Production: Developing Our Soundscape

 When we were in the process of planning, we made it clear that we wanted the sounds to be as organic as possible. We didn't want to spend hours looking for the perfect sound effect that would fit into what we filmed. So, when we went out to film, we spent some extra time recording foley sounds. This was to help us out later on in the editing process and help it run much smoother. Whenever we found a scene we knew we needed the sound to be exactly the way it was in the location, we spent an extra minute recording just the sound to ensure we could capture the entire scene how we liked. 

There are two that we filmed while at Regional Park that we know we will be using. One for a specific part of the scene and the other for the entire opening in general. These were leaves crunching, which we will use as footsteps throughout the opening, and a branch snapping, to match a specific movement. We were thinking ahead while we were filming to make sure we were happy with the results.

 

Here are some of the sounds we captured during the process. 

Update: Sound

 When I talked about sound last, I mentioned we didn't know how we were going to incorporate music, but that we wanted to. That is because of the way the opening is going to flow. We realized that the music wouldn't work for all parts of the opening, but we also couldn't have silence. So, we found a way to compromise. 

We will be using music for a part of the opening and fading it out before the main scene occurs. That way, the other sound elements we use there will be emphasized. We want to have the music for only specific parts of the opening, but we know if we use it for some, it has to be there for the rest, unless we get rid of it completely. 

Once we established this plan, we had to start looking for music that would fit our scene. We thought instrumental music would be best because it wouldn't interfere with any of the other audio we were developing in the scene. We want to find something that would fit the same aesthetic and build on the monster sound effect. We want it to be suspenseful and instill the fear a horror movie does into their audience. 

We started by looking at classical music to see if any of them fit what we were looking for, but they were all too traditional, so we moved to different types of instrumentals. We found a playlist on Spotify that had various instrumentals, but none of them worked either. 

After we looked on those, we went to the YouTube Audio Library and found a few music options that could work for our opening. 

Those two options are both good posibilities for what we are looking for. We hope that once we finish with our opening and get to the editing process, we can use the visuals to make the final decision. 

Shots List

 We wanted to create a list of the shots we will be using to help us in our filming process. 

 Detective Board Part 1

1. Medium shot of beginning of the board
2. Tracking shot over Actors close up of name
3. Tracking shot over Music through yarn close up of name
4. Zoom into picture

Forest Part 1

1. Close up of poster on floor
2. Pan up from poster
3. Close up of feet walking over posters
4. Long shot of search party
5. Close up of flashlights
6. medium/long shot someone leaves crowd with backlighting

Detective Board Part 2

1. Tracking close up over producer names
2. Tracking shot over Cinematographer/ writer
3. Zoom into a picture of Benjamin

Forest Part 2

1. close up tracking of feet walking
2. Medium shot handheld waist up, expressions
3. Long shot pans sideways
4. Extreme close up of him clenching flashlight

Detective Board Part 3

1. Tracking close up of editor name
2. tracking close up of director
3. Zoom into long shot of Benjamin

Forest Part 3

1. Long shot of ben over hill, backlighting
2. Zoom into Ben his back turned to camera
3. Medium shot 
4. Pan down zoom close up of hand

Detective Board Part 4

1. Long shot entire board
2. Walk backwards into over the shoulder of the detective

We used the notes we've taken in class to make sure we're labeling all of our shots correctly in our list, I'll add them here. 

Sound

 Audio is going to play a big role in our opening. We haven't thought about the music just yet, but the main sound effect has been a priority in our minds. We want it to be a sort of eerie clicking or chittering sound. I don't really know how to describe it. We recorded a voice memo of what we thought it would sound like, so if we don't find anything that fits the same vibe, we might just use that voice memo and change the audio to sound better. I found one sound effect that has a similar sound to it and I'll link it here, the only issue with it like a lot of other sound effects is that it is layered with other music and sounds, so I'm not sure how well we could work with it, but we'll see. If anything, we can work with our own idea and manipulate our own sound how we want it to be. 

