I always had an image of a young child standing in a white long dress or nightie sort of thing, that may not seem realistic but it is what I imagined.
Thinking about what my partner Poppy and I would like Vanessa to wear is a big decision, and pretty hard. We don't want to see her in the movie in jeans and a T-shirt or ripped clothing, it is too typical, we would like a unique movie not something that ends up the same as every other thing produced. We would prefer Vanessa to look not too rough, but a little scruffy, so not in nice new clothes or tatty ripped things. So we will continue looking through pictures around and take some pictures and put them on our blogs which will eventually lead us to what Vanessa shall be wearing.
This clip from youtube has given my partner Poppy and I great ideas. We thought that to throw a dummy of the edge of a cliff would be hard to make look real and make people believe that it is an actual body, so we watched some things on youtube and this came up. We thought that we could show the body being pushed off the cliff, and then get a camera shot to show them falling into water, which would seem realistic as we live on a small island surrounded by sea, and it would make the movie look less tacky than if we didn't do a good shot, and made the body look really fake and rubbish!
For our next task we have to make a short film this is what we have to do:
Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
I think that my video is ok, but I could improve it, by maybe following the person into the door, getting a close up of her hand opening it, and maybe get a few better shot reverse shots. I think that it is alright, but next time I make one, I shall make sure I improve it. In this exercise I decided to dress up as a cat, as did my partner Poppy, we thought it would be nice to add a sence of humour to this short video.
Today my partner Poppy and I decided to look at music for our movie. We got about 5 CD's from the school drama department and went through all of them and picked out a few that we really liked. We found some tracks that we liked, but we only liked particular parts of it, so we both went on it iMovie HD, and cut bits of the song that we wanted out put some pictures on it so its not boring, and put a little voice to say what track it is and where it comes from. I want something that is creepy and eery, so the viewer gets chills from both the movie and the music.
I looked up Danny Elfman onYouTube, and I found this I like the sound upto around 36 seconds, it may not be perfect for my movie, but it scared me.
I also looked up Sigu Ros as well,
I quite like the first few seconds of it, it sounds quite creepy to me, but then gets to a nice beat which isn't creepy that's when I don't like it that much.
We made a video on ideas we had, and we both put it up on Windows Movie Maker and did some editing to make it flow into one.
This is the music we made and edited.
We only found two songs which we really liked, which is a shame because we would have liked to find a lot more. We looked through about five CD's, and put the clips we liked onto iTunes and then on to iMovie HD and edited the clips into what we wanted to have. I thought that they were quite chilling and cool, but all the other pieces of music we listen to were so typical and similar to mostly every movie we have seen. We would prefer not to have " horror " music which you would always associate with a movie, we want something that will grab the viewers attention and make them think " why am I here, whats going to happen?!!"
In one of our media lessons we got the task to have a go at filming our partners doing something like running or walking down the stairs, we had to get the same activity in a variety of different angles eg. running towards the camera and running away from the camera.
After filming, we loaded our short films onto the computers and started editing on iMovie HD. To make the short film look better we cut bits out and used effects and transitions to make it flow smoothly. At first editing was a bit confusing but now I understand iMovie HD much better.
Today Poppy Larbalestier and I went to Vanessa the person who will play the role of the killer. I took a few pictures to show how she may commit such crimes but she still has a look of innocence about her. My idea was to take two pictures of Vanessa like the picture I put lower down in my blog of the two killers of James Bulger, I think it is more interesting than a plain picture of her, I also took a load of her going through the field, playing with her toys and through a bush. The idea I have is to show her looking evil, but show that she is only eleven and she still is a child behind that image she is putting across. I also took a picture of her family photo to show she belongs to someone and lives somewhere, but not now after she has killed a lot of people.
I thought that it would be a good idea to give her a chance to try out her new role, so I filmed Vanessa wondering around the field maybe to represent how she may wonder around Portlet. I would like to show the contrast of how she may have an evil side but she also has a cute side that people will be decieved by. I filmed this video and edited it on Windows Movie Maker.
Today my partner Poppy Larbalestier and I went up to visit Portlet Commen to take pictures and get ideas of where we can film and what we can do around the area. When I got there I thought that there was a lot of open space surrounded by bushes, little paths going every where and cliffs. I think that Portlet Commen is perfect for our location because it is quite, not many peole are around there only a few people wondering about, there are lots of hidden places which we thought that Vanessa could "live" but we could make it look realistic. We found a place on a path which had a cardigan and some beer cans on it which we could make it look like someone could have or does live there. Goind up to the location gave me lots of ideas in my head of what we can create, it may sound stupid now but I think that we will make a good go of it and it will look like someone could actually do that.
