Q1.

In terms of inspiration, we took aspects from multiple different productions.

In respect to typography and title positions, we were fairly conventional also, taking elements from ‘Indie’ productions like Napoleon Dynamite (Hess, 2004) and pairing it with things such as Hannibal (Scott, 2001). We utilised contrasting colours of titles to the background and this improved clarity, and we also ensured the positioning followed the rule of thirds in order to not obstruct the action and detract significance.

The one on the left is emulating the style of Napoleon Dynamite’s title sequence, on the right.

Similarly, the left one is our title that is imitating the style of Hannibal, on the left.

In regards to camera and editing we used a fast cutting rate with a wide range of shots, most significantly the POV shots that were inspired by not only Friday the 13th (Cunningham, 1980) – as was ambiguity of character – but also House of 1000 Corpses (Zombie, 2002). We had a range of distances but most significantly used close ups, and mid length shots – influenced by the similar style of American Pyscho (Harron, 2000).

The parallels between the shots used in our final film and our research materials are clearly displayed here.

Initially our film opening in very unconventional, due to an asynchronous soundtrack and ambiguity in character – protagonist or antagonist? This is similar to Friday the 13th (1980, Cunningham) in the sense the true nature of the film remained somewhat a mystery until a killing is witnessed.

There was a lack of stock character, location and plot, further reinforcing the piece being unconventional.

Furthermore our visual techniques and editing ensured a particularly ‘bright’ and light atmosphere at first – a rarity in horror.

As you can see, our piece heavily contradicts horror conventions.

However, towards the end of our piece we became very conventional, using a typical signifier of horror in a weapon that then became bloodied – clearly displaying the horror genre.

Furthermore our late mise-en-scene contributed to a conventional opening – utilising low key lighting and props, aspects so often used in successful horror films to create a feeling of suspense.

Also at around the midpoint we created somewhat of a ruthless, blood thirsty psychedelic character enigma through the twist – of our antagonist having victims in his own garage – and so character traits that are regular in both slasher and psycho subgenres of horror were shown; in the sense that we imply the gruesome killing with a knife, but also the idea that something is amiss in our antagonist and he is mentally very unstable.

With all this in mind, our film is mainly conforming to our chosen subgenres of slasher and psychedelic, as it uses subtleties in suggesting character traits and instabilities that crescendo towards the ‘big finish’ at the end of the sequence.

However our complete lack of dialogue is a challenging idea, in the sense it means the audience relies completely on the action seen as to understand the character, meaning the importance of our subtle OCD trait was pivotal to the underlying maniac within. As does our use of a greenhouse as opposed to a conventional graveyard / woodlands.

In conclusion our piece in mainly conforming to the conventions of horror subgenres, however we utilise elements that are certainly very challenging and unconventional as to heighten interest and create a truly unique piece.

Q2.

Our piece includes only representatives from two groups – a mentally unstable male character, and a young white male, both could be perceived as vulnerable yet our main antagonist is displayed as a powerful and fearful character and certainly not ‘weaker’ or disadvantages as such, and so whilst prevalence is against him I feel we challenged the ideologies surrounding ‘disabled’ meaning lesser – this is mainly done through camera angles and NVC.

Dominance over

An interesting idea is we used all social groups in the victim page; all ethnicities, genders and ages, and we feel this infers anybody can be a victim but also maintains equality in the sense no social group is particularly targeted or has any ground to feel discriminated against.

Our victim displayed is the complete opposite of that shown in most horrors of a strong ‘final girl’, showcasing a defenceless and helpless male character that is killed off.

We use unconventional methods in getting these aspects across, using a complete lack of dialogue and relying on NVC almost completely, character blocking and levels also subtly shows the antagonist’s dominance over the young male victim.

Looking back at our concept, an older antagonist would’ve perhaps been more effective, in the sense the old are displayed as more experienced in a sense, and so perhaps would’ve alluded to a more lethal killer, and so if extensive casting became a viable option.

An example of an that perhaps fits our piece slightly stronger than our current actor is Anthony Hopkins – perhaps because of the inspirations we took from his films ‘The Silence of The Lambs’ (Demme, 1991) and ‘Hannibal’ (Scott, 2001).

However the fact we use a young male makes our piece ideologically destabilising.

Q3.

I feel that we would be more likely to secure a distribution deal with an independent production house, and in particular one that is UK based.

