Evaluation

Aims and Context – ‘Silent Village’

·         A short sequence from an imagined film showing the protagonist in danger

·         Uses the genre conventions of the horror genre, such as lose ups of facial expressions, and eerie suspenseful music.

·         Mainstream or indie spectator - Shown to a film festival spectator, also in the cinema

·         Audience groups – male or female, 15+ year olds (therefore Certificate 15) as it contains material likely to scare and possibly some violence and mild language spoken amongst teenage characters.

·         Cinematography – close ups of facial expressions, conventional  slow tracking shots to follow exploration. Quicker paced shots to suggest fright and/or a sense of danger, canted angles are also used to create these ideas.

I have produced a short sequence from an imagined film entitled “Silent Village” based around a series of disappearances in a small unsuspecting village whose residents would not suspect a possible murder or kidnap. With this concept in mind, I tried to produce a sequence showing that teenagers can think outside of the box and succeed to a large, perhaps exaggerated extent. The reason for my protagonists being teenagers is being influenced by mainstream horror film directors and therefore I intended for this to be viewable by a teenage spectator (anyone aged 15 or over). In this evaluation I will cover the influences for my film as well as how it appeals to its target audience, with reference to the themes and stylistic features used.

One of my main influences for this “Silent Village” sequence is director Gore Verbinski. His work on the 2002 film “The Ring”, particularly the opening sequence in which Katie faces a series of strange events after watching a supposedly cursed videotape, which climaxes in her death.  The shots used during this sequence, which consist mainly of canted angles, close ups and tracking shots, are the kind of shots I wished to achieve with my sequence. The character’s exploration would occasionally be interrupted by strange noises, such as loud echoed howls, as well as thunder and lightning, that appear to be coming from elsewhere in the house. The cinematography I have used therefore consists of close up shots to show the character’s reaction to this, and to provoke a frightened response from my target spectator. The suspense is what I wished to achieve with the sequence as the scene is the pivotal point in the film which determines whether Demetria can live to share her discovery of the antagonist or if she will fall victim as well. The mindset of not knowing what is going to happen is what I wanted to invoke, and I attempted this through the use of tracking shots and eerie noises, but not showing the antagonist, suggesting it could be anywhere.

Also, horror films such as “Final Destination” and “Scream” convinced me to include a narrative which revolves closely around a group of protagonists who are of a similar age, but share different characteristics. This helps to make the outcome of the investigation more unpredictable. Another good reason for putting a heavy focus on the protagonists is that it creates a mystery as to who the antagonist is, so that we know just as much (or as little) as the characters do, especially since the antagonist will not appear until much later in the film. This allows my spectator to be able to engage with and relate to the characters (as different personalities will also appeal to different members of the spectator) in the film. It is more difficult to create suspense in a film if we are introduced to the antagonist early on the film, and in my opinion, this could reduce the chance it has of succeeding as its intention of being a horror film.

In order to add to the essence of exploring an unknown supposedly cursed environment, I decided that my character would be using a flashlight to explore during the sequence. One problem that I faced whilst filming inside the house is the difficulty of achieving a good quality of lighting prior to the flashlight being switched on that wasn’t too bright(as it is supposed to be dark), but wasn’t too dark either so that we wouldn’t be able to see what’s happening properly. In the end, I used a light in the house so increase the visibility. The light in question is not in shot as the intention was that there would be no functioning lights in the house. If I was to make a sequence such as this again, I would be sure to put more thought into how I would manage the lightning in a supposedly dark haunted house.

In terms of editing, I found it an easy task to sort through the shots and put them in order, seeing as the majority of the sequence was recorded in my intended order to make the procedure quicker and simpler for myself. During filming, I also tried different versions of the same shot as well as different takes in case something that didn’t quite feel right occurred during the shot. This is so that I would have more to experiment with, allowing me to decide which attempts I preferred and how they would fit in with the remainder of the sequence. This procedure also reduces the chances of needing to re-shoot, as feedback of the shots from others may garner alternate opinions to my own in terms of the shots they prefer.

