Preliminary Exercise Evaluation

1. My group consisted of me, Nick, Aarti and Tanya. Me and Nick were the actors so, therefore, Aarti and Tanya took the roles of Directors. Nick and I did, however, shoot one or two shots each when we were not needed to act in the shot. These include Nick entering the room and my reaction shot. When it came to editing we did roughly equal amounts of time each with me and Nick doing slightly more as we did not do much shooting. During the planning stage we all contributed to the storyboards and me and Nick wrote the script and shooting script.

2. To start our planning we chose our location which happened to be the room we were in. This made it easy to picture our shots and what the final sequence would look like. We then wrote our script which consisted of six lines. We next made a quick note of the order of the shots which would be seen in the clip. This then enabled us to create an accurate storyboard of 16 shots all drawn to the right cutting points. We next decided to make a quick sketch of the location we were shooting at. On this diagram we put symbols on each camera position in the room so that we can see how many shots we would need to take. From this picture we could also find the easiest order to shoot them in and we put this into our shooting script. This told us that we would need to film the whole conversation four times so we did them in a row so we did not have to set up our props or actors several times. This planning process made the shooting a lot easier and more efficient.

3. We used a mini-dv camera with a mini boom mic connected to the top of it. We also used a tripod which made it easier to take our pan at the start. To make sure the conversation was clear on the shots we connected a pair of headphones onto the camera which either Aarti or Tanya listened to the shot with. We did not need any artificial lighting as the room was bright enough and we were not trying to create any specific effects. During the editing process we used the programme Adobe Premier Pro to allow us to do our non-linear editing. To make it easier we used multiple editing lines and the source monitor to see what we were editing easily. We added a fade effect at the end using the video effects tool on the toolbar.

4. When planning we had to take into account whether the clothes being worn by us in the storyboard are going to be the same on the day. When shooting we had anticipate camera noise and background sound that was unwanted. We also had to make sure no-one entered the room or walked across the shot during filming. To avoid this the red filming light was turned on outside the room. Luckily as we were filming inside the weather was not a factor. When cutting our shots down to size during editing, as a precaution, we made sure we added a second or so to each end so that we did not cut to much off and not be able to get it back.

5. I felt that the match on actions in our sequence were very successful and were almost perfect. These occur when Nick's hand pushes the door handle, when the bag is on the table and when I look at the book over Nick's shoulder. These are probably the most technically good parts of the sequence. I am pleased that the speech is clear as it is the vocal point of the sequence. I think that almost all of the shots are cut at the right distances and don't look odd. I also believe that there are no obvious continuity errors. In hindsight I would not change much, but I would make the pan in the first shot slightly smoother and maybe have a slightly more abrupt ending.

6. From this task I have learnt that it is vitally important and makes the shooting and editing process much easier if you plan well and put time into it. It is also useful to make a clear shooting script so you can start shooting straight away and not waste valuable time. Through the editing session I also relearned all of the basic editing techniques that I had briefly forgotten. This task has ultimately set me up perfectly fo the main project ahead it which I can use these basic skills, but add a bit more creativity and experiment a bit more.

Famous Horror Quotes

Here are a few well-known one-liners from horror films :

• 'Heeeeeere's Johnny' - The Shining

• 'It's Alive, It's Alive' - Frankenstein

• ' I Ate His Liver With Some Fava Beans and a Nice Chianti' - Silence of the Lambs

• ' They're Here' - Poltergeist

• 'Everyone Goes a Little Mad Sometimes' - Psycho

• 'You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat' - Jaws

• 'I Want To Play a Game' - Saw

• 'To die...To be Really Dead, That Must Be Glorious' - Dracula

• 'Be afraid...Be Very Afraid' - The Fly

• 'All work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy' - The Shining

• 'I See Dead People' - The Sixth Sense

• 'Hi I'm Chucky Wanna Play' - Chucky

• 'The Power of Christ Compels You' - The Exorcist

• 'When There's No Room In Hell, the Dead Will Walk The Earth' - Dawn of the Dead

• 'You Can't Kill The Boogeyman' - Halloween

• 'A Boy's Best Friend is His Mother' - Psycho

Propp into Practice

I've decided to put Vladimir Propp's theory to the test. Seeing as it is halloween I might as well use the film 'Halloween' (1978)

Characters:
Hero : Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance)
Villain : Michael Myers (Nick Castle)
Princess : Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis)

Some may say that Propp's theory fails here as there are not many characters in this film of any importance. This minimalism is what makes the experience seem more personal and makes the audience feel for Laurie as all the attention is on her.

Preparation:

The story starts a few years before the main events and shows us Micheal killing his older sister. He is then taken to Smith's Grove Sanitarium where is held and looked after by Dr Sam Loomis. We are introduced to these characters early on so instantly get an impression of them.

Complication:

We are now in present day and we see the Doctor in a car discussing how Michael is grown up now and is pure evil. The complication now occurs as Michael escapes the hospital and steals the car in order to head back to his home town of Haddonfield. We see that he ditched the car near the town and stole a workers clothes.We now have some idea of what he look like.

