Lighting

To help with my understanding of film Noir and our work in our Opening Title Sequence,I found that lighting is a very important feature that is used within noir; It is used as a device that helps set the mood and mystery.


High Key Lighting:

high key lighting aims to reduce the lighting ratio present in the scene. This was originally done partly for technological reasons, since early film and television did not deal well with high contrast ratios, but now is used to suggest an upbeat mood.It it now currently a style of lighting for film, television, or photography. High key uses unnaturally bright lighting to blow out most or all harsh shadows in an image. this method was originally developed as a solution to screens that couldn't properly display high contrast ratios, but has developed into more of a stylistic choice; perfect for a subject that is funny, lighthearted or beautiful.

Low Key Lighting:

Low Key Lighting It is a necessary element in creating a chiaroscuro effect. Traditional photographic lighting, three-point lighting uses akey light, a fill light, and a back light for illumination. This kind of lighting is usually used in black and white filters or in shadowed or dark scenes and photos. It accentuates the contours of an object by throwing areas into shade while a fill light or reflector may illuminate the shadow areas to control contrast. The relative strength of key-to-fill, known as the lighting ratio, can be measured using a light meter. Low key lighting has a higher lighting ratio.

Within our OTS we are considering to mainly focus on Low key lighting. To do so we will have  to consider avoiding intense shadows as the primary element of the composition. It will also have to be filmed in an interior location as manipulating our lighting and the positioning of our actor so that the shadows fall in just the right spots to create the look we want.

Lighting within our ots

When filming our OTS I mainly stuck to these sides of the camera. Although we did not use the same equipment in the one stated below. This ensured that we would get the best shot in our OTS as by using the techniques below this would allow a shot that was well contrasted without a glare on the camera.

Neo Noir

There are many sub genres of film noir and one of which is Neo Noir. The definition is as following:

Neo-noir (Translated as 'New Black')  is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.

To understand key features of the Neo Noir genre, we looked at clips in class of 3 films classed as the Neo Noir genre. We also made notes throughout watching these clips to identify typical and non-typical aspects which helps us determine what makes the Neo Noir different to the Noir genre itself. 

Our first film we watched was 1974 - The Red Riding Trilogy 

Our second film was Bladerunner - set in 2019

The final film was Bound- set in 1990 

When making our opening title sequence we will have to introduce the genre to the audience. Neo Noir will be a possibility for our OTS but we will have to compare the typical and non-typical characteristics with our own in order to find a fitting genre. 

StoryBoard

 Whilst Emily was producing our production company logo, Lilly and I have made a story board including camera positions and angles shown through illustrations.

Most of the shots here are shown using iconography through mise-en-scene  that I have made a post on below and are using our actors Bridie Magee, Adam Burton and Aidan Rawlinson.

This is our basic plot of our Opening Title Sequence however we may add in additional shots including our protagonist to show prevalence.

The first of our shots shows present day and starts with a close up of our femme fatal whispering into her lovers ear with the words 'Do you trust me?' echoes. A sound collage featuring a series of close up shots of her previous life of which she flirts with men.

The next shot would include a front shot of the femme fatal blowing a kiss in slow motion. The sound of her breath when blowing which will create a sound bridge of the bullet being shot from the gun which will be our next shot.  This will pan across where we see the anti-hero staggering as blood will seep through his shirt. This would transition into the femme fetal's hands claw down his chest which then cuts to a close up to her eyes with tears and makeup down her cheeks.

The shot will fade to black and cue titles. Our titles in order will include:

- A title rising from cigarette smoke.
- a glass of alcohol (probably beer in a bottle) and spills to create a title.
- Femme Fatale pulling up a stocking to show a title written on her leg.
- A credit card cutting cocaine with a title written on it. Although our OTS is inspired by old 1950's Noir, we have included current technology and features therefore our noir will be set in no mans land.
- Cards fanned out with poker chips in shot and the title written within the fan.
- A newspaper and a headline displaying our title.
- Lipstick written on a mirror.

We have not yet decided on specific titles and when they will be shown in our OTS however we have decided that we are going to show our main title 'Fatal.

Film Production Company Logo

Emily has made a logo. We thought our ots would look more authentic with a production company so we brainstormed names and we came up with the name 'RED'. This was because the main colour associated with Femme Fatales. Emily was left to create a logo and this is what i came up with.

This was made the logo on Photoshop blood splats and manipulated them to create the letters.

We also came up with a studio name/company we called it 'inc. incorporated studios'. This was also created by Emily using Photoshop.

