Welcome

On this blog, you will find all the research and planning that I have done to put towards our final production - Camp Ivy.

Camp Ivy - Final Cut

Evaluation Q1 - Conventions

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?



Here is a written version of my answer:

TITLES:
A common convention of slasher films is to have the production and distribution companies titles appear first. In our production, the first title that appears is 'Fireline presents'. We decided to put the titles this way after researching Madhouse (William Butler, 2004) where the first title was 'Lions Gate Productions'. Another title from our production is 'A Cupkate production', which was influenced by the title 'A Gina Matthews Production' appearing in Urban Legend (Jamie Blanks, 1998). Again like in Urban Legend, the titles for the lead actors appeared in pairs. In our opening, the title of the film 'Camp Ivy' appears after the killing of the scream queen. The title fades in over the last shot of blood dripping down off the scream queens hand into the stream, which provides intertextual references from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho in 1960. The title is centered and fades to black at the end, similar to the title that appears in Scary Movie (Keenen Ivory Wayans, 2000) and Urban Legend.

IDENTS:
We created our idents using a software called LiveType. We each created an individual ident, then a group company ident which we called 'CI Productions'. We used different animations, effects and sounds in our idents to make them eye catching and effective. One example of simple idents, like ours, are from a slasher film called An American Warewolf in London (John Landis, 1981). Although these idents do appear rather dated, the simple animated lettering concept is extremely effective, and continues to be commonly used in modern slasher films today.  

OPENING SHOTS:
Our first shot is an establishing shot. We decided upon this as it is a good way to anchor the mood, genre and location of the film. The establishing shot is of the wooden, derelict cabins at Linton Camp, which is the main location of the film. There are many establishing shots used in slasher openings, one example is 5ive Girls (Warren P. Sonoda, 2006).

GROUP SHOT:
There is a lot of dialogue in the film, which provides exposition. Because of this, we thought it was essential to include a group shot at the very start of the production to anchor the characters and their situation. This also allows the audience to question who the protagonist and antagonist is.

NARRATIVE ENIGMA:
Barthes' theory of narrative enigma is portrayed in our production when the killer is on screen. The killer is dressed in a black hooded jumper, which covers their face, so the audience are unable to identify who it is. The killers feet wearing heavy boots are also shown when chasing the scream queen, which help to portray to the audience the narrative enigma. This theory is used in many slasher films, both modern and old. A well known example is the Friday the 13th franchise, where Jason is always wearing a mask to hide his identity. The killer in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Marcus Nispel, 2003) is also hidden from the audience, by wearing a potato sack to cover their face. 

SOUND:
The sound in the killing scene of our production was heavily influenced by slashers such as Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960). We included high pitched strings which creates tension and reflects the screams that would be heard from the scream queen. Throughout the opening there is diegetic and non diegetic sound. The ambient sound of the birds has the effect of making the audience feel calm and relaxed, until they stop chirping after the killer appears on screen which anchors the feeling that something is wrong. There is also a long low note held throughout the sequence, which creates a constant feeling of anxiousness and tension. 

FINAL GIRL AND SCREAM QUEEN:
Carole Clover's theory of the final girl is portrayed in our opening. The final girl's name is Charley, which is a unisex name, and she is shown on screen as a sensible girl who follows positive morals. The final girl typically wears clothes which do not objectify her body, however despite wearing an over sized shirt, our final girl is wearing tight skinny jeans. By having the final girl wearing these jeans, we are part of the counter-hegemonic movement unfashion, meaning that we are going against the theory and are following modern day fashion trends. The binary opposite of Charley is Ashley, the scream queen. Her attitude is negative and lazy, and her clothes are more revealing. She is also portrayed as being immoral, as she has a boyfriend, unlike the final girl. Both these characters are stereotypes of female characters in slasher films. A famous example of a final girl is Sidney Prescott from Scream (Wes Craven, 1996) played by Neve Campbell and a famous example of a scream queen is Marion Crane played by Janet Leigh from Psycho. 

CONCLUSION:
Our audience feedback was both positive and constructive. The intertextual references are clear to those who aren't extremely familiar with slasher films. As a group, we were most worried about our killing scene being unrealistic and not convincing, however no one picked up any major concern about this, and layering in the editing to signify psychosis and madness made the scene realistic which is what we wanted. Conventions from past examples have allowed us to achieve better verisimilatude. 

