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via GIPH

Fia Brown Candidate number: 1804

Claremont Fan Court School: 64680

My production team: 

Tallulah Duffy (1823) and Laura Souter (1860)

My brief: The title of our film is "Cynic". It is about two teenage friends finding the main characters' sisters' spirit through the Oujia Board. However, that is what first killed the sister. The protagonist decides to play with the board and discovers a spirt whom she thought was her sister but instead was an evil spirit. 

I play the role of the deceased sister who comes back as an evil spirit and torments the protagonist. My other roles included editing and filming videos to set the scene/ location. I was also in charge of behind the scene pictures and videos.

Filming as a Production Team of three people was a huge challenge during lockdowns as we could not get together to film. This meant that we communicated online a lot over Facetime and Google Meet to allocate bits of filming then tried to edit them together.We also couldn't use the locations that we had originally hoped for. One example was the use of a car.  We tried to overcome the impossibility of location shooting by adding sound tracks of atmospheric sound. For example, when the camera appears to pan across the woods, we added a track that connotes mystery and fear. Although we managed an initial shoot in a graveyard, in the editing process we realised that the wind had seriously impaired the sound quality. This scene with several edits definitely needed a cleaner sound quality.

I was very pleased with the choice of mise-en-scene of the graveyard: it is a beautiful, rustic and atmospheric venue with a winding path that allows our heroine to walk through it, building interest.

On reflection, I was also very pleased with the location, casting and mise-en-scene of the bedroom scene. With its compact size, white and pink colours and range of soft toys, we created the perfect setting to connote an exchange of intimate confidences. Getting inside the mind of a teenage girl was one of our main objectives: we took the risk of being experimental by putting text on screen with the words in the girl’s mind, a bit like a video diary. I am really pleased by the framing of the shot in which the audience are allowed to see that the girl is being observed: this creates suspense and deepens a brooding sense of impending doom. 

REFINEMENTS, CHANGES, EDITS & REFLECTIONS

Refinements, Changes, Edits & Reflections by Fia Brown

Behind the Scenes PT2

These are the pictures of day 2 of filming our trailer. We only went to two locations; a graveyard and Tallulahs' house. 
 

Film Poster

film poster by Fia Brown

Film posters are a very important part of advertising a movie. To help us create our poster we looked at may different blockbuster movie posters to have more of an idea on the format. We placed at the top the actors names from most relevant in the film. Putting the name in as the biggest front and in a contrast colour to have the views instantly see what it's called and underneath we put when it will be coming out in cinemas in a big font to make it easier to read and remember. We added a quote from well known names such as Empire to show it was approved and had high end recognition. We also displayed the logos to the social media accounts the film has as it also includes more information about the film and pictures. At the bottom in the middle we decided it would be the best place to put the star rating to show views that it is a very liked movie.

Risk Assessment

Trip name and destination: Media filming & Tallulah's house/ woods

	HAZARD TO HEALTH AND SAFETY	RISK POSED AND TO WHOM	LEVEL H/M/L	CONTROL MEASURE TO REDUCE RISK	RISK LEVEL ACHIEVED H/M/L	FURTHER ACTION IS NEEDED TO REDUCE RISK
First aid issues	Walking to the local woods	Potentially could trip over tree stumps or get stung by stinging nettles/ hazard of tripping/ other plants causing obstruction, slips and trips, awkward posture	M	Be aware of the surrounding environment and watch out for hazardous plants	L	Have suitable medical equipment nearby
Chemical hazards	Hairspray	Asthma	L	keep distance from particles in air	L
Weather	Rain - possibility of slipping, wet clothing	All actors	L	bring appropriate jacket with them	L	Bring wellies/umbrella
General public	Covid 19	Keep space between you and members of the public	M	be mindful of the public	L

Step 1: Identify hazards, i.e. anything that may cause harm.

Step 2: Decide who may be harmed, and how.

Step 3: Assess the risks and take action.

Step 4: Make a record of the findings.

