AS Media: Voice Experiment

Voice Experiment

When experimenting with voices for a film many aspects need to be in mind such as the age of the character and the sound that you are hoping to produce as sometimes the sound is a huge part of the scene. When recording i used my voice to sing the opening lines of "twinkle twinkle little star" to highlight the young antagonist within our opening. However, when listening to it back i had to put myself in the shoes of the audience and think about whether my voice suited our antagonists age.  Obviously, if our antagonists age ranges from 12-16 then it may be quite easy to mimic their voice for voice experiment purposes. However, in this case i decided to sing the nursery rhyme in my lowest voice possible so i could resolve it and produce a more innocent sounding voice purely through editing on logic pro. This was easily achieved by adjusting the pitch of the recording a few times and it produced an effortlessly younger and innocent female voice.

   However, on the other hand as we are filming a psychological horror the idea of voice morphing was key. Once i achieved a youthful, innocent sounding voice i used logic pro to adjust the reverb of the voice. I added an "ice" effect to the voice creating a cold sounding atmosphere. Additionally as mentioned previously, by adding reverb an echo was created therefore immediately adding a chilled and creepy feel to the voice. As an overall outcome, i did find the voice experiment disappointing as i found the majority of effects were extremely overpowering and distorting therefore blurring the sound of the words. Similarly to the sound experiment it's always good to have another person with you as their opinion matters too as they are the audience in the sense that they are not producing the sound. It's also hard to subvert the conventions of sound within a horror as the sound alone is what makes a horror a horror due to the exaggerated sounds of dead bodies/blood.

To improve, I think what would help would be whilst filming note down what sounds would be emphasised within the particular scene, possibly ask another's opinion and record a number of recordings of that sound and apply it to the scene during the editing process and emphasise on certain aspects therefore adding the shock factor to the horror. Personally, the most challenging part of the sound would be the editing process as it's extremely easy to destroy a sound clip due to over editing such a simple sound such as someone walking, to shy away from this happening i think it's important to edit the clip simplistically listen to it back and again get others' opinion and edit cautiously to an even more realistic sound.

AS Media: Sound Experiment

RebNatDanClo: Sound Experiment

Walking amongst leaves
When trying to record something as simple as the footsteps among leaves there were many things to consider such as the ambient noise such as cars, dogs barking and the public especially when recording in a public area such as a park. Additionally, the wind alone can be a huge disruption. When recording, although there were many opportunities to record the walking amongst leaves we had to take into account whether the ambient sound would be too over powering if so, then the editing process would be extremely long and tedious therefore resulting to finding another location in which was a lot quieter. 

Creaky Door
Although a creaky door is easy to record alone, by adjusting the pitch during the editing process can have a huge impact on how heavy the door sounds. In this case, i recorded the creaky door of a bathroom cabinet therefore the weight of the door is nothing heavy. By adjusting the pitch, the outcome which is featured in the video creates the sound of the door being extremely heavy. Additionally, a negative being that the "creak" may run on for too long possibly making the sound too cliched.

Running amongst leaves
When recording we also had to bare in mind the same things when recording the walking amongst leaves. However, because the character is travelling at a faster speed we had to bare in mind a few things. If the camera pans them, then so will the microphone therefore following the sound. However, if we remain in the middle of the distance that the character is travelling then the sound will travel from one end of the room to the next. However, if we record from the characters starting point then we produce the sound of them running away so their footsteps fade away along with them.

Dripping of water
This clip was recorded in the bathroom using the shower, although a bathroom has great acoustics when filming our environment would be a lot bigger. To create this effect, through out the editing process i decided to select a particular environment in this circumstance i chose a "grand church" which allowed the drops of water to echo giving off the impression that the sound was recorded in a much larger surrounding.

Overall, i was rather disappointed with how the editing of the sound turned out. I also found it extremely hard to produce sound without the use of a scene being filmed therefore not knowing what sounds to emphasise on and what sounds to emphasise on less. Additionally when recording sounds alone you have to trust that what you're recording will sound realistic as for this purpose you are only hearing the sounds not seeing them. To overcome this, i found that it was good to record each clip at least 3/4 times and then within the editing process eliminate the recordings that sound the less effective after getting the opinion from at least three other people as many can interpret sounds differently especially without a visual aid.

