Research Into Similar Products - 2010's

Film: Bereavement

Genre: Horror

Date Released: March 4th 2011 (USA)

Director & Writer: Stevan Mena

 

 

Opening two minutes

The film I am going to be deconstructing is Bereavement, which was released in 2011. This film genre is a horror. The MPAA gave this film a rating R.

The establishing shot of this film is an extreme shot of electricity pylon, as this is happening there is a light non diagetic humming sound, also a crow calling out can be heard above the humming. Then jump cuts to shot of field, then pans left to right to reveal an old beaten building with smashed windows, then to a house, the humming becomes deeper. Then again it jump cuts to the door of the house shown before, we an see that the garden is overgrown, but all the bushes and plants are nearly dead, there is a sound of the door unlocking and a loud creaking from the ivy covered door. The shot of the man is a mid shot he is wearing gloves which makes him seem mysterious and dark. The camera work used is tracking, the man's lower legs are tracked down the pathway to the van, this is shot in one continuous shot, as he walks the sound of the non diagetic humming becomes louder and the noise of crunching twigs can be heard from the floor, this builds the tension. The camera continues to track the man as he gets in his dirty, old, muddy, definitely unkempt van, as he opens the door the metal vibrates when he slams it shut again. The noise of the engine is loud, this sound is diagetic. Then it jump cuts again to an eye level shot of the man's van driving off. Then it shows a shot of a road, then the car drives past, as the car is driving the camera starts to crane back out. As it is zooming out if pans from the left to the right to look back at the old factory and again the sound of the crow calling out can be heard, there is also the sound of wind blowing through the old building.

The establishing shot of the new scene is another extreme shot of the van driving through an empty countryside as it is quiet and all that can be heard is the roaring of the old tatted van. There is also a low sound of drum being banged as the film title appears. As the van drives over the bridge there are bangs and shakes of the metal, then it is tracked down the bridge, then to reveal an old wearing structure. It then jump cuts to an eye level shot of the car continuing to travel across the bridge, showing the man driving over a wide river. We can notice how quiet it is and how there are no other cars travelling down the long country road.

The next scene's establishing shot is a high angled shot tilting down, following the loud car down an empty silent street. As he is driving in his van down the road there is a faint diagetic sound of bells ringing. Then it jump cuts to a shot that is angled down to the floor and raises when a young boy walks past on an over grown side walk, we may assume that he is on his way to or from school as he has a large backpack on. The camera is still when the old car drives past. It then jumps into a shot from the car looking through the front window, suggesting that he is stalking or following the little boy.

Research Into Similar Products - 2000's

Film: Saw V

Genre: Horror

Date Released: October 24th 2008 (USA)

Director: David Hackl

 

Opening two minutes

The film I am going to be deconstructing is Saw V, which was released in 2008. This film genre is a horror. It was given an age certificate of 18 by the BBFC, due to the 'strong bloody violence'. We can tell that the genre for this film is horror from the very beginning, as the opening credits are shown on a background of a bloody wall, with a non diagetic sound of metal scrapping together.

The establishing shot is a long shot of what looks like an old rusty factory door. The first thing we hear as an audience is the crack of thunder in the blackout after the opening credits, this followed by the shot of the door and a flash of lightning. Another diagetic sound we hear is the sound of heavy rain hitting the metal objects outside the door, there is also a faint noise of car horns, suggesting that this may be set in town or city. The shot then starts to zoom into the door but before the sign on the rusty door comes into focus, the shot fades into darkness. this is followed by yet another of the opening credits, again with the same bloody background and noise of metal touching together. the light that wipes across the writing of the credits is in time with the sound of the metal, this may be done to insinuate that the light was the metal.

The next shot of the film is in the room of the rusty door, as the long shot continues to zoom in as if it were one continuous shot, like match on action. the sound of the rain and thunder is still present, all be it quieter, with the rain patting on the windows, which are shown to be covered with plastic sheeting, with time, the sheeting has been torn down. the room is dark, apart from the far wall, which has slits of light shining on it from the slatted windows. There is not much to be seen in the room, but where the light does shine, a body can be seen lying on a table surrounded by a table and a machine. As the camera zooms closer to the body, there is a dark noise, it sound like banging of footsteps, but is the thunder getting louder to build the tension. The shot fades to darkness again.

