Evaluation

Evaluation

Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Answered as a video of myself speaking as well as videos , slides and pictures.

Question 3 -What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Answered a video of various images and clip with my voice over.

Questions 2 , 4 and 5 - Created using PowToon  which uses a series of animations , pictures and voice overs.

Question 6 - Created using PowToon which uses a series of animations , pictures and voice overs.

Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? Created using Powtoon.

Evaluation : attempt 1

Evaluation - Problem

Overall I wanted my Evaluation to look creative as well as professional so I downloaded software that would allow me to screen capture as well as other technical adjustment. Eventually I found a programme called Microsoft Expression Encoder 4 which was free.

This allowed me to record my voice , webcam and screen at the same time. It took me a long time to record it , narrate and cut videos. However the file it used was unsuitable to use for YouTube and Blogger so I was unable to upload it.

Pictures of my Evaluation I could not upload:

I am now redoing the three questions I started as well as the other questions on Windows Movie Maker . It may take a few days to finish but it us a working progress.

Final movie - finished

Slaughter Graph 

This is my final film opening. This does not however include my own institution and my other institution. Please stop this video at  1.43 as it finishes there .

Diary - Day 2 of filming

Day 2


Purpose-

The purpose of the second day of filming is to us the table in the tunnel and props as I do not need anyone else .

How it went-

The day started off raining but halfway through filming died down . It was extremely,y cold so I has my thick coat on with a hood to keep me dry however the camera lens got wet so I had to continuously wipe it and shelter it with my hand. As the weather was poor there was nobody about to get in the way but I must admit it was scary in the tunnel in the rain. The pylons around the fields fizzed which also was frightening and rushed me to finish. As there was no paths just mud I got very dirty which was annoying.

Preparation-

Before hand I put all my props in a bag including some childlike drawings I drew earlier . I also bought bottled water but no food as I did not expect to be out that long. I bought my phone incase I was in danger or if something went wrong.

Problems-

There were many problems during this day of filming . Firstly the crime scene tape I bought would not stick to the sides of he tunnel and continuously blew away. I ended up having to tie the ends of the tape to bushes either side of the tunnel. Secondly the drawings kept blowing off  the table resulting in me running after them . In the end I weighed them down with nearby rocks.

The biggest and most irritating issue I had was that I was not paying attention to the camera and ended up taking photos instead of videos . When I got home to look at them after an hour of filming I was so angry that I had to do it all again.

This is one of the photos I took instead of a video.

Diary-Day 1 of filming

Day 1

Purpose-

The purpose of this session of filming was to film my actress running away. This is so when it comes to filming props I will not be wasting Alanah and Priya's time as they are not needed.

How it went-

On the first day of filming the weather was windy and dull . This was a good setting for my filming as it created a realistic horror environment however caused some problems. As it was cold Alanah was uncomfortable as her jumper and shirt was were very thin and her hat continuously blew off which disturbed filming.
The filming took longer than expected so I did not capture all the footage I wanted as Alanah was getting warn out from running. However I got most of the filming with alanah in it done so I needed to change my sequence of footage as I did not get all of it done.

Preparation-

Before filming the three of us went to the supermarket (5 min walk) to get refreshments for the day. This kept both my actress Alanah and helper Priya happy.

Problems

The wind was again a problem as it interrupted filming , Also the woods used had a public footpath throughout , this resulted in occasional strangers walking past. This caused slight embarrassment as alanah has a dated outfit on and smudged makeup and also interrupted me filming as I as not comfortable with strangers seeing me direct.

Another problem was that Alanah did not understand my directions and I may have rushed through what she had to do . Alanah also had difficulty running in my Dr martens as I have larger feet and the design of boot are very heavy.

When using the camera a clamp stand was unavailable for me to use at the time . This resulted in a lot of my film being shaky as I felt pressured to keep it still.

Footage

Here are a few clips I have taken from filming which show some issues during filming.

Designing Institution

RIGOR MORTIS

I wanted to keep my earlier idea of the red candy skull but make it look more sinister than celebratory. This will highlight the horror genre and the overall feel of the film. I decided to make it look more scary by adding a flickering candle in my planning as a colourful skull on it's own will look too celebratory and bright. However I came to find that my skills were limited when making a moving image . This meant I had to change the idea again .

Making of the logo:

1. I found a image of a skull and candle  to use as a stencil on the internet as drawing any image on a laptop keyboard can prove challenging and unprofessional.

This is the stencil I used.




2. Using a free photo editing site

I wanted to use a good , reliable website which would allow me to carefully edit this image for free .
Click to enlarge

After searching for a free photo editor I found Pixlr which was very easy to use .

