Questionnaire Analysis

This questionnaire was produced in order to gain insight on who our target audience were and what they enjoyed watching when it came to horror film titles. This will produce to be helpful when deciding the concept of our horror film title. 

Shotlist for Two Eyes Staring

This is a shotlist I prepared when analysing a horror movie title, called 'Two Eyes Staring' where I went through every shot within the horror film title and analysed what was included in each shot.

This is a shotlist completed by my team member Charly Mee where she analysed the horror film title from 'Silent Hill' and completed the table on what was occurring in every shot during the whole of the horror film title.

Horror Film Research

Horror on Dipity.

This is a horror film timeline which I have completed so we are able to see the different genres and types of horror films which have been released from one of the first horror films to one of the most recent horror films, this also enables us to identify any remakes which may have been made.

This is a certificate rating chart which was completed by one of my group members who has left. This enables us to identify what the different certificates mean and what film's are suitable for the which audience enabling us to have a better understanding of how horror film's target their different audiences.

This is an iconography presentation completed by my team member Charly Mee. This enables us to see the different types of weapons which are typical to be seen in horror films and the type of films they may be shown in and so we can identify what would be appropriate to be shown in the different genre's of horror.

Evaluation Continued...

Group Evaluation, Media Conventions used within our preliminary task.

Preliminary Task

     

My preliminary task was chosen to be filmed inside a school building. As a group we decided we wanted the story to be quite dramatic and so came up with a storyline which is most dramatic and tense for teenagers still attending school. Thus the preliminary task consists of a teenage preganacy which is appropriate due to the location. My main role during the preliminary task was filming/directing and also editing. While filming I had to be aware of the msie-en-scene, making sure everything appropriate was included in the frame and so irrelevant objects were removed. I also had to make sure the actors were playing the part and doing exactly what they were given to do to represent the emotions needed for the task. Editing the footage proved to be the most difficult part of the task, the reason is due to putting different footages together such as match on action, however, I included a section in black and white which was also slowed down, doing this produced a sense of tension of what was to be revealed.

Demonstrating Match on Action AS Media

Match on action is cutting one shot to another view that matches the action and pace of the first shot, doing this creates an impression of continuity although you may have filmed the shot weeks apart. If a character begins an action in the first shot and completes it in the next, a 'visual bridge' is created which acts to disguise the cut from one to the other.  

The scenario given to depict was that of the actor sitting down who then stands up and walks away, there were many decisions which had to be made regarding the positioning of the cameras, as a group we decided to to place one camera in front of the actor and the other on the side of the actor, this also inabled us to keep within the 180 degree rule. As part of the group my individual job was to film with the camera which was put to the side of the actor, this role consisted of making sure that the shot showed the actor sitting down and then standing up so I had to ensure everything that needed to be in the shot was included and also to concentrate on the mise-en-scene to ensure i didn't repeat any mistakes when considering what was happening in the shot and so what was being filmed.

The simplest part of the activity was choosing the position of the camera's and filming the character, this is because we as a group chose one camera to be opposite the character and the other on the side, the simplest part was filming because both camera were to film the whole entire scene which we would then later on edit it to demonstrate the match on action. 
The most challenging part was editing the footage together because I had to make sure both clips were in sequence together, also both clips went quite quickly and so to overcome this I had to slow down both clips.


EVALUATION
The simplest part of the activity was filming the actor in the scenario given, this proved to  be the simplest because I had practice with the camera before and so I was aware on how to use the camera along with the tripod, being able to adjust the height required and making sure the camera was kept still throughout the filming.

The most challenging part was editing the footage together to portray match on action accurately, this was the most challenging part because it was difficult to make sure that the shots taken matched which required looking at each second of the shot. This was done so the footage showed continuity throughout therefore portraying match on action accurately. I was able to overcome this challenge by taking my time in looking at the different shots carefully assessing where one was to stop and where the other was to start, furthermore, I slowed down the footage on imovie which helped to show match on action clearly portraying the continuity throughout the different shots.

This activity enabled me to become much more familliar with imovie on how to make the shots come together and the different effects which can be used  to make the footage portray what the camera was unable to do.
To improve my demonstration of match on action I would make sure the height of the two cameras and tripods were at the exact same level to avoid one angle being higher than the other which wouldn't portray match on action accurately.

Demonstrating 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot

The 180 degree rule states that the camera should stay on one side of an imaginary line, known as the axis. This ensures the continuity between shots. If the individual breaks the rule in over-the-shoulder shots, it can seem the characters aren't looking at each other.

Shot reverse shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen). The other character is then shown looking back at the first character, as the characters are shown facing opposite directions, the audience assumes that they are looking at each other and so it is important to make sure their eye-lines match.

The activity consisted of of demonstrating the 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot through a given scenario in a short scene. My role in the activity was to direct the characters in the scene, making sure they were facing the correct way and i also helped to remember their lines. I also was part of  editing the footage once uploaded onto iMovie, the editing process consisted of cropping scenes, and making sure the different clips were put into the correct order so the scene flowed like a normal conversation. Also, I slowed down some images when needed for different effects, an example of this is slowing down the image of '15 minutes later' and the clip of the empty chair so the audience are aware the other character has left. 

During the activity I controlled the use of the camera by using a tripod to ensure the footage we were to film was at a straight angle and got the particular shot needed and so everything necesssary was included. However, the framework and mise-en-scene is an evaluation point which needs to be taken into deep consideration when next filming, this is because when editing the footage I came to the realisation that there were things included in the shot which were unecessary for the scene, also the use of the the table (props) needs to be taken into account on what the audience are able to see when looking at the other characters, in my case, when the camera was at the male character his hands/arms were on the table but when the camera was based on the female character his hands/arms were no longer there...to overcome this, I cropped the scene of the the female so only part of the table could be seen. To make sure this doesn't happen again I will make sure everything is taken into consideration so the same mistake isn't made, it would also help if everyone involved was allocated to different aspects to ensure nothing goes wrong.

Furthermore, the editing helped to make the meaning apparent to the reader because we were able to make the scene look like a proper conversation whereas it was filmed with just the male character first and then the female character and due to the editing the audience is unable to identify this because the conversation flows well. The 180 degree angle and shot reverse shot was demonstrated thoroughly well which is the reason the conversation was able to flow correctly and the characters looked like they were speaking to each other throughout the scene.

Next time when filming, I will take into account the miss-en-scene so there is nothing unnecessary in the shot, I will make sure the camera only captures what is relevant and so this way I won't repeat the mistake. 

Storyboard Sketching

This is my individual sketched storyboard, the storyboard activity consisted of drawing the different camera and angle shots to practice and recognise the shots we may use when it comes to filming.

My name is Amara Malik, my candidate number is 3081.

I currently attend 6form at Swakeleys. 

I have a gcse in media and chose to continue it at AS because I felt it would be enjoyable, I have created this blog to keep evidence of the work i will be producing for my foundation portfolio.
The production task will consist of making my very own horror film titles and so the previous tasks before this will consist of the preliminary task which will allow us to prepare for our upcoming production task.