Production: Final Cut for 'Welcome Home'

                                                                                  

Above is the final cut for Amber and I's 'Welcome Home' horror short film.

Production: Filming Day 4

After the discussions on the previous filming day about what mise en scene would be used/included in the main paranormal event, it was time to begin filming these shots. As it always has been during media filming days, it was essential to collect multiple versions of the same take as it would allow Amber and I some relief if any of our shots turned out not to be useful. Due to our large focus on the scenes in the child's playroom, ending shots for the film - which include my sister as the antagonist - were not completed as we had no time on that day for the extra filming.

As mentioned in the last write up of filming day 3, Amber had been able to access some thin, invisible fishing line. This aided us greatly as it would allow for shots of objects moving 'on their own' to be achieved. For these shots we used the pram to move with a doll in the pram. We chose this to be the main prop used as it is a common toy that young children play with; the antagonist's identity can be figured out through this, if the audience had not already assumed the age of the antagonist. It was also a practical prop to use as the wheels make it a smooth and easy prop to manoeuvre. We also decided to use the door to reflect paranormal activity in the house. By attaching the fishing line to the outside door handle, we could film the door moving as if the antagonist was closing the protagonist in the room. After multiple recordings of each shot, we had footage that we could easily include in the final production.

Issues that we encountered on the day were similar to that of the other days with camera focus being temperamental in the dull lighting that we used. The set up time of the mess in the playroom and the positioning of props and fishing line was larger than our usual set up, which led to the lack of filming outside of this room. Apart from this, Day 4 was a success.

Production: Audience Testing

For our audience testing we intended to film the response of our target audience. The areas of the film that were to be commented on were the opening scene, the scene when paranormal activities begin in the house, and the build towards the final crescendo. Sadly, due to technical issues, we were unable to film the audience reaction. However, we were able to get written responses from the audience, meaning we were able to act on the audience's opinions.

Josie Pamment commented:

Overall the film was very good I thought the opening title font was good and well suited to the films genre and created a suitable atmosphere right from the start. the camera shots were diverse and very professional. I especially liked the opening of the fridge shot. The story could have been developed more but that comes down to the amount of time you had to create it but overall it was well thought out story and a really well done film piece.

Amy Martin commented:

I thought that the film was good in showing the horror genre and built up a story well. Obviously, the film doesn't fully make sense at the moment as it's not finished but I can see where you are going with it. Some shots need to be redone because they go out of focus slightly but all in all, good film. 

From this audience research we can gather that our horror short film is on the right path towards satisfying our target audience, with our interpretation of the genre being praised by both interviewees. They appreciated that our film had not been fully completed, meaning some of our criticisms were based on the lack of content we had at this point in time. Going forward from this, both Amber and I are aware that our production is seemingly going to be successful, if we pay good attention to the camera work and editing work. 

Production: Editing Day 2

Due to lost time on the first day of editing, cutting shots to fit the timescale planned before-hand had to be delayed until the second day of editing. Due to the sound sourcing done on the first day of editing, we firstly imported all sound effects/soundtracks that Amber and I felt would be ideal for our short film. These sound effects/soundtracks range from ambient horror sound to sounds of crying/laughing children and heavy wind.

After reviewing our first sequence, we then began to trim each shot to the correct timescale set when we created the storyboard, whilst also adding in extra shots that we had not intended to use. We planned extra shots whilst filming as we believed that it would be ideal in order to emphasise the portrayal of comfort within the home, however, did not intend to use them in case of the opening being to tedious and not connoting the horror genre as well as the idea of comfort. We feel that the extra shots we've added to not cause the film to gain a monotonous tone and help establish this comfortable feel and so have been added to the opening sequence of the film.

Production: Filming Day 2 & 3

Day 2 of filming was intended to be used for shots 11 through 20 on our storyboard. Sadly, due to the issues of my scheduled haircut, many of the shots from the first filming day had to be re-done, and so this day was dedicated to completing this re-shoot. This effectedc the eventual storyboard plan as we had to plan a new day to cover the next scenes.

Day 3 then became what was meant to be filmed on day 2, with shots 11 through 20 being shot on this day. As with all the other filming days, it was essential for me to film as many scenes that I am not in as possible in order to gain exprience and take some pressure off of Amber doing all filming. We believe that we completed the tasks set for us will multiple versions of each shot taken in order for Amber and I to have a selection of shots to choose from.