Step 5: Review the risk assessment.

Behind the Scenes

 Behind the Scenes from our filming 

These are the pictures we took while we were out filming our opening film.

The picture in the top left corner, we used an over the shoulder shot because  we were trying to capture the emotion of their conversation as they were talking about an upcoming birthday of the main characters' dead sister. The one diagonally to the right is an extreme wide shot to make the audience notice the small detail at the back. The picture at the bottom right is a tracking shot of her walking in the woods. The challenges we had to face was that it was getting colder by the minute and I had no foot wear or coat. We also tried to get better angles meaning I had to go more into the bushes but there were stinging nettles and holly leaves. 

Costume Development

Costumes 

Mary- The character Mary is dressed in stereotypical teen girl attire. The costume choice we chose reflect's the character's age and background. The costume choice symbolises Mary's normal extraordinary life. This differs to the background of her sister; creating contrast. Furthermore, to heighten Mary's look of 'normality' natural makeup is worn alongside casual clothing. 

Kate- She is the main characters best friend which means they are in the same age group. They both wear stereotypical teen girl clothes. 

Emilia - For the character of Emilia, the dead sister I decided that it would be suitable for her to wear a white flowy dress; covered in dirt during the forest scene. The white dirty dress represents the contrast between the living and the dead and helps us to achieve a demonic 'ghost girl' look.  Emilia's eerie costume choice contrasts with Mary's 'normal' outfit of jeans and a black jacket. 

Filming: Hot seating

HOT SEATING 

 We made a 3 minute video to ask the actress questions about the character she plays and how she connects with her. 

• So how would you describe your character Mary?

• How does your character’s role develop throughout the film opening?

• Do you think Mary was frightened when she used the ouija board? 

• How were you able to connect to the experiences that Mary had to your own if you had not experienced it before?

• Can you give us any clues of what happens after the final cliff hanger? 

Planning: casting

Casting:

Tallulah: (Main character) Mary is a teen school girl. her sister unfortunately died by playing with the ouija board. 

Fia: (dead sister) Emilia died by not following the rules of the ouija board and got summoned by an evil presence 

Laura: (main characters best friend)  

Made with Visme Presentation Maker

Planning: story board

Storyboard of our opening film

Opening scene is the main character running late for school and ordering an Uber. 

She gets in and the man doesn't say anything to her and she thinks it's a bit weird but doesn't think much of it.

*finishes school day

She orders another Uber. 

She gets in and it's the same driver. And, she doesn't think much of it; just a strange coincidence. 

Once again she orders another Uber the next day to go to school and it's the same driver. Now she begins to get freaked and worried that he might be following/ stalking her. 

She tells her friend at school and she just tells her maybe its because she accidentally keeps requesting him to pick her up, so at the end of the day her friend orders her an Uber to make sure it wouldn't be the same driver. yet it was. 

She didn't realise it was the same one because each time she orders it he has different names. 

She gets in the car and tries to get out but he has locked. She starts to freak out. His eyes keep catching hers in the mirror. He then starts to stare at her while still driving. 

scenes 

1: in school, friend and girl walk out of textiles room, the girl walks up to the carpark, she orders an Uber x3 times, separate locations. 

2:  she is scared and runs back home - she is scared and runs back home ... going to the corner shop and ask him to help. he says no .

she then runs out of there. he traps her by the river, her only option is to jump

PLANNING: Location

 Location 1: School

Location 2: Claremont drive

Location 3: Car

Location 4: Forest 

PLANNING: Props

 Props

1. Car
2. phone
3. School bag
4. Keys
5. Water bottle 
6. clear plastic mask
7. 
   

Semiotics

I watched a short youtube video on Roland Barthes semiotic analysis to get a wider understanding of semiotics. 

Semiotic is the study of signs and the way we make sense of things around us. It's about understanding the different signs used, decoding and understanding what they mean and why the producer has used them. 

Signs are the things we can infer a meaning from a signifier, for example symbols, camera angles and colours. 

