Call sheet

Story board

 I have planned and drafted a story board planning the shots i will be using for my final film. I will then use this to make my final call sheet. After i made this i went through and planned what other possibilities i could use and how many times i will need to shoot each shot and how many people etc.This was very helpful when coming to the call sheet as i could plan the shots well and what order i will do this. This also helped me with shot variety and what i will need to add in to have a shot range that will keep the audience drawn in which was a weakness previously.

First page of story board

2nd page of story board 

3rd page of story board

4th page of storyboard

Final Girl Concept

The final girl referd to the last femaile standing to confront the killer. She is seen as a sexually unavailbable or a virginal. she sometimes has a unisex name and is masculine The final girl is a thriller and horror film (particularly slasher) trope that specifically refers to the last woman or girl alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story. The term was coined by Carol J. Clover in her book Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Clover suggests that in these films, the viewer begins by sharing the perspective of the killer, but experiences a shift in identification to the final girl partway through the film. The final girl has been observed in dozens of films, including Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Hellraiser, Alien and Scream.

History
According to Clover, the final girl is typically sexually unavailable or virginal, avoiding the vices of the victims (sex, narcotic usage, etc.). She sometimes has a unisex name (e.g., Teddy, Billie, Georgie, Sidney). Occasionally the Final Girl will have a shared history with the killer. The final girl is the "investigating consciousness" of the film, moving the narrative forward and as such, she exhibits intelligence, curiosity, and vigilance.
           One of the basic premises of Clover’s theory is that audience identification is unstable and fluid across gender lines, particularly in the case of the slasher film. During the final girl’s confrontation with the killer, Clover argues, she becomes masculinised through "phallic appropriation" by taking up a weapon, such as a knife or chainsaw, against the killer. Conversely, Clover points out that the villain of slasher films is often a male whose masculinity, and sexuality more generally, are in crisis. Examples would include Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Clover points to this gender fluidity as demonstrating the impact of feminism in popular culture.
          The phenomenon of the male audience having to identify with a young female character in an ostensibly male-oriented genre, usually associated with sadistic voyeurism, raises interesting questions about the nature of slasher films and their relationship with feminism. Clover argues that for a film to be successful, although the Final Girl is masculinised, it is necessary for this surviving character to be female, because she must experience abject terror, and many viewers would reject a film that showed abject terror on the part of a male. The terror has a purpose, in that the female is 'purged' if she survives, of undesirable characteristics, such as relentless pursuit of pleasure in her own right. An interesting feature of the genre is the 'punishment' of beauty and sexual availability (Leading to the idea that "Sex = Death" in Horror Movies)

Halloween binary opposites

Laurie strode defines the final girl archetype as she links this tho intellegence this signifies she is intellegent and hard working later on in the film we meet her friends who are screamers and we can then see the binary opposition as she asks for her biology book. She wears unattractive clothing such as thick white tights and long skirt and turtle neck jumper this is typical for final girl as she also is brunette.she is also a responsible character un like her friends who are scream queens. She also can be interpreted as a virgin as her other friends are screamers and they are killed they have boyfriends and she doesnt.

Scream queen and final girl

common device also used is in the lesson is the girl is talking about fait as when she looks out the window he is there she talks about they can not change fait.

Binary opposition is then used to contrast the friends as they talk about boyfriends the final girl faces the scream queen as they both argue becuase it matters a great deal to the final girl that she left the book at school but her friends make fun of her.


Scream ( Wes Craven 1996) sidney prescott,
the character of sidney prescott is presented as the final girl first her night wear is long , old fashioned and childish we can allso denote when we see her first she is doing her homwor she has the classic dark brown hair.Bedroom also signifies she is a responsible moral character due to it been old fashioned it is also what you would not expect from a teen girl. Final girl is pertraded as a virgin as she talks to her boyfriend bully lumis then says ' i would not dream of breaking your underwear rule'.

Vodcast - franchise

This franchise is of the slasher genre and focuses on the different screams produced. The key directors for this franchise were wez craven . this means a lot of intertexuality as they all each reference to the next scream. The final girl Neve Campbell has also stared in each of these films this has also made it successful and created intertextuality throughout.
Budgets for each of these films were:
Scream - $15m
Scream 2 - $23m
Scream 3 - $40m
Scream 4 - $40m
The distributors for each of these films were the same this is good as they did it in the same way and style . dimension film is also a common distributor for slasher films and would make scream so sucssesful with it also been a franchise.

