Planning of our Preliminary Task

In our group, we started to plan our preliminary task of which I posted earlier. We walked around the school and took pictures and short films of different sections we could include. We also played around with camera angles, and started to plan our storyboard in rough/draft. We discussed many possible ways of which we could end our horror opening, and decided we could possibly incorporate everyones ideas as 'alternate endings'.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/laughoutloudtocomedy?feature=mhee

The link above, is of our first idea, to have Emma walk down the (in our opinion) scariest corridor in school. To reinforce this effect, we made the lights flicker and Emma nervously looked around in suspence. She then darted suddenly to the right.
Continuity was good as we then filmed in a different, but similar looking location. This involved Emma walking around the corner and entering a 'dark room' with a keep out light above the door. This was an example of a possible way we could film our opening. As an alternative way of using the flickering light effect in our opening, we thought that as Emma began her journey down the corridor, the lights were on, yet as she neared the end, the lights then begin to flicker. To end the opening, as emma runs away, the lights would be completely off.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/laughoutloudtocomedy?feature=mhee#p/u/5/-qZOWNfGjVk

This was a practice of a canted angle. Akshay, Emma and Georgia filmed me sitting in our class, and experimented three times with different angles and effects. We decided we could link a canted angle shot into a close-up of the character's face and expression.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/laughoutloudtocomedy?feature=mhee#p/u/3/c0Gn7nMsEh0

This is our second planned canted shot. It was a rough idea and we decided to see what effect it would have on the audience and if it would be possible to incoporate it into our horror opening.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/laughoutloudtocomedy?feature=mhee#p/u/7/hJpYm5xJpv4

This was our final canted shot as an example, and we added an effect when filming it to see how it would look when played back. We also showed a close-up or possible extreme close-up of my face. The effect we added to the shot made lighter parts of my face and shoulders stand out, and the darker sections were accentuated.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/laughoutloudtocomedy?feature=mhee#p/u/7/hJpYm5xJpv4

The next clip (above) was a pan shot followed by a slower point of view (P.O.V) shot. We showed Emma walking toward a door. The next thing you notice is her hand reaching out toward the door, shaking with nerves or apprehension. This could also be accompanied by heavy breathing.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/laughoutloudtocomedy?feature=mhee#p/u/6/73bNl-k7Bhk

Above is our final video which focused on the non-diagetic sound of the bell and how harsh and 'warning' like it sounded. We had an interesting idea, that we could record this sound and add it over the end shot to increase tension and make the audience react strongly.

Location Ideas:

During one of our lessons, we decided to walk round the school grounds (seeing as that was where we would be filming our Preliminary Task) and looked into different locations and ideas of which we could use before deciding on a final area to work in. Every location had it's pro's and con's, but we settled for a certain location eventually. Pictures are below.

K Block Doorway

As we were walking around the school, this doorway specifically caught our eye as it was secluded and near a window. When we ventured further and had a look inside we decided it wasn't ideal as the areas we could film were restricted and we couldn't fulfill our preliminary criteria. There was a room to the right but we realised that if we filmed, our continuity wouldn't work and it'd be difficult to film it successfully.

Creepy Stairway

We then stumbled across this stairway and thought within it's dark and secluded location that we could incorporate it into our final piece by perhaps tracking one of the two characters as they ran away up or down the stairs. We decided not to use it as there was too much noise from other classrooms surrounding the location, the lighting was too dark and the shot would take too long to film.

Hidden Room

As we were walking near the Art rooms where we thought it would be good to film, we found this little room which was very cluttered and restricted in terms of movement and spacial awareness. The lighting was good and we felt we could easily change it to our preferences. However in terms of space and continuity, we decided not to use it and to look elsewhere.

Dark Room

Still in the Art rooms, we found a dark room. Inside it was (obviously) pitch black and so would be handy when filming so as not to see the other character in the room and to not give too much information away to the audience. The door handle was also idyllic and made a strong eery creak when we used it. There was also a 'keep out' sign which could be illuminated if we wished which definitely linked in with our chosen Horror genre as well as creating a frightening environment for the viewer.

Final Corridor

We chose this corridor to be our final location as the tiles were ideal and reflected the lights giving a creepy effect. There were also many doorways along the corridor creating a 'hell's corridor' impression implying that the person walking down the corridor could go in any of the other doors, but the one they choose leads to their final hour. The lights were also very useful as we used the flickering light effect which is classic of a horror type film.