Film evaluation of a short film sequence - China Simpson
Film evaluation for film extract Our film extract is similar to films “Saw” and “28 days later” and the genre of the film was physiological thriller/horror. It was meant to be the first scene of a film.The film was similar to 28 days later in the sense the main opening sequence the main character wakes up alone and confused with no memory of why they are there. Our film was also similar to the film When a stanger calls as the main character in that film is harassed by an unknown caller which is the end of our short film sequence. We all agreed fairly quickly as a group what our film was going to be about but our idea’s did develop as time passed and the film rapidly changed and had different idea’s added on or taken off.
My role of the film was cinematographer. I did the filming for our short film sequence using using one of the college supplied cameras and a tripod to keep the camera steady. I created some of the story board and chose the shots we were going to use for our film.
We did have some challenges and obstacles to overcome. For example, we did originally have trouble finding an actor to suit the role of the film as we all decided none of us would suit the role ourselves, we had no choice other than to find someone either from longroad or outside longroad to star in our film. But after a week or so we did find a male willing to star in our film, called Jak Cooper. This was also convenient as he lived very near our filming location. Our filming location was in Royston and we had decided the setting to be an abandoned building that was in Royston up a hill in the countryside away from the town itself.
The day of filming the film itself, we had weather trouble, as it was raining and cold and we had to carry the equipment up the hill in the mud and wet and had a couple of falls. We had very little light in the building itself so had the change certain aspects of the story board and use our phones as a source of light , this did cause some of our film to be very dark. And because the location of the building was awkward and having jak not in longroad and other things planned on days we could have done extra filming, meant we couldn’t and had to make-do with the footage we already had. Although Jak had little acting experience, he suited the role of the film and was a very willing and cooperative actor. There is one panning shot at the beginning of the short sequence which was very set up , to show the audience straight away what our genre was. I set it up , using medical utensils covered in blood and then panning the shot onto our actor who was also covered in blood and cuts and bandages. This worked effectively and enhanced a certain atmosphere with the audience.
We started to create the rough cut the following lesson. But because we didn’t get some of the film we needed we had to improvise and tweak the storyboard slightly. We added in extra CCTV footage and had to cut certain shots short. But then we noticed our film was very jumpy and that meant we had to create more scenes of CCTV footage so that the jumpy would make the film affective and stylised rather than looking like bad filming or editing.
I believe my own technical skills have improved a lot during the making of this film. And I think they improved the film rather than hindering it. I believe the same goes for the rest of the group, there technical skills improved are film are more than ruining anything on it. We did have some challenging moments with our sound track to the film, as there was a split in the group as to what the music should be like. Two members of the group wanted the music a lot subtler and the other two wanted exciting and full of suspense. But in the end they decided to truce and leave the sound technician to choose what they thought would be best for the film music wise.
This small extract of our film was to scare the audience but not make them jump. A scared that makes you think about what you have seen and what could be going on, which I believe our film does well as the people who have watched it so far have given us feedback saying similar things, that they were “scared but wanted to know more and find out what happened”.
After seeing our final extract, I am pleased with it but I also can see so many things that could have been improved on or tweaked to make an even better final extract. I enjoyed my role as cinematographer but I would like to try sound technician if I ever do a project like this again, as I realised I do enjoy music in films and it can be the music to make a film. But I learnt a lot from making this film extract and what to do and what not to do. Over all I am happy with the group I worked with and the work my group produced.
The film we have created could be defined as a thriller, as it has the main characteristics of this genre. The premise of our film is based on many things, our main inspiration is from Resident evil Apocalypse. The element we have drawn out from this film is, when Alice wakes up all alone in a medical facility, with cameras watching her. Here is where the differences begin and our other inspirations our drawn out. Saw was a coherent choice to use, for the choice of landscapes. By this I mean the grimy and inhumane conditions the prisoners are kept in. We took these aspects and used them in our film. The amalgamation of these two ideas resulted in a creepy effect, as the viewer is somewhat disturbed and appalled by the conditions this person is kept in. There is a scene near the end of the film, where the main character finds, a phone, and it says unknown caller. The inspiration for this came from “When a stranger calls”, the whole film is about an unknown caller that calls people. It adds a sinister aspect to the film when you see “unknown caller.
