my own experience

During this course there were many ups and downs, from losing half my group to making an amazing opening first 2 mins for my media project. to start with media was a really fun subject where i would be able to learn lots of new things about films, editing, camera shots and angles etc. to add on it was also a great way for me to start making friends with with people that I would never really talk to. Although the beginning of this course was really good there were many bad things about the course so far such as: exam prep was really bland, i didn't do as much work or i just didn't like some of the lessons but all these things in the later date started to become minor things.

When our media projects started it was going very well i had a good group was enjoying the ideas we was planning and overall it went really well for me but then our group did hit rock bottom when we found out we had to split up into separate groups, this was bad as it did cause a lot of drama between the two different groups. When we separated our group just stuck to the idea of making a horror film and having the story based on a zombie apocalypse.

weeks after we had done lots of research and planning but  then there was another problem one of the member in my group had left meaning there was only 2 in my group now but luckily he still helped us with filming and planning our film. at this point I wasn't the happiest as from these events we as a group had to change our film idea completely from zombies to murder from horror to horror/thriller.

at the end of filming our new idea I was extremely happy with how well the opening came out while editing as all the work and effort myself and my group had put in was actually worth it, then to add on I was also happy at the friendships I had built up while making the film as almost everything ran smoothly and in the end i personally really enjoyed the project

sound track research

In horror/thriller films the sound effects and the music is very import for creating a very tense scary atmosphere to the audience. Lots of different horror/thriller films use different type of sound tracks to create their perfect horror/thriller atmosphere by have slower creepier music or having a faster sound track for the tension for actions like a chase or fight scene as the fast sound track almost feels like the film is being sped up in scenes like chases or jump scares, but as for the slower soundtrack it is able to create a creepier atmosphere as the suspense is being generated for that climax meaning the suspense is building till the jump scare or chase.

in this first clip is one of the best pieces of music that we could use for our movie as this song starts slow building up the suspense of whats going to happen next, then as you progress to the song it leads into that fast tempo feel and from the build up this this it can be really effective for our chase scene making the atmosphere creepy and intense.

from this clip there are a fantastic line of great sound effects and different types of sound track that we as a group loved, this clip was very good for the group as we used this for the more slower scenes to create the suspense by using sounds like scream or light voices. we also used one part of the song to finish the scene off, that song was really effective as at the end it made such a creepy atmosphere after watching our opening.

institution reseach

For our production title we have heavily used the colours white and black for both the image and the text for the production name, we had used these colours to create a very peaceful vibe with the calmness of the colour white but we also wanted to make it creepy then this is why the colour black is used as the darkness of black can suggest danger, evil or horror. this use of colours was heavily inspired by the Warner brothers production title in the harry potter the deathly hallows part 2, this was a huge inspiration because it truly creates a very calm and peaceful vibe but then the vibe completely changes as the title slowly gets darker and darker which creates a very creepy vibe to the film suggesting evil or danger.

To add on the animation we used for our institution title screen was heavily influences by the standard warner brother animations. we used this as a big inspiration as when you watch the clip the animation allows the scene to run very smooth straight after the institution shot has passed and as the animation is very slow it creates a very scary vibe, the slow motion of the warner brother sign suggest the theme of the film if it is brighter it can be a happier film if its darker and slower then it can suggest that the film is a horror of thriller.

the schedule for filming for my media project

November 15th- on this day myself and my group had to start planning film ideas such as: story line, location, genre, the actor/actresses and what props would we need. On that day as a group we had decided to plan out a horror film by doing a zombie themed film.

Following on the next day myself and the group were looking at locations for the film we had looked from London to Kingston for locations that are abandon or have a haunting theme to it in the end we had agreed to film at Oxshott heath as the location was truly creepy and it also was very quiet meaning no filming issues and that the area looks deserted. Then we carried on with researching about props and our location.

November 27th- a week has past and from that time myself and my group have been planning the film out still by making the story line about a group of young teens in a zombie out break, however the story line did get changed due the original 5 member group splitting into separate groups as a group we had stuck to the idea of zombies and horror.

