Critical Reflection

Final Film

The introduction to the psychological thriller 1323. A young sociopathic monster has destroyed his household.

Editing

Editing  is so much fun!!! I am so mad because my dads laptop does not have the old version of Imovie so I had to pay for it. But it is awesome what I have been able to accomplish through editing. I think it is coming out very well. I am a bit worried about the sound. I am not sure it if a better idea to keep it silent and quiet or add some music. I've searched around but I can't seem to find sounds that fit perfectly. We have too much footage and sadly I am unable to fit it all into the two minute time span. This has led me to use only small parts of different scenes with fast cuts. I like it even better it adds to the intensity and the anxiety!

Day 3 CONTINUE TO FILM

Fabiana's house is perfect I am so glad things worked out the way they did. It is a great setting. The stairs are seen right when the door is open so it facilitates it all. The house was completely alone so there was an uncomfortable silence which really adds to the suspense and anxiety. Fabiana's mother ended up becoming the mother character and she was an amazing actor. I am really proud of both Nico and her mother; at first I was quite skeptical about the boy because he is our age and that defeats the plot of the young boy. With mise-en-scene however we have made him look way younger than he actually is. Fabiana's camera also did magic. We got some great focus pulls, zooms, and high definition shots in close ups and extreme close ups. We got all of the film footage we needed and it is time for me to take it back home and edit away!

Filming day 2

We got some great shots today! Nico is perfect. Not only does he look young but he loves acting and is surprisingly very good at it! It was a shame that we were not able to have a younger character. We were going to have Fabiana'ss eight year old brother play the part but after a couple of shots we realized that he wasn't going to satisfy our vision. Nico is seventeen years old and it is obviously much easier for him to comprehend what we need his to do exactly. Although we got the perfect character we were only able to shoot the scenes where Nico was alone because the other two characters could not come last minute. This was a bit stressful. This backed us up a bit. But we got the main shots done which is great. I took a tracking long shot of the neighborhood, of the house, Nico serving the tea, and awesome shots of the stairs.

Opening scene...the stairs.

After reading my blog critiques I have came to the realization that I have in fact not been clear with my idea so here it goes. The film will start off with a simple long shot of a calming suburb. Too calming that it causes curiosity and a bit of uncomfort. The camera will slowly pull up towards the main setting, the two story home. I will make it clear that this is a key element by focusing the camera directly towards the house. I will proceed with a cut and a tracking shot of a young boy age (8-12) at a close up of his feet or body at a low angle to make him look superior and frighning. He is followed up the stairs closely but not too closely to  make the viewer feel as if they were right behind him. Another close up will be used to show the feet walking over what appears to be a dead woman on the floor. He simply walks over her without any remorse while clearly recognizing the body. A cut will lead to the next shot of the boy pushing over the open bottle of pills onto the woman's face. They will drop onto her visage and he will walk away.

After visiting several locations in order to find the ideal home we have decided that Fabiana's house is the perfect house. In order to make the film capture that creepy vibe color is key. The house must be dark but not just dark it must have that horrific atmosphere.

I recently watched the movie Half Baked and there was a scene that was in the dogs point of view. This inspired me immediately, I love the shot. I think it is different and gives viewers a perspective they are not used to. I believe this will capture the attention that I desire. Originally I wanted to do a long shot following the boy into the house up the stairs and continue to follow while he wanders into his room. I was debating in between that or just as the child's point of view. I am 90% sure that I will incorporate all three types of shots to show my skills.

However I wonder if the sudden change from the dogs perspective to the humans will look off.
Although it sounds like a really good idea I don't know if my dog or any dog is qualified to do it and I don't want to rely on a dog for my shots. I am going to try it out. I'll get back to you. 

Shots

I would like to create an ocular anxiety since the initial point. I want to have very clear shots of the woman who lay on the floor dead such as this one of Brendan Gleeson in the movie 28 Days Later.  

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/373901-40-scariest-shots-horror/#/slide/34

I'm having trouble finding the perfect woman actor and I have to work on making her look dead. I don't know if I want to go the mysterious blood route of if I should stick to the idea of the pill overdose. I would shoot her at a bird eye angle to show her powerless vulnerability. Other than this bird eye and a few extreme close ups my film can hopefully be shot with a tracking shot to effectively show the character being followed. The tracking shot will be filmed with a hand held cam due to lack of resources. However, this will only be an advantage because it adds a sense of reality and it makes viewers feel like they are right there with him. I am a big fan of the reverse shot as well and I think if it is used uniquely it could build up great suspense but it could also look very bad. 

Groups

Voices in boys head like Dexter

I need a young boy around the age of 8-12 to satisfy my vision. Mise-en-scene is key in creating the look of an innocent middle class boy so I will dress him with a pair of shorts, a belt, and a striped shirt perhaps. Since the boy I imagine has psychological problems and is a bit crazy I need him to have a blank look on his face. The setting will be in a calm family friendly neighborhood but the day will be dark, quiet and gloomy. The house must be dark and I am picturing a large steep stair case right at the door. The camera will follow the boy into the house up the stairs with a close up on his shoes. There a woman will lay and he will simply step over her, and knock over the rest of the pills. The pills will fall onto the dead woman's face and he will proceed to the bathroom with no emotion and comb his hair.

Week 1

Today I watched and analyzed the Shining in my process to review Stanley Kubrick's work in the horror genre and get some sort of inspiration as his psychological take in his films is something I want to incorporate in the beginning of my short film. The hallway scene of the shining
In the movie Kubrick often uses a tracking shot. In the hallway scenes the little boy
the emptiness of the hotel creates an invisible tension that I would love to recreate in my own way. I would also like to incorporate a creepy lullaby preferably sung by the child himself.
The use of non-digetic sounds makes the audience feel scared and unsettled and it is also used often throughout the film. The idea I have in my head would need to incorporate a couple of non-digetic sounds. However, I think if it I go overboard I could ruin the whole thing so I must be careful and not over do it.  I would also like to have a shot where the camera is so close to my character that the audience feels as if they are experiencing everything with him just like after Danny the little boy enters the unknown room. This type of shot adds suspense because the viewers have no idea what is in front of the boy.

Planning

There are various types of horror genres.

• Slasher

• Splatter

• Vampire

• Zombie

• J-Horror

• Thriller

• Monster

• Psychological

 I plan to create a cross over of a horror genre and a thriller. The thriller will focus on a constant sense of threat coming from an outside menace which will captivate a larger target audience's attention better.