Welcome to this blog! Sources I've used...

Hi! I'm Ambre, I chose Smokey Productions as my AS media course company name. This blog is a collection of the work and research I've done with my group to create our film opening CARVED. We looked at the film industry to understand indie and commercial distribution, genre signifiers, and the basics of cinematography. Then we zeroed in on the slasher genre (a horror subgenre) and it's conventions. Titles, music, narrative, character archetypes, and types of audiences... 

SOURCES IVE USED

• dafont.com

Free downloadable fonts for titles that signify genre.

• the-numbers.com

Box office, budget, territories for all movies.

• The Guardian

Think pieces, opinion articles, and more about the film industry.

• BBFC age ratings

Explain the age rating system in the UK and all age ratings of movies.

• Art of the Title

Wide variety of movie openings and their opening credits.

The FINAL CUT!

CARVED - THE FINAL CUT

Here is the final cut of our film opening "CARVED". Strange things are happening in the neighborhood, and girls are going missing. While escaping her kidnapper, Olivia runs right into the belly of the beast when she seeks refuge with Emma, her nerdy high school classmate.

Production: Smokey Productions, FatCat Production, Hollyhock Films.

What changed since the last rough cut?

• Soundtrack was added
• Changed opening shots
• Added more animation on titles
• Recut dialogue 
• Recut basement sequence
• Changed stabbing sfx
• Audio bridge with last ident

Timeline for the project

Playlist of previous rough cuts and sample scenes

CCR Q1 conventions, representations

EVALUATION Q1a CONVENTIONS:

HOW DOES YOUR PRODUCT USE OR CHALLENGE CONVENTIONS?

I chose to present my conventions and representations as a makeup + voiceover video:

Inspiration for my makeup voiceover grwm + FAQ

Using "Wish You Were Here" to explore opening conventions:

EVALUATION Q1b REPRESENTATIONS:

CCR Q2 audiences (engagement), distribution

EVALUATION Q2a AUDIENCE:

HOW DOES YOUR PRODUCT ENGAGE WITH AUDIENCES?

EVALUATION Q2b DISTRIBUTION:

HOW WOULD IT BE DISTRIBUTED AS A REAL MEDIA TEXT?

ambre b · Q3 Audience, Distribution podcast

Inspiration for Podcast:

Examples and Helpful sources:

• Finding Distributors for Your Low-Budget Horror Film 
• Similarly...

CCR Q3 skills development

EVALUATION Q3 SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

HOW DID YOUR PRODUCTION SKILLS DEVELOP THROUGHOUT THIS PROJECT?

To present the skills I've learned throughout the project I made a tutorial on how to use certain tools in Final Cut:

Final cut tutorial Inspo:

PRELIM EXERCISE

FINAL CUT PRO X - Tutorials we used

CCR Q4 integrated technologies

How did you integrate technologies, software, and hardware in this project?

Inspiration for video

MORE INFO:

• iPhone 11: Apple, 64 GB

The major new feature in the iPhone 11 was an upgraded dual-lens camera system. It includes an ƒ/1.8 6-element 12-megapixel wide-angle lens (26mm focal length) and an ƒ/2.4 5-element 12-megapixel ultra wide-angle lens (13mm focal length), up from a single 12-megapixel camera lens in the iPhone XR.

• Sony Camera

• Teams Microsoft vers: 4.16. 40.0 (3/24/2023)
• Instagram Latest Version 278.0.0.21.117
• Tripod

• Monopod

• Motorized stabilizer Inkee

Inkee Falcon Plus is a very compact 3-axis stabilizer for action cameras, barely larger than a smartphone. Compatible with the GoPro 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 & 11, or other similar model, Vloggers will appreciate being able to install the Media Module. The Falcon Plus will also accept DJI Osmo Action cameras and Insta360 cameras.

 

This stabilizer offers several shooting modes such as landscape or portrait mode, Tracking, FPV, TimeLapse... Controllable using the Joystick button on the handle or controllable via the Falcon Inkee App via Wifi up to a distance of 10m. You will control the REC or take a photo from the Falcon+. The Falcon Plus will be able to charge your GoPro if the battery is low. The autonomy of the Falcon Plus is approximately 9 hours and the load offered is 200 gr. A supplied tripod will allow you to film on a table or simply for storage ready to shoot.

