Storyboard

Storyboard and filming:

When we planned our film opening as a group we planned it by creating a storyboard. When we created the storyboard we included each part of the film in small detail by including shots that were going to be used, camera angles that were going to be part of that part of the opening scene and we also included a description of what was happening to help with the plot line. However as a group we knew that this would change when we came to filming on the day as we may have needed to change some of the angles or shots used or we may have had to add extras parts when we were filming.

This was the storyboard when we it started:

However when we began filming we altered the storyboard slightly towards the end of the film opening scene. The way that we changed things from the storyboard s that we aded parts such as different shots and camera angles so that we could include more match on action and more lower angle shots as we hadn't included much of this so we decided to add this in. However the initial plot line that was on our storyboard that we created stayed the same but we added in parts to make it more detail towards the end when the killer approaches the young girl. When we were filming we decided to add more point of view shots we included one from the girl running and being able to see her feet this is shown in the below changed storyboard, also as we were filming we decided to add in the girl falling over and this being filmed from the killers point of view.

This was the storyboard that was redrawn after filming:

Shooting Script

Before we began filming our Film Opening we planned everything we could to ensure that we completed it as planned.

Shooting Script:

Meeting date: Monday 21st December.
Meeting time: 12.00pm.
Meeting Place: Ashleigh's house. - Will walk for 5 minutes to the woods.

Travel arrangements: Louise and Grace plan to meet and travel by bus to Hollie's house. All three will then travel together by car to Ashleigh's.

Who's bringing what?:
Ashleigh: Camera, Tripod, Black boots, black coat and trousers.
Hollie: Dagger, Phone.
Louise: Fake blood, Top covered in blood.

Actors:
Ashleigh: Killer.
Louise: Dead girl.
Grace: Girl running from killer.

Practical Task - Costume

For this practical task I decided to focus on the killer's costume in our film opening. The killer is going to be kept anonymous which means their identity is not shown, therefore the costume needs to ensure this.

So I decided that an all black attire would be the best look for the murderer. This way they are kept completely unidentified and will be hidden and masked within the dark shadows of the woods. One important aspect of the costume is the concealing of the killer's face. I think that an idea way to keep their face hidden from the camera is for them to wear a dark hood which hangs low over their face.

Here is a possible dark hooded jacket that could be used for the costume:







Here are also some black boots that could be worn to finish the outfit:

Deconstruction Task - Mise-en-scene

For this Deconstruction I decided to focus on the Mise-en-scene in a slasher film. I decided to use the opening scene of Final Destination 4 as I felt that the Mise-en-scene would be effective throughout. This is the clip I used:

The mise-en-scene is first effective when the first character is hit with a type from one of the cars. When the type hits the girl there is a lot of blood which splatters everywhere. This is effective mise-en-scene as it shows the severity of the crash and indicates that what happens next will also be gory and serious.



Next a car is seen on fire flipping through the air. This is effective as it shows how dangerous and severe the crash is. The car then crashes through the fencing and into the seating area full on people, this is effective as it shows the intensity of the situation and how it is developing and getting worse and worse.

As the people seated at the event begin to run and try to escape, the mise-en-scene is shown in close up shots as the chairs and benches get broken and crushed in the panic. This leaves dangerous pieces of wood around which later become hazards to the people. This mise-en-scene is effective as it shows how much every is rushing in order to get away from the danger and how the location is getting ruined.

The mise-en-scene is also effective in the scenes where people are hit by flying objects or hurt trying to escape from the area. Mise-en-scene can be seen in the scenes where people are running away, showing the crash taking place in the background and showing the fences that are broken. Scenes also show people being crushed and sliced by flying objects, in these scenes lots of blood and dead people can be seen, showing the severity of the situation and how much danger they are all in. There is also a scene where someone running to safety trips and lands on a piece of wood from the broken seating and shows it going through his head. Again in this shot blood and the surroundings can be seen which are broken and covered in blood.