Evaluation Q2 - Representations

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In media, there are 7 key areas of representation which can be analysed and applied to productions. 


Here is a written version of my answer:

AGE:

All the characters in our media production are teenagers, including the killer. The age of the characters attracts the target audience of 15-24 year old's, as they can relate to the emotions and feelings expressed by the teenagers on screen. The clothes they are wearing also anchor their age, as they're typical trendy clothes that you would expect a teenager of their age to wear. A typical slasher film convention is that the adults and authority figures are useless and do not help in any of the situations that arise. This convention is portrayed in our film, when the scream queens father does not answer his phone, signifying he is useless. The final girl is portrayed as the innocent and sensible character of the group, which signifies she is the leader of the group, and that, like the stereotypical final girl, she will eventually defeat the killer using her intelligence and intuition. The jock of the group comes across as the one who has a lazy and rude attitude towards his peers, especially his girlfriend (the scream queen). Similar to the jock, the scream queen also has a negative attitude towards the situation, and ends up being separated from the group as she decides to leave before they reach their destination. The jock and scream queen are both binary opposites of the final girls attitude, which is positive and enthusiastic. 

GENDER:
Gender comes across strongly using binary opposites in our production. The scream queen and killer are binary opposites. The scream queen fits the stereotype of her role, as she is wearing a low cut vest top, and has long blonde hair. As well as this, she is emotional and weak which is signified by being the first victim out of the group. The killer is the binary opposite of this, because they portray no emotion. Although narrative enigma is used, it is still clear that there is an element of psychopathy revolving around the killer. The killer also portrays strength and power as he succeeds at killing the scream queen. As well as the killer, there are binary opposites between the scream queen and final girl. Carole Clover's theory of the final girl and feminism in slasher films explains how the final girl takes the lead role as she has more masculine attributes which are signified by her body being covered up. Our final girl follows this theory.

SEXUALITY:
To reinforce a normative representation to the audience, we chose for all the characters to be heterosexual. This is signified in our production with the scream queen and jock, by having them walk together at the back of the group and by having a photo of the couple on the background of the scream queens phone. 

PHYSICAL ABILITY/DISABILITY:
In our production, again we are reinforcing a normative representation to the audience as all the characters are physically able. This was done because the group are walking in woods, so having a disabled character would have made the situation less realistic.

REGIONAL IDENTITY:
Because our film is set in West Yorkshire, all the characters have a Yorkshire accent. They use typical teenage 'slang' language which attracts the target young adult audience. Because the production is set in Yorkshire, it is set in a very rural area to anchor the region.

SOCIAL CLASS AND STATUS:
All the characters in our production are of a working/middle class. They speak the same, and do not dress outrageously different to each other, so they do not look different enough to class them as a different social status. The target audience is also middle and working class, which helps the audience easily realte to the characters.

ETHNICITY:
All the characters are white British, so there is no cultural diversity. There are very few slasher films with a culturally diverse cast, however Prom Night (Nelson McCormick, 2008) challenges this.

Evaluation Q3 - Distribution

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

An indie, low-budget distributor would be ideal to distribute my film, as I myself am an indie low-budget filmmaker.

The UK's current leading independent film distributor is Entertainment Film, who are famous for their box-office hits of Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Saw, The Final Destination Franchise, Sex and the City and many more. Although this company does not specialize in the slasher genre, they are a good example of a British independent company who have had a huge impact and a great success rate in the industry.

Our film 'Camp Ivy' is an extremely low-budget film, in fact the budget is almost non-existent. By having an independent film company distribute our film, it would be affordable for both the company and ourselves. Many films fail to even come out of production, so having a large company distribute our film would simply fail, as the company would not be able to make a profit. Donkey Punch (Oliver Blackburn, 2008) was a low-budget film (£750,000) and took $18,000 in the US and £295,000 in the UK whilst in cinematic release. The distribution company for this film was Optimum Releasing. The company distributed over 200 films a year and were one of the most striking independent UK film distributors. In 2011, the French company StudioCanal bought Optimum and the company was renamed StudioCanalUK.

