Brutal Stalker - Directors Commentary

From the beginning of our opening sequence we really wanted the scary, spooky theme to come across straight away. That’s why we have credits with a black background and white writing as we felt it helped make the opening sequence seem much more mysterious as the white writing fades out into black. The spooky slow paced low pitch and toned music helps the audience establish that the film is a dark psychological thriller as it is meant to have a spine chilling effect.
Once the mood is set we move onto the first scene of the girl sat in a police interview. The bright white room we feel helps contrast with the flash backs of the girl being chased outside in a dark deserted park.
We tried to make sure the main character look confused and unsure of what she is saying. We see the girl talking to the police interviewer which was originally suppose to have sound on it but as problems occurred during filming and the microphone didn’t pick up the sound and as we didn’t have enough time to re shoot the entire interview scene and the teacher who originally acted as the police interviewer was unavailable. We then had no choice but to do a voice over. We feel the voice over works from the very start as it helps the audience understand what’s going on. Also the voice over is quite dramatic as Rebia who did the voice over did first had to get into character before recording the voice over in order for it to sound as intense and dramatic as we wanted the main characters played by Mariam, feelings to be represented.
The film was originally meant to be a horror but as we started to film we saw it was more confusing and the “stalker” seemed to be more psychotic then scary which made the film scary in the end, as we didn’t want our film to look cliché with a typical chase story line.
The flashbacks we feel help mix up the film as it isn’t in chronological order making it more interesting to watch as the audience will have to pay attention.
We feel the close up on Mariams face when she realises a strange person is following her is a really strong shot to show her emotions in this difficult time. We wanted the audience to feel sympathetic to her and the fearful teary eyed girl before them should enhance the sympathy from the audience towards her.
As we wanted the stalker to be the “evil villain” in the film we wanted the audience to feel scared themselves and even hatred for the character themselves. We feel that the shot of the stalker walking past the camera helps establish what they look like as well as the character looking into the camera. As if they were to look at the audience in an evil manner. It represents the fearlessness of the character as well as a slight cheek of them scaring a young vulnerable girl in broad daylight. We purposely wanted this character to slowly walk and take their time whilst following the girl. It helps show they are relaxed and almost calm about the whole situation, showing they are comfortable with it and it`s not a new situation for them. We feel in this scene alone we learn a lot about this character.
The high angle shot we filmed from above on a nearby bridge we feel helps show the girl in a very vulnerable light. The branches in front of the camera we feel make it look as if the audience if themselves looking from afar, almost as if they were hiding themselves. It makes the surroundings seem much more secluded as she then runs towards a smaller path which then leads to a tunnel the girl tries to hide in.
The black drop with no picture just the sound of the main character screaming we feel also adds a spine chilling shocking element to the opening of our film. It also denotes the girl passing out, as then we finally see the girl passed out in a dark tunnel alongside a stream. The lacks of music alongside the dim lighting and close up of the stalker looking down upon the girl and the eye line match of the girl lying on the floor we feel adds mystery into the film. We wanted the audience to form a negative impression of the stalker and want to feel as if he is quite creepy, as the audience does not know what happened in the short few seconds the picture. We feel the fading out from here grabs the audience’s attention we wanted to keep them guessing to what will happen next.

This last shot of just the victim looking down is a close up shot of just her, and the top half of her.
The fact that she’s looking down shows that she’s clearly upset about something, this therefore makes the audience want to know what actually happened that she “couldn’t remember”

This shot is overlapping with the next shot that further on, (the next scene) creates more suspense within the audience and what’s going to happen to the victim next in this opening. It’s also just a good effect to put in a whole and make the film look better.

This is a extreme long shot, but then over head shot as well at the same time, you can only see the silhouette of the attacker but not the victim, makes the audience aware it’s going to be more suspenseful. You can see the water in the distance, and then the branches from the trees, it creates a good scene from a typical horror/ thriller movie.

This shot establishes what is going on in this scene. The attacker is chasing the victim and the victim doesn’t know what to do or where to go clearly. The scenery around them also adds to the effect that this place is near enough the middle of nowhere, and no help will come for the victim anytime soon. The lighting is all natural as its outside, and there’s nothing covering direct light from coming onto both the victim and the attacker.

