Evaluation Activity 1- Camerawork and Editing

We used match on action to ensure continuity. This is important as we would want the film to be as fluent as possible so it wouldn't effect the audiences cinematic experience. This means that when the audience watch our film it will be easy to watch because everything will flow. This will mean that the audience will find the film easy to watch because nothing is being missed out, so the scene is continuous. Also, in our opening we used a series of close ups. This is effective because we wanted the audience to see the facial expressions of our characters so they can understand how the characters are feeling. The point of this is that the audience will know exactly what the characters are feeling which could make them feel more tense because they would be able to tell if the characters are scared or not and if they know what is going on. We also used a tracking shot of the trees. This is effective because it is showing what Abbie can see. The camera is Abbie's eyes so therefore the audience will be seeing the woods from Abbie's point of view. This may make them feel more tense because they are getting a glimpse of what the woods is like. We also used over-the-shoulder shots. This is effective because it means that the audience can see everything that is going on however not directly from the characters eyes- slightly behind. We used these shots because it means that the audience will be able to see everything that's going on and it creates the feeling that they are watching the characters because they are watching them from behind. We used quite a lot of long shots. These long shots are effective because as well as being able to see the full length of the characters the audience can also see the surrounding woods. This is a good thing because it means that the audience will know and see exactly what the woods is like which could lead them to feel more tense because they can see that the woods look quite gloomy and spooky.

Evaluation Activity 2

One of the main characters, Abbie, can be compared to the victim characters from the film 'Scream'. There are many similarities between these two characters including, appearance, costumes and the role in the film. Both characters are blonde and pretty which makes them very vulnerable victims. The fact that they are blonde and pretty makes them vulnerable because they are easy targets for the villains. They look weak and innocent which means that the audience will automatically assume that they are the victims if they don't already know. The costumes of both the victims are also similar. They are both wearing ordinary clothing which suggest that they do not expect anything is about to happen to them. As they are both wearing ordinary clothing the audience may also get a feeling that the characters have no idea about what is about to happen to them. This might make the audience feel tense because they know that what is going to happen to the victims is most likely to be unexpected. Another similarity of these two characters is their role in the film. They both play the victims and also they both are taken by surprise by their attacker. They are both taken by surprise in different ways. The character from 'Scream' receives a phone call from her attacker, which is completely unexpected for the victim. She handles this by crying and screaming down the phone. This shows she is extremely frightened and most probably knows she is going to die. However, when Abbie catches a glimpse of her attacker hidden among the trees, she decided not to scream and cry or even attempt to run, instead she decides to act as if she never even saw anything. This would make the audience feel very suspicious because they will want to know why she is just ignoring the fact that there is someone in the woods watching her. So the two characters are very similar however they differ in the way that they deal with their situations. The way the two characters differ will entice the audience because they will want to see what will happen to the character from Scream and they will want to know why Abbie is ignoring the fact that there is someone watching her in the woods.

Animatic Storyboard- Edited on Adobe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijHYS-ORSn0&feature=player_embedded

Evaluation Activity 1- How characters are introduced

This is the first shot in the film in which the audience can fully see the characters full appearance. From this mid shot the audience can see exactly who these girls are. They are able to establish that these girls are teenagers which could lead them to be suspicious as to why these girls are walking through the woods. Also, because of the mid shot, the audience are still able to see the setting which means they can see that it is quite dark and that no one is around. This might make them feel scared for the characters because there is no one around. Also, from this shot the audience can see the characters costumes which would let them know that they are just ordinary girls as they are wearing ordinary clothing. Also, as the audience are able to see their faces it means that they will be able to see that they are pretty and blonde which is the stereotypical victim. This means that the audience may be able to establish that the girls are playing the part of the victims because they look like the perfect victims.