OTS- experimenting with sounnd

Lilly has been experimenting with sound collages with our opening title sequence. This is explained in more detail in on her blog

Lilly's blog post: http://sandssallowsasmediaproductionschs2015.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/experimenting-with-garage-band.html

OTS- Mise-en-scene and Location

As I am the production designer, I am mainly the one who organizes the use mise-en-scene and location. So far I have decided in order to take the best shots and construct our titles well we will need to use the following:

Location:
As we are setting our title sequence using various lighting techniques and filming in black and white, we will need full control over the use of lighting. Therefore this rules out any exterior areas in order to film. In order to make our lighting more effective we have decided an interior location would be more practical, so we are using our schools dark room. This is more convenient as it is low cost and we wouldn't need any legal permission to film on the premises. It also happens to have the equipment we need (e.g lighting).

Mise-en-scene:
I have decided that the use of iconography will play a big part in our title sequence and therefore a range of typical props used throughout the titles will not only display this put will also establish the
Noir genre to our audience. We have decided to use:

• Alcohol - for legal reasons we will not be able to use alcohol but instead will use water with a strong colorant to give the effect of a substance such as wine. Liquids such as Blackcurrant squash will also give this effect. 

• Drugs- as above we will not be able to use drugs in our piece so another substance will have to be used to give this effect. We have decided to imply the use of drugs instead of having our character pretend to take it as this will lower the audience certificate and therefore more people will be able to watch. We will use things such as sugar or talcum powder to imply the use of cocaine in our titles.

• Playing Cards and Poker Chips - these are low cost and are very typical in the use of Noir displaying themes of greed, envy and pride. The use of these will not effect our audience certificate and the remains in our red, black and white color scheme.

• Newspapers- We may have some difficulty in using this prop due to the content of the media and the date. Although it is typically used it may result in us creating our own paper or not using the prop. This will have to be discussed further in our group.

• Blood - Fake blood can be bought although it can sometimes be too expensive. I have learnt how to make fake blood from my earlier sweded film using objects found around the house. this will able use to also control the use of pigment in our blood e.g. using less or more red to make it look realistic or stand out more. This will also create a foreboding atmosphere and also foreshadow our character's death. 

• Cigarettes and Smoke- Although we can use fake cigarettes in our piece the effect of smoke will have to be edited on as the use of cigarettes and fire is not allowed in the area chosen. 

•  Lipstick- we have considered the use of lipstick being in our titles and using it to write on a mirror to create a disorientating effect which is seen in film noir. The colour would be red and it is used to signify our femme fetal also displaying lust in our character. 

These mise-en-scene props are all used generally in film noir iconography and will be used in our piece with minor difficulty. As above, we will use this to select themes for our OTS and will present the Noir genre to our audience. Although, the props above will effect our certificate rating and will have to be discussed as the involvement of the props above isn't the only factor that will effect it; the implied significance and how they are used/presented to the audience will also depend on whether our rating is certificate 15 or 18.  

Opening title sequence plot and name

As a group, we decided to call our OTS 'Fatal' which is a play on words from the 'Femme Fetal' character. We decided this as our main protagonist would be our female Femme Fetal instead of the conventional anti-hero. Our plot consists of following the nameless women, who spent her life deceiving men, before falling in love with another and as a result of her previous use of different alias and killings of various men, her lover gets killed by a drug dealer, making her feel distraught.

This is explained further in Lilly's presentation.

Key and conventions of an OTS

A few conventions of our opening title sequence were included in our OTS plan and were shown within. However these are not the only key conventions that are considered and included. For example, Key and conventions of an opening title sequence include:

• Title of the film 
• Key actors involved 
• Cast and crew members 
• Director 
• Producers 
• The production company 
• Distribution company 
• Sound (e.g. voice, sound effects, soundtrack) 
• Graphics/live action/both shots 
• The main themes displayed in the film 
• The genre of the film and how it is displayed to the audience. 
• Pictures/images/clips/introduction of characters 
• Colour scheme included in the film (usually resembling the themes) 
• Establishing shots that show the location

Key and conventions of opening title sequence from ownisr

Noir story task

We cut up lines from a noir story board and rearranged the way in which the story line is presented. For example arranging flashbacks in different parts of the plot creates a more conventional film. From this experience I learnt when plotting a storyline, the noir genre doesn't follow a chronological order and as a result has more of an disjointed effect towards the audience who follow the typical simple story.This can be something we can consider when creating our opening title sequence.   

Notes for our OTS

We created a page of brief notes that includes characters ideas, narrative, mise-en-scene ect. This can be developed and refereed to when later creating our title sequence. I also have recorded a presentation in which I talk about my role within the production. This will be later uploaded to my blog again for an easy accessible reference

Presentation

We are currently composing a presentation in our group to discuss and share ideas planning for our Opening title sequence. Each idea will be presented by one member of our group for a minimum of 5 minutes. This presentation will be recorded and put on our blogs for later reference if needed. Our ideas will include set roles for each group member, a basic plot of our films and iconography ideas that will be used later for Mise-en-scene, Camera and Composition, Sound and Editing.

