Location for filming research

I have been thinking about different locations that we could go to to film for our documentary. The Old Queens Head is a pub in sheffield that is well known for being haunted, it has been there since the 1400's and has even been described as the most haunted pub in sheffield. I think it would be the best place for us to film because we can use actual facts about the history of the pub to engage the audience and it has the 'real factor' as opposed to our other location ideas which were to be filmed in a woods or in an old dis-used warehouse. Our reactions would be much more effective in engaging the audience as they would also be real. The cast for our documentary is going to be my group of 4 and a friend... with this location we could also include a short interview with the landlord or public explaining about the pubs history. I have been to the pub and asked for permission to film there and received a number to call

Feedback Interviews

Most haunted clip

This clip also follows the generic conventions of an informative, horror documentary. The presenter (Yvette Fielding) is represented as a dark and sort of gothic figure in the clip which is acheived by her use of dark make-up and clothes. Everything is explained in detail so that it is informative to the audience. The cast and crew try to banish everything that could lead to scepticism for the audience such as the part where Yvette and the man are explaining about the video camera.

Ideas presentation video

From our feedback we have made a bar graph to show the results. As you can see, the most popular idea was idea 2, the 'most haunted' style paranormal documentary which got 14 votes. This was popular because it is a different and interesting concept and would be relatively easy to make. The least popular idea was idea 4, the music video idea for the song 'feel these dreams'. This is because the location and setting idea of a beach is too far away and unrealistic and also the song is still in the process of being recorded. Idea 3 is still a possibility as thiswas the second favourite idea with 9 votes. This short comedy about a mugging would be easy to make.

Feedback questionnaire example.

Here is an example of some of the feedback we received from the viewers of our presentation. The answers the audience give us and the best liked idea will influence our choice of media product to create.

Questions for feedback Questionnaire

Questionnaire



Which idea do you like the best?


Why?


Which do you think would be the easiest to create?


Do you think our ideas are realistic?


What is your favourite genre of music?


What is your favourite genre of documentary?


Where do you watch short films, if any? E.g Internet



These are some questions we have asked people who viewed our ideas presentation. We will then review our answers so we can develop our ideas.

This video is a short documentary about the Catacombs in Paris, France. The narrative events are exploring the catacombs and trying to re-create the footsteps of a man who was lost down there. The sub genre of the documentary is informative, horror, entertainment. I am going to analyse the first 5 minutes of the clip.

The mise en scene of the clip is made up of the crews personal footage, the mans lost footage and on screen text on a black background with narrative over the top. The footage is all filmed on a hand held camera. I think this is because it helps to create a spooky tension as it is from a more first person view which highlights the fact that the explorers are also discovering it for the first time.

Lovefield - curling toes

This part of the scene shows a foot. The audience can connote that the foot belongs to a female because the image is anchored to the sound of a womans cries of agony, and also the womens underwear and handbag as shown before. Without the sound and other images, the audience would not be able to connote the gender of the person which is an important part in the verisimilitude of the diagetic world. The toes curling give two stereotypical representations, these are : somebody having sex and somebody in pain which, when put together, further enhance the connotations of rape. the rest of the woman is not shown so that the audience are left suspended and wondering what is happening to her, and also to enhance the denotations from the curling toes.

lovefield - phone handbag and bloody underwear

A pair of womens underwear is shown after the handbag and they are covered in blood. This establishes a representation of rape within the mise en scene. The audience are positioned create their own meaning of this scene by the denotations (phone, bag and underwear) placed there by the producer as Roland Barthes says. Womens underwear is stereotypically associated with sex , as blood is with pain therfore the audience can connote that somebody is being raped. Although all the stereotypes of pregnancy fit the scene also, the generic conventions of horror created by the diagetic world position the audience to accept it as a scene of rape.



The second item to come into the view is the handbag with money spilling from it. The handbag gives connotations that there is a woman involved in the scene and it also anchors this image to the phone so the audience can connote it belongs to her and she is the one who has been trying to call for help. Money spilling from the bag is used to represent a mugging of some sort because money is stereotypically associated with theft.


In this scene The audience are positioned to read into certain denotations of the objects as they come into view.



The phone is the first of a few images which come into view gradually to drag the scene out and create suspense. The image of an open phone is combined with the sound effect of a 'disconnected telephone tone' to represent a situation of distress and connote that her call was unsuccessful. It also further enhances the representation of isolation within the diagetic world. Even before the woman is seen the phone gives connotations that somebody is in danger and has been trying to call for help.