Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product.
I learnt a lot from the production of my preliminary task to the production of Opaque Psycho. The main difference was in the planning. My storyboard was more detailed than that in the preliminary task and in the filming, the storyboard was vital in helping me to remember where the actors should stand and in keeping constant continuity. The script I produced as well as my filming schedule also helped as it reminded me which scenes should be shot first and what the actors were required to say. My camera work was also a lot better and this is evident through the change in tracking shots between tasks. In the preliminary task, I had two tracking shots, one was of the boss' feet walking towards the door and the other was of the hit man dragging the victim through the door. In both of these tracking shots, I could not keep up with the movement of the characters. In Opaque Psycho, a tracking shot is present of the antagonist carrying the victim's body away. with this tracking shot, I was able to keep up with the movement and the camera movement itself was smoother. I also used a greater variety of shots in my Main Task, which included a tilt shot and many high and low angle shots.
In the preliminary task there are some continuity errors.
At 14 seconds, the boss stops at the table with his left hand on his chest, but as the shot changes, his left arm is by his side.
At the very beginning when the boss is walking towards the door, the shot switches and the boss is visually further from the door than before.
At 36 seconds the hit man's left hand is holding the sheet with some fingers underneath the paper. When the shot changes, all his fingers are on top of the sheet.
In Opaque Psycho I have actually used continuity errors to establish the psychological element and the state of the antagonist's mind.
The image on the right shows two editing techniques that I have used in the production of Opaque Psycho. The left column shows a dissolve while the column on the right shows a fade to black transition. In my preliminary task, I did not use any editing techniques as I only used simple basic transitions between shots.
On the right are some of the shots that I used in my Main Task, which consist of a point of view shot, mid shot, close up, tilt, pan, high angle shot, low angle shot. All of these were used in my main task and are shown in the nine frames above.
The top four images on the right show shot reverse shots being used. The next two images show match on action as the character is facing the same direction and the door is still open. The six images below show the 180 degree rule as, with the images on the right, the camera is always viewing the characters from the left. The images on the right also follow this rule.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During the process of constructing Opaque Psycho, I have used various different technologies which vary from complex editing software to the simpler walkie-talkies. For filming I used a bridge camera and stand to produce High Definition shots with good sound quality. The camera was very important as it improved the quality of the actual shots and resulted in the audience being able to understand and follow the opening better. Due to having a psychiatrist interview describing the opening, it was necessary to create a voice over for the film. For this I recorded the antagonist's voice with a Samsung Galaxy S4 and I recorded my own voice using headphones and Audacity to record and edit. However, for the knife stab, I used sound from my youtube video which was filmed with the bridge camera. I also used walkie-talkies to communicate with the actors who were behind the corner, during the filming of the first few shots. This saved valuable SD card memory and allowed me to film more before having to transfer the videos to my memory stick. By using walkie-talkies I also saved valuable battery life. My editing software, Adobe Premier Pro, was the most vital technology that I used in the production of Opaque Psycho as I used the software to edit the video and to create my opening titles. I also had to use a computer to run the editing software. As my own computer does not have enough memory and is slow, I used a school computer to run the program, also due to it already having the program installed. During the production of Opaque Psycho, I think that no matter how poor acting is, if editing is good, it can overshadow the acting and you can finish with a good product. For this reason, editing software was highly important in producing Opaque Psycho.
On the right is an image of me using a walkie-talkie to communicate with the actors and having my camera and stand set up and ready to start recording.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The antagonist is shown to be a white collar worker and therefore he represents social group C1. He meets the stereotypical white collar worker as he is wearing a shirt, trousers and tie. He is also driving a relatively luxurious BMW 3 series, meeting the stereotypical image of a middle class white collar worker. The ethnic group of the antagonist is also important. The antagonist is Asian and this is visible due to his brown coloured skin. Due to current media propaganda, bearded Asians have been stereo typically associated with terrorists. This means that as the antagonist is Asian, the character meets stereotypes associated with this ethnic group. The social status of the antagonist appeals to the audience as they can relate to his position in terms of stress or feeling.
