Romen AICE Media Studies Final Project

here is the video link to the final cut of my film; The Second Reign.

 My fourth and final Creative Critical Reflection (CCR) was done in a News Premiere Interview format. 

 My third Creative Critical Reflection (CCR) was done in a Podcast format.

 My second Creative Critical Reflection (CCR) was done in a demonstration format. Here is the video link.

My first Creative Critical Reflection (CCR) is done in a presentation format.

 After compiling all the shots together to create a single opening scene that was paced well, I had overshot the 2 minute cut off by a whopping minute and twenty two seconds! My film was 3:22, meaning I had to cut out a-lot, some good, some not as good. For awhile, I was stumped, I was happy with my film's pacing and story, maybe I could cut out some things, but saying goodbye to over a third of the footage, that was tough. To start cutting, I created some values and priorities to follow; keep as much of the kills as possible, and make sure the film still flows well. If some scenes couldn't rearrange properly, it could mean calling everyone back for reshoots.  Above is the original runtime for the film, which needed to change, big time. This problem actually fixed parts of my film, like the ending. Originally the film ended with Blair(Romen Basu) walking down the street, and hearing police cars in the distance, which actually made the film feel more like a short film, as the v...

For the two kills of the film, I had to create realistic bone crushing and blood splatter sound effects. For this I had to think and brainstorm for a bit; what does that sound like - what would sound good/scary/fitting/ and what could make that sound. I looked back on my Robocop Foley  and I decided to crumple and tear some paper for the sound effects. I started banging random items I found in my room against my nightstand or wall to see what worked. Eventually, I started getting some solid sounds from my experimenting, but these were not enough on their own. I was designing sound effects for a head being split open by a barbell, I wanted to hear the skin tear, the bones crack, the blood spill, and the barbell hit the ground after going straight through the face, that required multiple sounds layered. So, I started to experiment creating these sounds in Imovie; here is a clip I made of creating one of the sound effects . The sound clip I feature in the video, actually ended up havi...

 This si the 6th and final scene of the opening scene, in it Bruce(Robert Sokoll) attempts to flee from the entity that used to be his friend Blair, but is knocked down, and impaled with a shovel by Blair. This scene was exciting for everyone, especially me as afterwords I could finally wash the practical blood off of my face (luckily it did not stain me).  Above is a shot of Possessed Blair(Romen Basu) getting ready to throw a shovel at Bruce(Robert Sokoll). I did 3 angles of this shot, givng me some leeway in the editing room, each angle had about 2 takes. This was a very simple shot to film.  Above is the tracking shot with the camera attached to the shovel being thrown at Bruce(Robert Sokoll). I did 2 takes for this shot aswell, and sped them up to look more organic.  Above is Bruce/Robert's dummy rig, where I sliced open a bag of blood and guts with the shovel. I did 4 takes for this, as it didn't immediately go as planned, but after a-couple takes turned out go...

 After applying the blood prosthetics, I began to film scene 5, where Blair(Romen Basu) comes back to the party possessed, and kills John(Cole Bryant) after he tries to ask him wether he found the dogs yet. This is the most eventful scene in the film, and the most complex as it utilizes practical effects Rig 2 Head Impaled .  Above is the first encounter with Lord Dajti Karabash (reborn in and possessing Blair's body). This shot was filmed only twice as the performances in both takes were quite perforable. This shot may seem like it was complex to film, however it was extremely simple, actor Cole Bryant(right) simply stood on a stool, and positioned himself down, and stood up when actor Romen Basu(left) lifted him up. This simple tactic made it look as if Blair(now Lord Dajti Karabash) lifted John's body by his throat. Above is the final Rig for John's head getting impaled. This rig was built to have the likeness of actor Cole Bryant, and we matched the shirt Cole was weari...

After filming all the scenes where Blair is normal, it was time for him to turn. In my film, the character Blair played by myself, Romen Basu, get possessed in the woods while searching for his dogs who ran off. Earlier in my blog posts I created a concept of what Bair will look like once he is possessed( Blog Post #41 [Possessed Blair Concept] ) by Lord Dajti Karabash( Blog Post #9 [Lord Dajti Karabash Concept] ). Here are the final concepts I had created: Above is my Concept of Lord Dajti Karabash. Above is my concept of Blair Possessed by Lord Dajti Karabash. Above is the finalized look of Blair Possessed by Lord Dajti Karbash As you can see, I stayed very true to the concept art, especially in the blood application on Blair ( See how I created fake blood for prastetics and practical effects in Blog Post #39 ). I decided to change Blair's outfit from black sweat pants, to pajama pants, to make his character look even more relaxed and set back, to create his switch to Lord Dajti ...

 In this scene Blair(Romen Basu) leaves the group to go find his dogs, Jed and Baby. While looking for his dogs he gets lost in the woods, and is attacked by an unseen force. While this is a simple scene, it is also one of the most important in the entire film. This scene gives the proper context needed for the rest of the film, establishing Blair as possessed by Lord Dajti Karabash (Which at the time the entity he is possessed by is unknown, as this is simply an opening scene, and that will be explained further on in the bulk of the film.).   Here (above) is a shot of me directing the lighting of the scene, before playing Blair for the scene. I used the same shade of warm lighting from my patio for this scene, to make the light make sense, The light was extremely necessary for this shot as while Blair is walking through the dark forest as it was pitch black outside, the screen cant just be blank. To combat having the lighting look inorganic, I pointed the light to be ver...

