Soundtrack Music-Will Smith

The music chosen for our films came from the website incompetech.com. Incompetech had a wide range of non-copyrighted free music and our group could therefore choose from different categories, in particular the 'horror' category.

The song we chose was called 'Darkest Child var A' by Kevin Macleod. We chose it as it built up tension for the opening sequence of the film and to the murder. We slowed down the audio speed from 100% to 85%, creating extra suspense.

We then used 'Gloom Horizon' towards the end of the opening as the song represents the mans footsteps creeping up on his victim.

Institution Research-Will Smith

As a group we unanimously decided that Lionsgate Films would be the suitable distributors for our film, The Woods by the Lake.

Lionsgate have distributed films such as:

The Twilight Saga

The Hunger Games

The Day After Tomorrow

The Cabin in the Woods, and the seven-part ‘Saw Franchise’ are particular reasons why we chose Lionsgate to be our film distributors. We took inspiration from these films to create The Woods by the Lake. This is the main reason for our decision in choosing Lionsgate.

Script-Will Smith

Although we had a scrip we allowed for a lot of improvisation. I believe this helps the actors, in the introduction, to change any unnatural things their characters might say etc. 

SCRIPT

Three boys walk into the woods, with a couple of different angle shots showing this. They appear to be talking and having a laugh.
A POV shot of the antagonist as he stalks the boys.
The three are sat down on a log discussing, and then Will says he needs the toilet.

WILL: (Improvisation, talking about football)
WILL:I need a piss.

Walks away and takes his scarf of throwing it to Matty.
While urinating the antagonist creeps behind him and Will hears leaves crackling.

WILL:What?

The antagonist taps Will on the back

WILL:Mate I'm doing a piss.

Turns around with an expression of shock and horror.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There wasn't much speaking in the early parts of this film. A lot of improvisation was allowed to make the script and dialogue feel more natural to the viewers.

Time Management Schedule-Will Smith

For our film, time management was very important as during filming it was getting dark very quickly, this was due to us being in winter-time. An obstacle we had to overcome was the darkness and with limited days and times our group were available for filming, this made it even more difficult. By stretching filming over a two day span from after-school to the afternoon, before it got dark (from 2-4). We didn't film all the scenes in a particular chronological order. We started off with filming our establishing shots of the woods and our three main characters walking into it. This was a simple shot to film which we got in one take. A more challenging shot is the 'point of view' shot that our antagonist in the story, Kai Bingham had to film. He had to hold the camera level to his eyes and breath heavily while stalking the friends in the woods. This proved challenging as it took acting skill.

Diary of Filming-Will Smith

Firstly we set up the walking scene finding the best angle to film the three characters going into the wood after finding the right angle we had some camera issues as the cameraman accidentally put his finger in the top of the lens. After filming that scene we filmed a scene of walking through the forest this was and over the shoulder shot so it made it easier to do as it was done it 1 take. The next scene filmed was the POV shot this was easier to do as it there wasn't a need for a whole amount of quality as the shakier the camera the better it would fit the character arc. We then filmed the social scene between the friends we found a log to sit on which made it easier to do, this was easier as the only thing we as the characters had to focus on was what was needed to make the scene; the script body language camera angle and etc. the final scene we had to film was the first murder scene, this took about 5 takes as the people involved couldn't get it right.

Opening Two Minutes Codes and Conventions-Will Smith

The codes and conventions of a horror movie featured in our opening two minutes:

In our opening two minutes we featured two main codes and conventions of horror films. This is because there are only so many you can fit into an intro and we don't want our film to be completely stereotypical of all other horror movies.

Our film is set in a Secluded Location. No one is around to help the characters when threatened or in danger. This means when there is a murder, the only people nearby are the friends who are extremely vulnerable.

The opening of the film is set in the winter time. It is starting to get Dark. This means help will be hard to come by.

Actors Interviews-Will Smith

Interview with some of the cast from The Woods By The Lake.


Was filming the introduction difficult? 

Michael Charalambous:-"It was difficult as we had to rely on the weather quite heavily. We couldn't film in the rain or snow and we didn't really want to have the introduction filmed in the dark. But obviously as it was filmed in the winter time that meant that time was against us as it got dark pretty early."

What was the funniest thing that happened on set? 

Matty Folkes:-"During filming for a scene where Will has to turn around with an expression of shock on his face, we attacked him with a can of deodorant and sprayed him in the face as a prank which was probably the funniest thing that happened on set."

Was it difficult to direct the opening? 

Kai Bingham:-"It is always difficult trying to direct three other 16 year olds but everyone chips in with good ideas on how we could improve or adapt our film."

Mind Map/Brainstorm-Will Smith