Other than that, the majority of the scene will have foley sounds, other sound effects or basic dialogue along with music when necessary. We already made a mental note to try and see if we can use the locations we go to to help create our foley sounds. For example when we go to the park, if we find a spot we like and it has leaves or something similar on the ground, we will try and capture those sounds so it is more authentic. 

Mise-En-Scene: Locations

Finding good locations for our film was hard because of timing. We want our film to take place at night and therefore want to film at night. These issues made it hard to find a location that would work with what we needed. 

The Woods

We also want it to take place in a forest, so we tried looking for parks nearby. The first park that came to mind was Markham Park, however it closes at sunset. This became an issue for a lot of the places we looked at. Then we found a place closer to where we are called Regional Park, it doesn't have the same woodsy atmosphere we were looking for, but it had enough trees bordering it to create a good setting.

Markham Park

The Pit

The second location we looked at was a golf course near where we live, the sand pits could be useful to us to create depth and show the disappearance without having to fake the location. We thought the elevation would be good for this particular scene. I created an image to show what this would look like because I couldn't find a picture that showed what I wanted it to look like. 

The other parts of the film don't require a specific location so, we will likely be filming in a dark room that will give us a good opportunity to manipulate the environment to whichever way we need it. 

Characters

 For our film, we wanted to make sure that our characters all had a purpose, so there aren't many. They don't have any speaking parts in the opening because we didn't think it would help the story in any way. We focused more on the characters' as individuals and how they represent different things in our opening and what would later be the film. 

The Detective 

This is the mood board we created for Detective J

In the beginning of our planning we were thinking of giving the role of the main protagonist to Amber, but because we decided she would die eventually, we made our protagonist someone who would be able to conclude the film and bring together every element of the opening. The Detective doesn't have a name, only being referred to as "Detective J" throughout the production. This is a very serious character, extremely devoted to his work and incredibly mysterious. He wears his work clothes all the time to keep the same persona of professionalism throughout. 

Amber

The name Amber came from our idea to have the tile of our film and introduction be an amber alert sound, so we took the name Amber to tie it into that. We wanted Amber to be a symbol of innocence and purity because the victims of these alerts are children. We wanted Amber to be a kind girl, only 15, who is known by the majority of the people in the area. This would mean her disappearance would have a greater impact on the community. 

Benjamin

Benjamin lives near Amber, so felt he needed to help when she went missing. He is new to the area, so doesn't know a lot of people, but Amber was kind to him, so he wanted to assist in the search. He is a lazy and rebellious guy, but has a strong sense of intuition, so he is quicker than others to pick up when something is going on. 

We thought about some characters more deeply than others because of the way we will be portraying them in the film. Their involvement in the opening will show why we developed them in these ways and why it mattered. 

Mise-En-Scene: Props

After developing the initial idea and establishing a detailed plan, we began to determine key elements of the production that we needed to illustrate through props. These would need to be highlighted in the opening to establish the tone and help immerse the audience in the scene. 

Missing Posters

The whole concept of our film is a detective figuring out what is happening to the people that are going missing in a town. The opening is a foreshadowing to what will be explained later in the film, so missing posters are essential in creating context for the audience. It is important to emphasize little details like this to give the audience insights on what will be following the opening. We will be using resources like Canva to create this, printing multiple and wearing them out to make them seem realistic. 

Detective Board

The detective board is the main element of the film opening. It will be introducing the setting to the audience as well as the protagonist. This board will return later in the film, but it will be viewed the most at the start of the film. We want to include the red string, pictures, and names on the board as well as other notes surrounding them to make it look more authentic, for example, may include fake news articles as well. 

Flashlights

During the opening, the scene takes place during a search party for the disappearance of a character. The people in this search party will need flashlights to help give the nighttime search a realistic feel. These will also be used as a light source for the production, illuminating specific things we want the audience to be aware of, like the missing posters. 

Screenplay

 A screenplay is a script for a form of media like a film or tv show. It has different elements like dialogue, setting descriptions, and character actions. It is similar to a storyboard, but in word form. It provides the director of the film with the necessary information to be able to create the film. Because films are long, this is essential to keep everything together and have everyone involved on the same page. 