3.Basics - colouring in

The site is very easy to use. You simply open the image saved and it gives you the options above to edit . layer , filter and adjust. Firstly I filled the background in black to give off a sense darkness,

4. Ogars have layers

Using the layering tool I opened my plain image and zoomed into it to paint patterns and fill colours onto it without it becoming pix elated and scruffy . This took some time.

I then took the smudge brush to add a lighter black to give off a candle lit effect.

5. Finishing touches.

As the candle would have to be a still image I tried different shades of yellows and oranges to portray a glowing flame.I ended up with different flame types.

6. Title

I chose the first image as it looked effective and artistic . I then added a text for my title .I used a Large Gothic font . I ended up putting the "RIGOR" in capitals and black and "MORTIS" in red. The black text however is faint but I like it as it looks faded in the darkness away from the candle.

7. Moving image

As I am not a computer wiz I could not create the flicker but instead decided to make the image move altogether in Movie maker. I used a transition to zoom up the image as an illusion.

8. Music

To keep to the Day of the Dead theme as well as the horror I did not add music but a traditional Mexican cheer during a song.

Final -

Symbol - Final

Symbol creation- final

I decided to use Idea 3 as it is more simple a lot like the ones used in films. The other two ideas seemed to complicated or revealing of the story line.

In my film opening I will use fake blood to create the symbol so it looks cut into the body ( to put the slaughter in Slaughtergraph). This will be painted on my victims wrist. I will add makeup and or dirt to create a dirty wrist to show the struggle caused.

The fake blood I will be using is Tesco's own which I bought as part of a face painting kit during the Halloween season . I decided to use the bought blood instead of the made blood we as a class created earlier is because the bought blood comes in a small , resealable container which I can take in a bag of props without worrying it will leak . This also has a small hole to apply the blood with making it easier to use.

As I will us my arm instead of Alanah's to film I have checked I am not allergic to any of the substances used in the blood.
However this blood has a warning that shows this product stains so I will have to wear old clothing which I wouldn't mind getting stained.

Music/Recordings

Music

For my opening I need some suspense building music. As I am no good with creating or composing usic I searched for some copyright free music to use.

 website : http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/

This website let me select and filter music which would suite my film opening best.

From the genre column I selected Horror

And from the feel column I selected Mysterious

After selecting my criteria It cam up with la selection of songs . I listened to  large proportion of the songs to chose which was right for my film opening

Eventually it came down to two different songs which I would like to use. After asking 3 different people in my media class at the time they all chose : Echos of time V2 

This website is useful as each songs has its name , description and instruments used.

Echoes of Time v2 Genre: Horror Collection: Darkness and unease Time: 4:45 unknown tempo  Instruments: Synths  This description suites my film opening well and what I want it to create - Darkness and unease. The length is much longer than I need it which is useful as I will not have to worry about it not being long enough. I can now cut it to be in sync with my film.

Warner bros Logo

Warner bros Intro

After researching  the different Warner bros logo variations for different film genres I decided to create my own. After watching the Orphan WB logo I decided to base mine around that . The Warner bros logo shown in Orphan features a UV light which reveals brightly coloured paint splatter across the whole Logo. From watching the film myself ,the UV paint is used in Orphan when she creates disturbing pictures. 

Creating a variation means I it will have to relate to the genre of the film and the story line . I decided as my film opening will show creepy drawings a lot like orphan , I will include these in the Logo.

Process:

1.After downloading the Warner Brothers full logo , I opened it in Movie maker.

2. I then uses the drawing affect to make the moving logo look like a sketched diagram (linking to Trevor's drawing)

3. After the moving part of the logo I added a still photo of the warner bros logo and added the same drawing effect.

4.Using paint I quickly and roughly drew similar drawing to the ones I will use all over the logo.

A range of photographs

Photographic storyboard

Suitable institution

Suitable film institution

I have chosen Warner brothers to be my second film institution .

Reasons why ?

Warner bros entertainment is a fully integrated , broad based entertainment company and a global leader of all forms of entertainment. This is a well respected company known for their outstanding TV series and films. They cover different media forms from television , feature film and home entertainment. It has become on of the foremost authorities. As it is a well known film institution it will be essential for promoting my film.

Warner bros Entertainment has also produced some of the greatest horror films from The shining (1980) to more recent hits like The conjuring (2013). This will assure Warner bros audiences will watch my film as they trust and enjoy the range of films they produce.

3 Shot types

Match on action

This is a form of continuous editing .This creates a sense of continuity by showing a shots cut to another.This creates a "visual bridge" keeping the audience attention. This makes it appear the short clips are on continuous clip.(Google images)

Shot reverse shot-

This is used as continuous editing. This is used  during exchanging dialogue as it shows the two point of view from each character and how the dialogue has been perceived aka their reaction. This constantly keeps the audience sense of location.







