Mood Board by
Friday, 22 February 2013
Monday, 18 February 2013
Risk Assessment
Oops, I forgot to upload my risk assessment... Here it is, we as group did follow this while shooting, and it allowed us to work smoothly as we knew what to do in a case of hazard (of which there where no real ones)...
Thursday, 14 February 2013
The Coming Week
Next week is going to be school half term, in which I will be going on holiday, meaning that I will be unable to post our test shots and other related things until I return. When I do return you can expect there to be several posts concerning he above topics.
First Day on Set
Today was our first day on set, filming the movie 'Great Haseley'. We had our storyboard on set as well so it went nice and smoothly. Below can be seen some pics of our filming, you can see Ed and I setting up the shot, and a mid action shot. There are also some pictures of Ollie and Jonny in costume with the bicycle.
Storyline Change
We have decided after doing some test shots that we should change our story,as it was difficult to introduce the villain.
The story has changed in the following was:
The story has changed in the following was:
- The opening shots up to the pat where the two characters (caretaker, cyclist) meet.
- The cyclist will give the caretaker a letter.
- Then a man will come up and interrupt them (me), in order to get into the church.
- The caretaker and cyclist will look anxious as the man enters the church.
- The cyclist then grabs his bike and pegs it, out of the church yard.
- The caretaker stands for a while, contemplating.
- He then bends down and picks up his hammer, and takes a few breaths.
- He then walks into the church.
- At this point we may have a small montage type sequence of stain glass windows in the church.
- The caretaker will walk up behind the man , who will be praying.
- Then the man raises his hammer and brings it down on the head of the man.
- Before we see the contact, the clip cutts out to a cross and the title 'Great Haseley' comes up. (we will here the sound of the act in the background, which will actually be a melon being smashed up)
Tuesday, 12 February 2013
Change in Shooting Location
As a group we review the current place we were aim to film at (Great Haseley), and decided to make a change to the our shooting location. This decision came down to the fact that the church we were aiming to film at was on a modern looking road (despite the houses looking old, which was a benefit) also there we logistical issues that would have meant one of the group members (Ed) would of had to make a 3hr car journey, something he didn't have the ability to do as his parents will have been on holiday over the time period we were shooting. We decided to put the location as our own school, Shiplake College. Shiplake is ideal, it has lots of old looking dirt tracks, an old church made of flint, that is not on a main road but is surrounded by a cemetery.
Ollie and I went out today to get some location shots of the area of the school grounds we shall be filming in...
Ollie and I went out today to get some location shots of the area of the school grounds we shall be filming in...
There are many other locations around the school that we can shoot there are just a handful of the areaswe will be shooting at.
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Shooting Schedule
Below in Scribd is the shooting scheduel that our group created, this may not be completely accurate to the storyboard.
New Story Board
A few days ago i completed a section of the story boards (members of the group were assigned different scenes to draw out). I had to do from scene 2-3
Here are the ones i completed:
Here are the ones i completed:
Linked below are the blogs of the other people that created story boards, so that you can see the whole plot:
Saturday, 9 February 2013
Treatment writing
Below is a slide show of my treatment writing i created on Prezi, lined into the slide show is a video of my group presenting the video to my class.
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
The Ring Opening Sequences Review
The follow is a step by step review of the opening to the movie 'The Ring'. I watched the opening and chose these 8 stills to talk about.
You can find a video for the opening sequences here.
- The establishing shot is a long shot of an old un-kempt house late at night. Only one light in the house is on, this whole scene creates a a Gothic feel. We can hear rain which adds to this feeling. We do also hear some characters talking at this point, which somewhat takes the feeling away as the topic of conversation is quite normal.
- This shot is a medium shot inside the house of two girls sitting at the end of a bed watch TV. At first the shot seems Gothic as the the lighting is very grimy and dull, the girls both have dark hair, also we can see flashes from the TV flickering over them and we can still faintly hear the rain pouring outside. However the Gothic feel seems to leave again when the dialogue starts back up.
- This is a close up of one of the girls telling a creepy story to the other. This shot is made Gothic and scary once again through the lighting and the way the girl is very dark, with her hair and her clothes seeming pitch back. This time the dialogue doesn't save it from being scary, only making it more scary. This is very well done as it draws the audience in because they want to know what is going to happen to the girl who watched the tape. The girls begin to joke about the whole situation, but then the phone rings from somewhere in the house. This is adds to the fear and tension created before.
- This is a long shot of the two girls (in the background) walking towards the phone (in the foreground) which is ringing loudly. This scene builds up a real sense of tension and fear, as the girls are walking slowly and with light steps, as though there is a killer in the house and if they make to much noise then the killer will strike. Also the fact all we hear is the sound of the phone ring creates a sense of mystery as the audience want to know what will happen when the girls answer it.
- This is the same shot as the last but the girls have come to the phone and have answered it. The way dark haired girl answers the phone very cockily and then the way her face falls and she looks fearfully at the lighter haired girl while handing her the phone, builds up the tension very well, as it makes the audience feel that something to do with the creepy story told earlier is true. However once more the dialogue gets rid of this feeling and adds a sense of relief to both the girls and the audience (because it is only the girls mum).
- This shot is a medium shot of a TV going static. This scene is made scary and brings back the tension lost in the previous scene. It is made creepy by the sound of the static and also the way the camera slowly moves round the door frame, as if the camera is scared to wee whats on the other side.The audience want to know where the other girl has gone and they want to know why the TV is going static, because no-one touched it.
- This shot is an over the shoulder shot of the girl staring into the black screen of the un-plugged TV. This shot comes after a shot of the girl pulling the plug out of the wall, so when we come back to look at the screen we are anxious of what might be on it. This feeling is reflected by the girl through her heavy breathing and the way she is staring deep into the TV.
- This final shot is a close up of the girls distraught disfigured and agonized face as she looks at the TV in her room that is showing the tape. This scene very frightening and is made so through the high pitched noise that is played, the look on the girls face and the montage style of editing that is used, which shows an assortment of gruesome things in very quick succession and ends in a static screen. This makes the heart rate of the audience quicken as they become scared.
Overall this opening sequence uses screen play as the main source of setting the genre, in that the acting and what happens (i.e. the static and the girls fate) show off the the traits of horror more than anything, although that said the music plays a good part when there is static and also at the end. We don't get much info on the characters or the plot,but obviously we get an idea as to what the evil force of the film will be. The tone of the clip is very Gothic and tense, this is achieved through all that is discussed above.
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Location of Film...
The group and I have decided on a location for the filming. The area was decided on the basis of easy accessibility, low evidence of modern things (the place looks old) and the area has an old church there.

