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.