Storyboarding...

Storyboarding is the practice of drawing out each shot in a movie and drawing what you want in the shot, this idea comes in especially useful when filming big budget sequences. Storyboards can be very complex and intricate or then can be very simple and obvious, they can also come with notes and stage directions, all of these factors are decided by the storyboarder.

Storyboarding is an essential part of film making in big budget sequences, most or if not all big budget films will have been storyboarded out before during explosions, or chases etc. Storyboardng can help you understand the Director's intentions and what the director wants or doesnt want you to see or notice. This idea of storyboarding can also be done on a collection of computer packages referred to as Pre-Viz.

What is a horror film ?

Personal

The audiences own identification with the FEARS or TERRORS of the narrative…

· Fear of the other/monster of the darkness
· Fear of the body being ripped/mutilated
· Our own personal boundaries being stretched and transgressed
· Emergence of terror at any level being enjoyed from a safe, vicarious distance


Ideological

The implicit (hidden) or explicit (obvious) messages embedded within the narrative…

· Themes of punishment, rejection, and/or revulsion at subjects which deviate from “correct” thinking
· From simplistic or basic messages the virgin “good girl” surviving at the expense of her rebellious “slutty” friend. To the more nuanced or subtle fears of strangers/hitchhikers breaking our boundaries…

OR the condemnation of any deviant (i.e. non Christian) religions…

Our perception that the power of science can defeat the darkness at the expense of older beliefs in religion and superstition…

· In our modern understanding of fear we rationalise the supernatural and defeat it with psychology rather than Latin chants.
· Modern media creates “demons” by crusading against sections of society and labelling them.
· Are there really so many more paedophiles in today than in the past? Not necessarily we just hear about more about them as they are more documented now,
· How many escaped mental patients have actually stalked and killed innocent people? Probably not very many but the media has built this up to be a daily occurrence.


Industrial/Financial

· Perhaps the most lucrative genre in the film industry, Horror draws in huge audiences justifying the control re-invention, re-making and franchising of very successful Horror product.
· We wonder whether there should be an “Indiana Jones 4” or a “Lethal Weapon” 5 but no questions raised over the legitimacy of producing Saw 6 or remaking “A Nightmare On Elm St.” after 9 previous incarnations.

We also had to give presentations to the class stating why our thriller film idea should be filmed. We had to include a USP (Unique Selling Point), a treatment,a character list.

My Thriller Ideas

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Today we had an introduction to the basic video camera functions. We learnt how to focus, zoom, set up the camera, set up the tripod, install the battery, and install the sound recorder.

To install the battery you need to get the battery and slide it into the battery compartment until it clicks.

To focus the image in the camera you need to adjust the ring on the end of the camera, the focusing ring is next to the zoom ring. You need to turn the ring either clockwise or anticlockwise until the image through the viewfinder/screen is clear precise and in focus.

To install the sound recorder you need to connect the wire to the AV1 socket and screw it in to the holder.

To zoom the camera in or out there are two ways this can be done. There is either the zoom button which is directly in front of your hand if you’re holding the camera. There is also the zoom ring on the end of the camera, next to the focus ring.

Setting up the tripod correctly is a fundamental part of filming. To set up the tripod correctly you must "bubble" it. "Bubbling" the tripod means to get the bubble on the top of the tripod in the center of the ring. The bubble is in a spirit level on the top of the tripod and the ring in printed on the top of the Perspex covering. You must also make sure you connect the "pan handle" correctly, this is basically a handle to the left of the tripod, and this handle enables you to pain the tripod left or right. Then you must attach the camera to the tripod, you need to slide the camera on to the tripod and it will click, this is how you know the camera is attached correctly.