Here is the feedback sheets from our whole media group about what they thought about our first edit and what we would need to improve on.
In general, everyone thought it was really well done, and they enjoyed it. However, there were little things like parts which were too long and audio problems, however they can be easily sorted.
Overall, we are very happy with the comments and they will help us a lot with editing our piece some more.
We would want from our logo to be very simplistic but very effective and can be remembered well.
We would particularly like some kind of image to represent our company like Spyglass Entertainment have done.
Our company names are very simple, but we have come up with Diamond Films, as it is catchy, prestigious & we can incorporate many different images with it.
In terms of colours, we would want blacks and whites most likely, as they are very contrasting, stand out, and look professional, however we are thinking of using a dark red as it shows a horror-genre as it has been tried and tested with the Hammer & Lionsgate film production logos.
With fonts, we are hoping to have something very bold and catchy, but nothing with jagged edges like the original Hammer Films logo, as we think that doesn't look professional and is outdated. From using dafont.com, we have come to the conclusion that this font "Sanford" would be the best:
We really like how bold it is, and it looks very professional in our opinion. As the letters have the feet on them, it immediately took our attention as it looks quite posh.
Here are some images that have given us inspiration for our final logo:
We like this one because of the way the diamond is, as it is very simple but an effective design.
Again this is a very simple design, but we also like how the diamond has a gradient in it, which gives it a bit more colour.
In terms of special effects, we would ideally want to keep it relatively simple, so we were thinking of a simple fade in and a fade out.
Here is the finished logo, we have made:
We decided to use red for the diamond and the lettering as it represents a blood-like colour and of the horror genre which we like and it stood out better than plain white.
Overall, we are happy with this logo and look forward to see it in our opening for our film.
Dimension Films were the production company for the film "1408". The logo is very simple but effective. The blue colour is very striking and the 3D effect it has is very imaginative in that it's something people remember. It is much different to normal logos which are in 2D. The layout is very simple in that it is centred but it has a tilt to it, which is again different to other logos. As we can see from the following video, it's composition is very simple in that it zooms out with a fade in, although the string music at the end may show the type of film is could be.
From imdb.com, Dimension films have produced many films and a few that are in pre-production. Some films which have been popular and produced by Dimension are: Scream, Halloween, Scary Movie, Spy Kids & Sin City. The film that are in pre-production are: Devils Knot, Pirahna 3DD & The Black Marks.
Dimension Films is part of the Weinstein Company. It was formerly partenered with Miramax Films, but then departed in 2005. However, the company has many franchises such as Scary Movie, Spy Kids & Halloween. They are identified as a studio which focuses on the latter of horror films, but rarely leave that genre.
Here is the video for the full opening.
Spyglass Entertainment are the production company who made "Sixth Sense". The logo is much different to the previous one in that the photo represents the name of the production company. We can see a silhouetted man with a spyglass looking through with the sea behind him. From this iconic logo, it is very difficult to tell what kind of tone or theme the film will be as the production logo is the same all the time. The font is very simple and in white which contrasts with the plain black background. The actual intro starts very 3D in that we can see through the spyglass as it pans out to the photo of the man. In my opinion, it is one of my favourite logos for a production company because it has an interesting and imaginative look to it.
From imdb.com, Spyglass Entertainment have produced many films and a few that are in pre-production. Some films which have been popular and produced by Spyglass are: The Sixth Sense, Legend of Zorro, Star Trek, GI Joe & The Tourist. The film that are in pre-production are: Hansel & Gretel & Excalibur.
The company was formed in 1998. They make a wide range of films which attract all sorts of audiences, so there target audiences are anyone. Unlike other companies, they can make a lot more money as they focus on multiple genres instead of one or two. They are part of The Walt Disney Company and have taken over a certain amount of the bankrupt MGM Studios.
Here is the video for the full opening.
Gold Circle Film are the production company for "The Haunting in Connecticut". There logo also reflects the name of their production company. The font is very odd, as it's quite cramped up and hard to read at first. Also the "Films" part at the bottom is extremely hard to read, and could be larger. However, as the gold circle reflects the company, people could already know who they are. The gold black font with a gold outer glow is quite authentic and professional though, as it looks prestigious. As it is a very simplistic design with the ring and the writing centred, I find it very effective. The logo in an actual feature zooms in, which then shows the overall logo. It is quite simple, but effective as people don't know what is coming until the logo has been fully zoomed in. However, it does not appear to show what kind of theme the feature will be, as they use the same logo all the time.
