Storyboarding

Graphic visualizing process (storyboarding) is when directors begin to think about bringing their ideas to life. Thinking about the story, character development and meaning.

Why are storyboards important?

• pitching an idea
• links planning to film process
• visualizing images and ideas
• visualize links between shots, action/graphic matches
• timings,continuity and pace
• technical awareness and understanding
• revise narrative sequences
• chance to make decisions and revise

Graphic Mask is a part of an editing process. Matching a graphic of a similar shape and size, and matching it to another one in another shot.

Cutting is linked with t.v soaps etc. This can be over used and lose detail, meaning and the tone of the scene. Therefore some directors don't cut too much and in fact use the camera to tell the story instead of editing more cuts in post production. This is to hold the verisimilitude and the audiences attention. Therefore creating a completely different feel and making it more of a movie or real life rather than just some edited t.v programme.

How to storyboard:

• photocopying a set of storyboards sheets
• use small frames
• draw in pencil
• number the shots
• make short notes
• note down the camera position
• little annotations on the storyboard with arrows

The storyboard is generally about already knowing what the scene is going to look like so it therefore is easier for the process

Previous Thriller Response - Analysis

 

Analysis:

The establishing shot is of a middle classed house on a street at night with a street lamp on. This is presented with a long shot to show the scenery and how isolated the house is at this time. The light from the living room in the house then turns on and then we see movement coming from within the house. This is presented with the use of shadows. We then see a figure come to the window to close the curtains this then cuts to a low shot of the window at a close up of the action of her closing the curtains but viewing into the house. This is shown like this to maybe make it seem as if it is someone hiding in the garden crouching down and looking in. Or to make it seem more mysterious. Furthermore this is presented in a very dark surrounding with only light coming from the window with the lights on. This then cuts to a shot of a pov camera shot of an extreme close up at the window as if someone is peering through the crack in the curtain.  This is shown through the camera constantly moving as if it someone looking and not actually a camera.This then cuts to a shot of inside the house from a high camera looking down on the action and movement of a woman walking around. This then cuts to extreme close up's of the woman's movements. This to emphasise the drama and tension in scene and in what she is doing. This then cuts in to an extreme close up of her laptop screen and the chat on the screen. This can be to show the chat as something significant.The girl then gets up and then as she gets up the camera jump cuts to flash up shots of link in the chat to show what it says and make it come across as dramatic. This therefore links to the start with the pov camera implying someone is looking in to the window or someone mysterious is there. This then fades to white with a match on action of two shots of the woman getting up and going in to the kitchen. The second shot is taken with a mid shot from a distance to show the girl coming towards the camera and walking past. As she walks past though a dark black figure walks past the hallway in the background. this then creates more tension and links into the horror genre as it just mentioned on the laptop screen reports of murders. there are then shots of the lights flickering on and off and this is captured with the camera looking into a mirror. In one of the flashes we see the dark figure again for a split second where he is standing next to the girl. It then cuts to a long shot looking down a corridor where the girl the walks towards the camera. It then turns to a pov shot of her reaching for the handle and this is shown through a wobbly camera to make it seem as if she is actually moving and the camera is her pov. This then changes to a low shot from the basement with darkness surrounding the open door with the women at the top. She is presented as dominant here as the camera is looking up to her. Furthermore this is shown through the lighting as all the light is coming from the doorway where she is standing at the top of the stairs. This shows her a superior with the black negative space around.

Sound in Horror

Sounds in horror makes the audience to feel frightened,nervous and anxious as they get the feeling of anticipation. Sound in horror includes high and low pitch and tones of sound. These sounds create a sense of nerve as the audience are aware of what comes after these sounds.

low pitch music:
Low pitch music is used in films to create a sense of danger. In the film Jaws, low pitch music slowing building a higher tempo, was played to create a dramatic tone and to create a sense of danger. Every time this music occurred in the film the audience understood Jaws was coming and the characters where in trouble. This low pitch sound made the film thrilling and shows how sound can easily create tone. This sound is still one of the most famous sounds of movie history.

High pitch music:
High pitched sound are used in films to build fear and to create suspense and anticipation in the film. In the the film Psycho, the shower scene uses high-pitched string instrument notes with very fast attack to build the tempo, tension and to create fear.

