Keep Out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMFEZecTpZo



Keep Out

We named our final project Keep Out, as the phrase is significant in the film (on the DVD and carved into tree). Through Keep Out, we aimed to take the experience we gained from our preliminary task 'White Men Can't Whistle', in which we mocked and satirised American drama and continuity, and get serious. The preliminary turned out to be a project to be proud of on the comedy aspect, and our group was happy with the results, however in this project we decided to make a horror film, a very difficult genre to find success in.

Prior to Keep Out, we were working on a different film for our final project which I have documented on this blog. We had filmed and drawn out a plan, but after close review of what we had filmed, we decided to do a U-turn and start again from scratch. What led to this decision was primarily 2 things; firstly, we realised our initial effort just wasn't scary and didn't conform to any of the features that make up a good horror film and secondly, I found inspiration through other videos as to how to make our film creepy/scary, which I have acknowledged in a previous post.

Enquiry for Copyrighted Material Acception

I have received a reply from the band 'The Rose Affair' concerning the use of their song Fifth Avenue. This was their reply. I'm excited to incorporate the song into our project and I hope it blends well with the atmosphere where we're including the song. I was thinking of using the song at the beginning as it helps create a false sense of security with the catchy guitar and laid back tone of the song, as well as making it diegetic, with the protagonist listening to the song through headphones.

Update

Update for 17th March:


We will be filming the new scenes on Friday. I believe what we have so far (the found footage) is very well made and I hope the proceeding and succeeding bits of footage can be just as well made as the found footage is. I was thinking of getting in touch with some artists over including music in our film, nothing big, just a track the protagonist is listening to at the beginning. Things like this is what can take you from one grade to another, and since it's not much of an effort, I might as well. It may be futile, but it'd be cool to get an e-mail backI will make a list of tracks I was thinking of including;


Fifth Avenue by The Rose Affair
Painkiller by Red House Glory


The two songs mentioned are very niche and, to my knowledge, are not represented by copyright distributors such as BMI, therefore, I will get in touch with both bands over e-mail and find out whether I would be able to use their songs for free.

Update

Update for 10th March:


We finished a draft version of our project on 6th March, however our media teacher told us we couldn't have the majority of the film as one shot, which I had considered initially. We then had to think of a way of incorporating the found footage with more shots, but as well as trying not to rip 'The Ring' off too much. We've all decided the protagonist, instead of making a vlog, will be sent an e-mail from a friend as spam mail, "If you watch this video you will die" sort of thing. Initially he ignores it, but ends up receiving many more until he decides to watch it, after watching, I think it'll be interesting to have a shot of the same e-mail being forwarded with blood on the screen, implying he's been killed and everyone who passes it on has been killed. It is either this idea or the protagonist finding a DVD on the streets and watching it home, afterwards showing him dead some way or another.


We have decided to do this due to our strong interest in having a modern technological aspect to the project, whether that be through a vlog or spam mail. I have made a storyboard for the initial version and will be posting soon. I feel as though we really need to nail down on one complete idea, otherwise our blogs will become very confusing. I believe this idea has still got the same foundations as the last one, therefore, I'm not going to make a new storyboard for it.

Setting, Costume, Sound, Lighting and other relatively important things... v2.0

Setting

The setting of the new project will be between 2 places. The vlog featuring the protagonist will be filmed in one of the group members' house, or alternatively somewhere in the school that looks "homey". We have already done test shots of the first scene in 2 areas of the school and I believe we'd be better doing it at someone's house, as we have more control over lighting, surroundings and props. The found footage will generally be filmed in Birkenhead Park, which was chosen due to it's easy access and vast open space. Over this weekend I will be hoping to take a camera out with me and take a few shots, worth a couple of seconds each, of interesting things to include in the found footage to dice it up and make it creepy.


Birkenhead Park (copyright of www.webbaviation.co.uk)

Costume

The decision of costume is undecided as of yet, however it is dependant on whether we film the vlog in school or not. A benefit of filming it in someone's house is that we can dress in any way we would like, while in school we'd need to stay in uniform. For the found footage Lewis, the victim, will bring a costume of his choice to school with him on Wednesday to get changed into so we can film in the Park after school. Seeing as I am the protagonist, I think I should choose clothes which I don't mind getting absolutely soaked in fake blood and scarring clay.

