Magazine front covers presentation

Magazine front covers presentation

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Above is a power point presentation about my research into magazine front covers and how their conventions will be used to help my group and I to construct the front cover of our film magazine. 

Film poster study and analysis power point

Film poster study and analysis

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This is a power point presentation showing the research I have done on film posters and my own personal opinions on them including: my favourite type of film poster and which type of poster would be best suited for out group to create. 


(Please note that I originally had animations put into the presentation so that certain things would appears in a specific order but it didn't transition onto slide share)

Shooting Schedule

Below is our groups shooting schedule for this week. The schedule basically outlines what we will be doing on certain days in terms of filming and what teams members as well as actors will be needed on that day. The schedule only covers this week since we have to narrow down what we are going on each day, and please excuse the fact that the shooting schedule box exceeds the size of the blog post area but I had to make it that size so that it was easy for people to see the text in each box . 

Storyboard presentation

This is our groups power point presentation which shows the storyboards we created and how they will be used as a basis for each shot in our Horror trailer. The power point will show the progression of how the trailer will play out as well as descriptions of the shot and the camera movement/editing, and sound/dialogue/music that will be featured in the clip.

Horror movie trailer Storyboards

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Using Religious connotations and themes effectively

Our horror trailer 'Damnation' is influence heavily by religious connotation and theme that construct the basic narrative of the film in which a girl gets possessed by some sort of entity (presumably the devil) who then goes on a killing spree and passing the possession onto others. Now my group and I were well aware that using religious connotations in films can be very risky since portraying them in a certain way can cause a lot of upset from people of that religion and because of this the film could be easily slated or even unable to view. Naturally we weren't going to do anything extreme religion wise but we couldn't take that risk, so I took it upon myself to watch and analyse a film (in this case a horror film since it further relates to what we're doing) that uses religious connotation and themes, but not to the point in which it's considered offensive or unjust. The film in question is CARRIE (1976).

After watch the film (which by the way is a great film) I came to a slightly odd conclusion, but it's what my theory behind the religious connotations used in this movie is. My theory is that religious themes are used to establish the ground work for the film and its themes, but it's not the basis for the narrative and the main reasoning for the events in the film to play out, but rather as something that can be questioned as the cause of the events based on people’s preferences. The reason for this is that in the first act of the film the use of religious connotation is very strong and helps to establish the themes portrayed in the film since we can see that Carrie's mother is a very strict Christian and that she blames everything bad that happens to Carrie based on the fact that she has sinned (e.g. the scene where Carrie confronts her mother about getting her first period and not telling her about this sort of thing shows her mother merely thinking that if she didn't sin it wouldn't have happened).

So yeah the first act is strong on religion, but in the second act the religious themes and connotations take a back seat in favour of Carrie dealing with teenage issues and starting to become more and more accepted by her piers (e.g. spending more time with Tommy Ross and even being asked out to the prom) and the scenes with her mother become incredibly downplayed since the scenes are much shorter and Carrie no longer become the victim to her mother’s views. It's at this point that the religious connotation seem to be something of an afterthought since the film focuses more on Carrie and her struggles (both good and bad) but it's towards the end of the prom scene that the religious come back into play. It starts with both Tommy and Carrie making a joke saying "to the devil with false modesty" which suddenly sparks off some very deep and dark music. After that Carrie gets elected prom queen only to have pigs blood be poured all over her (pigs blood representing un-holiness since the pig is considered an animal unfit to eat according to Judaism). Carrie (believing that everyone is laughing at her) then uses her powers to kill everyone in the room and the image of her covered in blood and surrounded by fire shows some sort of devil-ish embodiment.

Once she returns home the room is surrounded by candles (which shows the light of god) and after taking a bath and washing the blood off her mother confesses that her sins were the reasons for Carrie's birth (she agreed not to have sex but one day gave into temptation) and that "now the devil has come home". Carrie's mother then attempts to kill Carrie by literally stabbing her in the back but then Carrie uses the kitchen knives to crucify her mother (similar to Jesus being crucified upon the cross). Carrie then out of fear and frustration accidentally destroys her house and the last we see of her is that she is slowly dying with her dead mother in her arms and a close up on a figure of a crucified Jesus Christ (R.I.P Carrie... you're flying in heaven, not burning in hell). So you can see that Carrie' use of religion starts strong and ends strong, but the middle portion of the film allows the audience to take a breather and focus on other things rather than the film forcing the religious themes down your throat and because of this the religious themes come off as more of a possibility behind the events that play out in the film rather than the main reason for them (since the blood being poured onto Carrie could be a result of spite rather than sinning).      

