Film Schedule

Filming Complications

1) Filming portrait rather than landscape on the iPhone

2) Not actually filming specific scenes then realising once uploading footage, or didn't film for long enough

3) Complication when uploading footage onto the macs - have to upload onto windows then onto memory stick then onto mac

4) Weather - was sunny when we wanted it to be dull and raining

5) Some footage didn't focus when filming on the iPhone

6) Location difficulties - too busy to film, raining when filming outdoors, sun too bright when facing ideal location to film

7) Sound not picked up at a high enough quality - voice overs need to be recorded

8) Difficulty keeping phone steady

9) Trying to organise all of group and actress to be on location for each filming day

'We-Media' & Democracy Conference BFI

Night Vision Effect

In our film trailer we have planned to incorporate a scene where the female victim will be in a dark room panicking/in distress. We would like to use the night vision effect on this specific scene to distort the footage to create suspense and confusion for the audience. 

 Having researched previous kidnapping based narrative film trailers, we would like to incorporate a night vision effect scene in ours. We like the effect as it creates suspense and also helps create and eerie atmosphere. I came across a tutorial on YouTube on how  to create this type of effect on iMovie, however we would like to experiment with the colours instead of 'going green' perhaps try blue like the one shown in the print screen in the left.
Having a blue effect connotes that the victim is isolated whereas having a red effect on the kidnapper could connote that he is the 'baddie' as well as suggesting danger. We will experiment with both colours to see which is best.

Researching Voice Effects - Jigsaw

When researching previous thriller films, Saw gave us inspiration to use a distorted voice effect in our film trailer to portray the kidnapper as the 'baddie' as well as adding more suspense for the audience when watching. As we have decided to keep the identity of the kidnapper hidden, we feel that using a voice distortion would help us achieve this as well as not showing the kidnappers face in any shots. We came across a YouTube tutorial on how to create the jigsaw voice effect on Audacity which we can incorporate into our film trailer. 

Planning the Film Schedule

We have planned to film the the night scenes on Sunday 26/01/2014 evening therefore we have researched the sun set times in order to allow us enough time to plan and get to the location without it being to dark in the shot. We want to film some scenes in the dark as it will as it is a key convention in horror films as we'll I provide the appropriate themes and atmosphere in our film trailer. 

Planning Locations to Film

   

When visiting the woods to plan our locations we discovered the trees reflections in the car which would create a suspenseful eerie atmosphere in our film trailer. It gave us the idea to film some scenes in the dark to use either shadows, reflections or silhouettes to add the element of thriller. We also came across the use of shadows in our research in previous horror and thriller films. We feel that using shadows and silhouettes will enhance our idea of keeping the kidnappers identity hidden throughout the film trailer. The ideas we thought of incorporating into our film trailer could be of bare tree branches and the sky with the moon in the background as one shot or even just having the trees shadows in the background of a shot depending on the lighting we use. 

Planning Voice Effects

We have been testing some voice affects on an IPad App. As our film trailer includes a kidnapping we felt that having a voice affect will add mystery and suspense. We want to keep the identity of the kidnapper as hidden as possible which will include distorting his voice to also give an 'eerie' atmosphere and theme to the narrative. Below is an image  of the app as well as a video showing the voice effects we tried out in preparation for our editing. 

Briefing our actors

We decided to send the following email to our actress, briefing her further on the character she will be playing and what she needs to bring to set.

It is important that Emily is aware of who she will be playing so that she will comfortable portraying that character in the specific circumstances as well as having time to prepare. 

She was told the location and time of filming, and since these emails were sent it has been decided that I (Ellie) will pick up and drop off our actress as well as Chloe and Gareth. 

Filming will begin on Sunday 19th January at 11am. 

9-Frame Analysis of Black Swan

A spotlight shines on a ballerina, dressed in white - showing us that she will soon be established as the main character. the white signifies that she is regarded as pure, a virgin and clean, whilst the ballet pose not only shows what type of performance she is performing, but also that she is incredibly professional, too.

 

The film has been selected by the Toronto and Venice film festivals, as shown via the use of logos with big, capitalised text which contrasts with the dark, black - bird-like feathered background. we later find this out to be because the main character turns into the Black Swan in the performance. the journey from white to black shows that she is turning from being pure and innocent to being evil, possessed and scary.

 

 

In this shot, we see Natalie Portman, who acts the main role, smiling almost with a bit of pain inside her or that she is a bit confused. She has just been given the lead role in Swan Lake and is probably a bit scared, too. Later, we find out that there is some sort of romance between the owner of the play and Natalie Portman's character. 

 

Again, the use of black feathers is slightly unnerving as you still don't know why they're there and what bird they're from. Black-feathered birds are often thought of as crows or ravens, both of whom signify death. so, 'what will happen?' is what you end up asking. the director is also mentioned as the director of past works, The Wrestler and Requiem For a Dream - this could gain extra fans of those movies, if they decided they didn't like it before seeing that a well-acclaimed director would be directing it.

 A female character (played by Mila Kunis) appears, dressed in black and declares that she is to be the understudy. This shakes Natalie Portman's character up and eventually it drives her insane, psychologically. It is interesting to know that Mila Kunis' character is dressed in black, almost as if she is bad or evil, yet we learn later in the show that she is normal, with Natalie Portman's mind playing tricks on her.



 

This love scene seems very forceful from the male character, yet, as we know, he is the owner of the play - so he is using that to his advantage. The lead female character seems reluctant to be romanced and seduced by the man, yet in the film we are told she quite fancies him.

 

This shot shows the beginning of Natalie Portman's character turning on her, via the use of a mirror, cleverly mimicking her until she stops, back to the mirror, and the reflection turns around and smiles, menacingly, whilst she pants and her eyes are teary. Obviously this shows that she is sad and worried, yet we are not sure if it's psychological or not, despite the mirrored-reflection turning around on her, which isn't possible. It also hints that this could be based on a demon-like side to her.

 

My favourite shot is of a broken ballerina, almost mocking Natalie Portman's main character as she finally got the role she wanted, yet let her mind get carried away with itself and not focussed on her job. It is certainly a reference to how she may have thrown away everything, with her apparent psychological barriers.

She pulls out a feather out of her skin and looks at it with teary, bloodshot eyes - almost prompting us to think she has a psychological problem, and reminds us of schizophrenia as if it's someone telling her what to do, despite being asked not to scratch her back earlier, by an elderly character, who we know is her mum, from the movie.