Analysis of opening title sequences 1

This is the original Opening title sequence of the series 4 of American Horror Story. I chose these opening titles as it is similar to those used in Film Noir. For example, the use of shadow and lighting displays the sense of danger that is typically displayed within Noir films. It also includes the use of camera and composition with techniques such as canted angles that is associated with disorientation. Again this is commonly used in Noir films, mainly by the use of mirrors. Therefore I found this Title to be appropriate to analyse and deconstruct. This knowledge will later relate to my future Noir opening titles and will apply to conventions that are used in title sequences similar to my genre.

      

TV title: American Horror Story Freak show

Date of Release: October 8th 2014

Production Companies:
Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision
Ryan Murphy Productions
20th Century Fox Television

Distributioners: 

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

The opening sequences are 1 minute 5 seconds long in length, made up of disjointed shots of characters and location. It also features white font type of actors such as Sarah Paulson over the top of stop motion animation and CGI (Computer Generated Imagery . However, the first queued titles of the opening 'American Horror Story' is written in black. This could be used to emphasise the name of the series or to make the title stand out against the background. The most important companies such as FX are presented first before the actors again showing the importance of it and who it was brought to you by.

As mentioned, the way that the opening flows is very disjointed. This could symbolise the theme of freak show as it gives the effect of being viewed by a kinetoscope typically found in shows and performances such as circuses and freak shows. This opening also involves a lot of symbolic iconography which relates to both the theme of freak show and the genre such as clowns displaying fear and horror and the use of broken toys like the dolls. The music in the title remains intact albeit with an added carnival-like soundscape created by a metallic rhythmic instrument. This is very horror based giving the audiance a foreboding effect and drawing them into the title sequence

Throughout the title sequences vague hints of important plot elements and events that compose the season. However it does not include the characters used but gives hint as to who is in the series. For example two bodies skeleton relates to the characters that are in the series (Dot and Betty the two headed girls). It does not reveal much of series but includes features that are related to the theme of the program such as the characters and props - spinning wheel foreshadowing the future episode involving this prop 

Noir Photo shoot

As part of our film noir project, we did a photo shoot in the style of a noir genre, rewritten fairy tale or film. I was part of Adam and Harley's shoot in the style of The Three Little pigs . Here are a few examples of photos we have done.

What is the 180° rule?

The 180° rule is a basic guideline regarding the regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. The camera itself generally stays on one side of the axis of action but occasionally can be used in the middle of the opposing angle. 

Continuity Task

We were set a continuity task to record a short clip with the following;

• A Person opening a door, turning the handle and walking into a room in three different shots. 
• A conversation. 
• Pulling out a chair and sitting down. 
• Not breaking the 180° rule. 
• Shot reverse shot. 
• An action match. 

We made our clip a Noir genre using a black and white filter, Royalty free music and a voice over.
This was used this to practice including specific features and practice continuity. The 180° rule also helped to maintain continuity by ensuring that the actors didn't move within frames. We used this to convert the traditional noir story into a short clip. our shot reverse shot editing technique was used to to show a connection between the characters and an action match on myself when opening and closing the door.

Continuity task from lilypotterxo on Vimeo.

The British Board of Film Classification

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), also known as the British Board of Film Censorship, is a non-governmental organisation, founded by the film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the United Kingdom who are funded by fees charged for those who submit films and video works for classification.

They classify films, trailers and advertisements on behalf of local authorities who licence cinemas. Their Classification Guidelines follow extensive public consultation, in order to practice applying and pay attention to changes in public's taste, attitudes, concerns and changes in the law to apply age ratings to the above.

The main roles in which the BBFC aim to achieve are, to protect children and vulnerable adults from potentially harmful or otherwise unsuitable media content and to empower consumers, particularly parents and those with responsibilities for children, to make informed viewing decisions.

When taking films into consideration, there are a number of general factors that the BBFC have to refer to when making a classification decision:

Context - The contexts is central to the question of acceptability of film and video content; taking account of issues such as public expectations of a work's audience in particular. The issue of sex, language or violence is presented within a film or video and depending on how strongly each topic is applied a classification is then applied.

Theme - the theme of a work will also be taken into consideration, but will depend significantly on the treatment of the theme and the sensitivity of its presentation. The most challenging themes such as drug misuse, sexual violence, racial hatred or violence are unlikely to be appropriate at the most junior levels of classification.

Tone and Impact - The overall tone of a work may also affect the classification decision. While the presentation of specific issues such as sex and violence may not be problematic at a particular category, a work with a dark or unsettling tone may receive a higher classification.

Discrimination - Potentially offensive content relation to matters such as race, gender, religion, disability or sexuality may arise in a wide range of works, and the classification decision will take account of the strength or impact of their conclusion of which the context of the content which may appear also to have a bearing.

