Exploring the Pros and Cons of Social Realism and Comparing with Horror.

The other part of the coursework task is the choose to create a social realism 2 minute opening sequence. Research on Social Realism Films led me to watching 'Tyrannosaur' and 'This Is England' again to look at what is included in these sort of films. Such things included are:

• A location shooting that the audience can connect with and that is not in a 'fantasy' world.
• These locations are usually shot 'inner city' and in a built up, urban environment.
• The use of actors that are not 'huge stars', this again allows an audience to feel the story line to be more realistic. 
• Exploring social issues within the film, (such as the challenge against racism in 'This Is England').
• The characters in the film triumphing over adversity.
• The camera shots that are used are also different and are using wide shots to establish the setting of the scene.

Pros:

• Roughly edited to create a more realistic feel to the opening sequence.
• Inner city based so easier to found locations.
• Easy to fund a film on a low budget.
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Cons:

• Background can sometimes distract from action.
• Performance of actors is crucial in the film.
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Comparison:

Although initially the filming of a social realism film is easier than filming a horror genre film. This is due to many facts including the location of filming in urban cities and often require less attention on the costume or make-up of characters but instead are more 'in your face' and hard hitting.

This is totally different to a horror film and with the ideas that I have decided to use in setting and suggesting what might happen in the film through the opening sequence, it fits more in with the genre of horror more than a social realism opening sequence.

Exploring the Pros and Cons of Horror.

From the previous experience of my Preliminary task and capturing a 'scary' piece of cinematography I wanted to continue this into the coursework that's set in creating a 2 minute opening sequence to a film. Whilst research conventions of good horror films it lead me to suggesting ideas of what to include in a normal horror film.
These include:

• Including an important setting on the film. (E.g. Abandoned Houses, Schools and Dark Woods).
• The theme of the film, following a certain set of themes usually used in the horror genre include:
• Beyond Death.
• Religion.
• Supernatural.
• "Self-consciousness" questioning what is real or not.
• Use of low-key lighting to create shadows or unfamiliar shapes in the blackness

• Many different camera shots are used in horror filming most notably the use of a found footage film making which entails the use of a hand-held camera or footage that has been 'found'.
• This type of filming can be seen in either 'The Blair Witch Project' or 'Cloverfield'.

Pros:

• Sets the scene and creates an atmosphere.
• It instill the audiences with a feeling of in trepidation or tension.
• Can create the sense of fear of the unknown. 
• Less background noise at night.
• Not relying on the actors ability in front of camera

Cons:

• Use of low-key lighting presents problems with visual clarity.
• Continuity of sound is amplified at night.
• Easy to look unprofessional in editing scenes.
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Preliminary Task Feedback and Evaluation.

After we had shown our Preliminary task films to the rest of the class we eventually got the feedback on what our audience members thought about the film and what needed to be improved.

Range of Shot Types & Camera Angles: I got some positive reviews from this section with people commenting on the wide use of shots that I incorporated into the film and keeping within the horror genre.
(92/110).
Editing/Filters & Transitions: This section people again were adding to the comments on a appropriate editing, however when re-watching the film in my own time I noticed that there is a moment when the 'hooded' character is walking round a corner that the editing could have been slicker. However it is not noticeable unless picking it apart.
(97/110).
Continuity Editing: Again (as mentioned above) the edit could have been improved for continuity.
(93/110).
Brief Following: I got a mixed review on this section with some people saying I did follow the brief and others say I got side tracked when using the horror genre.
(95/110).
Mise-en-Scene: This section got one of the best review from my audience, but I think this is helped by the appropriate filming location at my house, which represents the darker side of a house.
(101/110).
Music & Sound Effects: From the feedback from people, it seems that this section was my best during the film. The sound effects used created atmosphere and I even got comments that it made people more nervous about the film and some of it made them jump (which is what I intended).
(106/110).
Dialogue: Again I got a few mixed review on this section but I would say myself that I would have used better actors to deliver the dialogue instead of the ones in the film, this would have allowed me to create more tension in the atmosphere of the film.
(96/110).

Overall: My overall target that people commented on and that I would say myself after re-watching after editing would be to be very wary of the lighting that I use, because in some shots it was not clear and so people couldn't define the action going on in the shot. But all-in-all the audience's feedback was that I represented the horror genre very well and got across a scary, spooky and original idea during the film.

Preliminary Task: Editing

The continuity editing of the film (especially through the trees) threw up a few problems to allow a smooth finished article. However the editing process was a simple process for me, this is during to the long camera shots from one single angle that follows the action. By using this process I was trying to create a more intimate sense towards the audience about the action on screen. Allowing the audience to feel close to the character without seeing who it is.

One problem that I faced when editing was when getting some shots off the camera and realising that either a shot was too dark to be used and that action happened on shot would not be seen by the audience after the final editing. Also some shots that could not be used were ones that created the wrong sort of atmosphere for the task and the piece I was trying to create. This included problems such as the wrong lighting (too bright), mise-en-scene in shot that was not appropriate for the a certain scene or sound quality being too poor, and not picking up the certain effects I wanted for a shot but couldn't add in as sound on Garageband.

007 Skyfall Location Shooting

A fantastic insight into what goes on in location filming for such a large grossing film.

Preliminary Task Filming

During the filming process, a few problems were encountered. Due to my film involving semi darkness out side, I had trouble light the scene without proper lighting equipment. So instead, improvising with items around me I have decided to use the full beams of a car to key light the shots that were taken outside.

Re-watching my final edit of the Preliminary Task although the light need to be worked on, the action of running and movement through the trees was captured very effectively. The filming inside also added to the overall suspense of the final edit.

The change from story-boarding to final edit was of great contrast in the way the opening 20 seconds appeared. I never 'penciled' in the running through trees but would zoom in on the house. The addition of the fast movement allowed me to create more angles of shots and work greatly with continuity editing. This effect and use of different variety  of shots added to the horror genre that I was trying to depict when filming.

Planning: Animatic

The above video is the animatic to my Preliminary Task. The difficult with this animatic was deciding on the music, or sound effects that would accompany the video. In the end (because I want to create a scary film) I used mainly sound effects to add suspense to the video. The use of rain and thunder does this particular well, and as the sound is diminished after the character walks into the house it still can be heard.

All the Media Conventions that were meant to be included were featured in the animatic:
180 Degree Rule: is featured when the two of the three characters are sitting on the sofa, and all action has been along that line and wasn't crossed as there is no show of a switch.
Match-on-Action: I used this when the one character is seen to be opening a door at the beginning of the animatic.
Eye-line Match: I incorporated this rule when the phone rings at the finale of the animatic and we see the two characters look off shot and then cut to the phone.
Shot/Reverse Shot: This is used again when we see the two characters on the sofa and the conversation occurs.

Planning: Storyboard

The process of my storyboarding, required me to remain close to my original plan used in my interpretation of the Preliminary Task. Again I wanted to be different, to include different shots, these different shots would feature shots from a handheld camera whilst running, to get the affect from the eye line of the person.

When in the house I never want to feature the person who has broken in to the house, but only catch glimpses of that character.
Throughout the shots, to include the different continuity elements I have varied my camera angles as shown in the storyboard.

The addition of music to the storyboard also helped me develop my ideas about the feelings that I wanted to create for the audience. The use of underlying 'scary' music only added to the horror genre I was trying to create when I would be filming.

The story-boarding of my ideas allowed to get an idea of how I wanted the final product to be as I had finally got the ideas down on paper. With this I could expand my preliminary task and move on to filming, with the knowledge I had something to refer back to, if I became confused.