The roles in the group were as follows Matt editor, Emma sound, china cinematographer makeup artist and me, Tom director. As director it was my responsibility to oversee the construction of the whole project. I worked closely with Emma as we both have musical expertises that were invaluable to the assembly of the sound track. Although we had these defined roles all of us had sub sections that we were in charge of. We all contributed to the paperwork, writing on the blog and deciding what props to use. I initially wrote the storyboard, as members of the group where away. However when they returned we all congregated together and altered parts of the storyboard.
The sound track was meant to sound ominous and eerie, however duo to some conflicting interests within the group, we had to change certain parts, to satisfy the other people in the group. The resulting democratic approach ,I feel has ruined sections of the soundtrack. For example when the person walks out of the room and into the open. The music changes into an almost happy violin section. This is layered wrongly with other instruments within the piece, and the resulting affect is grating. Not only this but we used stock garage band sounds, and didn’t change any pieces to make them unique. The only reason we didn’t change this is because of the clash of interests within the group, this took up time trying to resolve and therefore we lost the chance to alter it.
The camera work in our film is sufficient, the early scenes where there are lots of shadows are excellent, and they are remincent of film noir’s openings. The shroud of darkness and mystery that oozes out of our first scene, epitomises the atmospheres seen in these films. However there are many section that jump around, which can become quite disorientating, this is a result of editing. However negatives aside the special effects used within the film are executed well. The cameras that watch the main character in the film our done really well and make the cutting of the film bearable to watch.
As director I was in charge of the vision of this film, and also the execution of this film. I created the idea of the film, and thought of feasible ways to create the film. This includes trying to find a location and clothing ideas. Not only this I thought of what props were necessary to bring our idea to life. In conclusion, although our group have had some problems, our concept for the film is good. However our execution is highly flawed,. Our piece is riddled with technical problems and, synchronisation issues, some might not be as apparent as others but they are there none the less. By far the worst issue we have had has the slight repeating and sudden jumps from scenes. While this might be ok in the first scene, as it can be passed off as an effect to create a sense of déjà vu, and confusion. The film gets tedious and ultimately hurts the quality of the film. Not only this but because we compromised on the soundtrack, it doesn’t deliver the same effect as it once did. It sounds amateurish and jarring. Nevertheless as a whole film it exuberates mystery and suspense.
For our short film sequence, we got into groups of about 4, each of us where assigned a specific role to undertake during this project. I chose the role of editor because I have personally used Final Cut editing software a number of times in film studies, but also because I have used it a fair amount in media, experimenting with title sequences and basic editing of footage.
After discussing the different possibilities for genres, we settled on Horror/Thriller. The reason we chose this genre was mainly because most of the group knew quite a lot about this genre already even thought I didn’t, we started firing good ideas around even before we finally decided to use Horror/Thriller as our genre. We researched examples of this genre on Youtube and decided how we could take the ideas and manipulate them to construct our own film.
Many films of this particular genre influenced us quite a lot. For example one film we looked at was the remake of the film When a Stranger Calls, released in 2006. The main plot of the story is that she is harrassed by a prank caller. We took certain elements from this film and incorporated them into our own film extract. For example we decided to include a mobile phone near the end of our extract as we are trying to imply that he is being watched, and the person that is watching is on the other end of the phone he finds.
One other film that influenced us was the Saw films. Where the main character(s) are trapped in a room and they have no idea where they are or what has happened. Each character has to go through specific tasks to ensure survival. We took the idea of the main character being abducted and not knowing where he is as the focal point of our project, we also incorporated the idea of him being watched from Saw also. We did this by including shots of CCTV throughout the extract.
Once we had everything planned and the storyboard was finished, we picked a location, which was on a remote hill in Royston. We chose this location because there was an old abandoned building at the top of this hill and we needed some sort of building for our character walked out of, so this location was perfect. Before we arrived, we had already changed our ending for the sequence as we thought this one would create more suspense, we originally were going to have him just walking away, but we incorporated a phone to create more drama. We decided to add the CCTV element which we originally didn’t think about. This lead us to instead of just placing the footage from the CCTV right at the end, which was the original idea, to having the footage interspersed through the whole sequence, making it rather disjointed to add to the confusion. For example, you see the main character fall over, and then you see a shot from the CCTV footage perspective of him falling over again.