StudioCanalUK/Optimum Releasing would be an ideal distributor for our film, as they're used to working with low-budget films and often succeed in getting cinematic releases for fairly low-budget films, some examples that have had cinematic releases are Attack The Block (Joe Cornish, 2011) and The Awakening (Nick Murphy, 2011). Kill List (Ben Wheatley, 2011) is one of the most recent films distributed. The budget for this film was only £500,000, the total gross was $26,000 and most of the actors were un-known. This is similar to our production, in the sense we're using un-known actors on an extremely low budget.

Warp X is a distribution company based locally in Sheffield. They were also involved in the production and distribution of Donkey Punch. This company would also be an ideal distribution company for our film, as they distribute low-budget productions and help turn them into movies which gain cinematic releases throughout the world.

Evaluation Q4 - Audience

Who would be the audience for your media product?

We researched the BBFC guidelines, which helped us to decide which audience would be easier to attract to our slasher. Because there are scenes of a violent nature in the opening, we decided that our target audience for Camp Ivy would be 15-24 year olds. We also chose to target our production towards a British audience. This is because the film is set in the North, and all the characters have a Yorkshire accent, so international audiences will be unlikely to understand some of the language used and will struggle to understand the accent. Global audiences tend to be attracted to British films set in the South of England, as the accent is clearer for them to understand and it is a more stereotypical representation of Britain. We expect our production would be more popular with an audience in the North of England, as they can relate to the accent and characters easier.

Many slasher films are known for being popular with teenage audiences, although many other age groups are interested in the genre too, and this genre is a popular genre throughout the world. Camping in rural areas is a popular activity amongst teenagers around the world, as there are no adults so they're effectively free to do what ever they like. Because of this, we feel the synopsis of a group of teenagers going out into some rural woods may attract a wider audience despite the accent barrier.

The secondary audience would be 18-34 year olds. Our production could be well recieved with this age group, as it is a popular genre amongst this age group too.

Evaluation Q5 - Mode of Address

Mode of address: How did you attract/address your audience?

We used many techniques in our production to attract our audience:
Here is a link to my answer, completed using www.prezi.com.
http://prezi.com/lkyedrksgqrv/edit/#8_1237878

Evaluation Q6 - Technologies

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

We have used many technologies throughout the production of our film. Here is a list:

• HD video camera.

• Mac softwares; Final Cut Pro, LiveType, Garageband.

• Blogger.

• YouTube.

• IMDb.

Here is a written version of my answer:

HD CAMERA:

To film our opening, we used a HD camera. This meant that the shots were of a higher quality, meaning the production looks more professional. At points, like for the teaser trailer, we used iPhones to film short clips. These shots were shaky and amateur looking, so we only used a small amount of these clips, as we wanted our production, including rough cuts and trailers, to look as professional as possible. 

FINAL CUT PRO:
I personally had never come across this software before so it was a whole new learning experience. Once I was taught how to use the basic tools, it became an easy way to edit videos quickly. We used Final Cut Pro to edit our vodcasts, the teaser trailer, rough cuts and the final cut. The built in effects came in handy, as we used these throughout the entire editing process. An example of one of these effects is the Day into Night effect. This effect was useful when we had footage that was shot in daylight but would have been more realistic at night time. The titles and credits were all done using Final Cut Pro too, which was a simple task to complete. 

LIVETYPE:
We used LiveType to create both our individual idents and our company ident. This software was very difficult to get the hang of at first, as there were many different effects and tools to use, which became confusing at times. However, once we began to use it more often, it became easier to use and was very effective at making our idents look professional. 

GARAGEBAND:
We first used Garageband to add sound to our idents. Once we were taught how to add and record soundtracks it became an easy software to use. As well as our idents, we used Garageband to soundtrack our entire film opening. Because there is so much choice, and the option to record your own soundtrack entirely from scratch, it took us a long time to pick out what sounded best and to layer it all up to fit with our opening. 

BLOGGER:
We have used Blogger to document the research and planning of our slasher opening. It is a useful website which allows us, as a group, to communicate with each other, and embed videos from each other's blogs onto our own. It is easy to enter hyperlinks to other sources on the internet, and upload our work, so that is is organised and all in one place. We created links lists to order our posts, which makes it easier to find particular blog posts, rather than scrolling through the blog archive. 

YOUTUBE:
We all individually created YouTube accounts, which allowed us to upload our vodcasts, teaser trailers, rough cuts and the final cut. By doing this, it allowed us to market our productions to a wider, global audience, and to get feedback and constructive criticism. YouTube also enabled us to research past coursework productions and other videos related to slasher films, to give us more ideas about what to include in our production. We can also share our videos on to other social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, which allows us to gain more feedback.

