Drafting and planning: Looking at my location

INSERT PICTURES (SCREEN SHOTS) OF THE MIST IN THE FOOTAGE 

on the day of filming there was a very heavy fog which was perfect for my trailer as it adds to the mysterious ambiance of my story. the original plan was to turn down the brightness and contrast of my footage to create the illusion of it being dark but due to the fog changing the contrast might not be so easy as the color of the fog will change which wont look very good so i will have to play around with the graphical tools in MovieplusX6 to see weather lowering the brightness is a viable option anymore. even if i don't turn down the brightness the trailer will still look good it just wont look as good as if i shot it at night i am still confident that my trailer will be up to scratch as i am quite proud of the way i constructed my shots.

Drafting and planning: Raw footage (tracking)

INSERT TRACKING SHOT TO BLOG POST: 

The video above is the tracking shot for my trailer that i filmed before Christmas. the tracking shot came out better than i expected it too when i made the track to be able to film that exact shot. the movement of the track is really smooth and it showed as the camera isn't shaking at all and the speed the camera moves at isn't perfect but i can slow down the clip in editing so that isn't a problem. the one issue i have with the clip is that i forgot to center the axe so it was dead in the middle of the shot but i will have to get over that and see if there is anything i can do to fix the issue if i have the time to do so but there isn't any point going out of my way to fix something that looks fine as there is no issue with the shot as i can use it in my trailer i will just have to live with it being off center.

Organisation

:INSERT VIDEO: & :PICTURE OF TRACK: 

the video above is the my tracking scene that i filmed on Sunday. i filmed it by making a track using some wood and made for the size of my skate board so i could push my skate board off the track. the tracking shot didn't go as i thought it would as i planned to film the few end scenes in the dark and the tracking shot being one of them and i couldn't film at night on the day due to the fog and mist as when it was dark the fog and mist covered everything so the camera wasn't going to be able to pick up my characters so i will have to lower the contrast of the night scenes in editing so it makes it look like i filmed at night. Because we get marked on the way we structure our shot types i am quite certain that my tracking shot will be worth a few good marks due to it being a steady shot due to the track i made so i am confident that my track was worth the effort. my other shot types were quite generic but still good and they will be worth marks as they will look especially good when i put it all together with my transitions in editing.

Organisation

Now that all of my filming is complete i must now concentrate on the editing and with what comes with the editing is the addition of sound so i must now also go and look into music and if i need it voice overs. i might only need a voice over because the cameras we were given by school don't really pick up the dialog of people very well so i will need to make a judgment call once ive put all of my scenes together so i can see if the dialog is hard to hear with the background noise of the wind/ rain and if its hard to hear with music so if i cant hear the lines of my actors then i will need to get them to do the lines again into a microphone so i can place the audio files over everything else so i can hear the lines clear enough. But to forget that for now i need to look at music for my trailer but for my trailer it will be difficult because we are allowed 15 seconds of a copyrighted song but i dont think that using 15 seconds of a song will work for me as i think my trailer would go best with a background song all of the way through so i dont want any lyrics that will mask the sound of my dialog so my main interest is to look into instrumental songs that can just hide them self in the background of my trailer but will still have a good impact on my trailer.
the song below is the type of thing i am starting to look at, with the song below if i was to use it i would only use the first fifteenth seconds or so because the single piano notes if left on their own are really mysterious and if i was to use them that would be the only part of the song i would even think of using.

Organisation

Last Sunday i started and completed my filming for my A2 horror trailer. ive reviewed all of the footage and i don't see a reason why i would need to re shoot anything so all i need to do now is focus on the editing aspect of the project. Im setting myself a deadline which i will have all of my editing done by and i think that aiming at around the 5th of February will be plenty of time to complete it all. One

 one the left you can see a picture that i took on the day of filming and the weather conditions were perfect for my genre as it was very misty and foggy so to play of of the pathetic fallacy as the weather shows the mood of the characters as they are distraught from their missing friend so they cant think (see) straight. There was the concern that it could have gotten too foggy for the camera to be able to pick up the characters which was an issue since i was planning to film when it was getting dark so i made the decision to film the night shots in the day because i didn't want to risk a re shoot. so in editing i will need to lower the contrast of the scenes so it makes it creates the effect of the scene being at night where it has just been darkened.