The mise-en-scene is also effective when the building begins to fall down, showing the roof collapsing and landing on people. The location of the crash begins to get worse and worse as sections collapse, leaving holes in the roof and lots of debris on the floor. As the debris falls, it lands on people, killing them. This creates further mise-en-scene as blood splatters and dead bodies can be seen.

At the end of the clip, the mise-en-scene is very effective as the group of friends who managed to get out of the building think they are safe. However, a tyre can then be seen in the distance moving quickly towards one of the characters, when it hits them. The mise-en-scene is then effective in showing the severity of the injuries that the girl sustained as you see her lying on the floor with flesh and blood laying around her. This mise-en-scene is effective in showing how badly the character was hurt and suggests that those inside are also being injured to the same degree.

Camera Angles Deconstruction

Since my group’s film opening is a slasher horror chase scene, I decided deconstructing the camera angles from this chase in ‘Halloween 2’ would be useful in gaining ideas for our own.

This is the clip of the scene I used to deconstruct:

This chase scene begins with the killer shown in a low angle, making him appear superior and powerful. Since he is dominating the screen and shown to be sinister, this angle suggests to the audience that he is the villain.

This close-up angle is effective because it is shows the killer’s feet walking down the stairs. This is a really good idea and effective way of using the angle because it creates a sense of fear and builds tension for the viewer. We can see that the villain is chasing her, but we do not directly see him.

This long-shot is used to show the audience how the victim is desperately trying to escape. In this angle we are able to see her whole body struggling to get away, but also her distraught facial expressions.

The next angle is a close-up which is used to show the girl’s facial expression. In this shot we can see that she is very scared which effectively shows her fear and portrays her as the victim.

The close-up angle of the girl’s feet struggling to get away is also really effective in establishing she is the victim. It emphasises her desperation to get away and again suggests that she is the victim in this scene.

The long-shot angle is used here to again show the girl in desperation to escape the killer. Here we see her entire body running towards the camera, emphasising her struggle and vulnerability.

This mid-shot is used to show the villain following the girl. The use of this angle is effective because we still cannot see the identity of the killer which builds tension

Lastly, an extreme long shot is used to show the victim. This effectively shows how alone she is, as we are shown the isolation of the scene. This suggests she is vulnerable and again portrays her as the victim.

This deconstruction task was really useful because it gave me some ideas for our own opening scene. I particularly liked the use of the close-up shots showing the character's feet, and the low angle to portray the dominant villain. 

Practical Task - Sound

For this practical task I decided to record some sounds that could be used in our Coursework Opening Scene. I decided to make 3 sound clips that we could use. These were a scream, the sound of a twig snapping and someone running through leaves. I decided to record these sounds as they would all work well in our opening scene. I began by recording the three sound clips and inserting them into editing software.

I edited the clips using the software to make them louder and more effective. For example, I made the sound of the footsteps louder in the clip of someone running in order to make it more tense. I also edited some of the clips by trimming them and reducing the background noise to make it clearer. I did this for all three clips and these are my final outcomes.

What went well?:
I feel that the scream sound clip was the most successful as it was clear and easy to hear. I was also able to make it sounder scarier and more tense by editing it to make it more effective. However, I would make it longer if I was to complete it again.

What could I improve?:
I feel that I could improve the snapping twig and running through leaves sound clips as I don't think they were very clear and could be improved by recording them again and making sure that they were louder and clearer when played back. I would also make these clips longer and try to make sure that they were effective enough to use in our opening scene.

Deconstruction - Actors - Louise Hyam

For my deconstruction task I decided to deconstruct actors within slasher horror films which i can compare to the actors that we have picked for our own slasher horror film. I will look at the gender and the age of the characters and actors used within the slasher horror film opening.

Prom Night:
The first film that I looked at the gender of the main characters and the ages of them. Below is a screenshot from the film Prom Night. The main protagonist is shown in this film conforming to the gender of a protagonist usually being a male because they are shown as stronger than the females. In the film Prom Night there is a scene where the main charatcer is the bad one and the female character is the one that is in trouble and this conforms to the gender roles within films as the male is always shown as inferior and the character that has more power over the women. below is a screenshot of Prom Night where the scene is shown of the male one of the main characters as being the bad one within the situation and the female is unable to help herself.

