Storyboard & Animatic of Sleep Tight

We developed our 500 word overview of our imaginary film by discussing together in our group our ideas and made suggestions as to what would be achievable and the most effective plot for our imaginary film. Having decided to go with my story of A normal Girl Libby May with a dark secret, we altered it slightly giving it an original twist that would be attainable and effective in a trailer. We then together worked on the 500 word overview on it so we were clear as to what changes had been made, having completed the overview we then had something to work with when it came to our storyboards. The whole point of a storyboard is so that during the production stages we always will have something to refer to, other than our 500 word overview. It makes the production stage alot easier, as well as being able to create an anamatic from it, and therefore seeing whether we need to make any changes and if the shots we have put into it are going to work together effectively or not. We had to make key decisions whereby we had to decide how many shots we were going to use, and what shots would work the best, here we had to visualise them in order for our storyboard to become effective.

Having decided on our film genre and completing our storyboards the next stage was to create an animatic for our trailer. This task iinvolved taking basic photographs of each shot in out storyboard ( not including the final costumes props etc.), this task will be useful to us as when it comes to the point where the photographs are all taken and ready for the editing stage by putting the titles along with the transitions in also,like the storyboard it will give us a good idea of how our trailer is developing and whether the shots we have chosen to use will be achievable. It will also give us a rough estimate as to how long out trailer will last as during the editing stage we will be able to make the photographs last how long our shots would last in our actual production, giving us the option to plan and add more shots if we think necessary.

`Genre and Film

In class we discussed theorists and their relevant fields of study, and how they related to our projects.

Tzvetan Todorov - Narrative Structure
Vladimir Propp - Character Functions
Claude Levi Strauss- Binary Opposites within narrative.

Todorov

The Bulgarian theorist Tsvetan Todorov talked about the idea that stories have a beginning, middle and end. He suggested that this consists of the following cause and effect pattern:

• A state of equilibrium at the outset of the narrative
• A disruption of the equilibrium by some action
• A recognition that there has been a disruption
• An attempt to repair the disruption
• A reinstatement of the equilibrium.
  

In our production the equilibrium at the start of the narrative is the fact that Libby May is a normal teenage girl in school with her friends, the disruption of the equilibrium is the 'dreams' she experiences, the recognition that there has been a disruption would be the fact that there has been a murder, and she tells her mum about it who refers her to a psychiatrist, which would also be seen as an attempt to repair the disruption as at this stage the audience are not aware of the fact it is in fact Libby carrying out the murders. There is not however a reinstatement of an equilibrium as Sleep Tight does not have a conventional ending.

Propp

Russian born Vladmir Propp isolated the narrative pattern of over 100 Russian Folk tales, he drew up a list of 31 functions to describe narrative transformations and although all texts did not have to include the function, the order in which the functions appeared was in variable.

He described the movement from one function to another as 'Sphere of action'.
Examples of spheres of action or functions include:

• Hero
• Villain
• Donor
• Helper
• Princess
• Dispatcher

Levi Strauss

He suggested that binary oppositions structure our understanding of the world. For example we cannot experience hate if we haven't experienced the feeling of love. It is arguable that one of the functions of narrative is to help reconcile these oppositions to make it easier for us to live with them.
Oppositions in narrative are usually represented by the functions of hero and villain, the hero representing what the film is deeming to be good and the villain representing evil.
The oppositions in narrative in our film trailer production are, sane v insane, dream v reality and good v evil. Sane representing the character of Libby as she perceives herself, and insane as she is not aware of the way in which her dreams are reality, similar to good vs evil, we see the character of Libby as Good to begin with but as we become to realise she is the one who is in fact murdering the victims we then see her as evil.

Plot synopsis of imaginery film 'Sleep Tight'.

For our main task each of us in our group were asked to go away and come up with a synopsis of a made up film of our choice, which we would then base our main task of the teaser trailer on. We then decided to go with my idea of the Sleep Tight Story,adding and changing parts slightly to make the best possible synopsis. We then together came up with the final 500 word plot synopsis.

