Constantine Analysis

At the start of this film is shows the warner brothers logo. This shows that this film is produced by warner brothers. The production company is usually always at the beginning of the film to show the audience who it is produced by.

 The next scene changes. It then shows the warner brothers logo, changing into a dusty scary bloody logo. This indicates instantly that its a horror movie and it shows that the movie could be about hell as it looks like the production logo is going through hell. It could also mean that in the film there is going to be a demon of some sort of a curse.

 

We are then presented with some text in the film. it sort of tells the audience a little glimpse of the story of the film. it said that "he who possesses the spear of destiny holds the fate of the world in his hands". And also that whatever the spear of destiny is, its been missing for a long time. this could show that in this film, someone could find the spear of destiny and the film could be based around that. the word 'possesses' sounds scary, and sort of demon like which relates back to the previous slide.

 

 

 

 The next scene, shows a dusty place and it shows us that the film is based in Mexico. The way its all dusty and dirty relates back to the scene of the warner brothers logo going through hell. this could show that something bad could happen here. also in this scene you can see Crosses near the top of the picture on top of rubble, this could also go back to the hell meaning and a scent of evil.  

 

 

 

The next scene shows a wide angle shot of two men. they seem to be looking/digging for something. they have dirty clothes on and no shows which could show that they could be looking for money or things that are worth money because they seem to be abit poor. the scene also shows that they are in a dusty dirty place still and that something could happen. The man wearing red instantly stands out which makes us think that something could happen to this character.

 

 

 This next shot, shortly after shows that the man may of found something. in the actual film opening his foot slips down into a hole and this shows him trying to find something. you can tell that he is rapidly trying to find something because of the way the dust is flying up behind and in front of him. also he has got on his hands and knees where as before in the previous scene he was on his feet bent down.

 

 

This is a low level shot of the man in the red top looking into the hole. the way that the hole is quite dark, it looks like it hasnt been open for a while and that something could be in there. the expression on the mans face shows that he is quite surprised/intrigued as to what he could of found.

These two shots show the man in the red top holding something that he has picked out of the hole. His face looks smug because he knows that he could have found the spear of destiny. Also in the top right hand corner of the picture is a cross, this could possibly link back to previous slides where the thought of a demon/hell came into the theme.

This next scene, straight after the previous one of him finding something, shows a close up of what he's found in the red cloth. It appears to be a spear, so we now learn that he has found the spear of destiny and the story of the film could begin here.

Preliminary Task Evaluation

In our preliminary task we covered all the shot angles that we were asked to cover. These were, 180 degree shot, match on action and shot reverse shot. It was good that we all got to practise these shots properly in a film so we were ready for the real thing. We all got a taster of working together in a group for an exercise that will lead to our final film. I think the task went well and we all worked together well, we all swapped roles at one point as Hollie wanted to become camera man as Dan wasnt able to pick up on how to get the shots how we wanted them. The storyline of our preliminary task was that alex (man character) was being interviewed for a job. the intention was that this was to go bad and alex was not to get the job as he couldnt answer any of the questions properly with the specific information we needed as interviewees.

Possible Production Names And Logos

After brainstorming ideas for names we came across many problems as everything we suggested was already a production company. So we had to think of something original and unique.
Some of the research we did was of different synonyms of relative words to do with the horror genre.
However, after extensive research, we found that a lot of these synonyms were already used for other production companies, whether it be a large mainstream one, or a budget company.
We came up with the idea of 'Shallow Grave Studios'. At first we thought this was quite a good idea but one of the group members said it was too long as a name, we thought that something a bit shorter which was a bit more catchy would be better. We all agreed that we would change the name and we decided upon 'Tombstone Productions'.
Tombstone Productions suited our brief because it was shorter and it was more catchy so we decided, as a group, to keep it.

Possible logos we thought of;

Questionnaire and Results

 

 

Me and my group produced a questionnaire to find out a little bit more about the general publics take on Horror films. Here is the Questionnaire that we gave to people to fill in.

 

As you can see we asked a wide range of ages on this questionnaire. We mostly asked people 16 and above as we thought that people in this age range were more likely to watch horror films. Also because our film will probably be targeted at ages 16 and above.









We tried to ask females and males equally but found that we had actually asked more females than males. We wanted to ask both females and males because our film is going to be targeted at both genders and not just one.












We then asked if they watched horror films. We found that most of the people we asked said yes and only a small chunk said no.











If the people answered 'yes' then they were asked a few more questions. We then asked how often they watch then. We found that most people watched horror films between 0 and 3 times a week.







 

Then we asked what horror genre they mostly watch to see what was most popular. As you can see, paranormal horror is most popular. We will think about this when producing our film.







We found out that most poeple will watch horror films at home.