I don't have any previous knowledge of screenplays, but I was given resources to what a screenplay was supposed to look like and was able to come up with a rough idea. My script isn't perfect, but it gives me a good idea of how I'm going to develop my opening. It's going to be a lot of help in the filming process along with my storyboard. I added a picture of my script below, I tried my best to use the proper formatting, but I think I made some errors. My film also doesn't include a lot of dialogue, so I didn't know if the actions were written out properly with the setting changes. Overall, I tried my best and I understand it, so I hope I did it right. 

Todorov's Theory

Narrative Theory of Equilibrium

Todorov's theory essentially states that every narrative has distinct parts that can be classified as equilibrium, disequilibrium, and new equilibrium. He stated that this approach could apply to any story and called it narratology. These three parts work together to bring the story together and eventually to it's end. These three parts are distinct in the story to help separate the different points of the plot. 

Equilibrium 

The first part of Todorov's theory is equilibrium. This is basically the beginning of the story. The characters are introduced and their "normal" world is portrayed to later be altered by the events of the story. 

Disequilibrium

The "problem" or "incident" would occur during this point, something that is disrupting the character's and their world. Their actions before the climax of the story would also fall under this part of the story because they are acting on realization that something isn't right. This is the point where character development or transformation occurs to reveal the message of the narrative. 

New Equilibrium

The characters return to the state of "normal" they had before or a slightly changed version of that "normal." This would be after the climax when the problem or incident is fixed. 

Film Opening

For our film opening we would like to incorporate some aspects of this theory with the limited amount of time we have. While we will be introducing our audience to the main problem of the narrative, the characters aren't yet aware, however will be introduced. The state that the film opens with will change drastically by what the characters learn and understand about the problem, so their "normal" world will be disrupted following the events of our opening. 

References

                “Todorov – Narrative / Narratology Theory.” Media Studies @ Guilsborough Academy, 11 Nov. 2020, guilsboroughschoolmedia.wordpress.com/2020/11/11/todorov-narrative-narratology-theory/.

                            Media Studies. “Todorov’s Narrative Theory of Equilibrium and                             Disruption.” Media Studies, 1 Oct. 2020, media-studies.com/todorov/.

Storyboarding

After we came up with our idea, we moved on to storyboarding. Storyboards help you illustrate your ideas in a visual way. It can help you determine what kind of shots you want to use, the timeline of the entire scene itself, and more. It can be a sort of guide in the filming process and a good step in pre-production to organize your thoughts. We made our storyboard in a way that made sense to us visually. Storyboarding also does not need to be very realistic, so artistic ability isn't necessary as you can see from our storyboard below. 

Opening Idea

 We had some time to think and finally came up with a clear idea of what we want the opening to look like. We want to incorporate a detective board to illustrate our credits and use the pictures to bring the audience into the scene. 

The film is about people who are going missing, no one knows how, and the people in their lives trying to find them and figure out what happened to them. They end up discovering that it is a monster that is killing the people who are going missing, the monster being revealed at the end of the film. The main protagonist of the film will be the detective taking on the case, the detective board shown in the opening portraying that. 

The opening is the initial search party for the first missing person followed by the disappearing of the second. For our opening itself, we want to show a background of the missing people and their disappearances as well as introduce the detective's board and if there's enough time, the detective themselves. We want it to take place at night so we need to film either really early in the morning or late at night. We think earlier is better because of the foggy environment. We also need to create different props (missing posters, etc.) to make it as realistic as possible. Finally, we did created a mood board to capture the overall aesthetic we wanted the opening to have which you can see above. 

Group Meeting Reflection

 This week we had the opportunity to talk to other people working on their projects to develop our ideas and help each other understand what we want to achieve. It was helpful in expressing our ideas to make sure they made sense and to adjust them to better work with the project and develop them further. 

