Conventions of Horror

Individual Reflections On idea

An issue we are facing is the fact that we all have so many ideas to pitch in and so many opinions on how the production should be like. As a result of this our idea has changed 3 times as it was not realistic or not suitable for the location we have chosen. The idea that we have come up with now is much more effective as it has been planned out and parts of it tested.

Our current idea is a friend visiting a memorial for her best friend where she was found hung due to "suicide" as she continues to talk to her dead best friend and expresses how much she misses her two masked figures appear  behind her that she has not acknowledged yet. As the production progresses the two masked figures attack her but shortly after she finds out that they are just her friends playing a joke on hr. At this moment the camera cuts to a third  persons POV shot showing the friends, The POV shot proceeds to look down where there is a picture of the girl with her faced circled as the girl gets up to walk away she meets the third masked figure and the shoot ends on the noose and his mask.

This idea is the most effective by far as it is not too ambitious but is able to give the audience a range of emotions included fear and creepiness. This idea builds up the tension and resolves it but brings it up again and the opening sequence is left on a cliff hanger. I believe this is very effective as this is what happens in most horror movies such as the Woman In Black and Sinister. By staying true to the conventions of horror we will be able to get the audience to react in certain ways and feel certain emotions.

If this idea goes to plan and is filmed correctly with the right amount of sound placed over it it will work very well and create a very tense feeling with a lot of horror.

Feed The Fish Evaluation

This pre-production exercises was not done very well due to many reasons. When it came to planning the exercise we did not have many ideas and we lacked the knowledge to produce a very well edited and filmed production.

The main  issue that we faced is continuity editing. While filming we did not have a scheduled which meant when we filmed on different days the actor did not have the same cloths due to the schedule being very hectic and unplanned, this limited the production and did not make it continues.

Another thing that added to the continuity issue was the editing style. The cuts that were made were not very smooth and the sound was not faded in and out due to lack of knowledge, this made the cuts very sharp and obvious which meant it did not make it seem continues.

The planning issue meant that we did not finish the production on time but due to this we learnt that everything has to be planned for our final production so we can finish it on time and make sure we still have one or two weeks after in case anything needed improving or re-filming. 

Understanding of Camera Shots and Angles

The Hunger Games trailer has many different shots and angles that are placed for many different reasons.

Extreme Long Shot:

The extreme long shot was used right at the beginning of the trailer as an establishment shot. The shot shows the setting of  the outside of a modernized city which gives the audience an idea of how the movie is going to be like and also shows that it is set in the future.

Long Shot:

Long shots are often used to show the relationship between the character and the background, it was used the trailer for that exact purpose. As it is shown below the character is using the back ground therefore the director has chosen to use a long to add to the scene and make it more understandable for the audience.  

Medium Shot:

Medium shots are used generally in conversations, the expressions of the characters is also shown to add more to the scene. A mediums shot is used in the middle of the trailer, it is only shown for a second. Even though it was shown for such a small amount of time it still had a very big effect on the audience as it showed a lot of emotions and how the character was feeling.

Close Up:

Close ups are usually used to make the audience concentrate on one thing as they are not distracted of other things in the scene. In this case it is used to focus on a facial expression on the main character. This makes the trailer more dramatic as it shows how angry and upset she seems.

The Hunger Games uses different camera shots and camera angles as they show different things. This doesn't make the movie or trailer boring as the different camera angles and shots portray different meanings and make each shot unique and more interesting.