Here is a Google Maps link to the location: Great Haseley
The reason that we picked is because it is the home town of Ollie (one of the group members) so he knew the area and that it would fit the period we are setting it in. I live in Marlow, which is a very modernized town, see it here on Google Maps and below...
So this for obvious reasons is not the right area for a 1940's period horror film. Great Haseley on the other had has an old authentic feel to it, which is perfect as the setting is essential for setting the time period and genre.

So I reckon that when combined with video effects, and with give away in the dialogue will be perfect for the film.
How i feel its going so far...
So far i am confident with the work my group and I have put into this task. Below can be seen pictures of myself and Jonny working.


Today I interviewed another member of our group to ask him about the pre-production and production of our task so far...
Thanks for reading
Tom
Today I interviewed another member of our group to ask him about the pre-production and production of our task so far...
Thanks for reading
Tom
Audience Research results
Recently my group and I carried out audience research through the website Survey Monkey. Here is a link to the results page of my survey, ClickMe!
Others in my group also carried out audience research, if you wish to see it go to their Blogger's
Others in my group also carried out audience research, if you wish to see it go to their Blogger's
Early script for the Film
Shown below in scribd is a very early and low detailed pre-production script that is subject to change,in the final shoot.
Monday, 4 February 2013
The Woman in Black Opening Sequences Review
The follow is a step by step review of the opening to the movie 'Woman in Black'. I watched the opening and chose these 8 stills to talk about.
You can find a video for the opening sequences here.
- This is the establishing shot and show a teapot pretending to poor tea into teacups. This shot is instantaneously given a creep, out of the ordinary feel, this comes through the lighting, screenplay which is creepy when put with the other things as it makes a perfectly ordinary thing seem somewhat abnormal, also the music which is very much the abnormal thing, as it is the sound is one from a childish song that is played very slowly, when this is done it is often interpreted in this way.
- This is a close up of a young child's hand lifting an empty cup to a dolls face. This is the first we see of a character in the scene, and the character is for some reason interpreted as scary, despite it being a child doing child like things. The design of the doll has sinister connotations to it, in the way that it is limp and so lifeless but is being given an empty cup to drink from.
- Here we have a medium shot of three little girls having a tea party, this scene confirms to us what is going on in terms of the scene play. Normally this could be considered a perfectly ordinary scene, but given the connotations of the previous scenes and the music being played and the way that the footage is slowed down slightly, the scene feels unwelcome and unhappy. (even though the girls are smiling).
- This is a medium shot of the girls stopping what they are doing and staring in the direction of the camera. This is the first piece of screen play that makes the audience feel uneasy, as the movement in unison from all three characters is very unnatural, also the music takes a slightly darker turn with deeper instruments coming in, giving the feel that something truly is amiss.
- This shot is a medium shot from the P.O.V of the little girls, who turned to face the window. This makes the audience uneasy as-well, because the do not have a clue as to why the girls are behaving like this as they went from being happy moments before to being gaunt faced and staring, the audience may also at this point make a link between there being three girls and three windows.
- This close up shot comes from a small montage of shots showing the girls dropping everything and standing up to walk to the window and in the mean time steeping on their dolls etc. This is creepy as it is just so odd that the girls are acting like this and that they are breaking their toys which made them so happy moments before. The audience does at this point get the impression that the girls are acting not on their own accord (they're almost possessed) in this scene, this comes from the screen play and the smudged echo that is heard when the girls break the toys, this sound effect gives the idea that the girls are being possessed as it makes it seem that they are not in control of the way they interpret the world.
