Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the

progression from it to full product?

Film Titles

Film Title AnalysisThese were our title frames for our preliminary task and the actual final product, and they differ entirely because we wished to show a number of different techniques and connotations towards the audience. In our preliminary task, we used a standard iMovie background which had no real connotation and therefore we enhanced this in our actual production because we made sure that the black title colour emphasised the darkness of the horror genre as well as the darkness of the antagonist – with the red typography showing blood explicitly. Furthermore, we used standard vertical and straight font for the preliminary task though this did not actually represent anything – whereas we gained the knowledge to effectively represent our final film – so we slanted the font because this would show the dynamic side to the film and the fact that it was a horror and differentiated from equilibrium. The names of the actors in the film were shown at the beginning on the opening credit with the name of the title, whereas in our final production we changed this because we got the knowledge of knowing the order of the credits in a film so we used them throughout the sequence. Also, we used the title of film at the end of the film because this created an effect by having the demonic scream, a cut to black and then the word ‘Confinement’ being shown massively on the screen, with the typography not suggesting horror – but this meant that we subverted from typical features which made our film entirely unique and juxtaposing from typical horror features.

As we researched the horror genre and the different narratives that this genre entailed we decided to have a look at the different shots used during the films – which is why we had three different inspirations for the film and this was a massive help from us – meaning that from our preliminary task we could apply this in a way – though we could represent the horror themes more explicitly in the final production.

Long Shot

Long Shot AnalysisHere are two of the long shots from our preliminary task and then our final production and they differ entirely with different messages trying to be interpreted towards the audience. These shot match each other as they are long shots, as in the preliminary task, Adam walks towards the door with his body shown in the shot though this shot serves no real purpose of showing any emotion or meaning – whereas we learnt to alter this with the long shot in the final production. If we could change the preliminary then we would alter the fact that no meaning is conveyed with the long shot, there is no feel of isolation or emotion within the character – though in ‘Confinement’ – the protagonist is covered by trees to show the isolation of the character and the mise-en-scene has been adapted to show the character trapped within the woods. We improved on the long shot because we were able to show a meaning within the characters stance, as well as the setting because we used the setting effectively by covering the protagonist but still kept the character centrally composed, to enhance the fact that the character is trapped inside the woods with no way out. In the original preliminary, though the character is centrally composed, the stance does not connote a particular meaning and the setting does not add to the narrative – so we learnt a lot from our original task.

Medium Shot

Medium Shot Analysis

Here are examples of a medium shot from our preliminary task and then our final task, as we used this shot to explicitly convey the antagonist and the evil features of the character opposing the protagonist. In the preliminary task, we only observed showing the character walking into the room by opening the door, but no actual character depiction is shown from this shot. However, in the actual film because of the fact that we had learnt to portray characters in a specific way by showing a lack of lighting, a shadow conveys the disequilibrium and semantically indicates the darkness of the antagonist. We improved from the preliminary as we were able to connote our character to elicit a response from the audience.

Zooming Shot

Zooming Shot Analysis

We used zooming shots in both our preliminary task and our final production, so this was a skill that we were comfortable in using but we managed to improve it dramatically for our sequence. We improved from our original task as we managed to make the length and pace of the shot faster, which enabled us to build the tension throughout the film because the music matched the pace of the zooming shot. We conducted the zooming shot well in the preliminary task, which is why as a group we decided to incorporate it into our final production.

Close Up

Close Up AnalysisThis final shot shows how comfortable we were with close up shots, as we were confident originally in the preliminary task but we managed to improve the shot in our final sequence – yet again to elicit a response from the audience. Originally, the close up shot in the preliminary task was slightly less close than the shot in the final sequence, however both of the shot enabled us to convey the emotion of the character – however the setting behind the protagonist in the opening sequence allowed to manipulate the mise-en-scene – whereas the first shot did not allow us to do this. Both shots build tension and we were confident in our ability to do this, meaning that we already had skills of being able to show the state of the character – with the first shot showing that character as confident and in control – whereas the shot in the film ‘Confinement’ shows that the protagonist is in a state of disequilibrium shown by the pain within the facial expression.

Conclusion

Overall, we are extremely confident with using the camera equipment – as well as editing in order to show the horror genre because this enabled us to create our film and make it look as realistic as possible to horror genre from the research that we made. All of the planning and storyboarding in our research really helped us as we had a clear idea of how to show each shot in order to show specific features to the audience, with the mise-en-scene of the shots and actual shots used all convey a sense of disequilibrium – and we learnt many different difficult aspects from our preliminary task to our final product to show the genre effectively.