Editing

To begin with, our group had thought up some ideas that we could use for our editing

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For the start of our video, we got the intro for Twisted Pictures production company from youtube and recored our own verse from the childrens rhyme "Ring a Ring o' Roses". To Record this we used Garage band and got Jodie (Saskia) to sing it out. I then edited it a little to make it more echoey and a little more high pitched so that it would sound more like a young girl.  

This also leads to a sound bridge as the production company intro plays, following by the fading into the actual sequence. 

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For our starting scene of the shots of the legs, I put it in black & white and slowed the clip down a little to give it an effect of a flashback. I did this because it helps the audience to understand what is going on, and that it's not just some random shot that happens before the second scene.

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I used a lot of fading onto a black screen for the titles because I believe it looks good and you're able to notice each title other than it clashing with the scenes, so your attention can be focused on both titles and the scene.

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On this part of our sequence there was a jump between the two shots that was really noticeable. So I tried to edit it so that it wouldn't be as noticeable or so that the jump wouldn't there at all, so when it came to adding in the titles, firstly we agreed to just put the titles over the actual shot so it would show up as the sequence plays. but then I changed it so that the titles show up on a black screen and fade over into the shot. This effect got rid of the jump that we had in our sequence so it was really effective to add in.

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The text for the titles we chose was Baskerville in red. We chose this because the font looks pretty sharp and thin, which I think gives a more thriller effect, and the red was an obvious choice because it's a typical code of a horror thriller film, being that it stands out and represents blood or something sinister.
The effect that we had on the title of the film as it rolls in is cross zoom from the scene and sideways drift as the text plays. The effect we had on the titles was soft edge. We chose to use these particular effects because they work well for a triller because fading and sharp motion is a good stereotype of horror.


Sound editing (Choice of music);

Title's

I have researched various existing titles to some horror thriller films to give me an idea of how ours should look.

I have noticed that all these titles have followed the codes and conventions of a horror, being that they are monochromatic and use blood red as a predominant colour. They're also either very grunge like or thin and sharp. When looking at font for our film I will keep these in mind so that our title will give the right impression to the audience.

For our title we have looked at various fonts that we could use. They are;

We liked this font due to the fact that it looks pretty grungy and horror like, we considered we might use this one if we can't find another that's up to this standard.

This font we liked because it has a mirrored effect which would work with our story considering it contains a mirror.

This font is pretty good, although we weren't too sure if it work work well as it looks kind of fantasy looking rather than horror.

This font here is a great horror font, although I think it would work better with a hack & slash horror genre rather than a ghost horror genre.

This is my most favourite font out of the five as I like how it has sharp edges and I like that it's very thin. I believe that it creates a great horror image and I think it would work best with our sequence out of the 5.

Add in

Once we had completed the whole filming of our sequence, we looked back on it and though there was something missing. So I came up with some ideas to add into the start, which was to add some quick shots of childs play eg. Hopscotch and skipping, using the same type of shot as the hanging scene, which was just shots of the legs. We chose to do these shots because it give a mysterious effect.

What we did

For our filming, me, Jodie & Jess each did our fair share of taking part.

The three of us contributed to the story line & Jodie wrote the script.

As we were filming, we changed the script slightly as we was one less person than we expected due to that person not showing up on the days we wanted and needed to film.

Also, we followed most of the story boards, but changed the last few scenes as I thought that getting Jodie to crawl out from under the bed rather than sitting still on the bed would get a more creepy effect;
I suggested this to Jess and we both agreed that it would work better, and it did.

We're now finished with the filming and ready to edit our sequence on the Apple Macs. Hopefully we'll get the sound & editing the way we want it.

We filmed Jodie crawling in from the door to see how it would look and to see if her make-up and clothes were effective enough. We agreed that it worked very well.

Filming and preparing of our opening sequence

We filmed are opening sequence today and all in all it went really well.

This is the cast and the camera woman (I took the picture)

For the role of Saskia (The ghost girl) I got the shower and soaked Jodie's hair as it gives it a better effect, due to it looking darker and more messy and 'dead' like.

I then applied a little bit of make-up (black eye shadow) for the darkness around her eyes which gives her face a more ghostly effect.

We didn't want it to be really bold as it wouldn't look as natural as it does if only a little is applied.

Once we had done this, we got her to put her hair over her face which gives her the mysterious and creepy look.

This image here is the image we tried to create when doing our character Saskia

 

We all agreed that Jodie looked pretty convincing once she had her make-up on, her hair done and her clothes on while crawling from the bed.

Well she was enjoying herself..

For the filming of our sequence, we included a range of shots and angles.

This shot was taken by putting the tripod on top of the bed. At first we though this wouldn't work as it the camera might not of been able to stay still, but we gave it a go and it worked perfectly still. We did this shot to get a high angle shot of Keira as she leaves the room.

We also added an outside shot of Jodie in character. The camera was facing into the mirror in the bedroom while two of the characters were chanting the words into in, and a shot of Jodie outside was able to be seen in the reflection of the mirror. We thought this was a great shot to add in.

 This shot here is when we focused he camera onto Jenni's feet as she turns on the torch on her phone to get some light (This is when the bedroom light go out) Jess then pans the camera, following Jenni's movements with the phone.

This is the shot when we was filming Jodie (Saskia) crawling out from under the bed as she groans.