Comparing 2 past AS films

I chose to compare deception which i previously have researched as my past as film research i am going to compare it with the cellar.

Idents

Deceptions ident at the start the opening is very simple and has only one ident but makes a statement and gives off the message. It shows a plain black background with white writing. The Cellar has a much more noticeable ident and an image behind it which helps to bring your attention to the centre of the screen where the company name is written. Both openings have quite dramatic non-diegetic music from the start of the idents which instantly creates tension and makes the film genre a lot more obvious without even seeing the first shot. 

Opening Shots

In Deception the title and credit goes back to the black screen with the white writing in the same place. In the Cellar they put white bold writing over the shots so it is still visible but isn't as noticable as the Cellar. The opening shot in The Cellar is a dutch angle of a door with some light coming through it. This is a good way of starting the opening as the dutch angle shows there is something not quite right and the lack of light is creating narrative enigma as the audience are unsure of the setting or anything the plot is about. The opening shot in deception is a tracking shot of a girl walking down a woodland path. The camera is behind a tree and the branches make it unclear to see who the character is walking along, this also creates narrative enigma. The camera being behind the tree might also be a point of view shot to make it seem like someone is watching her. 

The Big 6

A company owned by another company is called a subsidiary such as working title is owned by nbc universal.
A company that owns another company is calleded a conglomerate such as nbc owning universal.
Which means that working title is the subsidiary and working title is the conglomerate.

The big 6 are the big dominant fim companies in hollywood which also dominate the global cinema.

There are 2 types of intergration

1. Horizontal Intergration is when different subsidiaries benifit each other within one conglomerate such as Avatar is produced by Rupert Murdoch who owns 20th century fox and the sun this was benificial as subsidiaries got access and
2. Vertical Intergration is when one conglomerate is in charge of all 3 stages ( production, distrbution, and exhibition).




Deception - looking at AS films

I have looked at previous films done by as AS as i think this will be effective to see what worked well and what didnt. This will be useful in mine because i can then use in mine what is effective and what doesnt work i can then cancel these out.

• The strongest feature was the opening the music and setting work well together it creates tension and makes it jumpy 
• The weakest feature was the camera the camera was very shaky and angle shots are abit confusing  you can also see the shadow of the person in the camera
• rate minimal they need to hold shot steady
• effective shots were the 2 shot which shows the relationship and medium shots the panning left to right and the point of view shot from behind the tree and the moving point of view shot running
• the editing transitions were good and flowed smoothly 
• the sound created an audio bridge which linked scenes together

My possible Distributors

Top 10 Film distributors in the US from 1995 to 2012

1 Warner Bros. 532 movies  $29,135,050,869 $54,765,133 average gross 

2 Walt Disney Pictures 453 movies $27,024,974,288 $59,657,780 average gross
3 Sony Pictures 534 movies  $24,744,320,642 $46,337,679 average gross
4 Paramount Pictures352movies $22,915,131,099 $65,099,804 average gross
5 20th Century Fox 364 movies $21,288,127,358 $58,483,866 average gross
6 Universal 338 movies$19,832,959,028, $58,677,394 average gross
7 New Line 196 movies $7,407,184,271 ,$37,791,756 average gross
8 Dreamworks SKG 77 movies $5,988,394,230 $77,771,354 average gross
9 Miramax 377 movies $5,621,593,306 $14,911,388 average gross
10 MGM 229 movies $5,059,893,917 $22,095,607 average gross

(Source: http://www.the-numbers.com/market/Distributors/)

Top 10 distributors in uk for 2012
1. Sony: $336.4m (£209.9m) 17.9%


2. 20th Century Fox: $306.5m (£191.2m) 16.3%

3. Warner Bros: $235.5m (£147m) 12.5%

4. Universal: $219.3m (£136.8m) 11%

5. Walt Disney: $197.4m (£123.2m) 10.5%

6. eOne: $129.5m (£80.8m) 6.9%

7. Paramount: $125.8m (£78.5m) 6.7%

8. Lionsgate: $109.3m (£68.2m) 5.8%

9. Momentum: $82.1m (£51.2m) 4.3%

10. Entertainment Film Distributors: $59m (£36.8m) 3.1%

Overall, the UK box office grossed £1.172b in 2012, narrowly ahead of 2011’s £1.130b total.
(Source: http://www.mi6-hq.com/news/index.php?itemid=10724)

Unfortunatley as my film is a low budget film it will not reach these high budget companies.

