Updated narrative

In our film, we have used Todorov's theory of equilibrium. The young woman making tea in the kitchen then goes and sits down to watch the evening news.  When the girl walks past, we get a quick glimpse of a man looking through the window of the door. As the girl sits down, a mysterious figure is seen faintly through the window. The couple are still unaware that the are being watched. Whilst the couple watch the news, it is the top story that murder clowns are on the loose around the UK. They then decided to switch the TV off and go upstairs to bed. Unfortunately, the oblivious couple have forgotten to lock the front door which hasn't been shut properly. The couple walk upstairs into the darkness. Sounds of a window breaking are heard and and mysterious figure with a black tracksuit on with the hood over its head slowly enters the room where the couple are sleeping. 

Editing log

Log of when editing took place and whom by-

After re-film:
11/11/16.

Editing by Callum Ison.
Start 19:00
Finish 20:30

What took place?

The clips filmed on this day were added to WeVideo and then we merged them together without any sound yet. The clips were added together to gather a sense of continuity and establish what was happening in the film in a smooth way.
12/11/16

Editing by (main) Callum Ison, (Subs)Joe Deighton, Harriett Folan and Jade Moon
Start 14:25
Finish 15:20

What took place?
We edited the diegetic and non diegetic sound into the film in order the film more scary and also link the film to the horror genre further.
15/11/16

Editing by Group
Start 11:15
Finish 12:10
What took place?
Sound was re-edited in order to make the tension in the film build as the music begins quietly and gradually becomes louder. More news reporter voices added in order to make the action seem more frantic and make the audience begin to panic.

16/11/16

Smile re-filmed

Changes made in main brief

After gathering feedback from others, we were then able to make changes to our opening to make it better and more appealing to our target audience.

We decided to remove some extras which played the dead people. This is because one of the main points we gained from one of our peers was that it looked more like a trailer and trailers can give the plot away. Therefore, this was not our aim and we thought the dead bodies gave too much away.

We also thought that we should catch moments of the clown stalking the two people instead of skipping to the clown breaking in. By adding the stalking shots, we are able to add more suspense and tension to our film which would frighten the audience more. Also, by making this change, we are able to add more camera angles such as point-of-view shots.

Another change we decided to make was to add in the kettle where the girl is making tea. This is a typically horror film extra where it can convey the characters ignorance. This can also link to the stereotypical actions that a girl is known for. An example of this is in horror film, 'Scream' when the girl is making popcorn whilst being watched by the murderer.

We thought that we should make alterations to the lighting also. We used a variety of different lightings from it being bright in the kitchen to when they walk up stairs where it is dark. We thought that it would be a good idea to portray the suspense with the lighting. Therefore, at the beginning, the light is bright meaning that nothing bad is going to happen yet. However, as we move further into the opening, the light darkens more and more due to the danger becoming greater. Then, when they are followed up stairs, it is dark.

We also focused more on the baseball bat which the clown is holding throughout. This is because when we filmed the rough cut, you are not able to see the bat clearly in the camera shots we filmed. The only evidence we had for the bat was the sound as it was being dragged along the stones of the drive way.

Forecast for refilm of main brief

10th November 

Sunrise: 7:11 AM
Sunset: 4:17 PM

From checking the forecast on 10th November, we then new that the sun would begin to set at 4:17pm. Therefore, we decided to begin our refilming when it was completely dark for continuity to make our opening look professional.

Sun and some clouds with a shower in the area. 

7°c
Precipitation 41%

We thought that due to the clouds and the showers, the filming conditions would suit us best as it would get darker quickly and we can gain digetic sounds of the eerie winds when we film our exterior, point of view shots.

Positive and negative feedback on rough cut

Once we had edited and added the sound to make it scary, we then asked a few of our peers to watch our opening and see what they think is good and what we need to improve on and perhaps change. We were then able for film two people who gave us feedback. From this, we were able to gain an insight on 16-17 year old boys views on horror films and what they enjoy watching. For example, they like how we have used suspense and darkness but would like us to include some foreshadowing in order to keep the audience interested to find out what may occur later on in the film.

Main brief rough cut

Main brief editing

After our first successful filming session for our main brief, we came together to make a start on the editing and fitting all of the shots together. We watched the videos we filmed of each shot and chose which ones was of the best quality.

Sound research for own piece

Sound is very important in horrors as without it, suspense would not be very effective and scare the audience. Therefore, we must take into consideration the type of sound used and when to used them throughout our opening.
Due to our film being based on clowns, we decided that to end our film, we were going to incorporate this theme by adding clown music. However, we soon changed our minds as we found that it seemed to take away some of the suspense which made it less scary which was not our aim.
We also decided to add a digetic sound of footsteps as the girl is walking down the hallway. We included this in order to create more suspense.

Filming day

November 4th - Our first filming day

Once we arrived at our filming location, our main actor and extras began to get their theatrical make-up on whilst we set up the camera and prepared everything ready to start filming. We ran through our storyboard once again to remind us what shots we want to get. We began filming at approximately 4:30pm and by this time, it was dark outside meaning we had to take into consideration continuity throughout to give it a sense of realism. It rained whilst filming but luckily we had finished all of the shots we needed outside before the rain started. We finished filming at around 6:00pm.