So after looking at Carrie I knew that if we were to feature religious connotations, it would have been something that eventually gets underplayed rather than being a primary basis for the entire story. So because of this we decided that the first half of the film should be strong on religion but then underplayed in favour of a more survival horror/zombie infestation type of story. This will allow us to get the audience familiar with the religion theme we're portraying but not keep it dominant throughout the course of the film so that (like Carrie) the religious themes could be considered as possibility for the events that take place throughout the course of the story but not being the exact reasoning as to why they occur.

Test filming take 2

Before shooting our actual film trailer we decided to have another go and shooting shots from our storyboards so that we could get a good understanding of how to use shots effectively and how many are needed for a minute and a half trailer. Now did have one go at filming but i didn't turn out as successful since it was our first time and we weren't familiar with the various error that can easily be encountered when filming such as: misplaced props, bad lighting and reflections etc.

This time around the filming turned out to be much better since not only did we take into consideration the errors that occurred last time but also we had our main actress (who portrays the role of 'Angela') with us which was much better since because of her the shots turned out better in terms of emotion and authenticity plus she got a idea of what the character it like which will be very beneficial through out the film since she already know how to portrayal 'Angela'. We decided to use more important scenes in our storyboards since they would be the harder ones to shot and having that experience now would benefit us when it comes to the actual filming. The shots them selves turned out really well compared to last time since we avoid the errors we made before and shot the same scene several time in order to get the best result for the editing process.  

We plan to film this Friday and this second shooting tryout has really helped us to use camera more effectively and prepare for the actual filming.  


NOTE: When the filming does take place we will be using the inside of a church building for some or our scenes. We did however get permission from the vicar to use these premises. 

Narrative Theories used in our Narrative

In our film/story Damnation it's narrative consists of two main theories. These theories are 'the final girl theory' and the 'monstrous feminine'. 

The monstrous feminine is the more pro-dominant theory used in this narrative since the character Angela starts out as a nice, sweet but rather quiet girl who then after an incident in her church becomes possessed by and ungodly force (most likely the devil) and then turns into this maniacal, vicious and unstoppable monster. Angela's character and her transformation are very similar to 'Carrie' since they both religious girls who have demanding parents, though Angela isn't nearly as shy and doesn't posses any powers from the get-go. The main reason we chose this theory is that if pulled of correctly, this type of theory can be incredibly powerful since it often involves a female character becoming some sort of terrifying creature and usually when the change comes about it's very powerful. The best example of this is 'Carrie' since as the film progresses we connect with Carrie and understand what she's feeling and get to relate to her more as a character, but once she's covered in blood and turns evil the impact is very strong since we care for her seeing the change is very striking. We did something similar with Angela expect that she's not necessarily the evil one, rather that she is being controlled and influenced by and evil spirit, yet the audience already knows what she's like and the change of character due to the result of her actions that aren't actually hers gives off a rather upsetting and rather strong emotion feeling towards her.   

We also used the final girl theory but like most films that use this is occurs during the last act of the film. This is when Mason is dead and both Leyla and Freddie have been 'possessed' and it's just Sammie against Angela, Angela pins Sammie down and tries to posses her but Sammie then stabs her in the heart when her guard's down, which dosen't exactly kill her but rather stops her. This theory does play a rather small role in the narrative and our narrative goes against the common convention associated with the final girl theory. What I mean is that in the final girl theory the 'final girl' is the only one who can fight of the killer and this character just so happens to the only developed character throughout the course of the film where as the side characters are based around stereotypes and are simply used to provided killings for the killer (e.g. in Halloween Laurie is only character that is explored and all her friends get next to no development and are just there for Michael Myers to kill), In our narrative Sammie, Leyla, Mason and Freddie are all developed (some more than others) and there purpose in the film is to be there for Angela at the being and try to confront her and the end rather than just being victims for Angela.   

