Locations

Props

Who does what?

Ideas

Script

JORDAN is hiding behind a structure of some description, frantically trying to unjam their gun. A ZOMBIE is slowly getting closer; they have a broken ankle which is slowing them down.

JORDAN

Oh god, Help, please don’t eat me

This goes on for about 5 seconds before we start cutting between this and some shots of ALEX arming themself but without showing their face. We have a shot of ALEX putting on their significant item of clothing and then a shot of the ZOMBIE right in JORDAN’s face.

JORDAN

Look… Um… Have you ever considered becoming… like… a vegan?

The ZOMBIE roars in their face.

JORDAN

No! No! OK!

More cuts between JORDAN and ALEX, showing the difference between the two situations and how worried and stoic each character is

We have a shot of ALEX walking down an alley. We cut progressively more rapidly between the ZOMBIE getting closer to JORDAN and ALEX getting closer. Cut to Jordan and the zombie looking towards Alex

JORDAN

What the…

Eventually, ALEX stops right in front of them and brandishes their weapon. We pan up from the floor as they do this.

ALEX

Ready to die twice, motherfucker?

ZOMBIE looks shocked, then ALEX attacks the ZOMBIE and kills it brutally. We have a reaction shot of JORDAN having blood splattered onto their face. This goes on for about 15 seconds. The bloodied weapon rolls along the floor. ALEX helps JORDAN up.

ALEX

I think for your sake we should stick toget-

JORDAN thrusts their hand into ALEX’s

JORDAN

Agreed

Cue credits

Premise/Detailed summary for opening

The premise for our opening is as follows:

Unknown reasons for zombie apocalypse, one character saves the other from a zombie by being a stereotypical 80's action star.

The detailed plot summary is as follows:

Our film in going to be a Comedy Horror, this means that while still horrific,  the film is in a more comedic style. This allows us to stand out from the crowd somewhat, as this is not a popular style to film.

The opening shows Jordan trapped in their hiding spot, frantically trying to unjam their gun as a zombie slowly approaches. It cuts between this and Alex “suiting up”. Eventually, the zombie looks directly at Jordan, who then screams. We have a shot of Alex hearing this. The zombie starts moving faster. Just as it’s about to bite Jordan, Alex violently beats it to death with a baseball bat and helps Jordan up. The title card shows.

Presentation

Here is the actual presentation for the Horror film, featuring the ideas etc

Preliminary Task Evaluation

For the preliminary task I worked in a group of 4; Natasja Wilcox, Elena Hopkins, Maisy Groves and I. We filmed the video on my camera, a Nikon D3300, and edited it on Natasja's Macbook Pro. The film starred Myself and Maisy Groves, with the filming done mainly by Natasja Wilcox, and the editing done by the owner of the laptop mainly, Natasja Wilcox. Elena Hopkins did all the pre-production tasks, in order for us to know what we were doing. The techniques which we used include Shot - Reverse - Shot, Match on action, and Various camera angles

In general I think that in general, the filming and the production of the Preliminary task went well. There were some hiccups and some mistakes throughout the film, though, chief of which was my problem with acting, as I was unable to stop looking at the camera as I am not an expert actor, indeed mainly filling a role over anything else. Indeed, my performance was probably the worst aspect of the film. A worthy praise would be Natasja Wilcox's filming, as her distinct style is definitely of note. However, she did go across the 180 degree line a couple of times during filming, creating some jarring moments when I switch sides of the frame between cuts. Elena helped the rest of the group out, after doing all the pre-production tasks which really guided us where to go and what to do. She also gave a detailed storyboard, meaning it was easy to follow. Maisy Groves was the other actress, and she has had much more experience in drama than I have, therefore her performance was definitely also of note.

The film ran for slightly longer than 30 seconds, up to 36. That was slightly over the required time of 30 seconds, however I believed we made good use of the extra time we used in order to fit some more lines in and fit a shot in which looked interesting. We made good use of the shot - reverse- shot method in order to show the conversation between my character and Maisy's, which worked well and made the conversation seem more fluid, make the sound and the camera work seem a lot more fluid than it could have. The fluidity is however ruined by the cross of the 180 degree line, which makes the cut obvious and jarring to the viewer.

