Awakening Of The Dead - Evaluation - Alex Parsons

As media Horror Film Evaluation

Alex Parsons

The camera work in our Horror film was at the start a bit unsteady this is due to it being handheld and in an awkward position. The camera was required to be a bit off the floor whilst being fairly close to the floor this needed the person to hold it at an awkward angle. I believe we did frame the shots correctly although some shots were a bit off by like the shots that were the zombies walking had a bit too much background either side of them and were too central. We used many different shot types and composition. We had low shots long shots mid shots and close ups each were similar to the ones on the as horror film we based it on.

In the editing we used mostly either no or very quick transitions which made it slightly more realistic than if we had more. Also the continuity of it was a bit off during the middle of the scenes when the zombies got round the corner slightly too quickly but it was not that noticeable due to it being quick changing of shots.

In this film we had the actors dress up in ripped tee shirts with blood on them and blood on there faces. Also with jeans which weren’t great due to them being mostly fine quality and not ripped or ragged but due to not really having many ripped jeans around or enough money to buy and rip them ourselves we had to settle for that. Overall I think the costumes were suited to the film.

The location we chose was the woods the right time to where it wasn’t too dark or too light. The woods provided a place where there wouldn’t be many public who would try to interfere or get rid of the right atmosphere of the shots and were fairly suited to a chasing scene. I believe the actors were well suited to the roles and did it mostly sticking to their characters and acting well.

In this film I helped decide what shots were done where and what actors were used. Also in a few shots I acted as a victim this was due to the lack of willing participants to take part in our film. I also did a lot of the editing by putting most of the shots in order and doing the some transitions.

In this film it was a bit bland and the narrative was a bit sketchy I believe that if we did it again we could’ve created more of an atmosphere and try different shots and used more dialogue. I believe for my final examination I will try and find another location maybe indoors with an artificial lighting which may create more of a creepy atmosphere because it can relate to more of the audience.

Awakening Of The Dead - Evaluation - Laura Mossendew

As Media Studies – Awakening Of The Dead Evaluation.

Laura Mossendew

Use of the camera.

In our ‘Awakening Of The Dead’ short video our work shows that our shots can be held steady due to the use of a tripod, although most of our shots are steady a few are not so steady as the height that we needed the camera to be held at was too low for the use of a tripod.

 In the video shots are also framed appropriately, the use of the grid on the camera for positioning was very useful and allowed us to see if people were in the correct place for the shot and if the camera was positioned appropriately or not. Without the grid (rule of thirds) it would have been harder to position the camera appropriately for the shot that we wanted.

To create the video we used a variety of shot types to keep the vernacular’s attention and make the video more interesting than it would have been if only one or two shot types had been used. Some of the shot types that we used were; Extreme close-ups, mid shots, long shots, establishing shots, tilts and close ups. Using different shot types allowed us to show particular things that we wanted in the shot, where as if all shots had been the same, some of the things that we wanted to show would not have been as clear.

Our finished work also shows the use of composition techniques as we had to think carefully about the background that the actors were performing against to make sure that lighting was appropriate for the film (not too dark) and that actors weren’t running in the same place more than once in the video as this would pose continuity errors. The use of the grid on the camera screen also allowed us to check that the shot was framed correctly, using the rule of thirds.

Use of editing.

Our finished work shows that we can follow the rules of continuity during editing as our shots flow together without the use of transitions and with them. We took great care to make sure that each shot was in the correct order and that the background in the shots was not the same for more than one shot so that it flowed properly and showed movement over time.

The finished product has a few editing transitions, such as the flash and fade out when one of the characters in the video took a photograph, however we did not use many transitions as in most horror films they do not have many transitions as it makes the film look slightly ‘cheesy’ and unrealistic.

Selection of content.

 I think that our finished work shows an appropriate choice of costume, make up and props, as zombies traditionally are pale, have dark eyes, shadows on the face all to give a ‘dead’ look. The costume was ripped clothing covered in blood stains as this is the sort of thing that most zombies wear in films. However we did not use any props in the film as we thought that in such a short video that we did not need any.