The jogger is not explicitly portrayed to be part of a specific social group, but the fact that he is jogging subtly implies that he is likely to be of social group C1 or above. This is because early morning joggers are usually from a low middle class status or above. This character meets stereotypes as he is dressed in what people stereo typically associate with joggers. This appeals to the audience as they would be able to emphasise with the character more, as they know what it feels like to be jogging on an early morning.
The victim represents no particular group as he is a young child and is likely to come under social group E. However, the purpose of the character is not to represent persons of a similar position, but to target parents or guardians of young children. As many children walk to and from school alone, the parents and guardians that the character targets will range across all social groups. The character does meet the stereotype of schoolchildren as the victim is wearing black trousers, a rucksack and a tie is visible beneath the jumper. As a result the character appeals to the audience as they can emphasise with him as the audience are likely to have children of their own and can relate to how they feel when their children are in danger or are injured.
I will compare the antagonist from my movie to antagonists seen in Psycho (top left), The Shining (bottom left) and from American Psycho (middle left). I have chosen these antagonists as they play a similar role to my character as they also have mental issues and are killing vulnerable people, such as women in Psycho, American Psycho and children as well in The Shining.
When comparing the characters in terms of costume, they all look similar. The antagonists from American Psycho and The Shining are wearing jackets and ties, while the antagonist from Psycho is wearing a Jacket and unbuttoned shirt. My antagonist has a shirt and tie, which is very similar costume to the other three. The only difference is their location. In The Shining, the above image is during an interview, while the image from American Psycho is during a meeting of form. As a result, these two characters will be more professionally dressed. The antagonist from Psycho is more relaxed as he is a motel manager and is having an informal conversation. My antagonist has finished work and would have therefore removed his jacket. Apart, from these small differences, which have been incurred due to different locations in the film, the costume of my antagonist are very similar to costumes of antagonists from similar films.
In terms of role, my antagonist has mental issues resulting in him murdering innocent people. Norman Bates, from Psycho also suffers from mental issues resulting in him having a split personality and killing people. In The Shining, the antagonist slowly becomes more mental resulting in him trying to murder his wife and son. The antagonist in American Psycho also has psychological problems as he takes out his grievances by murdering and hurting other people. All four of these antagonists are therefore related by their mental illness and how that results in their subsequent murders.
For the victim, I will compare him to Johnny Depp in Nightmare on Elm Street and the son from The Shining. The reason for this is that they are all victims or targets of psychopathic killers. With The Shining and Nightmare on Elm Street, the victims are young children, although one is considerably older than the other, and relate well to the victim in my film, who has an age between the two. While their costumes differ due to the other characters being in their own clothes rather than school clothes, their roles are relatively similar, but my victims role is shorter. All of the victims are trying to escape the clutches of a psychopathic killer, but only one of the above survive. Their is also growing sympathy for the son in The Shining, which is similar to the growing sympathy for my victim. this sympathy is due to how the characters are shown to be vulnerable and helpless, which is mainly due to their age. While Johnny Depp is shown to be so vulnerable, the idea of not being able to sleep increases the sympathy and results in all characters having similar roles in their respective films.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products.
Above are nine selected frames from the opening of Opaque Psycho that I have decided to use to analyse how my opening challenges, develops or uses typical conventions of psychological horror. I will be comparing my opening to that of Shutter Island and The Shining as they are both psychological horrors that have inspired my opening.
The title of the film & title font and style.
The title of my film is Opaque Psycho. This has evidently been based on the film Psycho and refers to the antagonist's mind being opaque and therefore difficult to understand. It also refers to how he is actually a psycho. The title, as a result, gives a brief insight of the film to the audience. Basing my film title on an iconic horror uses real media conventions. The title font for the credits appears to be a fairly standard and well used font. The reasoning for this is my target audience of group B and C1, who want to be intellectually challenged when watching movies. This means that my titles should not 'slam it in their face' but subtly create an effect. This has been done by the sharp letters which look dangerous and thus slightly unusual. This creates the psychological element that the audience are looking for. This follows media conventions as similar, and subtle, fonts are used in both The Shining and Shutter Island.
The setting.
