Masked Up? (Villain Portrayal)

  The Mask

        When it comes to horror films, masks are not a new concept, especially considering that some of horror's greatest and most notorious films are masked-made such as Scream, Halloween, and Friday the 13th. How do we conquer this movie trope successfully? Well, the answer is to stick to the principles, yet branch out respectively. For example, the mask of Frank from the film Donnie Darko, resembles a rabbit with huge teeth and rather comical eyes. It has an odd fit but plays its part. So, what'll be our rendition for this masked-man film? The same mask from the film V for Vendetta (2005). 

V for Vendetta (2005)

This mask's mysteriousness blends perfectly into our thoughts and ideas on the film, as it gives a sinister yet joking tone, which gives the viewer doubts on the killer's identity and questions their morals later on in the film. Another use of masks that appealed to me were in the late Stanley Kubrick's film Eyes Wide Shut. The use of these masks were to protect and disguise themselves from others, and it graciously showed.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Scouting Film Locations

Scouting Film Locations

                When you think of a horror movie, what background pops up in your head? In most cases, you would think of a forest, hotels, houses, cemeteries, etc. Well in this specific case, any of these locations/backgrounds can be used. However, our film crew was still determining where the basis of the film fits the atmosphere, and after little conflict, we all agreed that a park in the evening night would best suit our ideas, because its landscape is similar to a forest. The still presented from Hereditary (2018) displays what we want our background of the film to look like.

Hereditary (2018)

However, we ran to a slight problem. How would we film before park closing time, and get enough shots in time? After further commentary, we decided to make a schedule of our filming days to have enough shots in for the film.

Editing for Thrillers

      Editing for Thrillers

                Now that our crew has a grasp on what we're going to film and its genre, it's up to me to be able to edit it in all of its entirety to make it a TRUE horror film. So how are majority of these films edited?

After careful research, I've tied editing in horror/thriller films to three specific categories.

   

1. Transitions

To create tension is one of the most important characteristics of any film, especially horror films, and using transitions are the best way to get that reaction from your audience. A film notorious for its transitional cuts is Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Jarring cuts like these can draw you closer to the tension. 

2. Shot Placement 

As stated best by G.I Joe, "Knowing is half the battle.", and in defining the shot, no other words could be true. Even as the cinematographer and director have the plans for the scenes, it is of the utmost importance that the editor can put their ideas into play and time shots perfectly for the final cut.

3. Pacing

Last but certainly not least, we have the pacing of the film. This is one of the make-or-break tendencies of a film because the duration matches up perfectly with the pacing. If you can perfectly expand a short story into a one-hour-and-a-half movie, it can show how advanced you are. However, if you compress a nine-hour project into 45 minutes, you leave out key details and defeat the purpose. Get Out is an amazing example of how to pace a thriller film, standing at an hour and forty-four minutes.

Academy Of Edits

This video from the Academy Of Edits gives a perfect example of how to edit horror films and the cinematography that comes along with it.

Researching Thriller/Horror

     A Familiar Genre, but a New Touch

  

            For our new film, the crew will revisit a genre we've done before, but with a new twist. So how will we better our film and anticipate it more? Research! We looked at our past film and saw what it lacked to make it a true horror film, suspense, and how to perfectly place it. As the editor, I'll need to research how to give our scenes the right framework to give our scenes the right mojo.

Now that I have my main goals down packed, I must be able to drastically improve on my editing in more ways than one, but how exactly for a horror film? I took some research and was able to determine this by viewing popular thriller shots such as Silence of The Lambs, Eyes Wide Shut, Get Out,etc. What I found out was that the color grading is a very important factor. I watched a video displaying iconic shots from horror films to determine this. 

the iconic shots of horror films

                I also did my research on editing in horror films and how to add a scare factor to your film, by doing things like:

• using a blur effect
• focusing on the background rather than the actors
• keeping the monster/villain hidden
• adding a perfect reaction shot

Hello World (Foundation Portfolio)

                                            Re-Drafting

                    Good afternoon, this is Kash again, announcing a new film in the works for 36 Chambers that'll skyrocket new potential for the crew. As the film's editor once again, it's my job to perfect the visions of our director and make the film as visually appealing to match the creative efforts of our whole team. Learning from my past role as editor, my role combines raw footage that we record and translates the film's ideas to become reality. My choices also heavily affect how our film's outlook, so I must take that into account. As we progress forward, it is my duty to always check in with other roles in all forms of production, that being pre-production, production, and post-production. Being an actor in the last film also helped me craft a perspective of what I should pursue from the directors and what they want best. For the last film, I focused on just editing in time, and not as structured. However, knowing that I now have way more time on my hands, the editing process will be much more efficient with a lot more changes. Having a lot more information about films and their characteristics, our group will push out a film worthy of viewing. 

A photo I took of the sky

The same photo after editing it