This shot is to get the audience to know that the attacker is following the victim through the same place that the victim went through just seconds ago. It’s a long distance shot because we can’t see the attacker’s features or anything, just the silhouette of him/ her going into the bushes. Overall the rainy effect makes this shot a lot better looking and spooky as if something is about to happen.

This shot is a long distance shot, however you can see the attacker slowly walking past to get to the victim. This tells the audience that there is something more to happen as the victim is walking into some bushes and trees, and clearly there will be further more to come.
The lighting of this is just natural yet dimmed out a bit. We took the weather into consideration and thought if we were trying to make it look spooky and rainy then it shouldn’t be too bright.

This shot is just when the attacker walks past the camera to give the audience a bit of an idea on what might happen next. It gives an idea on what is going on in the background and also what the attacker is wearing etc. The lighting that we have in this scene is just the natural lighting coming from the opening side of the tunnel. Give the audience a feeling that the attacker has just come from the natural light and walking to the other side.

Here is another over the shoulder shot, this time however showing a bit more of the surrounding things. For example a key prop such as the paper and pen that the police officer is using, this is vital in this scene as it shows what is going on. Again we have used the lighting on the window to shine down on the victim whilst she is talking, creating more attention on her.

This is another over the shoulder shot. Looking over the shoulder of the victim towards the person who is interviewing, we tried to make it as simple as possible by not adding anything else into the shot. All you can see is the pen that the police woman is holding and the victim’s right shoulder, the rest of the shot is directly on the police woman, this shows the audience that she is clearly vital in this scene, and without her the scene wouldn’t be able to be put together.

This is a close up shot of the victim, not really giving the surroundings of what’s going on outside or around her, or anything else. This shows her emotions and what she’s feeling about the fact that she’s being chased. It makes the audience want to watch it even further, lets them now her expressions on her face, and doesn’t really show the surroundings which make the bit you can only see even more important.

This is a long shot, but a establishing shot as well of the back scenes, it’s shadowy which create even more suspense between the attacker and the audience, its blacked out which makes the audience want to know more what’s actually going on, and how the film as a whole is put together. The lighting is dim because of the filming being made inside a bridge there is no natural lighting coming from the top but only from the sides, the opening and closing of the tunnel

This shot is the back of the victim, and is a mid length shot. You can see only a bit of what’s going on around where the victim is, and you can see the wall on the side, this shows that the victim is still trying to get out of where ever she was stuck, the lighting is still quite dim, with just the little bit of natural lighting towards where the trees and rocks are. This helps the audience to feel what the victim is feeling, confusion, lost?

This is a shot showing the whole of the victims body and then some area around the top and some at the bottom, just to show where the victim is, what the victim is doing, and what’s around the victim, we made sure there was the same amount of space above her head and then the same below her feet. We added the graffiti back bit into the shot just to show that the place she’s at is quite freaky, and something that’s about to happen would happen in a typical place like that.

This long shot it created to make the victim look like she doesn’t know what is going on, and to give the audience a feeling of what’s around the victim, the area in which the victim is in, you can also very briefly see the attacker, and then the surrounding scenes around the attacker. This adds more tension to the scene and give the audience an idea of what’s going on, we made sure the lighting was quite dim as it is a thriller and we didn’t really want sunlight in it.

This shot is an over the shoulder shot, from the police officer woman who’s asking the questions to the victim who is trying to talk about what has happened to her, we did this shot next to a window to allow sunlight to come through and shine on the victim to add more effects that the victim in the one speaking and the important person in this film. We made the police officer in the foreground also cut half of her out, just to ensure that we had the victim in full view. Also making sure that we can see the papers that the police officer is writing on. The date and time (text) makes the interview look more real, makes it look documentary type to show the seriousness of the situation.