A 17 year old girl called Libby is a regular student with a normal life, until she begins to have unusual dreams. One night she has a dream about one of her classmates getting abducted and murdered in a forest she lived close to. She woke up and went to school that day, to find a media storm about the classmate’s death. Obviously she was disturbed by this but kept the frightening dream to herself.
Two weeks passed and Libby’s life returned to normal, until one night she encountered a similar dream about a teacher’s daughter experiencing an excruciating death. Once again, she arrived at school to find her dream had come true; the teacher’s daughter was dead. This time Libby knew it wasn’t a coincidence, she confides in her mother who dismissed the problem, saying it was down to Libby’s grieving. Libby, however was increasingly disturbed by her dreams and had a feeling she was controlling these tragic events. Libby became terrified of sleeping and worried herself to a crazed state of mind, begging her parents to help her. Finally, her parents take her to see a psychiatrist who prescribes her sleeping pills and tells her to stop thinking and reading about the deaths.
However, after begrudgingly taking the sleeping pills, Libby experiences another nightmare. She begins to have a dream about her little sister; a crazed shadow in her dream abducts her from her bedroom and takes her to the same forest she had seen before in her dreams. Her sister screams for help but Libby is asleep and powerless, she dreams about the “abductor” preparing to hang her sister by tying a rope around a tree. In Libby’s distress she falls out of bed and awakes. She runs to the forest, knowing the nightmare was real. As she arrives at the scene, she hears her sister scream and sees her drop with a noose around her neck to her death. Libby blacks out. The film cuts to a scene of Libby in a mental hospital that her parents admitted her to shortly after her sisters death. Libby is now the prime suspect of the murders as she was the only person seen at the death of her sister, and her fingerprints had been found on the rope.
That night, Libby has the most disturbing nightmare yet. She dreams about a stranger inside the mental hospital coming to murder her, in desperation she tries to escape from the hospital. In a panic, Libby sneaks into the staff kitchen and sets fire to the hospital, knowing it was the only way to free her. She runs to the forest by her house, the exact place where the deaths had all happened. There is a noose hanging from a tree. She stares at it for a while, whilst having flash backs from each murder. In the flash backs, she sees herself preparing for and killing the 3 girls. In a mental craze, she ties herself in the noose and finally hangs herself.

Film Trailer Analysis

Film trailers are made to act as a promotional device, to encourage people to want to go and watch a film. They are made up of selected scenes from a film, usually the most dramatic and appealing parts of the film as the trailers purpose is to attract an audience to want to watch the advertised film. Most conventional trailers have three stages, the start were the setting is established, then the middle which usually consists of an emotional climax, followed by the ending which usually consisits of dramatic scenes with strong powerful messages.


Jeepers Creepers Trailer Analysis
After watching the Jeepers Creepers teaser trailer it is clearly a Horror genre. It identifies this to the audience as the music signifies an eerie atmosphere, along with the fact that the trailer makes the audience understand that there is a monster. Also the way the characters are represented as scared and in danger also gives away this fact.The trailer lasts approximately one minute and twenty four seconds, having thirty one shots in total including the titles. A number of different transitions are used throughout the trailer, allot of fade to blacks are used and dissolves creating tension and drama, shots are kept short and run in chronological order to the film.There is no dialogue used in the trailer, diegetic music such as screams and footsteps on gravel are used to add effect, my favourite diegetic sound in the trailer is the heart beat emphasising the fact the characters are scared and anxious as to what is about to happen. Non diegetic sound is also used, eerie music is played to add effect and create atmosphere to the scenes, the male and female characters in the trailer are established as the victims. The monster is represented as a murderer, the audience are not aware of the fact it is a supernatural being which creates a sense of enigma and mystery.Shots of religious connotations such as the church and cross reveals the hiding place of the monster. The audience now know that the monster is clever which makes him more threatening as titles on the screen ' Perfect Place To Hide' shows that he knows that it is somewhere where people would not expect a supernatural being to be, the audience may feel unsetled by the text moving in the titles at this point.The titles in the trailer relate to the monster as an 'it' which is a personification of evil.'Francis Ford Corpola' Title appears on the screen at the point where the equilibrium has been corrupted. The audience knows and trusts the director.The trailer is set out in a linear structure, whereby all of the scenes have been taken from the film chronologically.High angle shots of the female victim emphasises her vulnerability, along with short shots which establishes the setting so the audience are familiar with the setting. Point of view shots are used showing the tunnel in which the make victim falls down, emphisisng the darkness and danger.Mise en scene is created in the trailer effectively throughout, in the first shot a car in the middle of nowhere, creates the theme of isolation, which is supported by the titles, ' In the Middle Of Nowhere'.Codes and Conventions that I have identified in the film and analysed are, the titles, dissolve, fade to black, high angle shot, non diegetic and diegetic sound,etablishing shots, point of view shots.The trailer is successful as a promotional device as it includes all of the best scenes in the film and gives the audience a preview into the climax of the trailer, leaving them intreaged into what happens, making them want to go and watch it.

