Your first task before beginning the pre-production stage of your film is to pitch an idea.
Working in your groups you need to come up with the pitch for a teen horror film. This should include a working title and brief details about the storyline of the film.
You will need to pitch your idea to the Chief Executive Officer of Henton Horror Films - that's me - on Monday 1st November. I will then either give you the go-ahead to enter into pre-production or I will send you back to the drawing board.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Work for Wednesday 13th October
I am sorry that I am absent today. Could you please complete the following tasks ready for our next lesson:
See you all next lesson.
- Your preliminary task must be edited together completely.
- Once your preliminary task is edited you need to add an opening title and insert the names of your 2 actors. I explained how to do this on Monday. If you were filming or absent for this explanation you will need to ask another member of the group to show you how to do this. People who completed this successfully are the groups including Roxy, Matt Earl and Chloe.
- Once your prelim task is edited you need to export it as a Quicktime movie and save it to a memory stick. To export it you need to do the following:
- Have the project open in Final Cut Express
- Go to File - Export
- Choose Export as Quicktime Movie
- Name it Prelim Task Final Movie and save it to the desktop
- Copy and paste the movie from the desktop to a memory stick
See you all next lesson.
Editing Your Prelim Task
On Monday 11th October you were given the task of editing your preliminary task together using Final Cut Express. I was really please with the work that some of you completed in the lesson.
Those of you who had to finish filming during the lesson should have now done this and need to upload your footage as explained in earlier lessons.
You must update your blog explaining the editing process carried out in this lesson.
Those of you who had to finish filming during the lesson should have now done this and need to upload your footage as explained in earlier lessons.
You must update your blog explaining the editing process carried out in this lesson.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Horror Film Openings : Wrong Turn
We looked at an article from obsessedwithfilm.com today. This article discussed the opening of The Shining - a classic horror film starring Jack Nicholson.
We then watched the opening to the 2003 horror film Wrong Turn. Whilst watching the film's opening we made notes about the use of visual and audio elements to help create a feeling of tension, suspense and fear.
I was really impressed with the quality of observations made by people in the group. Special mention needs to be made of Matthews Earl and Tyler, Joe Bence and Liz Parry who all had lots to offer.
Your homework is to produce a brief analysis of this opening and post it to your blog.
We then watched the opening to the 2003 horror film Wrong Turn. Whilst watching the film's opening we made notes about the use of visual and audio elements to help create a feeling of tension, suspense and fear.
I was really impressed with the quality of observations made by people in the group. Special mention needs to be made of Matthews Earl and Tyler, Joe Bence and Liz Parry who all had lots to offer.
Your homework is to produce a brief analysis of this opening and post it to your blog.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Horror Film Openings
The following is taken from the website www.obsessedwithfilm.com
The most important thing that the opening of a film must accomplish is to establish a tone so that the audience fall into the same mood as the film they are watching. It doesn’t have to be a big budget explosive opening in order to grab the audience’s attention and sometimes an over the top opening like this risks upending the structure of the film with a sense of where do we go from here?
Usually the most successful film openings bring a well developed sense of intrigue that will leave you settled into your seat desperate to know more about the story and the characters that are going to occupy your time for the next one and a half to two hours. If it is particularly inventive there will be some dramatic foreshadowing that will enable to hint you at the problems that are going to occur throughout the story.
The Shining
The opening of The Shining is visually outstanding because mood and metaphor is established without us even needing to see a single character’s face. The shot begins by panning through a lake which immediately creates a feeling of disorientation. Then from a birds eye position above the trees we watch a small vehicle make its way along the cliff-top roads. There is a clear sense of the passengers being shown to be quite isolated and as if they are heading into the unknown. Dramatic foreshadowing is then used to good effect as we watch the car move along the edge of the clifftop, a perfect connotation of a family on the edge of a collapse.
The use of sound is also expertly handled and in regards to sound I’d like to make a comparison to a similar opening adopted in the film Shutter Island. Scorsese’s film (which by the way is absolutely fantastic and if you haven’t seen it already then head to your nearest cinema as soon as possible) begins however with a very overbearing soundtrack which distracts from the images on screen.
