FM2: Horror Genre - 28 Days Later (further reading)

Print this PDF out and use the production notes for revision:
http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/28dayslater/downloads/28dl_ProdNotes.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/28_Days_Later
http://www.metacritic.com/movie/28-days-later/critic-reviews
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/may/06/features.review

FM1 Film Production - Reflective Analysis

The reflective analysis should be approximately 750 words (or equivalent).

You should give the title, genre and a short synopsis of your film.  Next, you should explain what your aims were before you started making it, particularly in terms of film language (micro features - camerawork, editing, sound, mise-en-scene).  You also need to explain your role if you were in a group.

The reflective analysis should select key micro features of the sequence and demonstrate how they make meaning(s) and aim to provoke response(s) in audiences.  You can refer to influential films and techniques you have encountered when watching and studying film.  You should use some audience feedback to assess how successfully you have been in creating meanings.

The analysis will be presented in a digital form such as a blog.  You may type your reflective analysis and add it to your blog with screenshots from the film, or you can record a 'director's commentary' and edit it over screenshots and video from your film and upload it to the blog.  Alternatively, we can video an interview with your group where I ask you questions about your film.

Here is an example of a typed analysis:

The title of our film sequence is entitled "What Lies Ahead" and the genre is a psychological thriller.  We chose this genre as we believed that it would lead to various enigmas as to what would occur. My individual role was directing the film, with a shared role of both editing and choosing sound.  Our film is about a teenage girl who is travelling home, but decides to take a detour and venture through the local orchards. On her travels she passes by a 'stalker' who is hiding behind some trees. When she is finally aware of him it is too late and so she must try to scurry away from him as quick as she can, but is it really that simple?

Our general aim of the project was to create high levels of tension and build suspense through the micro-features of camerawork and sound. We managed to do this by devising a storyboard  where we experimented with various ideas and then agreed when and where would be appropriate to use them. An example being the use of close-ups on the character's faces to show the emotions they were experiencing and to  heighten  the audiences emotional impact. We considered the location of our film and when to shoot it. In order to create a suspenseful atmosphere to the film we decided to use somewhere isolated and quite spooky - which is why we chose the orchard's as the location was able to convey typical conventions of horror.

One of the key micro-features we wanted to use to create meaning and provoke responses was camerawork. Our feedback states that the spectators liked the range of shots we used (such as canted angles and establishing shots) at the beginning of the sequence as it was able to build tension and add a climax to the film. This was something we were aiming for as it made the spectators uneasy from the beginning of the sequence and question what would occur. The use of the hand-held camera was quite effective, as there were no juddered movements within the sequence and it didn't make the quality of our filming look poor. However, I feel as though it lacked focus in some aspects and the image often appeared 'blurry'. This wasn't an intentional move, but it added a dystopian atmosphere to the sequence. This links in with when the girl is running away from the stalker. We thought that by using a point-of-view shot, the audiences emotional connection would increase as they'd be able to identify the worry and fear within the character's eyes. However, this was out of our control as our chosen actors let us down a bit due to the expressions they were showing at the time, for example the girl was smiling whilst being chased by the stalker. This meant that the audience may not feel have felt that this was a realistic storyline and perhaps question the seriousness of the characters.

We decided to add in transitions, such as fade in and fade to black in order to separate aspects of our sequence up. We felt as though it would make the storyline easier to follow if it was 'broken up', and that spectators would be able to understand it better without getting bored or unsure of it. This statement is supported by the audience's feedback: they state that "they were able to understand the plot of the sequence, yet towards the end they were a bit unsure as to what had happened to the girl". If I was given the chance to make amendments to the film I would make sure that the ending of the sequence was clear and concise, and that it informed the audience as to what had happened. I felt that the sound we included within the sequence created an atmosphere that was both nightmarish, yet dreamy which made myself as a spectator feel quite worried and uneasy from the beginning of the sequence. I got this idea from a fictional horror game called "Slenderman". The heartbeat, crunching of the leaves, and footsteps added a dramatic climax to the sequence, as it made certain members of the audience have more of a personal involvement as one individual stated that it "made her heart pound".

Overall, I was rather pleased with our film sequence as it was able to meet our criteria: to build suspense and tension at all times. Both the camerawork, editing and sound added to this atmosphere and made the spectators worried and uneasy from the start, which was a feeling we wanted to provoke within our sequence. In the future, I would consider the types of actors that I would use as their expressions made the sequence less believable and spectatorship dropped because of this.

Word Count: 794  

Film Production - examples of student films

http://www.youtube.com/user/wjecstudentspace?feature=watch