To make my blog more interesting I had the idea to make a short film about what I thought about the area and little extra ideas, so Poppy filmed me when we went up to Portlet Commen, and I edited it on Windows Movie Maker.
To get ideas for our film Poppy and I both have done some research into Children who kill. I think it is a good idea because we will then maybe get an over all idea of why the children may do it. For our film we had an idea that the child could maybe have had a bad past eg been beaten or abused in other ways. By looking into other killings we can maybe use some of the things that happened to them and show them in flash backs to make the audience try and understand why she is killing people.
James Bulger. - In February 1993 two boys named Robert Thompson and Jon Venables murdered two year old James Bulger after kidnapping him from a butcher's shop in a shopping center with his mother. - The boys both ten years old were skipping school and took the young child on a 2½ mile walk ending at railroad tracks. At a canal on the way he gained head and face injuries from being dropped on the floor, - They were seen by at least 38 people, some noticed head injuries on the little boy. It was reported that he seemed upset and distressed, yet other's reported he was also seen laughing happily. - Once they reached the tracks, blue paint was thrown in James's face, they kicked him, battered him with bricks, stones, and a 22 lb iron bar; shoved batteries in his mouth; and sexually assaulted him before covering his lifeless body with bricks and stones on train tracks. A train severed his body. The boys went home afterwards to watch cartoons. - Thompson was described as quiet yet friendly. When he was five, his drunken father who beat and sexually abused his wife and children abandoned family. The following week their home burned down. His mother a heavy drinker, who had attempted suicide, could not control her seven aggressive, violent sons who bit, hammered, battered, tortured, and threatened to knife each other. When one of the boys was returned home from foster care he attempted suicide by overdose. Robert was the least able to defend himself from his siblings. - Emotionally immature, Venables was hyperactive child who fought at school but after his parents separated, he spent two days a week at his father's (Neil) house nearby. He became a loner with attention-seeking tendencies. He banged his head on walls and cut himself with scissors at school. He received no help for these behaviors. His mother, Susan, suffered from psychiatric conditions including severe depressive problem. His brother and sister attended special needs for major learning disabilities.
The two ten year old killers. - I think these events in their pasts may have affected the way they thought about things, but it is still no excuse what they did. This may have triggered them off to kill the two year old, no one will ever know. - This murder does not give me any ideas what so ever, infact it makes me think how could two children do something like that it is obscene, horrific and disgusting. I will not be doing anything like that in my movie.
The case in Norway. - In October 1994 Silje Raedergard was playing with friends at a local football field. She had played with the two boys lots of times, but this time things turned rough. . They stripped the girl, stoned her then she fell unconscious, they panicked and ran, leaving her to die in the snow. - The news of the girls death shocked the small town. With a population of 135,000, the city of Trondheim had only experienced two murders in the six years before her death. Instead of being angry and seeking revenge, the local community felt grief and levels of responsibility. - I think that this was a fun game gone wrong, the people who killed her may not have meant to, I had an idea maybe that the little girl could "accidently" kill someone, and then keep carrying on because she may have had a terrible past of some sort.
Eric Smith. - In 1994, Smith was convicted of choking and battering the life out of 4-year-old Derrick Robie. A jury found Smith guilty of murder in the second degree. - According to court documents, Smithwas a loner and was often tormented by bullies for his protruding ears, thick glasses, and freckles. - I don't think any of the things he did will inspire me or my partner for our movie, it is sick and disturbing. Above; Eric Smith.
- I think that all of the killers that I have researched have had bad pasts or reasons that make them feel they have to do something. - I have noticed that they have been either bullied or had parents that have problems or just don't care about them. - For our movie I have thought about maybe showing that the child who is going to kill may have been abused or had a bad past that is why she may be killing people, because normal eleven year olds don't usually go out and do bad things unless they have been treated badly before.