180-degree rule

When filming ,two characters should share the same amount of camera (both left and right) . This can involve the camera panning from left to right. Similar to half a circle the camera only  moves 180 degrees. This is often used in two people exchanging dialogue or following a characters movement.

Shooting Schedule

Shooting schedule/Call sheet

I have based this around times that would work for both me and Alanah . The dates couldn't fall on a school day so it had to be altered to the weekend.

Shooting schedule
(Click to enlarge)

Call sheet

(Click to enlarge)

Animatic storyboard

Animatic storyboard

Progress /further changes

Changes made

Since my first power point on my film Ideas I have changes the story line and edited the characters effect on the story. I have created a new presentation on my final decisions on my film.

Sketches for storyboard

Storyboard Idea - rough mock up

Victoria

Victoria's makeup

Make-up- Face: Victoria in the film opening is representing an older murder to the present day. As the film opening is going to have a Gothic like theme , I gave Alanah a pale face using white base face paint. However I avoided using too much face paint as it would have resulted in a clown like appearance.

Eyes: Too make her look upset and Gothic I used a mixture of black face paint and eye shadow . The black face paint created a dark underlay of the eyelid whereas the smudged eye shadow gave a tired, misty look. Mascara was used to emphasize her eyelashes showing her feminine look.

Lips- I did not want use lipstick , however having a paler face makes her lips look no exsistant so I used a thin layer of "rose" lipstick to again show her gender.

Hair- Originally , I wanted to straighten Alanah's her to make it appear longer , I then realized as this scene is set back in the day , straighteners will not have been used. Due to this I left it natural but brushed so it looks neat.   

Script

Film script

From the film openings I have studied , a large quantity of them had no dialogue in the first two minutes. They did however contain sound effects to add to movement , such as the razors in the evil dead title sequence. There is most definitely music in every non-dialogue opening . The type of music/background music used is dependent on the genre of the film.

I have decided to have no dialogue in the opening of my film as it is irrelevant to the style of the opening. I may contain some sound effects such as wind and footsteps. If I do add these sound effects I will record them separately and add them later on.

There will be quite like music in the background which will had suspense and cover the motorway sounds.Unfortunately I am not good with music so will have to find someone who can or get copyrighted music.

Props

Props list 

Props I need:

I had made this list near the start of planning and have bought all the above. This is important as it is necessary to my filming. Since then I have thought of other props to add such as an axe , however I already own an axe so it isn't necessary to add.

Where?

The severed slaughter graph

Now the symbol  is created , I know need a place on the body my killer (Trevor Emanuel ) is going to leave it. There are many places to put this "slaughter graph" but the question is where?

Body temperature

Body temperature can show ones mood . Different emotions can create heat patterns in different
 parts of the body.Trevor could leave his mark on body parts that show a clear emotion. From the scale above , sadness show clear heat on the face and chest. Surprise also shows a similar effect and also envy.
I could create the mark on the chest and face but it , if on the chest it will not be visible and my actress may feel uncomfortable drawing her face.


The ring finger

The ring finger is the fourth finger on the left hand . Before scientific discovery it was believed that the vein in this finger directly connected to the heart. Trevor could leave his mark here as it is significant to love in which he will never receive , only had.




Wrist

There is no theory behind using the wrist only that it is on show. I had this idea from watching Constantine and Halloween where the two characters had a marking on. This could also link to how people slit their wrist to bleed out in attempted suicide.



Conclusion- I have decided to use the wrist as it is visible and easy to find , it could also be used to look like attempted suicide.

Feedback on symbols

Feedback

I asked friends and family which symbol they thought would be best suited for my film opening. My friends are the same age group as my target audience so their  opinion is favored.

Problem occurrence 1

Problem occurrence 1
"mayday mayday"

Problem: I was walking round the woods in which my opening will be filmed in to find a large amount of trees I wanted to use have been chopped down and reused as walkway outlines.

Murdered trees

Solution: I can either film away from the cut down trees or incorporate the trees into my film. This could easily be done as my killer is a lumberjack and would emphasis his character and territory . In my shed there is a very blunt axe which I could hit into a stump as if he cut it down.

Creating the symbol

Creating the symbol

After researching different kinds of symbols I have created mock-up of the" slaughter graph". After I have chosen the symbol it will be painted onto the body of my victim.

Palm Reading

Idea 1 -

I created this symbol from the lines found from palm reading. Each of these lines represent different characteristics my killer will have or gone through.

