Final CCR!!

The final step to the long process! Thank you for following the process. 

Finally Done!! 

After a long process, our project is finally finished! Presenting... "Tiffany."

I Hear the End is Near

    Our final steps are complete! We were able to finally find and create the sounds that we needed in the remaining portions of the film in order to finish. From the use of online sources to find certain sounds such as the sound of some phone notifications and typing, to the music used throughout the film that we used to create the tone of the film, everything has finally come together in the final product.
    The first thing we did was find the background music for our film. As stated in previous posts, killer tracks was used for the pop song that we used in the film in order to introduce our "victim" and kind of introduce her personality without having her use any dialogue. This song also flowed well with the other music used in the film to create the horror vibe, not creating too much of a contrast in the tempo of the music throughout and allowing the intro to flow smoothly. Multiple creepy music was used in the film for different situations. The first we had was a little slower in pace and was more subtle than the second. It featured buildups throughout, but was not too over the top and allowed us to use it as almost a form of ambient noise in the film. The second song used featured some more depth and was less subtle, but allowed us to create a more fast paced section of the film, linking almost to heartbeats in the situation. It also features an eerie vibe, further contributing to the creepy vibe we were going for in the film.
    For sound effects we were able too use a mixture of the YouTube audio library and freesound.org to find sounds from phone notifications to typing, which was an important part of our project, especially with the phone notification sounds. We used the phone notifications not only to literally show the messages, but also as a way to create suspense and build tension through pacing. The timing of the messages allowed us to create almost a beat throughout the scene and speed up or slow down the scene when paired with cuts.

(Here is us creating the broken window sound)

(This is use recording the sound for the closing door in the film opening.)

    Finally, we were able to create some of the sounds on our own. We used a mixture of foley sounds and just recording sounds on our own, which allowed us to control the speed and effect that the sound had. For example, we recorded the sound of a door closing to use in the film when the door closes, allowing us to watch the portion of the film as we recorded, which let us sync the sound with the film. The other sound we created was the sound of broken glass. Rather than actually breaking a glass window, we resolved to a glass jar with pennies inside. This jar was placed in a plastic bag to prevent any pieces from spreading and injuring anybody, and we simply recorded the sound that the jar made when we dropped it on the floor. This turned out well and was something that we used in the film.

Freesound - Freesound. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2018, from https://freesound.org/

Final Touches

    The final touches to our project is adding the sound. Over the last couple days we have been searching for a combination of sound effects and music that we could use in our project and create the vibe that we want throughout the film intro. Something we have had a hard time finding are the sound effects, such as phone notifications and a sound resembling breaking glass for the inferred broken window. Although there are many online sources for sounds that we can use, they have not had the effect that’s we want and we are going to try and use household items to create our own Foley sounds  per say and hopefully the result will turn out how we want. 

    The other important sound aspect that’s we felt we wanted to include was the use of music, mostly to establish the tone of specific scenes in our movie intro. One source that we used to find this music was killer tracks, which had many option sound for us to choose from and ended up being the place for us to find the “pop” sound that we wanted to use to introduce the main victim of the introduction. 

Other sources for music that we used were free music archive and the YouTube audio library, which also allowed us five find music to establish the creepy and horror vibe of our film intro. 

    We are planning to finish putting all the sounds in within the coming days San we continue to work on our CCRs.

Killer Tracks - Online Production Music Library Resource. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2018, from https://www.bing.com/cr?IG=838B4F0621114EF480EC981EA5C77135&CID=2E3EE2C50A866E6304BBE90B0B296FCE&rd=1&h=j-FLEGUq7I4RVY4bfj5yZ-zSkauEn2_lSG7gy5fhz4M&v=1&r=https://www.killertracks.com/&p=DevEx,5069.1

Welcome to the Free Music Archive. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2018, from http://www.freemusicarchive.com/

Finishing Touches

     Throughout the last few days we have been putting the final touches on our video project. Currently, we only need to add a few sounds and finish up the CCR and we will be home free! 