Basically Martin Scorsese handles everything perfectly apart from the sound. The detectives are on the boat heading to Shutter Island, straight to the point, no messing around. We quickly learn about the characters and their purpose. This is all fine. Then however as they approach the island itslelf which is a very impressive visual spectacle this blaring, gnawing sound suddenly shrieks over the action in a manner which completely takes you out of the moment.
Whereas in The Shining the sound blends in with the imagery and acts as an undercurrent to the horror on the surface, Shutter Island uses its over the top sound effects in order to basically shout at the audience ‘YOU ARE WATCHING A PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR FILM.’ It was a surprisingly amateurish moment that felt as if some indulgent film student had suddenly taken over from the master and injected his own misguided sense of pacing and atmosphere.
There are so many scenes praised in The Shining but I still think the opening overshadows them all. It’s just pure brilliance with a director who perhaps used space and location better than anybody before him or since. After the first three minutes we haven’t seen a single face but there are already several connotations connected towards the figures in the car.
Watch the opening of The Shining (cannot be viewed in school)
The most important thing that the opening of a film must accomplish is to establish a tone so that the audience fall into the same mood as the film they are watching. It doesn’t have to be a big budget explosive opening in order to grab the audience’s attention and sometimes an over the top opening like this risks upending the structure of the film with a sense of where do we go from here?
Usually the most successful film openings bring a well developed sense of intrigue that will leave you settled into your seat desperate to know more about the story and the characters that are going to occupy your time for the next one and a half to two hours. If it is particularly inventive there will be some dramatic foreshadowing that will enable to hint you at the problems that are going to occur throughout the story.
The Shining
The opening of The Shining is visually outstanding because mood and metaphor is established without us even needing to see a single character’s face. The shot begins by panning through a lake which immediately creates a feeling of disorientation. Then from a birds eye position above the trees we watch a small vehicle make its way along the cliff-top roads. There is a clear sense of the passengers being shown to be quite isolated and as if they are heading into the unknown. Dramatic foreshadowing is then used to good effect as we watch the car move along the edge of the clifftop, a perfect connotation of a family on the edge of a collapse.
The use of sound is also expertly handled and in regards to sound I’d like to make a comparison to a similar opening adopted in the film Shutter Island. Scorsese’s film (which by the way is absolutely fantastic and if you haven’t seen it already then head to your nearest cinema as soon as possible) begins however with a very overbearing soundtrack which distracts from the images on screen.
Basically Martin Scorsese handles everything perfectly apart from the sound. The detectives are on the boat heading to Shutter Island, straight to the point, no messing around. We quickly learn about the characters and their purpose. This is all fine. Then however as they approach the island itslelf which is a very impressive visual spectacle this blaring, gnawing sound suddenly shrieks over the action in a manner which completely takes you out of the moment.
Whereas in The Shining the sound blends in with the imagery and acts as an undercurrent to the horror on the surface, Shutter Island uses its over the top sound effects in order to basically shout at the audience ‘YOU ARE WATCHING A PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR FILM.’ It was a surprisingly amateurish moment that felt as if some indulgent film student had suddenly taken over from the master and injected his own misguided sense of pacing and atmosphere.
There are so many scenes praised in The Shining but I still think the opening overshadows them all. It’s just pure brilliance with a director who perhaps used space and location better than anybody before him or since. After the first three minutes we haven’t seen a single face but there are already several connotations connected towards the figures in the car.
Watch the opening of The Shining (cannot be viewed in school)
TV ALERT! A History of Horror
BBC 4 has a new series starting on Monday 8th October at 9pm. It is called A History of Horror and is well worth watching. I have linked to the BBC page below where you cabn find more information.
BBC 4 A History of Horror
BBC 4 A History of Horror
Horror Film Openings
During our lesson on Monday 4th October we discussed conventions of horror films in relation to narratives, characters, locations and iconography.
We watched the opening 5 minutes of Jeepers Creepers, Jeepers Creepers 2 and Dead Wood. These are all 15 certificate films that appeal to a teen audience.
From watching these openings we were able to identify conventions such as isolated locations, teenage characters, false scares and threat.
We watched the opening 5 minutes of Jeepers Creepers, Jeepers Creepers 2 and Dead Wood. These are all 15 certificate films that appeal to a teen audience.
From watching these openings we were able to identify conventions such as isolated locations, teenage characters, false scares and threat.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)