After looking at a large selection of fonts, on http://www.1001freefonts.com/ , we narrowed down our options to:

We chose these because they all seemed fairly sinister with 'Barbed Type' being similar to the 'Twisted Pictures' logo who make the 'Saw' films. In the end though, we decided we didnt want to be too similar to saw as our film is more of a thriller than an all-out gorey horror movie. The font we decided to go with in the end was '1942 Report' as this font look sort of old and dingey, much like the set for our sequence. It's also quite out-of-line with parts seeming to be uneven which accentuates the unnerving feel of the sequence altogether.

Actual Shoot Reflections

After the first real shoot, we discovered a few things that will need to be foxed on the next shoot

• We have got to keep track of the shooting script and storyboard and not just decide on random shots - This could have saved us a lot of time that we spent just milling around and deciding there and then what the next shot should be.
  
• We need to use the whiteboard more effectively. We struggled when we were trying to edit the clips to find which was the best take. This is also due to not using the shot log as much as we should have!
  
• Stop messing around and wasting so much time! This was a MASSIVE problem. We had too many distractions there and we could have gotten so much more footage if we'd just been a bit more focused.
  
• Have less helpers. This was really the main distraction. They really helped when we were moving the stuff in the basement at the beginning and end but during the shoot they didn't have much to do so tended to muck around which made us less focused.
• We really need to make sure when we can move the stuff in the basement. We did it without asking and this resulted in some very angry caretakers! So we ended up having to move it back and then move it again later for the shoot.
• We also managed to break a light filter. This was due to a combination of carelessness and stupidity. We ended up leaving the lights on unnecessarily for too long then when packing up, the filter was too hot to handle and its easy to tell what happened next...
  
• OVERALL make much better use of the time we have and be a bit more careful with equipment.
  

Indy Mogul

I was doing some research on how to create realistic wound effects on the internet and I found the site www.indymogul.com it's really helpful with trying to make convincing effects on a low budget. It's easy to get hold of the materials they use too. Some of the tutorials on this site are very big-scale like making a 'swamp monster' costume or doing things for Sci-Fi movies so it takes a while to sift through that but there is a lot of interesting things to do such as decpitating someone or ripping their heart out if we were creating an extremely gorey horror movie.

Test Shoot - 24th November 2008

After filming the test shoot, the initial idea of having the killer having a very childish mind with not a lot of creepy habits etc. we looked at the footage and thought this seemed like a real cliche with it being exactly what the audience expect. We decided to change the killer and make him seem as normal as possible so he'd come in and be really friendly to the victim and treat him kinda like he'd in a hotel but then he'll have an evil streak and suddenly switch to being violent and aggressive... I personally really liked the location. The school basement was a perfect place for the shoot. It has a small window to the outside and can easily be made into pitch darkness. This is really helpful as, although we have limited space available there, the darkness is really easy to disorientate the audience so it can seem bigger and we can have more victims in different places. I also really liked the door to the basement, it was conveniently very dusty which gave a really nice effect with the blue light behind it. It made the door glow blue whichset it up really well for the shot with the hand banging against the window (above).

We originally saw our opening as being similar to the Saw films, being kinda gruesome with someone trapped knowing they are in a bad situation. I think it is still quite similar but the killer is much more accessible and easy to relate someone to. It seems as though it could be anyone that has a killer streak, you just dont know... So rather than having a distinctive characteristic like a mask or something, he is more like 'Dexter' from the TV series. Where noone ever suspects him of being a killer...

Preliminary Exercise Group 1 12E Stroppy Media Student

Scripting - Oceans 11

RUSTY
I need a reason. And don't say
money.

(beat)

Why do this?

DANNY
Why not do it?

Rusty stares at him: enough bullshitting around.

DANNY
Because yesterday I walked out of
the joint wearing my entire
wardrobe and you're colddecking
TeenBeat coverboys.

(beat)

Because the house always wins.
You play long enough, never
changing stakes, the house takes
you. Unless, when that special
hand comes around, you bet big.
And then you take the house.

(beat)

Rusty smiles.

RUSTY
You're been practicing that
speech, haven't you?

DANNY
A little. Did I rush it? It felt
like I rushed it.

RUSTY
No, it was good.

RUSTY
I wonder what Reuben will say?

I like this portion of the script of Oceans 11 (Steven Soderbergh, 2001) between Rusty and Danny. This is where they seem to be having a very serious conversation where it seems as though Rusty is doubting Danny. The first line 'and don't say money' shows they have a long history together and that they are obviously good friends as he can tell what Danny is going to say. This gives the audience an insight into their relationship. In the film they tend to finish eachothers sentences such as in here and tend to use eachothers words 'why do it?' 'why not do it?'. This really shows how they are so closely connected. The tension begins to build up at this point where Danny begins his speech about why they should do it. He begins by attempting to make Rusty feel sorry for him 'wearing my entire wardrobe', he then continues to say about the 'house' always winning. This is using language specific to the film as it is entirely about the casino robbery. This shows they are in the know about gambling and this kind of thing. This gives the audience some insight into how detailed the plan may be too. This bit, where Danny talks very seriously seems to slow down the pace slightly, as though he is making a real motivating speech but then this is all ruined when Rusty says 'You've been practicing that speech, haven't you?' obviously knowing him so well that he wouldn't come up with that off the top of his head. This creates some humour in the scene and shows the audience how these 2 characters are incredbily close and it'll take a lot more than that to come between them. When Danny replies with 'A little. Did I rush it? It felt like I rushed it.' he knew Rusty was going to say that and seemed to have been trying it out on him so as a way to convince all the rest of the team. This scene, being right at the beginning of the film, gives the audience a real insight into their relationship and just how close they are and why they are likely to succeed.

Costumes and Makeup

In horror films, costume and make-up is a necessity to make it convincing and continuing the suspension of disbelief long enough to create a shock for the audience. Most of the iconic horror movies have a very distinctive costume for the main character. In films 'The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)' and 'Friday the 13th (Sean S. Cunningham, 1980)', the characters being so distinctive is what makes the film unique and different from other films. This gives the characters individuality in a genre that has the potential to have a lot of very similar storylines revolving around things like murderers, ghosts, zombies etc. Also, if in a film such as 'Dawn of the Dead (George A. Romero, 1978) where there a a large number of zombies, the audience wouldn't be nearly as terrfied as if they were just plain people acting in that way. The makeup and costume reinforces the impact the character is supposed to make along with the actual acting itself. There are some cases where costume and makeup is so extreme in a horror movie, just to create a terrifying effect. Although, these films are likely to cross over with sci-fi such as 'Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)' or 'Predator (John McTiernan, 1987)'. There are some films, however, where such dramatic use of makeup or costume isn't needed, inc ases where a character 'turns' bad or is supposed to look ordinary, an example of this is films such as 'The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)' or 'Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)' In horror films, there is usually a lot of gore