Evaluation Website

I have created my evaluation using wix. http://mevansevans26.wix.com/blank-box 

Edited and finished short film.

My Final Short Film from Matthew Evans on Vimeo.

Final edited poster.

My Short Film Magazine Review

Based on lovefilms format for review. It's in a mac view because i used an apple computer to view the website and to edit the review. If you struggle to see it all visit PHOTOBUCKET and zoom in a couple of times. The photo will not go any larger because of its awkward size.

Complete and final poster

I have decided that the film should now be called "How Will You Fall?" so the poster fits better with the film. A new colour scheme too so the production logo fits better with the rest of the poster. i have also received some praise from fellow class mates saying that they prefer the new colour scheme.

Using Social Media Sites. *MEGA DRAFT*

facebook with survey monkey

Considering Distributors *DRAFT*

As my film is a short horror film i will have to consider who would distribute my film as i am an unknown director and film creator.

BlankBox will be the title of my distributors. As i will be distributing online.

http://dogwoof.com/films seem like they would be a great distributor as their films are not well know and it also looks like they have distributed films in the horror genre before.

http://erosnow.com/#!/  would not be a good choice as all of the films they are distributing, feature primarily indian culture and actors.

http://www.parkcircus.com/films would also not be a very good choice as they deal with popular classical films and picture house cinemas.

http://emaximmedia.com/ is a distributors company who specialise in the horror genre. The films they distribute do look too comical compared to my short film.

Survey Monkey

I am trying to get feedback on my short film poster so i have created a survey on survey monkey. It has already been completed and i am expecting positive results. I will ask students from Sprowston Community High School to fill it in and hope for responses from places around the world.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Brief for online movie review.

I've mentioned this in a previous post. But this is what i am going to need to include in my web review:

• Logo/Icon of provider hosting the reviewing content.
• Popular articles of the day to pull in the audience to read more.
• Title of film you're reviewing.
• Date of review.
• Rating out of a certain number (this case five stars which tends to be classic but there are others).
• Small paragraph to pull the audience into the general review.
• Ways to be social about the review (Twitter and Facebook being most common ways to be heard).
• Pictures and or screenshots of the feature.
• Key parts of the film e.g. Cast, run time, ect.

I think using LoveFilm is the best. Although i have not seen any reviews for short films or low/no budget films.

Criticism *DRAFT*

    I expect the film to be criticised for including a morse-code which has been heavily edited and i assume practically impossible to de-code by people who can and cannot read morse-code. It even for me feels like it has been added mindlessly even though i know the reason i added it. I wanted to add something almost secretly so there is something underneath just the general layer of film for the audience. I wanted the audience to be so interested and intrigued so much that they considered searching for clues rather than me just giving all the answers to them (reception theory).

Uncompleted film

Here's my film so far. I have made many changes so far that i hadn't plan to make before but i am proud of what has been created so far. Here's is my film so far below.



Matthew's short film from Matthew Evans on Vimeo.




What i need to include are:

• The final part of the book.
• Final actor committing suicide by hanging.
• Home on fire.

Final poster criticism

     I believe i have my final poster nearly completed so i am just asking my peers to check over my poster to see the final things they will change. If i have many criticisms i will consider asking one more time if they can check over it.

     I have printed the newest and also the most previous poster to compare it (as shown below). Unfortunately it printed off really dark so i have already made it lighter in photoshop.

Everyone of my peers preferred the poster above and the things they would change are:

• Make the "COMING 2014" text less visible and move to the bottom left.                              
• Actors names should be clearer and brighter.    
• The word "FALL?" to be moved to the left a little bit more as it's not evenly spaced in the triangle.

So here's the final poster. I've made all the appropriate changes that were asked for. The only change asked for which i didn't do was the positioning of "COMING 2014" as i believed it is better at the top in the center compared to bottom right and moving the actors names slightly from the center too. I could easily make the names slightly smaller and keep them center while moving "COMING 2014" but they're already small but i believe the most efficient.

Re-done poster

I have stuck with this poster making small changes.

Changes made are:

• "COMING 2014" font changed and made larger.
• Cast names in the centre.
• Studio logo as the information of production.

I quickly made a studio logo with "BLANKBOX" as my production name. My first logo was over done and didn't at all fit with the poster (as shown below). I believe it looks pretty good but with the size being so small compared to the rest of the poster it was hard to read the studio name and the colour didn't fit what so ever.

So i created the one below which i believe fits well.