Costume Research & Ideas

For our film opening we need to consider what kind of costumes our characters are going to be wearing. We are likely to be using period costumes as this will fit our chosen location very well. Below I have sketched some ideas and found places on line which give us ideas for costumes. I have also found links where we can buy costumes if we decide the time era is definite. In addition to this we can ask the actors if they already have clothes which are similar to this to save money in our budget. 

Embroidered Cotton Nightdress

Belted Dress

Victorian Style Dress

                    
                  


The bottom selection of pictures show what kind of costumes can be used if we were to have a modern protagonist mourning a dead relative (who would be wearing the period costumes). It is likely that the protagonist would be wearing black to show that they are suffering over the loss of their loved one. We decided that the antagonist should be wearing a white dress to give the impression that they are innocent and pure. However, throughout the film opening we want the dress to become dirty and possibly have blood stains. This will show how  they progress into a threatening character and will make the demonic, scary ending much more sinister. 

Protagonist + Antagonist Screen Test

Protagonist + Antagonist Screen Test 

After choosing the protagonist and antagonist we filmed a short series of clips to see how they would look together on film. 

Storyboard for Opening

Here is our storyboard which we plan to use when filming our opening. It closes follows our plot ideas and once we receive feedback we can made any alterations to make it better, such as more shots or removing unnecessary parts which may take away from the effectiveness in our short film opening. 

Antagonist

Actor for antagonist: 

For this character we chose someone with short red hair as the colour red connotes death and danger. We thought that the short hair would detach the actor from the idea of innocence and her more the impression of strength. After we had chosen the actor we went on to experiment with camera angles.

Group 1

Group 1

Group 1

Group 1.) In this shot we used a low angle to show her power over the protagonist and the fact that she is looking down on us shows that she thinks she is of greater importance/thinks highly of herself (in the 3rd one the height of her and how she is towering over us is emphasised by this camera angle) In the next one she is looking away in this one which shows she is distracted by something or also that she is detached from the audience and the audience therefore do not relate with her. In the 3rd one she is turned at a quarter turn showing her detachment with the audience once again. She has her hands in her pockets to show her chill/cool like nature and once again her lack of relation with the world around her.

Group 2

Group 2

 





Group 2) This shot has canted framing telling us that there is something wrong with it/with the character. She is at a public distance from the camera showing that she is separate and doesn't wish to associate herself with the audience. In the next one there is a close up of her face excluding her eyes, this shows a similar amount of detachment from the audience as her eyes are not in the shot so the audience find it difficult to relate. Although she is at a close proximity in this one it is more uncomfortable for the audience.

Group 3

Group 3

Group 3

Group 3: In these ones we often have eye level shots throughout so we start to connect more with her and think that perhaps it isn't her that is evil but that something has possessed her, we can see this by the middle shot as although one side of it is loosely framed the other is very tight and is almost cutting off a part of her body which tells us she doesn't have much of a choice she has to follow the way that has been set out for her. In the first one we can see that actually she isn't as tall as we expected as she is compared to the pole which carries on for higher than she does and seems to be a barrier for her. The third shot is by a brick wall which has the top a light coloured brick and the bottom a darker coloured brick, this could tell us about the spilt personalities she may have and the fact that she is being taken over, this shot is a full body shot which is quite loosely framed telling us that she has some choice.

Plotline

Plotline

The story begins with the protagonist who has recently suffered the death of her sister and is coming to her graveyard in order to mourn her. While she is there, she hears something so she looks around her and thinks she sees her sister. Her sister then runs away from her and the protagonist chases her through the cemetery. She finally ends up at a chapel where her sister stands facing away from her. She approaches and says her name/taps her. The sister turns around to reveal a gory and terrifying face. The protagonist screams.