In the abandoned building we ran into trouble straight away. The room was dark we couldn’t really see, we didn’t consider the need for lighting beforehand and were concerned about the quality of the footage, but luckily we had bright enough lights on our phones to light the scene around the camera, this made it bright enough to film.
The main editing of the footage I didn’t really have a problem with, mainly because I have had experience using all the software before and had a very rough idea on which effects to use. After our first rough cut we decided that we wanted a different CCTV effect because the first one just made the footage look old and not like footage from a CCTV camera, which was not effect we where trying to achieve. So after finishing the rough cut I set out looking for a different effect to change this part of the extract I first just had an effect called “Noise” which made an old TV effect which didn’t look a lot like CCTV. After the rough cut I then stumbled on an effect called “TV static” which made it look a lot more like CCTV instead of just some old TV programme. I think the final effect enhances the film considerably.
Old CCTV
New CCTV
As our film is a horror/thriller, we needed to build up the suspense, which I personally think was achieved in the editing with the shots around the main set for example, when Jack walked out of the building, there was a long shot showing the set. Also, using effects to create CCTV to imply the main character is being watched adds an air of mystery as it makes you wonder why. It builds up suspense further and further into the film, until it cuts to black. Then you want to find out what has happened to him.
Once we had everything completed our task we were able to analyse and give feedback on everyone else’s sequence. We got some very positive feedback. They said that during the editing the shots were merged very well, with a good range of shot types. The one negative comment was they thought some of with the CCTV didn’t need to be repeated.
If I was given the chance to redo this project, I would of liked to have filmed more shots, and several version of each scene, so during editing I would have more footage to play with, so we could have more angles, and the film would flow, instead of appearing choppy which it looked like in the rough cut.
We decided to use horror/thriller as the genre for our film as we thought it would give us the most inspiration for setting, music and the storyline. We also all agreed that it was a genre we each knew quite well and had all experienced watching before so we thought we could therefore all give good input and ideas for the film.This genre influenced these choices, for example we chose to set the film in an abandoned building on a heath as we thought this would suit the mood of the film. Similarly, as sound engineer I tried to create tense music to fit the storyline of a boy who wakes up not knowing where he is or why he is there.
As my micro aspect was sound, I found it easier to start working on ideas once we had decided on our narrative rather than the other way round. In garage band, I collected ideas and clips of music that would suit the film and then adapted it to make a sound track once the film was uploaded and edited, so that the music I used was in time and fitted with the scene changes in the film. I got inspiration from Psycho in the staircase scene as the music in this is extremely tense and dramatic which is something that I wanted to create in our film. I chose a lot of string clips as they created tension well and used some bass clips underneath to give the music texture. The music is in different sections to go with the different sections in the film. For example it changes and becomes faster when Jack goes outside to mirror the shock he is feeling when he realizes he doesn’t know where he is.
The genre was chosen in our group quite quickly as we all agreed that a horror/thriller would work well, after discussing other possibilities. As a group we came up with the narrative by each coming up with ideas and eventually looking through them to find one which we all thought would be suitable. We also looked at other film trailers and clips of our genre to get ideas and inspiration. Some of these films included, Saw, When a Stranger Calls and Psycho, as they all used aspects similar to the ones we wanted to use. For example the abductions in Saw are similar to the idea of Jack waking up in an unknown place after being put there by someone. Also the idea of tension and phone calls in When a Stranger Calls and the music in Psycho gave us inspiration.
The main character in our narrative was originally designed to suit either gender as we were not sure who we would use as an actor but once this was determined we adapted the role to fit a male character. An idea we came up with while planning the film was the CCTV shots we use in our film. Originally we were just going to show the boy waking up and what happens to him. However we added a shot at the end in which a CCTV shot of him is shown, which lets the audience know that he is being watched.
