ROUGH CUT 1

After filming all of our scenes, we compiled an initial rough cut, focusing on the shots and editing, and excluding sound, titles, idents and effects. 

To improve the scene, we got audience feedback from my parents, as they fall under the 25-44+ category, which is our secondary target audience. However, they are not big fans of horror so some references and elements could potentially not be picked up. 

Summary: 

What were your initial impressions of the rough cut?

- Liked the burial scene, and thought skirt on soil created narrative enigma (Barthes) surrounding the identities of the killer and victim

- Liked the POV mirror shot from the locker scene

- Atmospheric setting during forest scene

- Difficulty following dialogue due to clarity

- Liked the shot through the trees in the forest

Are there any specific areas that need improvement?

- Dialogue during street scene was unnatural, should be rerecorded 

- Shouldn't change dialogue too much, maintain verisimilitude as that is how teenagers speak

Were there any elements of intertextuality you noticed?

- The character Norman like Norman Bates from Psycho

What could we include to appeal to your age group? Is anything appealing already?

- The inclusion of an older character (parent, teacher, family member, authority figure), to add depth and a backstory

- Allows for personal identification (UGT) within the secondary audience

What would you consider to be the target audience for the film?

- The primary audience as teenage boys, as they are more interested in horror and violence, and girls as secondary

- Teenage boys would be more interested in watching teenage girls in a film (male gaze)

- Teenagers ranging from 12-18

- With a certification of 16+ (BBFC 15)

Université Populaire Du Cinema

As a collaboration between the University of Luxembourg, and the Cinémathèque (the local arthouse cinema), 7 lectures have been organised breaking down elements of cinema and going through cinema history. All the conferences are presented by cinema scholars, and feature a film at the end highlighting the specific topic. The posts feature the lectures attended, and a general overview. 

Lesson 0: The Construction of Cinema-Worlds

This was the first lesson and was presented by Dick Tomasovic, a professor at the University of Liège. In this lesson, he discussed the technological development of the camera, and its cinematic similarity to the eye. The lesson focused on the different perspectives achieved in cinema, and the different point of views the camera takes, impacting each scene. This was followed by basic composition rules (e.g. symmetry, rule of thirds...) and the importance of the mise-en-scene to convey detail and meaning. He then spoke of shadows and light, from their initial usage when developing the film camera, to their impact in modern storytelling. The lecture was then followed by the 1927 film, "The Three-Sided Mirror" by Jean Epstein, which focused on the perspectives of three different women's relationships with the same man, and the usage of mise-en-scene and angles to portray these differences. 

Possible Influences for my Film:

The detail of the mise-en-scene, and uses of angles such as the POV of the killer to create depth and meaning within my film. 

Lesson 1: The Construction of Rhythms

The second lesson and was presented by José Moure, a professor at the Sorbonne. In this lesson, he discussed the different rhythmic styles of films, and the ability to adapt a narrative using different rhythmic sequences. He spoke of the initial usage of adapting the time within a film (e.g. slo-mo, fast-forward...), and the impact it creates within the scene. He then spoke of the rhythm created externally, and the difference created through editing a montage, and finally of discontinuity and subjectivity created by the director, in order to portray or symbolise a certain meaning, and how time is subverted within the film. 

The lecture was then followed by the 1975 film, "Mirror" by Andrei Tarkovsky, which portrays the jumping and subjectivity of time between a man's childhood and his later life, highlighting symmetry, editing, and changes in mise-en-scene to achieve this.

Possible Influences for my Film:

The importance of editing and building up suspense, changing the timing of scenes and contrasting them to create unease within the viewer. 

Sample Scene 5

We reshot our locker scene on the 20th January 2023. 

Our location was the school corridor we had previously used. However, as we were filming after school, we had to create verisimilitude by adding bags and coats, as well as Sasha walking past the camera to give the effect of it being a busy school. 

For the rest of the mise-en-scene, the posters were scribbled on and we printed them on yellow paper so that they'd look older. 

We decorated Mandy's locker similarly to before, adding some posters of films that inspired us such as Carrie (1976), and Jawbreaker (1999) to add intertextuality. The note at the bottom asks Mandy to go to prom, showing her as the popular scream queen. We decided to change the locker to Mandy's instead of Laurie's, as we felt it wouldn't've fit Laurie's personality to have her locker decorated like this. 

