Documentary Research Table

AYYEETOOOO

notes from tourettes documentary.


Camera shots and angles
Hand cameras, close ups, midshots. Lots of zooming.
Editing
Not much editing, a few cuts and voiceovers.
Voice over
Used to set the scene mostly by narrator, give background.
Interviews
Never actually hear the questions asked.
Location sound recording (diegetic sounds)
large focus on this as its following their lives, capture it happening etc. mainly dialogue.
Non-diegetic music
Sad music at emotional times, opening theme plays at end and start. Different music to suit different moods/topics.
Structure (what comes where in the documentary and why)
What they do, let us know about them.
There tics
Relationships
How they’re coping
Meeting up
future
Archive footage (footage taken in the past).
Comparison between them in the past and now.

And finally...

... Viewer Feedback!

These are the questions that we asked aselection of people to fill out.

1. What genre do you think the film is from? What makes you think this?
Horror Action

Comedy sci-fi

2. Do you think the editing worked well to create an eerie atmosphere when required?

3. Did you find the story engaging? Would you like to watch more of the film and why?

4. Do you think the characters fitted in with the genre? E.g. where they stereotypical characters.

5. Do you think the film flowed well?

6. Which of the following would you watch the film for?

Personal identity (connection with characters)

Surveillance (what’s going on in the world)

Personal relationship (do they watch it in order to discuss it)

Diversion (escapism)


Basically I got a mixed bag of feedback... back. I asked 6 people to fill in the paper most of these selected Horror as the genre, 2 however ticked Horror and Comedy, and 1 selected Action. The reason they gave for ticking Action was that it wasn't funny...

Fortunately the others said Horror due to the tension and overall mystery of the piece. The Comedy aspect came from the dancing mainly but 1 person said that it was the squelch noise that made it funny.

Everyone said in their own words that the editing had pretty much worked to create tension and the eerie atmosphere. A couple commented on how the music built up tension and the use of fading in and out helped bridge the gap between the two time slots. However one helpful person (Action man) just wrote no.

Everyone said that wanted to continue to watch the film as it set up a number of enigma codes, like what happened to the first girl and why the lights went off. A couple of others said they wanted to see if the characters became friends or got revenge. Action man was helpful again and just said not really.

This question got the most varied response out of them all. Most didn’t seem to know what a stereotype was. The few that did said that the couple of characters shown filled the stereotypical roles of the genre especially the female characters. The male teacher seemed to throw people off as they felt he should’ve been older and creepier for the Horror genre.

The audience, apart from guess who… I think that person had it in for me… said that the film flowed well. They felt that the pace was good and that it all flowed well from scene to scene. Some people said that the sounds levels let it down a little but over all it was good.

The final question confused a lot of them, despite the descriptions of each choice. 1 person ticked personal identity a couple left it blank and then the rest ticked diversion and/or personal relationship.

So as I said it was a mixed bag in terms of feedback with 1 person not being very helpful at all.

Evaluation! part 2!

ill just carry on here :) the first part is below this one... or should be...

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for our piece would definitely be late teens/early 20’s mainly. The film would appeal to fans of the horror genre and fans of the genre vary from young to old, but due to the conventions of the horror genre many fans are too young to watch the films in the cinema. Due to the gore later in the film it would possibly get an 18 certificate. The scenes are fairly gory with one person getting beheaded and another getting her throat slit, however depending on how the scenes are directed could result in the film ending up with a 15 certificate. The bbfc says that for a film to be a 15 it may use horror and gore but “The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.” I feel that if we were to film these scenes we would be able to decide on the level of gore without losing the effect of the film. Another issue raised about the certification would be the use of scissors as a weapon. This is an easily obtainable item and therefore the bbfc say “Dangerous techniques (eg combat, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on imitable detail. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.” This could also effect the final certification. With the film being set at a school the setting would still feel familiar to the above group, and for those older it could bring back memories.

How did you attract/address your audience?