News reporter audition

After holding these auditions, as a group, we came to the decision that candidate one would be ideal for the role of the news reporter.

Feedback video of storyboard and narrative

Film title for opening credits

Most horror film titles are bold yet simple. For example, the title for 'Mama' only consists of two main colours, black and grey. However, it is still effective and noticeable.

Due to the horror film logos being simple, we also made ours very simple and onlu used four different colours. We followed a very simple design which suited the narrative of our film very well as the main antagonist is a clown. The redness of the nose makes the logo stand out and the title is incorporated into the logo as being the smile of the clown face. We created this logo using Abode photoshop and the font can be associated with the circus and children.

Institution logo design

A large number of successful film institution logos have a background which is an evening sky with clouds which can be associated with a variety of genres. We like the idea of the sky background as it can suit the horror genre as the night time and darkness are conventions of a horror and peoples fears. From looking at the different logos, every title is bold and takes up most of the screen. Therefore, it can be easily recognisable.

For our own institution logo, we included a cloudy night sky background to be associated with the horror genre. We also included dripping bloody on the institution title which would ensure the audience that our film will be a horror. The colours we decided to use connote gore, danger and mystery. We created this logo on Abode photoshop and the moon and the bird had been edited before embedding it onto the background in order to make them darker and fit the darkness of the background.

Decision on day of filming

Main brief recce pictures

It was my responsibility to provide the recce pictures as we plan on using my house as the setting. By using a house, we can convey the sense of realism, innocence and safety to the audience. However, the people in the house are not safe. The audience may feel scared and uncomfortable as they come to realise that there are large windows which can be easily smashed and people are able to see into the house.



By filming in a house, we are able to easily change lighting whereas outside can be difficult as the lighting can change quickly. We are also at an advantage because we do not have to worry about what the weather may be. If we were to be filming outside, we would have to avoid the days where it is due to rain to prevent the filming equipment being damaged.

The narrow hallway can portray the sense of being trapped with no where to escape. The living room is where the dead bodies will be as well as a shot of the clown being inside the house, standing amongst the bodies.

We decided to make use of a bedroom in which we will include shots as they are asleep and the mysterious clown person sneaking into the room. This will create suspense due to the characters being unaware which results in the audience being on the edge of their seats.

Clown makeup research

In order to know what makeup to do for Luke (our clown) in our opening, I thought that it would really benefit me and my group if I were to carry out clown makeup research.After observering many pictures of clowns, I noticed a few aspects which are very similar in all clowns.

My first observation was that they are always very pale or have white face paint all over the face. This can be frightening as it can portay the sense of death. I am yet to find a scary clown without a pale face.

Secondly, they always have a large smile drawn on their own mouths, generally in red. This exaggerated smile is seen as being quite creepy as their own mouths are generally frowning underneath. When people see a fake smile draw onto someones face, most people automatically link it to clowns. Also, due to this, we were able to create a title for our film.

Thirdly, some scary clowns tend to have their nose coloured in either red or black just like normal clowns. The audience can then be positive that it is a clown instead of them being confused as to what the person is trying to be.

All scary clowns have makeup around the eyes. This makeup on the person is normally either smudges or diamond shapes. The diamonds around the eyes can be seen as being scarier as people can link it to normal clowns they may be familiar with from their childhood. It also portrays animation due to the bright colours which may be used.

Due to the observations I have found, I will now gather the aspects together and take into consideration the eyes, nose, mouth and skin when i do this on our actor. I will also take into consideration which colours of makeup i shall use and what i can do to make it scary.

Main brief character analysis

It was Harriett's responsibility to create the character analysis for our main brief. Our main character is Luke Scrivener who will play the scary clown. We also have four extras to play dead.

Clown - We decided to use a clown as the murder due to the media on clowns going around the UK and the US. Our clown will be mysterious and come across as though he is mental. We will portray these characteristics without the clown having to speak. This can then put the audience on the edge of their seats due to the unknown.

Dead bodies - The dead bodies are a group of four friends who have gone to someones house but are then murdered by the clown. Our dead bodies consist of two boys and two girls in order to follow the stereotypical genders in horrors.

Main brief props and costumes

For the clown, we plan of the character to wear the clown mask, a black tracksuit and possibly gloves. The clowns murder weapon is going to be a large baseball bat which we plan on covering in fake blood to ensure the audience knows this is the murder weapon. 

There will be 'dead' bodies on the floor which will be wearing casual, everyday clothes. This helps to portray their innocence.

Main brief risk assessment

In our group, we came up with four main risks which are:

• Falling down stairs
• Injury from using a baseball bat
• Allergy to fake blood
• Tripping over the bodies

To avoid any of these from occurring, we will need to clear any objects which may be in the way or any objects that the actors may trip over. When using the baseball bat, we will need to work in a sensible and mature manner to prevent any injuries. Before using the fake blood, we plan on doing a patch test for each one to check if any of the actors may have a bad reaction to the substance. Lastly, we will need to be very aware of our surroundings in order to not trip over any of the actors playing dead.