Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and coventions of real media products?

TITLE OF FILM

The title of our film is 'One By One' based on the idea that each of the characters are killed by a anonymous and sinister child-even though you don't see it- following them in the woods. The font we have chosen- Copperplate- lends itself quite well to the style and genre of film we have, as we feel it represents quite a serious mood and atmosphere, without the typical cliché style font associated with a stereotypical horror film.
The colour black, was chosen to overpower the white colour because of how it symbolises an intimidating and unapproachable being or object, in comparison to the white, which is symbolic of innocence and purity, the representation of e.g. a child -in our film this is the antagonist, as inspired by 'The Ring'-. The colour white in the titles can be seen as being dominated by black, since there is a larger amount of black than white.

During the couple of seconds the title was showing, we thought about using some sort of non-diegetic sound which created a sinister mood. The song 'ten green bottles' was shortened to 'one green bottle' which was used and meant as a metaphorical representation of how each protagonist dies 'one by one'.

SETTING AND LOCATION

The whole of our main film was set and located in a forest, and this idea was highly influenced by the 'Blair Witch Project' and how they spend the whole of the film lost in a forest.

The forest can be described as being a typical horror film location, based on the use of colouring, There are very little bright colours and mainly quite dull colours, illustrating how these colours overpower the brighter ones. The grey sky, could be symbolic of a something unhappy and oppressive. The use of dark trees towering over the group can represent how little power and authority the group have in this area.

I think using the tunnel created a really nice effect, in terms of colouring because of how it starts with clear lights and then going deeper into it, it's darker, symbolic of perhaps more dangerous territory, which is a typical horror film style because of the colours and the unknown, what might happen, who's down there?

The use of nature in the opening was to present the film as starting with some sort of positive atmosphere, in comparison with the ending. Personally I associate nature as something positive and happy, and using these kinds of shots at the start contrasts quite nicely with the screaming at the very beginning and the end, also with the panic, and with the idea that nature and camping in the woods doesn't always turn out quite as planned, so there is some kind of irony beinging llustrated here.
 I think this method can be seen in some horror films, you can find upbeat beginnings, perhaps with a happy family or a good relationship, and then it develops into something quite terrible, which is what we've trying to mirror.

It could be seen as a twist, which is generally a typical horror film effect, because you assume there's an upbeat start- despite the fact someone dies in the beginning- but then it goes onto being quite negative and oppressive.

COSTUMES AND PROPS

The use of costumes is quite affective in our film, as we can be seen wearing typical clothing you'd wear out when it's cold, when you'd go on a long walk or go camping, also using props that would be used when going out for these reasons e.g. wellie boots, coats, an umbrella, blanket and a tent.

We took inspiration from 'The Blair Witch Project' for the use of specific outfits and props. The use of casual clothing, worn by the characters, is what we attempted too mirror in order to create a sense of realism.

 

The Blair Witch Project



We used camcorders in our opening as well, which- to some people- came across a mistake, because they assumed we just forgot to put the cameras down, because some of our camera work is a representation of what each of the characters are seeing, so we could understand the confusion.

CAMERA AND EDITING

The majority of our filming was hand held to create the effect it was a perspective of what each characters were seeing, although we did use some shots on the tripod. The hand held shots were highly influenced by 'The Blair Witch Project', and the tripod shots were influenced more by 'The Ring' since there aren't any shots without a steady view.

At the very beginning, this scene (picture below) was a flash forward of what happens in the end, and because the final character dies there's a lot of diegetic sounds (screaming). We thought by cutting this scene straight to black when the scream was nearly finished and making the scream carry on, would create a dramatic effect. The scream then fades out up to the titles and then the music begins.

The shots of the forest, stream and tyre at the beginning was an example of how we tried to edit the scenes so the flowed nicely.

The camera was panning to the left in this shot, so in the next shot with the tyre, we tried to swing the tyre to the left so there was a nice transaction, and this followed on with the stream channelling to the left like the tyre.  

Near the end of our opening film, there's a shot of us inside the tent, and this was shot using the hand held camera method, as is the majority of the ending to create that sense of realism, and an anxious mood and atmosphere. This mood can be picked out specifically and can be shown when the group are trying to find the missing girl, the camera suddenly turns around when they hear cracking twigs and the camera also suddenly turns on, just before the search, as if they had been asleep.

Sudden wake

Sudden turn

Tent

Personally, I really like the editing in this scene because of the jumpy shots and because of the shaky camera, which gives it quite a scary and unnerving effect whereby you'd know it was a horror film, also due to the colours.
During these shots we included the names of the actresses which I think worked nicely with the black background and the white font colours- in creates a nice contrast.