Today my partner and I decided to sit down and discuss ideas we have for our film and how we would like to go and what we would like to happen. - So here are the ideas we had with a little description of why we put it down: - Flashing of news paper cuttings on the screen. We would do this maybe at the beginning or around the film saying things that may have headlined (Made up by us). Maybe like this but all of them seperated flashing up at different times. - Flashing of the young persons face. We would possibly do this at the beginning of the film and flash on her then go look onto something else then go back to her, just to show the audience who is commiting such a thing, I think the audience could be a bit confused, maybe a tiny bit scared and confused seeing a little child commiting murder. I had an idea of maybe doing flashes similar to the girl in the gruge, I'm not sure I just thought it might be creepy and people will be shocked when they see it.
- Eleven year old girl. The idea of using an eleven year old girl is different because she looks innocent and people would think a little girl like that is pure and has nothing to hide, but they will be proved wrong. - How she is going to kill? We haven't really decided on how or what she will do as of yet. But people will not suspect her because they don't know who she is, and because she is so young they wouldn't think anything of it. - We thought that there shouldn't be a lot or any blood at all because its not meant to be a really gory film, just scary and will play with the mind a little bit. - There was an idea of maybe getting a clip of her dragging something but only seeing some hair? Maybe not knowing what is going on at all. - Big thump at end. We thought that it would be interesting if there was a big thump at the end then the screen would go black and it would end. - Another idea was that we could get shots of where she sleeps with a few cans and a matress to make it look realistic. Maybe showing a shot of her from the back to show that she is young, and showing her young hands and some other features. - Shots from within the bushes looking for people and when she sees people she will lift up the bush and maybe pop back down again if its not the right person. - Today we also decided that we were going to take pictures of places we might like to film, the girl and costumes/props we will use. - We have split the work up in two so I will take pictures of the girl and Poppy will take pictures of the place we would like to do some filming in, then we will write up about it. I think we may do costumes and props together so it works out to an equal amount of work each. - We thought it might be a good idea as we live on an Island that we could use somewhere like Grosnez or Plemont, because they are out in the open and pretty much deserted apart from the odd person walking, and they would be quite scary and eery at night time or early morning.
I looked up the information for a "15" movie, so we can see what fits in and if it will be categorized as a "15". I got this information from
Theme. No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year olds.
Language. There may be frequent use of strong language (eg 'f***'). But the strongest terms (eg 'c***') will be acceptable only where justified by the context. Continued aggressive use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.
Nudity.Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Sex. Sexual activity may be portrayed but without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.
Violence.Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief.
Imitable techniques. Dangerous techniques (eg combat, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on imitable detail. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Horror.Strong threat and menace are permitted. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.
Drugs.Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.
I decided to do some research about horror movies so I know where they originate from and different bits of information I didn't know. I looked some information up and changed it into my own words. I have noticed in a few horror/thriller films (Hostel, hide and seek, and Saw)that I have been to that the charcters are young maybe around my age, I think they do this because the people making the films want the younger people to be drawn in not bored because the actors are older and they don't really care.
Horror films are designed to make you scared and bring about fear, responses and terror to the viewer. Horror movie plots usually contain, evil forces or people sometimes the supernatural to interfear with everyday life and world. The movies usually contain a main character who is evil or something which interfears with everything around. Early horror films often got inspiration from stories and characters from classic literatre, like Dracula, The Mummy, Wolf Man,Phantom of the Opera and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. People fot insperation from such Literature as Frankenstein (Trailer Clip)
Horror films that were made later on got inspiration from the insecurites of life after World War II.
I also decided to look up the history of movie age certificates because I wanted to know how much things may or may not have changed over the years up to the present day. The UK's film ratings have been decided by the British Board of film classification since 1913. From this information I would like to decide what kind of certificate I can give my film, I think I would like to be between a 12-15.
1913-1932 - There were only two certificates: Universal - Suitable for children. Adult - Some councils ruled that children must be accompanied by an adult.
1932-1951 - An H (Horror) certificate was added to alert parents to horror-themed material. Universal - Suitable for children. Adult - Some councils ruled that children must be accompanied by an adult. Horror - Some councils ruled that only those aged 16 or over could be admitted.
1951-1970 - For the first time, a compulsory certificate, X, was introduced allowing only those aged 16 and over to enter. This replaced the H certificate. Universal - Suitable for children. Adult - Some councils ruled that children must be accompanied by an adult. X - Suitable for those aged 16 and over (enforced by all councils).