Sound

A big bonus with making our project in the style of a blog is the fact the sound can be as bad as it can be and we could use the fact it's supposed to be an amateur styled vlog as an excuse, however we will still try and make the sound quality as good as we can. For the found footage, We will be looking to incorporate distorted, creepy sounds as I have mentioned in previous posts. I don't think we will be using any sound from the original park filming at all, due to it's non-linear nature.

Lighting

In the test shots, we encountered a problem with the lighting. We took a test shot in the English storeroom as it was the most roomy place we could find available in the school (after multiple visits to the staffroom, English teachers and classrooms to get a key for it). As it was a test shot it was mainly insignificant, but we found the blatent natural lighting in the room from the massive window at the end ruined the atmosphere a bit. When we take final shots, we will try and make the room we film in void of natural light, but lit mildly with artificial light. I think my sister's room would be the best for this, as her light has a slider by the switch which lets you control how bright it is. I'll ask her if she doesn't mind fake blood all over her carpet.

Timeline: Then and Now

Timeline for previous project:


Initial Planning : 10th November/30th November
Script/Storyboard : 1st December/20th December
Filming : 1st January/25th February
Editing : 2nd January/27th February

Timeline for new project:

Initial Planning : 18th February/23rd February
Script/Storyboard : 27th February/2nd March
Filming : 25th February/4th March
Editing : 4th March/11th March

As you can see, our new project is far more condensed with a lot less time, however I believe this will be beneficial to us, as the pressure on us due to time with most likely refresh and maintain our work ethic and motivation with enough time to be able to complete the project without rushing it. As I have mentioned, this project will be easier to film, but a lot more effective. I am planning to take a camera out today to ensure we have a camera to film the duration of the film and avoid what happened before half term.

New Plot and Updates

Update for 24th February:


During a lesson a couple of days ago we decided on a new plot, so before I make the storyboard etc. it'd be useful to post an overview of the plot on here first:


The protagonist begins the video by fixing his camera into a steady position and after achieving this, sits down. The format of the video is the standard "vlog" type setting, as is seen by the background and the way the protagonist addresses the camera ("hey guys" etc.). He talks about a video which has been circulating around the internet that allegedly depicts a man being murdered and then shows the footage. The footage will be a very grainy, light sensitive picture showing a man being followed through a park, with distorted sound and imagery. The footage will climax with the man being murdered and the killer (wearing a mask) looking at the camera. After the footage is over it cuts back to the protagonist, who has since been murdered as brutally as we are able to depict with the resources we have. After a few seconds the camera begins to shake, and is lifted upwards to show the same masked man holding a bloody knife, which then cuts to credits.


The most difficult part about making this a successful project will be making the "found footage" as eerie and creepy as possible, which can only be done with the right angles, editing and sound. We all agreed on this plot due to it's modern take on the traditional horror situation, with the beginning being a man vlogging about the video. A similar take is achieved attempted in a new horror film called "unfriended", but frankly, I'm sure if our group had time to make a 2 hour version of our project, it'd be better than that anyways. Another difficulty will be the death of our protagonist, as we want to make it as gory and as shocking as possible, which is possibly limited with the make-up and application skills we have, as there is a thin line between something looking realistic or looking ridiculous. I suggest the victim be shown with a cut throat, as it is probably the easiest thing we can do with the make-up that will result in anything shocking. I've suggested hanging before, but nobody's really thrilled with that idea.


We have already taken a test shot of the opening scene of the vlog and will hopefully be able to upload stills in the next few days, if not today. Unlike our previous plan, this will not take place in school, which is a lot more adventurous and open for our project.

a Change of Course

Update for Monday, 23rd February:

I proposed to the group we reform our plot and shots, as having the half term to think about what is currently going right and wrong with our project, I feel our work is very uninspired, cheesy, predictable and most importantly, not a bit scary. I have took inspiration from many creepy short films I have encountered over the half term and believe that was should change scenery and mildly change the plotline. So far, the group have not really looked at what scares us and have just took the stereotypical idea of a horror movie and worked with it. To support this change of heart, all the work we have done for the previous plot will need to be done in a quarter (if that) of the time it took to do the work originally to meet the deadline for the task. Collectively, we have all agreed to try and get our project filmed and edited, with all the supporting work complete, in 2 weeks. I will list the inspirations that have led me to the decision of reworking our preliminary task. Many of these include very small, simple and minimalistic videos with big effects. What I've found to be effective through these short films is distorted connotations to childhood, such as nursery rhymes played backwards or an undertone of child-like innocence, connotations to war or war-time conditions and features, such as black and white, grainy footage and sounds of bombs, guns etc. and finally, complete mystery, as things can become creepy simply through the unknown, from the confusion you fill in blank spaces as to what you connote the mystery to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsaz1Pa_Ke4