When the shot reappears, it shows a close up of the legs of the person lying on the table, but the lights shows the legs are bolted to the table. This backs up the viewers thoughts that this is very dark film, as this wouldn't happen in a child's film. The sound does not change, but to build the tensions a incidental sound gradually gets louder, then a large crack of thunder is heard. The camera shot tracks the body up, we can see the body start to breath faster and louder, the camera then passes a machine, then fades into another opening credit, yet again the sound of metal and a bloody backgrounds appears for the last opening credit. As the shot comes back to screen, a birds eye view shot is shown of the man's face, as he starts to panic the lights switch on with non diagetic synchronous sound of lights coming on. We can also hear the diagetic sound of the hand and feet chains, as the man panics and tries to get free. Before the shot turns to a close up of each of the feet, there is an arc shot of the man trying to pull the chain off his neck. The next shot starts a reverse zoom, but as it is zooming out it turns the camera to a long shot to show the whole body on the table. A match on action shot is used to cross the room, but the actions of the man stay the same, this is creating verisimilitude. This is a long shot at a high angle to show the whole room, this shot may be used, to tell the viewer that no matter how loud he calls out no one can hear him, it also shows the dark damp conditions of the room he is in, which may mean that it has not been used in many years that is why its a safe place to keep him. The incidental non diegetic sound continues to play, this is used to build tension.

The shot then jump cuts straight back to the man's upper body in a mid shot. Then an arc shot is used to move from the panicking man to the television screen. Then that shot jump cuts to a close up of the television screen, as the screen is focusing there is a crackling noise that silences the thunder for a few seconds. The man's face and the television exchange a few shot reverse shots. the next shot shown is a worm's eye shot looking over the man's body to focus on the television screen. While we can hear the voice of the man on the television, we can still hear the heavily breathing man on the table still trying to break free. Shot reverse shot is used in the next few shot to show the chained up man's reaction to what the man on the television is saying. A non diagetic sound is heard in the background, it sounds like a heartbeat, although it is faint the viewer can still hear it as it is mirrors the heartbeat of the viewer as they don't know what is going to happen.

The man on the table starts to listen to the man on the television as he know that he wont be able to get out without do what he says. We as viewers of the film feel sympathy for the man on the table as we believe that he hasn't done anything wrong to deserve this, the tension of the first two minutes of this film clearly shows what the whole film is going to be about. Under the voice of the man on the television we can still hear the non diagetic sound.

Research Into Similar Products - 1990's

Film: House on Haunted Hill

Genre: Horror

Date Released: October 29^th 1999 (USA)

Director: William Malone

Writer: Robb White

Opening two minutes

The film I am going to be deconstructing is House on Haunted Hill, which was released in 1999. This film genre is a horror. The MPAA gave this film a rating R.

The establishing shot of this film is an extreme long shot tilted up, this is a worms eye shot, the shot is of a cliff face, with sharp, jagged edges. The building that is compositioned in the middle of the shot looks as if it has shot up from underneath as it fits perfectly with the cliff face. The next shot jump cuts to man walking through a door across a room, he is walking calmly, the room he walks through seems to be very dusty, dark and mysterious. A woman, that seems to be in a nurses outfit walks past behind the man. The man is wearing a white shirt and white bottoms, this is what looks to be a nurses costume. As the camera tracks up the body this is revealed. He is carrying 3 pencils and trwisting them between his fingers. With this information we can assume where the film is set and what it is bound to be about. There is a diagetic sound of very quiet music playing, then loud screams can be haerd. This would make the viewer think that it is not just any hospital, but maybe a mental institution. When he walks through door and across the room it is one continous shot. He shuts the door behind him, as he does so a loud creaking noise is heard, this sound is diagetic as it fit in with the scene. The shot then jump cuts to inside the room. The camera pointed at a birds eye view shot, down to a machine where man put piece of paper, then clicks it down, it makes a loud pinging sound. The camera then starts to pan downwards and zooms out slightly so the viewer can see the machine. Then again it jump cuts to a birds eye view shot of the room, this is a match on action shot as it seems like one continuous shot. The man then walks across room, to put on the record player, maybe to drown the noise of screaming out. The music plays loudly, the shot again jump cuts to pencil sharpener, the man places one in sharpens it, a loud noise from the machine as he turn to shapen the pencil. Extreme close up of mouth blowing shavings of pencil off. The last jump cut of this scene cuts to close up of his hand writng on what looks to be a chart.

The establishing shot of the next scene ia a jump cut to a close up of a man turning from the right to look directly at the camera, here he brakes the 4th wall, not technically to communicate with the viewers but as the scene continues we can see that he was looking at the camera that was filming him, this was a good point of view shot. The music from the mans office carrys on to play in the room where the man with the sergical mask was. The shot then jumps to the nurse who is recording the man, this proves the theory of the man looking at the camera. Then jumps to a high angled shot tilting down to show the man about to start surgery on a patient that is restrained on the bed. The screaming from the patient drowns out the sound of the music. As the doctor starts to cut into the man, he hears laughing and banging, from above. he then relaises that the other patients have escaped. there are various angled shot to catch the mans reaction along with worms eye view of the patients banging on the glass roof avove.