Again I have chosen to follow media conventions with my isolated conventions. In The Shining, a car is seen driving down an empty country road, this gives the impression that the main character is alone and has no one is there to help him or his victim. This creates a feeling amongst the audience that the victim has little hope of survival. I have used this same principle in my horror opening to generate emotion in the audience that the young boy will die.
Costumes and Props.
I have used my costume to produce stereotypical characters that the audience can relate to. The costume for the antagonist is a white shirt, black trousers and a black tie. This is a common attire for a white collar worker and therefore links to that group of my audience, and allows them to sympathise with the character. The boy has a rucksack on and is seen wearing a tie, showing that he is likely to be a school boy. This character therefore aims at parents who have young children, who walk home from school and have fears of their children being kidnapped, run over or severely injured when walking alone. Again, this aims at Group B and C1 parents, who are most probably in this position. As a result, the murder of the boy has a greater effect on the audience who may then despise the antagonist further. The jogger is also seen in what is an arguably stereotypical jogging outfit, trackies, fleece, gloves and funky trainers. I would expect my target audience to consist of many people who are conscious about their weight and are therefore likely to go jogging. They would also wear excessive and unnecessary clothes for such an activity, as my character does. This results in the audience being able to relate to the jogger as they would also find themselves jogging early in the morning wearing absolutely hilarious clothing (no offence intended). This use of stereotypical costumes follows conventions as, in The Shining, Jack wears a suit showing him to be stereotypical and in Shutter Island, Leonardo DiCaprio wears what the audience would expect a detective to wear.
I used a penknife as the murder weapon as I believed it to link to my audience more, as many people have and carry a penknife and some are likely to be concerned about the dangers of a penknife. Furthermore, when carrying out my first questionnaire, most people stated that they preferred a knife as a murder weapon. This also follows psychological horror conventions such as in Psycho, where the murder weapon is a knife.
Camerawork and editing.
I have used editing to emphasise the fact that the antagonist is mental. This was done first by the faze transition, see middle left image. The faze links to the characters state of mind, unclear, and also to the title, opaque. Furthermore I have also used a different car in some shots to exacerbate his mental state. I have not found this form of editing in other psychological horrors except for the simple effect were a character is shown to be seeing things. As a result, my use of editing challenges typical psychological media conventions.
My camerawork consists of a variety of shots, the most effective being in my opinion the low angle tilt shot of the antagonist. High angle shots of the victim are frequently used to show that he is powerless against the antagonist. High and low angle shots are widely used in films, such as in the opening of 28 days later, when the main character is seen through low angle shots towards the end of the opening as he gradually understands what has happened to London. Typical camerawork conventions consist of framing, depth of field and the 180 degree rule. I have not used depth of field in my opening and have not broken any conventions on that area as a result. With framing, I have used rule of thirds a few times, the most evident being the shot of the antagonist revving the engine.
As a result, my camerawork has followed typical media conventions.
Story and how the opening sets it up.
The story that my opening leads to is about a person who is seen to murder people but has not actually committed murder. He also has a friend who does not know about this, this character is seen as a jogger in the opening sequence. My opening sets it up as it shows the antagonist's first victim and then reveals that he has not killed anyone at the end of the opening. The opening also reveals the antagonist's state of mind through the interview with the psychiatrist. The jogger is also introduced as a main character. The revelation that the antagonist has not killed anyone sets the scene for the rest of the film to take place. My horror opening has not followed conventions as in normal psychological horrors, the audience are kept in the dark for longer and the plot is revealed later in the film. This keeps the audience guessing and keeps them involved it the film. My opening has challenged this convention as it immediately reveals that the antagonist has a mental issue and that he thought he had killed someone. In both, The Shining and Shutter Island, nothing is revealed about the plot, only tension is built, this is also seen in Psycho, Se7en and American Psycho. In all the openings mentioned, excluding the last, the antagonist and protagonist are not even revealed. Considering this my opening has clearly challenged typical psychological horror conventions.
Genre and how the opening suggests it.