Drugs - No work taken as a whole may promote the misuse of drugs and any detailed portrayal of drug misuse likely to promote the activity.

Works which normalise or glamorise drug misuse are likely to receive a higher classification than works which show drug misuse while emphasising the dangers.

Imitable Behaviour - Any detailed portrayal or criminal and violent techniques, and glamorise of easily accessible weapons, such as knives. Works which portray anti-social behaviour such as bullying and likely to receive a higher classification.

Sex- The portrayal of sexual activity can range from kissing to detail of unstimulated sex. Sex works will normally only be passes at the adult categories. However those which only contain sex will be passed at 18.

R18 rating and what applies

R18: Restricted 18.To be shown only in specially licensed cinemas, or supplied only in licensed sex shops, and to adults only.

The following content is not acceptable:
• material which is in breach of the criminal law,
including material judged to be obscene under the
current interpretation of the Obscene Publications Act
1959 (see Annexe)

• material (including dialogue) likely to encourage
an interest in sexually abusive activity which may
include adults role-playing as non-adults

• the portrayal of sexual activity which involves real
or apparent lack of consent. Any form of physical
restraint which prevents participants from indicating a
withdrawal of consent

• the infliction of pain or acts which may cause lasting
physical harm, whether real or (in a sexual context)
simulated. Some allowance may be made for
moderate, non-abusive, consensual activity
• penetration by any object associated with violence or
likely to cause physical harm

• sexual threats, humiliation or abuse which do not
form part of a clearly consenting role-playing game.
Strong physical or verbal abuse, even if consensual, is
unlikely to be acceptable

These Guidelines will be applied to the same
standard regardless of sexual orientation of the
activity portrayed.

18 rating and what applies

18: Only suitable for adults
Adults should be free to choose their own
entertainment. Exceptions are most likely
in the following areas:

• where the material is in breach of the criminal law,
or has been created through the commission of a
criminal offence

• where material or treatment appears to us to risk
harm to individuals or, through their behavior, to
society. For example, the detailed portrayal of violent
or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use, which may
cause harm to public health or morals. This may
include portrayals of sadistic or sexual violence
which make this violence look appealing; reinforce
the suggestion that victims enjoy sexual violence; or
which invite viewer complicity in sexual violence or
other harmful violent activities

• where there are more explicit images of sexual
activity in the context of a sex work (see below) or
where the primary purpose of the images in question
is sexual arousal
In the case of video works, which may be more
accessible to younger viewers, intervention may be
more frequent than for cinema films.

Sex education at 18:
Where sex material genuinely seeks to inform and
educate in matters such as human sexuality or safer
sex and health, explicit images of sexual activity may
be permitted.

Sex works at 18:Sex works are works whose primary purpose is
sexual arousal or stimulation. Sex works containing
only material which may be simulated are generally
passed 18. Sex works containing clear images of real
sex, strong fetish material, sexually explicit animated
images, or other very strong sexual images will
be confined to the R18 category. Material which is
unacceptable in a sex work at R18 is also unacceptable
in a sex work at 18.

15 rating and what applies

15: Those of 15+
Discrimination: The work as a whole must not endorse
discriminatory language or behavior, although
there may be racist, homophobic or other
discriminatory themes and language.

Drugs: Drug taking may be shown but the work as a whole
must not promote or encourage drug misuse
(for example, through instructional detail). The
misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous
substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is
unlikely to be acceptable.

Imitable behavior: Dangerous behavior (for example, hanging, suicide
and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which
could be copied. Whether the depiction of easily
accessible weapons is acceptable will depend on
factors such as realism, context and setting.

Language: There may be strong language. Very strong language
may be permitted, depending on the manner in
which it is used, who is using the language, its
frequency within the work as a whole and any special
contextual justification.

Nudity: There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or
educational context. There may be nudity in a sexual
context but usually without strong detail.
Sex: Sexual activity may be portrayed, but usually without
strong detail. There may be strong verbal references
to sexual behavior, but the strongest references are
unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context.
Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or
stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.
Threat: There may be strong threat and horror. A sustained
focus on sadistic or sexual threat is unlikely to
be acceptable.

Violence: Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the
infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images
are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic violence
is also unlikely to be acceptable.
There may be detailed verbal references to sexual
violence but the depiction of sexual violence must be
discreet and justified by context

12/12A rating and what applies

12/12A: Suitable for 12+ audiences. May contain material that is not suitable for those under 12.

Discrimination: Discriminatory language or behaviour must not
be endorsed by the work as a whole. Aggressive
discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to be
acceptable unless clearly condemned.

Drugs:Misuse of drugs must be infrequent and should not be
glamorized or give instructional detail.