The actual preliminary task video I believe was a good production. While some cuts were jarring and obvious, the piece undeniably flowed well, and the presentation with the camera angles told somewhat of a story by themselves. Some cuts were jarring for aforementioned reasons, however in general I am overall happy, however I do admit there is significant room for improvement. One part that does is definitely the sound, as this s a reason for the cuts being so jarring. Had we edited the sound or included a couple extra scenes where the dialogue runs over in order for the sound cuts to be less jarring, however the dialogue itself fills the role.

Overall the preliminary task, while the room for improvement is undeniably there, went well, as the techniques were all filled, the main problem being the presentation, as the techniques were definitely filled.

Preliminary task final cut

Preliminary task pre-production

Editing

1. Editing is used to intertwine different takes together, and is important to put a film together, as it is incredibly rare for takes to last longer than a couple second, as planning around long takes means one mistake can ruin a long scene, thereby only experimental films skip editing. Thereby, Editing is used to make a film a film
2. Editing works by cutting one take, and splicing in another, which dates back historically to when this was done by hand by cutting one reel and adding another reel and splicing them together. Computers can make this much easier and make sure that the original is there for any mistakes, which couldn’t be done historically
3. A cut is a hard edit between two different takes, without anything covering the cut. This can be used in a jump cut situation to disorientate the viewer
1. A dissolve is a way to get two different scenes together smoothly. One scene literally dissolves onto the next scene, giving a somewhat smooth transition between two different takes, especially compared to a usual cut
2. A fade is exactly what the name implies it is, a fade between two shots, used for a similar purpose as a dissolve. A fade to either white or black is a good way to end a film, as it signifies death deep down someone
3. A jump cut is either used in low budget films and vlogs, or to serve a purpose. It is a deliberate cut to show a change in scene somewhat, and can be used to disorientate the viewer as mentioned before
4. Shot reverse shot is used to show the fact that two different people have two different opinions. Can show the characters being equal or their status depending on the angle of each shot, for example if one shot is a high angle and another is a low angle
5. The 180 degree rules is important because it keeps the a shot uniform and not look confusing to the viewer. It means a character is always on one side, and doesn’t flip. If it flips,the viewer can be confused, therefore the rule is important purely to keep the scene uniform
6. The Point of view shot, like the name suggests, shows a shot from a characters point of view, shot easiliy. It is used to connect the viewer to the character easily, both giving the point of view literally and figuratively, as this is the same reason why the Blair witch project was filmed in the way that it was
7. The point of view can be generated from a monsters or unseen enemies by using a crane or similar item to give a different angle to a shot, which still POV, yet is much higher and different, giving alternative ways to create POV shots
8. Parallell/Cross cut editing is editing that blends two different scenes together. As these usually have similar cinematography, it is seen as one action falls into the next, like a blood splatter can turn to ketchup or jam, depending on the angle and shot
9. Longer cuts are usually used to create suspense, with fades being used to fade slowly. Cliffhangers include a hard cut to black, like can be used to create suspense in general to a lesser extent. To create suspense, everything will start of slow, but end up fast
10. With the mouse sequence, the music and tense atmosphere makes the Mouse sequence create tension, as the character is clearly scared out of his mind over the mouse, as when it comes out it relaxes the tension set up by the fearful child
11. Timing is the main part of editing, as it is the lining up that takes the main part of the editing, as without the timing, editing would simply be a clumsy method of getting two scenes together with no grace
12. The continuity system is a editing idea to make everything fit in order for the film to make sense, in it’s own timeline, as if a character grows a beard and it appears and disappears, because this wouldn’t look professional
13. Editing strives to be invisible because an obvious edit, when it is there and not intended to be noticed, it can really jar the viewer and crash their enjoyment of a film, however invisible editing looks professional in comparison, and blurs the lines between cuts so the viewer’s suspension of disbelief doesn’t come crashing down.