• Macbook - Apple

• Hard Drive - La Cie

LAC9000298

2TB

Pressure resistant

Rough cuts

IN THIS POST: ROUGH CUTS, WHAT'S MISSING, WHAT HAS CHANGED

ROUGH CUT 1:

MISSING: FIRST SCENE, IDENTS, TITLES, SOUNDTRACK, FOLEY SOUND

TESTING: NARRATIVE, DIALOGUE, SHOT TYPES, EDITING, SFX

Also tested a font style. (See Font Post)

In this cut, we focused on makeup, props, lighting, and script. Our sample scenes were not in the preferred location, with the wrong cast and little to no props. We also tested the narrative to see if audiences would follow the preferred reading if archetypes were clear and the plot makes sense. 

ROUGH CUT 2:

MISSING: LAST SCENE (3 years later), IDENTS, TITLES, SOUNDTRACK, FOLEY SOUND

RESHOOT

What changed?

• Naturally location and mise-en-scene
• The main difference is: Emma's phone conversation became a radio man announcing a homicide tragedy.

Opportunities for a larger audience with the song "Every Breath You Take" By The Police (1983)

Some necessary changes according to media student feedback and individual reflection:

(Rushed edit)

• Add electrical droning from lights
• Extend and recut the first scene
• Shorter takes in general to keep verisimilitude
• Less focus on the remote control (not the best weapon)
• Ellipses is too abrupt
• Cut away to stalker shots more often
• Add black cards for titles, ellipses will be more convincing

ROUGH CUT 3:

MISSING: LAST SCENE (3 years later), PROPER IDENTS, SOUNDTRACK, FOLEY SOUND

TESTING: BLACK TITLE CARDS, FONT, IDENTS

What changed?

• Added black title cards, allowing for shorter takes and even more ellipses
• Colour correction on scenes that were too bright, over-saturated, and didn't fit the tone
• More audio bridging 
• Shorter dialogue scene
• The first scene is more chopped up
• Removed awkward "Hey um, thank you for everything but I think I'm gonna head home my parents are probably really scared..." entirely 
• Added kettle sound
• Music/radio glitch, music plays again for the stabbing scene
• Testing a main title

Some necessary changes according to media student feedback and individual reflection:

• Continue to cut the first scene even shorter
• Chop up dialogue entrance scene
• One ident needs an audio bridge
• Extend characterising establishing shots at the start 
• More dynamic main title
• Drop black card titles and develop titles in general

See Fonts and Titles post for precise feedback.

ROUGH CUT 4:

MISSING: EDITING DETAILS, SOUNDTRACK, ESTABLISHING SHOTS

What changed?

• Added cover of "Every Breath You Take" By The Police
• Added man's voice for radio
• Removed Black title screens, added some earthquake animation
• The main title is more dynamic and layered 
• The last scene (3 years later) added, needs refining
• Screams and stab sounds were added before the title screen

Some necessary changes according to media student feedback and individual reflection:

• Titles need more animation
• Scenes still need cutting up
• Stabbing sounds aren't realistic 
• (Last scene) Broken branch and head turn needs to change
• Fade to black at the end
• Add key sounds or some reference to a killer in the basement scene
• Music should be cut before the main title

ROUGH CUT 5/FINAL CUT:

What changed?

• Soundtrack was added
• Changed opening shots
• Added more animation on titles
• Recut dialogue 
• Recut basement sequence
• Changed stabbing sfx
• Audio bridge with last ident

See Final Cut Post

Sample scenes

 IN THIS POST: SAMPLE SCENES, PREPARATION, FEEDBACK, SCREENPLAY

We recorded some sample scenes before creating a rough cut. This was to test shot types, dialogue, refine the narrative, and practice continuity editing.

SAMPLE SCENE 1 PREP:

Rough Screenplay: (this was created knowing we will refine the dialogue later)

Equipment: 

• iPhone 11
• Tripod
• Desk Tripod

Props:

• Glasses
• Hair Tie
• Tank top
• Tape
• Candy
• Plate

Our props were very limited, as for mise-en-scene and set dressing, our set is also not a permanent choice. We filmed to get a better idea of potential shots, framing and other challenges. 

Our cast was simply Leila and I as we hadn't found actors yet. 

SAMPLE SCENE 1:

SAMPLE SCENE 1 MY REFLECTION:

The 180 rule complicated our opportunities for shot variety in the common room kitchen. On the real set there will be more interesting shot opportunities.