For the costume, we felt as if the idea of a clique wasn't visually anchored enough. We decided to place Mandy as the leader of the group, followed by Marion and Laurie. We based this on the example of Heathers (1988), and Mean Girls (2004). 

Because of this, we made changes to their costumes. Rather than have Laurie appear drastically different than the other two we made her wear the same skirt as Marion, but styled differently. We based these decisions off of Veronica in Heathers (1988). Here, Laurie wears Doc Martens and black fishnets to represent her rebellious attitude. Her jumper shows her as more conservative than the other two, and reflects her studiousness, along with her tied up hair and lack of makeup. 

For Mandy, we gave her a pink checkered skirt with a different design, to show her belonging to the group but reflect her superiority compared to the rest. She is wearing a tank top and no tights, and her showing more skin shows her promiscuity compared to Laurie. She wears heavy eye makeup and frequently reapplies her lipgloss. This and her high heels were chosen to make her cater to Mulvey's male gaze. 

Here is our edit: 

For the final shot, we decided to add a dutch angle of the girls shoes walking over a missing poster, and added it to our second rough cut. 

Baudrillard: Simulacrum

Jean Baudrillard 

(b. 1929 - d. 2007)

Jean Baudrillard was a French philosopher and cultural theorist. 

What is Simulacrum?:

According to his 1981 book "Simulacres et Simulation", Baudrillard defines simulacrum as:

"The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth—it is the truth which conceals that there is none. The simulacrum is true."

In the book, he examines:

 "the relationships between reality, symbols, and society, in particular the significations and symbolism of culture and media involved in constructing an understanding of shared existence." (Wikipedia) 

According to Baudrillard, symbols and signs have replaced meaning in society, and that the human experience is a simulation. 

Simulacra refers to "copies that depict things that either had no original, or that no longer have an original", while simulation is the "imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time."

Possible influences for my film: 

The conventions of slasher could be seen as simulacra, my evaluation question responses are a simulacrum of previously established codes and signifiers. 

Resources: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulacra_and_Simulation

Dyre: Star Theory

Richard Dyre

(b. 1945 - )

Richard Dyre is an English academic and film professor. 

What is Star Theory?: 

Star theory is the idea that "celebrities are commodities manufactured by institutions." According to Dyer, celebrities are:

"constructed to represent real people in order to relate to audiences and sell a media product." 

He also says that individual stars have specific selling points, for example reality TV star turned businesswoman Kylie Jenner's lips, or A-List actor Morgan Freedman's voice. 

Dyre also coined the idea of "paradox of the star": a star has two simultaneous representations, "ordinary and extraordinary". The ordinary is the representation of regular people, but the extraordinary is certain qualities that place them above the average person. Following this, he also believed that a star is also "present and absent": they are present in daily life (consumption), but absent as they are inaccessible to the average person. This idea also ties with Baudrillards hyper-reality, or simulacrum theory. 

Star power is in reference to the power a star has in engaging or attracting an audience for a media text or product. For example: Working Title's Cats (2019), has an A-List ensemble cast, attracting as many audience demographics as possible. 

Star vehicle is when a star is the driving marketing aspect of a media text or product. For example, Working Title's Green Zone (2010), is driven by A-List actor Matt Damon's star power, who acts as the star vehicle for the films marketing. 

Possible influences for my film: 
As I am an indie producer making a micro-budget film, I will not be able to include any stars in my film as this is very expensive, and will make me less commercially appealable. 

Resources: 
https://cpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.grammar.sch.gg/dist/a/4/files/2013/10/Richard-Dyer-Paradox-of-the-Star-1s9gq0n.pdf
https://www.mytutor.co.uk/answers/9006/GCSE/Media-Studies/What-is-Richard-Dyers-star-theory/

The Film Cycle

In this case, the film cycle refers to the steps in which a film needs to take in order to be seen by a viewer.
 

There are 3 main steps in the film cycle; production, distribution, and exhibition. 

A company that produces and distributes a film is known as being vertically integrated, and if the conglomerate has subsidiaries for production or distribution, this is known as horizontal integration. 

Production: 

This refers to the creation process of the film; pitching, shooting, casting, filming, and editing. The production process is funded by individual producers, or a production company, that analyse and decide whether a film is worth making, or if it will be a loss of their investment. 

