"Caught in the Web" is a psychological horror/thriller following the investigations of a series of teen suicides. What the detective soon learns, is that they are not suicides, but homicides. The killers use the internet as a weapon, trapping the girls in a "suicide support" website and gaining the trust under the alias "Julie". They rape and murder their victims, making it look like suicide using evidence on the website of depression, and forged suicide notes. The case becomes personal for the detective when his daughter becomes their next victim, but will he stop them in time? Or will he also get caught in the web?
A brand new Cannon HV30 HD mini DV camcorder (with touch-screen controls!) + mains power supply + batteries
A massive tripod that is used to film school productions
A boom pole + microphone + Sennheiser headphones
An on-board microphone (on top of the camera)
A mini-whiteboard that we used as a clapper board
Mini DV tapes
A PC (windows XP) and a Mac (for titles)
Spot lights (not PAG lights, as we didn’t need the “barn doors”)
Our software:
Adobe Premiere Pro (CS3)
Adobe After Effects (CS3)
Adobe Photoshop (CS3)
i-Movie (Apple Mac)
Soundtrack control
Livetype (Apple Mac) - created titles witha flickering effect on them
Post-production:
Viewing clips
Capturing – in clips (using the fire-wire)
Ghosting
Making titles
Moving between timelines and creating new ones (5 in total) – we created different versions on separate timelines, and separated out different shots (by location) and within timelines, grouped clips by which line they were saying
Transitions – fades, cross-dissolves, dips to black
Razoring – very useful and easy
Brightness/contrast
Saturation – some of our shots of the computer screen turned out very blue, and sometimes our lighting meant some shots were colder than others
During this project, I have encountered some new technologies and improved my skills on the ones I was already familiar with. I learnt how to use Adobe Premiere Pro to a greater extent because this film brief enabled us to be more creative with our editing than we had been in previous projects. For example, we tried out “ghosting” within the first 30 seconds of our film, by making the shot of typing at 50% opacity, and layering it over the shot of the man’s keyboard and whiskey glass to show what he was typing. We liked this; however feedback showed us that it didn’t fit in with the pace of the opening which was fast, so we took it out. By experimenting with this effect, it made me think about the pace of our opening, and we decided to make the beginning and end fast-paced, and the middle slower to contrast and build tension.
I probably learnt the most during post-production, because with technology moving so fast, there are always new things to learn and discover. I recently discovered the wonders of Macs, and i-Movie’s ability to create amazing titles. This is something I would like to explore more of in the future. I also learnt about rendering, which was a completely new process for me.
The TV/film medium is moving so fast because new technologies keep coming out all the time. It is difficult to keep up with the industry professionals who have a much larger budget than we do, but our school has invested in some top-of-the-range cameras which are capable of HD (details in blog post “evaluation – more info”). We didn’t film in HD because the tapes are expensive, rendering takes longer, and not everyone has HD TV’s, but nevertheless our film is still high quality.
I have learnt trouble-shooting skills for when technology goes awry, which are detailed in a blog post labelled “evaluation – more info” along with a list of the technologies I used. We could have experimented with a few more effects, such as greyscale, but it was dark enough, and we didn’t want to overcomplicate our piece. If I were to advise someone doing the same project, I would suggest they use labels on blogger, create lots of timelines in Adobe Premiere Pro, and film whole conversations/let the action run from all angles. Doing this in “Caught in the Web” enabled me to have creative freedom when editing. I would also insist on saving before and after every change that is made, because computers can be unreliable. I found these processes very helpful when making my film.
Out of the list of technologies on my blog (“evaluation – more info”) I found Adobe Premiere Pro the most useful, because is digital editing and allowed so much flexibility. We shared the transport of equipment (cameras, tripods etc), and we ensured everything we needed was to hand. I recently learnt what “linear editing” involved, and realised how lucky we were to have “non-linear editing”. It is so much more reliable and efficient, and allows for more creativity.
Last but definitely not least, I learnt how to use Blogger. I had never written a blog before, and I have found it very useful. It has encouraged me to do more research because of the ease of publishing, and has made paperwork slightly more fun due to choosing colours, pictures etc. It's funny how a few months ago I didn't even know what a blog was, and recently it has become such a big part of my life.
If I hadn’t have done the preliminary, I would have lacked confidence about the film-making process, and would probably not have realised the importance of shooting a master shot! Both tasks have been very interesting, and I feel I have learnt a lot about film-making, which will undoubtedly benefit me in the future.