TITLE FONT AND STYLE

The title used in the tunnels was chosen because of how it looks quite sinister and chilling.

The colouring of the tunnel wasn't deliberate and when we edited this scene together it was a happy accident because of how the colours were quite effective in presenting our horror genre.

The font we use for the title was called 'Copper Plate', and the reason why we chose this specific font was because of it's simplicity and how it didn't give very much of the film away apart from the title.

We placed the title in the middle of the page and used a large lettering to display the title.

STORY AND HOW THE OEPNING IT SETS UP

Our opening film is about four friends that go out on a camping trip into the woods, and this idea was highly inspired by the 'Blair Witch Project'. They set off on the beaten track and then can be seen going off into the woods, this can be shown by the woody location and the fact there is hardly a path.

Beaten Track

Off the beaten track

They reach a campsite and set up camp (however this isn't seen). They're mucking around in the tent for a couple of seconds and then they fall asleep which can be shown by how the camera is suddenly turned on due to how they fall asleep after turning it off. The group wakes up after realising one of the group is missing and because of the scream. After the scream the group venture out to try and find the missing girl. They keep hearing the crackling of twigs from behind them which is the antagonist following them. They then hear another scream which is the missing girls, and then it ends.

GENRE AND HOW THE OPENING SUGGESTS IT

Our chosen genre is horror and this can be presented through the sounds, mise-en-scene and camera movements.

Mise-en-scene

The setting is a key factor to our horror film because of the typical representation of how horror films are filmed in low key light locations and this is the case with our film- the weather consists of dull colours and rainy conditions.

Facial expressions and body language are key in horror films because you can depict the mood and atmosphere and understand the situation taking into consideration whether or not people are happy or unhappy.

Towards the end of the film when the group have heard the scream, one of the characters makes a very anxious facial expression which is symbolic of how the characters are feeling.

Lighting and colour was very important in our horror film, and it is very important in any kind of horror film because if you had a serious event taking place which involved some sort of jump scare then you wouldn't except bright lighting which can be symbolic of a happy and positive event.

There is an example of this at the very end of our film when the group go out to look for the missing girl.

During this final scene there are rainy conditions, and the search takes place at night. If we changed the conditions to being the day time and with a sunny environment then you wouldn't get the same effect.

We did use the idea of searching for the missing girl at night which was inspired by the 'Blair Witch Project' because this is when the majority of the scary events happen, so we attempted to mirror this effect.

The Blair Witch Project

Sound Techniques

We used a lot of sounds in our film, these were mainly diegetic sounds i.e. birds, twigs, sound of river, wind etc. At the beginning of the film during the shots of nature we didn't many non diegetic sounds and they were all natural.

However at the beginning of the film you hear the thunder just before you see the first shot and this was an added in non-diegetic sound technique, but because of the lighting I feel that the sound seemed quite natural.

 Sound Techniques

• 'One Green Bottle'- music- parallel sound
• Suspenseful music- parallel sound
• Screams (apart from scream at the beginning)
• Thunder
• Birds sounds (apart from those in the tunnel)
• Footsteps (stairs)- synchronous sounds

HOW ARE CHARACTERS INTRODUCED?

Firstly, one of the characters are introduced with a tragic ending, suggesting that the characters are perhaps in danger because this shot was a flash forward and there is only one person to be seen.

Then you see the group walking to find a camp site which is a flashback from the first scene, and due to the way we positioned the camera, and how it is placed between the leaves and twigs can suggest that something is watching them.

So the characters aren't introduced in a very good way.

However, when the characters are in the tent you can see the group as being happy and having a good time, this is an interesting contrast to the very end baring in mind a bad event takes place.

SPECIAL EFFECTS

We didn't use any professional special effects although we did use some effects for the transitions of each shot. For example, at the end of the film we used a fade out effect to make the screen black and carry on the sound effects.
We also used some effects on the sounds i.e. muffled screams, to make it sound more realistic, a cathedral echo effect on the 'one green bottle' music to give an eerie and spooky effect.

'One Green Bottle'

Finally, we did use different kinds of filters and colours on some of the shots, to create lower key light settings which can be seen as a typical horror convention. We also used these kinds of light conditions as we were influenced by the 'Blair Witch Project'.

We changed the colours on shots including, the first scene with the close up on the grass and the tunnel.

Grass scene

Tunnel scene