How we edited our film opening - VIDEO

Below is a clip on how we edited our film opening, we used the program Final Cut Pro which was relatively easy to use and we got used to using all the tools that were avaliable.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO-hUrv2zs0

Final storyline Synopsis

Our film opening is about a young blogger experiencing the problems of technology going wrong. As a very successful youtuber she has gained the attention of many admirers. A supposed visit from her boyfriend turns out to be one of the last times she could blog happily. As she goes to open the door the power in her house is turned off by an Unknown character. What happens next    

The plot for our story is as follows:

• A young teen is 'blogging' her day and it is implied that the girl is a successful youtuber
• since she is an internet sensation - it is clear that she relies heavily on technology
• she talks about her boyfriend coming over and the planned day
• door bell rings, she makes it to the middle of the stairs
• power cuts off
• audience see blackness & hear panting
• young teen is forced to 'blog' her own death
• scenes of struggling by the young teen
• killer is seen, and has also killed her boyfriend
• montage of bf death and fast cuts of killer with glitches will be shown
• killer walks out of killing location (garage) 
• turns head and you can see the killer 
• (film title inserted after this)

What's the craziest video you would upload to youtube? What if others don't enjoy what you do? How do you think they should tell you they dont like what they do? There are probably so many answers the proper response will remain... UNKNOWN

Diegetic sounds

Majority of our sounds that were diegetic did not need to be recorded post production as we wanted to keep the sounds a realistic as possible, this was all of Rachels  blogging amongst other things.
However sounds like the doorbell, the house power switch and the killers voice were all recorded or downloaded to add post production.
The voice of the killer had to be synchronous with the movement as it was not clear in the first recordings, but the accent and tone was not recorded to fully fit into the conventions of a slasher killer as we believed it would be nice to see how unconventional we could make the voice of the killer.
Although we didn't copy it we asked the voice actor to see if they could put a spin on the sarcastic tone of the killer from Scream 1996.

Editing

We started off planning for our project to be a technological horror, using Ratter and Unfriended as our inspiration we decided to learn different ways to try the glitches in our project. As modern technological horror is a new sub genre of horror we have used the freedom we have to suggest its importance but not base the whole story line on it.
To recreate the glitches and effects used we would have to use a lot of post production techniques as the instances are not based on reality.
This video tutorial is what inspired the montage of the boyfriend after he was murdered.

Although our plot had to be altered slightly to increase clarity of it, as the Rachael Bridgit remained a blogger we decided the glitches could be reduced but not removed completely as technology (camera and youtube) were core parts of the plot and the glitches suggest how technology can go wrong. This was inspired by the plot of Ratter.

As evident in the trailer there are various styles of effects we had inspiration to apply to our film opening. However if we used all that we planned too the focus of the genre would shift from a slasher with technological influences to a technological horror. Unfriended is similar in the sense that the cameras they use in skyping themselves have a lot of technological issues which connote the danger of technology.

This video demonstrates the process we used to create some of our special effects for our media project. It takes one of the shots of the dead boyfriend and uses quick cuts to cause a glitch effect.

Inspiration part 2: Ratter, Friend Request and Mr Robot

Inspiration part 2: Ratter, Friend Request and Mr Robot 

Throughout the whole process we have kept in mind a few movies and shows which we gained inspiration from. Both of these movies, "Ratter" and "Friend Request" are due to be released this year (2016) which reinforces that technological horror is an extremely contemporary genre. "Mr Robot" however, is an American TV series broadcasted on the USA network. The show looks into the world of hacking and how technology has become a threat to society.


Friend request

Synopsis:
"Life as a popular student, Laura shares everything with her more than 800 friends on Facebook. But one day, after accepting a friend request from a social outcast named Marina, Laura’s life is cursed, and her closest friends begin dying cruel deaths. Before her time is up, Laura must solve the mystery behind Marina and her Facebook profile, in order to break the deadly spell"

• Produced by Warner Bros studios which is a major conglomerate and directed by Simon Verhoeven
• The movie explores the dangers of the internet, particularly social media websites such as Facebook
• The movie is rated 15 by the BBFC

Here is a link to a recent review:
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/friend-request/40031/friend-request-review

Ratter

Synopsis: 

Emma, a graduate student living alone in NYC, is being watched by a stalker who hacks into the technology that surrounds her - laptop, cell phone, and other web connected devices.We're constantly connected through our phones, laptops and the Web every moment of every day. But while we look at our screens, who's looking at us? - Written by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

• Ratter is a similar movie which explores the vulnerability of young teenagers who are constantly surrounded by technological devices
• The movie uses a variety of gliches and technical post production effects which compliments the movie extremely well.
• Produced by Star Motion Pictures and directed by Branden Kramer
• The movie is rated 15 by the BBFC

Here is a link to another recent review:

http://thehorrorclub.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/vod-review-ratter-2016.html#.Vxk41fkrLIV

Mr Robot

Synopsis 

The TV series follows young computer programmer who suffers from social anxiety disorder and forms connections through hacking. He's recruited by a mysterious anarchist, who calls himself Mr. Robot.