Morse code

"I cant believe he passed away just yesterday. it was so unexpected and sudden. i didn't get to share my feelings and now i feel empty. But now ever since i've read this book i stole from his possession i keep seeing figures pass by my window and just five minutes ago, by my bedroom door. I think i need a bath to relax as i believe it's just stress making me paranoid." is what i want to have playing behind my short film as its playing but it morse code. I found this great website for translating morse code but there does not seem to be an easy way to download the audio into mp3.

                                                                        *****

I have since found a website where it will enable me to download an MP3 straight from exactly what i wanted. The text i used above has not been adapted yet but i have feeling I'm going to have to as it is a little too long. I have used a Frequency of 120 Hz as it is uncomfortable and deep. Website here.

Poster critiquing and designing.

Five out of the five people in my class prefer the above poster for my horror short film. Things that they would change are: 

• Change the font of "COMING 2014".
• Post more information about the film.
• Include production or distribution information. 
• Make the "COMING 2014" font larger.
• Centre the word "FALL".
• Include an actors name.

What i would change personally is:

• Make the triangle and black circle bold and in front of the effect layer.
• Include a photo taken by myself.

Replied back from StarNow contacts

      I came into contact with three out of four of my applicants but only two have replied so far. With Steve Taylor i wanted to make sure he felt comfortable taking direction from an 18 year old. I believe he could from viewing his previous short films as he looks like a great actor but i am unfortunately shy.

Ronan Lumb seems like a good choice but so i wanted to make sure he could easily access either Sprowston or the forums library. 

Self review 03/02/14

      I am going to ask one of my StarNow's to come over to the Sprowston Library of Forum Library in Norwich for Thursday or Wednesday. I am going to push and push and push until i get my final film finished because i am getting nervous and i don't feel like i'm pushing myself enough.

     I am going to ask my brother (age 28) to star in my short film because then i can also use his home and i already feel fairly comfortable giving him direction in way of the short film.

Creating my digital poster

I have looked at sizes on http://www.standardpostersizes.com/ and chose the medium format.

And these are my final idea using digital/drawing abilities. I just do not feel like i am showing of my photography skills enough. So i tried hard to use photoshop effectively. 

I think the first shown is my favourite so far and i am majorly thinking about using it as my final piece, i just need to add key features on to it like cast and possibly date etc.

Message sent to applicants.

Locations for shooting

I still need inside areas to shoot where people will be murdered but i have all outside locations ready for shooting and im going to ask 2 libraries whether i can film inside and have cast behind the counter. I will call the library in Sprowston first and then the the library inside The Forum at Norwich too.

 The three pictures above are possible locations for when a member of the public stumble upon the book covered in blood.

like these current frames featured in my storyboard. 

My Applications from StarNow

     These are all of my applications so far. I am considering Alexi Lambrou but unfortunately not Black Vendetta as her location is so distant and i just don't believe that this short film is going worth travelling such a distance as this is a short film. I would easily expect someone to travel that sort of distance if i was creating a full feature film but this is one of the differences between short films and a full feature. Also Steve Taylor is not the right age i am looking for in this short film. 

      I will contact Alexi within the next few day as he fits the criteria well i just do not believe he is confident to use explicit language without losing concentration. So i will ask for him to provide a very short video of him filming himself going through a mini script. If he can pull this off confidently he will be a part of the cast.

Interim Reflection

My deadline is roughly 3 weeks away and so far ive only filmed roughly 1 minute of work and i am getting stressed over my work because of the problems with finding location and cast but i have solved the problem of finding cast by posting an advert on StarNow. I have got 3 applications so far and today i should be helping another group from AS film and they can hopefully set me up with more cast possibly.

Today i am going to think of locations and places and create the blood by buying all the ingredients.

My STRENGTH i believe i am creative and imaginative but my WEAKNESS is for filling my desires of my ideas as they're difficult to achieve. My main THREAT at the moment is not having the film finished in time so i believe i am just going to spend a lot of time today and possibly tomorrow thinking of areas to film scenes.

Finding Cast

I have a feeling that i would like to start a completely new narrative as i'm feeling very uninspired to carry on with my current narrative. I feel like worried about location and cast as i do not know people who are older than my current age of 18 and would like a maturer cast. I have talked to my teacher and class students about it and feel less worried and more secure about carrying on.

 I have put a post on StarNow.co.uk to ease my worry about cast:

 This is my ad and i am hoping for replies asap to start more filming. Now my next step will be to find locations and rooms for filming and creating fake blood.

Movie Posters

I have searched "movie posters horror" into google images and this is the first page of results. out of the 25 posters shown, 10 (underlined in red) show a head/face as the main focus - that is 40%.
            I'm not going to use a head or a face as my poster as i do not feature a main human/humanoid protagonist or antagonist. I think the best idea would be to use blood on top of the book with a flickering light. I think it would be great to have a 3-D poster that changes image from different angles of view.