 


Most poeple will watch horror films with other people such as their friends. So we need to think about all of the different types of poeple that will be watching the horror film and try to make it for everyone.










We asked people how they feel when watching a horror film. The most popular emotion we found was 'scared' and 'excited'. This did not come as a surprise to us. In our film we are going to try to create these emotions.




 



From these findings we found that most people watch films at night. We decided this was because this helps set a scary atmosphere.






 

 


We found that most females are scared of male characters. We have found that most characters that play the villan are male and the victims are usually female this is probably why we have found these results.






Lastly we asked what type of character scares them the most. We found that a Demon/Ghost would scare most people the most. We will think about this when we are creating our film.







We carried out a questionnaire so we could find out more about our target audience. We wanted to find out what they were most scared off and what they would want to see in a horror film so we could add it in our film. From the results we can now see what our target audience prefer and we can now add this information into our film so that we know that people will actually watch it and get scared.

Editing Worksheet

What does Editing do? - Editing becomes a great feature when making a film. It allows you to add in things that werent in the original film. Editing also allows you to cut pieces of the film that you need and dont need, for instance if you think that either the beginning or end of a scene needs shortening then an editing program allows you to cut these to the specific length that you need. Editing can let you change the colour of specific scenes aswell. If you wanted some scenes to look as if they're going back in time you can add a grey scale effect, which will turn your scene black and white to add an effect. Whilst other scenes you can just change the contrast of the lighting and change different scenes in the film to fit the genre you are focusing on.

How does it work? -  Editing works by going onto a special programme on the computer and choosing which parts you want to edit. The only Editing programme i have used recently is windows movie maker which is already on the computer i was using and was pretty easy to use. Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible and film media used to convey information.

Describe each of the following editing terms;
Cut -  This is the splitting of two shots together. This is made by editing a specific scene at the editing stage of a film. Between the scenes the cut makes a rapid transition between one time and space of another.

Dissolve - Dissolve is when one shot type fades out and another fades in. This type of transition, which is known also as a soft transition (as opposed to the cut), suggests a longer passage of time than a cut.

Fade - Fade/ Fade in is used to bring closure to the scene.

Jump Cut - A jump cut is a cut in editing. This is when two shots of the same subject are taken from slightly different camera angles. This give us the effect of jumping forward in time.

How does the shot reverse shot help the narrative or generate meaning? - a shot reverse shot is generally used in a conversation in a scene, this helps the audience to see both characters and understand what they're both doing/saying.

Why is a 180 degree rule important? - A 180 degree shot is important and well used in scenes as it shows both characters, and what they're both saying. you can also see the facial expression on their faces well when the other is speaking.

How and why is the point of view shot used? - The point of view shot is usually used in a sequence in the scene, it can show a close up of the character looking at something, then the camera will go back and focus on the thing that the character was looking at. This shot is just usually shown in scenes to show what the character is looking at and to make it look like the camera is the characters eyes.

How else can the point of view shot be used? - The point of view shot can also be used and created by using a camera or mobile phone. You can change the way that you hold it, and possibly shake the camera to fit the right scene in your film to emphasize something happening in the scene that could try and grab the audience's attention.

What is parallel or cross cut editing? - Cross cut or parallel editing, is when two scenes are taking place at the same time. The same two shots can be seen in the scene, but both of them are slightly faded to enable different colours to be distinguished.

What editing techniques are used to generate suspense? - different editing techniques can be used to create suspense in a film, such as different sounds and different colours. you can change the colour effect of the scene to fit a specific theme you are going for. for example if you want the scene to look like its going back in time you can change the colour of the scene to black and white which makes it abit more realistic.

Explain how the mouse sequence creates tension? - the mouse sequence in that specific part of the film creates tension as its all very quiet which engages the audience as they dont know what to expect next. the dialogue in this scene when the boy says 'whos there' makes the audience think that there is something else there but we just cant see anything which makes them more intrigued as to what it could be.the shot reverse shot shows a close up of the boys face and he looks scared, we also notice that there is nothing there which shows a fear of the unknown effect. the fact that the scene is so quiet at this point build tension. We are then cut to the 'jump scene' of the mouse suddenly being shown which scares us as we knew something was going to happen.

Why is timing important in editing? - timing is important in editing because if you dont get the right timing, the film wont look right and it wont work with the specific editing you are trying to achieve.

Explain in your own words what the continuity system is? -The continuity system is a form of editing that makes the transitions are 'invisible'. They're intended to make the film run as smoothly as possible, the cut from one shot to the next is discrete, hence, this doesn't draw your attention to the editing that has been done.

Why does editing strive to be invisible? - Its better that the editing is invisible, because then it looks more professional, and to an audience it doesnt look like its been edited.