Rating

We dicided to give our film a rating of 15. This is due to the use of moderate language, such as 'sh*t' and 'f*ck' which is acceptable for this film rating.

Also there is minor violence in our film wich is also accepted by the BBFC, however nothing to extreme such as hanging or murder. Our film also doesn't contain any sexual scenes or drug use.

Equipment Used

Apple Mac computer- This was used for the editing of the film. This was done on the programme: Final cut pro(Below). We also made the music for the film on the apple mac on the programme: Garage Band(Below).

Final Cut Pro

Garage Band

Tripod- We used a tripod to ensure stability on the filming and keep the camera steady. It also made it easier to do high angle shouts and low angle shots due to being able to adjust the height of the tripod. It also made it easier to do the establishing shot which we opened our film with.

Microphone- The microphone was used to do voice overs on our film.

Camcorder- We used this to record the shots, which were the put onto the apple mac ready for editing.

Digital camera- We used a digital camera to take various still shots of the locations used in our film.

Evaluation: Missing

At the beginning of our project we began with a preliminary task to help us get used to using the equipment and shooting different angles, so we were ready when we began our main project. We then went around the college shooting a 30 second clip and captured 10 different angles. All this gave us an idea of what sort of angles would look good in our film.

We then began planning our 2 minute opening. We did this by planning what genre we wanted to use. We chose a horror/thriller because we had looked at a few openings, such as Saw 2, and thought the openings were more interesting than that of a comedy etc. We then decided where the possible locations could be to film.

We needed somewhere quiet and dark as this would fit in with our genre. We then looked around the city centre to see where the best place to shoot would be. We had written down a few locations and uploaded pictures off Google to show where we could film. We changed to location a few times when we changed the plot of the story so it would fit in. For example, we were going to use Manchester Cathedral, but we had to change this when we turned up and the doors were locked so we were unable to film.

The next thing we did was plan out roughly what the storyline was going to be. We wrote notes down for when we went out to film, so we knew what we were doing. All that was left to do was film our shots for our opening. We had no problems using the camera and it was easy enough to film. I think this is because we are in a group of two so it makes it much easier to decide on one idea and get it filmed.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our film opening, 'Missing', is different to any other film in the real film industry because, it's a British horror/thriller. The typical Brit horrors are usually television programmes or are turned into horror/comedy. For example 'Shaun of the Dead' & 'Hot Fuzz'.The type of Media Company that would distribute our film would be Working Title. This is because our film is low budget and a British production. I also think it would fit in with the type of films Working Title distribute, such as drama, thriller etc.

The target audience for out film would be teens due to the fact that the main character is a teen and therefore appeals to the age group of 16-20. I think this is a good age group to aim a film at because teenagers are more likely to go and watch a film in the cinemas, therefore more profit would be made than if i aimed it at an older audience. This is also why we would also have given our film a certificate of 15 to allow people under 18 to watch it, so our audience is still targeted. The way we attracted our audience is by using a character that was in the same age group as our target audience. We also chose a genre that is popular with teens, so that’s why we chose a horror/thriller.

There is a lot that we have learnt using different technology. We learnt how to use the filming equipment, such as the camera and how we can use a tripod to help us achieve different angles. Also using the different editing equipment on the computers helped us learn about media and what quality is expected. At first we found using the editing programmes on the computers difficult because we has never used it before. However the more we edited the easier it became to edit.Compared to the beginning, our group had learned so much about media. From using the equipment to understanding why different shots are used. At the start we didn't know anything about using cameras and shot and editing equipment, but since our preliminary we have learned all about this and how difficult it can be to use.

We did come across a few problems in our preliminary task, for example, we didn't know what all the buttons meant and we made a few mistakes. However with time we were able to use them and also learn how to make a scene run smoothly.We also learned how time consuming making a media product can be due to technical difficulties and sometimes just due to editing etc. Making our own two minute opening to a film has helped us understand more about the film industry and how films are made.

Missing- Synopsis

Missing is a breathtaking thriller/ horror which is about an insane male who has kidnapped 2 people and holds them for ransom of thousands of pounds. With every police officer aiming to capture this man, are they trailing the right man? Or is the actual villan left to get up to more evil.

27/04/10

Today we edited our storyboard because we have made changes along the way of what we wanted the film opening to be like. For example we have changed the location; we have also changed some of the storyline. We have just written out a basic plan with a few drawings of what our opening is about. We will then later upload this onto the blog. The next step would be to make sure everything on our blog is up to date and also finish editing our piece.

23/04/10

Today we made the sounds for our film. We did this using Garage band and had to make the music fit the theme of a horror/thriller. This made it a little bit more difficult because we had to find the right sounds. Also we had to make it fit the filming and be the same length of time, this also made it difficult because we wanted the tempo to be increased when Danny is portrayed walking and then fewer tempos when he enters the building to connote evil. However this meant the sound must fit perfectly to sound best.

