Researching Genre

Doing a short, horror/crime film I'll research similiar short films that either have similiar themes or fit into my genre. 

Many short horror films focus on jump scares and quick action. However, my plan is quite slow
paced and I can't find any physcological horrors within my time constraits (below 5minutes). Therefore it may be a good idea to change the plan of my short flim, as I also feel jumpscares and high tension isn't as effective in short films as it is very difficult to pull off.

I have a few vague ideas of alternative ideas and will talk about them in future posts.

This research has been vital to me as it has revealed how my idea doesn't follow conventions of me desired genre, and so before my next idea, I will research the genre fully to identify conventions and possible common themes.

Storyboard, Synopsis, Theories, Inspirations

Storyboard

The working is very rough, but I hope the initial idea is at least clear through the images. I decided to storyboard through a 6 section method.

Top left = Frame

Top Middle = Camera

Top Right = Sound

Bottom Left = Duration, Shot no. and misc.

Bottom Middle = mise-en-scene

Bottom Right = Editing

I chose this method to help me stay on top of my idea and give me plenty of space to write ideas down so I don't forget any.

Again this idea is very rough. I currently have two ideas for an ending, and I will look for audience feedback for the two ideas to see which is better as I feel the ending is vital in short films and I want to use the most effective one.


Synopsis - Crime/Horror


The opening scene starts black and smash cut(1) to an axe chopping.
In the background of the axe, there is a young girl(2) in a white dress(3) in a field playing in the grass.
She then stumbles and falls.
Presumably dead, two men run over to help her.
As the axe reaches its peak of the next swing, thunderstrikes(4) and it begins to heavy rain. There is now a makeshift grave(5) in the background.
As the axe-man places some wood on the chop, a fly(6) lands on it. When the man cuts the wood the fly flys off and the camera tracks it.
The fly takes the camera to an old, crumbling house. The door swings open, hitting and injuring(7) the fly.
The camera either swoops under the guy's legs or the door is then shut and the camera travels through it.
Inside the room is a woman crying(8) at the table with a messily drawn chair next to her.
Cut to a man wearing a judge wig inside the house who mentions a death last summer.
Axeman appears at the door asking if everything is ok, then walks off....

(1) Starts film with intensity, can also jumpscare audience.
(2) Shows innocence, intensifies emotions surrounding death.
(3) reinforces innocence and signifies purity
(4) rain like God crying, sadness, mournful, destruction
(5) makeshift shows older times and poorer area.
(6) Seemingly insignificant but reveals curiosity of girl and disease of area.
(7) Fly survives first threat then dies, potential reference to young girl
(8) narrative device, she and man must be parents.

That's all so far, I will do sufficient research before adding an ending with a twist.


Theories & Inspirations

Strauss - Follow - Poor vs rich, Black vs White

Barthes - Follow - enigmas and action codes

Hall - Follow - Little girl is innocent, the women are seen as vulnerable, the men are seen as angry.

Propp - Follow - A lot of the genre type characters feature, even in this short film.

Stereotypes - Follow - Men, woman, children, all stereotypical

Todorov - Challenge - Very little equilibrium initially and it never returns.

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Cabin in the woods - early jump scare. Not only are jumpscares conventions of horrors, using them will scare my audience with desired effect.

Friday the 13th - Axe as murder weapon in horror. Thanks to this film, axes have become iconic weapons in horror film so I will likely use one aswell.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/87048857@N00/3711587012

Forrest Gump - In opening sequence, camera follows feather, I follow fly

Woman in Black - death of child + physiological thriller(also The Blair Witch Projet in this aspect)

Lighting

Lighting is a key part of the mise-en-scene of a film. It has quick, visual connotations that can help emphasize intended moods and atmospheres.

After researching different types of lighting used in films I have made note of what I feel are the most effective and tried to recreate my own examples of these kinds of lighting.