IMDB:
We used IMDb a lot for research into other slasher films. The website was easy to navigate, and enabled us to look up a range of information about slasher films we were researching. There is a vast amount of information about production companies too, including Indie companies, like ourselves. This allowed us to gain access to useful information about budgets and box office figures. 

Evaluation Q7 - Progression

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Here is my preliminary task:


Here is my final cut:


RESEARCH:
When we were first given the task of the prelim, we had done no previous research into shot types, how to film effectively, how to edit efficiently or how to use SFX. We also had little idea about mise-en-scene and sound. The preliminary task helped us to get used to the software that we used for our final production, so that when it came round to filming and editing Camp Ivy material, the task was somewhat slightly easier. The preliminary task was not restricted to a genre, which meant that this lack of research did not majorly affect the production. However, for our specific production, research needed to be done on every aspect of the slasher genre. The intense research we conducted helped us to get a better understanding of what conventions and theories were commonly used in slasher, both modern and dated. 

PLANNING + PITCHING:
Planning the preliminary task was a quick and simple process. All we needed to do was write down which shot types we needed to use, and a short brief script. We focused more on the cinematography rather than the narrative, as this was not a key issue during this task. The prelim only required one shoot, which was shot and edited in less than an hour, and we did not have to pitch an idea to the rest of the group. In comparison to this, our final production required vast amounts of planning. We had to make call sheet, story boards, shot lists, and many other plans so that we could manage our time easily and organise shoots. It was important for us to be organised, as the actors were volunteers, so we needed to make sure that we did not waste their time by not knowing what were exactly meant to be doing. As we progressed further into the course, we improved on our planning and schedules, as we needed to do multiple shoots and were constantly evaluating and editing footage, so being organised made this a lot easier. Unlike the prelim, we each individually had to pitch to the entire class our ideas for final pieces. We had to explain the synopsis and why it would have been beneficial to choose our idea, then when we had gotten ourselves into groups, we altered and decided upon a final idea. 

ACTORS:

actors

Poppy and myself starred in our prelim. This was because we were available on demand so it was easier to shoot, and we knew what was required of us. In our final productions, we used different actors throughout. We used different actors in the rough cuts to the final cut. This was simply down to availability on the chosen shoot day. We typed out scripts for our cast for all the shoots, so that they had a chance to learn the lines rather than being told them and remembering them off the top of their heads. We cast our actors close to the stereotypes of their chosen characters, so that the production followed theories too. Although all the actors performed well and did we wanted of them, none of them were experienced so the acting was rather amateurish. If we had cast experienced actors, the production would have dramatically improved, but finding experienced actors of such a young age is extremely difficult.

MISE-EN-SCENE, COSTUMES + PROPS:

fake blood

Because we had a basic understanding, there was no mise-en-scene, costumes or props used in the preliminary task. This was not a necessity, as the focus was on the shots and continuity editing. For our Camp Ivy productions, these aspects were extremely important. As part of the mise-en-scene, we changed the background on the scream queens phone to provide anchorage that the jock and her are a couple. For the costumes, we asked the individual characters what to wear. We had to plan this in advance, so that they knew what to wear on the day. We also took precautions such as buying extra white vests for the scream queen, so that the killing scene could easily be re-shot if it was necessary. The props we required included the knife and the flowers that are layed down in memory of Mikey. Millie made fake blood as well, to make the killing scene look effective and realistic. 

LOCATION:

Linton Camp

The prelim was shot in the classroom, surrounded by our classmates. For the final productions, we used 2 different locations. The first rough cut was shot entirely at Linton Camp which was a brilliant location for a slasher film to be set, as it had an eerie mood surrounding it, even during the day time. Despite it being a good location, it was difficult to get to, so was not ideal for re shoots. For the second and third shoot, we had the idea of shooting the footage in a wooded area. We shot the footage in Middleton Woods, which was much more convenient as it is local to us. The woods was also a good location, as it allowed us to shoot effective point of view shots, and there was a lot of space available to work with. Some issues did arise when we were filming in the woods. Because it is a public areas, dog walkers were constantly walking past which halted our filming by some time. 

