The Hunt (final copy)

Snapshot from our film

Heres a snapshot from our film, its a wide shot used about half way through our film. We decided to use this shot as it establishes the scene well for the audience. We felt it necessary to show the whole scene to the audience, so they get an idea of where everything is in the scene. Most of the scenes prior to this had been close ups of the body, detective and Mise-en-scene (props). With this wide shot it shows everything in proportion and shows how its located within the bounds of our location.

attempted editing

Recently me and Tom  have started editing our film. We're only in the early stage of editing our film and there are a few changes that need to be made. Firstly we concluded that after editing the clips we had, we needed to film more. After cutting and merging clips together we learnt that we were 20 seconds short of what is needed. We also concluded that we needed better quality of clips that we had, so we decided from this that we were going to film some more. We are yet to edit the more complicated aspects, like editing the titles into the film. Overall the first editing session of our film was a success however there are a few changes to be made and stuff that needs adding.

7) evaluative questions soundclip

6) evaluative question prezi

5) evaluative question powtoon

4) Evaluative questions powerpoint

4) Who is the main target audience for your target audience from alecjetha

3) Evaluative question comic strip

2) Evaluative question photo sequence

1) Evaluation news article

1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?  (In the form of a newspaper article)

The Hunt, How Does it Compare to Other films?

 

With the new thriller film ‘The Hunt’ out this week, we look at how it compares to other film openings. The films directors Tom Edwards and Alec Jetha have been heavily influenced by other psychological thrillers such as 'Se7en'. With director Alec Jetha saying "Our film puts the audience on edge and uses no dialogue in the opening to keep the narrative mysterious." 

'The Hunt' opens with many different camera angles and shots to provide a good viewing for the audience. "This was important for us as we felt we needed some way of telling the narrative to our audience without dialogue, we tried to maximize our use of props and mise en scene" stated Tom Edwards.  The opening of 'The Hunt' also uses a soundtrack like many other film openings. The films directors felt that using an eerie sound opening would have an impact on the audience. This technique was similar to other film openings such as 'Se7en', 'Silence Of The Lambs' and 'The Godfather'.

The font of the films title and opening credits also fitted the conventions of a psychological thriller. The font again compares to other films such as 'Se7en'. We can see that Tom Edwards and Alec Jetha have many comparisons to conventions of real media products. Evidence of this is with the use of a soundtrack, mise-en-scene, titles and font type.


However, we can also see some ways in which 'The Hunt' challenges forms and conventions of other media products. This is because of the facilities the directors had. Other products have had the luxury of a high budget. This is something Alec Jetha and Tom Edwards did not have. This meant that they could  not use paid actors or vast amount of props. 

music possibillity

Another soundtrack we intended to use for our film. We decided to include this in the list of possibilities for our film because of the creepy eerie tone it has. The piece is slow and gloomy and would fit perfectly with our first scene in the film.

music posibilities

The strangers is a strong possibility of what we are using for our film as a soundtrack. Firstly like the previous soundtrack I posted, it has the same features that makes it perfect for our first film. It contains eerie and mysterious sounds which build up the tension and the audience questioning on why the dead body is there. It is also the perfect timing as its 2 minutes which made it easier to edit. However what makes it different and perfect is how the soundtrack transitions. Mid way through the soundtrack thus music slowly transitions into more dramatic music. Eventually the music builds and builds and the tension becomes dramatic and intense which is perfect for our chase scene.

UPDATE: We decided that this was the perfect soundtrack for our film. The timing of the soundtrack perfectly fits our film the transition of the soundtrack fits the transition of the way the film becomes more tense.

music possibilities

After listening to this (free non copyrighted) soundtrack i decided it could be a possibility for our film. The eerie calm but creepy sound could be perfect for our first scene in our film. This is because during this first scene there is a sense of mystery and gloom. During this scene the audience are disorientated and clueless of what is going on and this music will emphasize this. It will make them wonder on what is going on and the music will build up the tension of them questioning why there is a dead body center scene.

Final cast list

detective 1-Tom Edwards

victim-Adam pedley

killer- Alec jetha

-certain characters and actors were changed due to problem with cast

examples of camera angels we used

Budget for our film

Looking at the cost our film, i have broken down the budget by how much everything is. Taking into consideration that our film is an amateur film, our budget is going to be very low.