Evaluation Activity 1- Genre and how the opening suggests it

The opening of our film is set in a woods. As it is set in a woods it means that the audience will most likely realise that the genre of our film is a horror. As a lot of horror films are set in isolated locations it means that, as our film is in an isolated location, the audience will know what genre our film is. Also to accompany our film we have non-diegetic music. This music sounds quite sinister which will therefore allow the audience to realise that the genre of our film is horror. Also, the lighting is quite dark which suggests that its perhaps quite late which will create enigma codes for the audience as they will want to try and guess what is going to happen in the rest of the film and why our characters are out late at night. Also this shot shows that the weather is quite eery as it is raining and they skies are grey. This will automatically lead the audience to believe something bad is going to happen. This is because in most films, if something good is going to happen the skies are usually blue and there is sunshine and perhaps a rainbow. The weather is usually good in films such as romances because sunny weather usually portrays something good happening. This can be compared to horror films, where the weather is usually raining and dark as it could portray something bad happening. This could then lead the audience to wonder why our characters are out late

Evaluation Activity 1- Costumes and props

These are the costumes that our characters wear throughout our two minute opening. As you can see these costumes are quite simple. We decided to keep the costumes simple because we wanted the audience to see the characters being portrayed as just ordinary girls. We wanted the audience to see them looking as vulnerable as possible and we thought the best way to do this is to show them looking like they are just having a normal day, wearing normal clothes. Also, because we have portrayed them in this way it will show the audience that perhaps the girls have no idea about what is about to happen. This might mean that they will feel tense because it is clear to them that the girls are in an extremely vulnerable position and that it is very likely that something bad is going to happen to them. The characters are wearing jeans, and a coat with the exception of Georgia who is also wearing a scarf which is one of the main props of the film. This shot is shown through the use of a long shot. We decided to use a long shot because we wanted the audience to see exactly what the characters are wearing. This is because we wanted the audience to see them wearing normal, every day clothes which would lead them to the conclusion that they don't have a clue about what might happen to them whilst they are walking through the woods alone.
The green and black scarf around Georgia's neck is the main prop in the film. It plays a significant role in the film. When Georgia realises her scarf is missing they find it deep in the trees slightly ahead of them. This is obviously very strange to the characters and the audience because it doesn't seem possible for a scarf to end up that far away from them. The audience will nost probably assume that someone has put it there which will lead to them feeling very tense because they will think that someone is in the woods with them. The second prop we used, which is also an important prop, is the mobile phone that Abbie is seen with. This is an important prop because when the audience are first introduced to the villain Abbie is completely unaware at that moment in time. As she is so engrossed in her phone she has no idea what is going on around her. We think that this is an effective prop because it means that whilst Abbie is being distracted by her mobile phone, the audience will be able to see the villain and it will make them feel very tense because they will want Abbie to see the villain so they can get out of the woods to safety but instead she hasn't seen the villain so won't have a clue.

Evaluation Activity 1- Film Title

This is the title of our film. The title appears as the last shot of our film. We decided to use this as the last shot for our film because it would be very successful. We decided to have a tense scene right at the end and then as the scene finished have the title of our film flash up on screen with a deathly scream in the background. We did this because we thought it would be a good way to end the opening two minutes of the film. It would also leave the audience feeling very tense because they can hear a very deathly scream however they won't be able to actually see whats happen so they might question what has just happened. It will perhaps leave them wanting to watch more so they can find out why the girl has just screamed. We used a black background and white font for the title of the film. We decided to do this because it would make the writing stand out. We did not use any colour in the title as we didn't want the audience to figure out what happened. For example, if we used a red colour for the title they might assume that something gory has happened as red symbolises blood.
We used this particular font for our film because it is the typical font for a horror film. It is quite plain but it also has spikes coming off of particular letters. This could represent the font being related to the horror genre because you would usually represent spikes with horror films because they are dangerous. If we used a font with swirls instead of the spikes then people might associate the font with a romance film because it would look like a nice font that doesn't pose a threat to anyone. The spikes that you see coming off of the letters could represent danger which is linked in with the film that a character is in serious danger.

Evaluation Activity 1- Setting shot

 This is the setting for our film. This is a good shot as it shows the location for our film. We decided to use the location for our film as a wood because it is conforming to the usual convention of a horror film. Most horror films have a scary setting such as a woods so we decided to adhere to this by using a woods as the setting. By adhering to this it meant that the audience will be more likely to identify what the genre of our film is. We used a long shot to show this as it is showing the audience the full length of where the majority of our film is based. By doing this we are allowing the audience to understand what the woods looks like and also it shows the audience that no one is around so it gives them a tense feeling that something might happen because it is so deserted. Also it is showing the audience exactly what the woods is like - scary, gloomy and completely empty. By giving the audience this view of the woods it means they will perhaps feel more tense and scared because they will see that it is fairly dark so will assume that something bad will happen. Also it will set the scene for the film because if its dark and the scene is accompanied by scary music then the audience will most likely feel scared which is what we are hoping to achieve.

The Unexpected Final