3 am knocking 2: A man keeps record of a mysterious knocking on his door at exactly 3am every night, this relates to the mystery of the unknown, as anything can be knocking the door.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQYZPwEdPoo#t=33

The Peanut Vendor - Len Lye 1933: This is a test stop-animation from the early 1930's, presumably for a peanut company, showing a pretty creepy clay monkey sing about peanuts. This is effective through the poor quality camera and grainy, black and white imagery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upMo0_8hVYE#t=26


I don't really know what this is, honestly... But it's creepy, and effective through it's use of symbolism in the title and use of very abstract imagery and sound to confuse the viewer, however the imagery and sound make for an unsettling experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VfBv23ix34#t=69

Spacer na most kolejowy: Probably the most effective of the list, using the confusion of the content of the video, sound to unsettle the viewer, abstract imagery with grainy camera effects, all coming together to create a similar atmosphere to one of the Blair Witch Project.

Other inspirations from films and games include Slender, F.E.A.R and Blair Witch Project

Update

Update for Friday, 13th February:

Tried to get cameras to film over the half term but someone took the last 2 available. From this experience, I've learned film producers shouldn't be greedy, because it just messes stuff up for other people.

Costume, Sound, Lighting and other relatively important things...

Costume:


For the costumes, we are just going to use our school uniforms since the film is set primarily in our school. Since we are all in Sixth Form, our uniform is not going to be distinctive to the school's uniform for younger students. The killer's costume will be so distorted in the moments he is involved, it is not worth putting time or effort into.


Sound:


There is no special equipment that accompanies the cameras for sound, therefore we think we will dub over the footage we film to make it sound professional. There is little dialogue in the film, but the dialogue there is we will have to do well as to dub over it, especially the scene where the protagonist finds his dead friend, as dialogue may be frantic as part of keeping the realism.




Lighting:




Hopefully the natural lighting will be good enough to make the film seem genuine and of half decent quality, but on top of these we will try and add some filters to the film, to add our own personal atmosphere for the film and additionally to improve the quality of the footage.




Editing:




The editing is just as important as the filming, in my opinion. We will need to work hard as to make sure the footage is continuous and not jumpy with technical excellence, as well as making sure it isn't cliché or just generally poor. In our previous project, we used editing to import humour into the film by making it purposefully cliché, but now we are working on a serious project, we need to be extremely selective and precise.




Progress so far:




We will begin filming today, leaving the dilemma I mentioned in the previous post for the next session of filming. During filming today we will be aiming to set a precedent for a quality story as well as quality camerawork.

Update on Horror Project: Problems

So far, we have encountered few problems with our plans andwith ideas we have for the project, however, the problems we are facing are rather big. Since the murder is taking place in the chapel, we need to be careful as to not disrespect the place of worship. I myself am not religious, however with filming a death scene in a chapel it is necessary to be respectful of other people's beliefs, even if it possibly hinders the possibilities of the film itself. With this being said, we have to ensure the fake blood and such doesn't get on any of the carpet or religious ornaments, which may make realism a challenge for the film. To overcome this, i think we will have the protagonist's friend's shirt stained with the fake blood before he enters the chapel.

Another additional problem is that the entrance to Outwood House (the area in our school which has the chapel) is shut due to problems with the scaffolding. It is unknown as to when this will be solved/fixed, and if not in time for the filming, we have to adapt and change the protagonists route to the chapel or, as an extreme option, have the murder take place somewhere else to keep the film under time restrictions and to keep it convenient, as we don't want a half to three quarters of the film taken up by running. At the moment, to get to the chapel, you need to go through the library, up the stairs into the sixth form facility (Outwood), and enter the chapel. The library could possibly destroy the atmosphere we are trying to create, as it is quite modern, bright and friendly looking, which is something we completely want to avoid. We want to keep the film dark and mysterious, aswell as tense, which is a mood the appearance of the library could disable. We could possibly stop this by making the library desolate and empty, adding to the mystery, however we will need to discuss this with the librarian, Ms. Ashton. 