Target Audience (Fonts on Twitter)

Earlier i used social media so i could communicate with my target audience. i did this by asking them a question about my project. i know that i would be addressing my audience as my followers on this form of social media consists of people aged 18+ so i can guarantee my responses will be from the correct audience. i provided my audience with five different fonts and asked them which of the five they think would go best with my film. i selected the five fonts after using over fifth teen different fonts on my title and selected the best five. i only gave my audience five to choose from as i thought giving them fifth teen would be too much for them to decide on. i was clear looking on the response that they preferred the third font out of them all. my thinking is that they liked it because of its shadiness as its not extremely bold but yet

it stands out the most of them all. in my opinion the third font is the best as it will fit my purpose     correctly. Once all of my filming is complete i will ask the same question to my audience but instead of the fonts being in a list they will all be displayed on the movie poster and trailer so they can decide what font should be on my final piece of work.

 

Organisation

This is my test footage of my fire close up scene. i was expecting the camera to not pick up the details of he flames very well but the camera captured the detail of the flames quite well. Using the camera at home is giving me some good and much needed practice with the camera. i also filmed the same shot in two different times of the day so i could counter compare what looked best. the shot that i filmed at night looks better because the fire creates a glow around the area which could connote that the area is a safe space due to its light illuminating what was once cold dark and dangerous. these are the types of hidden meanings i am trying to get across to my viewer as i want them to read into things so they can create a better story and experience for                                                                                               themself

Organisation (Props and Costume)

the images above are pictures of my props.
The protagonist's will wear normal cloths such as the ones above to show that they aren't anything special or dangerous so the viewer can get a grasp of what the group stand for. If im honest the costume of the protagonists isn't that important in this situation as they just need to look like normal average teens which is what im hoping to achieve with this choice of costume. The axe i purchased is a real axe so it will be used with ext-ream care and the blade protector will be on at all times so there isn't going to be a risk of anyone getting hurt. The antagonist is going to be played by me so i will be playing two separate roles so i will bring a change of cloths so i can play both easily. the antagonist is only going to be seen from the waist down so im going to to switch my tracksuit trousers to jeans so it will be obvious it isnt me playing both roles.

Organisation

I am still sticking to the plan to film on the 13th of December and film my entire trailer on the same day. i have ran into a problem that might not cause too much of a problem if everything goes to plan but i need to make sure im ready, because i need people to act in my trailer i have my cast ready but because im planning to film it all in one day i do not have the luxury of being able to re schedule if someone cancels on me at the last minuet so i am trying to get a minimum of 3 people to be my back up actors if people drop out as i need to film the entire trailer in one day so the lighting gets progressively darker as the shoot goes on and so my trailer looks and feels as if it takes place on the same day which is what im going for and will achieve easily enough. i will more than likely not have enough time to re-shoot scenes so i will need to do around 10-15 takes of each scene so i have backups if i need them which i will. i will also need to ask for a second camera battery because the camera will be on for a good three hours and im not confident in its battery life to risk having half a trailer. tomorrow i will try to get a camera from the school so i can test how the footage comes out in the type of lighting i will use and see how much lens flare i will get when i have to film the close up of the fire. im doing this early before shooting so if there is a problem i have time to fix it because i don't want all of this to be done at the last minute and have all of my footage being rushed and of poor quality.

