Shot by shot analysis - Jake

 Opening logos

The Lionsgate opening logo and our opening logo are similar in that they have differing colours depending on the genre. In this case the red connotes blood, which basically represents the vampire genre in it's entirety, it's all about blood. So, straight away the audience knows this is a horror film and they have suggestions it's a vampire film. "Lionsgate" is quite a nondescript word, it hasn't got many connotations and is why it's a good production company name. Lunar connotes the moon and makes the film sound like a werewolf film, one of the problems with the name. But, the use of the moon represents night, and vampires can only come out at night so it sort of works.

 Titles

In the titles we have a series of missing persons posters. This is similar to Lost Boys' opening titles in which various missing posters are surrounded by people having a fun time and enjoying themselves, this makes the missing people seem like an everyday thing and people just live with it. We didn't want to do this, we wanted to show the missing poster and have some evidence of what happened to them. This goes along with the conventions of people being taken or being killed by vampires.

 Sub-genre Conventions

We wanted more of a subtle vampire so we didn't go with the black eyes or incredibly pale, but we did want the animalistic appearance of a blood smeared face. We tried not to have a completely crazy, blood covered vampire. I think we did quite well with the blood, making it look like he's tried to wipe it off. As well as blood we have the sharpened teeth of a vampire.





Establishing character

By having the character alone, it shows he something of a maverick. He is able to run from a vampire showing he's agile. By having the vampire smaller than the protagonist it shows the power that the vampire has, creating fear in the larger person.






Mise-en-scene




By dressing the main character in white it connotes their innocence and naivety. By adding blood to the shirt, it gives a contrast between the innocence and the seriousness of a situation. White shows the purity of the character, adding the blood taints the character. It is also good as it seems cold and distant, like we wanted the vampire to seem, until finally being brought back to life when he sees the wound.

Key point 1 - The domestication of blood

In the film, Daybreakers, vampires are able to buy blood and it's very domesticated. In our film we wanted to replicate the same idea. Not as grandeur or marketed but more an underground thing. Vampire black markets and what not. Of course, being as this is only the start of the film we couldn't explain this or show this so we had a throwback in the opening credits. A simple thing from a look but it's importance would become known as the film progressed. Having the vampires selling and buying blood challenges the usual belief that vampires are all out killing for the blood.

Key point 2 - Not burning in sun

We decided to go against the usual idea of having vampires burning in the sun. Instead we had the sun hurt initially, but not kill. This way we could have the vampire go outside and interact with the world. This way we could have only the most powerful vampires killed by the light, this would be integral to the plot later on. We wanted to get the shot to be blindingly bright to represent the vampire having to adjust to his new found senses. The saturation of the light as the blinds were raised was a nice touch, showing the sunlight enter the room.

Reflections on the film - Jake

At the time of finishing the film, we thought it was okay. We didn't plan out our time successfully and we didn't use it to its full potential. I think the editing was good, but it could have been neater. The soundtrack is a bit too much, it should have been more subtle and eerie, another problem is that the credits ran on too long so we had to repeat the start of the soundtrack, not a big problem but noticeable all the same. Maybe end after the opening credits and have brief moments for when he gets bit. I think most of the film was rushed, not because we didn't have enough time but because we didn't use it well. We spent a lot of time nit picking the credits and the timings when we should have worried about the film itself. I think the ending should have gone on a few more seconds and having the actor inspect the wound but we cut the right amount from the bathroom shots as they broke a lot of rules and jump cutted around.

Final Film

Here is the final film:

The finished soundtrack.

I have just finished making the soundtrack for the film. I have used a mixture of MIDI instruments and real instruments, I have also used samples of the wind  and a lion roaring. As seen in the screenshot there are 3 parts to the soundtrack: the opening credits, the chase and the aftermath. The purple is a real instrument track, guitars in this case. The green is a software instrument and the orange is a sample. I also changed some of the original films sound as there were people talking or cars passing and it was very destructive of the atmosphere.

Finished editing.

Yesterday I made the final edit of the film. The titles need to have the font changed but aside from that, the film is in a position that I am happy with. We have cut most of the bathroom scene from the end, ending with the protagonist discovering his wound. We were going to have more reaction and more panicking but the shots didn't seem to flow together and we decided it would be better not to have it then to feel uncertain about it. Another thing that differs from the original idea is the leaping over the barrier in the chase, we were going to have this but on the first attempt I caught my foot on the barrier as I leapt over, hurting myself quite a bit. Instead we have me simply run around the barrier, I don't think too much is lost without the "stunt", apart from the feeling that vampires are more quick and agile.

Continued editing.

All the shots have now been sorted and ordered, we have removed the unwanted footage and initial rough edits have been started. we did not have time to finish a rough edit but it is well underway.
Our intro still needs some work with more pictures and graphics to be made however we have planned extra sessions so that we will have enough time to finish before the deadline.

Opening credits music.

Today I have been working on the music for the opening credits, I have been using a midi keyboard and garageband. I want to have it quite calm at the first then have it turn distorted and aggressive as the credits continue. I have tried to make it sound quite creepy. All I have so far is the piano but I hope to progress and finish it next week so I can start on the soundtrack for the whole film.