Apart from these 2 factors, our film is heading in the right direction. We are collectively optimistic about the project and we will constantly be looking to adapt to the problems we face, which we hope we can tackle without effecting the quality of the film.

First Test Shots for Horror Project

Protagonist leaving detention* (this is not the area we will be filming at, therefore the shot type may vary)

Protagonist answers his phone to his friend, who is alarmed and pleads for his help

Protagonist running to rescue his friend, with chapel in shot through the window

Protagonist running down stairs

Protagonist leaving detention*

Protagonist leaving detention*

Protagonist leaving detention*

Protagonist taking his phone out of his pocket after the prompt of a call, an unknown number appearing on the screen

I am looking forward to producing more test shots for the film with more suiting areas and atmospheres, as well as for the final filming. The problem with test shots, in my opinion, is you cannot get a good sense of the speed of the scene with a picture, as when the protagonist is running, the camera angles and movement will be effected by the speed of the scene. On the other hand, I think we have done good to achieve an essence of what the short film will be like through these images.

Visual Narrative of Horror Project

Frame 1: Protagonist exits from detention, set around 4:30-5pm, with a dark atmosphere surrounding him
Frame 2: Protagonist's phone begins to ring in his pocket, surprisingly well timed
Frame 3: As the protagonist begins to walk down the corridor, he speaks on the phone to an alarmed friend who is in danger of being murdered, equally alarming the protagonist
Frame 4: We see the protagonist's friend bloodied, battered and bruised in the School's chapel, as a dark figure slowly leans into shot appearing to hold a knife, eventually seeing the killer lunge down on him
Frame 5: First frame of protagonist running down the corridor in an attempt to find and save his friend, if there is anything to be salvaged at all
Frame 6: Protagonist bursts through a door, very fast paced camera movement and tension-building music accompany him
Frame 7: (see Frame 6)
Frame 8 & 9: Protagonist enters building as music and tension is reaching it's climax
Frame 10: Protagonist enters a dark chapel, with his friend seemingly dead on the floor infront of the altar, almost sacrilegious connotations and climactic music follows
Frame 11: Protagonist has approached his now certainly dead friend, with the knife through his chest becoming clear, protagonist becomes emotional at the sight of his dead friend
Frame 12: As the protagonist stands up from analysing his deceased friend, two bloodied hands appear on the window either side of the protagonist, with an immediate transition to black, with the credits appearing in the blackness

Like the script in our previous project, I believe this will be a rough draft which we'll stick to with some degree, yet deviate in some areas to make it slightly more interesting. However, I believe one of the aims we have for this short film is for it to be simplistic, yet display technical excellence. Additional planning as well as pictures from shooting will be soon to come. 

Mind Map for final Preliminary Task

This is a mind map our group made for the upcoming Horror short film we are going to produce. The group involves the same students as the previous Preliminary Task, however, there's a lot of things different to last time. The planning side of this task is a lot more in depth, as we need to create such things as a timeline and a visual narrative. Through a mixture of group decision and Ms. Parry-Paxton's advice, we decided to make our project a Horror film, as it is the most interesting to do, in our opinion. We have done a rough plan (shown above) of everything we plan to involve in the film, however, as our ideas have developed from doing this draft (a good month ago), a lot of the features, for example, the killer wearing a mask, we have now decided against in favour of something more beneficial to the film, in our opinion. George has took the role of directing the short film, as well as being involved in the film itself at the end, Lewis has decided to film and Jordan appears to be without a direct role, this being an area we can fix. I am taking the role of the protagonist of the film, as well as voicing my opinions for the angles, shot type and events in the film. As we begin to film, hopefully we can make this project burst to life.

Script for Preliminary Task

This is the script we used for the Preliminary Task we have done before Christmas. The script is rather loose and the categories are not completely accurate, as we have diverted from some of the original Shots, Actions and Dialogue. A minority of dialogue that wasn't jotted down was improvised and the was a wider variety of shots. Personally, I think we were successful in making the short film from this script.