1970-1982 - In July 1970 the A certificate was split into two: the A certificate now allowed those aged five and over to be admitted, but warned parents that they may not wish children under 14 to watch the film, while the new AA allowed only those aged 14 or over to be admitted. As there was now a mandatory certificate at 14, the X certificate was modified to raise its age from 16 to 18. The logos for the certificates were also changed to a more modern look before that they hadn't been changed for 60 years. Universal - Suitable for children. Adult - Some councils ruled that children must be accompanied by an adult. AA - Suitable for those aged 14 years and over X - Suitable for those aged 18 years and over.
1982-1985 - In November 1982 the ratings system was completely changed with only the U certificate remaining there, but its description was slightly modified. The A certificate was replaced by PG. The age of AA went up a year in the age group and the certificate was renamed 15. The X certificate was unchanged but renamed 18 due to a reputation the letter X had. A new R18 certificate was introduced for sexually-explicit films. To show the R18 films, the cinemas had to be licensed members-only clubs. Universal - Suitable for all. Parental Guidance - All ages admitted, but parents are advised some scenes maybe unsuitable for young children. 15 - Suitable for ages 15 years and over. 18 - Suitable for ages 18 years and over. Restricted 18 - Suitable for those aged 18 years and over. They are only available at licensed cinemas. 1985-1989 - All the current certificates were used, though a new Uc certificate was made for videos only to indicate a recording that is especially suitable for young children to watch on their own. Those under the age of a certificate could not buy or rent a video with that certificate. Shops wanted to sell R18's had to apply for a license to sell them. The Video Recordings Act 1984 gave the BBFC the legal responsibility to rate all videos. Universal Children - Suitable for all, very suitable for young children to watch on their own (video only) Universal - Suitable for all. Parental Guidance - All ages admitted, but parents are advised some scenes maybe unsuitable for young children. 15 - Suitable for ages 15 years and over. 18 - Suitable for ages 18 years and older. Restricted 18 - Suitable for those aged 18 years and over. They are only available at licensed cinemas.
1989-1994 - Due to the large gap between PG and 15 and industry pressure regarding Batman, a 12 certificate was introduced on 1 August 1989. However, it was for cinema use only and did not cover videos. 12 films released on video would typically be rated 15, though they were sometimes edited to fit the PG category. Universal Children - Suitable for all, very suitable for young children to watch on their own (video only) Universal - Suitable for all. Parental Guidance - All ages admitted, but parents are advised some scenes maybe unsuitable for young children. 15 - Suitable for ages 15 years and over. 12- Suitable for ages 12 years and over at cinemas only. 18 - Suitable for ages 18 years and older. Restricted 18 - Suitable for those aged 18 years and over. They are only available at licensed cinemas and shops.
1994-2002 - The 12 certificate was also introduced for videos in July 1994. Universal Children - Suitable for all, very suitable for young children to watch on their own (video only) Universal - Suitable for all. Parental Guidance - All ages admitted, but parents are advised some scenes maybe unsuitable for young children. 15 - Suitable for ages 15 years and over. 12 - Suitable for ages 12 years and over at cinemas only. 18 - Suitable for ages 18 years and older. Restricted 18 - Suitable for those aged 18 years and over. They are only available at licensed cinemas and shops.
2002- Present - The cinema 12 certificate was changed and renamed 12A. Children under 12 could now go to 12A films, as long as they were accompanied by an adult. Universal Children - Suitable for all, very suitable for young children to watch on their own (video only) Universal - Suitable for all. Parental Guidance - All ages admitted, but parents are advised some scenes maybe unsuitable for young children. 15 - Suitable for ages 15 years and over. 12 Accompanied/Advisory - Suitable for those aged 12 and over (cinema only); under 12s admitted, but only if accompanied by an adult. 12- Suitable for ages 12 years and over at cinemas only. 18 - Suitable for ages 18 years and older. Restricted 18 - Suitable for those aged 18 years and over. They are only available at licensed cinemas and shops.
Above is sort of a time line of how the images have changed over the years and come from black and white to actual colours!
For my movie my friend and I have decided to work together, and we are going to do a movie with the genre horror/thriller. We have had some ideas on what the movie could be about, and what shots and different ideas we can use.
I had some ideas:
•Flash backs of events happened before hand. I think using these will represent to the audience of what has happened in the young girls past to show why she is like she is and why she does what she does.
