Post 3 – Evaluation.

For this blog post I will be evaluating my proof of concept and it’s characteristics.

I aimed to create a psychological horror with lots of gore and vivid colours for disorientation, as my biggest inspiration for visuals and somewhat the story-line was Suspiria (1977).  I wanted to create something unnerving with a twisted story that no one really saw coming, but in the end my film turned out to be more of a plain thriller. From the feedback I received someone commented asking if it was ‘meant to be funny?’ and I don’t actually know how to answer that because some horror films can get to that point of being ridiculous, it sort of is funny. Which made me think should it have been my intention or did it accidentally happen with my film being ridiculous. I’m not happy with my creation as I wanted it to fall under horror and to mess with your mind but it feels more like a thriller and maybe I should have had gore. My creation ended up being obvious with what was about to happen. However I did set out to create the lighting I had which I’m happy about but overall it’s not what I wanted.

Camera Work:

When researching the common camera characteristics for horror films I found the generic elements were camera held shots as the killers ‘eye’s’ looking at it’s prey. Also you always saw the killers point of view for the victims reaction, it was rare you saw a realistic view of the victims point of view.  Which I incorporated all these elements into my film for example this CU and I chose a CU so you cold see her expression:  I filmed by using my own hands for the affect of shaky cam pretending to be the killer for it’s eyes/movement. Now I originally said for task 1 I was just going to focus on using the technique of the victims point of view but when it came to it didn’t really make sense for current story. So I used both killer and victims point of view which I think worked better. As I did try to focus on the victims point of view more here in this MCU: But it wouldn’t make sense for an unconscious person to see what was happening.

The feedback I received about my camera work was overall very positive which is a good thing but also a bad thing because I actually cut out all the bad camera work. The comments were ‘I like the different camera shots’ ‘camera shots and angles are great especially the close ups that show how scared she was’ ‘with regards to camera work I really enjoy the shots chosen’. Now if I had kept in the bad sequence of camera work then I wouldn’t have had such positive comments. For example this MCU:  But I knew myself how out of focus, bad exposure and bad lighting etc they all were so I cut them out. For the nightclub camera work I feel as if I could have made it more artistic with composition and lighting. By having the shot more closed in with less head room and adding back lights. For example here are some of shots I am talking about :

I feel as if I could have built up different shots around them for artistic editing purposes. I really like some of the shots I did in the red killing sequence because of how red it is contrasted with a shadow across his face. For example when Nigel comes up close to the camera as a CU for his expression:  as it gives an intimidating feeling. I also like the shot of Georgia unconscious using a CU for Nigel’s ‘eyes’ as to me it feels more realistic with how she acts with a CU: 

For the future I will improve my camera work by thinking more artistically and by this I mean I will round up different shots for the same action so when it comes to editing there would be more to work with for a better sequence. I will also remember to check ISO for exposure as this is a common thing I have learned I am still quite bad at but I believe it’s because I’m still getting the hang of lighting as it has a massive affect on how it looks. I have learnt that some specifics shots you thought would work perfectly actually don’t work at all. For example when filming the community centre sequence I thought nigel looking into the camera with then everyone looking in his direction would work great, well it didn’t.

Lighting:

When researching the common characteristics of horror films I found some of the generic elements used were silhouette lighting for the fear of the unknown effect e.g as a back light. Also certain colours to resemble different feelings, like red equals danger/death:  I only used the affect of the colour red because of my inspiration from Suspiria and how much it had an affect of different feelings on myself. As it worked in my head for the sequence of Nigel killing the girl and how the colour red resembles all those feelings you would experience while watching it. I did like the idea of using the silhouette lighting as a back light but I couldn’t think of a bit during the film it would work. As I really just wanted to focus on the red lighting as it was my first time having a go at it. As for the nightclub sequence I wanted lighting that would make it appear realistic so I went with flashing colourful lights that moved to music, which I didn’t really need to research.

