Filming Diary:Camera, Sound, Continuity,

Lighting, Props and Location. (Photos used were taken collectively as a group.

This slide share was created independently by myself )Through this presentation I aim to communicate why and how we have done what we

have done and how we have included the elements listed above whilst following conventions.

Location: How does it relate to genre conventions?

The location of the Kings theatre in Southsea was the right location choice for our trailer. It has interesting décor and a variety of different rooms and corridors which we used to our advantage.

It relates to genre conventions as It is old and historic, with some parts needing restoration which gave the scenery an eerie and abandoned feel. This is often seen in horror films and their trailers. The run down and historic look of the theatre will be convincing in leading the audience to believe it is haunted. The scenery we shot in was all real and therefore does not look fake which again makes the plot and scenery more convincing and believable to the audience.

Some key parts of the theatre that we shot in were run down and closed off to the public, therefore giving the impression that they are abandoned and dangerous. We also shot in hidden, unused rooms. And we shot by the well that was in the basement of the theatre. These locations are often seen in horror movies especially in psychological horrors that often have quite rundown/abandoned and institutional settings.

On the next slides are some images we took of the interior of the theatre and the various rooms we filmed in. I’ve included these images as evidence to support what I have said above.

Our Set/Location

Our Set/Location

Some images from psychological horror films showing the setting and scenery: I have included these pictures to show how similar our set was to the sets of major horror movies fitting our genre. Because of the similarities this is proof that we have followed and fulfilled genre conventions.

Left, Shutter island. Above, the shining, right, Session 9All three of these psychological horrors have scenery consisting of run down and abandoned corridors and rooms. The same as we have done in our trailer.

Props: are they iconic to the genre?

We used various props to enhance our trailer and convey our plot. Dagger:The dagger is iconic to the genre of psychological horror. Daggers and knives are common props in these genres of films and they are often used to harm people. They are often used as weapons in an antagonist/protagonist storyline. We have also used the dagger in this way/storyline in our trailer. The dagger also fits in with the Shakespearian theme of our trailer.Box :The box is not specifically iconic to the genre of psychological horror however the idea of a possessed object is. In psychological horrors a possessed object is often used as an antagonist which messes with the protagonist and other peoples heads making them do things or act in a way which they would not usually act. We have used the box containing the paper as a possessed object in our trailer therefore following genre conventions. The box and paper are also Shakespearian era and the paper has lines from the plays on. This emphasises our trailers plot and theme.

Props from psychological horror films:I have included these images of props from some psychological horror films to support what I have said on the previous slide. As you can see, the props from the real films are used in a similar way to the props we used in our trailer showing that we have followed genre conventions. As the images show, the weapon is used to hurt others and possession is a key theme.

Above, The shining, left, hide and seek, right, funny games us, top

right, psycho.

Dagger, paper scripts and box.Dagger used by the antagonist to kill and cause harm. box and scripts are possessed and make the characters behave in a violent way which they wouldn’t usually.

Our props look similar to props used in other films (previous slide) and follow conventions of psychological horror films. They also look very convincing.

Our props

Lighting:

We had no portable lights with us, so we had to make use of the lighting that was available. We used both interior, artificial lighting as well as outdoor, natural daylight. We took these pictures as evidence and you can see the light sources in the images which we used to light our shots.Some of our shots are quite dark however this is what we were aiming for as in most psychological horrors there are dark and dimly lit shots to add to the effect of creating fear. So we decided to also include some dimly lit shots so that we were following genre conventions. We also filmed a scene in pitch black, using a night vision camera. Which is also a conventional shot in some horror movies.

Sound:We have decided to include music in our trailer. Most trailers have background music in them which is used to set the scene and convey an emotion or the genre of the film being portrayed. In horror film trailers, scary music is often used to set the theme of the film genre. The music tends to consist of eerie and loud sounds mixed with effects such as screaming, doors slamming and bangs and crashes amongst others. This creates suspense in the trailer and makes the audience jump with all the sudden sound effects. This is the intention as horror films are meant to scare/unnerve/make the viewer jump. The music is used in this way so that the audience can clearly tell what genre the film being advertised is and also to enhance what is going on on screen. To stick with genre conventions and to enhance our trailer we have decided to include some scary music in our trailer.

We have also decided to keep some character speech/dialogue in our trailer. For example we have a recording of a character saying “ whatever you do, don’t get lost.” which we have decided to have in the trailer as it creates suspense and conveys some of the plot. We have also decided to include some screaming in the trailer to convey the genre further.

We have decided to use this song by Nino Rota, “What is a youth” from Romeo and Juliet, 1968. I will embed this YouTube video underneath this slide share on my blog.

Original:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCQMlyXMRJE

We have, however edited this song to fit our trailer, the edited version is embedded in my blog below also.Edited version:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33XUlwRqCpA

Camera:Cameras used:Camera 1:Main camera, DSLR used for filming our scenes.Camera 2:Photography DSLR, used to take still images during filming.Camera 3:Hand held camcorder, used for filming hand held shots, and for use when filming with two cameras at the same time (cameras 1 and 3) in order to catch a scene from two different angles. This camera also has a night vision setting.

Camera persons:Main camera person: myself (Jemma Green)Other members also had a go at filming when we were using two cameras at once to film one scene, all members had input on composition during filming however.

Other filming equipment used:A large tripod (pictured)A smaller tripod, used when folded up creating a stick which we could then hold up high to send the camera higher to capture high angle shots.

Continuity: The unbroken and consistent existence or operation of something over time.

The filming was done on the same day so the actors and actresses had the same outfits on in all the scenes.

We used the same cameras so the film quality is the same in each scene.

I aim to use aspects of the trailer in the magazine cover and poster elements. For example I might choose to carry the colour scheme through or I may use quotes of speech from the trailer on my poster as a slogan/subheading to ensure there is a theme running through all of the texts so that the audience can tell that the trailer, poster and cover are all for the same, creating a key theme/brand/style through all the texts also makes the texts and film easily recognisable to the public. This is why continuity is so important otherwise the viewer will get confused and wont be able to clearly identify the theme/storyline or genre of the film as all of the different texts will be sending out different messages and ideas.

This is the film poster and magazine cover for psychological horror/thriller Shutter Island. You can see the continuity between the two texts. For example the shutter island title font is very similar, the colour scheme of red, white and blue is also carried out through both these texts. The main actor is also featured on both texts. The mist/smoke effect has also been used on both of these items. I aim to achieve a similar continuity effect through my poster and magazine cover.

Example of continuity: