Aims
and Context:
For
my FM3 Creative Project, I am going to produce a short film.
My
genres are psychological horror and found footage, and I hope to use
the codes and conventions of these genres successfully in the
stylistics of my short film.
This
film will be aimed at people between 15 and 19 years old (it will
hold a "15" certificate), mixed gender and working/middle
class. This is because I believe that this audience is the audience
most reflected by the characters in the short film.
My
aim will be to show the development of my knowledge of cinematography
and editing, which will be derived from my study of FM1, to explore
the codes and conventions of psychological horror and found footage,
to create a feelings of sympathy, shock and suspense.
In
order to assist with this project, I have been studying films of
similar genres, such as:
- Chronicle (Dir. Josh Trank, 2012, US)
- The Blair Witch Project (Dirs. Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sánchez, 1999, US)
- Paranormal Activity (Dir. Oren Peli, 2007, US)
I
intend to direct the piece, along with being the editor, main camera
operator, writer, protagonist and antagonist.
Reflective
Analysis:
My
aims and context for my FM3 creative project were the first of many
important steps in the creation of my short film. They created a
layout on what goals I needed, and created a path which could help me
to achieve those, eventually leading to my short film, “The
Project”.
My
aims and context described the genre of the film, its target age
group and its influences, and this has been addressed by my audience
feedback, who can thoroughly understand the narrative and textual
genres, as well as recognise the inspiration I have taken from
existing contemporary films. Some members of the audiences have
enjoyed the film because of its romantic sub-plot, and others because
of the themes of mystery and intrigue, meaning that my film can
attract a varied audience.
In
my aims and context, I noted three films that had influenced, before
filming even took place. 'Chronicle' (Dir. Josh Trank, 2012, US),
'The Blair Witch Project' (Dirs. Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sánchez,
1999, US) and 'Paranormal Activity' (Dir. Oren Peli, 2007, US) have
all been viewed and analysed critically to influence my genres of
psychological thriller and found footage: 'Chronicle' inspired the
teenage protagonists/antagonist, 'Paranormal Activity' inspired the
twist ending, whilst 'The Blair Witch Project' inspired the title,
and the mystery/documentary storyline of “The Project”.
Cinematography
is used within my film to provide the origin of both the discovery of
the videos (the murders are seen on the camera used to film the
entire film), as well as hosting the documentary style narrative, as
well as the found footage appearance of the entire film, both murder
scenes and narrative scenes. The style includes POV shots, and a
'documentary' look as the protagonists talk to each other, holding
the camera, effectively recording an interview.
Editing
as a micro feature has been used within my film in many different
ways. Firstly, to place the murder scenes in between the narrative
scenes. This has been done to simulate and draw parallels between the
protagonists' discoveries of the tapes and the progression of the
narrative, as well as provide times for the narrative to develop
'off-screen' when the murders take place. Secondly, the opening
titles have been styled similar to other films of a similar genre
(i.e. Paranormal Activity), with titles such as “none of the
following footage has been altered”. This text sets the narrative,
as well as reinforcing the realism aspect of the film, as many found
footage films attempt to portray. Thirdly editing has been used to
insert effects throughout the film to stylise the footage as
videotape. Television static between scenes mimics a videotape
fastfowarding, or just the appearance of blank spaces on a videotape,
and during the titles simulates the crude, low budget realism of the
film's style. And finally, multiple types of graphics are overlay
the footage throughout the film. A 'viewfinder' effect is visible on
every shot, to reinforce the crude, simplistic found footage. Also,
graphics of blood spurts during the murder scenes are added to
increase the effect of the horror sub-genre found in both the
psychological thriller and found footage genre.
In
conclusion, I believe that I have managed to successfully address my
aims and context successfully, creating a film designed for a teenage
audience of working class 15-19 year olds, whilst also reinforcing
conventions found in the genres of found footage and psychological
thriller. Through my use of the micro features of cinematography and
editing, I hope to have successfully accomplished my aims and
context, and I also believe I have successfully utilised my research
into similar genres to help reinforce the codes and conventions of my
film, as well as inspire the narrative of the film.