    Some clips that we have included in our film throughout the last few days include a concluding scene of the intro and some scenes of text messages that appear throughout the intro. The first scene we worked on was a scene after the murder that was basically the final shot of out intro. We had to make some fake blood however, which took several attempts to get something finally right, and eventually was able to set up the final shot. 

(This is an image of the first batch of fake blood that we made for the film)

 (This is the second (successful)  batch of fake blood that we ended up using for the film.)

(This is the setup we used for the film, along with some additional lighting effects. We had to make sure we didn't make a mess, but also wanted to make it  look good.)

   The other parts that we included were just simple close ups of text messages that make appearances throughout the introduction of our film that link the killer to the victim. We felt that this was a way to connect the two characters and a way to create suspense throughout the intro. 

     Another addition to our film was the use of audio narration from the character. We felt this would allow us to get across some vital information to understanding parts of the movie intro and kind of set the tone for the remainder of the movie and our social commentary. This allows use to also show the character of the killer, which is somewhat different than many other horror films that hide the identity of the killer. We were able to get a classmate to speak some lines into a microphone, which turned out to be a good choice because it somewhat sounds like it is in her head, rather than her speaking out loud, which is the overall goal we were looking for. 

    Overall, the additions we made brings us closer to completion of the project and helps us portray our overall horror genre, and it gave us some time to have fun playing with fake blood! 

Some Typical Horror Distribution

    As we move into the final stages of the project, finishing up editing of the video and adding sounds and basically moving towards the overall completion of the video itself, we also start to move into the CCR portion of the project. Several of the topics that we have to eventually touch upon are things that we experienced while working on the project, but distribution of the film was something that we felt we would need to look more into.
    The first thing that we wanted to touch upon was the use of movie theaters to first distribute the film. Not as much IF we would use the movie theater platform, but WHEN. An important aspect of horror films releasing in theaters is the month that they are released in. According to wheresthejump.com, most horror films tend to be released in the span of a few months. For example, October is an extremely popular time to release these films due  to Halloween and the appeal to the spirit surrounding the month, but the following months leading up to January, February and March tend to be less popular due to decreased appeal of horror films after the October abundance and the presence of some big name films that seek an alternative release to the summer releases, another time where horror releases are limited due to the abundance of other big name and popular films being released. This leaves January, February and March as other times for some lower budget horror films to be released, and may very well be the optimal time for us to release ours in thee future. Since our film is  very low budget and does not have thee recognition to compete with some of the bigger name and bigger budget fims that may crowd the month of October, it may be more optimal to choose the months with limited horror options, but also with limited big name alternatives. This could promote our film by basically creating a runoff effect for people to come watch and may indirectly promote the movie as people tell other people about the movie. A chart showing the monthly comparisons can be seen here.
     The biggest challenge would be the fact that our film may not have the backing of a major movie distributor, and we may need to resolve to a mixture of conventional and unconventional methods of distribution. According to wisegeek.com, securing limited releases in theaters is "the most sensible root," and some film festivals can be used to show the film on another platform. Films can also be distributed easily through DVD and online sources. They also discuss the possible use of smaller platforms to release the film such as streaming sources and even social media. These are all possible options for us to use if we move forward, but maybe the best idea would be to implement a little bit of everything in order to maximize the capability for people to view our product and spread it as best we can.
    Moving through the CCR will allow us to further reflect upon the project that we have been working on in the last few weeks, and this information will be extremely helpful in discussing some key elements of the CCR.

