research for horror project

Im researching diffrent horror films to see what makes a horror film scary.
First i looked a the blair witch project. Heres a link to a scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMQQpmm5u3w
I noticed that theres no non diagetic music or sound effects and the film is all filmed handheld , making it look like a documentry. This makes it more scarier as it looks more realistic and makes us believe that it is real. The charaters also look isolated and helpless and makes them look more like victims.
Another scene i researched was mirros:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O92QxxgeCO8
This relates to the horror sequence my group are filming. This movie relates to our group project as our project as they are both about mirrors pocessing bodys and making them self harm or kill themselfs.

What is a thriller?

Many people ask what is a thirller? To me a thriller is a film that builds up tension. A thriller can be like a horror as they both build up tension . they might also explore the unknown or the unexpected. A good example is scream. This movie builds up tension by how you are an on looker watching the muders gruadully happen. Another way it builds up thriller is the way you do not see the killers identity.
Horror explores mainly the unknown and paranormal. This is my definition of a thriller

Frist group meet and synopsis



MY IDEA WAS ABOUT JACK THE RIPPER AND SHOWING ONE OF HIS KILLINGS. BUT MY IDEA WASN’T VOTED FOR. IM NOW WORKING ON LAURAS IDEA WITH GEORGE.
SYNOPSIS
REFLECTIONS IS A STORY OF A YOUNG GIRL NAMED ELIZABETH (18) WHO HAS ENDED UP IN A PSYCHIATRIC WARD OF A HOSPITAL AND REVOLVES AROUND THE RELATIONSHIP OF HER AND HER PSYCHIATRIST, DR HEMINGWAY (50S). WE BELIEVE HE IS TRYING TO SAVE HER FROM HER LIFE OF SELF ABUSE. WHICH SHE BELIEVES IS DUE TO THE IMPACT OF MIRRORS, WHICH INSTRUCT HER TO SELF MUTILATE.THE SCENE REVOLVES AROUND A CONVERSATION BETWEEN DR HEMINGWAY AND ELIZABETH CONTAINING FLASHBACKS OF INCIDENT WITHIN HER PAST UNDER THE CONTROL OF MIRRORS. WE LEARN THAT THE VOICE OF THE REFLECTION IS THE VOICE OF DR HEMINGWAY, WHO WE BELIEVE TO BE HELPING HER.ONE EVENING ELIZABETH HEAR THE VOICE OF WHAT SHE BELIEVES TO BE THE MIRRORS ORDERING HER TO FINALLY KILL HERSELF, SHE FOLLOWS HER INSTRUCTIONS AND WALKS TOWARD THE BATHROOM IN WHICH SHE WALKS TO A MIRROR… WHEN SUDDENLY DR HEMINGWAY WALKS TOWARD HER AND BRUTALLY KILLS HER. THIS SYNOPSIS IS A WORKING PROGRESS AND WE HIGHLY SUSPECT THAT THERE MAY BE CHANGES TO THE PLOT.

Final cut

Final cut pro is used to editting films and putting them together. We had this lesson with matt. We learnt that first we have to open final cut server. This uploads all the shots made and gets it ready. We add the footages on Final cut by pressing the cog button. You then have to make your own file and open it up on final cut pro. On final cut you can choose footage you want or parts of footage. to choose a part of the footage you press "i" to enter the footage and start cutting it and "o" to stop cutting the footage. You then press modify and make subclip. Final cut pro is very useful to improve your footages and makes sense of them.

Prelim task!

Where we filmed and what role did i play:
My group filmed in room N10,where we changed to set to a police questioning room. This was perfect as the room was dark and only had one table in the middle of the room. We also had a gun and handcuffs for props. My role was mainly as the camera man. i filmed alot of the footage and set up the camera each time we moved it.
Lighting:
The lighting mainly came from a small lamp on the table. It was the main source of lighting we had. It was effective and important to the scene as it set the scene. It is a cliche that all questioning rooms are dark with a lamp on the table.
filming:
The camera was already set up when we entered the room. I then moved it in place for the first shot and bubbled it so it was at the right angle. I setted the camera to f 2.8, as the room was dark and more light was needed to enter the camera. We filmed the whole footage in each shots, for example, we filmed the whole footage in midshot then filmed the same footage in over the shoulder shot. In the whole footage we followed the 180 degree rule. this means that we can only film on one side of the scene. We used words like standby, action and cut to let the people on the set know what was happpening. This exercise has help me alot as it has taught me how to use the camera properly and how to film a footage.