Influential Horror trailer 2- Grave Encounters

This horror trailer in particular really showed us how to use the shaky camera technique effectively and how when done right it can come off as something very realistic and scary rather than a cheap and sometimes choppy camera movement. It also used text editing very well which is something we plan to do in our trailer since the text helps to explain the back story of the this trailer while the clips portray the current narrative. We plan to use a similar technique but only for a more scary feel since the text will mainly be used for tag lines and so on.

Influential Horror trailer 1-The Woman In Black

This trailer was very influential to use since it showed that trailers don't have to be in a linear fashion (start to finish) in terms of story and also i shows that most trailer use around 60 shots for just a minute and a half of film with each clip lasting roughly 2 seconds. Plus it showed us how to use music effectively in a trailer since the music in this trailer gradually builds and the editing corresponds to the ticking of clock in the background.

Damnation Narrative

This is the narrative for our film/story Damnation. Naturally we couldn't include everything mentioned in the narrative in the trailer so the bits that are high lighted in green our the scenes that should be featured in the trailer. 

Beginning

In South -East London, England, a teenage girl named Angela is mysteriously looking at a church. A flashback of her at a younger age is shown where she is constantly going to church with her mother. Suddenly, her mother disrupts the flashback and we return to the present stage and her mother asks if she is going inside the church. She then states that she will come into the church within a few moments and hence her mum goes in without her. She continues to stare at the church but suddenly sees her friends across the street and a smile is illustrated on her face. They quickly greet and Sammie states that they are going to Freddie’s house to watch a movie; she then states that she is going with them and therefore ditches the idea of going to church. She looks back at the church worryingly but soon forgets about her betrayal to her religion when she converses with her friends.

Once inside Freddie’s house they settle down and begin to watch the film. They then begin to watch a horror film and she is reminded of her betrayal to the church in which this makes her feel uneasy. Then, some religious connotations are portrayed within the film and she begins to panic as she thinks about her own deception. Her friends try to snap her out of her madness and once calm, suggest that she should go home and rest and she follows this advice.

She arrives home only to find her mother extremely angry with her missing out on church. The two argue until the mother hits her and states that she should repent her sins. She runs to her room, cries and then falls asleep. Once awoken from her slumber, she realises the time, 3am however, decides her mother was right and that she should go and repent. She gets her coat and walks silently out the house, trying not to awake her mother. She walks to the church reciting versus’ from the Bible. Once in the church, she kneels by the alter and starts praying. Suddenly, the door opens but she cannot see anyone there, she then decides to hide away in fear thinking that God has arrived in the room. It turns out to be a thief trying to steal ornaments from the alter including a Bible, a cross and some money from the offering. Angela then beings to become more and more scared and then hear voices within her mind telling her to kill. The voices then begin to get louder and before she can control herself she beats him to death with a candle holder. She then stops and realises what she has done and runs to the bathroom to try and wash away the blood. She then looks in the mirror once, thinking that something is behind her. She then looks again in which her eyes go red and the scene fades to black.

A mysterious person who has witnessed the event goes to Angela’s mother and tells her about the event that happened within the church. Thinking that this person is wild, she refuses to believe the story and tells the person to get out of her house. The person tells her to beware of Angela, and then runs out of the house whilst Angela’s mum is left bewildered.

Later her mum is sitting in her chair and waiting for Angela to arrive. The doorbell rings and her mum slowly approach the door, baring in mind what the witness has said about Angela. She slowly opens the door to find Angela with her head held down and her clothes ripped. She then goes to touch Angela’s head but Angela then quickly raises her head and her mother realises that she has glowing red eyes. Her mum runs away in fear but Angela catches up with her. She then stabs Angela in the stomach but Angela laughs and then takes the knife out showing that it has had no effect. The scene then ends with Angela going towards the camera but at an audience’s point of view coming towards the camera. 


