I just found this on my laptop in my AS Media folder, and thought it'd be good to show you what was presented to my acting staff before filming, so they could understand the characters a bit better.
Extra's
Your role is to give the church an intense feel for it. I want you to show no emotion, because I want you to appear as if your souls have been taken from you, and that you are trapped in the church by the evil Priest, although you have no idea due to the lack of soul. You are just a shell, and must not react to anything.
Priest
You are the main character, so your acting skills are key for each scene to work, You will be dressed as a Priest using the available costume. Although I don't want you to appear as a stereotypical Priest (humble, friendly, kind) because you have a demonic being living inside you, of which you have no control over. So in your 'normal' state, you need to look fairly calm, and in your demonic state, you are a demon (of course) and for the demon effect to work * you need to pull a stretched out scary face so that when the demon edit is applied, it will look far better.
Victim Boy
You are conscious of your surroundings, and are confused because your friends are no longer 'awake' so to speak. So you are focusing your awareness on the Priest. When the Priest looks at you, you look scared and upset. In the scene after this, you will be standing and from the Priest POV your soul will be taken, so you will need to look scared and in pain. You also need to edge forwards. Then you will need to lay on the ground (the camera will create the illusion of you falling and dying because it will be from your point of view and will fade out to show that your soul has left your body). In the following shot, you will be laying on the ground posing as a corpse.
Friday, 2 March 2012
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Remaining Tasks- Completed [STARTED]
Location Shots:
I have applied colour correction to this image to make it look authentic to the demonic-of-horror sub-genre.
This picture is of the church that features in my main task, and was taken by myself.
Health & Safety:
When thinking about health and safety, I had to consider many potential hazards that could occur and how I could prevent them. These hazards were things such as the concrete floor: in one of my shots I wanted to include one of my actors falling to the ground, but due to the risk that he could of injured himself, I decided to change this and have a POV shot from his point of view, so that it gave the illusion that he was falling.
Other risks were falling from the balcony that I recorded the second scene on: I could have fallen from it which would of injured myself and damaged the camera, so for this i just made sure that I didn't stand too close to the edge of the balcony.
Other than those potential issues, it was safe and I could progress with the recording stages.
Time Management:
I had scheduled the church and my actors for the 28th and 29th December 2011, for 1pm-4pm on each day. This allowed enough time to practice, record, and make changes where necessary.
Notes On Permissions:
I contacted Keith Crocker (Reverend of Christ Church) via email regarding my assignment, and the requirements of using a church for my main task, of which we discussed what my main task was all about, and what I would need to proceed. Thankfully, he agreed to allow us to use the Church and film the interior/exterior on the 28th and 29th for the hours stated above. When I had booked the church, I informed my acting staff of the dates/times I would need them.
Script Ideas/Development/Final:
I didn't want to use dialogue, mainly because I thought that my ideas would be more effective without the use of a script, and also because I did not have a high quality microphone, and I felt that this would downgrade my piece.
Synopsis:
The 11th Testament: After a ceremonial disaster involving a Catholic Priest and two of his followers, Satan bounds himself to them, unleashing terror among the local community. The Satanic Priest captures the souls of innocent Catholic children: their purity providing power to Satan, making him stronger! Will the community be able to stop him in time?
Research On Non-Diegetic Sound:
Due to my main task being in the demonic-of-horror sub-genre, and the added fact that it is based around a church, I found that I should use something slow, scary, and involving an organ. So I found a royalty-free soundtrack on Youtube called 'Horror music haunted woods (Gothic IV Arcania)' And I have featured this in my video. It is slow, includes an organ, and builds up the tension rather well in my opinion.
Audience Theory:
Successful horror works on the psychological fears that we have as a child. For example, we were all afraid of the dark, of monsters, small spaces, isolation and so on. My main task uses elements of these fears to play on the audiences mind. The lighting in the church is limited to the natural light of the windows (due to my colour correction editing) making it fairly dark. I have also included a demon transformation on the Priest, primarily because it is a key feature of the demonic-of-horror sub-genre, but also because I know that this is usually the thing that scares me the most in films.
Audience Research- Defining My Audience:
My main task has conformed from conventions of the genre I have stylized it around, but it has also turned out to appear in the style of 80's horror (due to lighting/pace/style etc). Because of the 80's horror element, my main target audience would be for the middle aged people (30-50 years old).
Research Of Exhibition & Distribution:
If I was to distribute this as a full length film, I would have it as a 15 Certificate due to explicit scenes/language/blood. Due to the language used, it would have to be aired on TV after the watershed, and I would distribute it on Channel 5, because they regularly air horror films targeted at the older generation. As well as Channel 5, I would also distribute it on The Horror Channel, because they also air content targeted at the older generation.