There are three types of production companies; indie/independent (outside of the studio system, self-owned), subsidiary (owned and controlled by a parent company/conglomerate), and conglomerate (company that owns subsidiaries).

Internationally known and market controlling conglomerates are known as the big 5: Universal, Paramount, Disney, Warner Bros, and Columbia. 

An indie company like Warp would receive government grants in order to produce a film, as they are not commercially viable, but are important representations for regions in Britain. 

A subsidiary of vertically integrated conglomerate Universal, such as Working Title, would think of maximising the commercial appeal and the profit. The majority of films they produce contain A-List stars, and IP/franchise. They often also use CGI or 3D/4D/IMAX technologies, which are very expensive, to further boost their films appeal.

Distribution: 

The second phase of the cycle, it refers to the launching of the film and covers the marketing, advertisement, and means of exhibition. The distributor will buy the rights of a produced film in order to exhibit it. 

The Warp film Tyrannosaur (2011), was picked by an American distributor at the TIFF, but due to poor marketing tactics (no trailer was made), it flopped in America, and had a limited release. 

In comparison, a film such as Avatar (2009) was distributed by the vertically integrated conglomerate Universal, and received a wide and simultaneous release. This was due to an A-List cast and director (James Cameron), as well as innovative technology (3D). 

Exhibition: 

This is the final stage of the cycle, and is about the screening for a film. The exhibitor (cinema) must further market the films, and the experience to the customers. This also measures a films success, through box office data. 

Distribution

To summarise distribution, I have created a prezi embedded below: 

Bechdel Test

Allison Bechdel

(b. 1960)

bechdeltest.com states that: "The Bechdel Test, or Bechdel-Wallace Test is a simple test which names the following three criteria: (1) it has to include at least two women, who (2) must talk to each other abut (3) something besides a man."

Background: 

The test was first seen in the 1985 comic, D*kes To Watch Out For, in the strip, The Rule, made by Allison Bechdel. 

Bechdel credits her inspiration to be her friend Liz Wallace, who in turn was inspired by Virginia Woolf, specifically an excerpt from her 1929 essay "A Room Of Ones Own"; "And I tried to remember any case in the course of my reading where two women are represented as friends."

The test however, should not be used as a representation of feminist media, rather the inclusion and frequency of women within narratives.  

the original comic, "The Rule"

In modern media: 

The Bechdel Test is now used in mainstream media, in film as well as TV, books, and video games. 

Although more and more films pass the test every year, many only do when women talk about marriage or babies. 

There is a higher tendency to pass the test in genres such as fantasy and science fiction, credited to be due to an avoidance of traditional gender stereotypes. 

Industry and finance: 

Studies have been linked to the passing of the test, and a film's financial success. 

In 2013, Vocativ found that the films of that year passing the test earned $4.22 billion and the failed earned $2.66 billion in the US. 

A FiveThirtyEight study with films released from 1990 to 2013 found that the films that passed the test had a 37 percent higher return on investment in the US.

The Creative Artists Agency and Shift7 analysed data from the top-grossing films of 2014 to 2017 in the US. Female-led films and those passing the test financially outperformed others. Since 2012, films which grossed over $1bn, all passed the test.

Inspiration for my film: As the film is targeted towards teenage girls, and has a mostly female cast, I think it is important to make sure it passes the test in the opening. In the locker scene, there are (1) two female characters that are named (Mandy and Laurie), that (2) talk to each other about (3) something other than a man (Marion's disappearance and their weekends).

Sample Scene 4

We planned our shoot to record the burial scene and foley sound on the 4th of January. However, due to the weather conditions and heavy rain we were unable to record any sound as it wasn't picking up well. 

Our location was the same forest we had used for the previous scenes and we found a flat area to dig in. Due to the rain, we were able to dig easily as the ground was soft. 

For the killer, I wore all black clothes with my hood up and acted it out. Our shot-list included filming from Close-Ups to ELS and we decided the rest from there. Our idea is to use this scene as a transition from the forest to the locker. 

Here is our initial edit:

I decided to use clips of other scenes in the burial tracking, to create confusion as well as use subliminal images, a psychological effect commonly used in horror. 

Altman: Genre

Rick Altman

(b. 1945 - )

(Charles) Rick Altman is a professor of cinema and literature. 