Research into similar products & Organisation

in the small clip above you can see what tracking is, it is when the camera follows the characters movement instead of holding the shot still when the character is moving. if used correctly tracking can make the scene extremely dynamic and it can make it a fun experience for the audience as if you do it correctly it will make the audience feel like they are actually following the character instead of them just watching the character. in my trailer i plan to use one tracking shot for a scene that will last a maximum of four seconds. the tracking shot will be a low angle where camera is a few inches from the floor and the shot will be of an object being dragged along the floor. this is where the problem is as the school doesn't have the equipment to be able to shoot tracking smoothly and in the conventional way i will have to use my imagination to be able to move the camera forward without the shot becoming shaky and out of focus. my idea is to use a piece of wood and a skateboard to create a track that i will push the camera through. the idea is simple enough to create grooves in the wood so the board wont roll off and just place the wood on the floor making sure it is flat to the floor using a spirit level to make sure the elevation of the ground below is level so it will be suitable for filming purposes.

Research into similar products (Text in trailers)

The use of text in trailers is mainly used for the replacement of a Narrator/ Voice over. The text used in the trailers is usually to give the audience information on the film for example it will say something about the location where the film is set and it may even talk about the reputation of said location. Using text in the replacement of a voice over is cheaper and easier but non the less i think it it outdated and awful. i think that if you cant get your story across using acting or dialogue then your story isn't going to be a very good one. if anything the use of text in trailers is just to be used as a filler so they can make their trailer longer with no real help towards the story or the promotion of the film. in my trailer i wont be using text or a voice over as i feel that it will look awful so i don't want to risk losing marks over it. i will only use text in my trailer if my target audience strongly requests or recommends it as that will be the only way i would ever consider using text.

Drafting & Planning (Completed Storyboard)

this is the final storyboard for my trailer. after researching into multiple film trailers i am confident that my trailer contains enough content and detail to be believable and of a decent quality. in this storyboard i have described how i will transition from one scene to the next and the most recurring transition is cut to fade which i covered in a blog post a few weeks ago which is linked at the bottom of this post. this trailer will be of a decent length so it wont class as a teaser trailer. i mainly hope to achieve suspense in this trailer through editing as using fades and quick cuts will be most effective when building towards the end of my trailer which is where the trailer will be ended on a cliff hanger. i will later create a shot list so i will know how many long shots or close ups i will use as it is good to have a balance of shots as i don't want to film my entire trailer in a long shot as it wont look good and will be associated with trailers if such quality as fan trailers. each of the shots in my trailer will be played in chronological order as i don't want to go back on myself when playing the trailer as myself and the audience will just be confused. 

http://j4ka2media.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/research-into-similar-products-fades.html 

Organisation (Deadline and Conduction of filming)

With the Christmas deadline rapidly approaching it is time to start thinking about filming. With my storyboard extremely close to completion i am setting myself the deadline to have all of my filming done by at least the 15th of December. I should be ready to start filming by the 3rd of December which will give me just under two weeks to complete my filming. i am planning to film my entire trailer in one day preferably on a Saturday, this is to give my trailer the belief that these people have been looking for their friend all day as im going to film the trailer in the correct order from start to finish so i as the day progresses the it will get darker outside and as my trailer plays it will slowly get darker and darker. we are going to start editing our footage when we come back from the Christmas holiday but i am going to edit mine during the holiday so when i get back i can focus on my exam section of the course. by filming my trailer in one day it will give me more opportunity to re-shoot scenes i am not happy with as we will be filming al day so i can shoot the same scene 20 times and there wont be any continuity errors as the light will be near enough the exact same through every one re-shoot of the same scene. im going to film Amy's (The missing girl) scenes and the group's scenes on different days as Amy is never filmed in the same shot as the large group so it would be pointless having Amy come out to film three or four scenes and then wait around for the rest of use to film the groups 20-30 scenes for the rest of the day.

