Film Planning - Change of Idea

The original idea for the film appeared too complex for the small time scale and equipment available for use, so the idea had to be changed so that it was more practical for the task in hand.

The first change was the location of the story. Instead of having the wooded area at night, it was changed to a suburban house, but it was still set at night for the before mentioned reasons. Lighting inside was much easier to control than it was outside, and a lot of time was spent setting up each shot so that lighting was effectively used. In most cases the lighting is from one side of the main character, allowing one side to stay in darkness and mystery, and also hiding the protagonist.

Having shots at the window allows the same effect as the protagonist in the woods of the original idea, but is a much easier effect to achieve. This also allows the protagonist to be hidden a lot more than in the original story line, as the the natural darkness conceals a lot more of the body than an artificial filter.

Also, audience feedback told me that the eventual day to night effect filter did not look as convincing as first planned. I believe this to be mainly down to the lighting involved in the process of creating a night effect. The lighting needed to be just right so that the colours of the natural surroundings were not too vibrant during filming, and this was not possible with such a small budget and very little lighting equipment available.

Film Planning - Change Idea?

We have thought about changing the idea for the original film to make it easier to follow, easier to shoot, easier to edit, and most importantly contain less errors.

We are now thinking about changing the film so that it is now set in a private indoors location, where it will be much warmer, more convienient for everyone involved and easier to set up all of the shots. There will also be less room for error and less continuity errors. Filming in a public location can mean that there are unwanted people in your film, whereas in a private location this is not the case. The puplic appearing in films is classically seen in another amateur film shown below, where joggers are often spotted behind the main characters.

Film Planning - Limiting factors for original shoot

Problems with the shoot included -

1. Lack of required cover from trees/bushes for time of year
2. Temperature in January made filming tough, especially with the chosen costumes
3. light was very inconsistant, required a lot of maintinence on shoot
4. The general public were about, and to make it realistic we had to wait for them to continue with their business and move out of shot.
5. The environment was not a set, and therefore was not perfect for the required tasks.

FIlm Planning - Classification Choice

We have decided to attempt to make a film that has a rating of 15, due to the guidelines mentioned in a previous post.
Often, horror films rated 18 include large amounts of blood, gore and nudity, and these aspects of the films tend to rule the picture to attract the hardcore bloodthirsty horror audience. In recent times some films have come under criticism from film journalists, who say that the large amounts of gory violence and nudity cover poor story lines and substandard acting. This is why the film opening we are going to make will not contain stupidly large levels of blood and violence, and will focus on creating a gripping storyline and professional editing.

Film Research - FIlm Classification

To create the film, first we must select a suitable rating for the film, which could be classified by a number of film characteristics.
These include -

• Discrimination
• Drugs
• Horror
• Imitable Behaviour
• Language
• Nudity
• Sex
• Theme
• Violence
  

Below are the category criteria for films rated 12 and 15 respectively:

Discrimination
Discriminatory language or behaviour must not be endorsed by the work as a whole. Aggressive discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to be acceptable unless clearly condemned.
Drugs
Any misuse of drugs must be infrequent and should not be glamorised or give instructional detail.
Horror
Moderate physical and psychological threat may be permitted, provided disturbing sequences are not frequent or sustained.
Imitable behaviour
Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and
self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied, or appear pain or harm free. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Language
Moderate language is allowed. The use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’) must be infrequent.
Nudity
Nudity is allowed, but in a sexual context must be brief and discreet.
Sex
Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Sex references should not go beyond what is suitable for young teenagers. Frequent crude references are unlikely to be acceptable.
Theme
Mature themes are acceptable, but their treatment must be suitable for young teenagers.
Violence
Moderate violence is allowed but should not
dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood,
but occasional gory moments may be permitted if
justified by the context. Sexual violence may only be implied or briefly and
discreetly indicated, and must have a strong contextual justification.

Discrimination
The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory
language or behaviour.
Drugs
Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not
promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily
accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example,
aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.
Horror
Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic
or sexualised.
Imitable behaviour
Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and
self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be
copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Language
There may be frequent use of strong language (for example,
‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be
acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated
use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.
Nudity
Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without
strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a
non-sexual or educational context.
Sex
Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail.
There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour,
but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable
unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is
sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.
Theme
No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is
appropriate for 15 year olds.
Violence
Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction
of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to
be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also
unlikely to be acceptable.
There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence
but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and
have a strong contextual justification.