Some more of our ideas were changed and adapted particularly while on set filming, for example we couldn’t find chains to use in one of the shots so we had to change the shot to a different one of him looking out of the window. When editing the film, we decided to add more CCTV footage as well as the one shot at the end, as we thought this would give the film a more dramatic edge as it lets the audience know he is constantly being watched, which Jack (the actor) does not realise until the end when he looks up as the phone is put down. We also adapted and changed the music a lot as the film was edited differently. For example we often added new clips of music to give the piece more texture but then took away clips of music which did not sound right or give the film the right mood.
I wanted the sound to reflect the tension in the film so that the audience react to the general mood of the film. I think music is very important in creating atmosphere in film and therefore wanted the piece of music in the film to suit the dynamics and genre of the film. However I took away the music just before the phone rings as silence can often create suspense and give the idea that something is about to happen, in this case the phone ringing. The dialling tone at the end that is used with the blackout creates more suspense and leaves the audience thinking about what will happen next.
I felt that the role of sound engineer quite suited me as I have done music GCSE which included a lot of use of music computer programmes and also taught me a bit about music in films. Music in films is also a particular interest of mine so it enabled me to work with enthusiasm on the film.
The feedback on sound was generally good and we were told, ‘The sound makes it scary and makes you wonder what happened there. The music builds up suspense and makes the audience scared and on edge’, which is the effect I was hoping to create. Our other feedback was also quite positive. We were told there were a good range of shots that merged well together, the setting was good and effective and there was a good use of make-up and costume. Some of the criticisms included slightly shaky camera shots and too much repetition when Jack walks out of the shed. We can use this constructive criticism and take it into account when making other films. Overall though we were happy with our feedback.
Editing : The shots merge well together and a good range of shot types.
Camerawork: I like the security camera shots , Good variety of shots , close-ups,long shots ect.. Camera gets slightly shaky towards end of film
Sound: The sound makes it scary and makes you wonder what happened there. The music builds up suspense and makes the audience scared and on edge , the film is amazing.
Mise en scene: Shot of objects gives clean indication where it's set. Good location , lots of broken wood its effective. Makeup and costume are effective. Some parts are repeated to often when walking out of shed.
The reason this is so thin is because this is a copy of the origonal downloaded from youtube, we no longer had the rough cut final on final cut due to continuing editing of our film extract
As sound technician, I have been experimenting with different sounds and music clips on Garage Band to get an idea of what will sound right with the film. With some ideas from the director I have a rough idea now of the tone and texture that will suit the film. I have decided to use something quite quiet at the begining, at the moment I'm using a violin track which I think creates suspense. I then want to add a bass track to create contrast and build texture. As Jack walks out of the building I then want to bring in some piano and a string section, while keeping the bass track as this creates a contrast between the inside of the building and the outside, which will set a more dramatic tone to the film. Towards the end I will either go back to using the sounds from the begining of the piece to give the music some structure in the film, or keep on building texture so that when the film ends in silence it will have a more dramatic effect. This is something I will discuss with the director and other members of our group.
So far , we have cut our footage to create this film sequence and edited the volume of the scenes aswell as editing the "cctv" cuts into "noise" and black and white. We will carry on editing this film and add extra shots to it of the "cctv"
We thought that our cameras battery might not last the whole time we where filming, So Matt brought his also, we soon realised that it would and decided that we could use the other camera to film a sort of behind the scenes, to show what we where up to in between filming and showing the setting of the film.
Our location for filming was an abandoned building on a hill at the edge of Royston. When we arrived on set we did Jack (the actor)'s make-up as we wanted him to look wounded and in pain. We then cleared the set and put out our props, the medical utensils and used fake blood to make them look authentic. We faced a few problems. For example the building we used was too dark at first so we had to use phone torches to improve the lighting. We also forgot to bring chains or a rope to tie up Jack's hands so we had to cut out a shot where he unties his hands and replace it with a new over the shoulder shot of Jack looking out of the window. It was also raining quite heavily on the day of shooting, which although looked quite authentic, meant we had to be careful about the camera getting damaged. We therefore used two umbrellas to keep the camera covered at all times when filming outside. Furthermore it was very muddy, meaning that it was difficult to get to this building, We got very muddy and some of us fell a few times.
