D1 : Analysis of Final Production

To fully analyse pineclones I am going to separate it into sub sections in which I will then analyse to further show how I have created meaning in this horror production. These sub sections being the analysis of camera work , audio/ sound in this short movie, editing and mise en scene.

Camera

In the movie there are a wide array of shots used to film the scene. The reason behind this is so that the audience feels involved within the production rather than an outsider. In the opening scene of pineclones we used a Mid shot as this allowed us to include the sections of the car that was needed as well as all the actors in this shot. Moving on to the next scene in this scene we mainly used a very long shot as this was an establishing shot so this allowed the audience to see the all the actors set up the tent as well as the location they are in. Thus leading into a further establishing long pan shot in which the camera pans up from the floor slowly to focus on the set of the tent which the 3 boys are inside.This cuts to a medium shot of the boys within the tent this shot allows the audience to feel in the shoes of the boys when the masked man strikes for the first time. Next there is a long tracking  shot of the masked man moving down a hill closer to the tent, this is then cut to when he is outside the tent in confrontation to the 3 boys for this shot we used a long shot with several zooms in the intense dialogue and action. We then use a POV shot of the boys escaping from, the masked man, the reason we used a POV shot was to allow the audience feel in the place of the masked man in the chase. For the ending scene we used a mid shot which transitioned into a close zoom when Ben dies.

Sound

The film starts off with creepy music that we had downloaded from a royalty free website. The music started off quietly but gradually got louder as the working title was displayed on screen.We did this to try and instil fear in the audience from the every start. In most scenes especially the confrontation scene we also added music as it helped create and even add to the tension in the scene, the music peaks when the masked man is knocked down we did this to emphasise the impact this could possibly make on the future. For audio in Pineclones, we used an external wireless microphone that was placed strategically around the cast especially when the main dialogue was going on to pick up the speech. The reason we had decided to use a wireless mic was as we were filming in a open space where we may be a good distance away from the camera so the audio through the camera may not have been able to pick up the dialogue in high quality.Also by using a wireless microphone it was easier to hide from the cameras and easier to hide so it wasn't shown on screen With these audio files from the external microphone we imported them onto Dropbox so that the editor will have easy access to the files from any work space as well as that if we were to accidentally format the  microphone or if the audio was to get corrupted we wouldn't lose our whole project pretty much. Overall in the post production i feel we used sound and audio very well to help create meaning as well as ticking off boxes within the audience pleasure category and the codes and conventions of a horror genre.

Editing

In post production, editing is the main factor and possibly a chance to try and correct things that didn't go to plan in filming. When editing the film we knew from previous plans that we had a big task as we needed to add in many tricky sound effects as well as find the perfect music to fit with the genre, timing in the movie and for it to be copyright free. As the movie is within the horror genre we knew that the cut scenes had to be short and snappy at certain intense moments but then again we had to have moments where there was a longer gap between the cuts to try and establish new scenery, shots and for the audience to be able to grasp what is going on in the movie this is why early on in the movie there is a singular clip to set the scene as we used a very long shot. But this contrasts drastically to the intro of the movie where the cut scene and the bang of the car boot door lines up perfectly with the music and the transition to the working title. Furthermore as the director wanted the film to be set at night we had to use a 'Day to night'filter on the clips to allow the film to make it look like it was shot at night. Another task that we had to do to whilst editing was matching the audio up with the clips, this was as we used a external wireless microphone. The audio had to be synced correctly to allow the film to even be viewed with pleasure rather than discomfort. This difficult task was made a lot easier as there was a marking point that the director had made sure was visible on camera and also audible on the microphone. To further create meaning in the movie during post production we created a Introduction slide, for the title as well as an outro the co-aligned with the same theme. For this we used a plain clack background with the writing in the font 'Serif' we used this font as the audience can relate to it as a font that corresponds with the horror genre. Thus concluding our edit of the film.

Mise - En - Scen

Mise En Scen played a large role in helping to create meaning in the production. We had to hand pick the clothes carefully so that they aligned with the characters background information and with the image the director was trying to portray. We had the boys dress up in casual teen clothing such as jeans, shorts . T shirts and Polo shirts. Where as the antagonist ( The Masked Man) had to be wearing clothes that made him appear terrifying on looks so the costume team gave him an all black outfit as well as white mask, to try give him a scary look. Moving on to the lighting aspect we filmed in broad daylight which proved to be the best filming conditions as there was no need for artificial lighting. Within the props aspects we had a 5 man tent, a bottle pine cones and rocks all which were either provided by the cast or scouted and found by the scouts.