Imitable behavior:No promotion of potentially dangerous behavior
which children are likely to copy. No glamorization of
realistic or easily accessible weapons such as knives.
No endorsement of anti-social behavior.

Language:There may be moderate language. Strong language may
be permitted, depending on the manner in which it is
used, who is using the language, its frequency within the
work as a whole and any special contextual justification.

Nudity:There may be nudity, but in a sexual context it must be
brief and discreet.

Sex:Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed.
Moderate sex references are permitted, but frequent
crude references are unlikely to be acceptable.

Threat:There may be moderate physical and psychological
threat and horror sequences. Although some scenes
may be disturbing, the overall tone should not be.
Horror sequences should not be frequent or sustained.

Violence:There may be moderate violence but it should not
dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on
injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be
permitted if justified by the context.
Sexual violence may only be implied or briefly and
discreetly indicated, and its depiction must be justified
by context.

PG rating and what applies

PG: PG or Parental guidance means that some scenes may be unsuitable for young children.

Discrimination: Discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to
be acceptable unless clearly disapproved of, or in an
educational or historical context, or in a particularly
dated work with no likely appeal to children.
Discrimination by a character with whom children can
readily identify is unlikely to be acceptable.

Drugs: References to illegal drugs or drug misuse must be
innocuous or carry a suitable anti-drug message.

Imitable behavior: No detail of potentially dangerous behavior which
young children are likely to copy, if that behavior is
presented as safe or fun. No glamorization of realistic
or easily accessible weapons such as knives. No focus
on anti-social behavior which young children are
likely to copy.

Language: Mild bad language only. Aggressive or very frequent
use of mild bad language may result in a work being
passed at a higher category.

Nudity:There may be nudity with no sexual context.

Sex:Sexual activity may be implied, but should be discreet
and infrequent. Mild sex references and innuendo only.

Threat: Frightening sequences or situations where characters
are in danger should not be prolonged or intense.
Fantasy settings may be a mitigating factor.

Violence: Violence will usually be mild. However there may be
moderate violence, without detail, if justified by its
context (for example, history, comedy or fantasy).

U rating and what applies

U: The U rating or Universal makes it suitable for all audiences ages 4+. This should be set within a positive framework and should offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror

Discrimination: discriminatory language or behavior is unlikely to be acceptable unless clearly disapproved of.

Drugs: References to illegal drugs or drug misuse must be infrequent and innocuous, or have a clear educational purpose or anti-drug message suitable for young children. Potentially dangerous or anti-social behavior which young children may copy must be clearly
disapproved of. No emphasis on realistic or easily
accessible weapons.

Language:Infrequent use only of very mild bad language.

Nudity: Occasional nudity, with no sexual context.

Sex: Only very mild sexual behavior for example, kissing)
and references to such behavior

Threat:Scary or potentially unsettling sequences should be
mild, brief and unlikely to cause undue anxiety to
young children. The outcome should be reassuring.

Violence:Violence will generally be very mild. Mild violence
may be acceptable if it is justified by context (for
example, comedic, animated, wholly unrealistic).

Film Noir Fan Site

I have researched a lot about Film Noir and examples and have found a couple of fan sites that I have found useful or will be useful to me in the future. These sites include the background of the genre and the films themselves, as well as videos, pictures and articles to help explain and discuss the foundations and concept of Noir.

Film Noir Foundation: http://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/home.html

American Film Noir: http://americanfilmnoir.com/

Film Noir Studies: http://www.filmnoirstudies.com/more/index.asp

Film Site: http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html

Noir of the week: http://www.noiroftheweek.com/

Film Noir examples

Below is a short production of examples featuring trailers of  Noir films I have made. These examples included have been selected throughout various periods of time from lest recent 1950's to 2012. This video I have made shows not only the transition of development through time.

These gives us an idea of the time period we want for our future noir project but also gives an insight as a few examples of film noir that include similar iconography, storyline and characters.

Iconography associated with film noir

In class, we made a list of which included subjects that were relevant to the Film Noir genre. This includes typical and almost stereotypical examples of what we thought that we should include in our future film and the identity of the genre. The list is as followed.

                      Other examples of common iconography include:

The highlighted words and phrases on this sheet show common iconography that I personally think that is used heavily in the Film Noir genre such as heavy lighting coming through blinds, Femme Fatales and the colour red. This can be later used in my opening title sequence to establish the Noir genre or as a basic basis that can be built upon to then later develop ideas that can be used.

Saw Swede

Below is the final cut of our sweded Film, Saw.

Flickr

I have added a couple of film noir photos taken from various films and added a brief description of them. This was done on flickr.

Flickr film noir photos

What is Film Noir?

By definition film noir is a style or genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace. This term was originally by a group of French critics; to American thriller or detective films made in 1944-1954. This was the work of directors such as Orson Welles, Fritz Lang and Billy Wilder.