• inconsistency in thought
• sudden change in lifestyle
• self made individual
• emotional trauma

This symbol looks confusing and will be hard to piece together. Where the middle line crosses with the second horizontal line it looks similar to a crucifix bringing religious viewpoints into the crime.This would be left on Trevor's victims.

Occult symbols

Idea 2 -

My second design plays on the occult symbol ,satanic cross . The satanic cross is the questioning of god. This could be used as Trevor was a child when abandoned so questions a lot . He could also mirror those who have fallen under the power of Lucifer.

However my satanic cross has been recreated to suite the killer. The bottom of the symbol is the traditional upside down question mark as Trevor raises questions , who is he? why does he kill ? Is he still alive?. 

I have mimicked the crucifix by connecting an axe to the end of the question mark and through the dot . I chose an axe as it is Trevor's signature killing weapon. The horizontal part of the cross represents the "slaughtergraph"part of the film as it shows a razor (the piercing of the skin to make the symbol)

Rune symbol

Idea 3- 

After looking at the meanings and uses of different runes and chose the two which applied mostly to my character.

Nauthiz and Hagalaz which reveals Trevor's's emotions , past and intentions. 

It could also represent the devils "666" by the triple slashes. It could also link to a record of keeping of deaths (tally).

Symbol ideas 3

Rune Symbols

After looking up the symbol used in one of the Halloween sequels , I came across runes . Runes are a ancient germanic alphabet relating to the roman alphabet. In those days writing was extremely serious and  believed to hold magical power.Runes were used to mark monuments and cast spells. Spells were cast by writing down runes and chanting prayer. There are a large number of runes so I listed the ones which could be linked to my storyline.

I have highlighted words that could connect my killer to the story or Trevors personality.
Red highlight - Trevor's power/personality
Blue highlight - Trevor's Past
Purple highlight -Both (red and blue)
Yellow highlight -Trevor's intentions

Uruz- (wild ox) Physical strength and speed , untamed potential.Freedom , energy .action , courage , strength and tenacity . Sudden or unexpected changes, masculine potency .

Gebo-(Gifts) both in the sense of sacrifice and generosity , indicating balance .All matters of exchanging relationships and partnerships . Gebo cannot be reversed  but mat lie in opposition.

Eihwaz (yew tree.) Strength, reliability, dependability, trustworthiness. Enlightenment, endurance. Defense, protection. Providing motivation and a sense of purpose. Indicates that you have set your sights on a reasonable target and can achieve your goals. An honest man who can be relied upon. Eihwaz Reversed or Merkstave: Confusion, destruction, dissatisfaction, weakness.

Jera -( A good harvest)The results of earlier efforts are realized. A time of peace and happiness, fruitful season. It can break through stagnancy. Hopes and expectations of peace and prosperity. The promise of success earned. Life cycle, cyclical pattern of the universe. Everything changes, in its own time. Jera Merkstave (Jera cannot be reversed, but may lie in opposition): Sudden setback, reversals. A major change, repetition, bad timing, poverty, conflict.

Mannaz- (mankind.) The individual or the human race. Your attitude toward others and their attitudes towards you. Friends and enemies, social order. Intelligence, forethought, create, skill, ability intelligence, awareness. Expect to receive some sort of aid or cooperation . Mannaz Reversed or Merkstave: Depression, mortality, blindness, self-delusion. Cunning, slyness, manipulation, craftiness, calculation. Expect no help now.

Nauthiz - (need)  Delays, restriction. Resistance leading to strength, innovation, self-reliance. Distress, confusion, conflict, and the power of will to overcome them. Endurance, survival, determination. A time to exercise patience. Recognition of one's fate. Major self-initiated change. Face your fears. Nauthiz Reversed or Merkstave: Constraint of freedom, distress, toil, drudgery, laxity. Necessity, extremity, want, deprivation, starvation, need, poverty, emotional hunger.

Hagalaz -(Hail) Wrath of nature, destructive, uncontrolled forces, especially the weather, or within the unconscious. Tempering, testing, trial. Controlled crisis, leading to completion, inner harmony. Hagalaz Merkstave (Hagalaz cannot be reversed, but may lie in opposition): Natural disaster, catastrophe. Stagnation, loss of power. Pain, loss, suffering, hardship, sickness, crisis.

Isa -A challenge or frustration. Psychological blocks to thought or activity, including grievances. Standstill, or a time to turn inward and wait for what is to come, or to seek clarity. This rune reinforces runes around it. Isa Merkstave (Isa cannot be reversed, but may lie in opposition): Ego-mania, dullness, blindness, dissipation. Treachery, illusion, deceit, betrayal, guile, stealth, ambush, plots.