8520: Isaac H

Final Piece

Preliminary Task

Evaluation

Animatic

Research

• Concept development
• Treatment
• "A Change of Heart" - Idea Change
• Media Institution Research
• Inspirational Film Research
• Accreditation Research
• Pitch
• Audience Research
• Group Discussion
• Practice Filming Task

Feedback

• Pitch Feedback
• Second Shoot Feedback
• Mise-en-scene Analysis

Background Research to Expand Understanding of Film

• "The Blair Witch Project" Analysis
• Horror In History
• Production and Distribution in Film
• Opening Analysis 1 - "The Awakening"
• Opening Analysis 2 - "Scream"

Shoot Preparation

• Sound Research
• Second Shoot - Changes that need making
• Script (English Version)
• Call sheet, Risk Assessment, Location Recce

9242: Georgia Parnham

Preliminary Task


Evaluation
Evaluation

Animatic


Planning Of Shoots and Location Recce
My Name - Call Sheet, Risk Assessment and Location Recce

Research
Concept
Concept Development
Treatment - Identity [WORKING TITLE]
Original Script
A Change Of Heart
Sounds
The Final Shoot...Round 2
Feedback On Shoot - Successes And Future Notes
Mise-en-Scene Of Opening Sequence
Media Institutions
Inspiration
Shots From Films That Inspire Us
Who Should We Credit?
Conventions Of Horror
Zombies
Profilmic Effects
Analysis
Technical Analysis - The Ring
Analysis Of Title Opening
Technical Analysis - The Woman In Black
Opening Analysis - The Conjuring
Production And Distribution
Audience
Pitch
Pitch Feedback
Audience Research And Results
Group Discussion
http://twgsbmedia14asgroup3.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/girl-power-politics-of-slasher-movie.html
http://twgsbmedia14asgroup3.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/group-discussion-summary.html
http://twgsbmedia14asgroup3.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/media-studies-group-3-preliminary-task.html
http://twgsbmedia14asgroup3.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/as-g3-video-evaluation-first-edit.html
http://twgsbmedia14asgroup3.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/as-g3-concept-development.html

8506 - Alex Derry

Video

Preliminary Task

Evaluation

Production:

Animatic:

Planning of Shoots

• Call sheet and location recce

Research:

Concept

• Concept Development
• Treatment
• Script
• "Change of Heart"
• AD: 8506: Sounds
• Final Shoot
• Feedback on Shoot
• Mise-en-scene of Opening Sequence
• Media Institutions

Inspiration

• Shots from films that inspired "Overseer"
• Who should we credit?
• 8506: Conventions of of Horror and Thriller

Analysis

• AD (8506): Technical Analysis of "The Shining" (Kubrik, 1980)
• AD (8506) Analysis of title opening [The Last of Us] (Druckmann, 2013)
• AD: Girl Power: Politics of Slasher Movies

Audience

• Pitch
• Pitch Feedback
• Audience Research Results

Group Discussion

• Group Discussion Summary
• Extra Filming in Wilderness Woods + Evaluation
• Concept Development

9242: GP: Evaluation

There is animation; I have emailed to Mrs Fernandez by WebMail as well; some slides look like they have just pictures on but there is text underneath.

   

eval 1

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eval 2

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Media institutions for Independent film "Overseer" from Fadmash

eval 4 & 5

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eval 6

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AS G3: Media Institutions

What kind of media institution might distribute our media product and why:

Media institutions for Independent film "Overseer"

Pro-Filmic effects in Overseer

8506 AD: Evaluation

1. In what way does our media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Form:

• Titles



Credits from The Last of Us



(Video shortened down to show only credits)

• The title credits present in the opening sequence are somewhat resemblant to that seen in the title sequence of The Last of Us(Stradley, 2013) wherein the text animation fades into the shot. Additionally, the text in our opening is similarly placed into the "blank" areas of the shot, without ruining the composition. However, where our titles break the common conventions of titles is in the fact that it is not a title sequence in itself, but an integration of both opening sequence and title sequence.