High & Low Key Combination

I love this kind of lighting. In this shot above it makes the character in the door frame seem really intimidating and cool.
The fact you can't fully see his facial features and outfit emphasizes his menacing look. The director might be contrasting the external world of bright nature with the confining, dark, interior world of civilisation (1), which I feel is a really clever connotation and would be a cool idea to involve in my film.

The obvious connotations of this lighting mean I will likely use this is my film.


Harsh Light

What I really like about this lighting is how it looks simple, but is always quite disturbing to look at. The sudden, dark shadows can create quite an eerie undertone and creating something like that with certain charatcter in my short film would be amazing.

The lighting is also relavitly easy to create, and so can be replicated in more difficult, confined places, meaning it will be a lot easier to involve in my film and also possible to so with the equipment avaliable to me.







High vs Low Contrast

Experimenting with contrast will be really cool in my film as it can be a large part in continuity editing where it isn't noticed but has a profound effect.

High contrast can create quite an upbeat tone with colours being emphasized, the opposing happens with low contrast with it appearing less saturated so it creates quite a depressing tone.

Using both contrasts would help me create certain moods more effectively and so I will likely use these in my film.

Welcome to my New Blog!

http://charliedaveymediablog2016.blogspot.co.uk/ - old blog



Beginning of the 2nd Year

After a successful first year in media studies, where I refined my editing skills, learnt to create a piece as a team and tried my hand filming short parts; it is time to move onto a different project for another year.

We had the choice between a music video and a short film. Working by myself this year as unfortunately, Matt is changing school, I had to debate the options for myself...

Short Film vs Music Video

- Short Films need an ending that generally has a twist, so I'll need to think of a creative ending. 
- Though they offer a lot more creative freedom than music videos in the narrative sense.
- The theories are also a lot broader and easier to apply with the equipment I have available.

- However, the meaning behind the song and the lyrics limit the narrative as disjuncture only works with certain songs and a majority of the time videos amplify the lyrics.
- The narrative is further restricted because of Andrew Goodwin's theories that should be applied to a video.

My Decision

Being someone who enjoys narrative and loves films with intelligent plots I have decided to go with a short film. Basically, because I'm not restricted by any lyrics or meaning and so can create my own.

I'm also keen to learn audacity and get to grips with learning how to effectively use sound to create meaning and make use of its strengths.

Introduction

Welcome to my new A2 media studies blog!

In this blog I will post all my planning and research, as well as any parts of media or film that I feel will benefit my final piece.

I decided to take media studies for numerous reasons. First of all, I really enjoyed it. I found editing my and Matt's opening sequence particularly interesting and was really keen to experimentwiith different ideas in the editing.

Secondly, the media is a rapidly growing industry, that only gets bigger as technology develops as it reaches more people and becomes even more accessable. It is arguably the biggest industry in the modernised world as it has become part of so many peoples daily lives as technological convergence has made it's usefulness particularly attainable and with new website such as Netflix becoming incredibly popular, the world's love of film has increased along with it as people can afford to watch movies for very cheap as there is no expensive movie trip, and for £5 instead of affording one film, they have an entire library avaliable on every device that can access the internet in the world.

Last Year: Sid(left) 16weeks, Max(right)12 years

 Personally, my love for films has always been present, it's just nowadays it is a lot for affordable and so I can enjoy one of my favourite hobbies. In my free time I enjoy playing football and watching movies on Netflix. My love for movies is a big reason of why I've chosen to study media at A level because I really enjoy watching movies and am interested in learning how to film/edit them and also understanding the meaning of different shots and sound. I also would like to be involved with movie/TV filming in the future and so I feel this subject is very relevant to achieve a career in that line of work.  My dogs are both now one year older! And still going strong!

This Year! Sid(15 months) Max(13 years)

Like many people nowadays, I don't really watch TV, however there are many shows on Netflix that I enjoy such as Asian Provocateur and Rick & Morty. However my favourite is a show called Bojack Horseman (he's in the background!), and I feel that genre of nihilist comedy is very popular right now.

Bojack

I hope to draw inspiration from the epsiodes, particularly the very interesting and artisitic editing, which is especially present in it's most recent season.

Enjoy my Blog!