Even though we where faced with problems, we overcame them, and looking at the footage, we hopefully have enough so we don't have to go out filming again!
As a group we have decided that we will book a camera for the weekend of the 24th and film on the Sunday as this is the most convenient time for all of us. The filming will take place in Royston because this is where the abandoned building is that we are using for our film. The filming is likely to take about 4 hours so we will spend most of the day preparing for it.
Jack wakes up as if from deep sleep, breathing heavily. Looks around in a confused way at his surroundings his breathing becoming faster to portray his increasing confusion and distress.
Jack Struggles trying to get out of the chains. Once out of the chains he clutches his hands expressing pain. He stands up and staggers towards the door. Once outside he looks around as if he's even more confused than before. He spins around. Staggers more down the hill and falls over in pain, feeling for injuries. He looks at his hands, holding them close to his face. Then runs his hand up his arm. As he finds blooded bandage he expresses shock and distress. He lifts up his top finding wounds, and begins to express disturbance and slight hysteria. He walks back towards the building and he jumps in shock as his phone rings. He takes phone from pocket and holds it to his ear, a look of fear on his face.
Fake blood/tomato ketchup face paints for actor bandages blood for walls chains/ thick rope phone
Medical props : metal tray scalpel ( craft knife ) syringe saw (rusted and blooded)
( clothe for actor to lye on) Actor : Jak Cooper
Costume: Blooded and icky jeans POSSIBLY topless , if not blooded shirt. messy hair Makeup made to look like bruises and scratches dressing on his chest from cut or gash
We want to book the camera out the weekend of the 24th January so we can film on Sunday 24th as this is the most convenient day for everyone in the group.
The film we are trying to create at the moment is a medical thriller, drawing inspiration from many films. For example saw, when a stranger calls and resident evil. The film relates to Saw only through the characters entrapment, it isn’t going to be violent and gory like Saw, however we liked the way that the people in saw were abducted and didn’t no what was happening. This is where the similarities end. In the film when a stranger calls why are just trying to use the suspense in the film to get across how tense the situation is. But most of all our film is probably like the film resident evil apocalypse. In the beginning of the film Alice wakes up in a strange facility and she is restrained on a bed. After she escapes she finds her self in an empty city. This is essentially the premise of our film except instead of a city it’s going to be isolated countryside.
The person who directed Resident Evil Apocalypse is Alexander Witt. He has been director in many high octane action films, like lethal weapon 3,speed , the bourne identity and many more. In all of these films he is the director of photography. These means he was in charge of capturing the essence of the film.
I personally like this clip, and it shows editing really well, this film was made in 1984, and some of the stuff that is done you don't really see much of it in the 80's, it was a really advanced film andlooks like someone spent a really long time on it,
In the first 10 seconds you see a door open which looks like its either made of glass, or they have slightly faded it to look like it does not really belong in this scene, which by the look of the faces on the ghostbusters, is exacly what it is.
at about 11 seconds, there is a longshot of the gohstbusters walking up some steps, and by the looks of it, this is all done with greenscreen.
The lightning effect at 1:24 looks good also, it's not as good as you see today, but the effect is nice, and is placed very well, this film has cool effects throughout showing that there is no limit on what you can add after the main filming has been done.
Main editor of ghostbusters : David Blewitt another film he has edited: Psycho III
This is the best clip i could find of Psycho 3, it doesn't really show much about the film.
I chose this clip from 'Psycho' as I think it's a good example of sound. The music builds up tension throughout and finally shocks the audience by using music which mimicks the action of the stabbing in a high screeching sound. It then plays the sound of the man falling down the stairs over the top which I think is quite effective. I also thought it was quite well suited to the type of genre we want to use in our film as we want to do a horror/thriller style film.
Another example of a Hitchcock film which uses the same sound mix as 'Psycho' is 'Rear Window', another example of a thriller. I like this scene as the music creates quite a relaxing and mellow atmosphere when the actual scene taking place is unsettling and involves the police searching someone's house.
A director’s job is one of great importance. There many attributes that are required to be a good director like, listening skills, leadership and good creative skills. Not only this but a directors must be able to do directing, editing, music and filming. Or have some knowledge in the subject in order to assist in these areas. However the director must be willing to listen to the group and not be selfish.