The Saw trailor lasts approximately one minute fifty eight seconds and includes eighty two shots. It is clear from the trailor that the genre of the film is Horror. It is clear to the audience that this is the case as characters in the trailer ar represented as vulnerable victims, along with the understanding that there is someone or something making those characters in danger. The trailer targets the audience by using quick effective shots to emphisise the fast pace and energy of the film. Dark lighting is used throughout the trailer, this too adding crucial effect to the scenes along with fade to blacks happening after almost everyshot.
At the beginning of the trailer diegetic music in the form of the characters camera flash and his footsteps, along with the male character calling out to 'who is there?' by this time the audience have suspicions as to what is going to happen next. As the male character turns around a non diegetic sound of a computerised laugh is played, an unknown creature jumps in to the screen and a title along with more non diegetic sound is displayed. This creating tension and atmosphere as it is unknown as to what has happened to the male character.
The next shot is a canted low angle shot of lights which gives the sense of confined space, diegetic sound of flickering lights. The next few shots are quick and are reactions of the trapped characters, along with a shot of a television with the jugsaw puppet on, which is a crucial shot as it helps the audience make sense of the scenario.
An unknown character dressed in a cloak but who is limping and not acting in an atal threateneing manner leaves the audience confused as to who it is and whether it is threatening or not.
An over the shoulder shot of a man watching a screen with controls emphisises his power, a subtle zoom in while he is moving his hand shows that this is important and the audience should be aware of this.
Close up shots of newspaper articles with titles such as 'Killer Preacher' indicates to the audience that they are of some importance and leads them to think about them.
A voice over is used throughout the trailer to create a sense of narrative and to reveal key information about the plot to the audience.
Dialogue is also used throughout so the audience know how the characters are feeling and reveals more about the plot.
Titles are used such as, Madman, Voyeur, Physcopath, prophet emphising danger and the lack of control the two male characters are in.
Close up shot of a bullet, accompanied by a voice over shows the audience that they are not only victims to jigsaw they are also victims to themselves as the game is going to test how strong they are mentally.
Mise en scene is constructed in the trailer through the characters costumes and the setting.
The film studio has used this trailer to market its product as it gives an insight into the film, giving the audience a preview as to what the film is about, by selecting the best bits of the film, combining them as to not give the plot away but to intrigue the viewers into wanting to go and watch it.
Ten Codes and Conventions that I have identified in the film that I have analysed are, non diegetic sound, diegetic sounds, over the shoulder shot, fade to blacks, zoom in, close up shots, titles, voice overs, canted low angle shot, reaction shots.

Development Of Essential Skills

Skills Development

Throughout the course I have developed my skills considerably. The preliminary tasks have enabled me to build up skills necessary for my main task.
· I know have key understanding of different camera angles and movement and how each one is effective in different ways, for example I now know the importance of high angle shots to emphasise vulnerability of characters and low angle shots to emphasise power of dominance of characters. I now feel confident with the camera and my abilities to create an effective shot.
· I know realise how vital the planning stage is in order for your product to become a success, a well thought out scene should have a storyboard created for it, as you then have a visual aid when it comes to filming, a storyboard is a great device to use when filming as it contains information of what the scene includes and how each shot continues into the next.
· Before starting the practice tasks I was unaware how essential the editing stage is also, I feel that now I have experienced this I am aware that editing is essential in the continuity of a product, even if it is just in a small scene, various cuts of shots are needed in a sequence to make it effective. The way in which the editing stage is carried out has a substantial effect on the finished product and must be done in a very efficient way in order for the product to be able to be a success.

G324 Production and Preliminary Task Evaluation

Preliminary Tasks Evaluation

Preliminary Task 1 : Camera Skills Development
This task was set up in order for us to be able to familiarise ourselves with the equipment and to develop our camera skills. We were given a list of shots to complete which comprised of distance and angle shots where we had to learn the different camera techniques:
· Long shot
· Establishing Shot
· Medium Shots
· Close up
· Angle of shot
· View point
· Point of view shot
· Two shot
· Selective Focus
· Soft Focus
· Wide angle shot
· Tilted shot
Along with distance and angles we also became familiar with camera and lens movement, where we were able to create pan left and right, track out and in, crab left and right, zoom in and out, ped up and down and tilt up and down shots.
After familiarising ourselves with these techniques we were then given a list of shots we had to film such as ‘Extreme Long shot of the Blorenge’ and ‘Long Shot of three characters on the field’, this task gave us an idea of how much work and technique is involved within camera work. After completing the shots we then were given a sheet which had the shots we had shot in a specific order. This meant we had to edit our footage in a certain way, as this was the first time we had used the editing suite enabling us to get used to the software before our main production task. At the end of this first preliminary task it gave us an idea of how much work is involved within the production stages of making a film.