We attracted the target audience by using the normal conventions of the horror genre from giving off connotations of fear to the squelch sound effects. We also set the piece in a school to relate to teenagers and to offer a small insight into a typical modern day school (the various personas of the pupils and staff.) The use of teenage actors and young staff not only enforce this insight but make the setting feel more familiar to the younger audience. The story also provides an escape from reality slightly by making the audience think that the school is haunted.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

As the main editor on the piece I feel that I have learnt a lot about how to film, edit and use the various pieces of equipment commonly used in filming. The first thing was learning how to use a camera and what effects can be gained from using certain shots and various features that a camera has, for example zoom. I also learnt how to use a tripod alongside the camera for a less shaky shot and to make panning smoother. I also learnt how to use Adobe premier to edit what we had recorded. I learnt how to make clips shorter or how to stretch them. I also learnt the importance of pasting clips into the right place to create continuity and a smooth final piece. With our film being a horror piece the use of sound was essential, for this I used Google to find some copyright free music. I then learnt how to cut and paste the track into the right place through premier to create the required atmosphere. However this created a further problem, sound levels, Because of this I learnt how to raise and lower them. This also helped balance out the levels as sometimes one clip was louder then the other due to the position of the camera during filming. I also learnt how to put text over the clips (okay I spelt school wrong, but hey the text appeared over the clip) this was vital to the project as the text was used to explain the scene and show that time had elapsed. The text, I learnt, was easily changeable to whatever font you wanted and to appear wherever on the screen. I also had to use Photoshop to make the FEAR-tre sign and through this learnt how to smudge and blur objects. Overall I feel that I have learnt a lot about the technologies used to create and edit films and feel that I have had a small insight into the world of filmmaking.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Most of the stuff I learnt I have already stated above. The skills I had I feel where basic when we filmed our preliminary task. However I now feel that I have learnt a lot, not just about the technologies used but the process as a whole. For example I learnt about camera maps and shooting schedules, something I never knew was involved. I also learnt that time keeping skills are vital, not just to meet deadlines but also for continuity. I also never realised before how much time and how structured a script had to be. For the preliminary task we just improvised the dialogue, whereas for the opening to the Fear-tre I wrote a script.

Evaluation!

no funny-ness just straight into it.

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

After a lot of research into the horror genre we chose to use as many iconic features of the genre as we could. For example the title of the film “The FEAR-tre” is similar to “Scream” in that the title plays on the conventions of the genre. We also used quick cuts that we found in things like the decent or Saw. This gives the film tension and can also create connotations of fear or panic, common themes of the horror genre. We also chose to kill off a character early on in the piece, not only creating an enigma but setting up the idea of something supernatural. We chose to use the iconic squish noise as the character was crushed, this clarifies to the viewer that the character has died, painfully, even though it hasn’t been seen. By doing this it causes the viewer to use their imagination, this can then make a film scarier as the image of the death is completely up to the viewer, whether it was incredibly gory or tame is up to them. Along with the sound effects we used non-diegetic music to create tension, we even kept the music as creepy as possible for the dance routine.

 

Aside from the above we didn’t overly challenge or try to change any of the conventions. We didn’t use some of the more obvious conventions like blood or knives, or even supernatural beings. We hinted at the latter but never showed any. I think we could have used some more of the conventions in horror films but then it would have been just another horror film. If the horror genre has proved anything its that it has to be different every now and then and change the viewer’s idea of what ‘horror’ really is.

 

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The mise en scene shows that our piece is based in a school theatre and therefore shows off some of the typical teenage stereotypes. For example we have a popular stuck up girl who has her dim witted follower. These two girls pick on the new girl simply for being new. We have a teacher that will stop after school to watch them rehearse to make sure they’re ready. And the new girl who feels slightly lost and is just trying to fit in. These stereotypes give a good insight into school life in the 21^st century and are also typical characters found in teen horror films. The fact that the two scenes are set ten years apart is important. When the story of how the girl died is told has changed due to rumours etc showing how teenagers of today can blow things out of proportion. Overall the girls are portrayed as talented and enjoying doing extra curricular things, however they can be mean and manipulative.