In further detail explaining more of the shots/ effects we plan to use.

-The protagonist goes into the graveyard: we will start off with establishing shots of cemetery. Then we'll pan the protagonist walking up the path and potentially use close ups of her feet walking along or dress trailing in the mud. This is where we would consider having any credits such as our names and title.

-Mourns sister while at crouching at her gravestone with a photograph in her hand: We'll use over the shoulder and POV shots to show the photograph in the protagonist's hand. We'll also use close-ups of the protagonist's face and eyes to show her emotion. Further away shots slightly obscured from behind a tree or gravestone to give the allusion of being watched. In this section creepy/eerie music will be used.


-Protagonist sees things out of the corner of her eye: Use medium shot of the sister standing behind the protagonist, make it quite quick and use sudden, dramatic music to make the audience jump. Extreme close-up of the protagonists eyes looking for someone/being scared.


-Protagonist sees her sister: show a long shot/medium shot of the sister standing, audience see a close up to confirm it's the same person as in the picture.

-Sister starts running away she follows her off through graveyard: low angle shot of the protagonist running, full shot of the chase, close up and low angle of the feet (both characters), POV shot of the protagonist running still holding the photograph. Meanwhile the sky will get slightly darker (will film the second part at a darker time in the day) and the atmosphere will get more tense as the music will get more dramatic and built up and heavy breathing will be emphasised.


-Ends up at the chapel the sister turned away from her: Medium shot of the back of the sister, close up of Protagonist's expression/ over-the-shoulder of the Protagonist whilst showing only the hair/dress of the Sister causing tension as the audience can't see her face and feel threatened. The music will stop and silence will be used to create fear and tension.

-Protagonist approaches the sister: Profile shot of the characters as she taps her on the shoulder.

-Sister turns around: Slowly see the back of the Sister's head turn around to create tension, close-up of the Sister's gory face, quick zoom in to the eyes which will look demonic (may use contact lenses). More dramatic music to make the audience jump.

-Protagonist screams: Close-up of protagonist. Shrill scream of the protagonist will be emphasised.

-Fade to black.

Actor for Protagonist: Experimental pictures

Actor for the Protagonist

For the protagonist we chose an actor with blonde hair and blue eyes to give the allusion on vulnerability and weakness. We also thought that the long floaty hair would suit the old-fashioned style of the opening as it would match the costumes effectively.

Once we chose the actor for the opening we experimented with different types of camera shots which would suit that of a protagonist. 

In this shot we used a high angle shot  and loose framing in order to show how we could make the actor look small and vulnerable as the victim. We also emphasised her lack of power by putting her in the bottom corner of the frame rather than in the centre.

In this shot I showed the actor at a profile turn and this gives the effect of watching the actor without them knowing. I also gave the allusion of worry and fear by making her focus on chewing her nails as a nervous gesture. We could use this shot when the actor is sad or scared for instance when she is walking into the graveyard or looking at her sister's picture.

We took a close up of the actor to show expression and feeling however we took the shot at a quarter turn in order to show how she may be focused on something else- in our opening we would use this shot to show how she may be worried about something she sees without having her turned away completely ensuring that the audience still have a connection with the character.

I used canted framing and diagonal composition in this shot to show that something is going wrong- this shot would be used when the character is scared and frightened about what is going on so in our opening we could use this shot while the character is running as it would also give the impression that the camera is wobbling about as though running with the character making them feel in her shoes. 

I used a high angle in this shot to make the character seem small and vulnerable. However in this shot she is placed in the centre of the shot so the audience can tell that she is important meaning they will identify with her. This is also a full shot and we would use this shot in our opening when wanting to show off the costume and locale of the character.

In these two shots I used extreme close-ups of the actor's eyes and this is used to create empathy for the character. She is also placed face on in this shot in order for her to connect with the audience. In the opening we would use this shot near the beginning for the audience to form an immediate link with the protagonist and therefore will probably use it when she is mourning her sister in order to show clear emotion and so she can be fully empathised with.

