The filming process was a learning one. Since I had no experience before it was an exciting and steep learning curve. When I first set out to make the film I really had no idea what I was in for and since I am a practical person I decided the best way was to go out and try it. The result can clearly be seen.
The piece was a dark fantasy film from the outset, this meant it had to include elements of horror as well as action, however, due to the limited timescale I was working with, I knew it would be hard to implement as much of each as I would want. Due to this I knew I would have to play around with the horror and thriller conventions.
The first element was darkness. The near total darkness that exists throughout the piece was intended to give the classic fear of the unknown and unseen which is common in monster horror films. The choice to not show the monster and mearly signal it's presence through sound was made because of a lack of tech capable of constructing the creature I desired. However, considering that the piece is an opening I feel it works well to hint at what is to come without explicitly showing it.
The other element taken was the use of the female as the surviving character. This plays upon the lone female and the vulnerability, but turns it on it's head by having her as the final survivor.
Foreshadowing was another important element and it used several times, the first is the advice Serridan gives to Meredith -hinting at a purpose later- the second was through Kane's speech which speaks of an individual who experienced the same as them, the same as Meredith will communicate to the other character's later in the film (past where this piece ends). The choice to cut Kane's speech off was done for thematic effect to the audience knew there was something to be warned about but not what.
The intended audience is in the 14-21 range aiming at a middle. The film should be aiming for a 12 rating and to this end bad language and actual blood was kept to a minimum. This effected the choice to have the character's die off screen in order to minimise violence. In order to attract this kind of audience we have made a diverse male cast and put a helping of violence in to boot. For the women we have a well dressed female character .
The piece helps represent social groups which were present in antiquity. By having a multicultural cast it stops the traditional Caucasian view of history and allows for a more diverse view of history. It also represents different cultures and genders. Eastern and traditionally western cultures are shown: The witch hunter and the eastern ninja. It also showcases a female dressed in lavish clothing befitting of her station, which shows that women in such times did indeed have authority and power which is counter to the 'romantic' view of history.
To market this film I would go straight to videogame sites. It's that kind of fantasy loving audience who would be most likely to consume this product. I would then go with billboard advertising using the darkness of the film in order to make billboards which contrast the environment and draw attention.
It is likely a small independent studio would have enough of a budget to make the film and it would cater well to the fact that, this being a niche film, it is unlikely to have a wide release. It would also add to the feeling of the film as people would be more likely to support it and not view it with prejudice because of who made it.
From the project I learnt a great deal about film making, from digital editing to camera work and cinematography. I learnt how to utilise various night settings on the camera as well as what was appropriate lighting wise for a given scene, though this took much time and effort. I also learned alot about continutity as i was forced to shoot across multiple nights. That was the most difficult part of the process.
From the amount of filming I did I also learned that it is better to shoot more rather than less because there were several instances such as with the long speech where the dialogue did not match so i was force to intercut various takes while cutting away to filler footage i had shot earlier.
I also learned how to use multiple editing suits because the project got me interested in the whole process. From this i also learned about the rhythm of cutting and piecing things together so they flowed. From this knowledge i went back to do re-shoots to allow me to better help the flow. All in all the test edit was probably the most useful thing I did, because of the complex nature of what i was trying to put together it allowed me to get a visualisation of what was going to happen on screen and adjust my plans accordingly.
On the cinematography side i learned how to compose shots like they were pictures so that each frame stood as an image on it's own. In this way I do believe that filming is an art, though it has a set of rules which, while i had to stick to them which was constraining in some ways, it is useful as a language to utilise to provoke responses.
From the amount of filming I did I also learned that it is better to shoot more rather than less because there were several instances such as with the long speech where the dialogue did not match so i was force to intercut various takes while cutting away to filler footage i had shot earlier.
I also learned how to use multiple editing suits because the project got me interested in the whole process. From this i also learned about the rhythm of cutting and piecing things together so they flowed. From this knowledge i went back to do re-shoots to allow me to better help the flow. All in all the test edit was probably the most useful thing I did, because of the complex nature of what i was trying to put together it allowed me to get a visualisation of what was going to happen on screen and adjust my plans accordingly.
On the cinematography side i learned how to compose shots like they were pictures so that each frame stood as an image on it's own. In this way I do believe that filming is an art, though it has a set of rules which, while i had to stick to them which was constraining in some ways, it is useful as a language to utilise to provoke responses.
All in all it was an enjoyable project. However, the way in which I was required to make this piece, target an audience and make what they want, begs a question: Does this method produce the best results? The answer remains to be seen.
