Test Shoot

 Our Group Test Shoot 

Test Shoot Planning

Group document of the planning of our test shoot

Planning our test shoot:

The reason for doing this test shoot is to understand and find out what will work and and not work within the final shoot and what we will need to change to make the sequence flow well and to make sure the time is long enough for the opening sequence - about 3 minutes.

Before we started the test shoot, we planned the locations and props we could use in school. We decided to shoot a scene beside the school minibuses in the cantine car park and the wooden shed on the theatre lawn. Because of the limitations we had, we changed the hot wire car scene to the girl trying to break into one of the minibuses by using a bobby pin. 

We can’t bring the weapon props for our test shoot as it is a safety issue, so instead of using a battleaxe, we use a long umbrella to simulate the weapon. Also, for the motorcycle we used a mountain bike and we used a motocross helmet for the biker.

For the actors in the test shoot we used Joy as the girl and Max as the biker. 

The shoot went really well, the only problem is that it was way too short. However this gives us more time for the beginning (hot wiring sequence) to take place on the real shoot, making it more of a focus that she is trying to survive.

Group Plan for Test Shoot;

Cast:

• Survivor actress; Joy, as Gi will be doing the majority of the editing

• Motorcycle hunter stand-in; Max - he will be wearing his own helmet and he is the tallest

Locations: 

• The school minibuses in the lower car park

• The wooden shed on the theatre lawn

Props:

• Bobby pins instead of screwdrivers to break into car

• An umbrella as the weapon

• A mountain bike as the motorcycle

• A motocross helmet for the biker

• Gi’s camera

Developed idea

 Group developed idea

Some new developments we added to our final idea involved changing the very beginning and end to make it more interesting and substantial;

The original beginning followed the girl simply scavenging for resources at a junkyard, but we decided that she should instead be attempting to hotwire an abandoned car at that junkyard, then she would check her phone for signal from inside the car rather than walking around the abandoned town as it could be difficult to find a good location for that specific shot.

The original ending showed the girl going to step back outside the shack, only to be jumpscared by the killer at the door reaching out to grab her - we changed it so that, whilst the girl leans back against the door in relief, she slides down to sit against it to catch her breath before a (fake) weapon -a battleaxe for now- suddenly crashes into the shot next to her as she jumps back and screams. We then see the killer as he forcefully pulls the axe back out of the ground and gets ready to swing it back around to kill her, the sequence would then end on a shot of the room from outside the door, we continue to hear her screaming as blood splatters against the floor of the doorway.

FULL BREAKDOWN;

• Girl is scavenging around Junkyard

• She comes across a car and opens the door before crawling in

• She starts trying to hotwire the car (more detail after independent research task)

• It fails to start so she sighs in defeat and sits down in the front seat

• She takes out her phone and checks for any signal

• We gradually hear a very quiet buzzing sound from the distance

• the sound grows louder and louder to eventually reveal it as the revving of a motorcycle

• She gets an intense look of pure horror on her face and sits fully paralysed for a few seconds 

• Just as the revving suddenly gets significantly closer, she gets it together and throws herself out of the car 

• She sprints as fast as she possibly can to a run-down looking shack

• She jumps inside and slams the door shut 

• She quickly crouches down with her back against the door, her hands pressed against her ears and her eyes shut tight

• The sounds of the motorcycle quickly approach the shack 

• The sounds slow in pace as they reach the doorway from the outside 

• The motorcycle starts to circle around the shack

• The girl jolts from shock and follows the sound with her head as it passes by every wall 

• The sound then suddenly drowns out and somewhat disappears

• She sits completely shivering for a few seconds and cautiously takes her hands off her ears

• She quietly lifts herself up and turns around to creak the door open

• She peeks outside and scans her surroundings before fully opening the door to reveal an empty scene

• She steps back inside and leans against the wall, sliding down to sit against it, she sighs in relief

• All of a sudden a battleaxe crashes into the shot right beside her 

• She jumps back and screams

• The killer then pulls the axe back out of the ground and holds it above his shoulder, ready to swing it back around to kill her

• We then look in from outside the open door, we hear her screaming as blood splatters onto the floor of the doorway

Independent Research 2

 How to make fake blood, for the biker to have on clothing and weapons.

Step 1: Add water into a cup/jug and add 4 tea spoons of powdered sugar per 100ml of water.

Then stir 

Step 2: Add red food colouring until you get the the desired colour and stir again.

Step 3: Add cocoa for density with 2 tea spoons per 100ml.

The reason for the research is that we will have blood on the girl and blood on the biker and surroundings to create more tension that something bad may happen. 

Independent Research 1

How to hot wire a car 

Needs:

- Hammer

- Flat-head screwdriver

- Make sure the car is manual

- Insulated gloves

- Wire cutters and strippers

Step 1: Pound a Flat-head screwdriver into the ignition slot with a hammer and then twist it as if it were a key. 

Step 2: If that doesn't start the car, the battery is flat or the car needs more work to get it started. So unscrew the plastic cover around the steering column, and pull apart the cover to expose the ignition cylinder.

Step 3: Identify which wires do what.

