After producing these film stills it is important to reflect on how well they worked.
STILL 1
This film still is of the house that the characters in the story are moving into.
I think that the house has an idyllic quality to it and that it is easy to believe that people would want to move there. At the same time, I think that the aesthetic of the exterior is not unlike that of similar types of houses found in other horror films, making it an ideal location for the concept of my idea.
The trees and other foliage surrounding the house give the impression that the house is in a secluded location that, I think, adds to its visual appeal.
The mist at the bottom of the photograph creates an eerie atmosphere, which complements the tone of the story and the proposed film. It is subtle, which complements the rest of the image well, because, if it was to prominent it would become a focus for the audience. This would detract from the main focus, which is, of course, the house.
In the window, viewers can see Grace faintly. This shows the audience that she has an ominous presence and adds to the image, because the way she is presented in the image is subtle and not the focus of the image. Her not being a focus of the image suggests that she is discreet and, therefore, more of a threat to the characters, as they don't always know she's there.
There are things about this photograph that I dislike, however, including the brightness and the vignette.
In this particular photograph, the vignette around the edges of the photo doesn't work. It isn't subtle enough. The viewers can clearly see it which detracts from the realism of the photograph. I always put a vignette around my photographs, because it usually focuses attention on the centre of the photograph, but this one is too obvious. In order for the vignette to work, the brightness of the sky would have to be darker, so the vignette itself would be less obvious.
This brings me on to my next point- the brightness. The sky is very bright. After having already edited this photo, I can clearly see that the brightness is not concurrent with the tone of the overall story idea.
STILL 2
This photo is of the main characters walking their dog, before they meet Grace.
This is my favourite photo that I have taken for this project.
The fact that this photo has colour is a dichotomy to many of the other photos (with most of the film stills having simple colours, like black, grey, brown, and some green). Lighter greens and a hint of yellow and blue can be seen in this photo, which could be seen to represent the fact that the story is in its early stages at this point, when the characters were still innocent as to what the house really is and before they have met the primary villain of the story.
The colours are reminiscent of the grass, sky, trees and mist are reminiscent of a dewy, misty morning. The mist itself seems to keep mostly to the edges of the photograph, which effectively frames the photograph. This mist and the fog in background by the trees help to remind the viewers that, although this particular photograph is of a seemingly innocent event, the tone of the overall concept is supposed to be a creepy one. Mist is ever-present in all these photographs to act as the constant reminder of the eerie nature of the proposed film idea.
The way the trees are 'burnt' in the background gives the impression to the viewers that they are shrouded in fog- aided by the brightness of the areas surrounding the trees. Fog has a ghostly quality to it which could be seen to mirror Grace- as she is supposed to be a spirit herself.
STILL 3
This photograph is supposed to represent the first moment in the story when Grace reveals herself to the main characters and starts becoming violent.
The photograph is similar to one of the previous film posters, however it isn't as bright as the poster. I think that the film poster's darkness complements the tone of the story better and works better as an image, than this particular photograph. Despite that, this photo still emulates the eerie quality that is present throughout the story- through the use of mist to emphasise the main focus of the picture (the bath) and to create a creepy atmosphere. The addition of mist to the photograph adds to the visual aesthetic of the photograph.
The bloodstains on the side of the bath are suitably subtle enough to create a feeling that something dreadful happened at the site of the bath.
The sky doesn't look quite right. It's a bit too light compared to the bottom of the picture, which looks darker. This makes the photograph look slightly uneven. Something that also looks uneven is the way that I 'burnt' the sky in Photoshop. This will have to be adjusted accordingly.
STILL 4
This is a photo of the main characters discovering a lone grave on their property, which belongs to a girl called Grace.
Although this moment would be quite important in the proposed film, it appears quite drab in photographic form. There isn't a lot happening in this photograph.
The text on the gravestone isn't very visible. The photo would have to be zoomed in to see the writing. Although I wanted the text to be subtle, I didn't want it to be too subtle as to make it invisible.
In order to make this photograph a little more interesting, I added the mist to, again, create an eerie quality to the photo and to act as a reminder to the creepy nature of the film- even in moments when Grace isn't around.
I think this is the weakest photo I have taken for this project.
STILL 5
This photograph acts as a representation of one of the occasions that Grace attacks the main characters.
The setting for this photo was a path in Polesden Lacey surrounding by trees that seemed to loom over the path, creating a tunnel-like appearance. I thought this would be a good location for a chase scene in the proposed film. Trees looming over the path creates a feeling of hostility, as it almost seems like the trees are staring at you and warding back. The is would be an almost perfect atmosphere to match the tone of the story.
The mist in this photo is very subtle, just visible at the bottom of the image and at the top. It frames the action in this photo.
I wanted the villain, Grace, to be more visible in this photo, but, after several attempt at taking the photograph to this effect, I realised that this was very hard to achieve. With the characters running, there was a slight irritation in the making of this photograph in the form of blurriness. There were several instances in the making of this photo where I took several unusable photographs- due to the fact that the people in it were blurred.
STILL 6
This is a photo of the moment when the characters finally defeat Grace at the end of the proposed film story.
The statue, for me, provokes images of a graveyard, which would be fitting as the villain has been defeated- effectively dying. It also provides a solemn atmosphere, accentuated by the characters looking down at Grace. It appears to almost be a sombre, sad photograph- despite the fact that this should be a happy moment in the story. I think this works well to create an image that has is visually appealing.
The fact that photograph was taken on a small hill gives the feeling that the characters are slightly raised. This, in turn, gives the impression that Grace is rising up- accentuated by the various faded images of Grace rising up from her dead body. Although it is hardly noticeable, Grace's body is slightly distorted by a watery effect, which is fitting because, according to the story, the event that caused Grace being turned into a supernatural spirit was her death by drowning.
The mist used in this photo appears to be wrapping around the hill the scene is set on, and, therefore, appears to encircle the centre of the photo. This makes the centre of the photograph the focus of the picture.
The vignette in this photograph can be seen a little bit at the top of the image, which detracts a bit from the main focus of the photograph, but I don't think this is an issue in this photo as the trees at the top of the photo obscure the vignette slightly. I think the vignette works well to frame the photo and to mark the centre as the focus of the viewers' attention.
