Film Distribution

Earlier on in our research we looked into three possible media institutions that could distribute our film. We looked into Twisted Pictures, New Line Cinema and Platinum Dunes.
We decided to use Twisted pictures is synonymous with the horror franchise Saw, therefore it would be perfect to distribute our film as if we wanted to branch out and make a franchise of successful horror films we could, as this company has the experience. To download this onto our film during editing, we found a clip of the Twisted Pictures intro on Youtube and converted it into a format that would be comaptible with iMovie and the computer and then added it to our film.This is what we used:

We also decided to use New Line Cinema, this film comapany is more mainstream but has done a horror franchise, like Twisted pictures,called  A Nightmare On Elmstreet. Both companies are perfect to distribute our film. New Line Cinema is more mainstream than Twisted Pictures so will be able to ensure our film is gieven the best possible coverage. We used a clip from Youtube like this:

Upon revisal we decided not to use Plantinum Dunes because we thought three Intros would take up too much space in our opening but that wasnt the only reason. The company was founded in 2001, fairly recent, we would prefer a company that has more history to it, as a more experienced company. The horror films they have produced has been to a high standard but after much deliberation we decided to stick with Twisted Pictures and New Line Cinema. 

Filming

On Saturday 21st Of January, we had our final day of filming, Gabbie, Jack and Christina were present along with our two actors, the murderer and the victim. We had noticed during our editing session there were some continuity errors that we felt affected our film opening. For example, we hadn't had the CCTV finished on the previous days filming so the glow from the TV was white not green like it should have been so we had to refilm once we had the CCTV finished. Another matter was that some of the shot were not as smooth as they could have been, so we all made a conscious decision to reshoot them.

Gabbie doing Ben's makeup

 One thing we ensured remained consistent was the make up there fore we had Gabbie doing it every time and each time she referred to the photo we took on the first day of filming.



Gabbie doing Ben's makeup



Gabbie doing Ben's makeup



Christina looking into the lighting

During our filming we enusred that the lighting for each shot was good, by testing it before hand, in previous days of filimg we hadnt done this and some shot ended up darker than expected. 

Typography

As we near the end of our editing we realised we hadn't actually finally decided as a groupd which typhography we would like for our title. We really wanted a modern font with a hint of technology but yet have a supernatural edge, quite a lot to ask for! We went on the website dafont.com. Another idea of what our font could look like was based on the idea that the text had been eroded through time, this would link to the name Remote as it has connotations of not being looked after, abandoned and isolated.

Film Title Poll RESULTS

'REMOTE DEATH'

We set a poll to decide on what our film should be called, our group had a brainstorm earlier and came up with a few of our favourite ideas. The results of the poll came out with the most popular being "Remote death" with 42% of the vote. It wasn't an overall majority as many of the other options were very popular. Shadows came second with 23% of the vote. Ariel View third with 14% of the vote. In the end 21 people voted.

Analysis of film title - 'Remote Death'

We think this is the best title for our film as it is the most relevant and has many different layers to it, as does our film.The title links to the storyline very well, as the story revolves around TVs, CCTV and technology.
The word "Remote" has two main connotations, the first being more obvious, a remote control linked withe TV theme. The second being to do with isolation. Our victim has been kidnapped and taken away from what he know, he his emotionally and physically isolated.

Filming, 5th Jan 2012

Thursday 5th of January- 2nd day of filming.

Gabbie, Jack, Christina and Felicity were the crew. Both our actors were needed to film.
Arrived at location 4.45pm. The time is perfect as we needed to film in the dark, to make our scenes as authentic and scary as possible.

The first thing we did was recreate the mise en scene from pictures we took on the first day of filming, We realised continuity was important and painstakingly recreated the scenes. This meant we also ensured the make-up on our victims face was equally the same, refering to past photos we recreated his make-up.