Transference:

We are now introduced to Laurie who fits the typical image of a horror victim. She is young, female and her parents are out of town. We find out that it is the 31st of October and that she is babysitting her brother tonight and is meeting some friends. She starts to feel like someone is watching her and only the audience sees the haunting image of Micheal lurking. Her fears are confirmed when she later looks out her window and shes him standing with the iconic mask inbetween her washing line. The action then moves into the night .....

Struggle: As Laurie's friends are in the house she goes to check on her brother in her house across the road. While she is there we see her friends get into struggles and get murdered by Michael. Laurie returns to her friends house unknowing that her friends are dead. She goes into the master bedroom and dicovers the horrific body and tombstones of Michaels family. Michael appears and a fight ensues between him and Laurie.

Return: Laurie manages to run away from her persuer and Dr. Loomis returns after looking all day for Michael. He shoots him several times and he falls of the balcony. The hero believes he has completed his task.

Recognition:

There is no recognition is this film as when they look out of the window where Michael's body lay it has vanished. The hero has therefore not completed his objective and the villain is not exposed. This may not suit Propp's theory, but certainly suited the director as he could easily make sequel after sequel.

All in all I would say that to a certain extent Propp's theory can be applied to the narrative of 'Halloween' apart from the ending as the film is left open ended as a cliffhanger which Propp did not take into account when he engineered his theory.

Famous Horror Actors

Vincent Price

Vincent Price was born in May 1911 and died aged 82 in October 1993. Some of his most famous films included, 'House of Wax' (1953), 'The Fly' (1958), 'The Adominable Dr Phibes' (1971) and 'The Theatre of Blood' (1973). These are all classic horror films and Price plays the protagonist in each. He played the villain most of the time and approached the role in a tongue in cheek fashion. This accompanied with his distinctive voice and tall stature made him quite a creepy and intimidating figure to the audience. Here he is in all his glory in this tribute video of all his best bits.

Boris Karloff

Boris Karloff was born in 1887 and was brought up in Enfield. His real name was William Henry Pratt but changed his name when he emigrated to Canada in 1909. His most well-known films include 'Frankenstein' (1931), 'The Mummy' (1932) and 'The Body Snatcher' (1945). He quickly gained the reputation of playing the monster in films and managed to become the scariest man in cinema with theaid of some make-up. Here he is in arguably his most iconic and famous role.

Christopher Lee

Christopher Lee was born in May 1922. He began his acting career in the well knwon 'Hammer Horror' films in which he made the role of Dracula his own. He later went on to star in more modern horror films such as 'The Wicker Man' (1973), 'Corridoors of Blood' (1958) and 'I, Monster' (1971). Because of this earl career of horror films he has almost been typecast as a villain. This proven in the villainous roles he has played in the recent films 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Star Wars'. He is in the same type of mould as Vincent Price with his deep, rough voice and his forboding height. Here he is as Dracula in the 1958 film.

Horrific Mood Board

Lots of iconic horror images bundled together

Casting Task

Plot Four ( Untitled, hmm maybe ' End of the Line' )

Man - Sean Bean

Sean Bean fits the criteria for this role perfectly as he is in his 40s (49) and has played similar roles before. He is no stranger to the role of the villain as he played James Bonds' enemy in 'Goldeneye' (1995, Directed by Martin Campbell ). Maybe more specific to the character in the plot is the one he played in 'The Hitcher' (2007, Directed by Dave Meyers). In this film he is a hitchhiker who is picked up by two women unknowing that he is a serial killer. This is very similar to the disturbed woman killer he would play in this new film. His rugged looks and dark eyes could potentially be scary and unnerving to the audience.

Woman - Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba is also the perfect age for this role at 27 years old. Like Sean Bean she is attractive to the opposite sex which means people will want to watch it more. She is used to dark films as she has played characters in ' Sin City' (2005, Directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez) and ' The Eye' (2008, Directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud). The experience from the latter film will help in this new film as she plays the victim in both. Both films are also horror/thrillers.

Continuity Analysis : The Shining

The Shining ( 1980, Directed by Stanley Kubrick)

I am going to analyse this scene from 0.00 to 1.20.

1. Long slow tracking shot. Corridor acts well as frame within a frame and follows the rule of thirds. VLS.

2. The next shot matches the action in the previous one and then follows the boy staying at the same distance away at all times until he stops. Mid OTS.

3. A sequence of shot-reverse-shots follows which go between the girls (OTS LS) and Danny (MCU). The length of this sequence and eerie speech from the twins adds to the tension and suspense.

4. A new sequence of Shot-Reverse-Shots follows between the dead blood covered bodies to the girls. The fact that there is no more OTS shots may suggest that the images we are seeing of the bodies are in the boys head and not actually there. Each time it cuts back to the girls it zooms in a length and ends up as a MS. This adds to the unnatural feel of the scene and the film.

5. The reaction shot of the boy is of terror and is reflective of what the audience is meant to feel and when the closes his eyes the girls dissappear which makes us think that the images were definitely in his mind. MCU

BLK feedback

Simon! Where is that link - please add it immediately.