My group members gave me different pieces of feedback about my idea but liked it for the most part. They thought it was a good film idea with an original opening. As I went into detail explaining the different elements of the opening they gave me different takes on what I could do leading up to other parts and locations to film. Overall the feedback I received was positive with a couple suggestions to enhance what I had already established. 

I wish that they might've given me a few more negative opinions so that I might make it a bit better. I think they might not have wanted to say their real opinions so they wouldn't make anyone else feel bad, I think this because I do it sometimes. But with projects like this I know it's important to be honest with everyone and give them honest feedback. 

I gave many of my group members honest opinions and ideas to change or improve their openings or storylines to make more sense with what we were going to be able to show. The ideas that I was told about were good, so I honestly didn't have to give much criticism, but I tried to be as honest as I could to give everyone the best chance of being successful. 

I hope the people in my group were honest with me as well so that I can use the improvements they gave me to make sure my project is as good as it can be. I need to make sure to get my sound effects as good and accurate as possible to make sure the scene is realistic, I need to find a good location to get the audience to fully immerse themselves into the story and pay a lot of attention to the costuming details because of the outdoor location.

I took some notes during our meeting about the other member's ideas and points to help further develop their stories. Most of the feedback we gave was verbal so it isn't shown, but the notes give an overview of the ideas that the people in my group had. A lot of them were completing their project alone, so I think that receiving this feedback helped them a lot to state and process their ideas. 

I think doing this again later on would help me in the post production process to make sure the film opening looks the best it can and if possible one more time before filming to make sure I can use my time as effectively as possible. 

I really liked meeting with a group to voice my ideas and hear them. It helped me see if they actually made sense or not based on the overall reactions from the group and the same went for the ideas of the other members as well. 

This is an audio clip of us figuring out an idea based on the feedback we received. 

Lighting Techniques in Horror

For my opening, I decided to go with the horror genre. Horror relies heavily on lighting to instill fear into it's audience. The fear of the dark is almost exploited to covey the tone and emotion of the film. Different forms of light can be used to create different types of lighting and shadows which can trick the mind. I researched different types of lighting techniques used in different films and their effects on audiences.  

Exposure

Exposure plays a key role in how a character is presented to the audience when they don't want the character to be revealed. By creating a silhouette of the character it leaves the character a mystery that will be revealed later. This was the case for films like Psycho and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, where the characters themselves were cast in shadow leaving the rest of the scene illuminated. By doing this, It makes the audience want to see what is in the light and keeps them interested. 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Psycho (1960)

Selective Lighting Focus

The Others (2001)

Films shot in the dark with a moving central light source often have a shadow around the edges, this is to have the central lighting source be the focus. It only allows the audience to see what you want them to see. If you don't want them to be aware of something yet, you blend it into the shadow and allow it to disappear. By only focusing on what they want the audience to see, it leaves them anticipating what will appear from those shadows and what the consequences of it will be.

Misdirection

Sometimes lighting can be used to mislead an audience about a characters role or intentions. This is like the opposite of what exposure does. This is the act of completely casting the light on the character, making them almost glow. By doing this it makes the character seem almost angelic, so in the event that the character does eventually have their turning point revealing themselves as the antagonist, the audience will have been mislead by the lighting cues. This could also be done the other way around, making one character look evil when they actually aren't. 

Low-Key Lighting

the main form of lighting in any horror production is low-key lighting. Low-key lighting is a way to develop a contrast utilizing the shadows. These shadows can also be used in the other methods I discussed. Low-key lighting helps develop an audience's emotions like anxiety as well as emphasizing the emotion and tone of the production. 

Different lighting techniques can have various effects on the production as well as the audience, so I need to understand my goal with my opening before I decide what type of lighting I want to use. I need to understand how I want to make my audience feel so I can use my lighting to get that feeling across the best way possible. Once I am able to do that, I will be able to use this research to develop a plan for my lighting that will work for my opening. 

References

Light, Colbor. “Low Key Lighting in Horror Films: Four Basics to Know.” COLBOR, 4 Jan. 2024, www.colborlight.com/blogs/articles/low-key-lighting-in-horror-films-basics.

