Locations For Filming

The short film that we are making will be in the genre of horror, the horror film will be located in the forest/woods, so we have been looking for local areas which fit the criteria.

The first place that I thought of was Eastham woods, this area suits the criteria because there are many dirt trails inside and also there are many trees surrounding the area. I particularly like this location because it is very close to my house (5 minutes walk) so I wouldn't have to be arranging transport. There is also a bear pit in Eastham woods, which would be very useful in our filming, such as people getting trapped in there with no escape etc.    

I believe that my target audience would agree that Eastham Woods is an ideal place to film due to the potential of many areas in the woods . Eastham Woods provides a bear pit, which when filmed in the dark would create a very eerie atmosphere. The large overgrown trees near the entrance of the woods also provide a great natural darkness as they block out the sunlight.
The only issue that we could come across when filming is the distraction of people walking past the camera, these woods are visited frequently by the public, so we may have to film late at night when it is less busy.
                                                                                                                      

The second location that I thought of that met the criteria was dibbinsdale woods, this is once again a very local area which is easy to access and free to the public. Not only does the dibbinsdale woods have an area with lots of greenery such as tall trees and bushes, but it has a tunnel which could be used for suspense, especially when filmed late at night.

 I believe that my target audience would agree that this is a great place for filming. the interesting imagery (woodwork dragon) and the luscious green trees really give us something exotic to film. Dibbinsdale woods are also relatively local, so they are accessible. An issue that we may come across is that groups frequently go out for excursions in the woods, such as scouts/beavers. This could distract us from our filming.

What are the dangers of creating independent films?

The film business is very dangerous. The film Papadopoulos and sons was made with an £800,000 budget, and they have only made £400,000 back, this emphasises the fact that the film industry isn't always going to make you rich and famous. Here is a graph showing the costs involved with making a film like this:

Often, you will find that independent films will go to SVOD services, the independent companies will do this because they do not want to take the risk of letting it go to box office, as it may flop. The SVOD services guarantee the independent film companies money, which takes the risk out of the equation.

Film and Finance (SVOD)

The most recent trend in the film industry is the use of SVOD's. A SVOD is subscription video on demand, a few examples of SVOD's are Netflix, Amazon Instant video and Now TV.






Firstly, I am going to discuss the advantages of  SVOD'S. Often, people want to be able to have instant access to whatever they want to watch at any time, it is not possible to do that with cinemas, so people will resort to these SVOD's. Secondly, film makers will have a better chance of getting large amounts of exposure due to the high number of people subscribed to SVOD's, this makes it easier for the film makers to negotiate deals with companies because SVOD services such as Netflix are involved only for the business, whereas professional filming companies have more rigorous processes of negotiations.



Although there are many advantages of SVOD's, there are also a few disadvantages. Firstly, SVOD's only pay the film company once and negotiate a deal, whereas if the film company puts the film on box office, it will be bough many times by many different people. For example, a subscription service such as Netflix may pay £100,000  to a company to have the right to air their film, whereas through box office, people will buying more and more tickets to see the film but at a lower price. Secondly, SVOD's often have films that were not good enough to be blockbusters, often, if the film maker is not confident that the film will do good numbers on the box office, then they will just give it to a SVOD to be safe.

Moodboard

Evaluation of Preliminary Task

The Importance of Props, Sets and Costumes in Harry Potter

Props, sets and costumes in Harry Potter were used as a device to create tradition and a relationship between the viewers and the characters.

Firstly, the most important prop used in Harry Potter is Harry Potter's glasses. The reason that these glasses are so important are because it gives people an instant familiar face that they recognise, when viewers see the young boy with rounded glasses, they instant realise it is Harry Potter. The second prop that is important in Harry Potter is the wand. The wand is a rather simple yet effective prop used in Harry Potter because wands are props that everyone associates with wizards. Wands also help to create a mystical theme.

The use of sets allowed Harry Potter to transform the whole environment completely in a short period of time. Also, the Hogwarts castle was used in every one of the films, and was rarely altered. The sets were also manipulated through camera angles to make Hogwarts look different. For example, when they needed Hogwarts to be lit up, they simply built a small version of Hogwarts and used close up camera shots to make it look bigger.

The costumes used in Harry Potter were especially important because they created the mystical theme that made Harry Potter so popular. The costumes used in Harry Potter were also important because they gave the viewers an idea of the type of character that they were seeing, for example, snape was a serious character so he would wear very dark clothing. Whereas, Harry Potter would wear bright red and orange Hogwarts scarves which created a sense of warmth and fun for the viewer.

Link to Preliminary Task Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XerSGKRr1Q

Moodboard for preliminary task (Group)