 

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

After a taking a look at boxofficemojo.com I found out these figures for teen horror films.

 

Prom Night: $43,869,350 screengems sony/coluimbia

Scream: $103,046,663 dimension

I know what you did last summer $72,586,134 sony

Urban legend $38,072,438 sony

Final destination $53,331,147 newline

The blair witch project $140,539,099 Artisan

 

Based on the above I believe that sony would be a good distributor for our film. They seem keen on producing teen/ high school horror films with scream being the second highest earning from the above. The company also have a wide fan base from their wide range of products enabling us to push advertising and various promotions. I also think that they would do a good job since they distributed scream which redefined the horror genre. I believe that our film has a lot in common with scream so it seems like a perfect fit.

More coming soon...

Shooting schedule

Click to make them bigger.

The script!.. no not the band

Dissapointing eh?

Anywho heres the script for our openign to THE FEAR-tre. I'd just like to point out that all of it isn't in or that the actors changed it slightly. During editing we had to cut out nearly all of the first half so the two boys ( played by liam and foxy) no longer appear, more on that in my evaluation(coming soon) though, :)

The FEAR-tre.

Int. Location 1- day.
Mike:
Okay we’ve still got some scenes left to run through.

Barbara:
Okay which scene first?

Mike:
How about the scene starting with Charley, “Everything all right?”

James:
Okay ill take charley. Barbara you take Happy and mike you can have Willy.
( Barbara and Mike nod)
(pause)
Everything all right?

Barbara: Mike:
Yeah, Charley, everything’s… What’s the matter?

James:
I heard some noise. I thought something happened. Can’t we do something about these walls? You sneeze in here, in my house hats blow off!

Mike:
That’s seems to be coming along nicely, how about a scene with Linda and Willy. Barbara you play Linda.
(James leaves the stage)

Barbara:
Willy, dear? Willy?

Mike:
I was right!

Barbara:
Did you have some cheese? It's very late, darling. Come to bed, heh?

Mike:
(Looking up)
Gotta break your neck to see a star in this yard.

Barbara:
Do you mind if I try my scene now? You know my little solo bit?

Mike:
Go ahead, we’ll watch from the auditorium.


Barbara:
(clears throat) Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Tonight we are going to present to you our rendition of “a death of a salesmen.”
(A creak is heard)
(Barbara pauses)
Our cast may be small but we hope you enjoy tonight.
(Another creak)
(Barbara looks up)
Now I hope your sitting comfortably, in our newly built theatre. And so without…
(creak)
(looks up)
(screams loudly)

End of scene.

Int. Location 2- day

(Funky music is playing, and the two girls are dancing. The teacher walks in and sits down but says nothing. The third girl joins the routine.)

Mr. Gibb:
(Clapping)
Well done girls that was brilliant. A couple more hours practice and you’ll be… Nah I’m kidding, it’s looking great.

Ashley:
Cheers sir

Jessica: yeah, cheers sir.

Sarah:
(Smiles)

(Mr Gibb leaves the theatre)

Ashley:
Hey jess, that’s the new girl isn’t it?

Jessica:
I dunno; don’t think I’ve seen her before.

Ashley:
Im sure she is, she looks so pathetic and helpless.

Jessica:
(laughs)

Ashley:
Hmm maybe we can have some fun jess. Hey you, new girl!

Sarah:
Who me?

Ashley:
Yeah, come here we wanna chat.
(Sarah walks over)
So we’re Ashley (points at self) and Jessica (points at Jessica)
So you’re new right? You know this theatre is haunted?

Sarah:
Err no it isn’t don’t be ridiculous.

Ashley:
It is honestly, a girl was killed in here 50 years ago! She fell down a trap door, lost her legs and then her head got cut off!

Sarah:
(Shocked) R..r..really?

Ashley:
No (Her and Jessica laugh) But there’s an old rumour that someone…(the lights go off) What the…(A door slams shut)

End scene

(The next scene shows the title and a black screen with the sound of a school bell being heard.)