There are two types:

Denotation: the literal meaning of signs

Connotation: signified/ associated meaning of signs 

Signs are polysemic which means they have multiple meanings which leads to people reading signs in different ways. 

There are 4 categories of signs that we look for in film:

1. Mise en Scene: set, costume, makeup etc
2. Sound: music, sound effects, voice, tone, silence
3. Camerawork: framing, composition, angles, movement
4. Editing: use of sequencing, cutting, how one scene goes to the next

 Signs are selected by media producers to create specific meanings and construct representations. The choice of the sign can have a big influence on the audience. 

Roland Barthes' Theory argued that is a sign was used constantly, the sign can become a myth for example; bulldogs are an accepted sign that symbolise Winston Churchill and Britain.  

A Myth: the widely accepted meaning of a sign, accepted dominant connotation.

Naturalisation: the process of establishing myths - media shaping societies ideology through repeated use of signs.

Tales of Terror from Tokyo? 

In the clip an extract 'Tales of Terror from Tokyo' showed a girl in an apartment. When the girl walks slowly towards the door and by her facial expression you can tell that she is scared of what is behind the door; even though we can't understand what they are saying since it is in a different language, we can still understand what is going on through emotion, body language, non- diegetic sounds and camera angles. 

When it shows the door with loud constant knocking makes you wonder what's wrong, 'is someone in danger?' and the viewer wants to know who it is. When it suddenly does a close up of a woman's hand shaking and banging through the letter box it makes the audience jump especially as the music behind stopped just before the camera shows the loud sound of the hand. This makes the little girl fall on the floor in fear, the eerie music begins again. The woman starts talk through the letter box which makes it feel like the woman is watching her through it. The little girl seems to be telling the voice to stop as the shouting gets louder and perhaps saying the name of the girl. The mum comes to see what all the screaming and banging is and goes to open the door. Just as the woman unlocks the door the little girl is too scared to see what was behind the door and runs into the bathroom and locks herself in. She calls for her mum but there is no response. She curls up in corner terrified on what is happening. The music suddenly stops. The banging starts at the bathroom door now. 

The mise- en- scene, the angles, the editing and the background sounds (music) all creates the feeling of uncertainty and being on edge and understanding what is going on even with out understanding what they are saying. The hard cuts in the editing makes it feel more intense as you don't know what is about to happen, jump scares. 

Rhetoric of the image, Roland Barthes

distributing my own film (notes)

 1) Film Distribution 

When I searched up how Hollywood major distribute a movie I could see how I could replicate that with my budget, for example I could use digital posters on social media such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook etc. Each of theses platforms reaches different target audiences. Film website, have film cards were it has the social media account, phone, contact number, details. 

2) Independent films distribution

Independent films like 'Bait' distribute their films by going to film festivals in London to try get a screening at the BFI. They also use Film post cards to make people more aware of it and become more familiar with it.

How can I distribute my film- Social media, posters, websites etc

Kezia Williams- is Entertainment One Films Uk head of theatrical marketing.

Mark Batey- is the CEO of Film Distribution Association (FDA)

When would be the best time to release a film- When there are not a lot of films coming out. More advertisement to lead up to the film for more recognition 

CCR3

 Creative Critical Reflections 3

1. Preliminary Exercise (camera angles, filming methods and props)

For filming our opening scene we looked at different camera angles for different scenes and which looked better. Doing the continuity exercises helps my group and I to be more comfortable around the camera and have more idea of how things can plan out. We then investigated different angles and filming methods. 

2. Research

I aimed to find out more about different audiences but in particular, the audience that love watching horror movies. To help me find my audience I made a questionnaire using Google Forms. I also used Art of the Title to help me get more of an understanding of the genre I picked. 

3. Planning 

As a group we begin to plan our story line and our characters. We came up with different ways to make the atmosphere more eerie and spooky for example being in a dark forest to add suspense and uncertainty of what could be round the corner or behind something.