Part 4 of Rushes

Part 3 of Rushes

Rushes Part 2

Rushes Part 1

These are my Rushes; the first four parts (adding up to over 30 minuets of footage) were shot over two different time periods, one without snow and one with. Due to the length of the rushes I had to split the content into multiple videos and because of the individual files being moved around so much they are in no particular order, they also contain no audio in these versions (because of disk space reasons).

My Storyboard (Incomplete, Second Half Uploaded Soon)

What I'll Be Doing This Weekend

I have booked a camera for this weekend and I’ll be shooting most of my film tomorrow, i also plan to have my storyboard & animated storyboard complete by tonight so it should be uploaded fully on Monday, followed shortly after by the Rushes.

Update

This past week I have started scanning in my storyboard and piecing it together in Windows Movie Maker, so far things are turning out the way I planned and the scenes I have storyboarded take up less time that I anticipated, therefore I will be able to fit more material that I wanted into my short film.

Update

Throughout this week I have been illustrating and finalising my storyboard, after altering other drafts I have produced an almost complete version that I will attempt to film in the following weekends, my scans and animated storyboard will be uploaded within the coming week.

Recently Hull has seen a lot of snow fall; I am hoping it will continue during filming one weekend as this was my initial idea for the films mise-en-scene and will be a limited chance to capture the environment that I think will add to the films eeriness.

Weekend Update

This weekend past I filmed the first part of my short movie, most of the footage I captured was how I wanted it to look, although the cameras battery ran out during the last few shots I needed, I will resume filming during the following weekends.

Video Research

I have been researching how to capture a horror scene and looking at different camera techniques to use, I found this Youtube channel Videomaker and watched the video about shooting the Horror genre and thought it was useful, I will most likely incorporate similar idea’s from this into my own short film.

Update

During this past week I have been Storyboarding my short film, as I’ve done this new idea's have been included into the narrative, a rough plan is almost finalised and the complete version will be uploaded shortly.

Update

This week I have been working on my script and began storyboarding, which I will upload shortly. I have decided that my short film will feature no dialogue as I will use cinematography and sound to convey what s happening and facial expressions will show how the Boy is feeling.

Props

These are some of the props I may use for my short film.

-These face masks may be used by the 'Shadows' in by sequence, along with black clothing (The Black masks will be used primarily)

Todorov's Narrative Theory / Structure + My Films Narrative Structure

Aims & Context

Jack Gallagher

Film Studies

Aims & Context

My short film is a horror movie that takes influence from the psychological sub-genre which has become popular in Japan, subtly testing the characters psyche but primarily the audiences . The plot is of a boy that discovers a dead body when walking through an alley way, the corpse appears to be himself but before the boy has chance to investigate further, shadowy silhouettes of men chase him through alley ways and backstreets until he is finally cornered and surrounded where they change him into one of them.

Aims:

My short film will use a variety of techniques from the Horror genre these include fast paced editing evoking panic and confusion. I aim to emphasize and communicate the scene through the use of the stylistics, particularly cinematography/editing and sound. Using a fast pace similar to many modern horror films E.G 28 Days Later ,editing, obscured camera techniques and eerie sound, I hope to use this to create a sense of paranoia and build tension throughout the sequence. The target audience for my short film is aimed primarily at a younger group of viewers (15-25:the main cinemagoer audience) who see horror films for fun, although it contains more sophisticated elements like psychological horror that would appeal to a wider audience, I also aim this more towards the male audience as it features a boy as the protagonist and questions the mindset and psyche that appeals more to a male audience.

Context:

A short 3-5 minute film ‘Purgatory'

Synopsis of My Short Film

Jack Gallagher

Synopsis of My Film:

Purgatory

Protagonist: The Boy

Antagonist: The Shadows

Equilibrium: The Boy is walking through the streets and decides to take a shortcut down an alley way.