In this shot I took a close-up of the character using incredibly tight framing and this emphasised how the character is trapped and uncomfortable with the situation. In our opening we would use this shot near the end when she realises she is in danger in order to show her expression. 

Focus: Openings

For our opening we need to decide what is going to happen and how everything will turn out. Previously we have looked at an instant death and films where they start with the end. These films were 'Scream' and 'Stay' and our analysis can be seen here: 

I will be looking at the pros and cons of each opening method and coming to a conclusion of what we can use for our film opening. 

Instant death opening:
Pros:

• The viewer is immediately ingorssed into the film.
• The viewer will want to know why the victim has been targetted.
• The viewer will want to know how they were killed, (sometimes, even thought the death is shown in the opening, it is not clear how it happens or why, it is left to be figured out by other characters in the rest of the film)
• The viewer is made to feel very uneasy from the beginning.
• By having action straight away keeps the viewer interested in the film.
• The immediate death scene can be made to look original by combining the idea with a great location and good casting of actors.

Cons

• If the viewer doesn't think the death is very original, they may be put of the rest of the film and stop watching.
• They may not find it very interesting, in an opening they might prefer background information to the overall story, instead of a death which they have no reasoning for.
• They may feel that it is predictable.

There are lots of film openings which use the instant death idea, such as 'Scream', 'The Ring', 'Jaws', 'Sinister' and 'The Last House on the Left' showing that there is a demand for instant death horror films. (See example above).
Starts with the end opening:
Pros: 

• We immediately see the conclusion, and it allows the viewer to work out what happens as the rest of the film continues.
• It may confuse viewers.
• The viewer can watch the story and it will explain the ending to them (sometimes endings do not make it clear what happens to all the characters)

Cons:

• Sometimes many people are often disappointed with the ending of horror films, so by putting this at the beginning may decrease the viewing satisfaction.
• You need to come up with a really good story line to have the ending, and make sure it will work and enough details can be shown in the ending.
• There is less suspense as the viewer already knows the outcome and there is less mystery.
• The film may not be as interesting.
• You can immediately put people off the film if they do not like the outcome of the ending. They will stop watching.
• The film may not be as scary as the viewer already knows what the potential threat is to them.

Conclusion:
In our group we have decided we will produce a film opening which features an instant death. This is because we feel it is the most interesting and we can portray it well. It will also mean the viewers are drawn into our opening and would want to find out what happens to all the characters, and the victims. It makes the viewer much more interested, and the opening will be scarier because of the threat, which is likely to be unknown in the opening, or, its intentions will be unknown.

Focus: Lighting

In openings lighting can be used to create many different effects and change the atmosphere radically. In some of the films looked at previously such as Jaws, The Ring and Shrooms, the lighting often follows a certain theme, and this is that it is usually very dark, and could have been shot at night outside, or using low artificial lighting inside a building. We can use this when looking at filming our own film opening, and decide how it is best to achieve a dark atmosphere, hopefully making it as effective and scary as possible. I will look at each film and pick out some key points which are effective for that opening.

Jaws:

• During the opening, an establishing shot is used to show the characters running to the beach. When looking at camera angles for this section, we see that the characters are just silhouettes and we cannot pick out any details about them. This makes them quite mysterious and the lighting means we can't tell much about their intentions. This film opening features an instant death, and the dark lighting could be foreshadowing this because of it's darkness.
• When Chrissie's friend falls down the hill, we the sunset in the background for a few seconds. This use of lighting shows that any happiness is now leaving the scene. We could use this in  our film opening to show how the darkness becomes a threat to any characters in the scene and engulfs the happy, almost safe surroundings.
• Overall in the opening of Jaws, the lighting is dark throughout, and this could be foreshadowing what is to happen in the rest of the film. It also suggests to the viewer immediately that this bad experience can happen again at night, and gives them something to look out for in the rest of the film. We can use this overall darkness in our opening if we were to use an instant death because it would show the danger the character is in and how vulnerable they are.