LoveFilm

http://www.lovefilm.com/reviews/ looks like a potential area i could use and get some inspiration for my own movie review.

I clicked on the specific review for "The Wolverine". I have got a screenshot and drew around key aspects of the screen shot.

Logo/Icon of provider hosting the reviewing content.

Popular articles of the day to pull in the audience to read more.

Title of film you're reviewing.

Date of review

Rating out of a certain number (this case five stars which tends to be classic but there are others).

Small paragraph to pull the audience into the general review.

Ways to be social about the review (Twitter and Facebook being most common ways to be heard).

Pictures and or screenshots of the feature.

Key parts of the film e.g. Cast, run time, ect.

Creating Horror films and history of their cycles

The History of Horror from FilmmakerIQ.com on Vimeo.

This is a video which very effectively shows the past cycles of horrors in time. It does not help me directly with creating the film but it gives me lots of ideas i'd like to incorporate but i almost feel like it is too late. I feel like my idea for my short horror so far is a bit bland and needs some new ideas to scare the audience who i am sure have seen many horrors before.

This also brings up one of my biggest fears about creating this short film, that is the sounds used. Foleying is something i am not too worried about, but great horrors such as 'Psycho' have great sound during murders. I would be more than happy to have similar sorts of sounds from an orchestra but i am not very music literate myself and will have to find help to create my own sounds. Here is one of the most popular scenes ever created in the horror genre.


The sounds come from 0:57 - 1:52

I need help writing a movie review.

Being inexperienced with writing a review is going to make the writing area difficult, but i found sources that can help. I do enjoy watching video-game reviews on youtube with games i am interested in but i have never seen or read a movie review.

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Movie-Review tells you how to know what you're writing about while saying how to actually write it.

Tips on creating a movie poster.

I enjoy photography and generally editing and manipulating photographs to suit my own desires so i feel like i will find creating a movie poster easy and enjoyable but i have searched different techniques on creating a movie poster. Here's my favourite site telling me how to create the best movie poster possible.

Attention

Have something feature to capture the attention of passers by, something provocative always works but that does not appeal to me or the audience i am searching for. I do not want this short move to appeal to teenage boys who're just interested in nudity. 

Including something which stands out and has a blank background behind. I do not want objects in the background to be brought to attention, rather just what's in the foreground. So I'm not including anything in the background.

Iconography

Bring out themes without being too explicit, using the reception theory. Making the viewer have to understand what is being shown rather than them knowing at first glance.

Interest

Provide an incentive to view my shirt film. Possibly add text with an unanswered question, as if it's hooking the audience in. Make it not fully understandable about what is being said.

Appeal 

Create it similar to other posters or  similar themes to successful movies posters. For example if you had a poster similar to the Dark Knights movie poster the fans of the Batman franchise may be driven to see said film. 

Style

Have a certain style and keep font similar through out along with colour schemes.

Lasting Appeal

Include something that could possible become the front cover of a DVD case. I will not feature a said DVD case but researching and looking at covers i already own i can grab a few ideas. Although i will have to remember to feature cast and a coming up date or the classic "COMING SOON".

Creating blood

As blood features in my short film i need to create it. I have looked up many ways just by looking in WikiHow. I believe my favourite of all 14 ways featured in the link is number 3 "Chocolate Blood".

As i have not yet attempted to create this blood i am slightly worried it could be the wrong colour or consistency. Although this method look fairly simple and easy.

1. 
   1
   You will need:
   • Corn syrup (or golden syrup)
   • Red food coloring or cherry Kool Aid powder
   • Powdered chocolate
   • Flour or corn starch (optional).
2. 
   2
   Make the basic mix. Combine light corn syrup with red food dye until you get a shade that closely resembles real blood. You can also use cherry Kool Aid powder instead of red food dye for a yummy chocolate cherry flavor.
3. 
   3
   Add chocolate. Add a small amount of cocoa powder to the syrup mixture to darken the shade and turn the fake blood opaque, just like real blood.
4. 
   4
   Perfect the consistency. Either thin the blood by slowly adding water, or thicken it with a couple pinches of flour or cornstarch whisked in gently.
5. Here's even a video on how to create it sourced by HowCast. It is a slightly altered version of the one above and not very serious but it helps get the general feel of how to make the fake blood as i am more of a visual learner rather than a learner through reading. 
6. 
   View How to Make Fake Blood on Howcast

Welcome to my storyboard