28 Weeks Later Storyboard Animatic

To help our group with the animatic of our film opening, we watched 28 Weeks Later Storyboard Animatic. This has given us an idea of what is expected from an animatic and what sorts of things to include E.g. Speech/ subtitles, music etc.

It has also given us ideas of the compositions for our animatic and it is easy to tell what the story is about and what the plot is from the speech and how each scene runs smoothly into the other even though its animated.

16/04/10

With being in a group of two it can sometimes make it difficult if one of us isn’t in. However it does have its advantages as we get more time to the camera and the equipment each and therefore are both able to learn more not only about filming, but how to use the different settings on the camera. If one of us is absent it also gives us a chance to update the blog and make sure everything on the blog is how we want it.

13/04/2010 Manchester Cathedral

Our latest update on our locations that we have chosen to use is Manchester Cathedral. We were going to use this last time in our film but the doors were locked and it was closed. So we had filmed a different opening however, as we have to re-film we decided to use the cathedral because the doors were open.
We thought that the cathedral would be a good place to use as it’s inside its dark and eerie, there are also plenty of places to film inside so this gives us a better choice.
It is also just across the road from our other location which is the Premier Inn Hotel and this helps the scene run smoothly and have continuity. We have also linked it in well with the hostage theme by using the church, as Danny, who plays the man in our film, could be praying for forgiveness before he commits his crime. However this also leaves the audience wondering why he is in the cathedral and why he is praying, and therefore creates tension.

13/04/10

9am: Today we had to go back and re-shoot the final scene due to the focus being affected by the light because of the location being too dark. However this location has now been changed to a different part of the building where it is a little brighter, nevertheless, the darkness adds to the horror/thriller theme.10:50am: We had to come back early from filming due to the film in the tape being ruined by the camera. We were going to film the opening today but when we put the tape in it wouldn't work. This will cause us to lose time in our project that will be caught up another time. However going out to film today we had a change of location in the first part. We are using a church that is opposite the hotel we are using where our main scene will be filmed.We decided to use the church because it has an eerie feel to it. We can link it in with the hostage theme by the main character played by Danny, going to the church before he returns to the hostages and praying for the sins he has committed or will commit. This will then leaver the audience wondering what he is praying for and creates tension and leaves the audience waiting to find out what is going on. The next time we go out to film we now have a clear idea about what we want the scene to look like and the outcome.

26/03/10

Today, we took more still shots. This was due to the lighting being too dark in one of the original rooms we planned to shoot in. This made it hard to see the final scene. Therefore we took still shots in many different locations to see what would be suited to the theme and the filming. However, this therefore means we will have to re-shoot the final scene and it could affect our editing. This is because the new scene will have to fit to the previous scene and we must ensure the continuity is not affected by adding the re-shoot. Also we worked on the rest of the soundtrack we were putting together and making on garage band. This was difficult because we had to make sure; not only was it long enough and suited the theme (thriller), but also had to make sure the music went with the filming, and this was hard because we couldn’t preview it. For example, we have tried to increase the intensity of the music when running, and slow it down and create more mystery when approaching the prisoners. However to get the timing suited and too match to the filming is difficult and therefore we have had to change it many times to get it correct. However due to the soundtrack being finished, we now have an idea how to re-shoot the final scene to get it to fit.

23/03/10

Today we began editing, and got the shots from the camera onto; Final cut pro, which is the programme we are using for editing. We then cut the shots down and worked on the continuity to make sure the shots fit smoothly. However, the focus in one of the scenes was affected and made the image blurred which therefore meant we had to re plan the shot and location. Whilst doing this, we also began to work on a soundtrack on the programme; Garageband.

19/03/10

We have decided to change a few locations into one particular place in Manchester because we didn't want each clip to look different and wanted continuous scenes so the run smoothly into each other without any sudden changed mise en scene. So in the end we decided to use the Premier Inn and the location around it.

Our group then went out to film up to as far ahead as we could. The only thing left to film is the ending where we need extras, therefore next lesson will be used to film this. We then uploaded what we already had and put the shots in sequence so we could roughly edit them. At first we had a few problems using the computers to edit until we got help and became familiar with the tools.After we have all of what we need filmed, we are going to edit all the shots into one scene for our opening and add diagetic sound to make the scene feel more like a horror/thriller.

16/03/10

We started to film our two minute clip and have made some changes to the locations we were going to use. Such as we are only filming near and around the Premier Inn because if we were to use several different locations the clips wouldn't run smoothly. Also because we are using the top of the premier in we need to make sure it doesn’t run to long into getting to the hotel because it will become boring and uninteresting because of the amount of time it would take.

We then filmed up to the point where we would need other people to come in it. We used a number of shots in the opening so it is more interesting to watch. We started off by filming walking up to the building and then entering we then film upstairs and went into the top floor rooms where its mostly inbuilt which is useful as it looks like an abandoned building.