This close up shot of the running feet was to create suspense, and make it look as if the victim is looking down on her own feet whilst she is running showing that she is confused, it shows random shots of her running forwards. The lighting that we had for this shot was just the natural lighting, we added water to the floor to make an effort of it being a rainy day, just to add to the suspense of what’s going on and the typical horror scene of the bad weather

Reviews On Our Film Opening

Views on our film opening
Person One: “I think your project is really good, it looks as though you have all put it a lot of effort to get it to the way it is now”

Person two: “I would like to watch the film so that I know what happens next, It looks quite interesting, and I would definitely want to carry on watching it if it was a full film”

Person three: “ the setting of the place is excellent, and goes well with what the film is about”

Person four: “ I liked it, but I think it could have been better, with the voiceover and the music”

Person five: “I think it’s ok, but you could have made it a lot better, by adding certain features and making it look more professional. Overall its okay though”

As you can see from the opinions of others, some say it was good however some say we could have done better. Overall we fulfilled the needs of our target audience by making the scenes more suspenseful as the film goes along. We have taken into account the opinions of other people, which is how we know where we went wrong when making this film.
If we were to do it again, we would change the music, to add better sound quality and make the voiceover more stronger and dramatic to link it to the film.

Script

We did a voiceover throughout the opening film.
Eerie music for introduction

“ It all happened on the way home from work, I don’t feel safe anymore”
“I had to go into the police station for an interview”
“I was asked to go through everything that happened, looking back all I can remember is”

A few blank, silent scenes

“I could see him from the corner of my eyes, but I was too scared to look back”
“I can remember standing there and looking really confused”
“she asked further questions, I knew NO answers”
“ I didn’t know where to go, the only place was in the bushes”
“I tried to hide, he walked towards me”
“I have no memory of what happened after that”

Heavy breathing and panting
Screams, fade to an end.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our target audience is young adults / teenagers as it is quite realistic and involves teenagers of the same age and the audience for our film could therefore relate to the characters. It is quite fast passed and scary with a suspenseful feel therefore we feel a young audience is more appropriate as the fast paced loud music we feel appeals to the target audience. Which we feel would be a mass market as there are many other mainstream films such as "Nightmare on Elm Street" Which has the same target audience about an evil stalker chasing a young girl who will share many of the same emotions as the our main character. Such as the fear of an evil sick and twisted "villain" This was a scary film with a mass market both a male and female audience therefore we feel our film which has a similar story line and target audience would be a mass market if it was to be distributed.

Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you think you have learnt from the progression from it to the full task?

From the preliminary task we were able to get used to using the equipment such as using the zooming button whilst filming, keeping the camera steady on panning shots etc. Also making scenes match for example on our preliminary task we filmed the girl open and the walk through the door and then come out of the other end. As it was our first attempt to film it didn’t flow properly but we were then able to learn from our previous mistakes so in our Main task we were able to make the scenes flow even when filming the same scene from different angles. For example in one scene where the stalker follows the girl, they walk through a small path of branches, which we then filmed them walk in from behind and then come out the other side from a high angle shot filmed from the bridge looking down. As we had made mistakes on the Preliminary task we were able to make these shots flow for the main task. Also doing the Preliminary task first allowed us to get used to using the editing software as we were able to cut scenes that on their own were not at their best but then make them match better and flow nicely helped make our film seem more of a higher quality. By adding close ups between shots such as the main characters face looking frightened and worried between the running long and mid shots of her running away from the stalker. As a group we were able to work out from the preliminary task what shots were possible and which didn't look as professional. For example, in our preliminary task there is a scene of the door closing and a very shaky, blurry close up of the door. As the lighting was also of a low quality it didn't look very attractive or professional. Therefore in our main task we made sure we only zoomed in and out very slowly during filming a slow movement or still scene to guarantee the best we were able to film for each scene. Another issue we had with our preliminary task was not filming enough of a scene so when it came to editing the scenes didn’t่t flow very well and we had to re shoot some close ups and extra scenes to add between specific scenes in order for it to flow well. Therefore on our main task we filmed the entire scene through as we had learnt that we were able to edit and we filmed lots of close ups and extra scenes just to make sure. In conclusion as a group we went through a learning curve and learnt form our mistakes in order for our main project to go well.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The narrative of our film clearly represents male and female teenagers. There are connotations of our film having social realism as the film could be based on real life events. As well as it being an exaggerated version perhaps it is still made to be entertaining as it is a psychological thriller/ horror for a young adult/ teenager target audience who are more interested in watching a film to have a laugh amongst friends or to go out of an evening etc Its a social fun event to go to cinemas for people of this age. Therefore it cannot just be based on social realism as it would then only appeal to a small niche market. It does represent the stereotypical teenage girl, being scared, frightened and nervous when in a awkward situation such as being on their own in a secluded deserted park being followed by a stereotypical scary male stalker, dressed in black with their face covered. As it is a male stalker following the young girl in general it could have connotations of males in today’s society being more domineering role models over women in general, and this is what our film puts across for our audience to see.