• Produced by Univeral Cable Productions and created by Sam Esmail
• Distributed by NBC Universal Television
• Again, this inspired us to create a technological horror film opening as it has elements of hacking and how large corporations have affected society with their technology and ideas.
• The show set a 'Rotten Tomatoes' (a rating system for movies and tv shows) record of 100% in every episode
• Each episode is titled uniquely in a way which represents the technological theme  
• For example, the pilot episode was titled "eps1.0_hellofriend.mov" and the season finale "S1.E10 eps1.9_zer0-day.avi"

Here is a link to an article regarding the shows high ratings:

http://zap2it.com/2015/09/mr-robot-rotten-tomatoes-record-episode-ratings/

The first part of our inspiration can be found here 

Final music choice

Final music choice

After changing our plot slightly we began looking for the music that would suit the start of film opening, we decided that a more relaxing soundtrack at the start would be an excellent choice because the film begins with a series of vlogs and therefore the soft and calming music would accompany the sequence well.

The relaxing electronic music was composed by 15 year old producer 'Oscar Lang' a This particular song offers huge contrast to the upcoming scenes but when we came across it, we found it was perfect for the first few seconds. The calming beats compliment the soothing atmosphere and help with the smooth transitions from calm - suspense in a matter of seconds.

• We decided to fade out the soft and relaxing music with something that offers a 'chilling' atmosphere but not too rough.
• We found a song titled 'Bent and Broken' which was copyright free and so we added chopped up the song and created something would compliment the film opening
• Bent and Broken was our first choice compared to the others (shown below) because it fitted in well with the scenes and was well synchronized
• The soundtrack is composed by Kevin MacLeod who is an American producer. MacLeod is best known for his distribution of royalty-free library music through his website, Incompetech.com.
•  MacLeod has made over 2,000 self-composed pieces of music available for download
•  His music has been used in Hugo, several commercial video games, and videos by online content creators such as CollegeHumor, Good Mythical Morning, and many other popular YouTube channels.
• We also took a free hip hop horror beat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFuOKf_Nz4I 
• As the original soundtrack was did not build up enough suspense we laid the hip hop beat underneath it but we slowed it down to 10% to give a creepy sound due to the processes done on the track itself.
• The series of glitch effects have been accompanied with sound effects from http://99sounds.org/the-weird-side-samples/  
• The Weird Side Samples is a free collection of glitch samples, weird sound effects and abstract sonic textures produced by Johan Ekelove 
• Another sound effect added to our film opening was a simple 'switch' effect when the power cuts off. This is significant as it creates suspense, making the audience wonder what has happened to the main protagonist

Lost - Oscar Lang

Switch sound effect

Bent and Broken - Kevin Macleod


Below, are a few of the glitch sound effects that we used:

Code and conventions of Technological horror

Technological horror

The genre of technological horror is fairly new in the film industry and this is primarily the main reason as to why we chose it. Due to the genre being quite new, this would appeal much more to the audience as it is contemporary and modern. 

Many people, especially teenagers are always using at least one form of technology in a day so it is hugely relevant in their lives

There are many codes and conventions of horror, these can easily be manipulated to fit into a technological horror or be copied exactly and used as they are typically used.

• Power cut - adds elements of technology/ electricity - no power helps the killer murder their victim easily as they cannot run away. It also adds tension to the sequence
• Main protagonist is using a device ie camera, phone, laptop etc
• Main protagonist is usually a girl (final girl / promiscuous)
• Involves a boy who is either in a relationship with the other character, or it is 'complicated'
• the character is always home alone / with one other person
• Filmed at night
• gloomy night / stormy
• low key lighting
• weapons - knife etc
• Often dark colours like red and black - links to evil, blood
• glitches throughout - emphasises the technological aspect
• symbolism  
• silent house