Title from Se7en



Our title

• The main title of the opening sequence, "Overseer", is in itself unconventional, compared to many other psychological horrors. In this case, the title is integrated into the sequence itself, without a cut to black or title animation, which is otherwise common in horror openings, to make it clear to the audience what the title of the film is. (Comparison to the right)

• Plot
• The way in which the opening sequence is played establishes it as exactly that – an opening sequence – more than a trailer, by keeping the ending of the opening sequence open for interpretation and exploration within the psychological horror/thriller genre, making it conventional to both of these genres. It is unknown as to who it is that is knocking on the door, and the story can therefore evolve in different ways. If we had more time to add onto the opening, this could have been the antagonist himself, a friend of the protagonist or someone who is equally threatened by the antagonist.

• Character Exposition
  
• In-cluing: Bits of the protagonist's memories are shown during the flashback sequence, so that the audience quickly gets a glance of past events – as opposed to having the information dumped onto them. In some respects, this is akin to Memento (Nolan, 2000), where some sequences are flashbacks that reveal parts of the protagonist's past memories. This is important to note, as it emphasises the plot-aspect of psychological horror, where the protagonist is somehow attacked on a mental level. As such, the in-cluing is conventional for this sub-genre.
  (Screenshots from our opening sequence below)

• Enigma established
• Is quickly established that the protagonist has no idea as to what happened to him, which establishes the enigma in front of him to solve and escape. This is conventional in the sense that psychological horror, from the genre-research we have done, often places puzzles for the protagonist to solve or, in this case, forces the protagonist into searching for clues as to what has happened and why.

Conventions

• Characters

• The protagonist is a challenging character to pin-point, as he displays both elements of a stereotypical, bravado male, while simultaneously showing elements of a physically weaker, perhaps in some respects more modern representation of a male character. Additionally, the fact that the protagonist is featured in a psychological horror is already conventional-breaking, as we noticed through our research and analysis of films that many of the characters featured in psychological horror are females - an example being Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs (Demme, 1991). The opening sequence protagonist is careful, and instead of using brawn to fight his way through his condition, he draws upon his intellect to deal with the situation wherein he is placed. The point on which he falls under the conventions is the fact that he is a civilian, which could potentially mean that he is to be considered a stock character.

• The antagonist is a very conventional and archetypal character. While not directly related to the same horror genre, the antagonist is somewhat resemblant of masked monsters featured in teen slasher films, such as Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th franchise. Furthermore, the suit is somewhat resemblant of the urban-online-legend Slenderman (shown below). 

The Overseer, combining the two mentioned characters

Jason Voorhees

Slenderman

• Plot
• On par with psychological horror, the protagonist is thrown into a situation where in his memory is under threat from an outside force. In some respects, this is closer to the genre of psychological thriller, but is arguably also the point where the two genres overlap each other. In the conventions of psychological horror, the aspect of playing with the protagonist's or the audience's psyche, sometimes playing with both. In a psychological thriller, the same aspect can be noted, but with additional themes such as being confined or obsession. Both of these two themes can be analysed from the opening sequence of Overseer, as the protagonist is confined within the walls of a house and is at the mercy of The Overseer's obsessive playfulness.
• Mise-en-scene
• Lighting

• The lighting in the opening sequence is unconventional when placed in the context of the horror-genre, as it is shot predominantly in high-key lighting. In this sense, it is quite similar to the opening sequence of Funny Games (Haneke, 1997), where the lighting is high-key and the sun is shining, which completely removes the eeriness otherwise present in low-key horror films.

• Costume
• Asides from the visual signifiers of the costumes, the costume worn by the protagonist is what most would consider as being civilian, which falls into the conventions of both horror and thriller - the idea that everyday people are thrown into life-or-death situations.
• The antagonist's costume, as touched upon under characters, draws upon the urban legend Slenderman and Jason Voorhees, which in itself can be seen as a form of homage to the conventional characters of horror media.
• Pro-filmic effects

• The pro-filmic effect of the "5" carved into the hand of the protagonist is directly connected to the overall genre of horror, making it conventional for both psychological thriller and horror, as they, as mentioned before, overlap each other, as they both draw heavily from one another. Additionally, the "5" is to some extent related to the typography present in the credits, as it is "drawn" with a knife or other sharp object. The title and threatening message are both drawn onto paper, in a sharp yet discordant manner.