Representation & Stereotypes:
---------------------------------------
Casting:
I only needed two main characters, and a few 'extras' to make the Church look used moreso than having a couple of people. Due to limited availability of acting staff, I could only have 2 extras (Chelsie Brociek & Christie Attah). For the Priest role, I decided to use Ashley Canham, and for the boy, I used Nicholas Pulford-Cutting.
Character Development:
---------------------------------
Job Allocation:
I had to adapt and plan how to assign jobs for the different parts, and being limited to having just myself other than the acting staff, I took the role of Director, Cameraman, Producer, Editor and Special FX. If I had extra staff, I could of done things better and more organized.
Decision Making:
Throughout the filming process, many executive decisions had to be made due to limitations of the hardware and acting capability. I didn't have access to a tripod, so all of my shots are handheld. Due to health and safety, I had to change a scene of which the boy (Nicholas) fell to the ground: Instead we came up with the plan to use a POV shot to give the illusion of falling.
Continuity:
For continuity, I had to make sure that the pace of each shot was equal. For example, in shot 2 (Ashley walks down the isle) it cut at the end and resumed in shot 3 from a different camera angle. I had to make sure that this was at the same pace. Also, I had to monitor other details such as facial expressions, adjustments to clothing, timing and lighting. Because I used colour correction and colour curve editing, it was harder to sustain the same light levels in each shot.
This picture is of the church that features in my main task, and was taken by myself.
Health & Safety:
When thinking about health and safety, I had to consider many potential hazards that could occur and how I could prevent them. These hazards were things such as the concrete floor: in one of my shots I wanted to include one of my actors falling to the ground, but due to the risk that he could of injured himself, I decided to change this and have a POV shot from his point of view, so that it gave the illusion that he was falling.
Other risks were falling from the balcony that I recorded the second scene on: I could have fallen from it which would of injured myself and damaged the camera, so for this i just made sure that I didn't stand too close to the edge of the balcony.
Other than those potential issues, it was safe and I could progress with the recording stages.
Time Management:
I had scheduled the church and my actors for the 28th and 29th December 2011, for 1pm-4pm on each day. This allowed enough time to practice, record, and make changes where necessary.
Notes On Permissions:
I contacted Keith Crocker (Reverend of Christ Church) via email regarding my assignment, and the requirements of using a church for my main task, of which we discussed what my main task was all about, and what I would need to proceed. Thankfully, he agreed to allow us to use the Church and film the interior/exterior on the 28th and 29th for the hours stated above. When I had booked the church, I informed my acting staff of the dates/times I would need them.
Script Ideas/Development/Final:
I didn't want to use dialogue, mainly because I thought that my ideas would be more effective without the use of a script, and also because I did not have a high quality microphone, and I felt that this would downgrade my piece.
Synopsis:
The 11th Testament: After a ceremonial disaster involving a Catholic Priest and two of his followers, Satan bounds himself to them, unleashing terror among the local community. The Satanic Priest captures the souls of innocent Catholic children: their purity providing power to Satan, making him stronger! Will the community be able to stop him in time?
Research On Non-Diegetic Sound:
Due to my main task being in the demonic-of-horror sub-genre, and the added fact that it is based around a church, I found that I should use something slow, scary, and involving an organ. So I found a royalty-free soundtrack on Youtube called 'Horror music haunted woods (Gothic IV Arcania)' And I have featured this in my video. It is slow, includes an organ, and builds up the tension rather well in my opinion.
Audience Theory:
Successful horror works on the psychological fears that we have as a child. For example, we were all afraid of the dark, of monsters, small spaces, isolation and so on. My main task uses elements of these fears to play on the audiences mind. The lighting in the church is limited to the natural light of the windows (due to my colour correction editing) making it fairly dark. I have also included a demon transformation on the Priest, primarily because it is a key feature of the demonic-of-horror sub-genre, but also because I know that this is usually the thing that scares me the most in films.
Audience Research- Defining My Audience:
My main task has conformed from conventions of the genre I have stylized it around, but it has also turned out to appear in the style of 80's horror (due to lighting/pace/style etc). Because of the 80's horror element, my main target audience would be for the middle aged people (30-50 years old).
Research Of Exhibition & Distribution:
If I was to distribute this as a full length film, I would have it as a 15 Certificate due to explicit scenes/language/blood. Due to the language used, it would have to be aired on TV after the watershed, and I would distribute it on Channel 5, because they regularly air horror films targeted at the older generation. As well as Channel 5, I would also distribute it on The Horror Channel, because they also air content targeted at the older generation.