Script

This was the first script that Jodie had come up with, although we had to change it due to changing the actors in our sequence and having one less person than we planned. This was the original script;

Jodie the re-wrote the scrips and came up with this, which we followed completely;

The Script

Jenni: (complaining about Mike.) (Luke answers and suggests things.)

(Keira looks into mirror, has a flash back, and jumps.)

Luke: What’s wrong?

Keira: Nothing.

Jenni: Well something must be wrong.

Keira: Well. The mirrors creep me out.

Luke: Why?

Keira: You know that myth about Saskia?

Luke: The ghost girl in the mirror? (amused)

Keira: Yeah, well I did it and I thought I saw her.

Jenni: Oh wow, should we do it?

Luke: Oh my god! Yeah!

Keira: If you do that then I’m going home.

Jenni: Ah but I really want to do it.

Keira: right, I’m going. (gets up and leaves)

Luke: Where are you going?

Keira: Home.

Luke: Why?

Keira: I’m not staying here if your doing this.

Jeni and Luke: Ahh okay bye.

Keira: Bye.

(8pm)

Luke: Are we actually going to do this?

Jenni: yeah come on, it will be a laugh.

Jenni and Luke: (start calling Saskia. Mocking.)

(lights go out, door slams and blinds rattle. Jenni and Luke panic, turn on torch on phone and see Saskia. They scream and turn away but the door is locked.)

Luke: Its locked!

Jenni: Where is she? (pause) Oh my god! she's coming!

(Shot of Saskia crawling out of bed)

We all agreed that this would work for our sequence and used it.

Storyboards

Here are the story boards that we came up with and Jess drew out.

Narrative: Characters and backstory.

"Once your eyes meet with hers, you'll never escape".

Character: Jenni
Jenni is a 16 year old girl who doesn't believe in ghosts and is willing to prove all the believers wrong.

Character: Luke
Luke is a 17 year old boy who who shares the same thoughts as Jenni, they're very close friends.

Character: Keira
Keira is a 17 year old girl who has previously experienced the ghost of Saskia, but no-one believes her. 

Character: Saskia
Saskia is a teenage ghost girl dressed in a white gown, bare feet, with long dark hair, just about covering her pale white face and deep black eyes. She's very still and doesn't move, but when she does it's very sudden and fast. She shows no emotion within her face and her body language is slumpy, her body straight with her head half looking down.

Backstory:
As a child, Saskia was isolated from everyone and everything. No family, no friends since her days as a baby. She was taken n by the orphanage and as she grew older, she was adopted by many families, but was returned after a few weeks. The reason for this is that every family that took her in believe that she is the 'devils child' after experiencing continuous bad luck while she stayed.
At the age of 14, Saskia starts to realise and believes that she's unwanted by everyone. She hears voice in her head which drive her into madness so she escapes from the orphanage and isolates herself from the world, keeping a mirror within her pocket to remind herself that she is a real person and not the 'devil's child'.
Finally, she then becomes weak both physically and mentally and therefore resolves her problems by ending her life.
After her death, her body was found. Her previous foster families were then questioned, but too terrorised mentally to reveal anything that happened while she was with them. This then drove them crazy and every family who took Saskia into care where have said to have gone missing. 
This story was passed on from person to person and taken even further. People said that if you say "Saskia, Saskia, where is Saskia?" face to face with a mirror, a ghost girl would appear. This was also said to be a myth which drove people to do it more. This was true until Saskia herself was sick of her existence being carried on, she just wanted to be left alone and forgotten to ridden her pain, yet these people continue to disturb her. She's had enough, so she appears to this so called 'myth' and murders them or mentally kills them.

Location List

We have two locations for our filming which are;

Jodie's mum's bedroom.

We chose to use this room because it contains these mirrors which are highly needed for our story, considering it is based around looking into a mirror.

We're also going to use the outside of Jodie house for a couple of shots, during the day. We chose to use this location because it has a row of trees which will add to the effect of a quiet place with no-one about.

We used this specific location because it was possible for us to use and we have access to it whenever we need it. We chose to work indoors because we thought it would be more suitable as we don't have to worry about the weather and light.

Previously we were going to film outside in a woods, but we changed our minds due to the fact that most of us are only available to film during the evening and night, so we wouldn't be able to get a clear picture. We also decided to change this because we changed the story to our film and needed to use props which would only naturally be found indoors.

Our group and cast and props

The each role of out group is;

Jess Higgs
Cinematography & storyboards
We have chosen Jess for this role because she is the most experienced with camera's out of the four of us and she's also creative.

Jodie Phillips
Actress & writer
We have chosen Jodie as Saskia the ghost girl due to her appearance, because she's tall and thin and has long hair. She's also the writer because she enjoys this particular aspect.

Kelcie Morgan
Director & editing
We have chosen to give myself this role because I'm good with ideas on the spot if anything needs changing. I've also been chosen to do the editing because that is where I am most creative.

Our cast for our opening are;

Jodie Phillips: Saskia the ghost girl (Antagonist)

Jenni Russell as herself
We asked Jenni to play this role because she's believable when acting and thought she suit the part.

Luke Price as himself
We asked Luke to play this role because we wanted to include a male character within our sequence to get both male and female audience. Also because we didn't want to create the impression of a typical 'all girl sleepover' ..pretty cheesy. 

& Keira Pain as herself
We asked Keira to play this role because she herself is similar to the character we wanted to play in terms of how she feels about ghosts. 

The props that we will be using are;

A mirror (Used for the chant to make the ghost appear)

A mobile phone (Used as a torch for when the room goes black)