• The polaroid pictures that act as clues in the opening sequence could be considered a homage to Memento, but as to whether or not it is conventional is not easy to say. In any case, the fact that there are clues to follow is conventional in the thriller genre, where there is typically a mystery to be solved, where the protagonist must piece together the clues and evidence to solve the case.
• Location





Living Room: Relaxation and low stress



Bed: Comfort and security

• The aspect of location is directly conventional with psychological horror, as it is a deceptively ordinary home that the protagonist wakes up in. As such, it could be considered a stock-location for the opening sequence.
• Sound
• The non-diegetic sound present in the opening in form of the score is conventional in the sense that the underlying deep music is foreboding and ominous, which in some respects warns the audience that something will happen. It is the build up that creates tension.
• The diegetic sound is directly connected to the conventions of the character: after his flashback, he displays an expression of fear in his voice, fear being a key aspect of the horror genre.
• Camera
• The camera is primarily focused on the protagonist, which is evident throughout the opening sequence. This is to position the audience with the character, which in itself is conventional for film in general, as the main idea is to create a relatable character that the audience will root for. As such, the camerawork involved in the opening sequence consists of several shots of the lead.
• This is emphasised through close-up and tracking shots(example of tracking shown below).

Example 1



Example 2 (from two tracking shots)



• There are very few conventional breakers, one of these being  the very first shot of the protagonist, where he breaks the fourth wall by looking directly at the camera. This is also done in Funny Games, where one of the men in white looks directly at the camera with a better-knowing smile and a wink. This is especially unsettling as it puts the audience off edge, and can therefore be considered conventional camerawork for the psychological horror genre.

• Editing 
• The editing is largely done in continuity editing, with many matched cuts to underline the progressive storyline. The cutting rate is initially slow, hastens when the lead gets out of bed and then slows down again after the flashback. This is to give the audience time to comprehend what is going on and to depict and emphasise the sensation of nausea within the character before collapsing, which can therefore be considered a conventional aspect of the psychological horror genre.
• In the beginning of the flashback sequence, the effect of a fade-out to white and fade-in to the memories is added. Additionally the cutting rhythm becomes quick, which connotes confusion and disorder in the memories. Especially the latter further emphasises the conventions of psychological horror, inducing discord and mystery to the film.

• Typography



Overseer Director

• 

  The director of The Shining

  The interesting fact about the typography is the similarity to the font used in The Shining (Kubrik, 1980). This rather monochrome colour stands out from the white colours of the location, which is once more similar to The Shining, the difference being that it is a blue font that is used and that our opening sequence has the text placed harmoniously in the shot, as to not interrupt the composition. It can be considered conventional for these reasons.

• Colour/Visual techniques

• The colours evident in the opening sequence are all somehow connected to the genre of thriller and horror. These colours include white, black and red, and act as visual signifiers to the observant audience. The colours are most notable on the costumes themselves, with white being the most dominant colour. White means a clean mind, which connotes the idea of memory loss. Combined with the cold whites of the location, it helps to emphasise the conventions of psychological horror - not knowing one's identity, or otherwise being threatened on a psychological basis.
• The black suit worn by the antagonist consists of blacks and whites. While the colour white for the protagonist connotes not knowing ones identity, the white shirt with a black tie and suit connotes a serious demeanour, whilst the black and white mask connotes something different entirely. In essence, the dual colours of the mask connote the idea that the antagonist is both playful (the white of the mask) and simultaneously evil (the black, as it is connected with darkness and the unknown). This dual-personality can be associated with Multiple Personality Disorder, with the colours reflecting this aspect of the antagonist. This could  be connected to the conventions of psychological-horror/thriller, as the name of the genre suggests that it is not necessarily the protagonist who is troubled by something psychological.

2. How does our media product represent particular social groups?

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Media institutions for Independent film "Overseer" from Fadmash

4/5. Who would be the audience for your media product?  How did you attract/address your audience?  

Eval 4 & 5 from gp167

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?  

Technology

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I highly recommend clicking the link and downloading the powerpoint, as it gives a much better quality (it certainly does on my computer) and the .gifs are shown in much better detail and are not overly laggy, as it is here.

AS G3: Overseer

AS G3: Mise-en-scene of Opening sequence

Camera and lighting

• The camera is positioned primarily through close-ups and tracking shots of the protagonist, which helps position the audience with the character.
• As mentioned, there are a number of handheld tracking shots, especially a great deal of them following the smaller movements of the character. This further helps position the audience with the protagonist.
• This is also evident in the titled angle shots when the protagonist crashes onto the floor. The hand held camera also emphasises the chaos that the protagonist enters when he falls to the floor.



The protagonist sleeps quietly, unknowing of the challenges he is about to face.

