The murder weapon-the knife: how to make- research

 The Knife:

For our film, we have chosen the knife as the murder weapon. There are many styles of knife to make so in this post I will look at two different types of knives types to make. The chose of the knife was dictated by this blog post: The Procedures of Media. The learn how and making of a Film. 2025: Genre Research: Props.

Switch-Blade Knife:

This type of knife, used in action films allow for fluid motion and to be concealed; not very dramatic. Which my group wants a flair to the iconography of the film. I still want to look at it for the prosses of making it according to Make a Realistic Prop/Fake Knife : 6 Steps - Instructables. With this prosses having a lot of semi-dangerous prosses of making it.

The tracing the knife on a CD

This way of making it would go agist movies by destroying a CD player to make which makes me move away from this idea.

Foam Knife:

DIY Michael Myers Knife Prop Replica STEP BY STEP + GIVE AWAY

As this video for basis we can make a Styrofoam mold and cut it into the knife of choosing and it is easy to paint to. But it is harmful for the environment as it does not decompose and is indigestible.

What will I do with this knowledge:

For the film I will use the Styrofoam method so I can make the knife more customizable compared to accurate.

Tracking Shot: Research

 Tracking Shots

A tracking shot is when the camera follows a character, setting or movement. These shot according to The Tracking Shot in Film — Ultimate Guide. This article and others stated that most of these shots need a dolly to do most of the shots. With this post I will break down how I can do all of these without a dolly or any equipment. I will use this source as a base of the post: Handheld Versus Stabilized Shots — Pros, Cons, and Best Uses.

Steady Mode:

This mode is a way to make a handheld camera have smooth and stabilize the footage creating equilibrium to replicate a smooth dolly. This can be used in conjunction with type of movements. But it requires a large amount of light and lowers the quality of the film. I would like to look the most resent film I watch with steady cam: The shining

The Shining (1980)

This film was the one of the first to use the steady cam. With the shot establishing the location and feels calm, low to no tension, it is calm. This is the feeling we are trying to get with a few of the scenes but on a horizontal plain.

Hand Held:

This mode does have shacks and cracks allow for tension and dis-equilibrium. This can also allow for the audience to go into the mind of the main protagonist with the cinematography. But adds a low quality feeling to it. This can be seen in the original hunger games film.

Hunger Games (2008)

What will I chose?

For the most of the tracking shots they will consist of steady cam until the body is found then hand held.

Making of Shot List-Implementing

 Shot-List

This post will cover the process of making the shot-list for our film based on the story board and script with combining these elements together to make a detailed list of what we need from each shot in the film. There is a natural devil when it comes to the script. Starts outside establishing the house and characters except one, the dead guy. With credits appearing above each of the heads this process has lend to helping our director to revise the scripted to make a more fulfilling story.

The last portion of the Shot List 

The Story Board that matches the shot-list

These pictures are half of the filming time and with a visual way to tell direction and give a solid idea to put the actors and props with the shot-list creating a more solid order. The most important is the idea of creating of leading lines to the door in shot 7 of the storyboard.

How Does This Effect the Film?

With the shot-list and story board combined I can get my visual medium of our film, well visualized. Through words and pictures, I can express these ideas together and organized them so when filming I can apply the order of operations so that my editor can put the shot were the shots need to go.

Making of Golden Hour- Planning

Golden Hour Attempts:

With looking at the surroundings of the filming location, the evening golden hour time is 17:41 - 18:11 according to my eyes and Sunrise Sunset | Fort Lauderdale. This time frame last up to 30 minutes which is a tight window to make a production. But this challenge will be entertaining to do. 

Here is an example of golden hour at set:

Even though when taking the photos for reference, it was cloudy outside which is something that I need to be aware of. It was cloudy at set all week so the pictures will not be 100% accurate to the vision.

Scene 1 Shot 2

Scene 1 Shot 1

These shot that I took with the times was too close to the actual time to use golden hour, sun is too low. Shot one you cannot really tell the time based on the sun, but you can be based on the lack of light, and the angles were close but is letting me feel out the scene that could be. Shot 1 is way to close and was following the ground slope. Adding something else for me to worry about.

How Does this Idea Work?

In my personal opinion this idea can work but needs to be more precise, not adding with testing of angles and others without golden hour so that we can just go when golden hour happens. If golden hour is too precise after sun set could work, but it would affect the natural lighting and make it harder to film.

Here is example of the vision for the coloring that I took during Christmas:

A photo of golden-hour, 4 miles from set

This looks more appealing that what I took and the colors can add to life going to death.

