Preliminary Research

Continuity Editing: This is when one shot moves onto another will a smooth clean change, that is very unrecognisable to the audience, and doesn't create disorientation. One example of filming that does not do this is Discontinued filming, used in foreign films mostly, and shows the change of shot very clearly, causing somewhat confused to the narrative.
It includes two different categories of cutting; one is Temporal cutting, which connects shots together to support the narrative development. It may be linear progression or not, and can include flashbacks and flash forwards, these are both used to establish the progression of time.
The other category is Spatial cutting, which creates unified space through editing the shots from different angles and framing. This includes things such as shot/reverse shot, the Kuleshov effect, and parallel editing.

Spatial Editing: This is the act of placing the shot of one location, with a shot from another, and using them to construct film narrative in any imaginable way.

Within this form of editing, there is the 180 degree rule, which states that, in the 360 degree radius of the set, when filming direction interaction between 2 characters, that all cameras and camera movement mist be on one side of the set only, covering '180 degrees'. Within this side of the set, there is two cameras, one behind each character that will film the opposite characters reactions, and can be edited to make a short interaction/conversation. This is done to prevent disorientation of the audience, and make the scene look natural. The only exception to this rule, if the camera, is moved via dolly/tracking over the one half of the set, but the movement is made clear to the audience. Below is an example taken from Pulp Fiction. 

Another form of editing that is used in Spatial editing is the shot/reverse shot, which is a little similar to the 180 degree rule, as two cameras are placed behind each characters that are having a conversation, and the whole conversation is filmed over the shoulder, but is kept stationary. This also shows the characters emotions and reactions to what is being said. An example is below.

The last form of editing that is used in Spatial editing is the Match on Action shot, which is when an action shot is filmed, possibly a character reading a book. And the shot is cut half way through the action, and another filmed shot is placed directly after this cut, showing the certain action carried on, but in a different shot, often zoomed in. An example is below and is taken from The Anchorman.

I think that continuity editing is important when filming because it is essential that the transition between shots is as smooth as possible to ensure that the audience has maximum enjoyment form the film and that no attention is drawn to the change in shot.

Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity_editing
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisMnECPaWDfHYrz7hkCyk-V2PeWqUdJPgOvu8IzjcCXfXDyWkjZtLrjXdriZekb_bNtIA_zOXqqgd_sKFNqrVIA4ZjEezH1v5R_Cxi-gIiYOy2emKSkkT1yB8cLpvyMVIromGrg8rXekSM/s1600/shot+reverse+shot.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/241/452559072_d3f437d0e9.jpg?v=0

Filmogrpahy:
Pulp Fiction 1994 (Quentin Tarantino)
The Anchorman 2004 (Adam McKay)

Developed Treatment

 

1.    Setting –

The main setting for our film is going to be a dark and secluded forest, it will be a fairly unknown environment to the characters, with high trees enclosed together restricting the view of the group of characters. Adding the factor of poor winter weather to this mix, which will also make the environment a lot mistier and dead looking due to the trees looking bare and bleak and complete darkness stretched over the surrounding areas, the setting will look very creepy and mysterious, which in turn will add to the terror factor of our film.

 

2.    Protagonist and antagonist –

The antagonists for our film are a group of people that have been forced out of society because of their differences, and due to this happening they have had to revert back to their animal instincts and turn into cannibals. They will be rather heavily disfigured, with very limited speech, and will show their personality/characteristics through their actions and behaviour rather than narration and hat they say.

The protagonist for our film is a believable well rounded character that audiences can possibly relate to and understand.  He will start off being a character that audiences might not feel as sympathetic for, as he is a bit of a ‘jack the lad’ character who isn’t really grateful or values his life, but after his friends lives being put in danger, and successfully escaping the forest, he then values his life more and is grateful for what he has, and I think that audiences will be able to like the character more after this.  

Our chacrter could be compared to 'Tyler Moon' from Eastenders.

3.    3 Act Structure –

1^st  The set up: The set up for our film is, a group of friends are looking to get to a party but are quite late and are not sure in which way to go, they ask for help from a stranger at the road side, and end up getting incredibly lost in a forest.

2^nd The setback: The setback for our film is that whilst the characters are lost they begin to lose people in the group, and discover they are being hunted by a group of inbreds that live in the forest.

3^rd The resolution: The resolution for our film is that the protagonist defeats the inbreds and manages to escape the forest with his life, which he now values a lot more than he originally did.

Theory:

1. Binary opposition – The binary opposites that we have chosen for our film is, Disfigured vs regular people. We chose this because not only can we make the characters look realistic with the use of makeup, it is also an interesting binary opposite, that isn’t used a lot in classical horror films and will make our film unique from others.

2. Character type - In our film we will have a Protagonist, who will be believable and likable for the audience, as he will have traits that many people have/ encounter day to day. We will also have an antagonist, we will follow some conventions of a traditional horror villain, but will also have some non conventional traits. We will do this by our villain having ripped/torn clothing that will be covered in blood, and they will look unusual and non human like, but they will differ from the conventions as they will have modern clothing with normal colours, instead of dark mysterious clothing. Another characters we are including is the Donor, who in our film will be giving the protagonist the gift of life by sacrificing himself, and will be one of the protagonist friends in our plot. The heroine is our film will be in the form of prize and will be the prize of life that the characters will have to earn after their ordeal and journey. The last character type that we are including is a sidekick, which is will all of the protagonists friends that are in our film.

http://www.narrati.com/Narratology/Characters-Stock.htm

The link above shows many different examples of stock characters ranging the original acient history characters, to some more recent and modern characters.