Disruption: The Boy finds a dead body in the alley way and after investigating discovers it’s himself, and then a group of shadow figures surround him and chase him.

Quest: The Boy runs to try and escape the shadows through the streets and alley ways.

Climax/Resolution: The boy is cornered in an alley way and is surrounded by the shadows, it is revealed that he has now become one of them.

Re-equilibrium: The Boy is now a shadow.

Detailed Synopsis:

The Boy (with no specified name) is walking down a deserted street to reach an unspecified location, he then decides to go down an alley way for a shortcut, he eventually comes across a dead body laying on the ground and notices that he’s wearing the same clothes as the corpse and after turning the body over discovers it is himself. Suddenly, blurred shadow figures appear (shaped like humans) and surround the boy, trying to grab him, the boy runs but the figures seem to surround every corner he takes, eventually they trap him down another alley way and surround him completely, after the group disperse it is revealed that the boy has now become one of the shadows.

My Genre Conventions Essay

Jack Gallagher

Word Count: 1,167

Film Studies

Conventions of a Film Genre: Horror

The Horror Genre has existed since the early days of film and has become increasingly more popular as film has developed to a global audience, it is often known as the most unsettling of genres as it explores human fears that are designed to shock and frighten the audience, yet people still view this as entertainment. In this essay I will explore the conventions of the horror genre and explain of how it has evolved.

During the early days of the genre, classic gothic novels were used as the basis for these films such as Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), exploring mysterious creatures, dark imagry and general human fears like sanity and the nature of the body. These films often have similar themes and iconography: the image of evil or the unknown and the danger of the unexplained, famous films like Nosferatu (1922)use lighting and cinematography to evoke a unsettling mood and atmospehere that disturbs the audienece.

It wasn’t long before the horror genre spawned sub-genres like science fiction horror that made it more popular, films like Frankenstein and The Invisable Man (1933)showed a more human aspect of horror unlike the dark mythical anti-religious creatures like in Vampire movies.

The primary aim for horror films is to scare its audience, building tension and suspense that leaves them on the edge of their seats, useually having frequent scenes of peril and danger. Through the use of the conventions and stylistics, horror film makers have achieved a certain mood and atmosphere to scare the audience. By using sound for example, scenes can be built up to a shocking climax, E.G Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho (1960)uses the simple sound of water running to quietly build tension for what is about to happen during the infamous shower scene, then when the killer strikes suddenly, high pitched strings are used to mimic the motion of the victim being stabbed, furthermore tension can be built by errie music acompanied by dark lighting and mise en scene to reflect on the horrifying events that are about to take place, this is often a deserted and/or dark environment.

These stylistic can be combined to create scenes that convay the feeling and message that the director wanted to achieve. The footage that is captured is the most important, as cinematograpy and editing restricts the audience to a certain amount of exposure, by using restricted narratives the audience see what the characters see, making it just as shocking for the audience as it does for the character when something scary happens like the Antagonist suddenly appearing behind them. Editing is also key to executing a scene as it often emphasizes what is happening on screen E.G fast paced editing is used for chase sequences and distress to represent the characters chaos and struggle to survive. Films like 28 days later (2002) show the protagonist running away from the monsters through quick editing and shaky camera shots only showing the threat in short bursts to keep the creatures obscured and frightening while emphasizing the struggle and pace the characters are forced into.

As film technology advanced so did the imagination of film makers, during the 50s and 60s the cold war had overshadowed the second world war showing the world how technology could be used against man, the space race had begun and the public was curious about the stars more than ever, the science fiction genre had begun to appear in films and It wasn’t long before horror crept in aswell. Films like It Came From Another World (1951) and The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) explored the human fear of the unknown. This genre became more defined throughout the next 60 years with films such as Alien (1979) and The Thing (1982) bringing a more terrifying aspect to the effects extraterestrials could have on the human body, this can also be known as the ‘Body Shock’ Genre.