Donkey punch: distributors were optimum releasing and Film1


As my film is an indie film it will not reach these high expectations for distributors i will be focusing on distributors such as:

Dimension films slasher Production.

Warp productions is a indie company

Dimension films are a well known production / distributors for slasher films. They could be a possible distributor for me as they are a low budget company and a slasher company and my production is a slasher film.








This is warp productions they are a low indie company and started from nothing like i have. It is very important that i have looked at this for a possible distributor because they are an indie company which like wise i am. 

Film 4 well known indie distributor

this is film 4 distributor they are very well known for distributing low budget films they have worked closely also with warp productions.I have looked at them as they help fund indie films such as warp films and many others.

National Lottery

the final distributor i have looked at to be a possible distributor for my production is the national lottery . They help fund some films. They work along side some of the other distributors i have looked at like film 4 and and warp productions . You often see this ident on low budget films this shows they have had help from uk council . It is often possible to have more than one distributors on smaller indie companies this is the main reason i have looked at these.

Titles and idents vodcast

This is a titles and idents vodcast i have made to research possible opening titles for my production such  as halloween and scream . I have looked at possible titles fonts and texts used. I have also looked at idents they have used to see if i can use anything similar in mine to make this one of the slasher conventions widely known this will make my production even more slasher like and suitable for the genre.

Vodcast on conventions

Distributor definition

The distribution of a film is the process through which a movie is made available to watch for an audience by a film distributor. This task may be accomplished in a variety of ways; for example, with a theatrical release, a home entertainment release in which the movie is made available on DVD or a television program for broadcast .

source: 

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_distribution
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_distribution
3. http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-distribution.htm
4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/distribution/distribution
5. http://www.launchingfilms.com/
6. http://www.britinfo.net/cinema/ldistributors.htm

History of the slasher genre

This is a vodcast on the history of a slasher film and where the term slasher comes from this hopefully will help me understand the principle of slasher genre and where the term comes from so i can add this  knowledge to my film.

Red christmas ident

this is our group ident for red christmas based on research from other slasher films such as dimensions films which have been distributors and producers of several slasher we have researched. I have previously looked at idents that have influenced this. I have decided to keep my ident the same due to it being very effective for the theme of red christmas.

Example ident

This ident has been used for the distributors dimension films as they are widely known for slasher genre.











I also however looked at other examples of idents such as:

Film 4

 I looked at film 4 as it is a more indie film distributor and there ident also gave me ideas to keep the ident the same as previous because as it is very simplistic and effective.

MTV

I looked at mtv because i have seen this ident a lot from watching tv and various others . I always remember what it is for so i decided to focus on this on what people will actually remember as this will be most important. In this ident i like how it is against a black background this makes it stand out. So again i decided that actually this may not be effective to change this as it does work well.

Warp productions

I have looked at warp productions because they are and indie company , which i am . I have looked at there ident to see what and how mine can be similar to re create the same affect to be a indie company.

Vodcast over view of red christmas

I have made Vodcast briefly explaining why i have chosen to retake my as media , what i am going to change and what was most effective. I have briefly described what i am going to change , why . After last year i have found this task very useful to do as it has helped me plan out what i need to change to get better marks . This includes things like shot variety and editing. In this vodcast i have described why i don't think my as media was effective and what i will need to change 

Assessing past work

Tiny Terror:

Initial titles based upon those used for 'Scream' (1996) Wes Craven.

Soundtrack includes long, drawn out notes that are commonly used in slasher films. Opening shots have connotations of a POV shot as the camera is positioned looking through hanging branches. A slight wobble further suggests that someone is watching the main character. This then leads into a false scare, as the POV character turns out to be known to the main character.