Here the budget broken down bit by bit

mask: £5-£15
prop knife or weapon: £3-£10
set of plastic disposable gloves: ££1-£2
notepad:£1-£3

The camera we are using is paid for by the media department so the cost is covered. The set is a local public park so its free to use for filming. Costumes are actors own cost is covered. No makeup is needed. Also the digital camera being used as a prop is paid for. In conclusion the film will cost no more than £15-£25.
 

Inspiration

After we decided to cut dialogue from our film we decided to emphasize on the mise-en-scene aspect of our film, to tell the story. This scene is a great example of this, the scene taken from the wire a crime tv show. The scene is a crime scene investigation, which has little or no dialogue. It emphasizes the mise-en-scene to tell the story rather than using dialogue, this is a perfect example as we wanted to do this for our scene.

Changes we have decided to make

After our first filming session we have decided to cut a few things from our film:

-we are getting rid of most dialogue as we felt it would be better to focus on the cinematography and mis-en-scene

-We have decided to change a few aspects of mis-en-scene, by including more props and changing some that were already there

-We changed locations from Jubilee park to Tootswood park

Mise-en-scene improvements: mask

Mask
After recent feedback on my film, i discovered that feedback suggested we should change some of ours props to improve our Mis-en-scene. This is because they felt that the mask was too cliche and has been over used in other films before. For this reason I felt we needed to take a unique approach towards the appearance of the killer, this meant using a more original mask. After looking at several different ideas of masked serial killers, I noticed some original ideas.

-Michael Myers, a very original idea. A mask which represents a human face, creates more of a creepy and disturbing feel about the killer.

    -Scream, the mask which looks like a ghostly face screaming. Gives the idea that the victims are being murdered by a spirit, not and actual human which shrouds the killers identity but makes him/her more terrifying.
      -Hannibal lector, the mask was placed on the killer almost as a "muzzle" because of his reputation of eating people. However the mask creates a scary persona, as it hides the mouth and emphasizes the eyes, it highlights the animalistic and disturbing look hannbibal has.

Mise-en-scene analysis and improvements

After we presented our ideas to other experts, the said that one our main areas we need to improve on is Mise-en-scene. The feedback stated that our props that we used were too cliche and not original enough. For this reason I will look at different ideas for what props we could incorporate to our film to add originality. I will mainly be focusing on specific props in our film such as, the killers weapon and the mask for the serial killer. Here are some ideas below.

 

Feedback from Presentation

WWW:

-Location was a good idea positive feedback on our choice on where we decided to shoo the film

-Positive feedback on the title of our film, people were happy with the way it related to our films plot and genre.

- Positive feedback on the plot line, people liked he fact that the story line was simple and fit the thriller genre

EBI:

- Mise-en-scene could be improved, people felt that the knife and the hockey masked we decided to use was too cliche and we should use more original props

- With casting there could be more detail, should go into more detail about why we casted the people to the certain characters.

-We should of gone into more detail about why we picked the Thriller genre

The hunt presentation about my film

Movie company logos

Target audience

Possible loaction ideas

Here is another picture I took of a possible location idea for our film. It is again Jubilee park, however in a lightly different location. Again for the same reasons its a good location for our first scene. However there are a couple of things which make it slightly better. The fact that its near a couple of trees, make it seem more likely for a murder to take place, also this would allow for us to a get good pov shot from the serial killer.

Update: as previously mentioned we decided not to used this location

Possible Location ideas

Here is a picture I took of a possible location we could use in filming one of our scenes. The location is useful as it has a large clearing then woods behind it perfect for our first scene. Which involves a dead body being examined by a detective. This big clearing would have been perfect for our opening scene because it would of allowed us to get all the shots we needed the wide, open, secluded space would allow us to get the right framing for shots like, wide shots. Also it being a quiet secluded location it, fitted the genre conventions.

Update: we decided not to use this location as it was inconvenient, due to where it was located. Also the weather conditions made it hard for us to travel through this location. In the end we chose a location that was more convenient as it was more local and it was easy to bare considering the weather conditions.