Throughout the past 60 years the genre has seen a significant amount of sub-genres produced these include: Religious, films like The Exorcist (1973) causeing convroresy and uproar to its explict themes drawn from christian faith; Gore, Movies like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) depicting extreame scenes of violence that have inspired the bloody genre more notably during the 80s with the low budget ‘Video Nasties’ that were released, most controversial of all The Evil Dead (1981). Futhermore as time has gone by audiences have become less scared of the movies being released so the genre has evolved into new sub-genres, Pyschological films like The Shining (1980) and more recent Japanese films like The Ring (1998) dealt with more subtle yet equalily distrubing plots that focused mostly on sound and atmosphere to set the stage.

As horror has progressed the quality and techniques used have varied, landmark films like Halloween (1978) and Alien (1979) have depicted a female protagonist, which was very unconventional at the time as females in most movies, not just horrors, were portrayed as helpless and scared, these female rolemodels showed a more realistic approach and less herotic protagonists, it also contrasts with the situation, these films also hightened the popularity of Monster/Creature features and teen Slasher films that were made more accessable to teenagers plot wise.

The stylistics in film have evolved to portray certain genres better than before, in horror cinematography has been altered to emphasize what is happening on screen, movies like The Blair Witch Project (1999) take a more documentary style approach to trick the audience into beliving the events could have occurred, other films that have used this technique are Cloverfield (2008) and Paranormal Activity (2007), the shaky camera is used effectively to mimic the panic and distress the characters feel, this is also used to shock the audience with extreame closeups of their reactions limmiting the viewer to only see the character on screen, similar more traditionaly shot hollywood films use these techniques to not reveal the Antaonist, keeping it in the dark and underexposed to retain mystery and because the viewers imagination is the most frightening tool to manipulate.

There are many typical conventions that are used in the horror genre, the audience often expect there to be atleastone survivor useually being the main protagonist and to have th eAntagonist be killed, this is seen in many films like The Exorcist and Jaws (1975), however to retain the suspensefull nature of the genre films have becom emore shocking, often ending with the question of “is it really dead” seen in Halloween or even end shockingly and unexpected E.G Carrie (1976) ending with her hand grabbing a girls foot from out of her grave or Friday 13^th (1980) showing a calm scene where the survivor is resting in a boat, when the Antagonist jumps out of the water and pulls her in, emphasizing that sometimes the Antagonist is stronger than the Protagonist to the point where noone survives keeping themas terrifying figures.

First Update on My Short Film

The genre I have chosen for my short film will be Horror, i have researched the conventions and will use some of these techniques within the sequence (My Conventions essay will be included in my next Blog).

My plot idea is for a teenage boy to be walking down a regular street (though deserted) and decide to take a shortcut to his destination down an alley way where he discovers the corpse of a young boy, after investigating he learns that the body is himself, when suddenly a group of shadow-like figures chase him through the streets and alley ways where he is cornered, after the group surround him it is revealed that the boy has also become a shadow.

I have begun storyboarding and have a few rough ideas how i want the film to look and what atmosphere to create.

A2 Film Studies Brief

A2 Film Studies Brief

Develop an extended sequence from an imagined feature

Or

Develop a complete short film of between 3 to 5 minutes

With both of these options you are meant to engage with the issues raised in FM1 in relation to the production of meaning and the study of film stylistics and theory.

You can undertake this task as an individual and it is advised that that you do so, but if you do work in a group then your production role within that group MUST be clearly defined and you will need to provide evidence of your contribution in terms of that role and you will be assured on your performance in that role.

The advice of the Film Studies department is that each student should plan and produce a short film or extract.

In order to aid you with this project you will be required to produce a Blog which must be updated weekly to allow for effective monitoring. This will take the form of a production diary and record your progress and creative decisions made.

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For this project I will be making a short film by myself (it is unadvised to undertake the project in a group), and the main focus will be on the cinematography/editing  and sound stylistics.