Golden Hour: reasearch

 Golden-Hour in Filming:

Golden hour is a time of day when the sun's light is in the perfect position to the sun perfect for filming. These times are at the first and last hours of day light. This can exaggerate the natural high lights and shadows. In this blog, I will learn how to plan to use golden hour so in the next post I can practice how to use it properly. This all according to When is Golden Hour? How to Capture the Perfect Light. This is a tight window to film so pre plan to the practice is important. 5 Tips to Film Golden Hour | No Film School state the same things as the first source to create synthesis:

• Look at the surrounding in the time window 
• to judge the sun effect on shot
• Watch out for glare of the sun
• Check weather for clouds
• Experiment

Golden-Hour/Sun Sets External Meaning

In multiple medias forms a sunset usually indicates the end of the film. This could set up a book end for our film, if we wanted, but sunsets also represent the ending, of life. As day which mean life in western cultures. Which can be seen in the day of the dead celebration. This further the correlation with death. The sun set also cast striking shadows and after the sunset is night, both represents darkness, cold and death.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

The final scene of Rogue One ends on a beautiful golden hour or sunset in the case before special effects took place. This however let their story end, with their death to continue the one of The Resistance. Even if our films share little to no genre. The symbolism still takes place to adapted into our film.

Why Does This Matter to Our Film?

Our film, which takes place at sunset dictates that we need to be aware of the sun while filming. So, I wanted to take advantage of the sun while filming and how to work around it. So, why not use golden hour?

My Personal Take Away:

The use of the sun in film is vital in symbolism and enhancing the quality of a film that I would like to implement even if it requires better quality.

60-30-10 and Color-Theory Cinematography: Research

 Color Theory Cinematography:

When researching film I came across the use of a rule called 60-30-10 rule. This rule as found in What Is The 60-30-10 Color Rule in Filmmaking? | No Film School state the percentage of what the color and example can be seen in this scene below, but it looks pretty right. I would like to implement this into the film, but I will have to work with a not fully manipulatable area. As scene in the picture below with 60% yellow, 30% blue, 10% gray.

 

'Mad Max: Fury Road' Warner Bros. Pictures

This source The Psychology of Color in Film (with examples) | No Film School go over the purpose of each type of color and the meaning. 

Colour In Storytelling

For the actual film we have 3 forceful colors: 

• YELLOW – wisdom, knowledge, relaxation, joy, optimism, idealism, imagination, hope, sunshine, summer, dishonesty, cowardice, betrayal, jealousy, covetousness, deceit, illness, hazard. 
• BLUE – faith, spirituality, contentment, loyalty, fulfillment peace, calm, stability, harmony, unity, trust, truth, confidence, conservatism, security, cleanliness, order, sky, water, cold, technology, depression.
• WHITE – Yes, protection, love, reverence, purity, simplicity, cleanliness, peace, humility, precision, innocence, youth, winter, good, sterility, marriage (Western cultures), death (Eastern cultures), cold, clinical, sterile

With the list now available, yellow for what we're going to twist it is with the betrayal, the murder; the exterior of the house foreshadowing the 'betrayal'. The color blue, this will probably be cold and or depression; interior. The color white as the list gave eastern cultures with death. These will allow me to give an emotional present to the filming. With the normal to me at least feeling being positive, this can subvert expectations. This is to subvert colors.

Discussion over The Story Board- reflection Add script detailes

 The Comparing of Scripted to The Storyboard:

This problem arises due to a change of scripted due to it going agist the requirements she made. So, the story board had to be adapted from a script. Which there is a comparison of ideas. I will walk through the script and those requirements that the storyboard should have followed. Here are the requirements:

• Feedback
• Show don't tell
• Tension

Did I develop these requirements let analyze the most important scenes and to see if I did it properly:

Shot 1:

This shot in mystery is to establish relation with the setting and environment, which is a purely show do not tell sequence. This scene is also will be slow-motion shot with intense music. "EXT. THE LEMON HOUSE – EVENING Focus in the area around the house- EVENING GOING ON NIGHT"

Shot 1

Shot 5:

This shot with a Dutch shot is to add uneasiness or known as tension and rack focus to change focus to add dread. "A little freaked out they walk into the room to find “DEAD PERSONS NAME” dead on the floor with signs clearly showing that this death was no mystery. "

Shot 5

Shot 6: 

This shot with a frame in a frame leaves the tension with a POV shot to add the person that we are following reaction shacky and shallow focus. To add dread.

Shot 6

Does This Follow?

Yes, the does follow the requirement by the director for this film. This is mainly through tension and show do not tell.