First audience feedback

Positives and negatives towards the production
Positives
Quick cuts	IIII
Good pacing	IIIII
Improvements
Better lighting	I
More narrative/ dialogue	II
This is our first part of audience feedback. We got our media class to sit down and watch our production. We then went around the class and asked for a positive and negative response from each person about our work. Some people did not respond with a negative and that is why there are more positives than negatives. Many people responded with similar things which is why we have recoded it in this statistical form.

The Final Opening

Here is the final opening sequence.

Horror Actresses

This is a website which could be very helpful but not particularly for me. It talks about the greatest female performances in horror but the lead in our film in male. I still gave it a mention as I can see how this could be very useful to some people.

http://flavorwire.com/479769/horror-cinemas-greatest-final-girls-ranked/view-all

How an Indie is Made.

For me I found this website very helpful even though it is not horror specific. It's all very good finding out how to create a horror film but many of these websites expect you o have a large budget that you can spend on your film. This website describes film making on a budget which is exactly what I need and is very helpful.

http://www.funofart.com/indie-film-made/

Film Scores

Here is another great website but this one tackles the sound that a horror film uses. Sound is important to most films but in particular in horror films.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-20-greatest-original-horror-scores-20150311

I have listened to a few of the scores used in other websites from this webpage and this has gi9ven me more of an insight on the scariest horror music you can used.

9 Tips to Create a Good Horror Film

Here is a great website with lots of tips for horror film creators. Reading through these has given me some more inspiration and insight into techniques that these great horror film creators have used.

http://www.avclub.com/article/how-make-good-horror-movie-9-lessons-genres-latest-216315

Opening Credits Filming

Here We have now filmed the scene for the opening credits. We may use this footage or not but we felt it was worth creating as we could not film the next scene in the story until we could get all of our actors.

Changing the title sequence

We are thinking about changing the titles to the opening sequence. This is a slightly less conventional way of presenting the titles than having the titles come up with the actual beginning scene and is more common in TV. Although this is true there are films which do it this way and We feel that this is most appropriate for our film. We are still keeping the previous scenes very similar but are just adding this to the front.

These opening titles can often be made very creepy which will immediately alert the audience that this is a horror film. 

We looked at some great examples of this including the film Se7en:

Although Se7en may not technically be a horror film this opening is still very scary and sinister and the film has got horror elements throughout it. This opening manages to take some of the smallest things and make them very sinister which is what we would like to achieve with ours. This title sequence is over 2 minutes long, for ours we are going to try to do it in around 30 seconds but we will have less titles to put on. This opening is not only there to be scary but serves a purpose by introducing the killer. I like the way they have done this without showing his face and keeping it a mystery for later in the film. It's also almost asif we are inside the killers head.

For our 30 second title sequence we will have the antagonist in a basement/shelter and show him preparing to attack the protagonist. We will not show the identity of the man as this would spoil it for later on in the film.

We are also hoping to make it a bit like the opening of A Nightmare on Elm Street with Freddy creating his claws. this feels very sinister and I love the use of minimalistic music and loud sounds throughout it.

Watch from (0:15) - (0:13)



We want it much faster than that scene with very quick transitions between them. We are essentially trying to find a balance between the two and with a character that will make sense to our audience as the film progresses. We will create a mixture of scenes some of which we will use and some we will not. This gives us the choice of what looks best and in what order.

Recent changes

We have recently changed the short sequence. We got advice from a professional who said that there are some things that we must reshoot and shorten. We are refilling these scenes but keeping some of the original content as well. We must shorten the first scene (house scene) to get straight to the action as well as shooting some new scenes. For our final scene (train scene) we must change the story slightly so that someone else is holding the paper rather than having it on the table. This is so that the story as it makes more sense.
We will reshoot the first scene on Sunday

Time

Editing

We have finished editing the last scene that we filmed which is the train scene. We will come back to it at the end and edit it with the rest of the scenes but we have added transitions and music to the scene. We are now filming our next scene so that on Wednesday we can begin editing it.

Next Filming Session

We will be filming our beginning scene of the opening sequence later today from 6pm-8pm. We have booked in another filming session for this scene later in the week with our actor but are hoping to get it done in the 2 hour slot we are doing later today. We are filming this scene in Matthews house wh9ich we have set up for the scene.

