Account of re-filming

After showing our opening scene to our class, we had the feedback the last shot of Sarah putting her hand on the window wasn't as effective as we had hoped. Therefore, as a group, we decided to re film the last shot with Sarah behind Mrs Hobbs when she is looking out the window for her daughter who is no longer there then as the camera focuses back on Mrs Hobbs, Sarah is stood behind her. This is going to be the first introduction to the paranormal sub genre in our opening.

We are going to find a time that the location of our filming is free and when our actress' are free as well as leaving enough time to edit the re filming clips in.

Scheduled re-film: 8th of December 

Feedback for Brief

I sent the link to our opening to some of my friends who are within our target audience age range to get their feedback and point of view, so we could make adjustments accordingly. 

When we re film, we will change her mis en scene, as it can be improved and made to seem more realistic. Also, in the editing process, it is important that we match the sound effects to the action to make it seem more continuous and enhance the narrative, rather than distract the audience. 

With this feedback, we will take on board that the credits need to be on screen for and make sure any dialogue is heard, by turning the volume up on their audio in the editing process . Also, we will ensure we keep the shots that work well and possibly add more props if they are accessible.

Rough Cut for 'Telepathy'

Sound for Our Brief

In our opening scene, I gathered music and sound effects from 'YouTube Audio Library'. This ensured that the music I used was free and not copyrighted.
I used dark music for the opening and this type of music throughout to create tension. Also, sound effects from footsteps to cutting vegetables were put into the edit.
After adding all of the clips to 'We Video' I watched it through and wrote down all of the sound effects I needed to put in and ticked them off as I added them:

We found music on YouTube that we feel would suit our opening but we needed to ask for permission. Phoebe emailed the owner of the YouTube channel with it on and this was the reply:

To find sound effects I used https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/music

Distribution and Ownership

The ownership of a film can greatly affect the distribution of a film. For example, a film that is distributed by an oligopoly, they have access to a higher budget therefore can have a more successful distribution as they can market their film to a wider audience. However, a film that is owned by a smaller company, ie an independent film company as they tend to distribute their film in a different way, due to them not having a high budget to market their film to a global audience. 

Jurassic World, a Universal film, working in synergy with Legendary, had a budget of $150 million and was able to market their film by creating a website that people could navigate a virtual park, which was a successful marketing technique as it kept the audience engaged in the film in the lead up to the release. Furthermore, they also had a hashtag on social media of #jurassicworld. This enabled the film to be reached out to a global audience as people shared and uploaded their experiences with the film. Also, Chris Pratt, a Hollywood actor in the film could share and interact with fans and build up a following for this film due to his other famous work in Guardians of the Galaxy that has a similar demographic. Their distribution and marketing was successful as they made just over $1 billion in profit.

A film that is produced by an independent film company like Rooke has a smaller budget for their films, therefore can not market their film as globally. For example, A Field in England is produced by Rooke and distributed by Film 4 who generally show smaller company films as a way to give back to the industry. A Field in England's budget was £316,000 and was helped with funds from the BFI and National Lottery. However, with this film being owned by an independent film company, they more creative freedom, this being exemplified with the genre of this film being a folk horror. Although our opening is a horror, we decided not to make it so niche as we want to appeal to a wider audience, despite being a very low budget production. 

A Field in England managed to make back their budget in profit which could be due to their marketing of a website and film posters. Although the film was only viewed in three cinemas across the UK, a day and date strategy was used in order to get the film out to a wider audience. It was released on DVD, YouTube and Channel 4 at the same time, which enabled the film to be more accessible and decrease piracy.

This research helped with the opening of my production as it showed how films with higher budgets, tend to be very successful in box office as they are able to market their film to a global audience. On the other hand, a film produced by a smaller company is less likely to be successful as they cannot market their film as much due to the budget which is heavily influenced by the ownership of the production. 

Woman In Black Textual Analysis

'Woman in Black' was released in 2012, distributed by Hammer Film Productions and is about a haunted Manor 'Eel Marsh Manor'. The rating of this film is a 12A, their target audience was around this age, however, the audience of this film was older than expected.

The opening of this film involves three young girls playing with their dollies and tea cups when suddenly they get up and jump out of the window. It is then revealed that there is a figure at the back of the room that they are playing in, that consequently could have caused them to act abnormally.

The camera work in the opening of 'The Woman in Black' makes it clear to the audience the abnormal behaviour of the three girls. This is because there are mid shots of the girls playing and close ups of the dollies as tea cups are brought to their mouths. 

When the atmosphere changes, there are close up of the dollies and tea cups again, but rather than the young girls pressing down their clothes and giving them tea cups, the girls are destroying them. This significantly is shown with close up shots of them stepping on the tea pots and a dolly head, smashing them in the pursuit to get to the window in a possessed manner. 

There is no use of hand held camera shots in this opening. This creates the effect that there is no emotional attachment as the audience do not feel what the characters are feeling. It also can connote how it is another era and is a reflection rather than being a representation of the present day. 

There are no credits in the opening of this film, the actions begins straight away, which grips the audience. The editing is also slow paced and when the girls are walking towards the window, there is use of slow motion to build tension and leave the audience to question what they are going to do, before the characters confirm their suspicions of them jumping out of the window. 

The sound in the opening of 'Women in Black' conforms to the horror genre and as it is eerie. The music is strings but what sounds like a music box playing with it, this relates to young girls and iconography of them as well as sounding creepy and haunting. When the girls become possessed, church bells sound connoting death and foreshadowing what is going to happen as they continue to be heard till they jump out of the window, which end the climactic tension with a loud scream. 

The mis en scene in the opening spark the connection to a horror film as there are young girls playing with dolls, a common prop that is used in horror films as a stimulus for the horror. This relates to the 'Reception Theory' as the audience will be dominant to this message and therefore make the connection to this iconography. The costumes in this opening, represent the era as they are not clothes that would be worn in the present day by children to play. Horror films often set films in the past as they are dark and have old manors in them. 

This helps with the research into our opening as it is evident that the costumes give clues of the time period in which the film was set. Also, the slow paced editing gives a climactic effect. Furthermore, having sound that correlates with what is happening in the narrative, engages the audience.