For the preliminary task, we were asked to make a short continuity sequence that included a conversation, someone entering through a door, and using the 180° rule and other techniques such as shot-reverse-shot. We were given one hour for planning, one hour for shooting, and one hour for editing. For the main task, we were asked to make the first two minutes of a film, and make it an opening, i.e. with titles, music, introducing characters etc. Of course one of the main differences between the two is the duration; the main task was much longer, and we had to include much more content. We had longer to do it, but it was more difficult and time-consuming, so all-in-all, more challenging. Thanks to the preliminary task, I had refreshed my mind on all things to do with film-making, and so when it came to getting the film brief, I found it easier to respond quickly and start thinking up ideas. I learnt that creating a simple sequence was much better in the long run, because we are being assessed for things such as editing, shooting, and branding, whereas acting and original effects/shots are just bonuses. This made me start my process differently, and I was more continuity-conscious when thinking up what shots I wanted to include in my sequence.
The planning process for the preliminary task was much more concise and brief, and we rushed things a lot. For the main task, we had more time, and did masses of research before even starting to think of ideas, so we could find inspiration and not copy existing films. For the preliminary task, we did absolutely no research, because it wasn’t targeting anyone, it was just an exercise to practise continuity. The planning for the preliminary task had a huge impact on my planning process for the real task, and without it I would have been very under-prepared. In the preliminary, we weren’t clear about when we wanted to book a room, and there was a misunderstanding as it had already been booked by other A-level students. Luckily, they were able to do their photo shoot somewhere else. Also, we didn’t think we needed to book the entrance hall to the media block, but it turned out that all the groups wanted to film part of their sequence there, so we had to wait a long time to film there. In the real task, we booked locations and actors well in advance, and documented all of this on our group blog as evidence. This proved to be much better, and I am grateful for the lesson I learnt from the preliminary.
The production process for the preliminary task was extremely rushed and very stressful due to lack of time, whereas with our real film brief, it was mostly calmer and more organised. We used the clapperboard for almost every shot, as we found it easier when it came to capturing and importing clips. I kept the shooting process the same as in the preliminary task because I found the way I had done it worked well; we all shared roles as evenly as possible, and all gave our opinions on framing and directing the actors. From the preliminary task I realised how useful our walk-through was, so on our test shoot, Amelia and I walked through every shot we intended to film. I also learnt the correct jargon in preparing to shoot, “Camera ready? Sound ready? Camera rolling” and this proved very helpful. We shot every conversation/action fully from all angles to make it easier to attain seamless editing.
Post-production for the preliminary task involved only cutting the clips together; however in our final task, we had to do a lot more editing and ensure it made sense, using careful continuity sequences and techniques. This was a lengthy process, but enhanced its professional look. Thanks to our clever grouping system (since we filmed the same lines from about ten different angles) it made it easier to choose which takes and angles to use for certain lines. I learnt it was better edit intuitively rather than trying to pre-conceive a result. Often, what I thought wouldn’t be that great, turned out really well. In response to the film brief, we edited many different versions of our sequence on different timelines. This allowed our whole group to be creative and give our own input in a way that could be easily removed or adjusted.
It was easy to reflect on the preliminary task because it was short and we didn’t spend that much time on it; therefore we weren’t too attached to it. Reflecting on this task has been more complicated because of all the time and effort we’ve put into it. I am very happy on the whole with it, but it has been a long and tiring process, with a few disputes along the way. Luckily, our group got on well, and managed to talk through any problems, however awkward it got, and we compromised to make everyone happy. I think my preliminary project was very good for the time we were allotted, however I made mistakes, which was good because it meant I didn’t have to make the same ones in the actual film task. For example, I learnt to leave a pause between dialogue lines because in the preliminary task it was too quick. I have really enjoyed this project, even though it was hard, and I felt like a real film-maker; being professional and organised on shoots and at group meetings. In the past I have made several mini-films with friends, and we have never even considered continuity, we just filmed it and checked if it looked right, so this has been a real learning curve for me.
I have learnt a lot from the preliminary task, in all stages of filmmaking, and I am extremely happy that it has resulted in me producing such a successful and well-received opening sequence.
By including themes of death, victims and villains, and making the audience feel scared, we deliver a thrilling experience, which is what they expect. They will get so absorbed in the film that they will forget about their everyday life, which is the kind of entertainment they are looking for. We stuck to these conventions, because otherwise it would not really be recognised as a horror/thriller film. The audience in our screening found our film creepy and scary, and it made them consider internet safety, which is a massive issue in today’s world. In a separate blog post (“evaluation – more info”) I made a comparison between my film and “Suicide Club” (2002) which shares the theme of suicide.
