I think the area which i was influenced more in was cinematography, particualrly by Shrooms and The Blair Witch Project.
Shrooms has a similiar theme of drugs in it (although they are recreational) and so the use of an effect called 'Shutter speed' gave my group 2 fantastic POV shots which they use on characters to show what state they are in. Shrooms also has an aerial shot in a forest which is so effective and gives so much impact that it made me/my group want to try it, so one of my group stood on a tree stump with the tripod and camera fully extended and the shot looked really great. In the end though due to continuity we couldn't use it - there were no trees in this aerial shot but where we shot the chase there were lots of trees either side. Shrooms also had some really effective side tracks from behind trees (i.e. the trees maskd the view of the characters sometimes) - which we also did and used in one shot which fades into a title as it goes behind the tree.
I loved the Blair Witch Project camerawork because it was jumpy and chaotic it mae the situation even more jumpy, our camera work was quite shakey because obviously we had to run with the camera but i think the effect is amazing. The diegetic sound in the Blair Witch Project is also brilliant, i rewatched the ending of it without the sound to understand what was going on (it was too scary with the sound) and it made so much less impact. The diegetic sound really does make the film, so i personally spent a lot of time trying to perfect our diegetic sound to give greater effect.
Showing posts with label The Blair Witch Project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Blair Witch Project. Show all posts
Thursday, January 31
Thursday, November 1
The Blair Witch Project: The Website
http://www.blairwitch.com/
The Website played a massive role in the advertising campaign for the Blair Witch project, it was set up a year or so before the film was released to create the illusion that it was all in fact real. So when the film came out all the people who had been on the website obviously wanted to find out what really happened.
Here are some examples of how the illusion was set up that it was real:
Mythology
There is also a section of the site called 'Mythology', where lots of different stories are told of the 'Blair Witch'. For example:
August 1825
Eleven witnesses testify to seeing a pale woman's hand reach up and pull ten-year-old Eileen Treacle into Tappy East Creek. Her body is never recovered, and for thirteen days after the drowning the creek is clogged with oily bundles of sticks. (and bundles of sticks play a slightly significant role in a part of the film so the part of the audience who have seen the website will keep making links back to it - decreases their doubt)
March 1886
Eight-year-old Robin Weaver is reported missing and search parties are dispatched. Although Weaver returns, one of the search parties does not. Their bodies are found weeks later at Coffin Rock tied together at the arms and legs and completely disemboweled.
After a few more examples of these the story of the 3 filmmakers is told in a few lines - so if the viewer believed the previous stories then they are given no reason to doubt the story of these 3.
(http://www.blairwitch.com/mythology.html)
Aftermath
The section entitle 'aftermath' is just full of police-style photos of different places/props from the film as if they were from official reports. For example, this photo comes under the sub-heading 'evidence' - which again suggest fact.
A more important piece of 'evidence' which increases the credibility of the story are the film canisters:
Under Mythology there is a further sub-heading of 'search' and i think one of the most inventive pieces they put on the website was the missing person's poster:
All of these little words (like evidence and the dates) and photos work together to make the audience believe this tale, and so i think that when the film was released the website played a very large part in it's success - it made nearly £5.9 million in it's first week.
The Website played a massive role in the advertising campaign for the Blair Witch project, it was set up a year or so before the film was released to create the illusion that it was all in fact real. So when the film came out all the people who had been on the website obviously wanted to find out what really happened.
Here are some examples of how the illusion was set up that it was real:
The first screen fades to this message (In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared into the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found). So as there is no reason for the viewer to doubt the legitimacy of the site yet, this statement is just taken as a fact
Mythology
There is also a section of the site called 'Mythology', where lots of different stories are told of the 'Blair Witch'. For example:
August 1825
Eleven witnesses testify to seeing a pale woman's hand reach up and pull ten-year-old Eileen Treacle into Tappy East Creek. Her body is never recovered, and for thirteen days after the drowning the creek is clogged with oily bundles of sticks. (and bundles of sticks play a slightly significant role in a part of the film so the part of the audience who have seen the website will keep making links back to it - decreases their doubt)
March 1886
Eight-year-old Robin Weaver is reported missing and search parties are dispatched. Although Weaver returns, one of the search parties does not. Their bodies are found weeks later at Coffin Rock tied together at the arms and legs and completely disemboweled.