The feedback I received for lighting was again quite positive but there were a few comments on some parts. The comments I received were ‘I like the lighting’ ‘good lighting to make it feel like a club’ ‘love the lighting’ ‘LOVE the lighting for the nightclub’ ‘lighting for the stabbing scene is very good’ ‘very nice use of lighting with the red gel filters and the nightclub lights’ ‘I like the colour scheme of the film’ ‘lighting is really interesting however the lighting in Georgia’s close up in the nightclub the lights aren’t moving whereas they do in every other shot’. So overall very positive feedback apart from the one about the lights not moving in one shot. Now that is something I obviously didn’t notice at the time and because the music was making the lights move it didn’t cross my mind to check if they were to the same beat/movement in every shot. My thoughts on my lighting is that in the red sequence part, because I was changing the set up for each shot some parts appear more pink than red. Which I saw when it came to editing. My favourite part of lighting I did was when the shadow was half across Nigel’s face  as that is something I set myself out to have. For the nightclub lighting I thought was quite lazy, even though it worked it wasn’t very atmospheric to resemble a real nightclub. However I’m proud to say I struggle with exposure my lighting shots are in focus.

In future I will improve my lighting by doing an experimental run instead of just jumping into it as it’s definitely something you need practise, with it being a lot harder than you think. I will also check every shot to make sure the lighting is still the same to make it more realistic, rather than being lazy and having to deal with the consequence. Also to balance out the lighting against the ISO/exposure to make sure everything looks right and nothing is out of focus. I have learnt that from my proof of concept how easy it is to make mistakes with lighting without you even realising. And by this I mean looking at the footage on your camera can look fine but when it comes to upload them to your computer it might turn out to be what you were afraid of. I have also learnt from my proof of concept that it takes time and patience with lighting as every different shot requires a complete different set up and it’s something you have to put a lot of focus on.

Audio: 

There isn’t really any specific audio for horror films so I put all my focus on the music elements as that’s something I found to be quite distinctive in horror films. For example when something ‘scary’ or a ‘jump scare’ is about to happen the film will most likely tell you it’s coming up by playing an eerie/uncomfortable piece of music. The type of music that is commonly made by horror films is a deep beating of drums, a piercing violin sound or even an un-tuned guitar. Now when it came to my film I wanted to incorporate some off these as they really do have an affect on how you feel. For example in the red sequence part I wanted the sound of a distorted guitar to be playing as he moved to kill her for the feeling of disorientation. Then when he’s stabbing her I wanted to use the shriek of a violin but the sound I wanted would have to have been recorded for me. And then of course for my nightclub sequence it’s not something I had to research as that kind of music isn’t linked to horror elements. For the voice over I wanted it to sound monotone and echo like, but my actor Andrew wanted to portray how he thought it would sound. Which ended up not sounding quite how I wanted as it didn’t really link to what was happening visually.

Most of my comments again were quite positive but there were some negative as well. My comments were ‘I like the music’ ‘good music taste but the voice over is somewhat quiet’ ‘good recording of the voice over’ ‘love the music choice’ ‘voice over is well recorded’ ‘like the music change when it’s red brings out the sociopath that was lurking in the boy’ ‘the audio is well chosen as I like the music for each different mood and the voice over is well recorded’. Mostly quite positive but I understand fully the negative comments as I noticed myself when watching back my film. By this I mean how in comparison the voice sounds quiet at some parts compared to the music which can be quite overpowering. I love the comment about how they felt the music really brought out the sociopath in Nigel as that is what I was going for, how music can have a big effect on how you feel about something. In my opinion I should have gone over the voice over part more by recording different expressions on how the lines should be read. Also I should have made sure the recorded voice over was distinctive and loud enough to be heard compared to any other part of sound. And for the music part it’s not ideally what I wanted it to sound like but in the end it fitted quite well.