We had to continually adjust our film to guarantee its appeal to our audience. We were originally going to use teenage male actors as our villains, however after several group meetings, and audience feedback, we decided that an audience wouldn’t be scared of teenage boys, so we used men. This is more conventional, and makes the villains more frightening and believable, which is what we are aiming for. We needed to clarify who the characters were in the opening sequence, because our on-going feedback contained some confusion as to who the characters were in the first few shots. They thought it was the girl logging in as “Julie” when really it was the men using their fake internet identity. We rectified this by repeating the shot of a whiskey glass and the keyboard with the man’s voice over the top, to reinforce that it was him logging in.
A shot that appealed to many members of our audience was where the camera is level with the keyboard in the men’s den, and there is a whiskey glass in the foreground. This creates enigma, and looks really good. I created this shot spontaneously, as we all liked the ‘level with keyboard’ shot in the girl’s bedroom. We made these similar shots very different by using different lighting and shooting them from opposite sides (the 180° rule).
For our screenings, we used a marketing mix, similar to what we would do if we made the rest of this film. We told people about it (word of mouth), put adverts in people’s registers (like magazine, posters etc), and created an event’s page on Facebook.
Feedback indicated that we did in fact attract our audience; we were rated between 7/10 – 10/10 for our opening sequence. Thanks to our clever branding and filming, our genre was extremely clear, and everyone who saw it recognised it as a horror, thriller, or a combination of the two. They all identified the themes, and the title stuck in their minds. One shot mentioned was the shot where the main villain’s face is reflected in the mirror, and he says “Haha, yeah that comes later darling”. Not only was it the composition that people liked, but also the line, because it was so creepy. When screening our film, everyone went “ooh” at that point, demonstrating that it creeped them out. A few people mentioned that our lighting could have been more dramatic, so that is something we could work on if we were to film the entire film.
The audience identified the characters successfully, however only half of them understood that Emma didn’t actually know “Julie”. One person suggested delaying showing the face of the villains, however we thought it better to show the villains’ faces as they affect the atmosphere of the film. 100% said they liked the sequence, and more than 95% said they would like to watch the rest of the film. They enjoyed the suspension of disbelief, keeping them gripped and wanting more. We guided them down a false path with misleading clues; a typical convention of horror/thrillers.
Our primary target audience are 18-25 year old students/working people of all races and genders because this is the average age of horror/thriller fans. We believe we will appeal to a wider audience than that, so our secondary target audience ranges from 15-30 year olds, couples, and families with older children. Our film would either be classified as a 15 or an 18 certificate, thus affecting our secondary target audience.We are targeting both genders because I have found that women also enjoy horror/thrillers and this widens our audience.
The kind of audience we want to attract is people who are a bit daring, who use the internet, and are up-to-date with technology, and of course they must have a taste for horror/thriller. They are the sort of people who want to explore their fears and challenge their minds.
I have found that when I watch a good horror film, I get a feeling in my stomach similar to dread, but more satisfying. It is like getting your thirst quenched, triggered through visuals and sound. This is how I want our audience to respond to our film. I want it to be widely recognised, acknowledged and for it to gain enough popularity for it to become ‘coffee-shop chat’.
Since horrors and thrillers appeal to mainstream audiences, “Caught in the Web” would be profitable.
Our main theme, suicide, is not used often in horrors and thrillers, thus giving it a Unique Selling Point (USP). When researching other films based around suicide, we could only find 29 that have ever been made, and we had never heard of any of them. We looked at three in depth, so that we could see how they handled this delicate issue. I’m not sure why these films didn’t make it; perhaps they were too focused on the depression of the suicidal person, and not on the rest of the story. Our film stands a good chance of being successful because it is not just about suicide.
Being a genre-crossover, “Caught in the Web” targets more people, as thriller is more popular than horror, and one of the most popular genres, according to an internet poll of favourite movie genres.
We want our reach to be as wide as possible, starting with local distribution, then national, and finally international. Our film’s appeal is similar to “Disturbia” (Caruso 2007) because it is more genre targeted than age targeted. According to the figures in this table, we are targeting 24.4% of film-watchers. This is fantastic; our film will appeal to a quarter of film audiences, so we will take this into account within our marketing strategy. Our audience theory tells us to screen it when people go to cinemas the most (holidays) and when there aren’t many other films of that genre on (like now at Vue).