 This is the third scene in the film where the group(Romen Basu, Cole Bryant, Matthew Stramiello, and Robert Sokoll) goes into the patio, to start playing football, and grilling. However, right as the guys start playing football, Blair's(Romen) dogs want to come outside, and when John(Cole) lets them out, they run out of the gate of Blair's house, so Blair leave to go find them.  This scene is where the friends find themselves most at comfort before the horror begins. The music blasting and them being together in a group, give them a false sense of security and safety to the dangers that lurk around them. I continued to use open framing for these scenes, leaving the audience to feel suspenseful during them. I also used the contrast from the well-lit patio and the dark backyard, to show the dangers the group should really be focused on.

This is the second scene in the film, and second scene we filmed, as it was set in the interior of the house the previous scene was set at, and the most accessible location at the time. In this scene the group(Matthew, Cole, Robert) walks into the house, and Sam(Matthew) starts to set up the poker game, the friends plan to play later. It is also mentioned that this party is in celebration of Bruce(Robert) getting accepted onto the USF Football team. In the background of the shot where Blair(Romen Basu) tells Bruce(Robert) that he has aux on the speaker(see the bottom/second photo), I put on Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead 2" in tribute of one of if not my favorite movie ever, and the biggest inspiration for my film; The Second Reign.  In these scenes I used unusual camera angles, in these seemingly harmless settings, to let the audience know that something here is off, before the cast of characters finds out the hard way. This creates an ongoing sense of suspense for the audience ...

This is the first scene in the film, where John(Cole), Bruce(Robert), and Sam(Matthew) arrive at Blair's house at night.  For this scene I held the camera behind a tree, to insinuate another force was present and watching them. The element of being held from an mysterious perspective adds to the horror of feeling unsafe, creating a tense audience reaction. We had to cut out Julian's character; James's lines as he was not able to attend filming. This was one of the first and easiest scenes we filmed for the movie.  The open framing and the single light, add to the uneasy feeling of the scene, as anything could jump out and attack at any time. We did 4 takes of this scene as it was relatively easy to get right.

 In my film Blair (myself) will be possessed, by Lord Dajti Karabash's spirit, and Blair's body will be Karabash's permanent vessel, with Blair's body/ appearance growing and changing to look like Karabash throughout the film as Karabash collects more souls; strengthening his spirit. I will be designing Karabash's first form, which has not transformed Blair's body yet, primarily covering Blair in blood and covering him in blood.  here is the design I came up with (above) This concept will be what I model the wardobe/ prostetics for Reborn Lord Dajti Karabash in the final cut. 

 Actor Matthew Stramiello did not have any old/worn out clothes, that could get the fake blood on them, so his death of being kicked in the face, and getting his face smashed by a weight plate, had to be cut from the story. As Matt is still going to be in the film, I reworked his scenes so that opposed to witnessing Cole's death and dying while trying to stop Blair, he gets an important call, and has to leave the party early, before any of the killings. While it may not be seen in the opening scene, this actually enhances the project, making it more personal, as now opposed to the main plot being a police sherif going after the undead Lord Dajti Karabash, Matt will pursue him after finding out what happened after he left the party. 

 Before filming I must create blood for prosthetics and practical effects. To create blood I have gotten corn syrup, and various food coloring packets (primarily red). I mixed red food coloring into a corn syrup base, and added green and yellow food coloring, and mixed it well. The resulting practical blood had a very realistic thick consistency, and very realistic color. I am extremely happy with how it has turned out, and it will be moving onto the final cut.  Here is a video of the practical blood . 

 Actor Julian Santos reported unable to attended filming saying "No" in response to "Can you come today".  This meant his character, James had to be cut from the script, eliminating the screwdriver kill from the film. This will not be too big of a deal, as Cole and Robert, the main kills in the film are still able to come to filming. Julian's scenes can be cut out fairly easily without damaging the story of the film.

 Although my last test was successful, I still had to try it with the fake body in position. I decided to use an old T shirt, and fill it with paper balls to fill out the shirt, and in the middle of the shirt, I placed the rig. here (above) is the paper balls Here (above) is the rig with the filled shirt. Here is the video of the test , as you can see it worked well, but the guts did not spill out as much as I would have hoped, so I decided to try it again. Here is the second attempt at the rig , as you can see the water(blood) spilt out very well, and the intestines also spilt out great. I am very happy with this rig, and it will now be moving onto the final cut of the film. 

Here is my second revitalized attempt at creating Rig 3. This time I dug a hole in the ground and put a bag filled with water(in place for blood), some string colored like intestines, and some chunks of foam.  Here (above) is the set up  Here is the video of the test , as you can see it was very successful. The water(blood) sprayed out perfectly, and the guts and gore spilled out accordingly. The aftermath of the slash left a great picture, with the guts spilt out all over the scene. I am very happy with how the test worked out, and I will move on with the rig.  Here (above) is the aftermath

For my first attempt at Rig 3, I used a foam board, a filled bag with water(in place for blood), and I used 2 10 pound bags to hold it down. Here(above) is the set up. Here is the video of the test , as you can see, it did not work at all. The water/blood did not spray at all. This test was a major disappointment, but it is one to learn from, next time I will learn from my mistakes and fix the rig. I believe one reason it did not work is because there was no tension with the water, therefore it had nowhere to spray out.