Step 4: Cut and then strip the power wires from the column and twist them together to turn the ignition on.

Step 5: Then cut and strip the starter wires and tap them together until the engine starts, tape up the ends of the wires so you don't get shocked when driving.

Step 6: Use a Flat-head screwdriver to free the steering lock and any locking features stopping you from driving.

The reason of researching this is that at the start of our sequence we are going to have the girl trying to hot wire a car until she hears the biker coming.

Group Pitch 3

Our group presentation of our third pitch

Group Pitch 2

 This is our group presentation of the second pitch

Group Pitch 1

 This is a group presentation of our first pitch.

Mood Board

 

The Genre for my opening sequence is Action/Horror and i have reflected this in my mood board by including a stereotypical horror jump-scare. 

The setting for the idea is shown in the rusty shack and junkyard photos.

This text font shows the style and country this sequence is based in.

This pic shows ideas for costume for the biker.

Camera Workshop 2

 For the second workshop (Tuesday 28th jan) we started with learning about the 180 degrees rule and the rule of thirds. The 180 degrees rule is where when you have a person facing certain direction you can only shoot with in 180 degrees to the side of which you shot first. This is so that the audience doesn't think that the actor has switched the way that they are facing, therefore not confusing the audience. The rule of thirds is where you have the person located on the left or right third of the screen. This is useful to create more interesting and well composed shots.

We were then taught that you shoot with a wide shot then a mid shot and then finally a close up. This helps with the continuity of the filming making sure that everything is in the exact same spot that is was in the previous shot making it look as if it is at the same time and nothing has been moved around.

We were then taught the importance of marks and also how important it is for the actor/actresses to hit their marks. It is about having the actor in the perfect spot of where the camera is looking at and where the focus is set at.

You shouldn't watch the footage back on set due to a couple of reasons. First of all it wastes a lot of time where you could be taking more shots, and second of all it may make the actor/actress conscious of what they are doing and will do something unnatural to make up for it, therefor making the shots after look fake and forced.

'Action' is said after the camera has started rolling due to the fact that actors may come in too early if the camera starts after 'action' is said (can always be cut out in editing). It is the same with 'cut' but the other way around where it is said before the camera stops rolling.

Camera workshop 1

On Monday 17th Jan we had a camera workshop with our first insight on how the cameras work, how to set them up and much more. 

We were shown how to set up the tri pods and how to raise and lower them. This in included stabilising the tri pods otherwise known as bubbling (where you loosen a bit underneath the mount and then level it out to a sprit level to make sure the shot is level, and then tighten the bit back up from underneath the mount) to hold it still.

We were then shown how to mount the camera (Black Magic 4K Mini URSA) by pressing a button on the left hand side of the tri pod to let the camera slide onto the mount, then tighten the camera on by tightening up this bit on the right hand side of the tri pod.

We were then shown how to turn on the camera and how to set up the white balancing for the lighting conditions that you are in. (pressing WB on the touch screen and then selecting the right preset for the type of light).

Focusing and zooming was then demonstrated. This is done by zooming all the way in with the ring furthest away from us and then focusing with the closest ring (this depends on the lens, this one was a 18mm to 300mm Nikon lens). Then zoom back out to the shot we want.

We used the 'yours' and 'mine' rule to prevent expensive equipment being dropped and damaged. it is used when giving the item to another person or receiving it. When receiving the item you say 'mine' when it is in full control of you and then when giving it you say 'yours' when you are about to let go of it.

At the end of the workshop Matt said strike the kit (clear up all of the equipment and put it back in their boxes and bags).

Concept Idea Feedback

 Concept 1:      Horror/Action motorbike chase scene.

- It would be hard to film with a motorbike involved due to safety issues and the lack of people suitable within the school, but would work the same with just the sound effects of the bike getting closer. This would also add tension as you don't know what is chasing her you just know it a motorbike.

- Instead of having it as a serial killer have it based in a post apocalypse and the biker is from a camp, trying to chase her down. This is due to serial killers usually being very smart and an elaborate plan where as someone on a motorbike is less so like that.

- The idea of the motorbike circling around the shack without seeing it as and idea went down well, due to it being an unknown and unseen fear.

Concept 2:       Horror looping shack in the woods scene.

- Great and clever idea but is too much like a film than an opening sequence and gives away to much info for the rest of a film to follow. 

- People liked the whole looping idea of the scream that she was hearing, being her own scream, as it created more of a cliff hanger.

- It being set in the 1920s went down well but on the other hand it would create a more difficult filming process due to all costumes and props having to be perfect and nothing from the current day to be seen. Very easy to mess up.

Concept Idea 3

 This opening sequence is a thriller.

There is a man playing guitar on a stage with the noise of an audience in the background. it then cuts to a man loading up guns and putting on a bullet proof vest and and some armour. it then cuts back to the man playing guitar on stage and then quickly cuts back to the man with the gun walking towards the door of the room with the man playing guitar is performing in. the man finishes his song and there is a shot of the gun man opening and going into the room. a black screen appears and then a loud bang of a gunshot. a shot of the door that the man has just walked into is shown and the man that was playing the guitar walks out holding the gun and his guitar.