What is Genre?: 

In his book "Blood Money", Richard Nowell defines genre as:

"a system of communication comprising two components, the label and the corpus. A name is assigned to a number of films because they are considered to share similarities that distinguish them from other films, thus bringing order to relative chaos."

The term was revised in Altman's 1999 book "Film/Genre". In short, genre is categorised through "similarities and differences". While consuming a media text, and audience has a repertoire of elements, or expectations of the film depending on its genre. If a film is too similar to others they have seen they will be dissatisfied, but they cannot be too different and stray from audience expectation. 

Altman lays out 4 criteria a film pattern needs in order to be categorised as a genre through the film cycle; the producer (blueprint), the distributor (label), the audience (contract), and the student (structure). 

The producer (blueprint): With the producer, genre is used to minimise risk of film production, through analysing popular films and trends (film cycles) of the time. This is known as the blueprint for a production. 

The distributor (label): To communicate what is being sold, the label uses genre codes and conventions within the marketing of a film to easily communicate about the product with the audience.

The audience (contract): The audience signs an unseen contract, using their understanding and conventions/codes of the genre to set their expectations for a film. This is used to understand the text, but if it subverts expectations, the contract is broken and audiences are left ungratified (UGT).

The student (structure): The student compares various media texts in order to identify and study a film genre. Using the repertoire of elements, texts are grouped and defined as a genre. 

What is the Repertoire of Elements?: 

The repertoire of elements is a structure allowing for genre to be identified. This is seen through; iconography, camera, editing, sound, narrative, values, performance, colour/lighting, fonts, wording, and representations. 

Regarding the repertoire of elements, in his book "Blood Money", Nowell says:

"only by treating film-types (genre) as complex networks of elements designed to provoke diverse types of audience engagement and fulfill different commercial objectives, can the conditions underwriting production and the mobilization of content be identified."

Resources:

https://cpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.grammar.sch.gg/dist/a/4/files/2013/11/Altman-Handout-1s9r2m3.pdf

O'Reilly: Web 2.0

 Tim O'Reilly  

(b. 1954 -)

Tim O'Reilly is an Irish-American author, publisher, and business owner. 

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 explains how the internet is driven by users through digitisation and technological accessibility, disrupting industries and converging (Jenkins) the lines between producer and consumer (prosumer).

Web 2.0 moves from a top-down model like the hypodermic needle and creates a two-way flow. User Generated Content (UGC) is an example of this, as consumers produce content that they feel is not gratifying (UGT) their needs. 

Digitisation:

"The process of changing from analog to digital form, also known as digital enablement." (Gartner Glossary). For example, the process of changing from VHS to DVD is a form of digitisation.

Disruption:

"The act or process of disrupting something. A break or interruption in the normal course or continuation of some activity, process, etc." (Marriam-Webster dictionary). This refers to the disruption caused by streaming platforms like Netflix or Spotify, and platforms such as Youtube where you can self-distribute, means that content is released directly to consumers. 

Convergence:

Convergence (Jenkins) refers to the line between producer and consumer blurring (prosumers) through digitisation. Instead of a top down model like the hypodermic needle theory, it becomes a two way flow.

How is Web 2.0 seen in the industry?:

- The 2009 Warp film Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee, was shot in 5 days with a $48k production budget. This is an example of digitisation and the accessibility of technology, as a tentpole Working Title film like 2019's Cats would take a longer time and require a much larger budget. 

 - The film Not Okay (2022) was released directly onto Hulu (a disruptor), and was extremely successful within it's target demographic. This means that indie or smaller budget films still have a greater chance at being successful without having to rely on a traditional distributor.

- Convergence is seen in the book series "After" by Anna Todd. She originally published the series as fanfiction of the singer Harry Styles, and after gaining traction on the Wattpad website, it was made into a  successful film franchise. 

How is Web 2.0 seen in my opening?:

- Digitisation has made production cheaper meaning a producer with a micro-budget like me is able to make a high resolution (1080 HD) film opening. 

- A consumer like me was able to produce a film opening that I self-distributed on Youtube, this is due to convergence (Jenkins).

- The disruption of streaming platforms means that an indie producer like me is able to self- distribute a film onto Youtube.

Characters

Our four main characters were largely based on the slasher character archetypes. We wanted to use these tropes to reflect slasher genre conventions, as well as challenge them.

Below is a presentation detailing the characters.