Film Noir is inspired by Americas' crime fiction and described as describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations and was brought to the screen by European émigré directors whom of which shares a storytelling sensibility.Film noir of this era is associated with a low key black and white visual style that has roots in German expressionist  Cinematograph It is famous for its hight stylised, overly theatrical and imagery drawn from the earlier era of German 'expressionist' cinema but became popular in the US during the Great Depression. 

Saw sweded film video

We have now finished our Saw sweded film however we have overrun a lot and it is currently over 9 minutes. Unfortunately we haven't been able to upload it to Vimeo as it's file size is too big. It is not on Google drive so anyone can watch it. It is because of its file size that the quality isn't as good as we hoped it would be.

Finished!

Today we finished filming the last ever scene of Saw. This was the reverse bear trap scene. Aidan is now taking the rest of our scenes and editin them today so hopefully it should be uploaded between tonight and tomorrow. 

Top ten favorite films part 1 (10 - 6)

My all time favourite films consist of either the Horror, Family film or Children genre. I am a big fan of film and spend most of my time watching them whether it be on Netflix, TV or my expanding DVD collection. This list below will include my top ten favorite films I have watched. These movies I have picked are my favorite  due to either my favorite Actors, Storyline, Directors, Genre or Morals

10. Seed Of Chucky

Trailer: http://youtu.be/psSMY7UDjnk

I really enjoy the Chucky franchise however Seed Of Chucky makes one of my top 10 because I like the story line of the family being united together as if they were their true forms as humans not dolls. The use of the gender confusion of Glenn is quite realistic but has a good twist at the end when he finally decides his true form. The idea of the child being an outcast with his serial killer, married parents; Chucky and Tiffany,  creates tension when Glenn takes a disliking to his parents lifestyle choices. This plot can oddly be relatable as well as succeeding to add elements of gore and violence throughout the film.

9. The Addams Family: Family Values 

Trailer: http://youtu.be/IHgfQ-0lYbg

This film is another long time favorite based on the old Addams family episodes in 1964-1966. The theme of this film is quite dark and gothic yet has a lot of aspects of humour which makes it an appealing family film. Again this film is relatable as it follows a family lifestyle yet still adds twists to make it an unique film about an alternative family with everyday life problems. The film is full of dark humour mostly from character Wednesday Aadams; a girl with a morbid and macabre attitude yet still can be understood as a typical teenager with a haterid of othesr actions and personality. 

 8. Silent Hill Revalations

Trailer:http://youtu.be/KMWrZmD0AN4

A sequal to Silent Hill (2006) and based of off the horror video games, Silent Hill is a dark film about a dream world in which a girl visits full of creatures like pyramid head and zombified nurses. I really like this film as it is really unique from its story line and creatures and adds elements of surprise in each scene. The effects of this film are very elaborite making the film itself appear realistic and believable instead of cheap and fake. The main feature of this film is that it is 3D which draws you into the film even more making the effects of the film more dynamic and scary as it contains a lot of thrills. 

 7. Sleepy Hollow

Trailer:https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R6O4Himch7g

This film happens to be one of my favorites as it contains my favorite actor (Johnny Depp) as it's main role. Set in the 1900's before proper medical schools and modern technology in Sleepy Hollow, detective Ikabod Crane sets out to investigate the murders in a small village however seems he has unraveled a big secret about the village. This film also uncovers a subconscious state about his childhood whilst solving the beheadings in the village. As well as adding flashbacks into the characters past we also find a love story acting upon characters. This film is easy to follow dispite the many elements Ikabod reveales about his life. However, again surprises do occur when Ikabod finally meets his match and finds the suspected killer of the murders. 

 6. Bride Of Chucky

Trailer: http://youtu.be/I-WZYQ6nABA

Bride Of Chucky is a favorite of mine and it takes a typical love story between two characters and warps it. When Tiffany and Chucky are reunited as former lovers from his past human life, Tiffany reconstructs him from the Police Evidance locker and performs a voodoo ritual to bring her sweetheart back to life. This film has a brutal consequence for Tiffany as Chucky then kills his fincée, putting her soul into a doll too and can soon be with chucky and contuinue a homicidal obsessed and choleric partners in crime 

Billy the Puppet makeup

Today we filmed the Billy the Puppet scene from Saw. We had previously bought the props and makeup for the look however we didn't use the wig as we didn't think it looked as good as using my natural hair. 

Editing

We have currently edited half of our sweded film successfully and have one scene left to film. We are filming that scene tomorrow and finishing off the rest of our editing. We are hopeful that the film will be finished by tomorrow evening and uploaded then if not Thursday.  