ROUGH CUTS:

We did not feel it was necessary to have any rough cuts or re shoots for the prelim, although it could have been improved by editing it slightly different. We had 2 rough cuts for our final production:

• 1
• 2

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK:

We received very little feedback for the prelim. The only thing we were questioned on was whether the continuity editing actually worked effectively. We acted very differently for the final production. We uploaded rough cuts onto YouTube which allowed for global audience feedback. We also videoed teenagers of our age watching our unfinished production, and then asked for constructive criticism. Because they watched rough cut 2, which had no sound, they said that with sound and music it would be much more realistic and believable. Our first rough cut did not receive good feedback, so we decided to entirely re shoot the opening. Looking back on the decision now, I think that we made the right choice, rather than trying to work with what we already had, as the final product is more more effective and has been edited better than it could have been if we had used all the original shots. 

SOUND:

There was no non diegetic sound in the prelim. The only sound was from the speech of the narrative. In our final production, we enhanced the diegetic sound and added non diegetic sound on top. We enhanced the chirping of the birds, which had the effect of making the audience feel relaxed and calmer. There are long drawn out notes throughout the opening, as it slowly builds up the suspense. There was also a designated sound that was heard each time the killer appeared on screen. In the killing scene, high pitched strings were used, similar to those is Psycho, which replicated and reflected the scream from the scream queen, which carry on even when she is not shown on screen. 

IDENTS:

In total, there are 4 idents in our production. Poppy's, Millie's, the company one and my own. By adding idents, our production looks more professional. We used transitions and SFX in our idents, to help improve them too. There were no idents or special effects in our prelim, as we were not familiar with the technology.

SHOT TYPES:

shoot 1

In our prelim, we were required to include match on action, 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot, as well as an over the shoulder shot. The shots in the prelim were also shaky, as we were not used to filming. In our production, we were granted more freedom with shot choices, as we were able to chose what shots and angles we wanted and needed. At Linton Camp, there were many different areas where effective shots were easy to take, for example framing in the near by trees. We used a dutch angle during the chase scene, to signify that something isn't right and that dangerous is near. The shots were held steadier in the final productions. We used a fig rig and a tripod to steady the camera and reduce any major, noticeable movement. The fig rig was especially useful when shooting tracking and panning shots. 

ROLES:

Millie - cinematographer

In both the preliminary task and the final production, we were in a group of 3, although the people were different. In the prelim, nobody had specific roles so we shared the work equally and all had a go at filming and editing. In the final production, we split the roles up. Poppy was the director, Millie was the cinematographer and I was the producer. We all contributed to the editing process, as important decisions regarding this needed to be made as a group, rather than one individual editing something wrong that we did not all agree on. Because there were 3 people editing, it was easier to spot mistakes too, as one person would pick up on something another had not. 




Since the preliminary task, our skills have developed greatly. We have been introduced to new software's and technologies and have been able to create our film opening efficiently and precisely. It was important for us to have the preliminary task as a starting point, so that we could gradually develop and learn about different techniques in the filming and editing processes. 

Fake Blood

For our shoot Millie made fake blood for us to use in our killing scene to make it look more realistic. It was easy to make and looked quite effective on the shoot.

Here is the recipe we used to make it:
•cocoa powder (to make it darker in colour)

•corn flour
•red food colouring

•water

Its a really simple way of making fake blood and saved us some expense on the shoot as well, we also discovered that a little bit of it goes a long way and it looked really effective against the scream queens white top.

PP - Script (Second Shoot)

Charley: Guys, We are nearly there.

Ashley: I can't be arsed.

Ryan: Whatever

Patrick: (rambling quietly about the surroundings)

Charley: Lets have a break here.

Ashley: Argh I can't be arsed going any further, I'm going to ring my Dad and get him to pick me up.

Ryan: Oh Shut up will ya.

Charley: It's only 5 oclock I think we should hang on until we get a bit further.

Everyone but Ashley stands up and walks on.

Ashley: (on phone) Hi Dad, I am really sick of being here, can you come pick me up? call me back when you get this.

- cuts back to friends - 

Charley: Look, I can't believe it was a year ago today (looking at grave)

- cuts back to Ashley - 

Charley: ASHLEY?

Ryan: Was that Ashley?!