Sound

1. Dubbing is where some sounds that don’t originate from the original material are added in. This is seen often when animes hit US shores, and the mass doesn’t want to watch a subtitled version, hence a US production house dubs over the japanese voices with English speaking ones, and indeed the same idea applies to movies, with foley sound being a notable case of dubbing
2. They are dubbed in on the post production stage, after everything is shot and the films have achieved picture lock usually. This means that the least effort is required, and if it is an anime or similar all that is required is a couple of redrawn frames
3. The sounds would be faded so the viewer can hear what the actors are saying, without the voices being drowned out by the noise of the party for example
4. It seems realistic because it gives context to the surroundings of the characters, without the actual noise of the surroundings of the characters drowning out the characters too much
5. Some sounds might be removed like a siren in the background when the story doesn’t call for a siren, meaning the context can be created and some can be removed to a point. Sounds can be toned down, similarly for a siren, as some can be incredibly loud
6. A mixed soundtrack gives a more professional appeal to the film. If music isn’t mixed, it could vary from mono to surround, which would just sound jarring, therefore a mixed soundtrack removes this problem
7. The sound needs to fit the original mouth movements, therefore it can be dubbed louder or quieter, or something new that fits with the story will be written in order to make the dubbing sound somewhat real
8. The purpose is to make the film accessible to everyone, as too loud or too quiet could alienate different audiences, therefore a cool inbetween is best
1. Fade up/down/in/out -  a technique whereby an image is made to appear or disappear gradually or the volume of sound is gradually increased from, or decreased to zero.
2. Pitch - the quality of a sound governed by the rate of vibrations producing it; the degree of highness or lowness of a tone.
3. Timbre - the character or quality of a musical sound or voice as a distinct from its pitch and intensity.
4. Acoustic - not having electrical amplification.
5. Perspective - an apparent spatial distribution in perceived sound.
6. Speech - the expression of or ability to express thoughts and feelings by articulate sounds.
10. If the sound continues or there is music, a jump cut isn’t as visible, however when it is empathized the cut becomes very visible. This for example is why Montage scenes aren’t jarrin
11. A sad mood is simply set by either sad music playing in the background or more quiet environment, while happiness can be shown with music or a bouncy dialogue with more busting but not over powerful diegetic sound
12. Heavy metal usually shows sadness, along with blues, while jazz and pop show happiness, and hair metal shows urgency and panic, and punk shows anger
13. It is important that music matches what’s on screen because the viewer needs to be immersed. If it doesn’t the immersion will be broken with the viewer's suspension of disbelief. This only really works in comedies

Camera

Mise en scene

Survey results

Survey Link

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/HL6FN6P

Horror opening 4

Horror opening 3

Horror Opening 2

Created with Padlet

Horror opening 1

Key Features and conventions of horror

History of Horror

Media in my life

Media in my life

Media is used in various different ways, some good, some bad. While media can spread a message of love and peace, it can also be used to flame wars, and spread hate. I have been a victim/ guilty participant of both parts.

I, like most people my age, use social media the most out of the different types of media. This is also the strongest for sending the different messages to the users. An example of a good message sent through social media is the ice bucket challenge everyone participated in 2 years ago. As a result of it, ALS studies were able to reach many different breakthroughs in their studies on what caused it.

However, while I have helped use social for the greater good, I have also used it for stuff I regret. Through web media, I read up on an alternative viewpoint on Amanda Todd. Although it was a fair viewpoint to have, I decided to share it immediately, and then argue for it as the correct viewpoint. I therefore used social media for the other use it has- Spreading hatred.

Video games are something else that have been in my life since the beginning. Starting out with very basic games, I got a PS2 in 2004, and since then I've grown to love games. I now have a computer I built about a year ago which still plays games incredibly well, and is VR capable. I have never really been on the cutting edge of gaming until then though, but I've always enjoyed gaming, even if I've been a generation behind usually. This shows that gaming can be enjoyed by anyone regardless of how they play


Of course, the most important form of media to me is films. I've been watching them since I was young, being taken to films incredibly often by my nan so I could time with her. Rarely were the films any good, however the fact I watched them meant I was surrounded with films, hence my love for them now. I also remember using VHS to watch them, an analogue format which the feeling of using has not been replicated by anything


In conclusion, media has been prevalent in my life since the beginning. My generation is the first to have computers and web media in our lives from the beginning, and smartphones since year 7 (Although in practice that wasn't even close to true), however there is some crossover with the generation before, especially in the UK which is always a tad slower to change. That meant that I've always been about a generation behind to change to new media

Sci-Fi Moodboard