Filming in the forrest: I'd like it to be darker for better atmosphere and so that we can play with lighting + narrative enigma. 

Minor editing adjustments such as sound continuity (weird sound cut mid word).

I think we should incorporate more direction and precision for acting.

SAMPLE SCENE 2 PREP:

Screenplay:

SAMPLE SCENE 2:

SAMPLE SCENE 2 MY REFLECTION:

SAMPLE SCENE 1 FEEDBACK:

(teacher feedback)

Audience feedback, Laura (17) and Sasha (17), Media Studies Students:

Our TITLES

FONT PLANNING:

TITLES VERS 1:

This was our very first test on Rough Cut 1, before reshoots.

TITLES VERS 2:

FONT FEEDBACK:

See Morgan's blog post

• We first looked at our company names (Fatcat, Smokey and Hollyhock) and added them before anything, with "in association with", "a [...] production" etc. 

• Then we looked at several movie openings to see the key roles that are most often shown in movie opening titles. These included some basics such as "Directed by [...]" and "Featuring", to some less often seen "Executive producer" or even "visual effects supervisor". 

• We then came up with a first list of names that we can use for these roles, but we chose rather random names, and after some feedback from our peers, we decided that some of the names were too obviously not related to indie horror films, so instead, we looked at a specific example. 

• We ended up choosing the opening title sequence of "Final Destination 4", a body horror film. We took the names from the opening sequence and added one of the roles to each of them.

• We were also informed that we needed more variation in font or case, unfortunately, the font we used only had upper-case letters. We may need to find a second font for words such as "and", "Film by", "Featuring", "with", etc...

FINAL TITLES:

TITLE CONVENTIONS:

See Leila's Post

Idents

IN THIS POST: MY GROUPS INDIVIDUAL IDENTS

Smokey Production

I added Jazz music in the background that I made on Garage Band, I also added a man coughing at the end, a wink at the "smoke".

The Video is sped up (400%) and the ambient sound was added for the crackling fire.

It's not very visible in the video but it is written on magazine paper.

Duration: 8 seconds

FatCat Production

Followed this tutorial:

Hollyhock Films

Duration: 6 Seconds

Idents are short, usually animated clip at the start of a film that identifies the studio, production company, and distributor, it’s often accompanied by sound or music.

They usually last between 10 and 30 seconds.

BIG 5 example

• 1.      Paramount (20 seconds)
• 2.      Disney ident 2015 (15 seconds)
• 3.      Warner bros (15 seconds)
• 4.      Universal (20-25 seconds)
• 5.      Sony Colombia (35 seconds)

Yesterday 2019 (Working Title)

• Perfect World Pictures – 6 seconds
• Working title – 9 seconds

2 idents

In this film, both idents include an audio bridge with the OST (opening soundtrack).

World’s End (Working Title)

• Universal – 20 seconds
• Working title – 9 seconds

It’s typical to see 3-4 idents.

It’s important to note that studio idents usually get priority and are longer in seconds than distributor idents. If idents already take up a considerable amount of time, studios will be credited in opening titles in much smaller.

Soundtrack

IN THIS POST: SOUND, SOUNDTRACK, COVER, DIEGETIC, NON-DIEGETIC, AMBIENT, FOLEY

OVERVIEW OF HOW WE USED SOUND - A: FOLEY SOUND

I recorded the foley sound on my iPhone 11 and then added effects such as "Muffle" and "Large room" in Final Cut so that it fits with the rest of the ambient sound. The video above is missing the door slam that was also recorded with iPhone with an added "Large room" effect to create an echo for a more impactful sound. 

OVERVIEW OF HOW WE USED SOUND - B: NON-DIEGETIC MUSIC

ambre b · Outro Soundtrack

ambre b · Intro Soundtrack

ambre b · Intro Soundtrack

There were many versions of this soundtrack but ultimately these were the versions we chose. I tested some ideas in Garage Band and showed the group, Morgan then came up with multiple versions made on FL studio. 

The following tutorial was very helpful for horror music:

Every Breath You Take - Cover

Add a Soundcloud link.

This cover was made by Leila's band (Leila playing the bass guitar), and this also included our actress Caelie on the vocals. The lyrics are chosen to create polysemy as certain signifiers point toward a stalker being present but in reality, the danger is coming from inside.