MJ - Audience Feedback

We asked Daisy and Alys to watch our final production (- sound) to get some feedback and see things we could possibly improve. Daisy and Alys are both within our target age audience.(15-24)

As Alys was in the opening. she found some of the group scenes quite funny. However, Daisy though that the group shots looked fairly realistic, and was able to tell the roles that each character was meant to be playing.

Both Daisy and Alys though that the stalking scene was effective, but the chase could be improved slightly, and the whole stalking would be more effective and scarier with sound/music. When they were watching the killing scene, they thought that the blood looked realistic and the fast paced editing made the killing more frightening. However, they said that the killing would be improved a lot when we add sound.

MJ - Costumes

In our slasher opening there are a total of 5 characters. We chose costumes which we thought would suit the characters and their roles best.

Scream queens outfit

Ashley: Scream Queen

Black jeans - the scream queen wore black jeans to show a contrast between her and the final girl character, who is wearing more traditional blue jeans

White vest top - we thought that the scream queen should wear a white, revealing vest top to signify her character's personality.

Black boots - the scream queens boots are unsuitable for walking in the woods, again showing her personality and role as the scream queen.

Charley: Final Girl

Plaid shirt, buttoned up to the collar - the final girl is wearing a plaid shirt which is buttoned up to the top to show that she is not trying to be provocative. The shirt is more practical than it is fashionable. It also shows a contrast to the scream queen who is wearing a low cut vest top.

Outsider and final girls' outfits

Blue jeans - we though that the final girl should be wearing blue jeans to show a contrast between her and the scream queen who is wearing black, more fashionable jeans.

Hair in pigtails - we thought it would be a good idea to have the final girl wear pigtails to show that she is innocent.

Glasses - the final girl is wearing glasses to make her look more intellectual.

Brown boots - look like sturdy well made boots that would be classed as appropriate for walking in the woods.

Bag - She is the one in the group having the sensible responsibility of carrying the bag, and is happy to do so.

Patrick: Outsider

Baggy jeans - Doesn't care about his image very much, comes across as not wanting to be fashionable and might be purposefully doing this so he isn't associated with the group.

Unfashionable jacket - This anchors the point about his jeans.

Jocks outfit

Ryan: Scream Queens boyfriend/Jock

Sports hoodie - He cares a lot about his image and tries to match what he thinks is socially acceptable and what his 'jock' friends would wear.

Jeans - the jeans that the jock are wearing are trendier in contrast to the Outsider of the group.

Trainers - his trainers show how he thinks that wearing branded trainers will change what other people think of him and how popular what he wears will make him. This suggests he is very self obsessed.

MJ - Casting, Characters & Mise-en-scene

CASTING + CHARACTERS
In our production you will see 5 characters altogether:
•Scream Queen
•Final Girl

•Scream Queen's boyfriend

•'Outsider' of the group

•Killer

Scream Queen:

Stereotypical scream queens

For the scream queen we plan to cast a very stereotypical scream queen. The qualities that we associate with a scream queen are blonde hair, very confident, has a boy friend and usually discusses stuff in the narrative that may be seen as immoral. We are going to cast someone who is blonde, could easily play the part and convincingly come across to the audience as this, however the narrative and her confidence is more important than her appearance.

Archetype final girl - Laurie Stroud

Final Girl:

We would like our final girl character to also be a stereotype final girl character. We are looking to cast somebody with brunette hair and to act quite sensible and maybe show some academic qualities. She should not participate or agree with anything that her friends talk about that is immoral or wrong and should come across as quite an independent character.

Scream Queen's Boyfriend:
He should have a lot of similar qualities to the Scream queen and also shows immoral qualities. Acts a bit like a jock.

Outsider of the Group:
The outsider should be male, and look like he doesn't really belong in the group. He should not really care about his appearance and almost be a binary opposite of the 'jock' like scream queens boyfriend.

Killer:
In the opening sequence of the film the audience will not be aware of who the killer is, by the use of narrative enigma. Therefore, when casting the killer we don't necessarily need to cast on looks, but we would like it to be a man.

MISE-EN-SCENE
We will show mise-en-scene in our production by set dressing the area in which we are filming with small signifiers for the audience to pick up on. We will most likely set our opening in or around a forest area as this has connotations with dark/evil like the killer character.

Directors Cut

This is a clip of Millie and myself directing Poppy whilst filming.