Editing the Train Scene

We got our whole group to help edit as editing is the final stage of the production and we all have to make sure that we agree. We uploaded all the footage from both my camera and another member of the groups camera. We went through all of the footage and picked the best shots, we also cropped and changed the colouring of some shots to make them look more natural and flow better. Over four periods we have edited most of the scene adding the title as well. We just need to add music which we will get one of our friends to create for the film. We will go through it again towards the end of the production when we edit the whole two minute opening together.

First Filming Session

We have filmed our final scene in the two minute opening that we are to create. This is the scene on the train where the protagonist (Fred) wakes up from his nightmare and is on a train entering the city he dreamed about. We filmed this fist as it was the easiest due to it being set during the day.
Overall I would call the filming sessions success as we got lots of footage for the film. Both me and another member of the team filmed at the same time so we could get the most out of the session. We had to be very cautious of time as we were filming on a train which only gave us a short amount of time to film.

Film Pitch Delay

We did create and and film a pitch in font of a live audience who then asked questions. Unfortunate when it came to filming the pitches we were last and the camera ran out of battery so I do not have this to show. I would like to film this again but if not I will try and just upload the pitch straight to the blog.  

Posters

Here are some posters for the film which I have created.

Special Effects Make-up Trial

I recently tried some special effect make-up on Matthew as he will be playing the antagonist in the film. I wanted to make sure that I had practised it so that I knew exactly how to do it when we begin filming next week. Ethan also filmed the process which I will upload soon.

Here is the image that I tried to base my special effects make-up on.

For my first attempt I only did a very small amount as I just wanted to make sure I was using the right techniques.

Here is my second attempt which is larger and more detailed. This took quite along time to create about an hour and a half but hopefully it will go quicker now that I know how to do it

I am hoping to improve on this as I feel it needs to be a much darker shade and is to bright at the moment. Although this is in full light and the scenes we will be filming the antagonist in will be very dark so it may look more realistic in that lighting. We will also film all of the close ups of the hand in one day as it will be very hard to exactly replicate the same make-up again. I will still try to recreate it as similar the second time to the first as I can but I don't think it will be to noticeable with the further away shots.

SFX supplies

SFX Supplies

Here are some of the special effects supplies that I bought today.
They include:

-Makeup brushes
-Makeup sponges
-Liquid latex
-Makeup paint palette

I am going to test them on Matt tomorrow (who plays the antagonist) to make sure that it looks good. Ethan will also film the process so we can upload it tomorrow. We want to try it out before we begin filming so I know exactly what I am doing and there is no delay on the days of filming. I will do this mainly on his hands as this is the visible part of his body and maybe a bit on his neck. This should give the impression that he has been burned which fits in with the story as he dies of gas in WW2 (which burns the skin). This should also show that he is dehumanised which will make it more scary.

6 week filming table

6 week filming table

(This table may not make sense to you as we have not put all of the times and dates but the group already knows all of this information and so this table makes sense to us)

Here is the timetable that we are going to try to stick to in our upcoming 6 weeks of filming. This is a rough timetable and we hope to stick to this but we have left enough room in the last 2 weeks to catch up with something if we find we are behind. This was a very tricky timetable to come up with because one of our actors is not in our group and so we had to make sure that he could turn up to all of these filming sessions as he is the main character. Although there is a lot of filming to be done we also need to find some music or create our own and record all of the sound from the film separately so it is nice and clear to listen to. We have tried to make sure that we  do bits of editing as we go along rather then leave it all to the end, because if we find we need to film another shot its better to do this while we are still filming the rest of the opening. We are filming the ending first as this is set in the day whereas the rest is set at night. 

Top 10 Horror Movie Opening Scenes

Top 10 Horror Movie Opening Scenes



I found this very useful video on YouTube by WatchMojo.com. Now although we have already come up with the story and an idea of the opening sequence of our horror film, this is very useful just to see the kind of techniques and camera shots used early on in horror films. Many of these opening sequences have a first person sequence from the point of view of the killer which is something that we could try to incorporate into our own opening.
most of these openings introduce us to the serial killers very early on but one thing that they do is to not show much of these characters. An example of this is in A Nightmare on Elm Street where we only see Freddies hands and hear him in the background, we also get a short glimpse of him at the end of the opening. This helps to create suspense. Another opening sequence which does this is Friday the 13th which introduces us to the character from the serial killers point of view so we only see their hands which has a similar effect. This is something that we are trying to incorporate into our film and it is very useful having a few examples to refer to when we are getting into the smaller details of our opening.