After a few more examples of these the story of the 3 filmmakers is told in a few lines - so if the viewer believed the previous stories then they are given no reason to doubt the story of these 3.
(http://www.blairwitch.com/mythology.html)
Aftermath
The section entitle 'aftermath' is just full of police-style photos of different places/props from the film as if they were from official reports. For example, this photo comes under the sub-heading 'evidence' - which again suggest fact.
A more important piece of 'evidence' which increases the credibility of the story are the film canisters:
Under Mythology there is a further sub-heading of 'search' and i think one of the most inventive pieces they put on the website was the missing person's poster:
All of these little words (like evidence and the dates) and photos work together to make the audience believe this tale, and so i think that when the film was released the website played a very large part in it's success - it made nearly £5.9 million in it's first week.
The Blair Witch Project
I watched The Blair Witch Project on Halloween and it was one of the most scary films i think I've ever seen (apart from possibly the Saw series), and the amazing thing was that afterwards i realised that you never actually see anything scary, the whole film plays on the audience's imagination. It's also quite inspiring because it's similar to the thriller i will create in that it was very low budget of around £2000 - cheap for a cinema screened film of course.
I think the most effective factor of the film is the iconography:
Setting
Set in a large forest it provides the scariness factor of shadows, noises in the night time and total isolation - i think this isolation plays on audience fears the most therefore making it even more thrilling. This is all also emphasised by the fact that they are lost and are in unknown territory.
Mise-en-Scene
Is generally very dark - this provides the unknown factor again, the lack of glamour to their clothes and general look adds realism to the film/story so it makes it seem more believable and therefore scary.
Camera
Is entirely handheld (or at least on a very shaky track) so it heightens the sense of their isolation from the world because it allows the audience to suspend their belief and think that there isn't a film crew there. At some points the screen is just black because it is night and they don't want to turn their lights on, and i think this panics the audience a little. It's almost like a break from having to close your eyes in fright but at the same time you want them to turn a light on in case something jumps out - so it dramatically increases the suspense.
Colour
Is all natural browns and greens - which adds realism again. Then sometimes when it's black + white it makes it seem supernatural and almost adds glamour - in an old movie style way. By glamour i mean something out of the ordinary - they seem to have very normal lives and i think the black + white symbolises this extraordinary event (also could be put into 'camera')
Rating: ****
I think the most effective factor of the film is the iconography:
Setting
Set in a large forest it provides the scariness factor of shadows, noises in the night time and total isolation - i think this isolation plays on audience fears the most therefore making it even more thrilling. This is all also emphasised by the fact that they are lost and are in unknown territory.
Mise-en-Scene
Is generally very dark - this provides the unknown factor again, the lack of glamour to their clothes and general look adds realism to the film/story so it makes it seem more believable and therefore scary.
Camera
Is entirely handheld (or at least on a very shaky track) so it heightens the sense of their isolation from the world because it allows the audience to suspend their belief and think that there isn't a film crew there. At some points the screen is just black because it is night and they don't want to turn their lights on, and i think this panics the audience a little. It's almost like a break from having to close your eyes in fright but at the same time you want them to turn a light on in case something jumps out - so it dramatically increases the suspense.
Colour
Is all natural browns and greens - which adds realism again. Then sometimes when it's black + white it makes it seem supernatural and almost adds glamour - in an old movie style way. By glamour i mean something out of the ordinary - they seem to have very normal lives and i think the black + white symbolises this extraordinary event (also could be put into 'camera')
Rating: ****
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