My product is very versatile when it comes to representing social groups.
We have ethnic diversity in our two main actors as one is mixed-race and the other is Caucasian (which the audience sees in the first minute). This lends appeal to a wider audience without offending anyone by stereotyping their race as murderers. By using a British brunette, rather than a blonde American girl in the beginning, we have avoided using too many stereotypes.
We have represented males as the villains, because it is more believable that men would prey on teenage girls, than women preying on teenage boys. Teenage girls are more vulnerable emotionally than 20 year old girls, and more likely to surf the internet and be suicidal than 10 year old girls.
The men are in a stereotypical underground den which we created by designing a mise-en-scene that people would recognise. We used my cellar for this, and made it dark (by covering the windows when we were filming during the day) but used spotlights to enhance the atmosphere. We showed the paint peeling on the wall to suggest the men are not well-kept or hygienic, and a prominent whiskey glass and bottle to create an identity for the men, so that the audience can start to make assumptions about what they are like and what they will do. The “bad” is represented by this dark den of creepy men with their briefcase full of torturous tools, and they are wearing black/dark colours. This is a big contrast to the “good”, represented by the girl. We designed her mise-en-scene to look typically teenage and girly, and my bedroom fitted this description perfectly, with its raspberry-coloured wall and pink cushions. This, coupled with our actor being a pretty teenage girl and wearing pink, made for good opposites and interesting visual contrast.
The Antagonists are of different ages too; the younger one, 23, charms the girls, whereas the older one, 53, does the dirty work with the weapons. He is dressed in a black leather coat, black hat and black gloves, and the other man is wearing a big black overcoat with a khaki t-shirt and jeans underneath (showing his youth).
Caught in the Web” is a low budget British film which would most likely start off being screened at a film festival such as the “Raindance Film Festival” which promotes independent films in the UK. If this was a success, which I believe it would be, then it might become mainstream and be screened at multiplexes such as VUE, Odeon and UGC, in their smaller screens. After its run at the cinemas, we would release it on DVD so it could be bought, at places like HMV, or rented at places such as Blockbusters. We could also screen it at local arty cinemas such as “The Phoenix” in East Finchley.
Our production company “Hand Print Productions” would seek to employ a good distributor such as “The Works” who are distributing “The Broken” (horror/thriller) this year.
Our product demonstrates that special effects (such as in “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”) are not the only things that make a film scary and our clever filming, editing, and script-writing proves this. I think our film should be screened in big cinemas because although it is not a Hollywood glossy film, it is professional and appeals to a mass market.
I have researched the current horror/thriller films showing at Cineworld (on my blog). Although there are many films in our genre currently showing, Cineworld Cinemas are the 2nd largest multiplex cinema chain in the UK, and their films are spread out across a myriad of cinemas, leaving plenty of room for our film to be noticed. The fact that there are several horror/thrillers coming out now indicates that our film genre is in demand, and will be watched. I think it would be better to screen our film at VUE cinemas, because currently they are showing no horror/thrillers, therefore ours would capture all their customers wanting to watch that genre.
At the moment there is an independent film called “Bronson” which is screening at the “Sundance Film Festival”. It is British, and is a good example of where our film could be screened. By entering “Caught in the Web” in “The British Independent Film Awards”, it could receive good critical acclaim, helping persuade cinemas to pay for a run. “Slumdog Millionaire”, released on 9th January 2009, won Most Promising Newcomer (Dev Patel), Best British Independent Film, and Best Director of a British Independent Film (Danny Boyle), showing British independent films can be major box office hits.
We could also reach a global audience by putting our film on a website such as http://www.firstlightmovies.com/ that fund young film-makers and show their work. This would be good to gain popularity, as word-of-mouth is the best form of marketing. We could also put a funny/interesting clip on http://www.youtube.com/ (viral advertising) because we have a low budget and other forms of advertising (TV, magazines) are expensive. We would take advantage of social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook and Twitter to attract attention and gain exposure.
Hi I'm Laura and I LOVE films. I go to The Latymer School and am doing French, Maths, Media and Drama for AS level. I also did Media for GCSE, which was great fun. I have an extensive DVD collection and I like pretty much ALL genres (except westerns..). This fabulous blog is to showcase my work for AS Media, which focuses on Film. Enjoy! xx