Representation & Stereotypes:
---------------------------------------
Casting:
I only needed two main characters, and a few 'extras' to make the Church look used moreso than having a couple of people. Due to limited availability of acting staff, I could only have 2 extras (Chelsie Brociek & Christie Attah). For the Priest role, I decided to use Ashley Canham, and for the boy, I used Nicholas Pulford-Cutting.
Character Development:
---------------------------------
Job Allocation:
I had to adapt and plan how to assign jobs for the different parts, and being limited to having just myself other than the acting staff, I took the role of Director, Cameraman, Producer, Editor and Special FX. If I had extra staff, I could of done things better and more organized.
Decision Making:
Throughout the filming process, many executive decisions had to be made due to limitations of the hardware and acting capability. I didn't have access to a tripod, so all of my shots are handheld. Due to health and safety, I had to change a scene of which the boy (Nicholas) fell to the ground: Instead we came up with the plan to use a POV shot to give the illusion of falling.
Continuity:
For continuity, I had to make sure that the pace of each shot was equal. For example, in shot 2 (Ashley walks down the isle) it cut at the end and resumed in shot 3 from a different camera angle. I had to make sure that this was at the same pace. Also, I had to monitor other details such as facial expressions, adjustments to clothing, timing and lighting. Because I used colour correction and colour curve editing, it was harder to sustain the same light levels in each shot.
Friday, 9 December 2011
Location Information!
So it is clear, I have been allowed access to Chirst Church for my filming thanks to Vicar Keith Crocker. I have posted a picture of the church (Not very recent but it was all I could find) and thought I should research the history of it, so here we go.
"Christ Church has stood for 167 years as the place of worship in New Catton. Between 1816 and 1821 there was a sudden influx of agricultural workers into Norwich. New Catton was established outside the city walls to the north as a distinct settlement of about 1100 people, many of whom became weavers.
Christian work among the new settlers began in 1818 with the establishment of a nonconformist Sunday school.
By the 1830s the settlement was expanding and on 23rd June 1840 the foundation stone of Christ Church New Catton was laid. Christ Church was the first church to be built outside the city walls and was designed in the Gothic Lancet style using flint and gault brick dressing – both locally sourced materials, characteristic of the region. The entire cost of the work was £2400. The Bishop of Norwich consecrated the church on 16th November 1841, the occasion being marked by a procession and demonstration by the Chartists.
Christ Church is a grade II listed building and is in regular use for worship, marriages, baptisms and funerals. It is an important part of the heritage of Norwich." -Taken From Here.
I am yet to arrange specific filming times with my acting crew, so I will keep my blog updated when I have arranged time slots!
"Christ Church has stood for 167 years as the place of worship in New Catton. Between 1816 and 1821 there was a sudden influx of agricultural workers into Norwich. New Catton was established outside the city walls to the north as a distinct settlement of about 1100 people, many of whom became weavers.
Christian work among the new settlers began in 1818 with the establishment of a nonconformist Sunday school.
By the 1830s the settlement was expanding and on 23rd June 1840 the foundation stone of Christ Church New Catton was laid. Christ Church was the first church to be built outside the city walls and was designed in the Gothic Lancet style using flint and gault brick dressing – both locally sourced materials, characteristic of the region. The entire cost of the work was £2400. The Bishop of Norwich consecrated the church on 16th November 1841, the occasion being marked by a procession and demonstration by the Chartists.
Christ Church is a grade II listed building and is in regular use for worship, marriages, baptisms and funerals. It is an important part of the heritage of Norwich." -Taken From Here.
I am yet to arrange specific filming times with my acting crew, so I will keep my blog updated when I have arranged time slots!
Monday, 28 November 2011
Research- Extended.
So, as you kmnow from my previous post, I have looked into the demonic-of-horror sub genre as this is the style of which I would like to produce my film.
From that, I have continued to look into other modern conventions that are used in the filming of this style such as filters, lighting, location, and other props such as costumes etc.
Lighting:
From extensive research into how lighting can effect mood and atmosphere, I have found the following:
To play on the audiences fears, I should use a dim lit environment. To add a sense of fear of the main character, I should use pale coloured lighting effects possible from a filter, to give him a tint of green or yellow (dull/dark).
For the actual location, I am using a church, and lighting is going to play a big part on how the audience reacts to the film. For example, if I filmed in bright light then it would not give the same feeling as darkness, with candles used as lighting.
I shall probable use candles as the flickering of the flame will build tension, and the fire from the candle will produce bolder shadows than natural light.