The second film that I looked at and looked at the main characters was the Hatchet. Most films usually have a victim and someone that is vulnerable. In the film the Hatchet the woman plays the role of the victim and this is common in slasher horror films because they are shown to be weak and the victim is usually shown as a female character with a male character that is the main protagonist. In the film Hatchet this is shown and conformed to through the use of a female character being looked at from behind with a male character standing behind her looking like he is going to do something to her.

The third film that I looked at was Nightmare on Elm Street:
Within Nightmare on Elm Street the main protagonist was shown as a man. This is conforming to roles of characters and actors within slasher horror films. The male character of this film is a male character this small character is used to scare people throughout the film which is a slasher horror film. This conforming to most of the other slasher horror films out where the male character is always shown to be the one that is victimising other people within the film and the male character is always shown as the bad protagonist. The male character is also the main character in the film this focuses all of the attention from the film onto the male character from Nightmare on Elm Street and this also helps to emphasise that fact that he is the main character but it also shows the audiences because they see him so much that he is the bad one as they always see what he does. This is also shown from the way he looks throughout the film and the audience can see from the main character who is shown in the below picture that he is abnormal has he has potential blades attached to his fingers which could be used as weapons and his face is different which automatically creates an effect on the audience showing that throughout the film he will be the bad character.

Practical Task - Gore/special effects - Louise Hyam

Practical Task:

For my practical task I decided to make gore and special effects that were suitable to what would be needed for the actors in our opening scene. For one part of my practical task I created a fake wound on the side of someones face and this will be present in our film opening scene on the girl who is running away from the murderer.

What did I use to make the fake wound?
- Fake Blod
- Glue
- Face Paint
- Makeup Brushes

The reason I chose these items to make the fake wound was because the fake blood can act as the blood within the wound and the glue was able to act as skin that was raised or cut and was inflamed. I used face paint to use the colours such as green to create a more dirty and infected look to the fake wound and I used the makeup brushes to apply all of this to the skin.
Below is a picture of all of the items i used throughout my practical task:

For the fake wound that I made that was on the face firstly I added glue to act as the skin and make it looked inflamed and raised from the skin to show the initial stages of a cut or wound on the side of a face.

After using the glue to act as skin I put a thin layer of fake blood over the top so that this would act as blood on top of raised skin however I only used a thin layer so that it didn't look too unrealistic otherwise the colour wouldn't have been to believable and the blood may have looked to red and the colour wouldn't have been right so I only used a thin layer as shown below.

Next after adding the fake blood onto the glue which was used as skin I added fake blood around the side to  make it look more realistic as blood smudges and doesn't stay in one place when someone is injured or wounded so i added it around the side of the wound and in between the glue that was acting as skin.

For the last step of the fake wound on the face I used face paint. I used face paint to make the fake wound look more dirty and make it seem like it was more realistic with bits of dirt in and so the fake wound wasn't so clean I added green and black face paint mixed together over parts of the fake wound.

This is my final product:

For the second part of my practical task I created another fake wound but this one was on the hand. I did the one on the hand to represent a stab wound that has bled quite a lot. For this wound I used the same products as before for the facial fake wound and I also followed the exact same steps.

For the first stage I added the glue to act as the raised skin like I did so in the previous fake wound.

After adding that I added the fake blood thinly again then I applied the face paint to make the same dirty looking effect on the stab wound in the hand.

This is my final product for the fake wound on the hand:

What went well?

The things that I think well about my practical task creating these fake wounds is that I think that the one on the face looks realistic with the shaping of it and the way that it is laid out on the face. I also think the idea of face paint to make it look dirty also worked well and created a good effect.

What would I improve?

For our opening scene when doing fake wounds the thing I think I would use for the skin being raised and cut instead of glue would be something better and easier to apply to skin. I would probably use liquid latex next time for our opening scene. 

Practical Task - Props

For my next practical task I decided to focus on the weapon that will be used in our opening scene.