This is because our production would be on a particularly low budget, using unknown actors and also not filming in expensive sets or locations – likely sticking to easy access places in England.

It is mainly for these reasons that I believe Vertigo Films is the ideal distribution company for our productions.

Vertigo Films have been involved in similar productions such as The Children (Shankland, 2008), Monsters (Edwards, 2010), and The Facility (Clark, 2012).

Our production would be very unlikely to attract interest from ‘The Big Six’, including conglomerates like Time Warner.

It goes against several conventions of ultra high budget production houses in the sense there would be a distinct lack of A-Listers and it is not part of a franchise.

Due to the fact it is a horror, pester power isn’t a particularly useful marketing technique, and also there would not be a wide range of merchandise present to boost revenue streams – a key part of conglomerates’ profits.

We also do not have the use of ultra high quality – and so expensive – hardware and software; as in cheap alternative cameras and editing software has been used.

VS

I believe our piece would be shown in an independent cinema like Curzon Cinema, as opposed to the BFI IMAX or ODEON cinemas.

These cinemas are more willing to experiment in what they show, and so would be more likely to show a low budget UK horror.

Furthermore the audience would be more appropriate, a more middle class audience that prefer art house type films, as our film experiments with unconventional ideas.

An industrial cinema is also unlikely to offer a pluralistic media landscape, as they can maximise profits through showing franchises and films targeted at families – criteria our film does not fit.

The success of our piece would perhaps be dependent on it performing well at a film festival, in a similar way to Red State (Smith, 2010).

The director invited distributers to the Sundance Film Festival in order to showcase his product. If these distributers felt his film ‘Red State’ had potential, they would approach him with a deal.

Several did this, and this enabled him to get the best deal – both in terms of maintaining the biggest ownership but also in having a choice.

‘Conservatorium’ would benefit from this as we can initially create buzz and boost interest from the target market and potential audience.

Distribution techniques that a production like ours would utilise tactics that mainly rely on Web 2.0 – due to restrictions in funding.

P&A – whilst a proven method of advertising – is fairly costly, and so would not be ideal for us to utilise.

Similarly to A Field In England (Wheatley, 2011), we release our product simultaneously across several media platforms in order to disrupt the hegemonic status of Hollywood and thus create massive buzz.

Due to the millions of people viewing social media sites like Facebook and Twitter daily, these would be the sites we would target getting our adverts on.

Q6.

PLANNING STAGE

Web 2.0 BLOG created a collaborative project, allowed whole group to draw all ideas together, in the sense of drawing together personal inspirations from separate films and creating a unique piece with input from everybody.

Furthermore, a group chat established on social network ‘Facebook’ enabled us to stay in close contact and also provided a platform to pitch ideal locations, dates, and props we could use and how we could get access to them.

Moreover, YouTube has been used as a platform to share our media piece, posting different versions to show developments made and ultimately provide audiences with a platform to watch our opening on, allowing us to build on ideas suggested by asking for constructive criticism.

FILMING STAGE

Problem solving was a key trait of our group – the track was unfortunately unavailable on the days that we were filming, and so to overcome this and still include the track we so dearly wanted. We utilised a wheelbarrow with the tripod and camera set up inside, allowing a smooth run and effective tracking shot.

Lack of DSLR so limited quality in terms of light and focus and a smaller depth of field, and this also meant pull focus couldn’t be utilised. The issue of light was evaded through the times of day that we filmed in and so this isn’t a clear problem in our final product – using no artificial light.

In framing shots on set we utilised the rule of thirds to maintain interesting angles.

When it came to the POV shots, we shot them with the use of a cam-frame to represent and make the shots believable: in the sense of keeping natural movement.

EDITING STAGE

We had to be ruthless in cutting 20 minutes of footage to fewer than 3, matching cuts in the process to create a continuous edit and an easy to follow narrative.

The rule of thirds was also utilised in our use of titles, heightening effectiveness and not obscuring the action.

We used AfterEffects on separate laptop in order to improve titles – masking and anchoring the titles to action in order to create more interesting titles, but also as to not interfere with the action.

A pre-made soundtrack was used and volume was enhanced as to create a non-diegetic feeling. Sound effects are also used in order to create a more immersive and believable experience for audiences.

A grittier, darker filter was also added in places as to reflect the change in mood of our piece.