The final task of the day was to figure out what items we would use for the next day of filming (Day 4), which was dedicated to filming the final 10 shots of the film. This included the scenes involving moving objects. For this, we decided to use a child's pram and doll as the haunting feature as it was A) synonymous with young child's play and B) a practical item to be able to move using the thin, invisible fishing line that Amber had obtained. Reason B was also the same reason for using a door for the paranormal events.

Production: 1/12/2016

Today's production lesson involved the first audience feedback on the first 1 minute and 35 seconds of our short film, where constructive critisism was given in order for Amber and I to improve our work. When presenting our work, issues with sound meant that we could not show the beginning of our short film with the sound implemented before-hand. Amber and I both believed this would hamper the portrayal of our horror as the sounds used do connote the horror genre as well as lighting in the opening of our short.

The feedback given on our short is that our lighting does connote the horror genre well and that we have used a wide variety of camera shots/movements as asked for in the brief. For improvements. many believed that more could've been done with mise en scene and camera shots such as close-ups to portray a horror atmosphere, as it is considered to slow paced and comfortable for a horror short film. Amber and I have both taken this feedback and planned out new shots, such as close-ups on the protagonist to show feelings of fear or claustraphobia in our short; however, we are yet to update our mise en scene to fit the horror genre as suggested.

Production: Sound

As mentioned before in the sound sourcing section of my planning, Amber and I were both undecided on whether we would use sound effects in our film based on our idea that the diagetic and ambient sound would set the tone of the short film. However, after watching our first draft of the opening scenes, we decided that sound would allow for us to portray the tone of each scene better than if we just used the sound made in the scene itself.

We have both found a copyright-free sound effects/music website named Freesound which allows us to download a range of professional and amateur sound effects. All the sound effects that we feel are neccessary will be downloaded from this website as there is a huge range of sounds to choose from. The effects that we feel are neccessary for our production include creepy background noises such as a child's laughter or a child crying, or other effects surrounding children's activities such as nursery rhymes and children's toys.

The sound used in the opening scene reflects the idea that silence builds the tension within the scene. Our opening scenes all contain a backing track that has an ominous tone to it, which is then cut short by the sound of a falling object. After this occurs, all fades to silence so that the audience will focus mainly on the actions of the protagonist and their expressions of worry in this scene.

Below is an example of non-diagetic soundtrack that we will use in the production of our short film:

Production: Editing Day 1

After the first day of filming was complete, we began the editing phase of our production process. The first day of editing was focused primarily on creating a sequence of shots that would be considered the opening sequence leading into the development of the fear. We began by importing all footage and photos taken on the first day of filming to the desktop computer, which were then imported into the Adobe Premiere Pro editing software.

Our editing style for our first draft consisted of fitting together a sequence of shots in the correct order, without cutting the shots down into the correct positions. This was so that we could focus solely on matching our storyboard concept as well as possible; we would then worry about fine-tuning the piece afterwards to avoid getting less footage into the sequence than intended.

Due to issues with computers and the power in the workroom, we had less time to import the footage and create the sequence. Whilst we completed this, we felt that we did not have the time to edit the length of each shot, therefore, we felt our time would be better spent sourcing sound for our short film (see http://aidansa2.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/production-sound.html for the information on this task). We also spent time at the end of the lesson filtering through the ancillary pictures we took and both Amber and I selected our favourites and sent them to ourselves in order to continue on our ancillary product.

Production: Filming Day 1 (04/11/2016)

For our first day of filming, Amber and I decided to begin filming the earlier scenes in the short film as we had planned to do in our shot schedule. We also decided that it would be ideal for us to test out shots in different lights and locations throughout the house, as this could give us some new ideas for extra/new shots with inventive lighting. The first 10 scenes (excluding the opening establishing shot due to the outside lighting being to dark for the character to be seen when we filmed) we shot, equating to around 1 minute and 15 seconds of footage.

We also took the filming day to shoot some possible photos for both mine and Amber's ancillary posters. Many different shots were taken in order for both of us to have a large selection of poster pictures to choose from (see right of post for ancillary option).

In terms of issues with our first day, since the first shoot I have had my hair cut, so unless we can incorporate a hair cut of the main character into the plot, then we will need to re-shoot the shots where my hair cut is visible. Also, certain shots contain moments where the camera loses focus and so these will need to be re-shot as well.