Shot List

Establishing Shot- This is used at the beginning to show the scene and portrays where the scene is set which is Manchester. We have made this clear by capturing some of Manchester’s most distinctive buildings such as the Hilton hotel and also landmarks such as the Manchester wheel.

Close up- This was used when entering the building where the scene takes place; The Premier inn. A close up was also shot at the feet to show me walking up the steps. This connotes mystery by not showing my face.

Low angle shot- This was used when entering the abandoned room. It is used to show dominance over the prisoners. Another low angle shot was used to convey the building in which Danny was entering. Due to this it shows the height of which the prisoner is kept.

High angle shot- This is used to show the prisoner. It connotes weakness and struggle.

Over the shoulder shot- This was used to convey what was inside the door and shows the room in which Danny was entering.

Reaction shot- This shows Danny walking up the stairs, this focuses on his feet to show he is moving.

Extreme long shot- This portrays Danny approaching the building from a distance away.

Mid shot- This is used when Danny leaves the lift in the building.

Two shot- This is used to show the prisoner and Danny in the room in which they are kept.

Still shots

The main location we have decided to shoot is; the Premier inn, Manchester, which fits the horror/thriller theme because it is abandoned and derelict. To help make the scene more realistic we used props such as fake blood on the walls which generate horror. Also an establishing shot was successful from the roof of the hotel because it was high and portrayed most of Manchester in the shot. This therefore indicates to the audience where the scene is set due to many of Manchester’s most visited and popular buildings being shown in the shot.

Location 2: St.Peters Square

Another location that we are using is St.Peters Square. We chose this location because at night the streets lights light it up and make the buildings look old. This would also go with the theme of Canal Street.
Also we would need the locations we choose to be quiet even though the square can get quite busy because it has a tram running through it; however it can still be used because it goes quieter as the day goes on.
On the other hand the tram could come into use, as in horrors trains are used when they rush past unexpectedly. The tram could be used in the same way, maybe speeded up and the sound made louder.

Location 1: The Canal

One of the locations we decided to use was the Canal and the bridges and tunnels that run along it. We are using this because it can be made to look eerie and dark especially down the tunnel because it’s quite grimy.
We could also use the small water fall along the canal and use the non diagetic sound as this would create more realism to the clip. Also it could be quite eerie to use running water.
The main part of the canal we are using is the tunnel although it is already dark we could still use this at night because of the lights inside, this could also come in handy as the lights are dim and the water looks dark.
This is also a good location because of the cobbled road, pathways and bricks that look old and this could be made to be sinister.

Storyboard

In the event of planning our main task, we created a storyboard to help us with the choice of shot and the order in which they will take place. In the storyboard we included where the particular shots will take place and also focused on the continuity to make sure the different shots would fit. Moreover, in our storyboard we also decided where we were going to locate our main task, and due to it being with the genre of a horror/thriller there was specific aspects needed to be successful for shooting.

Planning

We looked at another Saw film because they're such famous and popular horror films, that it would be a good idea to look at Saw 1s' opening. It started off with all the production company’s and it has eerie sounds playing so the audience then knows it's a horror. However because we have only two minutes to film our opening scene, there wouldn’t be enough time to do this. It then goes into the first scene where there is music building up as the screen is dark in the room the two characters are in. This builds tension and excitement because the audience then won't know what’s going on.
As the scene goes on and the dialog creates fear of what going to happen next the music gets louder until the audience sees the dead body. This suggests that sound plays a key role in a horror film to make it seem more scary and tension building.

Preliminary task

At first we struggled with the use of the camera, but then when we became familiar with the equipment and how to use the camera for particular shots such as zooming in and out. We also got used to using the tripod to shoot different angle shots such as a low angle shot; it also keeps the camera steady whilst shooting. However, when using the camera we found it difficult to pause at the correct times, therefore when it came to editing it was time consuming due to the amount of cutting we had to do. The editing programme we used was final cut pro.An improvement we could have made whilst filming our project would have been to pause it rather than letting it run through because this made it difficult and out of order when coming to the editing of the project. Nevertheless, our group consists of two members and therefore I believe we worked well considering the circumstances of not having the same amount of input as other groups.A shot/ reverse shot was used when Daniel was filmed looking through the window and the camera started with him, the followed where he looked and then back to him with a close up of his face. Also we had a scene of Daniels feet whilst running and then achieved a match cut by making it run onto a next scene of him running around the corner. We achieved this by cutting out a few seconds before and after each scene to make it run smoothly. Our group used the 180 degree rule to show an eye line match of Daniel looking in a room he had just entered.In our preliminary task, we believe the continuity was not very successful and hope to achieve a much smoother outcome in the main task. We also didn’t use any dialogue, however this was because there is only two of us in the group and therefore Becki was filming, and Danny was being filmed, which left no one else available for Danny to speak to.Furthermore, there were a few jump cuts in our preliminary task, which we also hope to improve for the main task.