December 4th- A week following the separation of the group also a week after deciding what could be our final story ideas, we had done a majority of our research and planning from doing location research to doing online tutorial research for the editing software we are using for our film. at this time another one of our group members had left but still agreed to help us film the opening tour film.
A couple of days later we had decided to change the film completely instead of having the idea zombies instead we decided to do murder as the main topic in our opening scene.

December 13th- after changing basically the main story line for the opening, we had to change some of our research. but on this day we all agreed that it is filming day, so me and Carlos had got the 10:45 bus to Oxshott film to start our filming at 11 am. filming had taken us roughly 5 hours to film including the retakes and taking shots at different angles.

video of camera shots ideas

bts- prologue(camera shots)

This video interests me as the video includes a wide range of camera shots that may be useful in our opening scene for our film. In the first opening minutes there are a lot of use for extreme close ups and close ups, in this video they were used very effectively to show the emotion of the characters if they were happy or sad, one other thing effective about the extreme close ups is that it also reveals what the characters have done for example the first scene the boys hands were covered in blood which tells the audience that he possibly killed some one and this was from the one or two extreme close ups of the characters hands and again with the use of this camera shot it showed how scared he was and how he was panicking.

From watching this clip i have noticed the use of the birds eye shot, this shot was used effectively to show off the amazing location of the film or to show the bonding time between the friends for example at 1:39 the birds eye shot was use to show off one of the characters in one of the stunning locations. to add on there are many uses of the establishing shot showing off the amazing sights around the location for example at 5:52 there is a stunning establishing shot that is really effective as it also shows the boys having fun giving a very happy vibe to the short film.

again from watching the film there was one part where one of the characters was alone looking at the ocean the shot use in this scene was the POV shot this was used really effectively and has really inspired my group to input the shot in our film, th effect of the shot is that it makes the audience feel like we are that person and with the nice view and the stunning location the vibe it would give the audience is that would be really warm and would make everyone feel like its a holiday even.

film pitch

our final film idea
our film is a thriller/ horror, the film is about a young teenager who had gone missing but many years was found alive but up to no good. during the time he was missing people had been killed, people had gone missing and many places were destroyed and this film is about the journey the characters go through to solve the crime to protect the public, but no one knows why people go missing or why people are being killed it could be just a serial killer or even ghosts taking over someones body but this will all be discovered in the film.

lost the unedited version

finished opening to our film lost G321

the story board of our film

character profile 2

the mysterious man in black

played by: Leon Huynh

description: this character is a mysterious man who is up to no good, he is rarely spotted anywhere and never leaves a single trace of him anywhere. In the opening of our media project the man is spotted carrying a dead body by a bystander, as he scouts the area he spots the bystander to make sure that the bystander doesn't say anything of his appearance, as he is getting confronted the audience and the bystander find out that the man is a teenager who has gone missing for 2 years.

costume: the man in black wears a simple black cap, with a black addidas hoodie, with black jeans and trainers

the use of these pieces of clothing was used very effectively as from the color of black it creates a very mysterious atmosphere, it also helps the character's identity to be kept hidden until the big reveal, and lastly from the color black is suggests that the person in black is possible the bad guy in the situation due to the connotations of the color black

character profile 1

the innocent man who spots the missing teenager (bystander)

played by: Carlos Gouveia

description: just an average teenager taking a walk around Oxshott as its something he does for his daily routine. In the opening of our media project the man goes for his walk but as he is mid walk he stumbles across two mysterious people one being dragged around and the other is pulling, the man goes to investigate the situation to discover the person being dragged is dead, then the man is spotted by the mysterious man and then is chased till he is confronted.

costume: the costume is very simple as it is something Carlos does wear on a weekly basis and in our film he is hearing: simple chinos, a white checked shirt and school shoes.

In my opinion i think this costume was used effectively this is because the color of this costume is very bright compared to the other character and by using light colors this suggests to the audience that the person in the brighter clothing is supposedly the innocent person in this situation