The Ring:

• In the opening shot of The Ring, an establishing shot is used to show a house at night, during a storm. This immediately sets the scene at nighttime, and we again see the theme of darkness being used in an opening. It is a sign of bad things to come.
• As the girls talk and tell each other about the tape, they are in an artificially lit room. However, the lighting is still not very bright suggesting that they are in danger and are vulnerable. It also shows that the danger they fear has already 'found' them. For example, in our own film opening we could use darkness repeatedly to show how characters are in danger as soon as there is darkness, because it presents the unknown and allows threats to manifest and surprise the unsuspecting weak victims in the scene.
• Katie's main threat in this opening is the television, as this is ultimately what will confront her, what is important to look out for in this scene, is that the room which the main television sits in is in darkness. There are no lights on in that room, only a small shaft of light seeps in through the window from a street lamp. This shows how when she is face to face with the television, she is no longer in a safe area, she has gone into the darker parts of the room and therefore is in incredible danger and has no escape.
• This shows how we use the idea of darkness itself as some kind of threat in our film opening.

Shrooms:

• In the opening of Shrooms, we see a girl running through the forest, juxtaposed with images from inside a building. As she is running, the area seems to be quite bright, however, the trees and shrubs around her are in darkness - they are just silhouettes.
• Throughout the shots from inside the building, often both sides of the frame are complete darkness, there is only a white coloured light on the dominant part of the frame, this ranges from a rope to an extreme close up of some body's eye.
• This shows how the viewer is being made to feel very confined by the lighting used. By using darkness at the edges of the frame not only suggests that darkness, and therefore the threat is getting nearer and nearer to the characters on screen and the viewer, but also that it is inevitable and there is no escape.
• This idea continues even once we see the characters on the plane, their seats are the only ones which appear to be lit up, again drawing all the attention to them as they are the dominant part part of the scene, but showing how again, the darkness is nearly upon them.

By looking at all these film openings and their use of lighting, we can see that in ours, we should try and incorporate lighting as an addition to our chosen threat. This means we will be able to give the threat more power, by associating it with darkness, as this is a common theme in film openings.

 

Character profile: Protagonist

Character profiles

Protagonist 

Group of protagonists or an Individual 

• A group of protagonists is usually effective in horror films as an audience can become attached to each character within the group and then be upset and scared when each of them dies or is made to go onto the 'bad side'. Also, the connection between a group of protagonists can be effective as it becomes more distressing to see their reaction if one is killed or injured. It can also be more entertaining for the audience to watch the bond between a group of characters rather than how a single character reacts to things individually. 
• However, a group of protagonists may not be a good idea for our opening as we have a very limited amount of time to prove our effective skills at creating an effective piece of film and so we would not have time to develop the connections between the characters in such a way that the audience would come to sympathise and support them by the end of the opening. Also, having a group of protagonists means that we would have to make our actors talk and this can sometimes end badly and ruin the effect of the opening as the actors would not be professional. It may be hard for us to find more than one person who is interested in featuring in our opening.
• An individual as a protagonist is effective is as by having one person to identify with, the audience becomes more attached to them and so is more frightened when something happens to them. This can also mean that the character can seem more vulnerable if they are by themselves as there would be no-one to potentially get help or protect them and this makes for a more tense watch. It does not require any actors to talk at all as the camera could follow the character without them having to say anything and it will still be effective. It does not require much time to create a bond between the protagonist and the audience if they are an individual as the audience will automatically identify with them if they are alone and vulnerable and this is helpful in our limited amount of time available. 

Old or young

• Using a middle-aged or elderly protagonist can be effective as if they have a family, job and house they have a lot more to lose than a younger person and so they can have a lot more at stake and this raises the tension throughout the film. An older person can have a lot more weaknesses through the people they love such as their children and are also supposed to have a more developed moral code and so will be expected to do the right thing whereas teenagers often are expected to go off the rails. Even though this can be entertaining to watch, an audience likes to be able to trust the protagonist. Also, using an elderly person could be effective as they will not only seem very vulnerable but they will have a lot of memories which can be played on in the form of flashbacks etc.
• However, it may be quite hard for us to find an older actor who would be willing to co-operate due to their lack of time. A younger actor will be much more likely to be creatively imaginative in playing the role of the protagonist and this will be very helpful in creating our opening as we won't have to spend long amounts of time telling them exactly what to do.
• A younger protagonist such as a teenager is effective as they can seem much more vulnerable and so the audience will be more likely to fear for them. A lot of people can relate to being a teenager whether they are older or not as it is a memorable period of life and so the audience will relate to the character. It will be much easier for us to find a younger protagonist as they will be our age- they will be much more likely to get into their role if they know and are used to us. 