From imdb.com, Gold Circle films have produced many films and a few that are in pre-production. Some films which have been popular and produced by Gold Circle are: The Fourth Kind, The Haunting in Connecticut & White Noise. The film that are in pre-production are: The Haunting in Georgia & The Duelist.
Gold Circle Films was founded in 2000, and is an independent American film company. It mainly focuses on the genres of horror & romance. Very popular films have been established from Gold Circle though considering they are a independent company, such as Haunting in Connecticut, White Noise, The Wedding Date & Fourth Kind.
Here is the original Hammer Films logo. We can see that the font is quite distorted with jagged edges which would be associated with a horror genre. As the colour it red, it represents blood and a striking colour which again is associated with horrors. We can see a castle on a isolated island, which is quite an unusual logo type, but does show the genre of horror. The layout and framing is very simple with just the text in the middle so it can be easily read. It does represent the theme and tone of the coming picture as it shows a isolated castle which does show a quite scary image.
Here is the new version of the Hammer Films logo. We can immediately see that it's a lot simpler. It has a block capital font, which is very striking. There is also a reflection underneath the main text. They still kept the same font colour which is red, as it represents the genre of horror very well. The layout and framing is very simple with just the text in the middle, however it doesn't really establish the theme or tone of what the feature will be like the old logo. Although, the colour could symbolise the type of genre it will be.
The Lionsgate is a very popular logo. The font is very bold, with quite a scratched white face. The white is different to previous logos, however they have used red clouds in the background which again represents the horror genre. Lionsgare have specifically changed there logo to a red background for horrors, and other types of similar genres. In the full clip it has gates opening up to the following logo, this is quite iconic as it shows that people immediately know it's a Lionsgate production. The layout and composition/framing is very simple with the text being in the middle, with contrasting colours to make the lettering stand out. It establishes the theme and tone from the different colours, so as it is a red background apposed to there normal clouds, it shows a type of film it'll be.
Legandary Pictures is a very different logo to the previous. The font is bold with a large shield like crest above it. The colour of gold gives a sense of prestige, however it doesn't really convey the horror genre as it doesn't have colours which are represented with it. The shield is quite iconic with Legendary Pictures, in which when people see it they know it's a Legendary Pictures production. The layout is again simple with everything being centred, with contrasting colours so the logo is noticeable. The logo could possibly establish the theme of the coming feature because of the background colour which is a black/grey gradient. As darkness is represented with these colours, it could show that it's a dark film, however the gold font contradicts this.
Twisted Pictures represents the genre and tone of a feature from this logo. Firstly, the font itself is quite distorted and has scratches all over it. It also has a gradient from white to black which camouflages into the black background which could show the unknown. The font certainly reflects the name of the company as it is quite a twisted/uneven font. The colour of white is very bold as it stands out from the black background very well. In the middle of the logo, there is an image of a piece of metal twisted around a nail, which again represents the name of the company. It definitely establishes the theme and tone of the feature as the use of that kind of image is something to be associated with horrors.
We feel that the majority of our shots are steady but there are some with can improve on with a second shoot. We believe that all of our clips were well framed and we always considered rule of thirds and head room. We also have a wide variety of shots which are well framed. We used multiple angles in the shoot, such as canted, high, low, and a moving canted angle, showing a switch of sides. There is also multiple types of shots, like close ups, mid shots, long shots and over shoulder shots. As it is a horror film that we are making, we made sure to include many close ups.
Editing:
We believe that in the films for both locations, we achieved continuity editing. We edited both films fairly well, so that it flowed and was easy to watch. The editing also built pace and tension due to the music that we edited in, as it was very low and suggested dark atmosphere and fear. We used a couple of transitions like fade at the end of the Wollaton Hall to show how the character was fading away as she was becoming possessed and to show instability, as she did not know what was happening.
Mise En Scene:
We believe that we have well used mise en scene, as we effectively used doors, locations, lights and props such as old photos and a bible. Both of our locations (Wollaton Hall's Willoughby Room and St. Mary's Church in Wollaton) were used well to create fear, as they were relatively old fashioned, and we used dim lighting to create a more tense atmosphere and fear. We have used colours well as our character is wearing dark colours to reflect the dark surroundings. Our character is suitable for a horror film, as she conforms to the stereotypical character of a horror film, as most films have a young female lead. We think that our actress portrayed our character well, and her performance was extremely convincing through both her voice and body language.