What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why?

As our film would be of a low budget film if it was to be distributed and shown in cinemas it could be published over the internet, on you tube, short film websites and several other websites. It could be distributed by Entertainment which is the largest independent distributor in the UK. It could also be distributed by Working Title as they specialise in distributing low budget Independent British films, which is what category our film would fall into as it was filmed and edited in Manchester and also contains British actors and was filmed by a British crew.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From using the camera we found that capturing specific shots in order for the film to flow properly is quite difficult. We discovered that there is a lot more planning involved than we initially first thought as the first scenes we filmed weren’t quite what we were hoping for, therefore we had to re shoot the opening sequence of the film again. This time we had a clearer vision when we went out to film again. We planned it out more by coming up with a story board so we had a base to work from and then we came up with a shot list as we wanted to get as many shots in the opening sequence as possible. We also found that capturing clear shots and filming from different angles was also a struggle as many shots didn’t match however we worked round this and filmed one specific scene all at once to guarantee everything looked the same including lighting weather etc. So the scenes would flow well together. We had to re shoot particular shots such as the panning shots of the girl being chased under the bridge, as following the girl running at a fast speed sometimes blurred or it went to fast and she would run out of the scene and we were unable to get the shots. However by filming shot amounts from different angles and film each character separately we were able to piece together the film with each scene using the software. We found the software very helpful as we used it to capture and cut precisely what we did and didn’t need for the opening sequence of the film. It also made the filming flow much more smoothly with options to fade from scene to scene and add effects. Also using Garage band to make our own music and place it in our film as well as the non-diagetic sounds such as heavy breathing and the narrating voice over. This was very important to us as whilst filming the interview scene the microphone didn’t pick up and sound, which was a huge step back for the group as it was vital in order for the audience to understand what was going on and see that the main character was having flash backs of her previous frightful experiences. As we didn’t have time to re film the interview we had no other choice but to add a voice over narrating what was happening and why the girl was there. However we feel the voice over worked better than expected, even better than if we had the original sound as it flowed over scene it helped link them better along side the fading in and our of scenes.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From using the camera we found that capturing specific shots in order for the film to flow properly is quite difficult. We discovered that there is a lot more planning involved than we initially first thought as the first scenes we filmed weren’t quite what we were hoping for, therefore we had to re shoot the opening sequence of the film again. This time we had a clearer vision when we went out to film again. We also found that capturing clear shots and filming from different angles was also a struggle as many shots didn’t match however we worked round this and filmed one specific scene all at once to guarantee everything looked the same including lighting weather etc. so the scenes would flow well together. We had to re shoot particular shots such as the panning shots of the girl being chased under the bridge. However the software we used helped us to also capture and cut precisely what we did and didn’t need. It also made the filming flow much more smoothly with options to fade from scene to scene and add effects. Also using Garage band to make our own music and place it in our film as well as the non diagetic sounds such as heavy breathing and the narrating voice over. This was very important to us as whilst filming the microphone didn’t pick up and sound and we didn’t have time to re film everything. Therefore we had no other choice but to add a voice over, however we feel it worked better than if we had the original sound.