An ellipses acts as a bridge between the outdoor scene and the bedroom, fading to black in the space between. There is some use of exposition in dialogue. Short shots of a box opening very gently and a bra later being tossed over it to suggest sexual activity.

An example of a good technique used is to place the camera in a cupboard or other space that can help break up shots and provide more coverage. Tension isn't quite used effectively here, due to a couple of misplaced ellipses.

More over the shoulder shots are used to show the killer doll, as well as several cut away shots and use of the doll's giggling, established in an earlier scene.

Underground:

After first shot, titles come in using white font on black background, signifying realism. First character introduced is carrying a bottle of beer in his hand, immediately suggesting his vulnerability. A brief POV shot helps to confirm his drunken state, and afterwards a shot from just off the path suggests another figure watching.

The following scene in which the character collapses is not as effective, as it lacks any diagetic sound which would connote an attack. There is a much more successful example of narrative enigma straight away though, as we only see the figure dragging the first character away from the legs down, and we have nothing to anchor ourselves with.

The scenes set in the underground room are introduced with a shot that suggests a CCTV camera, before we see multiple shots of the character chained to a pipe.

Red Run:

Opening titles are animated and matched to a sequence of a kettle being filled and turned on. There is a lack of diagetic sound that is a problem; it breaks the verisimilatude.

Expectations of a slasher opening

prior to research my expectations of a film opening are the film opening to start with an establishing shot then to lead to a panning shot to set the scene or a shot to introduce the main characters and perhaps who will get killed first.I expect to see Each slasher films to start with a establishing shot to set the scene and introduce the setting and mis en scene. This then should lead to the plot.The area should always be a suburban area where the house is detached or quite decollate.This creates the house to be issolated and more approachable for the killer the audience also feel this.This Creates the first equilibrium.

Usually the final girl , female hero exists and is introduced from the beginning she is highlighted as been the often sensible one , less popular, and less attractive than her other friends that are killed.she is innocent,virginal and always brunette. She will survive to the end where she has confrontation with the killer in sequals this is then left open for the next film.

   


Usually the main victims are part of a group of friends in the film.The group is often both girl and boy teenagers at high school or uni.The final girl is also part of this group of friends this is why she stands out.The first girl is often blonde attractive and is known as the scream queen she often killed during sexual acts with a boy , or boyfriend involved.
       

The villain in the slasher film is usually physically deformed and mentally wrong. The killer is nearly always a male.His hidden identity is hidden usually by a mask or by the camera to create enigma.The character is often recognised easily by motifs such as the weapon he holds such as a knife , axe, chainsaw.

scream

Scream ( 1996) ( sample stalking scene)

Directed by  Wes Craven
Budget : $15m
Production : Dimension Films

This is the opening title for scream It is a son serif font. It is very dramatic the colours signify blood and death due to the red on black. This is a very striking open as it is so simply done from the start this is first impressions you can tell this will be a slasher film.

The telephones rings this is a close up and signifies the telephone is going to be a main motif in this scene .

 We first see the scream queen we can tell this by her been blonde , busky and having a boyfriend which she says on the phone this is a close up shot to show her emotions which later on will contrast with the same shot but a different emotion.

This next shot shows the scream queen being very  isolated however it is also like a point of view shot as it suggests the killer is spying . ( stalking ). This is also an establishing shot which shows the setting and sets the scene. 

 The scream queen , puts pop corn on this also builds tension as the crackle goes on through out , and is played when the killer is coming. This gets faster and louder.

When the killer has approached and is stalking the girl we see this shot as she looks out the window of her boyfriend apparently saving her in this case he gets killed , the killer twists this on her so its her fault. This is a very dramatic shot it is medium close up , he fits the stereo type of the scream queen boyfriend we can see this from his rugby jacket and his manner.

This is a false scare it is a common slasher convention and often used in lots of films. To scare the audience and make them jump before the final killing. 

 This how the killer is hidden via the mask and camera work this is the only shot we see a close up of his face. This shot is when he jumps at the window when the girl is running away this the main stalking part.The audience also feel like they need to be running away from this hidden killer.

 Long shot of the killer and the girl here we can see the mis en scene and see this shot fits with the stereo types and the theory of the scream queen and masked killer.