In future I will improve this by having practise takes of recording voice over files to make sure the voice doesn’t echo against the mic. Also to try different expressions of emotions to see what would fit best against the visuals. With the music choice I would think ahead to ask music people to help record for me so I can talk to them about how I exactly want it to sound like. Or to even have a choice of different music tracks so when it came to editing I could see which one fitted the best. I have learnt from my proof of concept that music is rather complicated and needs a lot time for planning ahead as you can’t record something on a laptop techno software and expect it to sound exactly how you hoped. Also that voice overs can appear different to how you thought they had originally sounded so it’s best to have a lot of options.

Editing:

When researching the common characteristics for horror films I found the generic elements used was a fast editing pace, for example when someone is being stabbed. The correct term for this is called ‘splicing’ which builds a lot of tension and panic. Also when something unsettling is about to happen, which could be a jump scare, the editing tends to be to a slow pace with no fast cuts. So you get the feeling something is about to happen’. Now I used the editing technique splicing as it fitted perfectly into my story line of the serial killer stabbing the girl. My tutor showed me how you could layer both shots on top of each other to make it extremely fast and choppy. And before this sequence happened I used the technique of slow editing as a build up to what was about to happen. Which I felt both of these techniques really worked in putting it all together. I wanted my film to start off to a slow editing pace like in the nightclub and then the beginning of the red sequence. So I could properly use the technique splicing when I got the chance so it was more effective.

The comments I got about my editing were rather positive, no one really had anything negative to say. My comments were ‘I like the editing’ ‘Editing and pace was good. I liked the fast cuts during the stabbing’ ‘stylistic editing is very nice’ ‘I like the editing of the film’ ‘The edit at the stabbing section is very visually pleasing and the editing in the nightclub fits your pacing’. I appreciate people liking my stabbing sequence as I agree with them on how nice it looks. But I don’t exactly think any of it was stylistic, as I strongly believe that was a downfall of mine and most of the editing was quite simple. For example as I mentioned in me talking about my camera work I don’t think I filmed enough different shots to make my editing different, I felt it was quite dull with how I had set it all out. My favourite bit of editing of mine is how when you see Nigel go to lay on the girl it quite quickly switches to a shot of him coming towards the camera as if the camera is the girl’s face. I also found when it came to editing I thought of a lot more shots I wished I had filmed because of how well they would have fitted with the editing. For example it would have made sense to have had a shot of Nigel and the girl leaving the nightclub together rather than a straight cut to her unconscious on a bed.

In the future I will improve my editing by researching more on stylistic editing choices as that’s something I admire and think makes a film more visually pleasing. Also to make sure I remembered shots that would then make sense for editing purposes rather than having to deal with wishing I had filmed more. In the future I hope to be more knowledgeable on horrific film editing as I really want my film to fall under that category. My proof of concept has taught me that editing is something you again need to be patient with because you’re putting together a piece of art that should have time and effort spent on it. It’s taught me that you should give yourself time to research the software and time to research the best techniques. As I wasted a lot of time with my tutor showing me how to edit specific things when really I should know how to do it.

Location:

I believe only one of my locations was appropriate as in my opinion I was just lazy using the TV Studio as a night club. I believe my appropriate location was my home because I had originally thought to use a bedroom for the killing sequence, and of course using my home was safe and a comfortable space. Also because my mum owns the house it wasn’t a hassle asking her if I could use the space and it was easy having her sign the release form. Now the reason I used the TV studio for the nightclub sequence was because I didn’t wanna waste any time finding/booking locations within a week as there wasn’t a lot of time left to film. I also thought as I was proofing what I could film I could use the space I could easily get and to use my creativity with lights to make it look as realistic as I could. Now looking back at that I feel quite lazy with using the TV studio, so I would change that. I would change it by booking a real location for example The Rutland Arms which is a pub I have in mind, as they have an upstairs room that can be booked out for venues. Now the reason I didn’t book it out for my proof of concept is because of little time I had and I didn’t want to end up leaving it till the last minute to then not have a location.