Alex woke up believing it would be a normal day. To find himself chained to blood covered walls in an empty city. He has no memory of how he got there and what has happened to the rest of where he is. What can he do? What happens when he finds the people who did this...or "Things". Will he be able to find out the truth? In this Medical/apocalyptic thriller horror you will find yourself so terrified you will never be able to be alone in the dark again.
Ideas: starts Abondonded building , One person wakes up in room. He/she see's medical utensils everywhere ans chains to the wall blood everywhere on walls and utensils. They have a stitch in the middle of their chest , so they have been operated on without choice and dont know what has happened. They "somehow" escape . They come out are in a completely desolate place which is empty. Ends in phone call which says " unknown ", they pick up and they caller says " wakey wakey" . Scene ends.
My role in the film is " camera work " Camera work involves :
- Good lighting and finding the right lighting to suit the genre of the film and help create a certain atmosphere. - The camera movement needs a steady hand and for certain shots involves uses of the tripod. The camera the angle is at for the scenes and good knowledge of the camera shots. The use of zoom on the cameras . - Good communication with the director and the actors so they know what they need to do and what I need to do from the director.
Skill I can bring to the role: - I got A in drama GCSE - I did Beat the bully which involved me acting in front of professional camera men and cameras and doing film takes. - I am taking AS photography - I helped to film titanic sweded and filmed our westurn
As sound technician I think I have previous skills which will help me with the job. For example I did music GCSE and therefore have experience with using music computer programmes, studying music in film and playing instruments. I also enjoy analysing the music used in different genres of film.
I will need to use garage band to create a soundtrack for the film. I will also have to make sure the actors voices are audible in the film and if not record some of the lines from the script to play over the film.
I would like to improve my editing skills as sound technician and learn how to use garage band without help. As sound technician I will have to work quite closely with the editor, Matt as sound is one of the things he needs to take into account when edditing the film.
http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=black+christmas&search_type=&aq=f This is a link to a 'Black Christmas' trailer which is relevant as we are making a horror/thriller film and are thinking of possibly using a similar story line to this film.
Video That is relevent to our ideas - Matt Leonowicz
SAW
This video is relevant to our first ideas because this is also a thriller, also we thought about maybe someone waking up and having no idea where they are, like maybe in an abandoned bulding. or maybe they don't know what is happening in different places, bascily they are alone and are confused.
Editing mainly involves a good knowladge of the programs being used, how to use effetcs and titles, to make the film look alot better.
I have personally used final cut quite a few times, In film studies, but also i have used it alot more in media, experimenting with titel squences and basic editing of footage, I have also used many other programs including Windows movie maker ( even though you cxannot to as many effects in this, but it's still editing) aswell as Sony Vegas Pro (no longer have, my licence ran out.)
Furthermore i have also done editing of footage last year in my GCSE media class, we made a Music Video even though i personally thought it was terrible, my teacher liked it and i got a good enough grade for it (i used windows movie maker, which i thought made it look terrible).
So with this experiance i will be able to edit well and hopefuly make the footage look watchable.
Ideas: I am legend/ 28 days later / vanilla sky Scenes of Cambridge empty news apaers played everywhere Scenes on top of grafton showing empty Cambridge Abandoned building
Saw /hostel / resident evil Scenes of someone trapped waking up dont know why they are there Wakes up and noone is outside Abandoned building again
Black Christmas / The phone call ( Not sure on tital) Phone calls to someone alone in their house calls police to find out the phone calls are being made from their own house.
Names of people in group 22 : China Simpson - Camera work Matthew Leonowicz - Editor Emma Hancock-taylor - Sound Tom Day - director
Camera work involves Good use of lighting to create the correct atmosphere for the film. Camera movement and the use of the tripod and a steady hand. The correct knowledge for the camera angles and shots. Good communication with the director and actors.
Editor involves a good knowledge of final cut. As well as stuff.
Sound involves a good sense of what music suits different film genres. Also good experience of the editing programmes and music programmes such as garage band and an experience of other music computer programmes
A good director has a stern vision of what he wants.
unknown caller. The inspiration for this came from 