The narrative for the rest of the film is about how the 2 characters are related together and what happened inside that building.

Concept Idea 2

 

This opening sequence is within the horror genre and based around the 1920s.

The opening sequence starts with an upper class family sitting at a very posh dinning room table, with a family sitting around it having dinner, all well dressed in suits and dresses. A teenage girl sitting around the table hears a screaming girl coming from outside of the window. She asks to be excused from the table and quickly runs downstairs and out the front door to see whats there. She sees an orange light coming from in the forest on the border of their grounds so she runs over there to see what it is. 

After walking for a minute or two in the woods she comes upon a wooden shack. She had never seen this shack before even though it was within their grounds. she knocks on the door of the shack as there seems to be someone living inside. no one answers the door. she knocks again and still no answer. so she pushes on the door and it creaks open. she walks in and finds that all there is, is a dinning room table lit with candle light. she walks in further and the door slams shut behind her and the candles blow out. It cuts to the window in the dinning room which she first heard the scream out of originally and the exact same scream is heard. it then pans around and we see the same girl sitting at the dinning room table from the beginning looking out the window as if she has just heard something.

The narrative of the rest of the film is about the loop that she has just ended up in and how/why its happening and also how id she going to get out of it.

Concept Idea 1

- The genre of this opening sequence is action/horror.

The scene starts with a close up on a phone (messaging their mum), it then cuts to a girls face who's phone it is looking worried. It then cuts to a wider angle so you can see that she is actually in the woods. 

A faint revving motorbike is then heard coming from a distance which is slowly getting louder. the girl panics and starts running in the opposite direction to try and find a way out of the woods. (shots of the man on the motorbike speeding past are then shown). 

The girl finds an opening in the woods onto a field and sees a rickety rotting wooden shack in the distance (motorbike engine getting louder). she then runs to the shack and hides behind the counter inside. The motorbike sounds get louder and louder, then it circles around the shack multiple times until the engine stops. she then looks out of the shack and cant see anyone, so she turns around and there is the man in the shack with her. cuts with a scream.

The rest of the film will be about the killer motorbike rider, the peoples back stories of why he killed them and the tracking down of the man under the helmet.

Extra info:

The route mapped above is the path that the girl runs and that the motorbike chases her on. The arrow finishes and points to the wooden shack that she will end up at. 

Researching Into Film Roles

 Director

The director is a person hired by the producer/ producers that is very high up in status and controls the creative aspects of the film/series, bringing it to life. some famous examples of directors are: Steven Spielberg who has directed E.T, Jurassic Park, Jaws, West Side Story and many more very well known films.

Camera Operator 

The camera operator is a person that is actually behind the camera filming the scenes under control of the cinematographer (Director of Photography) and the director.  an example of a famous camera operator is Roger Deakins who worked on blade runner, skyfall and many more famous films.

Editor

The editor combines, levels and cuts all areas of the filming process and turns it into the masterpieces that we see today. some famous examples of these are Tom Cross and Elliot Graham who together edited 'No Time To Die' the newest James Bond film at this current time. 

Art director

The art director together with the director create the visual style for the film and produce what the director imagined. a famous example of one of these is Rick Carter who was involved with Jurassic park films, the polar express, avatar and many more incredible films.

Producer

The producer is the person behind the whole operation sorting out all of the funding and ideas for the film. Without them the films wouldn't exist. a famous example of one of these producers is James Cameron who produced the amazing film of Titanic.

Comparing Title Sequences (Grease/American Horror Story)

 Grease 

Grease is a romantic musical based around the 1950s and directed by Randal Kleiser. It stars John Travolta as Danny and Olivia Newton-John and Sandy.

From this opening sequence we can tell that the film will be a musical romance. This is shown as there is very upbeat music and the fact it says 'the actor/actress, playing the character' in the opening credits.

Various different ideas of setting the scene from the credits is used to set the time and scene of the film. for example references to different brands and trends of the decade that the film was based in are shown. these drawing also show where it is based as the ford thunderbird was very thought after and popular car in the USA.

The style of all of the animations and drawings shown, set the tone of the film as well as the costumes and props of the characters. 

Overall it is a very effective opening sequence telling the audience exactly who, what, where and when the film is going to be.

American horror story

American horror story is a horror series which include Terrifiying stories that shock the audience. it is produced by: Alexis Martin Woodall, Patrick McKee, Robert M. Williams Jr, Ned Martel, Lou Eyrich, Evan Peters.

From its opening sequence we can tell that is very dark and tense. It shows multiple old photos of babies, this would usually be an innocent shot but due to the use of lighting, non diegetic soundtrack, and visual effects, it makes the photos generally disturbing, as if these babies have been victims of this person we are in the eyes of.

All of the skulls, blood and props used also helps to set the tone of the series showing that it is definitely a horror. 

It shows to be set in in the basement of an old large house, this is shown where you can see someone walking down some stairs.

the narrative for the rest of the film could be about, what seems to be an asylum above the basement and maybe some horror stories that have taken place in the asylum.