- This is a medium shot of the three girls jumping from the three windows. This is obviously a shocking scene, this comes through the swelling music and the sound of the mother of the girls scream of terror also the screen play connotes this as it is so unexpected but it does seem to go along with my previous point of the girls seeming to be possessed by some outer body, as this is most certainly not normal behavior this creates mystery for the audience as they want to know who or what is making the girls act in this way.
- This is a long shot of the windows after the girls have jumped out of, the audience is also teased by seeing a shadowy figure standing to the right of the camera with a vale over its face. This is obviously the villain (the woman in black), but it isn't confirmed, only inferred.
Overall the scene uses very traditional methods to display genre and time setting, in that it uses a good variety of the screen play, the lighting and the music, and i feel that this paid off very well as the scene is very scary and creepy. There is little information as to the plot or any characters, bar the villain, but we get little info on her. The tone of the clip is very dark and abnormal, it is made to be strange as discussed above.
My First Storyboard
Pictured below is a very early and low detailed pre-production story board that is subject to change.
Sunday, 3 February 2013
1940's Research
As a group we have decided to set our main task in the 1940's, so in order to maintain continuity we must ensure that we have the same sort outfitting and props that would be present in said time. So I have done some independent research in order to gain further knowledge of how this can be achieved and maintained.



Here we see three men from that time, looking at their hair it is possible to see that the all have the same style. They all have slicked back hair that is well groomed and very need, they all also have rather short hair.


Here we can see that a prominent piece of clothing is the sweater, shirt and tie (or bow-tie). The incorporation of the pressed trousers, which also seems to be a common thing to have, could also be a good thing to do. We can also see that smoking either with a pipe or a role-up cigarette is very much the norm for most men of the 1940's.



In our film opening one of the characters will be using a bicycle, so we have to make sure thatthe bike we obtain and use in the film has the correct characteristics. The bicycles above are of the 1940's era and so we must make sure that we get a bike that is similar to this for when we shoot, whether we have to buy a really old bike of eBay or find a shop that we can rent one form.
We intend to have a radio podcast at the beginning who we hope will play some music, so i researched popular English musicians of the 1940's. I found that Vera Lynn was a very popular artist, she was nicknamed the soldiers sweet heart. So we intend to play one of her songs, this we hope will do a good job in making the period obvious, above is one of Vera Lynn's classics We'll Meet Again.
Here we see three men from that time, looking at their hair it is possible to see that the all have the same style. They all have slicked back hair that is well groomed and very need, they all also have rather short hair.
Here we can see that a prominent piece of clothing is the sweater, shirt and tie (or bow-tie). The incorporation of the pressed trousers, which also seems to be a common thing to have, could also be a good thing to do. We can also see that smoking either with a pipe or a role-up cigarette is very much the norm for most men of the 1940's.

In our film opening one of the characters will be using a bicycle, so we have to make sure thatthe bike we obtain and use in the film has the correct characteristics. The bicycles above are of the 1940's era and so we must make sure that we get a bike that is similar to this for when we shoot, whether we have to buy a really old bike of eBay or find a shop that we can rent one form.
We intend to have a radio podcast at the beginning who we hope will play some music, so i researched popular English musicians of the 1940's. I found that Vera Lynn was a very popular artist, she was nicknamed the soldiers sweet heart. So we intend to play one of her songs, this we hope will do a good job in making the period obvious, above is one of Vera Lynn's classics We'll Meet Again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)