This pop corn is getting put out by her mother as the daughter is getting killed this is very cleverly done as it cross cuts fast paste between them both. 

This is a close up as we see her dying however she is still holding the phone which is motif throughout her parents then can hear her die . This is a very common convention in a slasher to have the scream queen dead infront of everyone the death is very dramatic and makes it more as the pop corn goes off as it has built up to this and then put out like the death is over.

Brief

Brief

1. Prelimary exercise: continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door , crossing a      room and sitting on chair opposite another character, with whom he/she exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.This task should demonstrate match on action , shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule.

2.main task:the titles and opening of a new fiction film,to last a max of 2 mins

Basic Mark Breakdown :

Research and Planning- 20 % ( 16-20 marks)
There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience.
There is excellent organisation of actors,locations,costumes and props.
There is excellent work on shortlists , layouts,drafting,scripting or story boarding.

There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of research and planning.
Time management is excellent.

Production- 60% ( 16-20 marks)

There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:

•  Holding a shot steady where appropriate,framing a shot,including and                excluding elements appropriate.
• Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate.
• shooting material appropriate to the task set.
• selecting mis en scene including colour,figure , lighting,objects and setting.
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer
• using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for task set.
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set.
• using titles appropriately

Evaluation- 20% ( 16-20 marks)

Excellent understanding of issues around audience,institution,technology, representation,forms and conventions on relation to production.
Excellent ability to refer to the choices made and outcomes.
Excellent understanding of there development form the preliminary to full task.
Excellent ability to communicate.
Excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.

Location and mis en scene shoot

I have taken some footage of what possibly could be the mis en scene and location. I have chosen to use this place because it is easily accessible and fits the theme perfectly. It can dress it to fit the theme of christmas as props are easily accessible. I have also looked into how the shooting will work with carol singers i have found that it will work by using houses next door and opposite house to get the right angle as this is very important after the establishing shot of the setting but as it is the past it is important that i get rid of things that could suggest possibly the future. By doing this short bit of footage i have found that this will work and i will be able to remove the technologies and things that suggest future. In the video i have also tried to include some possible windows and ideas for shots although this is not final footage it does give some idea of what shots will be used and how effective these will be bearing in mind previous video , on what worked well and what didn't.

Screenplay

SCREENPLAY – RED CHRISTMAS

OPENING :   TITLES AND IDENTS OVER FIRST SCENE

1.   EXT: .HOUSE   - DUSK

Establishing shot of the house, set back in time when the santa was younger. Flashback of his life.

2.  INT: House   -past

Children playing in house with presents. (Christmas Morning)

3. INT: House   -past

slams down picture of family then reverts back to present when santa gets up and peaks out of curtains to see carol singers across the street. (music fades down)

4. EXT –OUTSIDE  - DUSK

carol singers walk to house with bucket of money from collecting and sheets of lyrics.

                

FIRST GIRL (scream Queen)

Can we just hurry up I wanna go to this party I wanna get changed.

FINAL GIRL

No this last house then we can go

OTHER GIRLS

Mutter about party

                    

5.EXT: HOUSE – DUSK

knock at the door and curtains shut all lights flicker on and off. The girls wait.

                 SCREAM QUEEN

          Hey mr we know your there

6.INT HOUSE

Santa squeezes a mince pie in his hand.

7.EXT: OUTSIDE HOUSE

Girls walk off

8.INT : HOUSE

close up of family picture santa slams picture to the floor. And watches girls walk away and part with the scream queen.

9.EXT : STREET UNDER STREET LIGHTS

other girls walk to party and see a drunk santa walking towards them.

                   FINAL GIRL

           Shes gone home to get changed

          FIRST GIRL SCREAM QUEENS BOYFRIEND

         Oh ill walk back with you guys then

He puts his arms around some of them and they walk off to party…

9.EXT: WALKING HOME ALONG STREET – EVENING

Scream queen is on phone texting her boyfriend saying will see you soon. She turns around to see if someone is watching her , she turns back and santa puts his hand on throat.

He holds a knife at his side from earlier.

10.EXT: HOUSE – DARK

her phone is ringing and its her boyfriend

11. INT: HOUSE

Uses knife from earlier and stabs picture of family on his mums face and turns the knife.