Recce Pictures

 
In the presentation above, there are pictures from the graveyard which I feel will create a good atmosphere for shooting our short film. In slide 5 'Grave Stone' slide, Sophie has mentioned about using a females grave stone considering was originally Lilly's mother who had previously died in the short film. We made some changes to this and thought it would be more suitable for the girls father to have died as it would make the girl seem more vulnerable as she wouldn't have a father figure in her life.

Practice clips

During class, we practiced doing some possible scenes, shot and ideas for our short film.

The Last Scene

We have decided to shoot the last scene in a cupboard at school as it can be changed to be dark and scary. We feel that if we create the right atmosphere that it will be successful in what we want to achieve. Obviously we are going to need to take the things off the shelves and the back of the door however we could just cover them with big sheets of paper in order to save time. Because this is in the school premises, it will not take long to record and we will have everything planned out ready. Sophie recorded this clip sitting down in a chair and as you can see, Mr Swains head gets cut out. To overcome this problem, I will be filming it behind Sophie so we still get a point of view shot howerver it will display everything that we need it to.
Another change that we would have to test is whether to have the classroom light on or off when filimg. When Mr Swain walks through the door you can see a lot of light from the classroom, which contradicts the feel and mood of the film. If we turned the light off, then it might make the scene more spooky and eery.
As well as this, we are thinking to have a shot of Sophie, tied and chained up sitting in the cupboard so the audience know what is happening to her and it just gives the story plot more context. Other thoughts we had was for Sophie to have masking tape across her mouth so when shes screaming and crying, it will be muffled and sound more paniced. We are uncertain as to whether there should be any dialogue in this scene as we want to limit speech as much as possible and focus more on voiceovers.
I will be filming this from the enterance of the door and maybe in a high angle position so Sophie still looks vulerable and inferior to whats happening.

Sky and Leaf

As mentioned in the treatment, we are looking to open the film with a fresh, green leaf falling for the sky, but slow motion edit it so it looks like it is floating/drifting down to represent a life; to help represent the happiness of a life we want the sky to be clear, blue and sunny - however as Autumn is coming, this may be hard to achieve so we filmed the sky incase there isn't another nice day. To close the story we want to contradict this idea however has a similar style. We want a dead, brown, crispy leaf to float from the sky as it connotes death and misery and we are planning to get the sky quite dark, gloomy and miserable to reinforce the idea of death. 

As it was too windy to film the leave falling from the sky, we practiced doing it inside and then was planning to edit out the ceiling, hands etc on final cut pro on the Apple Macs. This didn't really go to plan as the leaf fell to the ground too fast and we couldn't capture the direction of it traveling the way we wanted it to. 

We have had a few ideas on how to overcome this (fishing wire) however we are yet to put it into practice. 

Slow Motion Leaf

Just to get an idea of a leaf falling in slow motion, we edited this clip in Imovie, however it is not suitable for short film as it has yet to be edited on final cut pro and the view of the leaf falling is not to the best standard in which it should be in.

Textual Analysis - Cupcake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mXH2x4EDYs

Camerawork
The pan that opens the short film gives the audience a clear indication of the setting and location of where the film is shot. There are a lot of low angle shots throughout the film of Cupcake which could portray ideas that she is in the superior role within this setting and in control. This shot also makes Cupcake look more sinister and evil which is reinforced by the lighting and atmosphere. When the camera is on the blonde girl, there are a lot of mid shots which could have been used to show her lying down and reinforcing the idea that she can't escape. As well as this there are several close up shots of her face which displays panic and distress.

Editing
I like the way the opening title has a dripping effect which could show connotations of blood dripping from the girl when Cupcake kills her.

Sound
The opening ambient sound is of a telephone ringing which portrays the reasoning of why the person is talking. The conversation which is happening on the phone is edited as a voiceover on the first cuts and the sweeping pan of the short film.
Sound effects are added when the blonde girl is trying to get out of being tied up and these are projected on flashes of her struggling.

Mise en scene
The lighting is quite low key during the film but especially when the evil happenings begin to take place. The dark, dull lighting makes the setting more creepy and spooky, creating the right mood for the story. Sometimes the only light is from the candles that Cupcake has lit.

Branded texts

In the SlideShare presentation below are some of the most famous directors and a brief description about their career and their success. I have also decided to include the director who made the The Lovely Bones as that is the inspiration for our film story.

Famous directors. from zoerichardson

Textual analysis - Umbilical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ2zh0kewQc

This short film could beh suggesting how television is affecting children and taking away their general childhood.