Placing Mise en scene

Doing make up

This delayed filming until 6.15pm, we then prepped our actors on the agenda for the evening. Our aim was to reshoot certain scenes, and film more specific scenes, that needed to be done. For example, we filmed a scene that was a close up on the flickering lightbulb, this was an important scene that we wanted to get right, as it represented our character waking up in the new surroundings (picture below).

Filming

Other scenes were more difficult to film and we had to overcome some problems. We wanted to get a close up of our victims face face on. It caused a problems as the pit meant the camera was further away than we'd like and the tripod (which we wanted to use to keep the camera steady) would otherwise end up in the pit, at the best distance for our shot we needed to be half in the pit, being the creative people we are, we came up with a clever way to overcome this. Gabbie used a sledge hammer to balance our tripod on, it was precarious for a while but we managed to get a great shot and it was worth it.



Solving our problems



We spent a some of our night doing preliminary shots, to see how things would work out. We had a lightbulb that could be dimmed manually and for some scenes that was vital as you can tell from the photo below Felicity became the expert in that field. We wanted to test distance and light in shots and by using ourselves instead of the actors we saved them time as well as us. We were then able to bring the actors in for the proper filming.

Prelim shots

Real shots.

Some other photos from our shoot:

Correcting mise en scene and checking our shots.

Enjoying the shoot.

Filming

Killer's Costume

In most scary films you do not see the killers face, unless it is grotesque or covered with a mask. We thought we would ensure that our killer's face is not revealed during our 2 minute opening, therefore he is going to wear a black hooded jumper. The hood will be up creating shadows over his face and also hiding it from view. Although generally he will have his back to the camera. We have used the colour black to show the darkness within him so our killer wears mostly black or dark colours. It will connotes the fear people have of the unkown and retains that sense of mystery, and creates an enigma. It also provides a stark contrast between the costume of the victim who is wearing white and other similar light colours.


The killer will be wearing dark jeans to enforce the view of him being able to disappear and shows again that darkness within him. Similar to the ones pictured below. Also the killer will be wearing clothes that enable him to blend in, meaning he could be anyone, they hide his indentity to a certain extent.

Film Title.

We have been looking at possible titles for our film and have come up with a few ideas. We wanted our title to have connotations of the slasher nature our film entails but also have a supernatural edge, which our film also has. We also wanted to have a clue in the name as to what our film was about, for example title of the 2007 hit "Paranormal Activity" is pretty self explanatory and suggests what the film is about. We have come up with a list of possible ideas, such as: Remote Death, Ariel View, Blood Box, Playback, Premier and Death Watch. All of these titles relate to the main theme of our film which is watching your death through a TV. We have narrowed our choices down to Blood Box and Remote Death. Both can be related to our desired genre. To decide which film title is best or most popular we have created a poll to decide.
The options are:
Remote Death
Shadows
Blooh Shed
Ariel View
Blood Box.
Once the poll has closed and we have got the results we shall analyse them and see which was the most popular and whether it is most suitable.

So far, the majority of the votes we have are for the film to be called "Remote Death" with 8 votes out of 18, the least popular film title suggestion being "Blood Shed" with 1 vote.

Applying make up

To create the scary and tense atmosphere for our film opening, we applied makeup to our victim. We did a number of tests on other people before applying to the main actor for best results.
We used fake blood, a mixture of honey, water, red food colouring and cornflower, coloured eyeshadow for the bruise effect, and oil. These all gave him appearance that he has sweaty, bloody and bruised-faced.
To give the impression that his face was 'cut' or flesh had been 'peeled' off, we added a mixture of vaseline and red food colouring together to produce the results.

Bruise Make Up

This is some of the bruise make up we have tested on three different models. We needed to make sure that the make up would look effective under the camera so have made sure that the colours are dark and bold to withstand the lighting as well. We have used different types of eye make up to give the effect of bruising around the eye. We will use this make up to make our male vitcim look as though he has been beaten up slightly. The next step is to look into sourcing or finding blood.



Fake Wounds.