Monthly Distribution Of Horror Movies – During What Period Of The Year Are Most Horror Movies Released? (n.d.). Retrieved April 06, 2018, from https://wheresthejump.com/monthly-distribution-of-horror-movies-during-what-period-of-the-year-are-most-horror-movies-released/

Carrier, T., & Allen, J. (2018, April 02). What Are the Different Methods of Independent Film Distribution? Retrieved April 07, 2018, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-methods-of-independent-film-distribution.htm

Final Group Meetings

    In our final group meetings before the big push towards the end of the project, I was able to discuss some of the issues that we had been having throughout our filming process, along with some advice about other parts of the project that may be extremely helpful.
    The first thing I discussed was the fact that some of our scene is lit extremely poorly in the beginning portion of the scene. My group had several ideas involving this, one being to kind of abandon that part altogether. They were primarily discussing the fact that we were maybe trying to do too much with the film in the first two minutes of it, maybe even having too much going on to make sense, and that maybe leaving out the poorly lit part would be better overall. Another idea they discussed, along with some ideas given to us in the days before, would be to play with the brightness, saturation, and colors of the video clips themselves. This would allow us to try and improve the lighting in the scene without having to reshoot it, and would also allow us to control everything that is going on. Although neither is the most ideal, as the first would eliminate part of our planned story and the second would add some time to our editing process, both are preferable to reshooting, especially with the limited time left to work. These are things that we still need to discuss as a group, and will make further decisions in the next few days. A possible solution may be to edit thee second, more well lit portion of the video and see how it stands by itself without the first portion and work from there.
    Another thing brought up in our group meeting was the use of music and sound in our video. Although we had been thinking about this prior, a member in my group proposed that we use the website purple-planet.com for our music. They provide all types of music and movie genre specific music that may be extremely helpful as we move forward when adding sounds and music.

Purple Planet Royalty Free Music. (n.d.). Retrieved April 06, 2018, from http://www.purple-planet.com/

   

Film Film Film

    So... issues first. Lighting. Although we experimented and experimented, parts of our film still came out extremely dark, some even unusable. The biggest problem may have come because we were too conservative about the amount of light that we let in during filming. We tried to use as little light as possible to create a dark, eerie vibe, but it ended up being too dark in some cases, but some of this may be fixed in post production by changing the contrast on the video during the parts that are extremely dark, and hopefully that will help a bit.

    Other than that, filming went relatively well overall, and we were able to accomplish everything we wanted. Although some things were not as we initially intended, it ended up being sufficient for our filming, and hopefully it turns out okay.

(This is our attempt to block out the lighting from outside the window. It seems it was too much blockage though because the videos ended up being too dark. Maybe more lighting in the room would have helped and made the lighting more sufficient, along with easy to manipulate.)

(Here is an example of the red lighting we used to create a ominous feeling. Using the red blanket, we were able to cover a lamp and create the cool color effect.)

(These are just some props that we bought for the film. The top being a decoration for the bathroom, the bottom being the eventual murder weapon...)

(This is setting up a portion of the set. We tried to use this scene to somewhat introduce who the character getting killed is in a small amount of time. We felt that mice-en-scene would be the best way to portray this because adding some dialogue seemed to not fit and adding another scene would add too much time to our intro.)

(And here is the filming process... with some nice lighting.)

Setting Up 

    For our film location, we had a very difficult time finding somewhere to film. Our intended location was a large, somewhat fancy house, and the room was intended to be somewhat large also, with hallways outside. This was intended to create some background for the character, without having to add extra dialogue. We felt that adding some extra dialogue wouldn't fit with the pace and the vibe we were going for. But this was somewhat hard to attain as a place to film, and we ended up using Sebastian's aunt's house to film. While completely adequate for filming, it was not really what we had in mind, but it was a great help that we were/are able to film there. One of the biggest issues that we have found is the natural lighting from the room is very strange and not really good for filming, so we had to play around to figure out ways to light the room, and specifically create the vibe we want. Our solution was to use a combination of a single lamp and phone flashlights, along with different materials to cover the lighting, in order to show certain aspects of the scene, and to make sure that everything is visible that we want, but at the same time create the darkness that we want throughout the scene. We also are able to use lighting from street lamps outside to create a sort of moonlight effect, along with phone flashlights to make it seem like more light was coming from the window. We also used blankets, sheets, and towels to shroud lighting and create different effects in the room. The primary example of this was to use a red blanket to cover the lamp and create a red light in the room before the person is killed. The use of red, symbolic for death, creates a creepy and ominous feeling in the shots, helping portray what we need.