Top ten favorite films part 2 (5-1)

5. Saw II

I prefure this Saw film against any other as it is set out much better than the rest of the franchise; including a unknown house holding hostage 5 of Jigsaws victims. During the menising storyline of how they can escape they also look more into eachothers past as to why these selected few are placed here. Traps are set across the house including the famous 'Needle Pit' where we see Amada being forced into. This brings the aspect of victimous horror into the films which Saw is known for. 

Trailer: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D_XIl1TRMAM

4. Sweeney Todd

Unlike any other mentioned this is the only Musical involved in my top 10; this is because I don't tend to find the story line particually involving or connecting in this genre. However I find that Sweeney Todf isn't simular to any musical I've heard of before. Despite its cheerful songs and attitude this film contains a very dark plot filled with unexpected twists along the way. We are involved in many dilemas in the film including; Anthony's love for Johanna and Sweeney's well known revenge upon Judge Turpin. Its not until later in the film that Mrs Lovett's epiphany hits Mr. Todd and soon his revenge can be placed. This film filled with gore, dark horror and a love story which makes this so appealing and one of my top 10. 

Trailer:http://youtu.be/L_hgrfZVlJA

3. Beetlejuice 

Directed by Tim Burton, 'Beetlejuice' is in my top 3 for its use of Comedy and Horror to make a Family Film and liked by all. After a tragic accident, a new family move into Adam and Barbara Maitlands house unawear of the ghosts still learing aroud not wanting the new arrives in their dream home. It isn't clear to the new Deetz family that they should leave and also to the Maitlands how they can get them to. Until dark girl, Lydia, incounters the two trying to scare away the new family. Barbara and Adam desperatly seek advice to find an answer to their problems and it's not until they find the service of 'Bio-exorcist' Betelgeuse in order to remove the obnoxious new owners of the house.

Trailer: http://youtu.be/1_P0xhscRxM

2. House Of 1000 corpses 

2003 film directed and written by Rob Zombie is another enjoyable film containing two teenage couples traveling across the backroads of Texas in search for urban legends of brutal murders. They end up in Captain Spaulding's (Played by Sid Haig) murder tour and isn't long before they unexpectidly end up prisoners in a bizarre and sadist home of a family of serial killers and accidently find Dr. Satan's lair; a person of which was only mentioned in urban legends. This film contains very strong gore and violance that is very realistic, helped by its setting -modern day texas-. 

Trailer: http://youtu.be/c96DM_5AHbg

1.The Devils rejects 

The Devils Rejects is my favorite film currently. A sequal to the film 'House Of 1000 Corpses' and filmed in 2005. I personally love the dark Comedy in this film as well as the Horror aspects as it brings the characters more alive and realistic instead of the 'Serious' approach of killers that most films contain today. The setting of this again is in America however is mainly set in a Motel. It is here that they find their next unfortunate martyrs. The family takes to the road to escape a vengeful police raid after taking their mother hostage to try and imprison them and fall into the justice they deserve. Like above, this film is very realistic due to the killers approach and setting. The use of comedy and horror again I feel makes this a better film than the first and overal my favorite film.

Trailer: http://youtu.be/esaeEfGFesI

Plans ahead

We have planned to meet up as a group and start to edit our Saw sweded film. We have also made plans to film our final scene, intro and credits on Tuesday as well meaningout Sweded film should be completed by Thursday which is our deadline as we go into sixth form on that day.

Credits

I have made a small list of cast that have helped to make our film or the role in which they played in it. We will show these at the end of our film as our credits as well as our Saw logo as our intro to give structure to our sweded film.

Theme song

Using Audacity and a Microsoft standard microphone, Harley and Adam created the theme of Saw using only their voices. 

This is the link to the theme is below: 

https://soundcloud.com/meplusone/saw-theme-tune

Bathroom scenes finished

We have now finished all scenes in the bathroom and are currently starting to record our theme song and prepare for our 'reverse bear trap' scene featuring Billy the Puppet and Amanda Young played by myself.

Zap character

Due to one of our groups absence we no longer had a character to play Zap. A solution we came to was to use a friend to play the character. We got Tom Grand to play the character as he is taking A-Level drama. This characters role was very short and due to Adam's (Dr. Lawerance Gordon's) absence, we had to make sure that he wasn't in shot but could be included in the later scene when editing all of our shots together.

His clothes consisted of a dressing gown on top of a hoodie to form a cloak.

Day 2 filming

We did more filming with the bathroom scenes today including the scene where Dr Lawrence Gordon saws off his foot. For this we made our own fake blood; this included flour, red food colouring, soy sauce and honey. This worked well on camera as it gave it a good consistency however wasn't very pigmented and was very transparent. We also used jelly to form the basis of the wound for John kramer's head. John Kramer consisted of a structure of towels and clothes to form a dummy in our set. This would be easier as then one person wouldn't have to lie on the floor and remain position until his role was placed in the major plot twist at the ending.