Camera Work

The opening to the film is a pan which gives the audience a clear view of the umbilical cord; this also allows people to know what to expect to be at the end of the umbilical cord. This is then followed by a pan onto the childs drawing which shows the angelic behaviour that he portrays.
There are several low angle shots throughout the film. The first one that we see is of the child looking down to the floor with a crayon in his hand about to draw. He has a slight smile on his face that shows he is happy and content with what he is doing.Soon after he stands up and looks towards the window. With the shot still being low angle is makes the little boy seem superior and in control however this is contrasting the point of which the film suggests. After this is cuts into a low angle zoom in to the window. This conveys ideas that the window has a purpose or that something significant is behind it that needs to be seen. Out of the window is a coloured sky and black birds fly past which shows there is life outside the window - soon after there is a coloured ball that gets thrown up into the air and the little boy spots it which allows creates similar ideas that someone is outside playing. .
There is a wide shot after the little boy gets a shock from the 'umbilical cord' which is coming out of his head. He falls to the floor and the wide shot allows us to see the coloured drawings on the floor and the window which is supplying a lot of light into the room. Following on from this is a mid shot of the little boy stroking the painting of the cat that he has drawn which portrays ideas he may be feeling alone and wanting a friend/company.
Later on in the short film there is another low angle shot of the child running up to the window but gets pulled back by the cord which could suggest he is not allowed outside and has to remain in certain space. This then cuts into a high angle of the little boy looking up at it with all of the colourful drawings surrounding him on the floor; this can emphasis his innocence and make him look vulernable to what is outside.
There is a close up of the little boy setting onto his packet of crayons and squashing them. This this convey ideas that he doesn't care about drawings and just wants to be outside playing. The high angle of him sitting on the floor hugging his crayons makes the audience feel a sense of guilt and sadness that he cannot do what he wishes. There is another close up of the ball when it gets thrown into the room which could signify that this ball is something meaningful and important.
Towards the end of the short film is a long shot when the ball in close up in the focus, the child is laying on the floor from being pulled over and then the TV is in the far end which is the thing the child is connected to. This shot is multifunctional as it shows what the child wants but what is stopping him from having it. This makes the story line clearer to the audience and gives them a deeper insight to whats happening.

over the shoulder, the zoom to window. The next few cuts are an over the shoulder shot where the child is watching the ball bounce out of the window. This can demonstrate ideas that he is saying goodbye to what he wants and feels upset that it's going.

When the TV comes on, there is a high angle shot which shows the little boy walking to the TV with all the different lights flashing. This shows that he is now inferior to the television and maybe under control by the TV. Again you see a close up of the boy stepping on the crayon packet signifing he is hypnotised by the television, not caring about anything.

The final camera shot is a zoom out; this is from the televison when the child is sitting in front of it, watching it. The zoom out conotates that hes alone and drawn into it - oblivious from everything else surrounding him.

Sound 

Right at the beginning of the film, there is an ambient sound which has been added which sounds like a light buzzing/flickering. This sets the scene for what to expect in the film.

Throughout the film a keyboard or piano is being played which can heighten ideas of innocence. The instruments being played are quite slow which could suggest that the environment is very calm and settled and could signify that the child is oblivious to other types of music.The notes that are being played would be classed as key minor, making the setting very reserved and relatively serious.

voice over of children's voices, cat s meowing. When this is being played cuts continuously change, showing the use of a sound bridge. This can conotate the continuous use of happiness until the television switches on.

There are other ambient sounds which occur in the film of the window slamming shut when the ball bounces out of it. This could conotate something bad is about to happen due to the loud bang. Similarly it could suggest that whatever is outside isn't to be seen or noticed. If the plot is to do with children being controlled by the television, them this would fit in as the television would want the childs full attention and not to be distracted by anything else. At the start of the short film there are noises of cats meowing and also water trickling which suggests ideas of something happy or delicate creating thoughts of peace andnormality. These can also be classed as diegetic, ambient sounds.

When the little boy walks away from the window, he hears children playing and talking which seems to excite him. The use of this diegetic sound again allows the audience to have a clearer image of what is happening behind the window and feel a sense of relief that there is someone outside who the little boy can play with. When you can hear the ball bouncing it makes the film seem more realistic and helps to add character to the ball. Similary the television noise starts to play in the background of the cuts creating another soundbridge which suggest that the child is continuly attached to the TV and cannot get away from the screen/sounds it makes.

 

Editing 

In the short film you see a variety of continuous cuts which are realivity long. By making the cuts seem long, it could demonstrate the long process of television shows and that they can be watched all day. It creates ideas that there is no way to get away it and it reinforces the guilt that you feel for the little boy.
At the beginning of the film, there is an effect which makes the title look like it is in the spotlight. This evokes ideas that the film is about one main idea - the little boy. This can be reinforced by the title 'umbilical' as when you are in your mothers womb then you securely attached by the umbilical and there is no escape. This can show close conotations to the relationship that the little boy has with the television - even though he has a chance to draw or play ball, the TV keeps drawing him in and stopping him.
The short film has been edited in a cartoon effect similar to childrens drawings. First instincts of this will suggest that it is to do with a child(ren) and this is reinforced by the title 'umbilical' which signifies babies.
The title and credits are in the same style and format which helps to show continuity. It has been edited in a sketchy style to match the rest of the film and to make it look professional.