Other Loctions

We were going to film our opening sequence in this park. However we thought it looked to nice and clean to film a horror in and it needed to have more of a scary and spooky feel to it. This is why we decided not to film here as it didnt fit the criteria we had planned for the opeing sequence of the a horror.

Evalution

How did you attract/ address your audience?

As our target audience is young adults/teenagers we decided that a horror/psychological thriller would be best to draw in that type of audience. As we established a young audience we tried to make our opening sequence seem very dark and mysterious with the use of black and white credits and we filmed the main sequence of the girl being chased in the rain on a dark and cold day. For example the tunnel scene is filmed in a dark space which gave the film a cold and dreary feel which clearly represents the sadness and fear the main character played by Mariam was feeling. The dark music also gives the film a spooky feel we thought would appeal to a young audience. This dark music contrasted with a fast paced music for the initial chase scene we feel contrasts nicely and brings the opening sequence alive so it doesn’t become to slow or boring but still creates a tense atmosphere. We kept an up to date modern feel with the use of clothing and landscapes and the plain white room we filmed the police interview in the as the film was set in 2009. We also feel the fade outs help represent the confusion and memory relapses the girl is experiencing as she is being interviewed by the police. We hoped that this would create interest and suspense for the audience.

Tunnel Scene

Here is the tunnel in the park of our chosen location. We are hoping to do a close up shot of the the main charactor (Mariam) Who has passed out on the ground and we would like to do a high angle shot looking down on her to show her at a very vulnrable time in the opening of the film. We would like to end the opening at this shot.

Our Chosen Project

For the opening of the film we have decided to do a horror. We have also chosen our location to film which will be a empty park, which is just a long pathway under a small bridge next to a vandalised stream which we thought would look best as it is a scary deserted looking place to film a chase scene of a girl being followed and then chased .As we will be filming at different angles using different shot the following will be in our film, close up, mid shot, long shot, high angle shot, and over the shoulder shot. We want the film to be quite fast paced to show the panic the main character played by Mariam is feeling. We would also like to represent moods through the lighting, as there will be contrasts between the brighter shots and some shadowed shots when Mariam falls and passes out in a dark tunnel which we then have a low angle shot of her lying on the floor unconscious and then we plan to end It there. The idea is for the rest of the film to continue with police doing an investigation trying to find out what happened to Mariam and find the mysterious killer who was after her.

Main Project - Task

We have been asked to plan out and film an opening of a film. We must first choose a genre, come up with a storyline, and then create a story board illustrating all the shots we will be shooting. Then we have to decide on a location taking into consideration lighting, background noise etc. We must make a shot list so we are prepared to go out to the chosen location and start to film. We must include as many shots in the opening of the film such as, close up, mid shot, long shot, high angle shot, low angle shot, over the shoulder shot etc.

Location Shots

Here is a closer shoot of the stream. We were thinking of taking establishing shoots of the most scary parts of the park before the walking scene. The sound of the running water would also add to the tense atmosphere we were hoping to create. We thought that the girl could walk down the hill along side the stream and this could be filmed from the other side of the lake to capture her as well as her surroundings.

Location Shots

Here is a small hill connected from the path. It steeps down towards a small stream of running water. The deserted looking and quiet surroundings will make an ideal place to shoot the running scene of the girl looking for a place to hide. As you cant see people walking past from these angles or noise form the school behind. The messy look of trees and bushes make it look like more of a dangerous place as we wanted the girl to look vulnerable in an unsafe environment which fits the storyline of the serial killer after her.

Location Shots

Here is a tunnel under a bridge in the park where we are filming the opening of our horror film. As you can see the bright pathway in front which the main character will be walking through firstly but then will pass under the bridge. The sudden change of lighting as its slightly darker under the bridge will show the characters mood change as she will become frightened and anxious as she thinks somebody is following her. It also makes it apparent that it is a horror film from the beginning.