The shot then jump cuts back to the man in the office, its new establishing shot is a worms eye view of the man still writing on charts. The shot pans from left to right. The music still plays, but there is no noise from the screaming of the patients in the operating theatre. The next shot is a point of view shot of a boy, looking at the man. The condition of the boy clearly shows that the patients are not treated as well as they should be. As the man looks at the boy through the metal caging he thinks nothing of it and carrys on writing. Then it goes back to the worms eye shot of the man. Then pans back right to left, as the shot pans back in the background in the window of the door the man walked through, a patients face is pressed up against it. The next shot is an eye line shot of the man turning to the door. The glass smashes and the music abrubutly stops, all that can be heard is diagetic sound of glass being smashed and yells from all the patients. They all grab the man, as he squeals for his life. The shots are quick and change from all different angles and jerk around to create the tension of the scene.

Research Into Similar Products - 1980's

Film: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

Genre: Horror

Date Released: October 21^st 1988 (USA)

Director: Dwight H. Little

 

Opening two minutes

The film I am going to be deconstructing is Halloween 4, which was released in 1988. This film genre is a horror. It was given an age certificate of 18 by the BBFC. We can tell that the genre for this film is horror from the very beginning, as the opening shot shows a skull on a letterbox and the name of the film is Halloween, this clearly gives the viewer a hint that this film is a horror not a comedy.

The date that the film is set in fades into shot on a black background, then fades out again, there is a faint diagetic sound of the wind blowing from the very beginning, this continues through the scene, but gradually becomes louder. The establishing shot is an extreme shot of an old derilict building. In the foreground of the shot there is a stall with pumpkins on top, it is composed slightly to the right of the screen. The building in the background looks to be a beaten down barn, there is also another building to the left which seems to be a house positioned next to the old barn. The field between the pumpkin stall and the buildings is clearly desert, this whole property seems to be empty. The titles appear in an orange coloured font, which links in with the pumpkins and halloween theme. We can also tell that it is windy and is perhaps autumn as leaves are falling past the screen, aslo the tree composed directly in the centre of the shot is without any leaves. We all know that the end of autumn brings halloween, which this film is clearly based around taking the name of the film into consideration. The next shot is a jump cut to a close up of a letterbox, with a skull on it. This is not what is usally seen in a comedy or drama, so we can tell from here that is more than likely a horror. The diagetic sound of wind and metal swinging in the wind becomes louder. The next shot is an extreme long shot of the whole farm. This shot confirms to the viewer that the film is set in a countryside farm. There is a house compostioned to the right of the screen. The sky is shown in mass, so that the title of the film can be seen in large font. There is also an non diagetic sound of humming that gets louder as each of the shots are shown, then stays at the same pitch. This is a good way to create tension, as the viewer thinks something is going to jump out.
There is a jump cut to a new shot of the farm, this is a long shot of an old warn cabin, the cabin has window frames but no windows, next to the window is a skelenton decoration. To show it is old and unsued, a gust of fog sweeps through the old barn, suggesting it is a cold and dark place. Another jump cut is used to move the viewer onto a ghost like figure with a pumpkin head gently swaying in the wind, this again builds the tension and makes it seen that the film is darker than first thought. The next shot is a mid shot of again a life like figure sitting on an old rusty tractor, with a pumpkin for a head, this shot is made to seem darker, as there is an axe attached to the tractor. Then a metal object with 4 sharp metal prongs are shown against the dark sky, emphasing the points of the spikes. What looks to be a scarecrow with 6 arms is shown on an orange background, again this emphasies the affect of this not being a normal film. Whislt this whole scene is playing the sound of birds calling out can be heard over the constant humming, this is a good form of creating tension.
A new establishing shot of this new scene is a long shot of an ambulance that fades onto the screen, we can tell hours have past as the skies are dark and there is rain pouring down onto the ground. There are no other cars on the road, suggesting that it is the middle of the night, or that the area they are in is quite sucluded. The ambulance is tracked past the camera, showing that they are going at speed, the camera pans righ to left. The ambulance does not have its sirens on, suggesting that it is not an emergency or that the roads are clear so there is no need for noise. The next shot is a 2 shot of the two people in the front of the ambulance, there are sudden bursts of light from the lightning and loud cracks from the thunder. There is also a non diagetic sound of a deep musical instrument being played, it is being played in sudden bursts, but the thunder continues to crash and bang.
The ambulance sound their horn twice, a man comes running in the rain to the van, the man and the people from the ambulance exchange a few words the guard points them round the side of the building. The camera raises and zooms out, as this happens, a horn like instrument starts to play.