Middle
The next morning, Leyla and Sammie arrive to Angela's house to pick her up for school. After ringing the doorbell and waiting for a couple of minutes they soon find that the door is open and decide to go in. They search around the house and fail to find Angela. As soon as they are about to leave, Angela jumps from nowhere and Leyla and Sammie scream. Angela laughs, greets her friends and they all go off to school.
 
After school, Freddie and Angela walk to Freddie's house to do their English project together. Soon after arriving at Freddie's house, Angela gets restless and tries to kiss Freddie. Freddie backs away and states that he does not want to kiss Angela and that she should leave. Angela gets angry and Freddie then states that he'll find another partner for the project. Angela then transforms from normal Angela in to evil Angela and then passes the curse onto Freddie. Angela leaves the house when she hears Freddie's parents arriving back to the house. Freddie's mum asks if he is okay and Freddie does not reply and instead passes the curse onto his parents. The scene ends with the family laughing manically.

Clips of Angela and Freddie killing and cursing people are then shown. Even a clip of Mason is seen with Angela stating that he'll have fun before giving killing him and sending him to hell. The whole of South East London are then told about the violent attacks through different media texts.

Sammie wonders why all of this is happening and decides to do some much needed research. We see clips of her reading books, searching the internet and find out what Angela is and how the curse is spreading. Suddenly, Angela calls Sammie and states that Sammie should stop what she is doing whilst Sammie is confused and then the two argue on the phone. Sammie throws the book and holds her head with her hands.

A couple of weeks later and Leyla and Sammie are sitting in Leyla's front room pondering about all the attacks. There is a new curfew of 5pm for children and 6pm for young adults and 7pm for adults in order to ensure everyone's safety. Sammie then states that no one is safe and the two then share stories about the kind of attacks they've heard. Suddenly they hear glass shattering from the other room and scream only to find out that Leyla's mum had accidentally dropped her glass of water and then begins to cry. The two girls comfort the mother until she is calm again. They smile and then Leyla's mother then goes upstairs to rest. Leyla states that she has become this way because of all the attacks and they return back to the front room. 

Ending

Sammie then gets a strange call from someone calling from unknown. She picks up and the person is frantically telling her to stay away from Angela as she is spreading the curse. The mysterious person is then revealed to be connected to Angela’s past. Sammie listens but then demands for evidence and the mysterious person tells her to look outside her window. Leyla hearing the conversation then looks outside the window to find the "evil Angela" grinning. Sammie drops the phone and the two decide to run upstairs into Leyla's room. Angela breaks down the door and stops Leyla from going up the stairs. Leyla is crying and shouts to Sammie to save herself. Sammie then tries to save Leyla but is flung to the dining room door. Leyla is then taken to the front room where Angela blocks the door. Leyla screams in agony whilst Angela laughs. Sammie screams and runs outside.

After giving Leyla the curse, Angela then tracks down Sammie and finds her at an abandoned house. Sammie screams and short dialogue is spoken between the two. There is then a final standoff between Angela and Sammie. Sammie then tries to run away but Angela drags her by feet to her previous position. Sammie frantically looks around to find something to kill Angela and comes across a knife. As soon as Angela tries to possess her, Sammie stabs Angela in the heart and Angela screams in agony. She says her last words then drops to the floor and returns back to the "normal" Angela. Sammie remembers that Angela had been possessed; this drives her to call an ambulance. Sammie then runs back to Leyla's house to find a "normal" Leyla. The scene is left with the two of them hugging.

The narrative ends with Angela missing and Sammie, Leyla and Freddie laying flowers for Mason.

First attempt trailer

This is the first attempt at creating our horror trailer using the clips filmed on deep-learning day. Admittedly the trailer looks pretty pants, but that's mainly to do with the facts that the shots we took were rather poor since we ran into a lot of errors when shooting and there were various things we hadn't considered at the time (such as: lighting and reflections, misplaced props etc). The trailer itself just barely outlines what our final trailer is going to be about since we have no dialogue and many of the key scenes needed in order to make the narrative come alive. However, when creating this video we did get a feel for how the editing works (e.g. adding music, shortening/lengthening shots, adding text into the timeline etc) and so that we know what to do once we start to film our final trailer and also how much seconds each shot in the trailer consists of (roughly 2 seconds per shot).