In the finished project I think that we chose an appropriate location to film as it was a fairly quiet area with very little traffic and few people around to cause background noise and distractions. The location was also an ideal setting for a zombie film, as it was a wooded area with very few signs of civilisation.

I also think we chose appropriate actors for our film as they were very cooperative and willing to do everything that we asked of them even in very cold and rainy conditions. The zombies that we chose to use looked the part but using only three actors for zombies was not ideal, we needed three more zombies but could not find the right people to play the parts. The humans in the film were also appropriate as they were ‘normal’ everyday sort of people which the target audience would be able to relate to, although I think that using actors of a variety of different ages would have been more appropriate.

Self- assessment.

To help complete the film I contributed a great deal to the planning of the film, carefully watching each shot on ‘Awakening of the Dead’ and making sure that our shots were as close as possible to those used in the short film.  I also did the make up for the zombies in the film and made sure that they had appropriate costume and that they knew exactly what they had to do and when. I also helped to make sure that the continuity in the film was good. Sharing some of the camera work with other members of the group.

I think that improvements that could be made to the finished film is that we make sure to have the right number of actors for the characters needed and make the story line clearer by using more shot types.

When it comes to my final coursework film one thing that I would like to do differently is to make sure that as much planning is done before the film is shot so that it is much easier to film and there are less likely to be continuity errors.

Awakening Of The Dead - Evaluation - Joe Louth

Media Evaluation

Joe Louth

Use of camera

In the finished piece of work, the majority of the shots were held steady with the use of a tripod, only a couple shots could not have use it because they were too low for the tripod to go down, while the rest of the shots were a good height for the tripod.

Because we used to grid setting on the video camera, the shots were framed as we wanted them to be, everyone was exactly where they needed to be for that particular shot.

We used a variety of shot types, and used interesting combinations of shots in link with each other, these were used to build slight suspense and the speed of the shots were quite fast to show exciting, thrilling and fear based scenes with all the action showing.

Use of editing

The rules of continuity were applied to this film with slight difficulty, as we did do a ‘First draft’ piece, to test the location, and the lighting on the camera, and this turned out to be too dark at that time, so we decided to reshoot the film at an earlier time, so it would be much easier and more convenient when it came to editing the film.

The transitions we used did fir the parts we put them at, but a lot of the frames did not suit the transitions available so they were unused. In my opinion, those frames wouldn’t look as good with a transition, it would take away a lot of the effect built up in the shots.

Selection of content

The shot film we produced shows that out group can choose great costume and make-up for the zombies, though some of the clothing lacked some detail, e.g. more rips, the tops were fine, ripped and bloodstained but the trousers were all clean and tidy, not as you would expect for a zombie. We did choose a good location, even during the day there is a sense of fear if left alone.

 The actors were great for this film, though there was faint laughing in the background of some clips we had sorted that out. We all had fun, they were all very patient as well because they did have to do two or three of the same clip over and over.

Self Assessment

To help complete the film, I drew out the storyboard, although my drawing is awful it needed to be done. I did a lot of the filming in the final piece, though me and another member of the group shared the filming as equally as we could.

The main improvement I would make is that two of the frames transitions are quite jerky, so putting another clip in there would make this less noticeable and a bit more professional.

When it comes to the final coursework piece, I think it will be much easier to think of the ideas, as this film was based on a past student’s film, without the same location this proved a difficult task, so doing our own plans and ideas will be much easier so we can work around our locations.

Awakening Of The Dead ~ Final Project Finished

This our second and final attempt at copying the Awakening Of The Dead project. We think that this attempt is much better than our first, with better continuity and a variety of shots using both the tripod and holding the camera in hand. In this project we chose to use three zombies and four humans instead of using six zombies and four humans like in the actual version. We are happy with the way it turned out.

The Three Zombies

This photograph is of the three zombies in our short horror film, we used fake blood and red fabric paint to create blood stained t-shirts and cut holes into the t-shirts to make the zombies look scary and more realistic. As before we used white foundation, black eyeshadow and face paint for the make up.