This is important to our audience engagement. The song came out in 1983 and is very popular, it can appeal to an older audience as they will recognize it. The young actress singing could create hype over the cover and it can be used as part of the movie's marketing. 

OVERVIEW OF HOW WE USED SOUND - C: AUDIO FX

Ambient sound was exclusively audio SFX, we used Final Cut's effect library as well as some free use youtube FX.

• Crickets 
• Buzzing of lightbulb
• Birds in the Morning (last scenes).

SHOOT 1 preparation and reflection...

SHOOT 1 PREPERATION

PROPS, AND EQUIPMENT:

PROPS:

• Pumpkin(s)
• Kitchen knives
• Halloween candy (Haribo vampire fangs)
• Bowl
• Candles 
• Halloween decorations (owned by Morgan) 
• Makeup (see scream queen for details)
• Books
• Dr Martin shoes (no laces)
• Kettle
• Fake blood

CLOTHES:

• Scream queen: 
• Glittery silver, strapped dress (H&M, cut up, muddied up)
• Jewellery 
• Blue high heals 
• Makeup (HUDA eyeshadow, brown and red liquid lipstick, mascara)
• Hair down 

• Final girl: 
• Glasses (owned by Ambre)
• School uniform 
• Pleated checked purple and white skirt 
• White shirt (H&M)

EQUIPMENT: 

• Phone
• Monopod
• Tripod
• Motorised stabiliser (Smooth 4) 

LOCATION: 

• Ambre's house
• Living room
• Kitchen
• Entrance

CAST: 

Our cast consisted of friends that had acting experience and that fit our visions of the characters EMMA and OLIVIA. We recruited them using a poster posted on our Instagrams, we had a conversation about their schedules and availability. We provided the clothes and makeup in order to fit them into their respective roles, the scream queen being blonde and the "final girl" being brunette was a conscious choice. 

SCREENPLAY:

The cast was sent the screenplay by email 2 days before the shoot. When they arrived, they were given paper copies each. We went through it once to see if anything sounded unnatural, and if they wanted to make any changes, all without filming first. 

We also showed them some of the movements we were expecting (such as walk speed, which hand to use to pick up objects, etc...) but this was mostly done immediately before the take. 

LOCATION, PROPS, SET DRESSING:

The kitchen needed a lot of set dressing. Many things were removed, such as cleaning products, dishes in the sink and anything that had an eye-catching colour that took attention away from the props we added. We added lighting, candles, pumpkins, a Scream mask, etc...

The entrance wasn't as dressed as I wanted, we removed advent calendars to conceal the real time of year and added a pumpkin and some candles. The living room was only prepared in a specific area so many things were seen despite not being wanted to. The lighting was also less manipulated in the living room which is something we should have paid more attention to.   

SHOOT 1 REFLECTION

CAST PERFORMANCE, COSTUME, PREFERRED READING:

We were happy with the cast performance, they took direction well and they gave us some feedback and ideas. They were understanding of needing to film takes multiple times. For our silver dress fit well, we cut and ruined it once it was on her. However, the shirt and the skirt were too small for our actor, we had to improvise and get a slightly larger skirt. My white shirt almost got ruined because of the fake blood splatter, I think we'll invest in a different shirt and skirt. I realised after that the "final girl/killer" character should have worn her hair tied to create more binary opposites with the scream queen. The makeup could've been more exaggerated, with the lighting it wasn't clear how much makeup was applied. 

For the preferred reading, the lack of music was an obstacle but the biggest obstacle was definitely the death scene. When EMMA slashes OLIVIA its hard to tell who was killed because they both had weapons. The framing was also too tight on EMMA when the blood is splattered and we don't see OLIVIA afterwards. Unfortunately, we were too confident in our shot sequence and we didn't take extras. 

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED:

The house didn't provide any ambient sound, there was too much silence and it became clear we need to record more foley sound than expected. We also realised candlelight and lamps made for some interesting shadows, we took advantage of it for shots like the "raised heel shadow" shot but we could've done it more times. 

WHAT NOW?

For our reshoots, we need:

- Time management (plan for a longer shoot)

- Do preproduction tests (makeup, lighting test)

- Replace certain props (lighter colour dress, larger skirt + shirt)

- Record foley sound > ambient sound (crickets, cars passing)

- Edit screenplay