(Here is the lamp that we used for lighting, along with the placing a red blanket over to create effects. More pictures will be posted in the next post, along with more discussion of our film process.)

Mostly Completed Storyboard

    Although somewhat crude, and no where near visually appealing, we have mostly completed our storyboard, or at least created the basis for our film to work off of. Something that we tried adding is a change of pace throughout the film in order to create that suspense, common in horror films, but it is something we will play with as we film and edit.

    Something that we also want to play with during filming will be the use of more movements and angles. It will be easier to see what is happening during filming, and also gives us some flexibility to change things we are doing. One issue that we have is that we feel we have not added enough in our storyboard and it may not amount to what we want it to, but we will experiment through filming and editing and try to make the best product possible. 

Some Extra Editing Research

    Aside from everything that we have previously discussed, another important aspect to our movie intro will be the editing. Specifically editing towards the horror genre, and creating the feeling that we want, through our editing specifically. According to videommaker.com, the editing is a key piece that keep audiences of horror films coming back for more. This means that editing is an extremely important aspect of our project, something that we especially need to capitalize on, since we are somewhat lacking in the resources department, and something that we can use to help tell our story. One specific article on videomaker  specifically talks about balancing the use of quick-cutting and extended uncut clips to create a feeling of suspense and unrest(not at the same time per say). This is something that we can keep in mind, especially since our focus is on a small area, and one specific  subject, which would make shot selection a little easier while at the same time creating that suspenseful feeling.
    Another aspect of the process that videomaker emphasizes is the use/absence of sounds. It states, "Sound effects shape the environment of a scene just as much as the visuals, they give life to lifeless objects on screen and reveal what the viewer never sees." Sounds can make or break not just our film, but any film. Sounds can create an atmosphere and establish certain things that may not be visible on the screen, and specifically for us may help us reveal certain aspects of our plot without explicitly showing them. This may not only add to the suspense of the film, but also the mystery. Furthermore, it would help us preserve time in our process by eliminating extra, unnecessary scenes. 
    Videomaker finally breaks down ten steps to "A Good Scare," which can fully be viewed here along with the rest of the article. What the steps do is build a gradual process for the scare, tying the audience to the protagonist/victim of the scene. This is something we can take into account since this is exactly something that we intend to do, and having a basic step by step process will help a lot in the process of making our movie intro and creating a suspenseful feeling in our film opening. 
    All in all, many of the recommended techniques are similar across different sources, but some that stand out in particular are some recommended by premiumbeat.com. They also recommended the use of unique angles, haze, and under exposing to create shadowing, similar to previous research, but the most interesting was the recommendation to shoot through things, such as windows. They stated that this provides some contrast to the common use of extreme close ups in horror films, and it shows the isolation of the character, a key element in the horror process. We can definitely take this into account, maybe through shooting through windows of the victims house. This may also add to the fact that she is being watched by somebody outside, and provide an extra creepy factor to our opening. The full article can be viewed here.