WW2 pic

Here is the WW2 army photograph that we have chosen for the film. It plays a large part in the film as is contains both the protagonists grandad and the killer. This will be used in our two minute opening when the protagonist is about to leave his home, this gives the audience a hint at its significance but doesn't tell them too much.

Short horror films

I went to a small screening of some short independent horror films recently some of the films include:

Mouse-X - This is a sci-fi dystopian film which cleverly uses the unknown as a way of creating fear in the audience. Some people may argue that this isn't necessarily a horror film and more of a sci-fi mystery but it does have elements of horror throughout.
Here is a short plot summery that I found on IMDB:
Mouse-X is a mystery/sci-fi story about Anderson, a man who wakes in a building with no idea where he is or how he got there, before slowly discovering that in each of the rooms around him are a thousand clones of himself, all of whom woke into the same mysterious scenario. To escape he needs to outwit his 'selves' whilst overcoming the realisation that he is not the only Anderson...

The Stomach - This film gives a twist to what people would expect to see in this kind of film. It may not strictly be a horror film but certainly shares many elements and is based on the ideas of horror.
Here is the lot summary given by IMDB:
Frank's had enough. A spirit medium whose unique and grotesque method of channelling the dead is putting his own life at risk, he wants out. But others, living and dead, have plans of their own. Part body-horror, part ghost-story, The Stomach is a unique tale of Supernatural Noir.

Trench coat purchase

Me and my group went to have a loon in some charity shops for a cheap trench coat to buy. We looked in three charity shops before finding a navy blue trench coat in 'I scout'. It cost £7.50 so we all paid £2.50 each.

Trench coat

I have been looking for a large trench coat for our antagonist (the killer) to wear. Here is a great example of the kind of trench coat that we want for this character but have to find one for a much more affordable price. We will have a look in some charity shops and online for a much cheaper  coat.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/DashX-Classic-Leather-Trench-XX-Large/dp/B00JLJI4N6/ref=sr_1_1?s=clothing&ie=UTF8&qid=1422124443&sr=1-1&keywords=leather+trench+coat+men

There are many reasons that a large trench coat would suit the killer. These are typically very masculine and will help to show this masculinity. It also suits the gas mask very well and together looks very intimidating.

Special FX makeup

Here are some special FX cuts and bruises which I pinned on Pintrest. Some of these have other website which can tell you how to do them but not all of them do.

http://www.pinterest.com/kealanforrest/special-fx/

Here was the one that I like the best and would like to incorporate into our film.

I found out how to make this kind of effect by looking it up on the internet. I will need to buy some liquid latex which I will put on the hand and then cut to create the peeling effect. I will also need various colours to make it look more realistic.
I want to do this effect to the actor who plays the killer, I think it will make him stand out among the regular people. It will also add to the dehumanisation of the killer as most people would be bothered if this happened to their hands and it also shows his masculinity.

Mask

Masks are a very large part of horror films, in the slasher genre in particular. I decided to look for a mask that our group could buy for the killer to wear.
When I was looking this mask stood out to me as I feel it looks very sinister and almost dehumanises the killer as well as just hiding his identity.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Original-Soviet-Russian-Anti-Fog-X-Large/dp/B00KQGYEFU/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1422122919&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=russian+gas+mask

This is the mask which me and my team felt was very well suited to our horror slasher film.

Preliminary

This is our preliminary task which we have just filmed and edited.

Logo

  This is our logo for lonely child films.

Twitter

This is our official twitter page for lonely child films.
https://twitter.com/lonelychildfilm

Tuck Me In

Tuck Me In, could be one of the scariest films of the year.
This is a one minute short film which manages to create suspense in a very short amount of time.
I watched this for inspiration for my film as it can only be two minutes long and so wanted to see how I could create suspense as fear the audience in such a short matter of time.
I think that this is a very clever film and shows that films can be scary without the use of extreme violence like many modern horror film have, this is good for me as we don't have the kind of facilities to create these very gory effects.

My Task

I am studying AS media, me and my group (Matthew Crowther and Ethan de Costres Robinson) will create the first two minutes of a new horror film as well as the titles. As well as this we will all make a blog each where we keep track of our progress and ideas. We must also do a preliminary task which is where we film a short film of someone entering a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character and exchange a few lines of dialogue's We must demonstrate match on action, shot/ reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

My group

My name is Kealan Forrest, I am in a group with Matthew Crower and Ethan de Costres Robinson,
Here are their blogs:
Matthew - http://matthewcrowtherasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/
Ethan - http://edcrasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/