Audio log #1:Explanation

casting for our film

cast list:

Here is the final cast list for our film

Detective 1: Tom Edwards

Detective 2: Luke Watson

Victim: Adam Pedley

Murderer/Masked man: Alec jetha

analysing music from thrillers

For my own film I will be analysing different soundtracks from thriller films and talking about what makes them good for that film, to get an idea of music I can apply to my own thriller film. I looked at several different types of films that the music was from. So I looked at music form a suspense thriller and a psychological thriller, just so i can see what is perfect when i decide to chose the type of thriller for my film. This is a necessary topic to study as i believe that music in a film is so vital for creating the perfect atmosphere in a film. Our film isn't  going to have lots of dialogue so it necessary that the music we use is perfect for the atmosphere and fits the conventions of our film. See below for different pieces I have analysed.

This soundtrack is taken from the cult classic thriller, Psycho. The score is perfect for a suspense thriller. The way the track is jumpy really builds up the tension throughout, it portrays danger and tension as the track slowly builds but at the same time is un nerving. The way the composer has used the violin is the one of the main things in this track which creates the tension. The sharp noise from the violin at the end of the track is perfect, the sharp eerie sound creates the idea that the something bad or disturbing is happening.

analysing music from thiller films

Although this is slightly different from the typical eerie, tone of most thriller scores I think this is a perfect track for a thriller for several aspects. The way this track slowly builds up conveys suspension throughout, the music gets more jumpy and intense with addition of more and more instruments. As it builds up it almost feels like the tension gets greater and greater. The way the music starts calm and slowly looses control creating anarchy, paints the scene itself. Overall this a great track for a scene which contains suspense and high tension.

Analysing music from thriller films

Looking at soundtracks from thriller films, the score from the beginning of se7en is a perfect example of a typical thriller soundtrack. It conveys the thriller conventions perfectly. The eerie mysterious drone fits perfectly with the murder thriller vibe. The random, jumpy high pitch sounds are perfect for portraying the explosive tension thrillers contain. The slow build up that starts to get increasingly faster also does this. 

TEMPLATE script for the hunt

Characters

Detective 1:Frank Harris

Detective 2 (partner):Isaac Rogers

Killer:Masked man (unnamed)

Victim:Tim Robbins

(shot opens with the main title, The Hunt. Then fades to dead body while titles appear, detectives start to talk and it cuts to the two detectives standing over the body)

D1: What  time was it called in?

D2: Around 6 am, man walking his dog saw his body laying by the river side.

D1: The body looks no older than 18, you got ID on the victim?

D2: His name,Tim Robbins 17 years old, attended Woodsbury secondary school and lives with his parents Jane and Ben Robbins just down the road from here

D1: Have his parents been informed?

D2: Yeah they said they last saw at around 8pm last night, he stormed out after an argument

D1: Right ok, we'll speak to them later. (short pause detective looks at body)

D1: He's got multiple stab wounds on his back, there are finger marks below his chin. (cuts to next scene where victim is walking walking through the woods

D1: Victim was likely to be alone in the woods, killer followed him, grabbed him from behind by the neck and stabbed him multiple times, from the tracks it looks like the killer then dragged the body and left it here ( All is a voice over while a flashback of the killing occurs)

(cuts back to the detectives)
D2: Ok well I need to head back to the station and file a report you coming ?
D1: Nah I see you there later, I've got a couple of jobs need doing home
D2: Ok Frank I'll see you later
(scene cuts to the killer looking at the two detectives, then as the detectives are walking the killer watches them in the background)

 

 

Shooting Schedule

- Sunday 16th February: Look over locations to make sure they are in good condition. Make any changes if needed. 

- The cast consists of a total of 4 people. Alec Jetha, Tom Edwards and two other students(casting unfinished)

- We shall be shooting in the early hours of the day. This is because it maximizes the time we have to shoot and it fits in with the narrative of our story. Also it allows for a less intervention as we are shooting in a public place ,shooting in the morning we are less likely to run in with people.

- The shooting shall consist of the week of half term (Monday 17th February- Friday 22nd February) 

- Any extra additions to the film or changes shall be filmed after half term. Deadline is on the 10th of March

- Editing shall be done as soon as possible after we are happy with the shots. 

The hunt movie title

This is the title for our film it will appear at the beggining

The hunt story board

Film title research

Thriller and horror film mood board

Horror movie and thriller characters

research

Me and my partner Tom Edwards have been carrying out research for our media project. We had been sketching up our ideas in the form of mind maps here is an example.