However, with the camera that I am filming with, if I was to film in darkness, the image quality would be greatly reduced, making it all fuzzy/grainy due to lack of light.
After looking into this, I found other camera's that can cope with filming in the dark due to a lower aperture to allow more light into the lens, but due to limited resources this is not an option so I am going to do it this way:
I shall film it in the day, and when editing, I shall apply video filters and colour correction to make it appear that it is in fact set at night, but in reality I have just edited it to look this way.
But, through doing this technique, as far as I know, I am unable to use candles as they will not show up after editing etc. so I shall have to recreate the candlelit feel by using lighting effects while editing.
Filters
As mentioned above, I shall be applying filter effects in my editing software due to the limited capabilities of my recording device.
The filters I shall use will give a great atmosphere to my film, by creating dark lighting while keeping video quality.
Costume
For the costume, I wish to use a clerical priest gown (example below) for the priest, and normal clothes for the other characters (dull coloured as not to stand out).
Sound
As I am filming in a church, there will be an expected echo due to the acoustics of the room used, but this will be incorporated into the mise-en-scene (it will keep things realistic in a sense the audience will not find peculiar).
And as for non-diegetic sound, I shall possible use a church organ track (a convention used in church horror).
Props
For the props, I shall hopefully be using the list I have collected below:
-Cleric costume.
-Christian relic (crucifix)
At the moment I have not thought of any other props to use.
Shots
Refer to my storyboard for a detailed list of shots that shall be used.
I intend to use shot/reverse shot to show character focus (if the priest turns to look at someone), the 180 degree rule for any long shots used, a time lapse for the establishing shot, POV shot to show things from the characters point of view, ECU/close up shots to show character emotion, depth of field shot to keep the foreground/character in focus, while allowing the background to blur.
Side Note
I thought it would be good to include the name and information of the device I shall be recording with etc.
I am using a Logitech C910 HD 1080p webcam with dual microphones. Despite it being a webcam, it is really good quality and is good for recording with. I will record in either 720p or 1080p, and shall be editing using Adobe After Effects CS4.
Any music tracks that I use are royalty free, and are not copyright, or are made by myself in an audio editing program.
From that, I have continued to look into other modern conventions that are used in the filming of this style such as filters, lighting, location, and other props such as costumes etc.
Lighting:
From extensive research into how lighting can effect mood and atmosphere, I have found the following:
To play on the audiences fears, I should use a dim lit environment. To add a sense of fear of the main character, I should use pale coloured lighting effects possible from a filter, to give him a tint of green or yellow (dull/dark).
For the actual location, I am using a church, and lighting is going to play a big part on how the audience reacts to the film. For example, if I filmed in bright light then it would not give the same feeling as darkness, with candles used as lighting.
I shall probable use candles as the flickering of the flame will build tension, and the fire from the candle will produce bolder shadows than natural light.
However, with the camera that I am filming with, if I was to film in darkness, the image quality would be greatly reduced, making it all fuzzy/grainy due to lack of light.
After looking into this, I found other camera's that can cope with filming in the dark due to a lower aperture to allow more light into the lens, but due to limited resources this is not an option so I am going to do it this way:
I shall film it in the day, and when editing, I shall apply video filters and colour correction to make it appear that it is in fact set at night, but in reality I have just edited it to look this way.
But, through doing this technique, as far as I know, I am unable to use candles as they will not show up after editing etc. so I shall have to recreate the candlelit feel by using lighting effects while editing.
Filters
As mentioned above, I shall be applying filter effects in my editing software due to the limited capabilities of my recording device.
The filters I shall use will give a great atmosphere to my film, by creating dark lighting while keeping video quality.
Costume
For the costume, I wish to use a clerical priest gown (example below) for the priest, and normal clothes for the other characters (dull coloured as not to stand out).
Sound
As I am filming in a church, there will be an expected echo due to the acoustics of the room used, but this will be incorporated into the mise-en-scene (it will keep things realistic in a sense the audience will not find peculiar).
And as for non-diegetic sound, I shall possible use a church organ track (a convention used in church horror).
Props
For the props, I shall hopefully be using the list I have collected below:
-Cleric costume.
-Christian relic (crucifix)
At the moment I have not thought of any other props to use.
Shots
Refer to my storyboard for a detailed list of shots that shall be used.
I intend to use shot/reverse shot to show character focus (if the priest turns to look at someone), the 180 degree rule for any long shots used, a time lapse for the establishing shot, POV shot to show things from the characters point of view, ECU/close up shots to show character emotion, depth of field shot to keep the foreground/character in focus, while allowing the background to blur.
Side Note
I thought it would be good to include the name and information of the device I shall be recording with etc.
