Horror(ific) Post

With the Horror Film Festival coming up shortly I thought I’d write a little about one of my favourite horror films and the first horror film I recall watching when I was younger and explain what it was that I found most interesting and good both generally and technically.


Candyman
Director: Bernard Rose
Writers: Clive Barker (story), Bernard Rose
Release Date:19 March 1993 (UK)



Helen Lyle is a student who decides to write a thesis about local legends and myths. She visits a part of the town, where she learns about the legend of the Candyman, a one-armed man who appears when you say his name five times, in front of a mirror. Of course, Helen doesn't believe all this stuff, but the people of the area are really afraid...





I feel that generally, horror films get a bad rap and are often seen as the bottom of the barrel when it comes to cinema and as a genre generally. Given the good to bad ratio with scary films however, I do see why so many people turn their noses up at the idea of watching another cheesy, poorly made depthless film about someone being chased in a house by a mad being wielding an axe and making peculiar noises. There have been so many disasterpieces in this genre that many won’t give a seconds thought to a horror film however I am convinced that this is one of the most interesting and entertaining types of film to watch or help make... if done well!




Anyway, back to Candyman. Critically, not the greatest horror film ever by any means however it did receive fairly positive reviews all in all which isn’t too common as mentioned with horror films, I enjoyed most the way that psychological themes were blended with bloody and violent dark ones. Most horror films deal with psychology in some form or another, some such as The Grudge for instance, are so hyped up in messing with one’s mind that the ‘hardcore bloodfest action’ takes a back seat and I think the scary child in the film must have under a minutes worth of screen time throughout the whole film. Candyman gets the balance right I thought and the characters were given the depth they deserved but it was done in a way that kept my interest and also made me care about what happened to people in the film, especially the protagonist.

Kieron's Corner 1st addition About A Boy

Based on Nick Hornby's best-selling novel, About A Boy is the story of a cynical, immature young man who is taught how to act like a grown-up by a little boy
Directors: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
Writers: Nick Hornby (novel), Peter Hedges (screenplay), and 2 more credits »
Release Date:26 April 2002 (UK)





Often regarded as being amongst Britain’s top rated films of the past ten years About a Boy is a film that I’d highly recommend to anyone interested in 21st century British cinema.

I like how the film tackles a multitude of different issues and yet retains a clear, easy flowing narrative which is both funny and interesting at the same time. Hugh Grant’s performance I felt was superb and I’d also recommend the film to anyone who hasn’t experienced a performance from him which wasn’t just floppy hair and a lot of bumbling. The film also stars Nicholas Hoult who many may recognise from his more recent role of Toby in teenage sitcom Skins. He plays here Marcus, a troubled 12 year old boy and many credit this as the role that helped elevate his career.

Things I liked about the making of the film;

The soundtrack – The score from Badly Drawn Boy was fantastic and really worked well here, with its cool, uplifting style and gave the film a contemporary British feel I felt. I have heard the same tracks from the artists used numerous times in TV shows and such since and it helps create a really good vibe for whatever material I’ve seen it collaborated with.

In Depth Characters- Due to there not being all that many characters in the film I found that each of them were given the appropriate amount of build up and screen time which a lot of films seemingly don’t do. This allowed me as a spectator to invest more emotionally as to how I felt about each person in the film and how much I cared about their aims and well being.

Lack of action- Although the heading would suggest a negative comment it’s quite the contrary, more appraisal as I felt that for a film that essentially has no stunt scenes, action scenes, violence or blood it still had my attention and I found it entertaining. If it wasn’t for the high critical acclaim the film has garnered then you could just say I’m easily pleased however it was genuinely good viewing. And more to the point, a great example of how you don’t necessarily have go to extreme measures in order to keep an audience entertained.

‘Feel Good’ Factor- A great movie I felt for when you want to leave the cinema (or wherever you watch it) feeling happy about life generally. Though a vast majority of films end with cheesy happy ever afters and soppy moments anyway, I felt that About a Boy, with its charm and refreshing wit, showed class and style throughout technique wise, something that Hugh Grant hasn’t always been accustomed with.

Performances- Last but not least, it goes without saying (so why do you continue to type you may ask) but even if you have a golden narrative with all the guidance and panache you could ask for then it would come to nothing if either your actors and actresses were either off form or just useless to begin with. Thankfully, everyone puts in a great performance here and for Hugh Grant fans, or even those who loath the washed up twit (don’t mean it really Hugh) then I’d recommend watching just so you can see him in a much less familiar role than most of his other movies and one that he carries out very well I’d say.

If you’ve actually read this, then thanks.
If you read and actually liked this, then I solute you, there will be more instalments of Kieron’s Corner coming shortly.