Day 1 of filming video

We breifly recorded a video of our day 1 of filming expirerance and uploaded it unlisted into You Tube. In the video we have Adam mainly speaking with a small imput of Aidan whilst I film. This link below will take you straight to the video.

http://youtu.be/DbdYF656f0Q

Photo of Wife an Child

This photo is a prop of our bathroom scene where a photo of Dr Lawerance's family are shown. The props we use are the black wig and a tea towel we used for gags

Filming Day 1

Today Adam, Aidan and myself are filiming the first few scenes of our film. We're filming in the bathroom of our groups house as its the best place for our film. We've sucessfully found all of our props and are filming with our tripod and camera we've borrowed from school. Adam is playing the character Dr. Lawerance Gordam and Aidan is playing Adam S. As Harley our Camera man is away I will be filming our footage. 

Props (2)

Prices: 

Face paint 1.99

Bald cap 1.75

Blood capsuals 65p

Fake cigarettes 90p

Dirty face soap 65p

These are the props that we purchased today. We have not yet set a budget however have split the cost of each between our group. We have made sure we spent the least we can bringing our so far total at £5.94. We still have props we haven't bought yet such as wigs however we will improvise with props such as chains by making paper chains made from grey paper.

Props (1)

Tomorrow my group should be buying props for our swede. Things we need to think about buying are:

- Chains

- Toy saws 

- Fake blood

- Bald cap

- Wigs

- White face paint

These are the things that we know we definatly need however some improvising will be made as to what we need. We also haven't set a budget yet though are splitting the cost between 4 of us. We are planning to buy the things we need as cheaply as we can to benifit our low budget.

Technology (2)

We were able to borrow a video camera from school however we also have wasy access to our phone video cameras or a flip camera just in case. We also have access to a tripod but we don't know if we are going to use it as the unsteadiness of usuing someones arm will give a cheapness of the swede. 

Characters/Cast (2)

These are the characters included in our scenes. We have yet to decide who plays each character. 

- Adam

- Amander 

- Billy The Puppet 

- John Kramer

- Lawrence 

- Lawrence's Child

- Lawrence's Child

- Police detective 1

- Police derective 2 

- Zap

Storyboard (2)

We created a mini story board of the scenes we are filming. This isnt out final storyboard as we need to include camera angles of our scenes. We will also include short quotes from each scene as a basic guildline when writing our script 

Storyboard an key content of Saw

 This is the key content that we throught was important to include throughout the film

We then eliminated less important content and prioritised key points and ordered them. This photo shows the start of our story board. 

Characters/Cast (1)

We are planning to set our cast list today once we know what characters are in our 10 desired scenes. We also know that some members of out group will have to play more than 1 character at a time due to out low numbered group. 

Technology

We are also hoping to borrow a typically used video camera to film on although we also have Iphones and a flip camera if the video camera doesn't fit our required low budget overall look of the swede. 

Key content of our film

Today we are re-watching Saw and finding key content to include in our swede. We are hoping to include 10 key points however we may need to increase or decrease the amount of scenes to fit in a 2 minute time limit 

Saw title

As we have to state our sweded name, I did some image research of the text and color of the saw logo. I then copied the font and colored it in black as it is mostly black in the films but ocasionally red on the film covers. This will be used in the introduction of our film.

Developed photos of our logo 

1) basic outline of the text

2) Black outline added

3) Final design colored

What Sweded film we have decided.

My group consists of four members of my class in my Sweded film group; Aidan Rawlingson, Adam Burton, Harley Goulder and myself. 

Firstly we decided the genre of films that we wished to swede which was those of a horror or thriller aspect. Once we decided the main genre we could then break down which films we can swede. Our options we discussed were;

- Pulp Fiction 

- Shaun Of The Dead 

- Saw 

- Terminator 

- Final Destination 

We came to a conclusion that with the amount of people we have in our group and how many of the cast and extras there were in films such as Shaun of the dead and Terminator, that Saw would be the most practical and due to its graphic content including the traps that are used in the film. Props such as the reverse bear trap could be easily made from materials such as carboard. The scene itself is set in a tiled room which again could be set in one of our groups bathrooms. 

In conclusion, we have decided that Saw will be our sweded film choice as its the most practical and suitable for our group

 

What is a 'sweded' film?

Sweded films are summarized recreations of famous or well known films using limited and low budget resourses (budget props to mimic source material) and technology such as a camcorder. These films are much shorter in length than the originals. 

A common example of a sweded film is 'Be Kind Rewind' staring Jack Black. After 'Jerry' accidently wipes all of the films at the video store he proceeds to shoot Sweded films in order to replace the films he wiped. Since then it has been widely popular to create Sweded films most commonly uploaded to You Tube.