Camera and Tripod

This will be hard to type about seeing as i wasnt in the lesson when the students got introduced to the camera and tripod, but ill write what i know. The tripod folds out and the camera goes on top. theres a bubble and circle to show you if the tripod is straight. The camera has a record button on top. It has a little screen that comeso ut of the side so you can see what youre filming. the zoom and focus is on the lens. you use these to zoom in and out and to make the picture clearer.

Blogger

Simon told us to log onto blogger. When we signed in, each student had their own profile. Simon told us to choose a background for our blogs. We use the blogs to upload our work. We do this by clicking on New Post, writing our work, and once we are done we publish it by clicking "Publish Post".

This is the horror poster that i designed myself. How i made it was i took a picture of myself in a dim room allowing mininum light as possible. This gave the stereostypical idea that all rooms are frightning. In the picture i made my tattoo visable so i could edit it, as the movie is called "The Tattoo". I put the picture into photoshop for editing. I used the " burn" tool to make the room look darker. This makes the room look disowned and old. I didnt make my face visable to add a sense of mystery of my facial expression or identity of the victim.
After, i used the paint brush to add thin lines around the tattoo, so after i could use the liquidfy tool to stretch them around my body, making it look like the tattoo is overtaking and controling my body. I then inserted the movie title and slogan, which is "Art to die for" and used the liquidfy tool to disort the text.I wrote it in white writing to make it stand out and contrast the dark picture. Under the picture i added in the directors name and the main actors name. At the very bottom i added in the "New line cinema" logo to make it look more official. I had alot of fun creating this poster, even though it took a long time.

Our first introduction to photoshop was led by Matt. We were taken to the media computer room and logged on. Matt told us to find an image on his Hurtwood image sharing file. We then learnt to use the lasso tool to cut out a certain area of an image and clone it to place it somewhere else. To do this you use the lasso tool to cut around the certain area, ater copy it, go to edit and paste it.
We then learnt how to use the spot remover. This tool merges nearby colours on the area. This is useful to remove spots from your pictures. After we learnt how to use the tools burn,sponge and dodge. Burn can make certain areas of a picture darker. Sponge can make sertain areas black and white and dodge can add a red and orange mark on pictures. Matt also taught us how to use the liquidfy tool. To get onto this option you go to view and then click on "liquidfy". With this, you can stretch areas of the picture and disort it. I personally really like this tool.

Using the T.V studio!

We used the studio room in hurtwood for the first time. Simon selected two people to interview, two people to operate the camera and one person to operate the lights. The rest of us got interviewed. We were brought into the studio one by one to get interviewed. The camera was filiming us in wideshot. The lights provided contrast and better apature. While being filmed we were asked before hand to prepare the interview with the interviewer. While being filmed we were asked to look at the camera while asking or answering questions. This was our first ever practical session, which i really enjoyed.

this is a midshot picture. it shows my face up close, but still shows th enviroment in the background.

this is a long shot picture of me. It was taken just outside the media classes. The pictures shows me and the enviroment surrounding me, setting the scene.

I editted this picture myself. It shows my obsession of venom from the spiderman comic series. I did this by taking a picture of myself and finding the right image of venom from google. My picture was a midshot of myself while the venom shot was a wide shot.
After, i opened the pictures up on photoshop and used the lasso tool to cut my head from the picture of me to venoms picture. i then used the smudge tool to get the toungue and sharp teeth to appear on my face plus to make my head fit in with the picture.

About myself

Hello im Brett(also known as bruce).
Im from manchester but now im in hurtwood house. Im doing AS media and even though theres alot of work involved, i enjoy it alot. With this blog you will get to see my work and hopefully my films and posters. I Chose media beacause im one of those guys who watches too many films. i enjoy mainly comedy and horror movies. apart from movies, i also enjoy music alot. i mainly like heavy rock music and drum n bass, which most people dont enjoy and i also play guitar when i have a chance to . Hopefully ill be doing this subject for the next 2 years. a few of my faviourte movies are: Napoleon dynamite, Hills have eyes, Pulp fiction and many more. Best tv show in my opinion is family guy or south park.

so i hope you guys enjoy the blog! Have a look anytime you want but try not to stalk me.