When Editing a Horror Movie or Thriller, Timing is Key. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.videomaker.com/article/c3/17056-when-editing-a-horror-movie-or-thriller-timing-is-key 

Cinematography Tips For Horror Filmmakers. (2015, June 09). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/cinematography-tips-for-horror-filmmakers/

Killer Scenes

    An important part of our movie intro is the kill scene in the end. And not just the kill itself, but the buildup to the kill in which we are trying create that sense of suspense and mystery common to horror films, and establish it as something that will be reoccurring throughout the movie.
    First off, we want to build suspense in the killing of the character. According to writersdigest.com, "suspense happens in the stillness of your story, in the gaps between the action sequences, in the moments between the promise of something dreadful and its arrival." This is something that we will need to keep in mind, mostly to assure that our scene is not too rushed. Although the source is mainly for writing books, these are still things that we may need to keep in mind as we make our movie intro. More details about creating suspense can be viewed here. Writersdigest also stated that "the more violence there is the less it will mean." This puts a question mark on our eventually kill scene as a whole, not only because we may not have time to build the suspense of the situation if we include it, but also because it may take away from the suspense that is intended throughout the rest of the movie. One thing that has been very difficult as we have progressed is remembering the fact that we are only making a movie intro, and not the full movie.
    Secondly, although still in the air about whether we should do it or not, the death scene itself. Not only did the recent research warn against the use of too much violence, but a suggestion from one group in our group meetings was to eliminate the kill scene altogether. This is something that we will continue to discuss and maybe film and see how it fits, but for now we need to figure out what makes the best death scenes. A ranking on tasteofcinema.com shows the top 32 supposed best death scenes in horror movies, and a common theme among them all is some exotic death and/or a decent amount of gore. The full rankings can be viewed here. For our project however, the more exotic death may be better for us, especially since we have such a small budget. It would be much easier to figure out a strange death than use a lot of fake blood or something similar in our movie, and may also help limit the violence, especially since it is the first two minutes of the film, and leave something for the readers later in the "movie."
    We still have more planning of these parts, but having this extra background may help influence our decisions, but overall the biggest thing we need to keep in mind is that we are making a 2 minute movie intro, and we do not need to show too much or give away too much.

Elements of Suspense in Writing: 6 Secret to Creating and Sustaining Suspense. (2015, October 29). Retrieved March 23, 2018, from http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/6-secrets-to-creating-and-sustaining-suspense

The 32 Best Death Scenes In Horror Movie History. (n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2018, from http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2014/the-32-best-death-scenes-in-horror-movie-history/

Updates

    Our storyboarding has moved to the next section of our intro, in which we are attempting to introduce the character who will be murdered in the opening scene. Although maybe not as detailed or expansive as it should be, our storyboard has given us a basis for what we want to do and has allowed us to visualize what exactly we want before we go to shoot our movie. The plans that we have are subject to change as we move forward and throughout the production process.
    We still plan to storyboard one more section that will most likely be included in the film opening, and one other possible addition that was suggested by some groups in our group meetings, that may add more context and background to the situation and provide a better understanding of the film. The focus of the first section we still plan to add will focus more on the suspense and eventual death of the character, so we will try to experiment using different camera angles and movements specifically, along with lighting, to create that suspenseful feeling. The second scene is still up in the air, but the main idea would be to provide background information about the girls, so maybe in a school or other public environment, with more high key lighting and a more flashback kind of feeling as we move into the rest of the intro.

(Here is our storyboard so far. Still a work in progress but a start!)

    Another update, we have officially found an actress for one of our characters, but are still short one. This is currently an issue as we plan to start filming next week, but we will continue to search and hopefully it works out. If anything, we can use the next week too finish the planning and begin some post production research, such as distribution and other topics. 

What a Character

    An important part of our storytelling process in our movie intro will be the characters we have in the scene, and although we have only two people, these two people will be incredibly important in developing the vibe of the rest of the characters that may appear in the movie and also establish context to the story. Although similar, we want our characters to have small differences that set them apart and end up making one of them kill the other.
    Our biggest similarity what wee want for the character is who they are socially. We felt that with the use of social media being highlighted and our target audience being young adults and teenagers, that our characters would be somebody that the viewers could relate to or connect with due to similar age range, so teenagers, probably high school students. We also wanted to use the most stereotypical type of social media users in our video, so we are going for the "cool crowd," more specifically a kind of "Mean Girls" vibe for our two characters. We felt this would best exemplify the social media use and really highlight what we want throughout the intro, along with poking at some social aspects as well.