In our film opening we planned to have a killer who has just killed a girl and chases another. This meant that a weapon needs to be used and must be realistic and scary.


We decided that the best weapon to use would be a dagger, as a stabbing would be the easiest to film in a wooded setting.

This is the dagger I decided would be ideal.

Practical Task - Fake Wounds

As we have decided that our film opening genre will be a slasher I have decided to practice creating a fake knife wound as this is one of the injuries that one of our characters will sustain.

I began by finding a Youtube tutorial on how to create a knife wound and used it as inspiration for my practical. This is the Youtube clip I used:

I began by collecting all the equipment I needed to create the stab wound. These were scissors, fake blood, scar wax, foundation, lipstick, eyeshadow, sponges and brushes.

Step 1:

To begin making the fake stab wound I started by using a small amount of scar wax and smoothing it out on the arm. I made sure that the wax was a flat to the skin as possible so it looked like it was part of the skin and had no obvious edges.

Step 2:

I then covered the scar wax in foundation using a sponge which matched the skin tone. This made the scar wax less obvious and ensured that the stab wound would look real.

Step 3:

I then made a cut in the scar wax using scissors to create the stab wound. I made sure it was straight and long to make the wound look serious.

Step 4:

I then used a red lipstick and brush to add lipstick into the cut I had made so that it looked like it was bleeding.

Step 5:

Next I used a sponge and added a dark red eyeshadow to the skin around the cut to make it look irritated and bruised, this also covered the remaining wax where the foundation hadn't gone on properly.

Step 6:

Next I added fake blood over the lipstick previously added using another brush to make the blood in the cut look darker and more lifelike and make the wound look like it was bleeding a lot.

Step 7:

Finally, I added more blood to the cut and made it drip down the arm to add effect and make the stab wound look more serious. 

Evaluation:

I think that this practical task was successful as I was able to create a realistic looking stab wound to the arm. I think that the use of the fake blood to make it look like it was dripping down the arm was successful as it made it look like a serious injury. I also think that the use of the scar wax was successful as it meant that I could create a cut in the skin that looked realistic.

However, I think that this could be improved by making the cut slightly smaller as I think it looks  too big to be a stab wound and looks more like a large cut. I also think I would improve the application of the foundation to make it look smoother on the skin and more realistic, but I was able to cover this up later during the rest of the steps when I added the eyeshadow and fake blood.

Practical Task - Lighting - Louise Hyam

For my practical task I decided to experiment with lighting and the effectiveness of shadows as in the opening scene of our film we have decided to use shadow effects so for my practical task I decided to do lighting checks with this. For our opening scene there is a murderer and his face is never shown for my practical task I decided to try and make shadows using a person and a hoodie with low lighting.

First of all I got someone to put on the hoodie after that I positioned them so that only the outline of the face could seen to create more of an effect so that it was just a hoodie and an outline of the face. I then used low lighting to ensure that the outline of the face stood out in the low lighting making it more creepy as the face is never shown.

This is the outcome of my practical task experimenting with lighting and creating a shadow:

 

These two pictures above are showing a shadow created by the low lighting and it is shadow of the outline of the face and someone wearing a hoodie.

These two pictures above are showing someone wearing a hoodie and no face being shown at all in this shot. This shot would be used in a long shot from behind in our opening scene to show the killer with the hoodie on from behind with low lighting to make it more scary.

:

These two photos above are showing more of the outline of the face and more of the face is shown but the lighting is still low enough for the person to still be unrecognisable which is effective in a slasher because it doesn't give anything away. This was done by pulling the hoodie that the person was wearing further back so more features were shown and more of the face was shown but the lighting was kept low enough so the person is still unrecognisable.

 

 

The things that I think went well with this practical task is that the shadow is very effective because I made sure that the lighting was low enough and that the hood was pulled back just enough to show the outline of the face to make it more creepy. However for the real thing to improve I would make sure that there is nothing else that is going to cause a shadow within the filming and that it is only the shadow of the persons facial outline that can be seen.