My opening reveals the genre as psychological countless times. Firstly, the antagonist is being interviewed by a psychiatrist suggesting that he has mental issues and therefore the film is psychological. Secondly, the psychological element is established through the antagonist's confusion in car colour and whether he left the door open. Finally, the ending of the opening establishes a psychological element as it is shown that the antagonist did not kill anyone. The horror element is established through the murder of a young child and the creepy non-diegetic sound. My opening has challenged conventions for the same reasons as above. In a psychological horror, very little is revealed about the movie and therefore the genre is not fully established.
How characters are introduced.
The characters in my opening are introduced fairly quickly, the victim is introduced as a young boy by the antagonist and he is shown to be the victim of the antagonist. The antagonist is introduced as Mr. Ellid by the psychiatrist and he is seen to be the murderer during the opening. His mental state is also shown by editing and changes in the scenes. The jogger is introduced by the antagonist as well, although little is revealed about his personality. This challenges convention as in typical psychological horrors, very little is revealed about characters, if the character themselves are revealed.
Special effects.
No special effects are used in my horror opening and this uses typical psychological horror conventions. In most psychological horrors, special effects are seen rarely, and seeing effects in the opening is even rarer. The reasoning for this is the target audience. Group B and C1 want to be intellectually challenged in movies and special effects 'slam it in their face' too much and lose their interest. This results in few special effects and therefore my opening follows conventions of other psychological films in regards to special effects.
Following the need to switch car for filming I am going to try to use this to my advantage. By creating a narrative, by the antagonist, I will be able to emphasise the antagonist's mental state of confusion as he will narrate that he can not even remember the car that he was driving. If done properly, this can result in a good after effect and will prove to be better than my original plan as the audience will have a clearer understanding of the unfolding events. The main point that I want to consider is if the character is just narrating over the events or if he is talking to a psychiatrist about the events. I think that both will result in a decent effect but I do not think that using a psychiatrist will work as well considering the overall plot of the film. As the antagonist's mental state is being projected on hamsters, this narration should be what he is sub-consciously saying, which is why the scientists can understand the actions of the hamster.
I am now almost finished with my filming but unfortunately the car has had some problems and was recently taken for servicing. The servicing was due to finish roughly on the 17th February leaving me free to finish filming during the rest of the half term. However, a very unfortunate and disastrous robery occured at the servicing garage resulting in over £100,000 worth of equipment being stolen and obviously the car may not be fixed for some time. If worst comes to worst I will be forced to use another car to finish off the filming and will have to hope that I will not be penalised for the resulting poor continuity.
I hope Mr. Aaron Reeves will be able to find his equipment so that he does not lose his buisness.
Update 27/2/2015: I have now been informed that the car has a more serious issue and it no longer makes financial sense to have it fixed. I am now compelled to use the other BMW available to me, which is an estate version of the current 3 series being used.
As a result I will finish of my planning and research evidence. I will also put more effort to improve the quality of my presentation and work on shotlists and drafting. I will also do more research into my target audience and similar psychological horrors.
Due to the issues that have recently arisen resulting in the change of cast I am going to train my actors at home so that they can act better and so that the filming process is quicker. This will also improve the mood of the actors as they will not be in the cold for so long and their overall performance should be better as a result.
Below is the costume that the victim (new) will be wearing for the film.
The costume is similar to that of the previous actress as it shows a school child with a jacket. Underneath the jacket it is possible to see a shirt and tie, which represents that he is a school boy. This is also shown by his black trousers. His hoodie represents that he is a bad boy, which shows that the antagonist is more dangerous when he kills the victim. I have still decided to use a rucksack and I think this rucksack is better than the previous one as it is bigger and more practical and realistic, which will involve the audience more by keeping their attention. I have not chosen a red clothing, to portray danger as red is linked to blood, item as I could not find one of appropriate size. The black jacket is useful as it surrounds the white shirt. As white is linked to purity being angelic and thereby innocence, the black jacket shows that his innocence is being surrounded by death, fear and evil. This is because black is linked to darkness, which people generally fear and are scared of. Deciding whether the character should wear his hoodie or not was a difficult decision. I think not having the hoodie on will show the character better and thereby have a greater effect on the audience as his face and facial expressions will be more easily visible.