    According to characterchange.com, characters having a fundamental fear that drives them is extremely important. More specifics can be viewed here. An inherent fear can be included in the character that motivates them and causes them to behave in certain ways. This is definitely something we feel we can use in our characters, especially the killer. We feel that because she is a popular girl also, and her heavy reliance on social media will be highlighted throughout the movie intro, that her inherent fear will be the fear of not being  accepted by others and fear of loss of attention and involvement. This would fit well since her motive for killing the girl will be that the girl has unfollowed her on social media and ended up not including her in social events. Although we will not say it explicitly in our video, it should be somewhat obvious as the movie goes on what the character's fear is.
    Since our characters are an integral part of our project, we felt the best way to portray our message would be to cast people that can act rather than some of our classmates, which will allow us to more easily make our video and not have to worry about whether or not the acting is poor. We are currently looking for actors now from the drama department of our school.

D. (2015, March 19). 9 Fundamental Fears That Motivate Your Characters. Retrieved March 17, 2018, from http://characterchange.com/9-fundamental-fears-that-motivate-your-characters/

Waters, M. (Director). (2004). Mean girls [Motion picture].

Mister Mister, I Have a Solution

    So recently we had group meetings in class and this served as a perfect opportunity to solve some of the minor issues that we had been having, or at least get some input. The main topic that I went into the discussion with was the issue of lighting for our horror portion of our film opening.
    The main solution was basically to look on youtube for some lighting ideas, so that is what I did.

This YouTube video by Cinecom.net discusses 5 different horror film lighting techniques that use only one light. The one light is extremely helpful since it may be difficult for use to find more than one or two lights to use in the first place due to our small amount of budget/resources. A common theme throughout the video is the use of powerful lighting from behind the subject or at different angles, allowing a silhouette to form around the subject in the image. The also allows for only partial portions of the subject to be shown, creating a mysterious a spooky vibe around the subject. We feel this would be extremely helpful in shooting our killer because it would allow  us to create that creepy vibe and also conceal the face of the killer, specifically through the use of the silhouette. The use of the one light may also help us to reveal only certain things in the scene and not give too much away, due to the ability to easily control the light. Another idea the video gives is to filter the light, using either slim cutouts of cardboard or tubes, allowing use to direct the light at whatever we want and also not lighting too much at the same time. This will allow us to easily play with the lighting and find the effect we want as we go. 

     Another commonly used element of horror film is the fog machine. Not only does the fog machine create fog, which is pretty creepy itself, the fog creates a different effect from the lights. In the video, the fog is sometimes used to spread the light, making it seem like it is not really coming from one solid place. According to newfilmschool, fog "not only diffuses light, but it carries the color of the light throughout the space you are using for your scene." This can used to further build  a creepy atmosphere throughout the entire scene and is something we feel we can use, both to develop the killer and also just in general to express the general mood of the killing scene. 

Overall, the group meeting went very well and the group provided a lot of information that may help our project along and help us really get certain aspects of our film opening to be understandable and portray what we want. It also allowed us to be removed from our projects and be truly objective about what we have, which will truly help us as we continue to move forward. 

C. (n.d.). YouTube [5 HORROR Lighting Setups with 1 LIGHT].

R. (2014, October 28). Fog, Smoke, & Haze: The Swiss Army Knives of Cinematography Tools. Retrieved March 17, 2018, from https://nofilmschool.com/2014/05/fog-smoke-haze-the-swiss-army-knives-of-cinematography-tools

Crooked Cameras

    A big discussion that we have been having the last few days has been over the storyboard, specifically how we can shoot our "kill" scene. The biggest topics we've been discussing have been camera angles and lighting.