Teaser Trailer

This is a teaser trailer for our production 'Camp Ivy'. This was shot in various locations, not all of them necessarily the locations we intend on using for our final cut.
   We have added a 'day into night' effect, as the clips were shot in day light, so did not have a 'spooky' effect. The use of the shaky camera was intended, as it creates a sense of panic and point of view shots.

Camp Ivy Rough Cut 2 (without sound)

PP - Actors and Casting

Alys

Sydney Prescott - Scream

Alys:

We cast Alys as the final girl as she has dark brown hair which is comparable to final girls from a lot of slasher films. She also has done a lot of drama which meant we could trust her to act well and work well when given direction.

Ben

Ben:

We cast Ben as the outsider of the group as he was willing to play this part and when asked to found it easy to portray this character. 

                                                           

Danny

Danny:

Jock (Dylan) from All the Boys love Mandy Lane

We cast Danny as the Jock of the group as he also has had some experience with acting and found it easy to switch into the role of a Jock. Being good friends with people in the group meant he was very willing to participate and like Ben and Alys listened to our direction well and understood what we wanted to achieve.

             

scream queens

Poppy:

Poppy

Poppy played the part of the scream queen as she is blonde (fitting the scream queen stereotype) and the opening to our film was based around the scream queen being the victim. Because Poppy was part of the production team, by having her cast as the scream queen it made it easier to re shoot as she was able to give up more free time and volutneer.

Costumes: http://katesfilmproductions.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/mj-costumes.html 

BBFC Age Ratings



BBFC classifications

Examiners for the BBFC classify films for theatrical release using guidelines. The examiners look at the following issues:

• discrimination
• drugs
• horror
• sex
• nudity
• language
• imitable behaviour
• sexual violence
• violence
• theme
• context
• tone
• impact on audiences feelings
• format e.g. DVDs create a higher risk of underage viewing.

We have rated our film as a 15. This is because there is a strong theme of stalking and violence. The BBFC guidelines for a 15 classification allows the following to appear in films:

• strong violence
• frequent strong language
• portrayals of sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• brief scenees of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
• discriminatory language or behaviour
• drug taking

A 15 classification allows for strong violence, which is what appears in our opening when the scream queen is killed. We felt this rating was appropriate.

PP - Camp Ivy Rough Cut 1

This is our first rough cut of our film Camp Ivy. By making this rough cut we have found it easier to establish which part of its don't work and what we could change to make it look more effective. Also from doing this we saw which parts of our production worked well and knew what we definitely want to keep in our final production.


From making this rough cut we saw that our narrative lacked anchorage, and a lot of what happens isn't clear, and may cause the audience some confusion. An example of this is when the chase scene starts. The final girl is in a wooded area but it isn't very clear as to why she starts running. We wanted it to come across that she noticed she was being stalked, but this didn't come across very strongly.

We also thought that due to the acting not being very strong we thought there was an unnecessary amount of speech, that makes the production come across more amateur. An example of this is when they are talking about their friend Mikey who died there the previous year. We intend to get shots of the friends putting flowers on a grave or somewhere at the camp to try and signify his death that way and this will hopefully improve our opening.

The inside of the buildings looked very derelict and looked quite effective. However, we probably didn't use the building to their full potential and should have used them for a flashback of how Mikey died or involved more of the chase involving the buildings, as they were one of the main reasons for us choosing this location.

Overall, doing this rough cut has helped us get an overall impression of how we want our production to eventually look and helped us decide what worked and what didn't. We plan to upload this initial rough cut to social networking sites. By doing this we will get feedback from our target audience and see if they agree on the same areas that need to be improved and if they have any other problems or queries about it that we have not yet noticed.

First Shoot

Interior

Our shoot took place on the 17th February 2013. We filmed all of the shots for our film opening at Linton Camp. We started filming at 11AM and finished at around 4PM. The location was extremely good for getting a range of framings and shots, but we did spend a lot of the time trying to figure out what would look best. It would have been more ideal and time efficient if we had been up to the location before the shoot as a group to plan where we could shoot and how we would do it. Our actors all arrived at different times during the day, so we planned to shoot the shots in a particular order to save time.



The weather on the day was very sunny. This was a slight issue as we were hoping for a dull day which would have created a more eerie atmosphere.
Here are a group of photos taken throughout the day:

Filming the Killing Scene

Props; Knife & Fake Blood

Millie filming

Building

Millie Filming

Location; Linton Camp

Millie filming

Filming Group Shots