After looking back over the clips, we think that our first shoot went really well. We believe we have used a variety of shots, kept the 180 degree rule, used shot reverse shot effectively and mise en scene well. We did have some problems with costume, as our actress had a hoodie on in the first location but not the second, which is a continuity error, and so it will not flow as effectively when edited. We are in the editing stage of the first shoot, and we feel that it is going well.
For future shoots, we could improve on camera focus and steadiness and continuity with costume.
Unfortunately, we have to make do with our shots from Wollaton Hall, as we cannot use this location again due to events being taken place there over the next few weeks. However, we can reshoot shots from the church.
The date for our second shoot will be confirmed within the next few days, and it is highly likely that it will be within the next week or two.
Yesterday, we went to St. Mary's Church for our second day of shooting.
We thought it went very well and we got all the necessary shots we needed. We thought the location was brilliant for lighting and it represented a horror location very well.
We did manage to take some photos of our shooting:
Here we have me and Lauren, shooting a scene of which our actress is walking down the Church.
Here we have a high angled shot of our actress reading a Bible, and in this scene in particular I needed Lauren to pull the focus as I had to move the tripod down and couldn't turn the focus too.
And again, here we have another shot of our actress gradually putting the Bible down and walk down the Church.
Today, we went to Wollaton Hall and filmed the second half of our opening (the first half being in a Church, which we are filming in tomorrow).
We thought it went very well, and we got everything down and all possible coverage and shots.
Unfortunately, we didn't get photos of us filming in the room due to copyrights from Wollaton Hall, but we got photos of the group in the room to show we were there and had filmed.
All in all, we thought everything went very smooth, and looking back at the clips, they turned out really well.
Here is me and Lauren in the Willoughby Room getting prepared to film.
Here is Lauren, me and Katie (our actress) after finishing filming.
In this photo, we have a three point lighting technique with two backlights and the smaller light on top of the camera. We decided to use this method as it gave quite a dark look, which we are definitely aiming for.
For most shots, we put the camera on a dolly so we could move around the photos on the table. This meant we could have smooth movements, and in my opinion the shots turned out very well. Also, they are much smoother than going handheld which we were originally going to do.
We decided to use my (Raja's) camera instead as it produces much higher quality than other handheld video cameras. It is a Canon EOS 550D, and by using a DSLR for video it meant we could get a more shallow depth of field for shots we wanted (using the Canon 50mm f1.8 lens).
Overall, we thought the credits shooting went very well and we got all the necessary shots we wanted and we are looking forward to the editing stage.
In this clip of The Ring, shot reverse shot was used extremely often to show reactions of the character, and then what she was looking at/reacting at. The lengths of the shots ranged from long shots to progressively build up tension, and more short shots to get a faster pace to create fear and make a more tense atmosphere. There was a range of shots used within this clip, but close ups were used the most, to show the reactions and facial expressions of the character. Long shots were also used to show the surroundings and location of the character. Many high angles were used, to show the character's inferiority and weakness, as well as low angles to show superiority, like when there is a low angle of the stairs to show the hauntings overpowering the character. Most of the other shots are used at an eyeline angle. Colour was effectively used in The Ring, as all the surroundings and the character's clothing were of dull colours, like white, black and grey. This ties in with the lighting, as dim lighting was used throughout to reflect the atmosphere and surroundings of the scene.
Here is our promotional poster. It was created using Adobe Photoshop CS5. We believe it gives the message of our storyline very well as it includes our main location we are filming at, our actress, ghost like figures, and the main title in a readable and appropriate font. Also, the black and white effect gives quite a sinister effect. We also added other effects such as lightning and clouds, as well as fixing the image for our location to make it seem as haunted as possible.
We feel we accomplished a successful poster, in that it will attract our target audiences.
We used ideas from other posters such as the Haunting in Connecticut which was very dark-looking. We did the same by only using darker shades which tells an audience it's a horror film. As we can see it seems as if there are some mediums in the poster with the person at the top of the ceiling. We tried comparing this to ours by putting our main location behind our actress which shows its importance.
