We drew 2 rough ideas on Photoshop to help us decide how we wanted to lay out our poster and what we wanted to include. We had 2 main ideas. From comparing these drawings we decided as a group that we wanted to layout the our poster like our second design.
In our short film, we had a prop as the main character. Mercy is a china doll, we used a china doll as they are known to be in horror films, and they are effective in those films. Examples of the films which use china dolls are, SAW, Chucky and Poltergeist, these are all big and well known films which incorperate China Dolls, which are used effectively to create the scare factor. We used a more realistic and more human looking doll as it was meant to look like and replace a child. We believe it was effective as it was similar looking to a child. For the piece we were able to photo shop photos together, using real life photos of normal people, and then editing the face of the china doll into the pictures, making them look realistic and creepy. It also makes it clear to the audience what we was trying to get across (that the doll, is taking the place of the human child). The pictures was important as otherwise the audience may not understand that the doll is the child. We looked through different websites to find scary but real looking china dolls, then settling on this one, she has dark hair which is seen a lot when using china dolls for an evil purpose.: In our short film, the owners of the house leave the key under the mat. There is a close up of the key we used (On the right), its a big old one almost like this key shown. The key of a house can show a lot about it. A big old key generally means its an old, mysterious house. It can also mean theres something supernatural or different going on in the house. The key in this film (The Skeleton Key) is connected and related to scary events throughout the film. You dont normally see normal-modern looking keys in horror films as it doesnt show anything abnormal and strange going on, and the audience will look at it as something normal and non-suspicious, where-as if the film makers use a bigger and older key, it isnt as normal and they will begin to realise something is going on and something about the house or the key is abnormal.
This is a picture of the house used in the short film, during the day. The reason we used this house is because during the night it looked quite eerie and old. This made the audience and the character feel like it was abnormal and strange. The street is also full of houses which are old and victorian looking, making it seem mysterious. We decided to film during the night as it would create an eerie and mysterious setting. Its also a common code and convention in horror films, as it is generally during the night when things go wrong and problems arise. As the road also had no one on it, it made it look quite secluded and that no would would help if needed. Abandoned buildings and isolation are also common codes and conventions of horror films and create a scary atmosphere, the audience will also start thinking something abnormal is going to happen during the films.
Sound - There is the sound of rain to open up the piece showing its dull and gloomy. There isnt any music in the background at first and the main character walking through her apartment, then flicking the switch on and off. There is the sound of the switch. When the monster/creature appears infront of her, she screams and the non-diagetic music adds to the surprise. There are creaking floorboards through the piece, making the audience believe it is a old and creepy house. We hear and see the lights go off, along with the creepy floor boards making it clear there is someone else in the house other than her. We can hear the light flickering adding to the suspence. Lighting - The lighting is quite simple, changing between dark and light. They use the change in lighting to show different things happening throughtout the short film. It shows the audience that the frightening changes happen during the dark, rather than in the light. Because its filmed in a enclosed area which is shut of, and because she is living alone it makes the short film more frightful as she cant get help. As it progresses we notice she is not alone in the apartment. During the switch between light and dark we notice someone is there, the character also notices. Dark colour schemes are a stereotypical code and convention of horror and thriller films, hence why they used the darkness and isolation of the apartment. The Camera - The low shot camera angle shows an apartment and a gloomy atmosphere. This sets the film up, showing the audience its going to be a gloomy and dark short film. The camera follows behind her until she turns of the switch. It then switches to the antagonists POV shot, although the main character isnt aware that it is actually there. The mid shot of her face shows she is now slight more aware that someone else is there. She is curious so she continuously turns on and off the switch. The close up shot shows she is scared as the creature or person comes nearer. A wide shot reveals a small dark room with a single bed and light in the corner. The lack of furniture shows how she is vaunrable and has no where to hide if something happens, this makes the audience then worry for her and her safety. The wide shot of the open door, then zooms in as a creaking sound starts, making it obvious that its the door. The ending shows a midshot of the protagonist looking around happily, thinking no one is there, then looking to the light and seeing the monster, then turning of the light. Mise-en-Scene -
The short film is set in a isolated and small location which is a typical code and convention of a horror piece. Its claustraphobic and a small contained place which means if something happens she only has a few escape routes, they can still get blocked of though. The opening to the short film shows its raining, its a dull and dark setting with is a common code and convention to horror and thriller pieces which this clearly is. Its includes aspects from both horror and thriller pieces making it a horror-thriller. It isn't completely a horror as there isnt any gore in the short film and it lacks that. Flickering lights near the end where the antagonist is getting closer is a typical code and covention of thriller and horror pieces. It builds up suspension and the audience become more frightened. This is the first draft of our short film, it has a basic outline as to what the footage will look like and the storyline of the short. It's not the complete story, but we have an idea of how to improve after showing it to our peers. We received feedback, stating that the camera work was alright but some shots needed reshooting and to framed better. The lighting and colours in the shots were good and muse-en-scene was appropriate. We decided to make a list of the parts that needed tightening up and reshooting. I decided to draw out a mind map of things we could include in our horror-thriller short film. We discovered we could use a lot of things in our thriller to make it a more interesting and thrilling piece.
To educate ourselves fully on the technique used to create the male gaze, we decided to try experiment creating an example of our own. The camera zooms in on the lady's body so she fills the screen, panning upwards slowly from her feet in order to slowly reveal her body and present her as an object of lust. We see her body in parts (as objects) rather than her as a whole person, therefore objectifying her, based on her outward appearance.
Sometimes the objectification of women still takes place despite the fact it has nothing to do with the product being sold. Above we see Nicole Scherzinger advertising yoghurt by flirting with it and making sex noises. "If you have to use sexism to sell your products then your product isn't good enough" In order to try defy the male gaze theory, we decided to experiment using the same technique used to create a typical male gaze shot however try make the woman appear powerful rather than an object of lust and desire. We did so through the use of her stance, facial expression and the choice of music. |
AuthorsMolly Broad Archives
February 2016
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