 

Mise en Scene

Low key lighting is used in the film to make it look more realistic and natural. The opening of the film is quite dark, illustrating something bad is going to occur however as the pan moves on, the lighting brightens and sets a positive mood. You start to see drawings in colour where everything else is in black and white. This could suggest positive conotations as drawing is a good thing for children to do.

The little boy is dressed in dungarees which is a typical piece of clothing that you would expect a child to wear, so again it makes the film look professional by maintaining the theme.

The drawings that the child has drawn are colourful that evoke ideas that he is happy. The colours of the drawings are bright which also suggests ideas of positive conotations and happiness. Besides everything apart from the drawing, the bouncy ball and the sky, everything is black and white; this portrays ideas that other things are negative and don't make the child happy. The drawings may be in colour as that is what children should be doing instead of watching TV. Even though the colours flashing from the TV are quite bright, they may be symbolising hypontism as the child is sat close to the TV watching it which is bad for the eyes.

Treatment

Before we started creating the short film Sophie and myself decided to create a treatment to allow us to have a clear insight on what to include into the film. By creating this, it also records all ideas we have so none get forgotten and we can always refer back to it.

                                                                                                                  

The characters in our short film are PHILIP SWAIN and SOPHIE WAGSTAFF. We are shooting the short film in a graveyard located in Kettering. The plot is about a pedophile killer who stalks a young girl and kills her. We've chosen this story line because we want to create tension, for it to be gripping and exciting for what is about to happen.

Plot
The young girls dad dies before the film so he is now being looked after by her aunty as her mother abandoned her with her father when she was born. A pedophile killer is on the loose, yet to be caught. Sophie goes to visit her fathers grave everyday at 4:00pm after school as she misses him greatly and feels alone. The pedophile killer spots the girls and realises she visits the grave everyday at the same time. He starts spying on her and eventually captures her, rapes her and kills her.

Locations
We want to create an eery/spooky kind of setting we thought it would be a good idea to base our film in a graveyard as they are naturally quite scary. Besides this, there are other factors in a graveyard which can contribute to the scariness. For example these could be the church, shadows, tall trees swaying in the wind, and crunchy leaves to emphasis sound. Also in the setting of a graveyard the killer could disguise himself easier behind trees when spying on Sophie. Even though you suspect something bad will happen in the setting of a graveyard, we believe that we can pay more focus on making it scarier and more tense and unexpected. Tension will play a large part in our film.
The noises of nature will always help the eariness.



The story begins with a fresh green leaf slowly falling to the ground which will be put on slow motion and played with a voice over.
The story ends with a dead brown leaf slowly falling to the ground with slow motion and a voice over; this life journey of a leaf as well as Sophies.

Target Audience

Below are several factors that we need to take into consideration when it comes to the target audience.

AGE

As mentioned in a previous post, the age range for our film is going to be aimed at the PG12-50 age band as we feel these ages will be most suitable to watch the film based on the content. Also typically you have to be above the age of 15 to watch horror or thrillers depending on the footage. From doing secondary research, we found out that The Lovely Bones is rated at a PG-13 as it doesn't explicitly show anyone being murdered and the content is fairly moderate.
Fischoff created a theory which states "gradual disengagement with the horror genre" which portrays ideas that people like the thought of scaring themselves and to see how much they can push themselves in order to test themselves. It also states that horror and thriller films are mostly aimed for teenagers and young adults as they mainly appeal to these ages.
For this reason we will be putting the age range quite young so we can get as much interest from the younger audience as possible.

GENDER

We are aiming the short at males and females as we think it would be appropriate for both genders. We feel that it would be hard to aim our film at just one gender as it will limit the interest it will gain and possibly reduce sales. As the genre of our film is drama/thriller is a neutral gender genre so it would be hard to focus this on one gender. 

LIFESTYLE

Our film would be more suited for families and for teenagers. We think this is appropriate based on the content of our film as it could be a good way to bond with family members by watching a short film together and teenagers would find the film most enjoyable. As we have previously said, the message of the film is to make sure someone is aware of where you are at all times so the family viewers would be able to reinforce this idea and make them more knowledgeable and aware of what could happen in this situation. 

INTERESTS

Our film doesn't desire any particular interests as to be interested in serial killers and pedophiles would be slightly strange. Our film may be more appealing to people who like to be in tense situations and on the edge of their seat to find out what's about to happen and in a sense like the adrenaline that it brings.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROUP

We feel that there isn't a set social group which will favour our film, however believe that lower/middle class people would be more interested in watching it due to the story line and actions.