            “Terror through Lighting - the American Society of Cinematographers (En-US).” Theasc.com, theasc.com/articles/terror-through-lighting.

My Schedule

After the many projects I've completed in my class, I realized that creating a schedule is very important to stay organized. I need to make sure I know what I'm going to be working on at all times so I can plan ahead. I also want to be sure to give myself room incase I fall behind. I came up with a rough schedule of what I will be doing for the next few weeks to make sure I complete my project on time. 

Week 1 (1/29-2/2)

• Begin basic research 
• Brainstorm possible opening ideas

Week 2 (2/3-2/9)

• finish up basic research
• establish final idea 
• begin basic planning - find locations, actors, etc. 

Week 3 (2/10-2/16)

• create storyboard
• create script
• set film day schedule (once we establish locations, times, etc.)

Week 4 (2/17-2/23)

• primary focus on filming 
• create foley sounds if necessary 
• research different audios for background/sound elements

Week 5 (2/24-3/2)

• finish filming anything missed
• begin editing of first cut
• adjust foley sounds to better fit our clips

Week 6 (3/3-3/9)

• review editing and adjust/revise
• begin research for CCR

Week 7 (3/10-3/16)

• begin working on CCR
• review/revise CCR

Week 8 (3/17-3/25)

• finish up CCR
• extra week in case we fall behind anywhere

I also set up my calendar to remind me of my blogging schedule and once I figure out my exact schedule for filming, I will add it in as well. For now, I have a clear outline that I can adapt to fit what I need and a place to remind me of it. 

Credit Sequences

During my research process, I looked at how different films went about presenting their opening credits. Different films used different approaches to present these while still keeping their audience engaged with the scene happening around the credits. After watching these I was able to understand what I wanted to include in my own credits and what I didn't think worked well. 

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

The opening credits for this film were presented in two separate ways. The film started with a smaller aspect ratio to introduce the production companies, and main producers and directors. The film then takes on a larger aspect ratio, taking up the majority of the screen. This is making the scene the main focus of the opening and the credits included less prominent. These credits include the cast and various other cast members. The title was included in between the two sequences which clearly separated the two and made the change in the aspect ratio less noticeable. I liked how the credits used a simple font to not distract from what was happening, keeping the scene the main focus. The title itself was the only text with a unique font, ensuring the audience would notice it. (Watch here)

The Shining (1980)

I found the opening credit sequence for The Shining extremely boring. The credits themselves were the primary focus of the entire opening. The scene was of a car driving up to the place where the film will be taking place. The title itself also appears around half way through the sequence, but it doesn't do anything for this opening like the title did for the previous one I mentioned. The credits constantly moving does keep the audience somewhat engaged in what it going on, at least in how long it will go on for, so I don't think I'll do something like this. I want my credits to flow better with what it happening in my opening to not bore my audience because of my limited time. (watch here)

Insidious (2010)

Much like a Nightmare on Elm Street, this opening split it's credit sequence in two. However, Insidious took a different approach to it. The first set of credits are displayed on their own, in a red font fading away in a smokey effect. They are meant to be the audiences primary focus. As the sequence continues, a light appears on the screen revealing the directors name. Following this a short scene displays a character sleeping followed by the title and next set of credits. This is where this one differed from the first. The second set of credits were presented in black and white clips, meant to look like old film roll footage, in the same red font making them stand out. I liked the way that there was a moment in between to keep the audience wondering what the character had to do with the film. It gave them a piece without giving anything away. I liked the the credits were presented in a way that wouldn't make them visually boring - the smokey effect - to keep audiences watching. (watch here)

Overall, I liked various elements about the sequences I watched and took a lot of inspiration from them. A Nightmare on Elm Street did a great job in incorporating the credits into the scene while still keeping the audience engaged. Insidious was able to do this as well, but in a way that highlighted the credits on their own. I also liked the title placement for all the films I mentioned, which I think is a crucial element of a good opening. My research gave me a good understanding of what I liked and didn't like about different sequences and what I wanted to include in my own. 