Lullaby music:
Lullaby music has become more popular with horror as the sense of innocents and children singing is scary for the audience listening. Lullaby music can be twisted and altered to make the lullaby sound frighting. You can do this by changing the words in the song to horror related words such as death and die. This makes the audience feel scared and worried about the following scenes. 

No music:
Silence can also be used in films to create tension as the audience anticipate the next sound which is usually the next scare or a everyday sound which leads to a sudden scare which catches the audience off guard. 

Horror Research - Guidelines and Women (group members work)

BBFC guidelines on horror:

U- should be mild should take account of the presence of young audiences. The outcome should be reassuring.

PG- can be frightening but shouldn't be too intense.

12- sustained threat with occasional gory moments only. 15- sustained or detailed infliction of pain or injury is not acceptable.

18- no constraints at this level on theme, language, nudity or horror.

My group have decided we are most likely going to do a 15 mainly because we are around the same age so we have an idea of what we would normally see in a 15 horror film, but also because it doesn't give us too strict boundaries so we don't have to restrict our ideas.

Representing women:

In films during the ... women were represented as the 'damsel in distress' who were always the victim and never the culprit. They wore dresses, had beautiful hair and looked stereotypically feminine. This is because at the time women were seen to be the weaker sex and didn't do bad or horrific things. However, across the course of the 20th century many changes have taken place to how women are represented on screen. For example, the Dracula story offers an interesting take on that change, as the different screen versions remain true to the original novel in making women broadly passive figures. The film began to show good women vs bad women through Count Dracula's success lies in his seduction of women from good to evil. In today's films women are shown that they can be just as powerful, violent and evil as male characters which could be argued to be a positive and negative thing for representing women.

What I have learnt from my group members work:

I have learnt about the guidelines and what to include in a film, which makes it suitable for each age group. I have also learnt the different ways in which woman are represented in films. This information will help us in our final piece as we are including a woman, and therefore need to know what makes them stereotypically more frighting.

Continuity Task - Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I think that our continuity task uses many features and conventions of real media products within the camera work and the editing. I personally belief that our continuity task looks professional however, there are some aspects which could be developed or changed to improve it overall. In some aspects of our task our camera techniques used within real media products which helps to achieve a high standard and helps to enhance our media product.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product represents social groups, such as teenagers in a negative way due to the issues they face in the clip. Teenagers are represented to talk about issues involved with their friends and hot topics that are spread around school. It can suggest that teenagers are represented in a negative way, as they talk behind their friends back and therefore teenagers cannot be trusted.Teenagers are also represented to have relationship problems. This is presented in our clip with an argument and the girl being annoyed with the boy. 

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
If our media product was produced and made for distribution, I think it would be distributed as a short film which could be shown to teenagers about the risks of giving out personal information which could help them realise the dangers and consequence of their actions. It would be used as an example and would teach teenagers to become safe with personal information. 

Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our audience for our media product would be teenagers. This is because they will be able to relate to the subjects and issues the see in the clip. They will also be able to relate with the characters as they are the same or similar age.

How did you attract/address your audience?
Our audience is addressed using the characters and topic in our media product. Our characters are at a similar and same age to our audience which helps them relate to the topics and issues they face as a teenager and social life. The audience can relate to the media through direct address as they feel they are part of the media and have a bond with the characters and topics they see within the media product. 

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During the filming and editing stages of our task I have learnt a lot about the techniques and technology that we used. In the filming stage I learnt about the camera and what techniques were best for our different shots and to achieve different aspects. In the editing stage I learnt about Adobe Premier and how our group can use this to develop and edit our clip to produce a professional looking final cut.

Brainstorm of ideas

In our brainstorm, we looked at our target audience questionnaire to start with the main genre we want to base our final piece from. Action thriller was the most popular and we have brainstormed what we expect to see including: sounds, characters, settings, costumes, camera and editing. We also brainstormed about horror thrillers and what we expect to see in them. Our group have decided to choose horror thriller as our main genre of our final piece. This is because we want to target a more specific and niche market. Therefore we choose horror thriller as it was less popular. Our group will brainstorm more idea about what we are going to include in our final piece. This involves looking at scripting, settings, camera, editing, characters, costumes and sounds. We must take all these points into consideration when brainstorming as it will give us a clear understanding of our group wants.