Unfortunately I have lost my actress, Maryam bint-Suhayl, mid filming and have had to make an urgent change in cast. Due to this sudden and ill-timed mishap, I can not make an appropriate choice in cast as possible actors would need to be informed previously. For this reason I am going to use my younger brother, Ieysaa bin-Suhayl as the actor. Although he is not female he was the best option available to me.
Unfortunately I was unable to complete filming in the first weekend and will therefore have to extend to the next weekend. This was due to not being able to film on Saturday evening, which resulted in not being able to do later scenes, which involved blood. This may lead to problems. Weather conditions may be different and this will result in poor continuity. Also the set may have changed as the grass may have been cut or smoke may coming from a chimney. One advantage is that I have time to improve upon the errors made last weekend or prevent similar difficulties from occurring. A major difficulty was in making the actors act properly. This was clearly evident with my sister, Maryam, who found it difficult to act scared or to have a limp. As a result I will be doing practice runs at home before filming so that time is not wasted when on scene.
For our lighting and colour we will be using mainly sunlight as our key lighting. This is because sunlight appears natural to the audience making the film appear more realistic. Also as none of our filming is in the night or indoors we only need sunlight as our key lighting. However, for certain shots we will be using additional lighting such as torches or lamps to create a better effect by increasing the lighting on a particular object or character. This will make the character appear more important resulting in the audience focusing on them more. In the shot where the antagonist's shadow is seen to stab the victim multiple times, we will be using the car headlights to increase the definition of the shadow. The advantage of car headlights compared to torches is that it looks less artificial to the audience as the car headlights had already been seen earlier in the films. This will be better in terms of continuity and will produce a better finish as it will involve the audience more by making the film more realistic.
In terms of colour I want to exaggerate the red and black. Black is associated with darkness and the night, which people are generally scared of. Red is connoted with blood and therefore danger, which causes the audience to link a character in red or an object in red with danger. This effect will be created primarily by using red and black clothing as well as red and black props. Filters could also be used to create this effect but I do not feel that they are necessary as I can create the effect by using the right colours in clothing and props.
Working out facial expressions and body language will be relatively easy as I already have an image of the characters should act.
The main facial expression/body language needed will be in the killing scene and when the antagonist realises that he has not killed anyone.
In the killing scene, the antagonist is going to have to act as if he has lost his mind to an extent. The victim will have to act as if she is really scared, which I think will be difficult due to the actress' inexperience in acting and being very young. The victim will have to effectively sound as if she is very scared and will have to gasp for air a lot, as if she was about to burst into tears. I think that her head and possibly her body will need to shake a lot as if she is shivering. The antagonist will, I think, need to use a lot of hand movement to emphasise his state of mind. This can be done by moving his hands in such a way to show that he is about to really enjoy the near future, in a loony sort of way. This will also require the widening of eyes and possibly licking his lips.
In the final scene, when it is revealed that the antagonist has not killed anyone, the antagonist will have to act shocked and in wonder. This can be done by frowning/lowering his eyebrows and by having a slight stammer in his voice. He will also walk slowly to portray his uncertainty. the jogger meanwhile, will raise his eyebrows as he will be confused and inquisitive. He will also stand up taller and will scan the antagonist with his eyes. He will walk slowly, again, to portray his uncertainty.
Facial expressions are used very frequently to generate an effect. One actor has used facial expressions a lot and that actor is, of course, the great Eddie Murphy. When we consider the amount of times he has used his drastic facial expressions, the implications of facial expressions become clearer. Facial expressions can generate an atmosphere whether that is comical, or sympathy, which has been used by Puss in boots multiple times
Body language is also important to determine the mood of a character. Looking at the images below, we can understand why body language is so vital.
On the right are some of the shots that I used in my Main Task, which consist of a point of view shot, mid shot, close up, tilt, pan, high angle shot, low angle shot. All of these were used in my main task and are shown in the nine frames above.
The top four images on the right show shot reverse shots being used. The next two images show match on action as the character is facing the same direction and the door is still open. The six images below show the 180 degree rule as, with the images on the right, the camera is always viewing the characters from the left. The images on the right also follow this rule.
