Shot Types

Shot types are vital to make a film look professional and to offer a range of perspectives for the film to be seen with. When filming I must always make sure I use a variety of shot types and angles, but always utilize them professionally and artistically within the film. The major ones that I will focus on include;

Establishing Shot- An establishing shot is often used to create the setting for the film, so the viewer become absorbed into the setting that the protagonist and the other characters live within. I will avoid using this in my film as I would like the setting, like my protagonist, to appear to be anywhere, so the watcher can apply the simple setting to their own lives
Low Angle Shot- This shot is used when looking down on something, be it a character or object. I want to use this occasionally, particularly when the man is working in the office, symbolizing him feeling small in his workplace and his small stance in life. I also want to do this later on when he is stalked by Jokerface
High Angle Shot- This is used in film to look up at something, where the feature is higher, and it often symbolizes power. As my main character is a weak character, I don't think I will use this as much, but I will use it when I have a P.O.V shot from the mask in the alley
Zoom- This technique is common in film and TV to focus in on a certain person or object, and is one of the simplest yet most effective techniques. I will not use this too much, but I will try to include it to emphasize the villains hidden presence at certain key moments
Track- Track shots are used to follow someone as they walk, and can get the viewer more in the mindset of the protagonist and focus on the setting that he walks through. I would like to incorporate this with the scenes in the alley 
P.O.V- This is used to get more of an insight into the protagonists eyes and movement, and appear to be seeing these things as they happen. This is used more than ever in modern horrors, particularly in films like Blair Witch Project, and whilst I may use it a few times in my film, I doubt I will use it too much as I want it to act out as a conventional story.
Extreme Close Up- Extreme Close Ups are used to show certain things on a protagonists body, particularly hands, mouths and eyes. I want to use this often in my film, particularly in the opening montage in the office.
Close Up- Close Ups are generally a shot of a character showing the face, neck and shoulders. I will use this shot often to show the protagonists frustration and fear through his face.

Long Shot- A shot used to show not only the individual being focused on but also part of his surroundings. It generally focuses on the whole of the individual. I will most likely use this shot often due to Horrors needing to leave it open to somewhere the villain may be hiding

Insert Shot- This shot is used to focus on a certain object. I will use this shot a few times, most notably in the scene with the pills.

Production Company for Film- Logo

My Film will be produced by a production company, which I will be making up. In creating a production company, I must create an identifiable logo and indent for the company that will appear before the film. I decided to create one using the skills that I have, using Drawings, Photography and Photoshop. Here are a few of the indents that I have created;

Applying Theories to the Work

When creating my product, I must always take into account popular theories that will influence and structure my product, and conventions I must conform to for my product to appear professional and real on the market. On this post I will include a few theorists and their respective Media theories.

Hartley, Hodge and Kress

GENRES LIMIT CREATIVITY

John Hartley (1994)

• He argued that "Genres are agents of ideological closure- they limit the meaning potential of a given text". This suggests that genre acts as a straight jacket, which limits creative potential.
• I believe this theory does apply to Horror in the way conventions are apparent in most Horror films and the way that very few Horrors are critically received, becoming famous due to their schlocky feel and the usage of violence, but never for strong storylines and character development. Even the word Horror has connotations of B-Movies and poor quality in work
• I believe the constructs that are used in Horror do limit the creative output of the director, as the intended audience will have expectations and being to original will alienate them. There is no media text that isn't bound by genre constructs and rules.

Hodge & Kress (1988)

• Robert Hodge and Gunther Kress have said that genre "control the behaviour of producers of such texts, and the expectations of potential consumers"
• I must always note that whilst making a Horror the audience and producers will expect my product to act a certain way, visually, aesthetically and artistically. They will want certain things, particularly gore and characters breaking moral and social codes. These horror films act as a treatment of the human condition that they will always want to see horrific things. If my film was to have a musical interlude, or not have a frightening villain, my audience and producers would be outraged and it would lose money
• My film is going to be unconventional as due to the budget, I will not feature any physical violence and gore, but instead all of this will be left to the audiences imaginations. The fact it is a low budget student film will perhaps warn potential audiences that it will not have the same level of gore as a film with a big budget

Fiske

GENRES REFLECT THE ZEITGEIST

John Fiske (1987)

