Preliminary Task- Bussing Sequence and Evaluation

 Bussing Sequence

Evaluation

Introduction
The planning of our bussing sequence was quick and required us to create a storyboards and then film on the same day. This process enabled us to se our initiative and experiement with shots as and when new ideas and suggestions were given.

To allow ourselves to put our AS Media skills into practice, our group decided to focus on demonstrating our creativity via camera shots and sound. The story of our sequence follows a teenage girl who is attacked by an unknown villain whilst playing the piano.

Mise-en-scene
Our herione is a typical teenager dressed casually for colleg wating for her teacher to arrive so that she can begin her piano lesson. Through mise-en-scene of the high key lighting in the corridor, the horror element is not entirely clear. We were unable to dim the lights and this was reflected on our sequence as the eerie non diegetic sound dows not synchronise with the setting. The narrow corridors create a claustraphobic atmosphere illustrating her entrapment as she walks away from the camera, safety, into the danger that awaits her. The low key lighting of the hall was created by blocking the light from the windows by pulling the blinds down. Here we wanted to create a dark setting paradigm notorious in horror films and the visual metaphorical transition from the herione walking from the bright lit corridor to the dark hall was effective in portraying the this shift to a dangerous environment. 

The piano is old and the herione plays 'Moonlight' by Mozart paralleling with the silk curtains which create an overall traditional atmosphere. The prop paradigm of the curtains correlates with the popular net curtains in Halloween and other horror films illustrating that the victim is exposed to the sadistic voyeur.

Sound
The non diegetic sound is effective in building up the tension and the diegetic sound of the classical music juxtaposes with the eerie non diegetic instrumental, all which inject suspense and sustain a fear of the unexpected. Our group decided that a real scream would be much more effective than one imported from the Internet therefore we told the actor to scream to make it realistic. One of the problems we faced with the diegetic sound was when filming the piano scene, continuity errors occured where the camera cut and disjointed the music. For future reference, our group decided to record the piano mucis and then embedd it into the scene to avoid the obvious jerkiness.

Editing
Our editing was very simple due to the shortage of time therefore we were only able to use some transition effects such as fades to black. For future reference, we will allow plenty of time for the editing where we can explore different effects and transitions which will heighten the horror. Tone cards may be a useful device in engaging the audience.

Achievements
Our protagonist was a universal teenager in a setting relatable to all the youths today. Her costume is casual and our group tried to illsutrate that this could be anyone at any school. The sequence begins with the protagonist walking through a narrow corridor. She walks further away as she walks closer to the danger. In the long shot, she appears very small in contrast to the menacing corridors which mirrors her vulnerability. The camera then cuts to a point of view shot of the dark hall and this is a visual metaphor of her movement from light to dark, safety to danger. The point of view pan shot when she looks into the hall is effective as it allows the audience to be positioned as the herione. In the next scene, the fade correlates with the eerie classical diegetic sound creating a similar effect to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre trailer where the classical non diegetic sound juxtaposes with the brutal events happening. The high angle shot of the scream zooms in to the heriones mouth echoing the shower scene from Psycho. The trailer ends with a fade to black mimicing the protagonist's plunge into darkness, her death.

Improvements
The fact that we did not include an establishing shot limits the audiences understanding of where the trailer is set. By including an establishing shot of the school behind the gates would have enabled us to create a sense of entrapment almost instantly. Additionally, the audience are unable to connect with the victim because there were not many close up shots. A close up shot is effective in establishing a relationship between the masochistic audiences and the victim, moreover it creates pathos. There was also no build up and the victim got to the scare very quickly making it unrealistic and not frightening. The fall is also unbelievable and humerous and our group have decided not to include a fall for our trailer. Continuity errors also occures with the piano music and also the actor was dressed differently in the second half of the sequence. This occured as we ran out of time whilst fiilming the first half and the actor forgot to dress the same the week later.

Conclusion
Overall, our group were satisfied with the quality of our trailer in regards to the short amount of time we had for planning, filming and editing. We decided that for our real trailer, we will take time planning our shots and know beforehand what music to use  which will compliment the genre. Editing will also need to be longer to enable us to explore the different efects which will give our trailer the 'professional look'.