PLANNING: Preliminary Decisions

Who are you working with for your coursework?

For my coursework I will be working with Alice Mutton and Charlotte Brown. This is because we are friends so can work well with each other. Also if we are in a group the work load will be lighter and can be spread fairly. Alice and Charlotte are good at acting, this will come in handy when finding actors for the filming.

What genre of movie will you be producing?

The type of genre we will be producing is a horror movie, as we all have good knowledge and we all enjoy watching them. There are many horror films that have already been produced, so these should help us with our coursework.

PLANNING: Storyboards

These are the storyboards that we drew to explain what we planned to do for our preliminary task. It has the shot duration and the action of what each person was to do and say. They show the person walking into a room, sitting down and having a conversation with another person.

CONSTRUCTION: Preliminary

Preliminary Task



This is my preliminary it shows all kinds of different camera shots, including Match on Action , Shot Reverse Shot and the 180' rule.

RESEARCH: 180° Rule

What is it?The 180° rule is continuity technique used to film two characters (or objects) in the same scene. There is an imaginary semicircle joining the two people, the camera must film in between the two axis, if it goes past it, it is called, crossing the line. If the line is crossed and is filmed in two or more shots the image becomes ‘flipped’ meaning that the person that was on the right is now on the left. This can cause the viewer to become confused. There is an exception to this rule, this is where the camera can cross the line, but this must be shot in one take so that the people are not on the opposite side of the screen.

How is it used?
This technique is done by filming in any point in the imaginary semicircle, in one take or more, the camera can take as many shots as it wants providing it’s in the semicircle, because if it goes outside the semicircle, the shot will have changed, meaning the people would have in effect changed sides. If this is shot with two people at a table, this can cause confusion to the viewer, as they will not know what is going on. But if this is filmed in a busy area with more people, filming the two people and breaking the rule will cause the viewer to become confused as to who is who, this may be done on purpose, so that they don’t know which person is which.

Why is it used?
It may be used by the director to cause confusion to the viewer. So that the viewer is not confused, when filming you should stay within the 180° imaginary semicircle, because if the image flips it will cause the viewer to take themselves out of the scene to try to work out why they have flipped sides. If the shot is flipped, in editing you can mirror the image so that the viewer doesn’t get too confused, but if the viewer can tell something is wrong the illusion is not real anymore.

Above is a small video clip to show the 180° rule.

RESEARCH: Shot Reverse Shot

What is it?
Shot reverse shot is where, normally two or more people are talking to each other. This is a continuity editing method, like match on action. By doing this it gives the effect or verisimilitude that the whole conversation has been taken in one continuous shot. This is often used in scenes where a conversation between people is taking place.

How is it used?
This is done by filming two people talking, but instead of cutting after one person has said a line then switching. You film one person saying all their lines, but with pauses between each line. Then you switch the camera around so its filming the other person, you then film the other person saying all their lines. Once you have done this, you can edit the clips. To do this you have to cut the clip of the first person’s line then add the clip of the response from the other person to the end of the first clip, continue doing this until the scene is complete and looks like it is one shot filmed by two cameras. To give the effect of a conversation between the two people, film one of the people over the shoulder of the other, this makes the viewer feel as if they are in the other person’s place.

Why is it used?

This is used to give the effect to the viewer that it is a conversation between two or more people. This gives the impression to the viewer that it is not filmed by two cameras, as when its edited you cant see the camera over the other persons shoulder. This is used so that if two or more people are talking, you can see both faces rather than just being able to see one persons face during the whole conversation.

Above is a short video to show how Shot Reverse Shot works.

RESEARCH: Match on Action

What is it?

Match on Action is where two or more shots are edited together to make it seem that the shot is one continuous action. This is a form of continuity editing method, by doing this it makes the scene appear to be real to the viewer. The end of one clip is edited together with the beginning of another to create verisimilitude.

How is it used?

This is a method used to create the effect that it is one continuous action using two or more clips. This is done by filming someone doing something from different angles, then by editing it to make it look like it was filmed in one shot. For example you could film someone walking up to a door, then in the next clip, film them coming through the door but on the other side, this makes the viewer think that it was one action without stopping. By doing this it makes the viewer think it was only shot once, but it was actually filmed a few times. To make it seem real the variables must be the same, for example the speed the person was walking at, which door they opened.

Why it is used?

This is used a lot when filming as the cameras may not be able to get the whole view, also they may want to give an effect from seeing the front of the person/ people then seeing the back. This is here to make an illusion that it is all filmed in one long shot without stopping.