•Weird scary writing on the screen to introduce the names and the title of the film. I like this idea because it might introduce the film as creepy and people might think " ohh whats to come" waiting for something.
•Camera shots like they use in Saw. I think these shots are really interesting, I would love to re-enact one of them in my film because I like them so much.
I like the camera shot at 40 seconds, I would like to do something like that or like in the other Saw's.
•Using “Paramount Vantage” or “Twisted Picturesinstitution on our movie because they are atmosperic.
•Using atmospeheric music to set the right mood for anyone watching it.
•Speeding up and slowing down things going on in the shot. I think doing this makes the scene look a lot different and may impact on the audience a little different.
•Using shallow depths of field on people or things to give a weird effect.
Yesterday in media I watched the film called “Panic Room “. It started off with buildings, and there was text on the buildings saying the names of people in it and who helped make it and what not. I think that effect is very simple but it gets everything it needs across, and it is a different way to show something. I think that they make it too long though it gets boring after a while watching something so simple for so long. Later on in the film when someone is trying to break into a place, they put a shot looking down on them I think this is interesting because it is a new way to show what is going on but it keeps you looking, also when the lady is sleeping I like how they twist the camera around to make it look like her bed is upright when it obviously isn’t it is a good idea. I like the idea of how they used to camera to focus on someone when they were talking and blur out the other person when they weren’t talking, and doing it alternatively which is brilliant, because it keeps you looking at the person talking but then you can still kind of see the other person.
For ideas about what to do and how I could do things I have been looking on youtube at past students films.
I watched this one a few times. I liked the beginning when the logo for " Paramount Vantage " came up, I really liked it because it went slow, but the music went with it, so it made it a bit creepy. I like the logo because it came on simple and wasn't too complicated so I know what company it was. I like the music in the movie, I think it works ok because it is a bit chilling, but towards the end when they show the girl the music could have been a bit more scary. I like how they used the dark background with simple things, and how the text is seen at a distance but then is zoomed in and floats about, it is a cool effect, I also like at the end how they used a text which looks like they are typing and use a different sound it gets the point across and is good to understand what was going on. In 1.12-1.35 it gave me no idea of what was going on I was really confused what was going on. In 2-2.08 I like how they spun around her and showed her trying to get free, it is like Saw and it is really interesting way to use the camera. I don't like how they put the title at the end it was a bit plain.
Today in media I watched part of the film " Hostel ". In the beginning when the film is just starting, I noticed the camera was blury for most of the part but focused on one thing maybe a weapon of some kind, I thought that was a cool way to represent things when the background is blurred out and you can still see people moving in the background yet you don't know what is going on but you can see the camera has something in focus. I like how they don't really show a lot of what is going on and how they show blood trickling down the sink or some area, you have no idea where it is going to go.
In 10-16 seconds of this trailer it shows a good effective effect about what I was talking about, but it isn't as long as the movie, also I like how the writing is used and how it is brought on and off screen. When it gets further into the movie around the time when it tells you the title it shows it on a puddle and then it is splashed out, I think that it is weird but and interesting way to show a title, it also shows it in a hotel sign which I think is simple and not too complicated. I like the use of dark dingey rooms becuase they are creepy and might give you the chills, becuase you think what could be lurking around the corner. Also, I like how around the buildings at night it has street lights and is a bit foggy, it gives you the chills like something/one could be standing there ready to jump out.
Monday, 8 September 2008
For the film we are making we have decided to do a horror/thriller. To get ideas I watched part of Saw 1 and part of Saw 4, the bit I noticed was at the beginning of the movie and it was the logo " Twisted Pictures " I liked it because it was interesting and different, with a cool effect with the spikey vines going around the letters and the thing that goes in the middle and twists.
I don't really like the beginning of Saw, it dosen't make me want to watch it because it is dark and all you can hear is voices, it dosen't draw me in to want to watch it. As the film goes on it gets more into what is going on when the people see the body, it is a bit more interesting, but then it drags on which dosen't interest me. I like the effect when they look at the dead body from above, then spin really quickly around and then go straight to the tap it is very effective.
I like how they use the pigs head as a killer or to use for each task someone is assigned. The use of the clown is very effective, because it is scary but it keeps you looking because you want to know what will happen next. I like the use of how it flashes on and off to different scenes, and the use of music is very appropriete. I like how they go to the person being tortured and spin around them really quickly and make it look quite good.