Film Opening Research

For my project I need to create a film opening that fits into the genre I chose to work with. For that I had to research the different elements that make up a film opening for that genre. With my research I developed my understanding for the components of what a horror film opening actually needs to successfully convey the tone to the audience. 

Halloween (1978)

I've never seen Halloween before, but after watching the opening it made me want to continue. The plot twist at the end made the audience want to continue to understand why the character did what he did and how it will continue. The opening itself was not very fast paced. It was silent for the most part which created suspense for what the audience was assuming to be a climactic moment. The use of point of view shots for the majority of the opening created a sense of mystery for who we were following in the scene as well. This opening, like the ones I will mention later, did not include the credits in the opening itself, but I do think it did a good job of developing the elements of suspense and mystery that I want to incorporate into my own film opening. (watch the opening here)

It (2017)

the opening for It, develops the characters in it's film very well. It introduces the antagonist, Pennywise, and other protagonists as well. The film opened with different sounds working together to bring in the setting they wanted to create. The rain was introduced before the film began to create an ambiance that helped set the tone. This is something I would like to include in my opening. The credits were included in the first part of the scene,  leaving the rest without distractions for the audience. I think that this opening developed the characters well while also introducing the conflict that will follow them in a mysterious way which I really liked. (watch the opening here)

After I watched my second opening, It, I started to realize that film openings in horror are a lot longer because they need to introduce the audience to the main conflict of the film. I realized it was going to be a lot harder to make a short 2 minute opening while still including everything that made a good horror opening, but I kept looking for different openings that could show me varying lengths. 

Sinister (2012)

Sinister's opening is a lot shorter than the opening of the other two films I looked at. This one is a lot simpler and leaves the audience with a greater sense of mystery. The editing is a key element of this opening. It is made to look like it is old footage, telling the audience this is something from the past. The title is added at the very end in a font that fits the overall theme of what it happening in the opening and fits in with the editing. I like that it matched with the rest of the opening and I think that it's an important think to note. 

(watch the opening here)

Overall, I liked the way all of these openings developed their tone with different techniques and I found different ones that I wanted to include. I like that they included the elements of suspense and mystery I was intending to include in my own and I found the use of sound in It to be very inspirational for my own opening. I liked that Sinister gave me an idea of what a shorter film opening could be for horror, because the other ones were a lot longer. It gave me a good idea of how I could use my time and how I could incorporate all the elements I want to. I think that this research really helped me better understand what I want to include in my own opening and how I will go about it. 

Genre Selection

 My Genre Selection

For my film opening, I'm leaning towards the horror or drama genres. The ideas I've brainstormed for my opening have all leaned into these sort of genres based on my research, so I know my final choice will fit in best with those. Both have the approaches I discussed wanting to include previously, mystery and conflict, so I know whichever I go with I'll be able to include either approach. I researched both horror and drama to give myself a better understanding and compare both to what I had in mind. 

Horror

Horror's goal as a genre is to evoke fear or disgusts into it's audience. These films usually deal with dark themes and topics like monsters, apocalyptic events, and religion. The horror genre has common factors like fear, suspense, and plot twists. These help ensure that the audience will continue to stay engaged with the film. Both sound and lighting also play a huge part in a horror film, the use of low-key lighting and shadows develops the mysterious aspect necessary for the plot twist. 

Sinister (2012) used a lot of important elements to create an extremely fear evoking film. The element of suspense and mystery throughout the film creates a fear in the audience. 

Drama

Drama's goal as a genre is evoke emotions or thought into it's audience. These films deal with social themes that are told by storytelling and performance. The drama genre has key elements like plot, characters, and conflict. These elements work together to develop the story and keep their audience watching. Sound plays a huge role in drama. The delivery of lines from actors, music, and overall soundscapes help bring together the overall tone the film is conveying to their audience. 

Good Will Hunting (1997) had an incredible use of line delivery to develop the story and emotion of the film. The use of both conflict and characters in the film hooks the audience in the plot of the film, connecting with the audience.