I went through a long process of deciding on the most suitable piece of music to use for my sequence. It would have to reflect the thoughts and emotions of the character as she explores the area to be suitable. In the end I decided on the opening section of the Dream Theater song “Octavarium”. It consists of an eerie-sounding Continuum and lap steel guitar solo which builds suspense to segue into the main part of the song. In my sequence it was serve to build suspense up to the ambiguous conclusion of the sequence which implies that the character is being attacked by the antagonistic force she has been searching for. At this point it is unknown what her fate will be.

In conclusion, I feel as though in some ways, I have accomplished what I set out to achieve. I successfully used tracking camera shots to follow my character as well as including loud eerie noises when appropriate. In other ways, I feel that I could have done better, as the initial lighting in the house isn’t darker as I intended it to be. I also feel as though I could have used a crane to improve the smoothness of some shots. I also learned a lot during post production, such as how to use colour filters effectively to create the illusion of night time or a cold, windy environment.

Word count: 1020

Second and final edit

First edit

Effects I have used during post production

Over the last few weeks I have been using Adobe Premiere Pro to edit my film sequence together, I have found myself experimenting with several different effects that I did not initially intend to use when I first set about planning it all out. The experimentation has definitely proved to be beneficial, as it has given me many new ideas as to how I should portray the character and the events shown.

With the various interior/exterior house shots I have filmed, I have experimented with colour tints mainly. More specifically, I have been using blue and red tints. The Media and Film technician was helping me out with the editing as I wanted to create a thunder effect with flashing blue tints, which was achieved by going onto Project > new > colour matte. The user can then adjust the colour and shade of the clip, and drag it on top of a clip in the workspace, and adjust its transparency to give the existing shot a different colour tint. This is effective, as the use of this weather is a pathetic fallacy, with a storm reflecting a dark, frightened mood. The colour red was also a good choice as it connotes danger and blood. I later decided that I could use the same feature to enchance my music video.

Rushes

13th January shots  
 27th January shots

Feminist film theory

It is possible to apply Feminist film theory to my film due to its main protagonist being a female. Feminist film theory centres on the way that females are portrayed in mainstream cinema, particularly in comparison to male characters.

Initial theories arose in the early 70s and were based on sociological theory and focusing on women characters' functions in particular genres and narrative structures, as well as the use of stereotypes to represent the way women are viewed in society. Feminist film theorists such as Marjorie Rosen and Molly Haskell look at how women are portrayed in relation to a broader context, such as the stereotypes used, the amount of screen time they are given, and the extent to which the women are shown as active or passive.

One significant theorist that we can look at is Laura Mulvey. She identifies and criticises three distinctive perspectives in film that operate to exploit and sexually objectify women:
1. Perspective of male character on-screen and their perception of the female character.
2. Perspective of the spectator as they watch the female character on-screen.
3. Joining of the above; the male spectator's perspective of the male character on-screen, allowing the male spectators to use the female character as his personal sex object as he is able to relate himself through looking to the male character on-screen.

How this applies to / goes against my film:
My film's main protagonist is female and therefore gets a high amount of screen time. She is not seen to be objectified or exploited, and carries a confident, determined personality, and is presented as the last one standing after the disappearances of all her friends, suggesting she is much more cautious. She is also represented as a leader, a role that is usually assigned to males. However, this may be criticised by some feminists as she is perhaps conforming to male traits to be more accepted in the society at large.

I personally do not see any major female characterists in my character. However, at the same time, her appearance does not completely suggest she is trying to break away from female conventions, which is shown in her long blonde hair. My film is targeted to both genders and it is therefore good that my character displays no bias to either gender.

Chosen music

For my sequence, I have decided to use the first 3 and a half minutes of the song "Octavarium" by Dream Theater. I have decided on this piece of music as it has a very eerie and dark sound, and features quirky sound effects which suggests that a strange presence is nearby.