    When it comes to the angles, the main topic has been the use of Dutch angles and some movement aspects. According to nofilmschool, the Dutch angle "can help heighten psychological distress and tension, creating a cinematic environment that makes for a thrilling, suspenseful experience." This seemed that it would fit our opening perfectly, but there was a BUT listed in the article. (The full article can be viewed here.) Although the definition of the Dutch angle seems like something that we can use, it is often difficult to determine if it really is necessary, or if it would make the introduction seem cheesy or weird. In some cases, the Dutch angle may even produce an output far from the desired intent, and this is something we really do not want to do, especially since there is so much we are trying to show in the short amount of time provided between the two characters we feature. An article by videoeditingsage.com discussed how the Dutch angle is a common angle used throughout the horror genre and by the film master Alfred Hitchcock. This means that the Dutch angle is a common theme used by many movie makers in similar genres, and it may be something that we too can implement and even look to other movies for aid and guidance. The fact that the angle is used frequently throughout the genre to portray similar emotions to what we want to portray and by big name movie creators is something that makes the angle very tempting and indicates to us that the correct use of the angle is something that can be incredibly helpful to portraying the emotions and feelings se want to the audience. 

    Another big thing that we have been discussing is lighting. In the first portion of our intro, we plan to have a dark room, featuring close ups of the main antagonist's  face, lit by computer/technology screens. We plan to experiment further with this idea, but have a basic idea of what we can do using the lighting from screens of computers and cellphones. We also felt that this would provide just enough light to show the characters facial expressions, but not too mush in order to keep a creepy vibe and also draw attention to the screens and the heavy use of social media. 

(Example of the lighting we intend to use, obtained from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/block-blue-light-to-sleep-better#section1)

But the biggest  lighting issue we face is how to make a scene creepy, but still have enough light to be able to see what is going on. Our teacher has made a recommendation to play around with lamps and different coverings over the lamps, which will be very convenient for us with our limited accessibility to fancy items. A common lighting that we have scene in horror movies such as "Friday the 13th" is very lowkey lighting, with the lighting coming from an outside source, such at the moon, or even very lowkey lighting that only has lights on the main subject. These are things that we can play with as we film, allowing us a range of options, but is also something that at prove as difficult as we move along. 

(Image from "Friday the 13th" illustrating a lighting choice we may want to experiment with)

R. (2015, September 05). Should You Use Dutch Angles in Your Films? (Answer: Yes, But...). Retrieved March 14, 2018, from https://nofilmschool.com/2015/09/should-you-use-dutch-angles-films-yes-but

Camera Angles Dutch Tilt: Setting a Darker Mood! (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2018, from https://www.videoeditingsage.com/camera-angles-dutch-tilt.html

Camera Angles Dutch Tilt: Setting a Darker Mood! (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2018, from https://www.videoeditingsage.com/camera-angles-dutch-tilt.html

Cunningham, S. S. (Director). (1980). Fridday the 13th [Motion picture].

Some Needed Research

    So, one of the biggest issues that we have been having that has been increasingly slowing our planning has been how we can accommodate the aspects of the horror genre that we want along with the intended introduction of our antagonist in only 2 minutes. This has been something that we had somewhat thought about earlier in the process, but now it is something that we must face head on in order to move forward anymore.
    The first thing we felt we needed to accomplish was an introduction of the main antagonist, since this is a major part of the satirical element of our film opening. We feel that the main antagonist needed to have a sense of craziness, or obsessiveness, but the only way we could show this would be to show the emotions of the characters and really get the audience involved in the character in the short period of time. A film that has similar intentions with expressing the obsession of social media use, "Ingrid Goes West," uses a variety of methods to express this. The use of actual social media on screen, paired with voiceover of what the social media reads in the voice of the poster is used to express the fact that this media almost resonates in the main character's mind, creating that obsessive feeling/vibe on the main character. Other methods the film uses are close-up and extreme close-up shots of the character, not only creating a connection between the character and the screens, but also showing the viewer the extremity of her obsession and even just allowing the audience to peer into that obsessiveness. According to mediacollege.com, close up shots not only express the emotions of the character, but they also allow the viewer to "be drawn into the subject's personal space  and shares their feelings." We feel that this is something that will be extremely useful to use, especially in introducing the character to the audience and specifically the vibe that we are going for, and there is no better way to do that then by getting the audience "involved" in what the character is thinking and feeling.

