shows the production company ident 'An Original Film SJC Studios production' 

Shot 8 (1:12)

Shot 8: This shot simply shows the film title '21 Jump Street' in animated themed writing.

Shot 9 (1:15)

Shot 9: In this shot we get to see the characters face, and it shows a medium close up of the character walking through a door.

Shot 10 (1:21)

Shot 10: This next shot shows a medium close up of the character walking down a corridor. The corridor is very busy and the character is pushed around, which tells us what the character could be like

                                              

Shot 11 (1:24)

Shot 11: This shot shows a close up of a prom poster, which gives us a clue about the setting of the film.



Shot 12 (1:26)

Shot 12: This shot is a medium close up of the character walking down a corridor from behind, and he sees a girl walking up the corridor. He turns around, now facing the camera until the girl walks past him and then dialogue starts. This goes on to a shot-reverse-shot of the two characters having a conversation. 

Assessment Criteria

This Is England

 Director: Shane Meadows
 Budget: £1.5m

This Is England Film Poster

 Release Date: 27 April 2007 (UK) 

A story about a troubled boy growing up in England, set in 1983. He comes across a few skinheads on his way home from school, after a fight. They become his new best friends even like family. Based on experiences of director Shane Meadows. 

 Credits:

• 'A Shane Meadows Film' (director)
• Actors/Actresses
• Costume/make up/hair
• Script supervisor
• Music
• Director of photography
• Roland Rat
• Editor
• Co producer
• Line producer
• Executive producers
• Producer
• Writer/director