Preliminary Task - The note

Preliminary Task

For the preliminary task we were asked to film a walking scene to a destination and a conversation between to people using shot reverse shot. We were asked to use as many shots in the scenes as possible such as, long shot, close up shot, shot reverse shot, tracking shot, mid shot, cutaway, over the shoulder, two shot, point of view shot, establishing shot etc.As we have been asked to have dialogue in the short clip as the two people must exchange words, we must film a person walking through a door into a room before going to talk to the other person. We must ensure we film the entire scene before the conversation takes place, therefore a walking scene towards the room and them walking through the door and we must see them walk through the door and come through the other side fully before they enter the room

Foundation Portfolio evaluation

Preliminary Task

Names of other group members: Mariam Hussain, Rebia Khan, Aneesa Ali, Chantelle


What did you learn about the cameras and editing software during the preliminary task?

We feel that we learnt quite a lot from the preliminary task as we were able to experiment with camera angles and see which shots were possible. We also feel that using the editing software helped us practice and learn how to use it and we now feel more prepared and confident in tackling the main task.


In the filming and editing of your project, what worked well and what could have been improved?


We feel the camera angles were good in our preliminary task however shots were the zooming in and out was shaky and wasn’t needed therefore we feel these shots could have been better but it has made us aware of what we should and shouldn’t do for the main task.
The framing will need to be done properly next time, as it was not in place for the preliminary task.



Give a detailed, specific example of how you have used a shot/ reverse shot combination in your film

We filmed our main scene in the girls toilet where we then filmed Mariam standing in the mirror who was then confronted by Rebia. We first have a shot of rebia walking towards Mariam where they then exchange words. We use an over the shoulder shot from one person whilst the other is speaking. This was a shot reverse shot from Mariam to Rebia and back again.




Give a detailed, specific example of how you achieved match cuts during the editing process


Whilst filming Rebia walking down the corridor towards the girl’s toilets we matched cuts from following her around the corner and filming form behind to when she opens the door and we then film in front of her. We had to keep the camera high angles the same so she wouldn’t seem taller or shorter.


How did you make sure that you didn’t break the 180 degree rule? Or if you broke it, what have you learnt from this?

We made sure we didn’t film from one side and then the other of two people facing each other. Also when doing the shot reverse shot we made sure we filmed from the same side of the person so it didn’t seem as if the person had switched places.

The Unusual Suspects

The usual suspects (Brian singer) 1995

The opening scene of this film has a typical start of the water flowing as the names of the people involved in the film are displayed. This creates the image of the film being a thriller/ horror.
There are various techniques used such as: darkness, reflection of moon, and fire effects. There is eerie music throughout, this connotes something suspicious is about to happen. The killer is somewhat unknown, antagonist was kept obscured, with head cut off, and shadowy figure, and there is typical clothing worn as well; the hat, and coat. We hear his voice. And then there is a close up of the key prop which is the gun. The incidental, tense and dark music; this choice of music suggests it’s a thriller.

Bhaji on the beach

The opening scene to bhaji on the beach we start of with the tracking shot, showing a English butchers shop, which then moves on to a skin head which represents racism back in them items, we then come across an Asian groceries store which sells halal meat, this is a juxtaposition as there are two very different cultures living in the same place. The non diagetic English music starts the scene off, which then fades into an Indian instrumental music
We are then introduced to a main character Asha. A stressed Indian mother who’s starts having hallucinations shows she has a hard life and she has too much stress in the shot this is shown through an Ariel high angle camera shot. Unrealistically large objects showing a mixture of westernised
Confectionary and Bollywood film posters and videos overcrowd her as she hallucinates also represent the juxtapositions of western and Indian cultures mixing together in a racist society. The aerial shot makes her look a lot smaller than everything else around her denoting her insignificance in the first sense.
Inserts and cutaways showing Asha’s family putting pressure on her and her God shouting at her shows her religion is important to her as well as her family. She looks up at her God which is a low angle shot showing the Gods power and dominance over Asha as she looks up to her God with a high angle shot. This also connotes her inferiority to her God and how she looks up to her God for guidance as cut aways of her family flout around her as she is deep in her thoughts with worry.
A subtle racist remark connoting the ignorance of the newspaper man is added to the scene as he refers to the day being a “scorture” and how she should be used to the hot weather as he ignorantly presumes she’s from India; a hot country.