 

• The lighting is consistent throughout the opening sequence, and is particularly evident in the picture above: The two light sources provide a split in the protagonist's face, which help connote the idea that his old, "right" side of his life is being dominated by the colder white on his left, which connotes the idea of being cleansed, albeit being cleansed of one's former life.

Costume and character blocking

• The protagonist is dressed in what looks like civilian clothing and what could be considered your everyday person. The costume aspect is important in terms of connotations; it promotes the notion of the character having no memory of who he is. The white t-shirt is especially worth noting.
• The essential part of the t-shirt is that its colour is white. This connotes the idea that the protagonist has had his memory wiped clean and is as such isolated from who he really is. However, the colour white also connotes that he is innocent, being put into a stressful situation whereupon he must find himself and solve his problem, which corresponds with the conventions of the psychological-thriller genre. 

Alexander in costume, adjusting the prosthetic.

• The fact that the protagonist is wearing a bandage also indicates that the character is weaker than the stereotypical male protagonist.
• In terms of ideological representation of the character, it could be emphasised through the way that the protagonist moves and reacts to the scenario he is in, that he is an emergent representation of the male protagonist. After the flashback, his body language is shaky, scared. When going through the house, his movement is cautious and slower, afraid of what is behind the next door. As it progresses, elements of male bravado become apparent, but are quickly squished by the entry of the much more powerful and seemingly omniscient antagonist.

Prosthetics and pro-filmic effects

• Prosthetic cut of a "5" on left hand of protagonist. The protagonist is right-handed, which could indicate that he cut the number into his hand himself, or was somehow forced to do it by the antagonist before having his memory wiped.

Prosthetic five being unwrapped 

• Polaroid pictures of the antagonist - Overseer - holding up numbers. These act as clues for the protagonist (Examples shown below). All of the polaroid pictures are taken where they are placed, for example the second polaroid being on the corner of the living room. This is to lead an obvious trail of breadcrumbs for the lead - and the audience - which drives the narrative and keeps the plot moving. Additionally, the fact that the antagonist is the one holding the numbers and standing in front of the clues enhances the idea that the Overseer is the one playing with the character, like a game of sorts.

First number to be seen

 

"Bingo"

 

• TV remote with all numbers except number 1 removed (in above picture, underneath polaroid). This, combined with the polaroid pictures, further helps drive the narrative.

Location/Set design

• The sensation of not knowing who you are combined with the plain colours of the location underlines the isolation of the character. On top of this, the location creates the fear of being manipulated in ones own home. For example, the aspect of waking up in a bedroom that you cannot recognise is discording for the one in the midst of it.



Waking up in your bedroom without knowing it is your bedroom
must be a terribly horrific feeling, feeling at home yet not.



 

(Written by Alexander D)

AS G3: Audience Research - Results and Responses

We hoped to get a sense of whether our genre would be popular in the public opinion, and we sadly received mixed results. Only 50% of people were interested in psychological horror films. As a result we decided to merge several genres into one, to both integrate multiple stylistic features which we found successful in our test shoot, and also to satisfy as much of the public as possible.

Thankfully we received a far more positive response to whether the public like foreign films, with the greatest percentage saying they were indifferent and a higher percentage of people saying "I like them" than not liking them. This meant we could confidently make the film in a foreign language and not receive a negative response.

This question was largely unsuccessful in retrieving the information we were expecting as the results indicated that a large portion of the public misread the question. Many people answered with English horror films that had been dubbed over, or many replied with ANY horror film spoken in English (something entirely unhelpful to us).

This was interesting for us, as it showed us who the audience expects to be the protagonist in a psychological horror. This meant we were creating a character that was a progressive representation of men as it showed not all males have to be macho and gung-ho to be masculine, our character is scared witless in our opening scene and if this had been made into a feature film we all agree he would use his intellect and quick-thinking to "save the day".

The results showed a remarkably positive reply, with the vast majority of people saying they "really like them" or just "like them" with only 25% saying they did not like them. This was good news to us as we knew that the theme of enigma would be prevalent in our film, so these results were very reassuring.

 

As with the "What horror films have you seen" question, this question received very mixed results. Needless to say we worked through the eventual 63 replies of varying relevance and discovered confusion at every turn, but the majority still proved useful to us. We since decided to change our title to "Overseer", so these results are no longer valid to our title.