Production Company Logo - Progress & Brief Analysis

One can see that the candle represents a metaphor for life and death - like a candle, life can as easily, and as quickly, be snuffed out. This suggests what kind of film may be shown - for example seeing a Warner Bros. logo would suggest that a the film is likely to be part of the action or fantasy genre. In this case, our production company logo suggests death, horror, and thriller.

In addition, this engages the audience as, the opening scene suggests death, therefore, this logo acts as hermeneutic code as the audience may begin to think is someone going to die? And if so, who?

However, the disadvantage of this logo is that many of these subtle nuances may not be picked up by the film's younger audiences.

On reflection, one can see that the previous candle logo is quite primitive, and amateur-looking; therefore we changed the candle to a more realistic image. This addition makes the logo more ominous, suggesting a grim fate of a character within the film. What's more the gothic text that floated in on the previous logo, looked clumsy; and as a result the animation was changed to a fade-in animation. Finally, the issue of our production logo being too complex for the audience to understand has been quashed. We asked people what type of film our production company produced - the most popular results being horror, thriller, murder-mystery.

Behind The Scenes & Bloopers / Evidence of Filming

As the title suggests, these are the scenes that didn't quite make it to the rough cut. Whether it was noise, lighting, props, or unwanted backgrounds, it was a plethora of mistakes. The lighting was very temperamental which led to several looking too bright, too dark - just unprofessional in general.  An inadequate classroom and unwanted mise-en-scene meant that our "interview room" looked like a classroom, which made our storyline seem unrealistic. Moreover, the excess sound of the cleaners hoovering in the background furthers the idea of the being unprofessional, and as a result we had to do a reshoot, brief appearance of my chain. And finally, most of our problems have been to do with external influences; however, this mistake is human error - mine to be precise. The brief appearance of my chain in shot was not expected, neither was it noticed until the end of our filming, and it did not fit the atmosphere of our film.

To summarise there were multiple reasons for us needing to reshoot: the lighting, unwanted mise-en-scene, excess noise, my chain (sorry Matt & Khaleem). But don't worry, onwards and upwards...

Animatic

“This wasn’t how things were supposed to turn out, we’d meant to be having a laugh,” and we see our character’s (Jayden Yusuf) features and surroundings: he’s in a police interviewing room, he’s clothes are shredded and covered in mud, he has a gash to his cheek, and his curly hair is saturated / soaked in blood. There is also screaming and a heartbeat as non-diegetic, incidental audio. Cut to (high angle / eagle-eye shot - camera is grainy / poor quality, symbolising CCTV at a police station) our protagonist, there is little / no audio as we are emphasising to the audience that the protagonist is on his own. Audience hears screams even though we see that the protagonist is alone (establishing shot - colour is now present, quality is good - we have incidental audio getting louder; we also see cuts of POV shots from the protagonist viewpoint, we see a view of his feet running, brief look over his shoulder, the audience also hear heavy breathing as non-diegetic sound). The incidental audio - screams and heartbeat - grows louder and louder until the protagonist screams “ENOUGH!!” - in a slightly higher / deeper voice - and he slams his fist against the table.                                          

Music Analysis

Sound

Isn't it funny how a piece of music can become synonymous with a film, or TV show? Sound is something that is seen as a minor part of film. Other factors such as camera angle, image quality, script are frequently prioritised over sound. Music is a narrative device that helps explain, and may also give further context to, the plot and it is an essential part of a film and can even enhance an audience’s experience. For example the music above (Doctor Who) is synonymous with the show, regardless of whether we see the T.A.R.D.I.S or the Doctor.

There are multiple classification types for sound in film:

•  Parallel Sound: sound that compliments, and goes along with the story that is unfolding on the scene, to may also add extra atmosphere to the scene

• Contrapuntal Sound: sound that contrasts with what is being on screen, it is used for comical purposes, and it may also be used to make light of what is going on in the scene

Props & Equipment

Props:

Tables

Chairs
Adidas ZNE Hoodie
Fake Blood - red food colouring, corn flour, and water
Police badge
 

Equipment:

Canon 100 etc.

Tripod
Lights (lights used for back light etc.)

Lighting Analysis

Lighting

When it comes to lighting, the smallest detail can change how the audience interpret the media text. As a result, lighting is set into the 3 major categories that define how the lighting is and what effect this has on the reader:

-   Low key Lighting: is created by using only back lights, it is usually used to hide parts of the scene that may give spoilers to what’s about to occur - as a result, this type of lighting is usually used to raise tension in films. However, it can also be used to

-   High Key Lighting: uses filler lights to create a brighter scene, it’s often used in the between tense scenes, this type of lighting is quite calming and therefore lowers tension, in order to raise it again in later scenes. Furthermore, a lack of vision in the background, creates a sense of mystery and further.

 


-   Contrast: is the balance of light and dark, and can be created by the use, or lack of, high-key lighting and low-key lighting, it is often used to add atmosphere and can (on occasion) conceal elements of a scene for them to be later revealed (in this sense, contrast is similar to low-key lighting). as seen in the image, there is a bright bat emblem, above a dark figure (which we know to Batman) which draws attention to the Batman.

3 POINT LIGHTING

Also, here's a little extra, something I found about lighting, and how it works

Location Analysis

I'm back guys.  Today's just a rough overview of what locations we have, what they need, and a few pictures of one of our settings.

Location Needs: Needs have been achieved


(SETTING NO.1 - Office)

·   spacious

·   well-lit / fully controllable lighting

·   table

(SETTING 2 NO.2 - Forest)

·   dark / obscure lighting (can be controlled in the edit)

·   narrow paths

·   clearings

·   plant life

Currently, site number 1 is within our school, meaning we have a lot of access, furthermore, the fact its well-lit means that we get a wide range of shots.

However, site number 2 is harder. Located near Harris City Academy Crystal Palace, the forest-like area is open to the elements, meaning that - due to English weather - the ground is sometimes too muddy/slippery to film. Furthermore, the lighting is also difficult, as in Britain, currently we're in winter so it's darker at earlier times in the day, however, we need some of this darkness to get

This is an example of our forest scene. Furthermore, you can see some of the practical elements that help with film's ambience. The lighting - slanted, and half lit - will allow some aspects of the opening to remain hidden, especially due to the fact, this part of the scene will feature the killer (who remains anonymous), as well as the plant life, which gives the impression of an imposing presence.