Male or female

• A male protagonist is successful sometimes being used in horror as males are usually used in films to create a strong and indestructible character to rely on to save the day. However, in horror this is usually subverted as we see the character be scared and made to seem weak and this subversion is very effective. Also, for horrors which include a mystery such as a horror/thriller or something similar, using a man as the protagonist is common as it is effective having a male character as a detective-type character. This is featured in films such as Sinister or The Sixth Sense where the protagonist is trying to find out information. 
• However, for our opening we will probably not be using much of a mystery to the plot especially so early on in the plot and so an actor which would be easier to make seem vulnerable and threatened would be ideal.
• Due to this, a female protagonist would be much better. This is because for our psychological theme is would be much more desirable to feature a girl as it is easier to make them look small and threatened. We can also use a lot more creative clothing such as long, flowy dresses which would look chilling in our cemetery location. It will also be much easier for us to find a female as we can find one who is interested from our school, most likely someone who is into drama. 

Overall, a female teenage protagonist will be the most ideal for our opening. This will not only be the most effective but also easy to find. A teenage girl protagonist is used quite commonly in horror films such as: When A Stranger Calls and Paranormal Activity 4.

Camera Angles/Shots/Movements (for specific characters)

Camera Angles/Shots/Movements

Protagonist:
To show that they are vulnerable, we would use: high angled shots, birds eye view, long distance shots, tight framing, zooming out from close up to birds eye view
To show something isn't right we would use: canted framing, close ups on uncomfortable body parts
To create a sense of empathy we would use: close up on eyes and face
To give a sense of threat we would use: over the shoulder shots, birds eye views, long distance shots, close up shots, tight framing













Antagonist:
To show they have power over the protagonist we would use: low angle shots, close up shots, loose framing
To create a lack of empathy we would use: Barriers in-between the audience and the antagonist, close up of other body parts (e.g mouth) but not eyes, turned away from the camera
To create a sense of fear and not knowing where they are we would use: close ups, not showing the area


Protagonist video:

Possible colours/appearance for specific characters

Protagonist:
Red - (on her lips?) to foreshadow the death and for blood
Whites - (in her overall attire, e.g dress) to show their innocence and naivety about what is to come
Pink - to be used on the cheeks to show femininity and vitality
Blonde hair - to show innocence and naivety
Yellow - Cowardice
Purple - perhaps as eye make up to show individuality in her perspective

Overall possible ideas:
1.) Pink lipstick, pink cheeks, white flowing dress with red shoes, curly hair and a red bow.
2.) White flowing dress, black ribbon around the waist, black shoes, red ribbon in her hair and pink cheeks.
3.) White flowing dress, yellow wellies, red ribbon in hair and subtle makeup













Antagonist:
Black - to show evil or suffering, also to show a threat and mystery.
Gold - extravagance in killing (related to religion)
Very pale skin? - to show they are almost dead and to show blankness
Dark hair? - to show their evilness
Heavy dark makeup - evil and dead like
Red - to alert the audience of their danger
Green - corruption and illness also the idea they blend into nature (subverts the idea of nature being protecting)
Blue - calm and conservation of itself
Yellow - impatience
Brown - dullness (in comparison to the victim) protection and strength
Gold - success and extravagance

Overall possible ideas:
1.) Black cloak, pale face and black make up, gold chain and gold shoes
2.) Green dress with a gold belt, brown shoes
3.) Muddy white dress/stained with red and blue shoes