Continuity with shots

We will be making many moving image works this year ranging from documentary, to short fictional films and they will all require a high level of continuity in order to be taken seriously, look professional and try and create the right meanings and be believable from the spectators point of view.

Continuity is often amongst the first aspects of a film to be criticized and this comes naturally as the intention of the film is to be as realistic as possible and try to make the spectator buy into the ideas, characters and storylines in the ways they had intended.



Shot selection in particular can make the different between a free flowing, believable scene and one that is disjointed and doesn’t come off very well.



Of course, in certain cases a director may want the viewer to be confused or disorientated however the same principle of keeping the continuity in check and gathering the desired response from the audience is very important.


Continuity, Mise en Scene

We noticed whilst filming material for Malac that there were a few continuity errors in our scene. The props, some of which had consisted of candles had been removed from there position in the room after it was thought they wouldn’t be needed any longer. However, after trying out a different camera angle later on, we realised that the absence of these candles was evident in the shot and therefore we had to replace them in order to make the room appear as it was earlier during the filming. Mistakes like this are very easy to encounter when filmmaking and I think that clear planning and just a thoughtful method of going about scenes.

Ethics and School Research handbook

I have read through and agree with the requirements within this handbook and shall ensure they are implimented for each of my projects.

Thoughts on Moving Image Courseworks

1
Showreel Project – individual work
Produce a showreel that showcases your development as a Moving Image
practitioner.

I am quite aprehentious about this project since I do not feel that I have a substancial amount of quality work yet to use for this project however I am hoping to get involved in as many opportunities as I can in order to add both work and experiences to my repertoire. I will make sure that I only add work that I feel is to a high standard or is particuarly relevant. This is a simple point however many people confuse the idea of a port folio with that of simply creating a mass bank of work consisting of various levels rather than a method of showcasing your most valued and accomplished work.


2 Essay
Practitioners Essay – individual work
After investigating three practitioners working in Moving Image Production e.g.
director, editor, VJ, etc produce a 1,300 word essay that explains which
specific skills, knowledge and attributes are required for being employable in
these roles.

Include a S.w.o.t analysis and an action plan
I am looking forward to this task because I feel that it is both important to know the specific skills thatare required for the different jobs available in the sphere of moving image and I also enjoy learning more about certain directors, cinematograhphers and other practitioners from this field. I also feel this is a task that I can get stuck into fairly quickly.


3
Fictional Project – team work
In your give teams of 7/8 produce a
six minute fictional film using the
given script. You must choose the
role(s)

I am looking forward to this project as I feel the subject matter of fiction will encourage us to use our imaginaton and perhapse try new and more innovative ideas and approaches to our work. I enjoy fiction work because it is a terrific way of delving out from the realms of reality and escaping into a world or situation in which we usually can only derive from our dreams.

4 Documentary
Documentary Project Group production and individual evaluation
As a group of 4/5 produce a 10 minute documentary programme. Each
member of the group should take pair of the following major and minor roles.

I have watched numberous documentaries over the years and find them to be a fascinating insite into a subject matter or case example which we have likely never even been aware of or have previously had a very poor understanding of. I personally enjoy the human disorders and biological style documentaries most as I find they give a great deal of perspective to the viewer. Usually I preffer to be involved in the editing process of the projects however I would like to have a more on set role for a task such as this.

5
Titles Design Project – individual work
Task: Research a number of titles sequences examining their technical and
creative conceptual underpinning. Create a 20 second sequence for a given
film using specific techniques and creative concepts you have identified.

I am probably looking forward to this project least because I would have preffered to of been given a much broader choice on what we are designing the title sequence for. With that said, this may help me to increase my skills with title developing which I've learnt is now a completely seperate role in its own right.

6 Research
Research Project – Individual Work
You are to find an area of AV that you wish to investigate. Within this area you
are to find a question that can be investigated using short artefacts.
You will produce a 5 minute presentation that includes A description of the
aspect of AV that you intend to research. An explanation of why you wish to
investigate this area. A description of the artefacts you would use to investigate
your subject.

I think that this project will be won or lost depending on how interesting/relevant the question is that I choose to investigate. I am hoping that I can use my debating skills and analysitic style when working on this project but also try to focuss other aspects such as presenting, taking accuarate records and making sure I abide by the marking criteria as much as I can without going off on various tangents.

7 Protools Audio Mix
Design and produce a sound mix using Protools – Group
Students in teams of 2 will produce a sound mix using ProTools. Initially
instruction in the system will be provided. The students will then complete a
mix of a piece of recorded music or a soundtrack.

I have been interested in the audio aspect of film for a while now and feel that sound and image go hand in hand and the art of composing music which sets the perfect moods and atmopsheres is in itself a specialists craft. I am also looking forward to improving my knowledge on the practicalities of audio.