I am using a Logitech C910 HD 1080p webcam with dual microphones. Despite it being a webcam, it is really good quality and is good for recording with. I will record in either 720p or 1080p, and shall be editing using Adobe After Effects CS4.
Any music tracks that I use are royalty free, and are not copyright, or are made by myself in an audio editing program.
Monday, 21 November 2011
Main Task- Shooting Sequence
I have also finished the shooting sequence for my main task (the order of which I shall film each shot) so here it is:
(Refer to my storyboard for details on each shot).
1. Shot 1
2. Shot 5
3. Shot 6
4. Shot 7
5. Shot 3
6. Shot 2
7. Shot 4
(Refer to my storyboard for details on each shot).
Main Task- Storyboard
Well I wrote this up on paper originally but had to retype as I couldn't get it onto my blog otherwise, so enjoy!
Shot 1:
Establishing shot- Time lapse of the church (transition of day to night)
Camera zooms through the church window (moderately fast paced)
Sound: ‘Woosh’ noise (non-diegetic) as the camera zooms.
Shot 2:
Camera carries on zooming but slows down to capture the surroundings and build tension in the audience, as well as to give the audience time to see the characters. Camera continues to zoom until reaching the priest.
Shot 3:
Close up of the priest (tilt camera up) to show that this is the main character. The priest then steps down from the alter and the camera loses the tilt so symbolize the priest getting on the same level with the other characters, he then walks towards the aisle.
Shot 4:
Point of view (POV) shot from the priest’s point of view. Camera pans left-right (mid shot of the surroundings), camera twitch effect to show abnormality in the character. Camera stops and stays focused on a boy sitting with the rest of the characters. Only he is showing emotion (confusion) while the rest are acting as if they are in a trance. Camera slowly zooms to show the priest walking towards the boy. The boy’s emotion turns from confusion to raw fear.
Sound: Background build-up music to add to tension.
Shot 5:
Shot/reverse shot (priest/boy) ending from the boy’s POV, camera zooms while slightly shaking, to show the boy also getting up but trembling, camera tilts up to show the boy as weak and the priest as powerful.
Shot 6:
The camera suddenly focuses on the priest’s face, as it warps into a demonic form, then the camera sharply switches to the demonic priest’s POV (red filter applied, to show the demonic priest as evil by seeing everything in a red tinted light).
Shot 7:
The demonic priest extends his right hand while looking down on the boy, as the happens the boy looks terrified and the priest violently opens his hand. The camera loses focus on the background and the boy screams which echoes throughout the church room as his soul is ripped from his body. The empty shell of the boy now falls but the camera cuts before he hits the ground.
Shot 1:
Establishing shot- Time lapse of the church (transition of day to night)
Camera zooms through the church window (moderately fast paced)
Sound: ‘Woosh’ noise (non-diegetic) as the camera zooms.
Shot 2:
Camera carries on zooming but slows down to capture the surroundings and build tension in the audience, as well as to give the audience time to see the characters. Camera continues to zoom until reaching the priest.
Shot 3:
Close up of the priest (tilt camera up) to show that this is the main character. The priest then steps down from the alter and the camera loses the tilt so symbolize the priest getting on the same level with the other characters, he then walks towards the aisle.
Shot 4:
Point of view (POV) shot from the priest’s point of view. Camera pans left-right (mid shot of the surroundings), camera twitch effect to show abnormality in the character. Camera stops and stays focused on a boy sitting with the rest of the characters. Only he is showing emotion (confusion) while the rest are acting as if they are in a trance. Camera slowly zooms to show the priest walking towards the boy. The boy’s emotion turns from confusion to raw fear.
Sound: Background build-up music to add to tension.
Shot 5:
Shot/reverse shot (priest/boy) ending from the boy’s POV, camera zooms while slightly shaking, to show the boy also getting up but trembling, camera tilts up to show the boy as weak and the priest as powerful.
Shot 6:
The camera suddenly focuses on the priest’s face, as it warps into a demonic form, then the camera sharply switches to the demonic priest’s POV (red filter applied, to show the demonic priest as evil by seeing everything in a red tinted light).
Shot 7:
The demonic priest extends his right hand while looking down on the boy, as the happens the boy looks terrified and the priest violently opens his hand. The camera loses focus on the background and the boy screams which echoes throughout the church room as his soul is ripped from his body. The empty shell of the boy now falls but the camera cuts before he hits the ground.
Special Effects Editing Research!
So, like I previously mentioned, I am incorporating the idea of demonic horror into my main task, so I thought I should try out some special effects testing, and as I made it around halloween time I thought it'd be perfect for my media task also.
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