(Elements of "Ingrid Goes West" from YouTube)

    The second element that we feel we need to include in our opening is the suspense, a strong characteristic of many horror movies. Most people know what is to be included in horror movies to create suspense, summarized here, but the biggest thing is how we can apply this information to our intro. in the short time provided, it will be hard to create many of the step by step processes that are characteristics to creating suspense, but we feel that we can use certain elements that may not require as much time. According to davidhohl.com, lighting, events, sounds, and music are all elements that can be used to build dread, a key aspect of the suspense in horror films. We believe we can take advantage of these elements to work in our favor, specifically because they can all be controlled by us  in the production process and some even manipulated or added on after filming, allowing us to play with it until we find what feels right. Another aspect that is important according to the article in horror film suspense is isolation of the character, which is also something that we can do in the limited time we have. By creating this isolation feeling, we can then further create the feeling of dread and eliminate possibility of escape for the character in the later part of our scene. Hopefully we will be able to execute well enough so that everything works out, but for the time being we have a basis to start from and work off of, along with precedents that we can use to see how certain aspects can be portrayed to the audience.


Close Up (CU). (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2018, from http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/closeup.html

Spicer, M. (Director). (2017). Ingrid Goes West [Motion picture].

(n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2018, from http://davidhohl.com/tag/suspense-in-horror/

Today's Activities

    So now that we have a general idea about what it is that we want to do with our movie intro, it's time to get into the nitty-gritty parts. Today we began working on the development of characters, storyboarding, script, and even began finding out ways to cast people to our roles. Although not anywhere near complete, and currently very undeveloped, it's a start to our long (maybe not as long as we'd like) development of our movie intro. As of now, we are just hoping everything comes together the way we would like it to.
    So the first thing we did was to sort of develop who exactly our characters were. We had a general idea about who we wanted our characters to be, but today we were able to think about the main points of our characters and most importantly... names. First off though, we decided to only use two characters in our intro, mainly because that is all we felt was necessary to do what we wanted in the 2 minutes provided, but also to fit some standard horror genre characteristics. This generally plays into the limited budget of horror films and the plots involved in horror films. Specifically though, we felt the best way to introduce our killer and her victim was to just have those two characters in the first two minutes. Many films in general, not just horror films focus on individual characters rather than a large group, allowing viewers to connect with the character. For example, the intro to Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" starts with only two characters, establishing a relationship of sorts between the viewers and the characters, which is something we felt we wanted to do, specifically with our killer.

    (Excerpt from "Batman Begins" from YouTube)

(Although it is not a lot of information so far, it is a start to the development of our characters)

    We also began working on our storyboard and script today, which should allow us another week or so to continue to work before we begin filming. This should give us time to make any necessary changes and also to let everything develop, rather than rushing it. Both of these elements are extremely important for what we want to do because they can make or break our message and genre all together. If we don't get these right, our horror movie may look like a weird kids show or something... 

(Here is the beginnings of our storyboard, planning out the first section of our movie intro)

    Finally, we began asking about casting characters for our movie intro. We felt this was the best option because it would give us the best chance to make the best production we can make. Not only will we be able to find people who can accurately portray our characters, but it will enable us to all be behind the camera working, rather than having some of us be in front of the camera. This will allow us to work on things behind the scenes and really make the best production we can on all levels. 

(Here are some behind the scenes of us working on our storyboard and script)

Nolan, C. (Director). (2005). Batman begins [Motion picture]. Warner Home video.