To get the effect of our victim being wounded, we have had to research how to create fake wounds. One of the ways do create an open wound via this recipe:

1. Use a toothpick to mix 3-4 drops of red food coloring into a dollop of petroleum jelly.
2. Stir in enough cocoa (a pinch or so) to darken the red color to a deeper, blood-like tint.
3. Separate the toilet roll into the two layers and tear out a small rectangle (3x2 inches) from a single layer of the paper.
4. Place the tissue at the place of the wound and cover it with the petroleum jelly mixture.
5. Mold the tissue into a wound shape, with the edges raised higher than the center of the wound.
6. Add some petroleum jelly mixture to the center of the wound.
7. Sprinkle cocoa at the edges of the wound to darken it. Add cocoa to the wound center if a scabby (as opposed to fresh) appearance is desired.

The photo above is a first attempt. To improve it we will change the shape of the the cut, darken the mixture to a more blood like colour and also change the thickness. This cut will be on his face so needs to look realistic as it will be one of the main focuses of the camera.

Fake black eye with a fake bloody nose

When making the fake cut we experimented with making a bloody nose. Instead of using fake blood, we decided to use a more simple technique of red lipstick and and red lipgloss, It works quite well, however we will still try to make improvements again on areas such as the colour and shape of the blood trail to make it more realistic. 

Costume

This is what our male victim will be wearing. We have decided by looking at our research that plain clothes are the best as they do not detract from from the action or detail of the scene. Our victim will being wearing a plain white vest top, something similar to the one shown above, to allow the contrast of dirt and blood to be shown more vividly. White generally has connotations of innocence and purity which could show the characteristics of our victim. However, we have chosen to dress our victim in grey jogging bottoms as they show a more murkier side of his personaltiy, it's not white to show innocence and its not black to show complete darkness. It add mystery to the character. The jogging bottoms will be similar to the ones shown above.The clothes are very casual to show how this can happen to anyone and allow the audience to relate to the victim.

Genre Research

History of Crime/Thriller

This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasise action over psychological aspects. Central topics of these films include serial killers/murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, heists and double-crosses. Some examples of crime thrillers involving murderers include  


Conventions


Crime characteristics:
Female police characters usually struggle their home life with their career, they're out to prove a point in a male dominated job. Shows like Prime Suspect and Cagney & Lacey. Sometimes masculinise the women police officers.

Typical conventions i.e. 'corrupt cop’ cause and effect chains Camera angles.
Realistic techniques, hand held camera, natural dialogue, real locations. The Bill uses this.

Representation of characters stereotypes.
Sub genres of the crime show, how it is established.
Typical plotlines.

Production values: channel it's broadcasted on, star appeal (Richard Dyer star appeal theory), cinematography, cast, writer Audience appeal, crime shows are popular and have been for around 50 years, apparently 25% of drama scheduling is devoted to crime. Likeable characters i.e. Starsky & Hutch, Gene from Life on Mars. High production values. Subsidiary market for channel - DVD sales, satellite, Pay per view. Hybrid genre appeal.
Social relevance creates presige drama. Retro appeal - Miami vice etc. Ensemble cast.


Conventions of slasher films

•The slasher film is a sub-genre of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer (often wearing a mask) who stalks and graphically murders a series of victims in a random, unprovoked fashion, usually teenagers or young adults.

•The killer almost always uses unconventional weapons such as blades, chainsaws, cleavers, and blunt objects; very rarely, if ever, using guns. There is often a back story that explains how the killer developed their violent mental state, and why they focus primarily on a particular type of victim or a particular location.

•Often, the attacker is able to withstand most or all of his victims' attempts to defend themselves. Even after being shot, stabbed, bludgeoned, electrocuted, burned, or drowned, he is able to continue stalking his victims.

•Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) is sometimes described as the mother of all slasher films. Although there are only two murders in the story, the idea of a disguised and insane killer came to prominence with this film..