3. Equilibrium theory –

Equilibrium: A group of friends get lost in a dark forest after asking and getting the wrong directions to a party.

Disequilibrium: Whilst the scene is darkening and the characters remain trapped they realise that they are being hunted by a group of inbreds that inhabit the forest.

New State Equilibrium: The protagonist defeats the villains and escapes luckily with his life which he now values a lot more than previously and his remaining friends.

Design Decisions

Costumes- For our film, we will be dressing the adversary of the film in quite tattreed/old looking worn in clothing, thta will possibly have blood stains on, and will look unsusal. We will not however, be making the clothing really dark, as it may fade into the background, and obscure the vision of the costume. Our protagonist on the other hand will have fairly normal average looking clothes, to show thereis nothing strange or hidden about them.

Lighting- For our film we will rely mainly on natural light from the setting, we are filming in. For example, in the twlighti hour between the day and night we won't be using any form of extra light to aid the camera, and will shoot as it is. But when it gets darker, we will be using the small torch on the camera, to create a different mood, and higlight certain feautures of the charcters. 

Props- For our film we will be using unique props for our film opening, and not sticking to the normal horror genre type of weapon, such as a knife or axe. We will be using weapons such as garden shears, or possibly a chainsaw, as they are not often seen in conventional horror films.

Mise-en-scene-  For our film we are going to use our setting to aid our mise-en-scene for the film, as the visual set of the scene is horror assciated itself, as when filming in a forest in winter, the scene will be looking quite bare and bleak and also quite creepy and mysterious. Also, the brightness of the daylight/ darkness, will help the mise-en-scene, as darkenss is associated with fear, and evil.

Primary Research Task (Graphs)

Primary Research Task Questionnaire

Questionnaire- Horror

(Circle the answer)

1. What type of setting do you find most scary?
A. Graveyard  
B. House   
C. Abandoned area  
D. Other

2. What is your favourite type of horror Film?
A. Slasher 
B. Haunting 
C. Psychological 
D. Crime/Mystery 
E. None

3. What is your favourite genre?

4. What is your favourite film in this genre and what draws you to it?Favourite Film:
A. Advertisements 
B. Actors/Actresses 
C. Trailer

5. What do you most dislike about this genre?
A. Blood/Gore B. Lack of story C. Characters

6. What elements do you expect to witness in this genre?
A. Hero/Survivor 
B. Villain/Killer

7. What do you believe to be the best thing about horror movies?
A. Story line 
B. Blood/Gore 
C. Suspense 
D. Setting 
E. Acting

8. What is the best type of killer?
A. Mysterious    
B. Public   
C. Serial

9. Are you affected by horrors when you watch them?
A. Yes 
B. No

10. What do you expect to see at the end of a horror film?
A. The evil character is killed or taken away   
B. The evil character gets away and continues what he’s doing

Blue Screen Work

Narrative Theories Research

A narrative is originally a story that describes a series of events that happened, fictional or no fictional. An example of this would be the phrase 'once upon a time' which immediatly sets the sotry in the past with the use of the word 'once', and with the use of the words 'upon a time' it shows that the story is set in a world other than our own. This is very often used in fairy tales, or childrens stories.
A narrative is important because a strong narrative for a media text such as a film, can make it somewhat more successful at the cinema, as he customers will be engorssed and wanting to see it more than a film with a poorer narrative.
There are 3 different narrative theories that narratives tend to follow. The first is character type, and is as follows:

• The Hero: Leads the narrative and is usually looking to solve something (Puzzle, Problems etc.).
• The Villain: Conflicts with the hero.
• The Heroine: Is usually some sort of prize or reward that the hero receives.
• The Father: An authority figure who offers a reward to the hero for completing their quest.
• The Helper: Helps the hero; often acts as a sidekick.
• The Donor: Gives the hero something; a clue, a piece of information, or object that helps them to complete their quest.
• The Mentor: Teaches and guides the hero.
  

The second one is the binary opposition theory.  Binary Oppositions are a pair of concepts that are complete opposites to each other. An example of this would be good vs evil, powerful vs weak, hero vs villain, men vs women, etc. Binary Oppositions are almost always used to show the good characters and bad characters within the narrative.


The final narrative theory is the Equilibrium theory. The Equilibrium theory is split into three different sections including the equilibrium, the disequilibrium, and the new state equilibrium, which each have their own individual input to the narrative. The Equilibrium is the start of the story and is normally the main character living their life as it is normally. The Disequilibrium is something that drastically changes the characters normal everyday life and they have to overcome this. And finally the New State Equilibrium is the change in the characters life and how they have be changed in some way. 


In my opinion the most important narrative theory to use for a film opening, is the Equilibrium theory, as it not only helps to set up a strong and reliable narrative plot, but it can also ensure that the narrative will be interesting and appeal to audiences.


Bibliography:
Filmography:

Final Cut Introduction

Earier on in the day, we got into groups of about 2 people, and planned out a short sequence of about 30 seconds, that we were later going to turn into a good looking blue screen test sequence. After wrtiting our scripts for the sequence, and practising them roughly to make sure they would fit in time with the background animation, we then went to a different location to film. There we had 1 person from the group filming, and one person acting, with people from other groupd helping us out with our work. After filiming we then went to apple mac suite, to upload and edit our work.


When we were about to use Final cut, there were problems about uploading the files as they were a different fie type to what Final Cut accepts, and the program refused to upload and work with the file format that our work was in. From this happening, I have learnt that next time I use Final Cut, it would be a good idea to have the correct file format already selected on the camera, or alternatively, have a file converter ready to use, to convert the files from the camera, so they can be used on the Final Cut program.