Production Design and Mise-en-scene:

I don’t think as a whole I had the right production design and mise-en-scene but with what I had worked for the time being. For example in the night club sequence I used mugs for supposed alcoholic beverages and plastic chairs with tables that look like something from a school. So already the production design doesn’t fit with the idea of it being a club/pub. In one of my feedback comments some said ‘why do they have mugs?’ so clearly even the audience could see how mis-placing it all was. Now the reason I used such bad props was because when it came to filming I had totally forgotten that I should have had provided real props, now I wouldn’t have used mugs but Nigel says in one of his voice overs how he bought her a drink. So in the moment I found what I could and I didn’t want to waste any time as I had booked the studio for that day. Now for the killing sequence I think the production design and mise-en-scene was alright as I used a real knife and a real bedroom with the red lights creating the right atmosphere of danger. What I would change would be to think a head to provide real pint glasses with supposes-ed beer ( apple juice ) and plushy chairs and a dark wooden table to make it more believable.

Time: 

I believe I did plan enough time to shoot my film but at the same I think I rushed myself with planning to shoot because I was afraid I would run out of time. As I gave myself enough time to book the TV studio over the course of two weeks, with filming all the footage I had wrote down from my storyboard. I also made the plan to film at my home with making sure Andrew and Georgia could do the exact date and again I managed to film all the footage I aimed to get. But now looking back I think I rushed filming as I was anxious about failing to film everything. So I planned a tight schedule to fit it all in which worked out for some scenes but had to deal with quite small consequences. And by small consequences I mean bad props or shots not being lit properly with bad exposure as all I had on my mind was getting it done. What I would change differently would be to plan out from the start specific dates with the right location and actors beings being able to attend. I wouldn’t work myself up so bad from the pressure of having it done in time by organising myself with writing down what needs to be done/when/how.

Summary:

I think the strengths of my film for my specific production type is firstly the lighting in the killing sequence. I really put all my focus on the lighting as all my favourite horror films have amazing lighting, as it creates an atmosphere of so many different feelings like fear, disorientation, tension etc. I managed to make it blood red with mostly the right exposure and in focus, now some shots were pink but it still fits the characteristics of horror. Also a common usage of lighting in horror films is creating a shadow across half the face to get the audience questioning ‘what could he be?’ as it’s normally the fear of the unknown that grips people. As I mentioned at the beginning one of my biggest inspirations for the lighting in this film is Suspiria. As in many of the film scenes they use red lighting and I was shocked at how I felt just from lighting. I instantly felt scared knowing this colour was symbolising something. Which is why I wanted to recreate this kind of scenery and emotions into my storyline. I also think some of my camera work like the killers point of view shot fits into the horror characteristics as from my research I found there is always the killers point of view and rarely the victims point of view. Another strength of mine I believe is my editing in the stabbing sequence using the technique splicing but more extreme. With the help from my tutor Lee, he showed me how to make the technique more effective by layering each shot onto each other to create a flashing affect.

Improvement:

In my opinion there are quite a lot of small things I need to work on. For example I struggle with setting up lighting to make the ISO/exposure correct. Now as I have only just started to learn about lighting and it was my first go with this film at attempting it, it’s understandable that I struggled. But it’s good that I know I struggled because I know I was wrong and can work on that area. I seemed to have more of an issue with normal lighting rather than using the red gel filters which is probably because normal light is natural and I personally found it quite hard to capture. I also think I need to improve on audio work as when it came to the official product the voice over sounded muffled and was really quiet compared to the music and had various feedback saying they couldn’t hear it properly. Also the storyline is something I need to work on because I actually had a whole sequence I had to cut out because of how bad I filmed it. With how bad I had film the sequence it ended up ruining that part of the story which is another reason I had to cut it out. Now that bit of story was the main character Nigel going to a sex addicts group to talk about his problem, where of course you think he’s talking about sex but it’s actually him being a serial killer. If I had kept that part in, the storyline would have made more sense in it tying together. But looking back I think I want to change that part of the story to maybe him telling his friends still about having sex but in a different situation. Which is why I need to improve on this part as I need a story that will work in linking the murderous situation together.