Preliminary Task 2 : The Conversation
The second of our preliminary tasks was a conversation between two people, this task was designed to make us realise how much planning and shots were needed to create an effective scene that flowed well.

Preliminary Task 3: Jeepers Creepers Reconstruction
This task where we had to recreate a scene from ‘Jeepers Creepers’ was extremely valuable to our skill building, we firstly watched the scene we were going to attempt to recreate, counting the number of shots needed and planning out what type of shots we needed. It made us consider mise en scene, camera shots and angles and also the timing of scenes. This was much harder than I first though as to make the scene fluid everything had to be very accurate especially when it came to the editing stages.

Preliminary Task 4: What Lies Beneath Reconstruction
For this task as a group we had to select a genre of film that we were all familiar with, and we decided on ‘Horror’. We then had to decide together a scene from a horror film which we could re create by memory baring in mind the resources and technology we had available to us we had to think about what scenes we could recreate which were realistic to our time limit. The scene had to be ten to twenty shots in length and we were to use a storyboard to plan the shots. We decided to reconstruct the scene in ‘What Lies Beneath’. During this task we had to organise ourselves and work as part of a team, we had to consider relevant shots and angles needed to create the scene effectively. Mise en scene was especially important , we wanted to make our version as similar to the real version as possible, we decided to shoot the scene in one of the members of our groups bathroom, setting up the area before hand and making sure we had blocked out one of the windows so we could get the right lighting for our scene. Before shooting we had already allocated roles for each member of the group so that when it came down to the shooting stage we were able to get on with it efficiently.
The setting we had chosen was a large bathroom similar to the real version, this enabled us to use the camera freely, being able to create different shots and angles with the camera as we weren’t restricted to space. As we had changed the lighting in the room prior to filming it gave a more eerey effect to the scene which added to effect of the scene. We used the clapper board in almost all of our shots so that when it cam down to the editing stage it would make it easier for us to differentiate between different takes of shots. We couldn’t use the clapper board on one shot as it was really difficult to place the camera in position and the board couldn’t be seen in the shot. The shots used in the scene were to create effect, using a low angle shot of the male character to emphasise his power and high shots of the female actress to emphasise her vulnerability. High angle shots were also used to establish mise en scene and showed the two characters actions clearly. We also used a mirror shot which gave the illusion of a point of view shot of the female character. Costumes during the scene were quite straight forward; the female actress wore a dressing gown like the original extract. A problem in which we did not consider in the planning stage which stopped us from creating an even better version was the health and safety factors with water in the bath.
During the editing stage we removed clapper boards and cut down clips, we had to put the clips into sequence and make sure they flowed correctly. We did experience a problem with continuity of the scene as we discovered during the editing process we did not have a shot of the male character leaving the room but we did have one of him entering the room. During the editing stage we watched the original version again so we could make sure our footage was relevant and in the correct order.
During this process I was responsible for holding the clapper board at the start of every scene ensuring the shots and takes were correctly names, I also helped with the filming and also the editing stage. Throughout the task I also gave opinions and advice to others in the group as to what I thought worked well.
Evaluation Of Task.
I think all in all our finished verison was a success when comparing it to the original. In my opinion the first two shots were the most effective, being edited together well, starting with a low angle shot of the male carrying the female which then cut to a high angle of the two. I feel the value behind trying to recreate a scene from an existing film is that you learn and build from it. I feel we picked a hard scene and if I had the chance to do a task like this again I would have chosen a more straight forward one, making sure I took into consideration health and safety issues. We could have improved our version by planning and thinking out the shots more as we lost continuity. We also could have improved the sound, I think if these areas had been concentrated on a lot more then we would of had a much more effective scene.

G324 Advanced Media Production
As part of my A level Media course I have been asked to create a promotion set for a new film. The set being made up of a teaser trailer, a front cover of a film magazine and a poster of the film for advertising purposes.
As well as producing the products I will record research and planning stages. I will evaluate my products in depth too, stating how my media products use develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products and how effective the combination of my main task and ancillary tasks work together. Along with getting audience response on my main task which will help me evaluate my product further.
Before I can start to construct my final production I will need to carry out preliminary tasks so that I can familiarise myself with equipment, techniques and software so when it comes down to my final product I will have all the necessary knowledge to carry complete it to the best of my ability.