• John Fiske asserts that generic conventions "Embody the crucial ideological concerns of the time in which they are popular" This suggests that the media text will tell us something about the 'way of the world' in the time in which it was popular (The Zeitgeist)
• For example looking back at various Horrors from the past you will notice how some of them appear dated through time, but contextually would have been horrifying. Psycho was groundbreaking in the use of Horror visuals at the time, but now the effects aren't great. Despite this the idea of a mystery murderer was horrific. Over time, this mystery murderer turned into something supernatural and unreal, and usually unstoppable, making the attempts to escape from the characters fruitless and pointless. Famous film characters like this include Freddy Krueger and Jason Vorhees. The increase in technology helped them create unrealistic amounts of gore, which whilst laughable now will have been horrific at the time of making. In the 1990s there was a lot of tongue in cheek spoofs of this over the top violence, most famously Wes Cravens Scream, and this self deprecating humour helped construct the film, and also laughed at the years before it, a typical, optimistic reflection of the 1990s. This is around the time that these horrors became blended with comedy. In the 2000s we returned to more serious films of the 1960s, but with much more advanced technology in an attempt to imitate real life with more psychological themes. Voyeuristic elements are also popular now, with films like Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, again linking it to the audience and making them believe these horrific things could happen to them.
• Perhaps one of the biggest things to date a media text is the technologies and the mise en scene used in the film. Even Scream, which was made in the late 1990s, seems dated due to the contemporary (at the time) costumes, and the technology used in the film such as the phones, computers etc. Films will always be a reflection of the time if they are set in the modern day
• My film will reflect the zeitgeist in a few ways. I will be using Post-Modern intertextual references to the slashers of the 1980s, and will be filming with the newest more advanced technologies. There will be usage of this technology, particularly at the start, as the catalyst for the action will come from the typing on a computer. This will be a new computer and will make the films set in this time. The costume of the main character will be a plain suit, a timeless outfit that will stop the product becoming dated.

Case Study on Institutions: Empire: Ancillary

Empire Magazine is one of the biggest branded Film Magazines, and is published monthly since 1989. The content of the magazine often include articles on up coming films, reviews of films that have been recently released, interviews with directors and actors and about 3 large features on specific films, be it a whole genre or the work of one director etc. I will have to create a film magazine name and a section the review will come in. As mine will be a short, niche film it would not appear in the mainstream films section, so I must devote a page in this magazine as a sort of niche area of the magazine, perhaps focusing on films at certain festivals.

DVD Cover

Like all films, after the initial cinema release, it will be released onto other formats, including DVD's and Blu-Ray. Whilst mine would be a short film it would be very unlikely to be published as a DVD due to the small budget and length of the feature. Despite this, I thought it would be interesting to create one, following the conventions of DVD's, including the rating system and reviews. I have also used a different cover to that used on the poster, to make it look different and interesting. I have also included a new tagline, as it is common for films to have different taglines. This time I have used the generic statement "The only thing to fear is fear itself". I have used the same awards from Film Festivals as on the poster

Film Regulations and Certifications

My film will most likely be rated a 15 on the BBFC rating system due to drug use with the pills and scenes of violence and terror. Most Horror films are rated 18 but as mine will be on a low budget so will not have such extreme scenes of violence and gore, or any scenes of sexuality due to the limits of my short cast.

I have to also consider where a short film in general would be played. Often short films have a very niche audience, being played at short film festivals all around the world. Despite this the general public will usually watch a short film on the popular video website YouTube, which could be shared onto popular social networking sites Facebook and Twitter. Occasionally, short films can be shown on Channel 4 and other similarly diverse and indie channels. I would like my short film to be a teaser short for a much larger film starring the villain from the short.

Extra Advertisement for my Film: Facebook Page

I have been considering how films like mine can be advertised on the market. The most obvious ways of advertising a short film is to have advertisements in Film magazines and Posters (Both of which I will be creating for my Ancillary tasks) Or trailers on TV and at the Cinema. But as we now live in a more multimedia age there are more useful places to put advertisements when attracting a younger audience. Often, with bigger budget films, the film maker will pay the video playing website YouTube, so there film will appear as a recommended video on similar pages and have the trailer appear as advertisements on videos. The trailer and video can be shared on popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, where it can trend and appear on more peoples feeds on Facebook and #discovery trending videos on Twitter. This increases the chances of it being seen by the larger audience. As I do not have the budget to pay for advertising or trending, I instead decided to make a Facebook page for my film, which can be done for free and can be shared amongst mutual friends. As Facebook is the most popular social networking site it is more likely to be seen by more people and thus the film will have a larger spread. I will include the Facebook address on my film poster

The page can be seen here- http://www.facebook.com/whenwillitend2013