Organisation (Casting)

I have decided who will be in my horror trailer. My full cast consists of three girls and two boys. The person who will play the missing girl fits the role as she is 18 and around 5ft 3inc in height which fits the role as for the few shots the missing girl is seen in i need her too look quite vulnerable and my thought is that because of her height she will be seen as vulnerable, im not trying to be mean im only following the stereotype of women and modifying it for my use of vulnerability.
The two girls that will be in the group that is looking for Amy will be my two friends in my media class, Megan and Paige. i wanted to use megan and paige because they are two very close friends and their connection might show through the trailer which will make it alot more believable which benefits me and because they are both in my media class they both understand how important this project is as they are both in the same situation as i am so i know that they will take the filming seriously so i don't have to re-shoot every scene because people were messing around. Out of the two boys i will be playing one which is believable as im 18 which fits the age range im looking for and i wanted the character im playing to show as quite dominant around the group and because im 6ft 3inc it will be easy as i can show myself looking down using high angles which will more than likely be needed because i am alot taller than my co-stars. The second boy in my trailer has unfortunately had to drop out of filming so i will need to look for someone to replace him as the missing role is needed to make the group look more believable as they need to be shown being like a family which will e hard without the second boy in the group

Organisation

Although i have spoken about the start of my trailer quite alot and i have have touched on the film idents of trailers i have not yet looked into what production company i will use for my trailer. i will need to decide whether i will use a major or independent film company as this choice will determine the size of my target audience as with a major film company i will be able to attract a global audience compared to using an independent company which will attract a small audience as they don't have the funds for a large advertising campaign. i already know that i will use a major film company as i would like to think my film has the potential to attract a large audience instead of a small one so im going to make my choice out of major company's rather than independent ones. the two companies i am thinking of using are Dimension Films and New Line Cinema.
Dimension Films are a Mini Major film company that produces a wide range of films in many different genres. Dimension Films have produced plenty of famous films such as Scream, Halloween, Wolf Creek and Scary Movie which i analysed and researched as it is of the same genre as my my film http://j4ka2media.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/aaaa.html
Because Dimension Films have produced such classics like these if i decide to use this production company my audience will associate the films Dimension have produced with my film which could attract a larger audience which enjoyed the films Dimension have to their name.
New Line Cinema are the subsidiary to Warner Bros which are one of the most influential film company around and a high ranking member of the Big 6. New Line Cinema are a highly respected distribution company that has produced cult classics such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Evil Dead, A Nightmare On Elm Street and Lord Of The Rings. I needed to include New Line Cinema in my choices for a distribution company based on the fact that they distributed the best slasher film of all time A Nightmare On Elm Street. New Line would be a smart choice as they are the subsidiary of one of the biggest film company's in the world and have a reputation for producing incredibly popular films. Because New Line have the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Nightmare On Elm Street to there name by producing another slasher with this company would drag in a target audience twice the size of Dimension just because they produced the two best slashers ever made so by going with New Line i will have a major film company to back my film and a large pre set target audience waiting for the release of my film before it is even made.

Research into similar products (Fades)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDs_DYow7xA
The trailer for the forest uses cuts and fades to black to transition from near enough every scene in the trailer. in the trailer they don't fade out of scenes but they cut and then fade into the next shot, this is very useful when transitioning from small scenes to big ones as you have the added effect of spookiness an example of this is when they fade into the No Entry sign as it gives an added effect that it isn't just telling you to stay                                                                                         out because the land is private but its telling
                                                                                    you as a warning.

in my trailer my transitions are mainly going to consist of fades at the beginning of the trailer as the content at the start is going to be story building so it wont have alot of action to cut into so cuts to fades will work well with the beginning of the trailer but when i get near the end of my trailer i will use mainly straight cuts as towards the end of my trailer is when most of the action will happen so i will need to use fast paced cuts so i can keep the tension of the trailer flowing throughout the shots.

Target Audience

Recently i made a tweet asking my target audience (i went to twitter because all of my friends that would reply are 18+ which is my audience so i know that i can rely on their feedback) what i should call my trailer. i gave my audience three choices which were
The Path, Pista and Thanatos. the last two options are both Greek translations, my logic behind it was that if i called my film Death it sounds boring, plain and basic but by translating that to Thanatos which is the Greek God of death and the Greek translation to the word it gives my trailer a whole new meaning. i received feedback on all of the titles but i didn't include the feedback on Pista because they said it sounds like pasta so im choosing to not consider pista as people might think that is a film about pasta. From the feedback its easy to see that the majority prefer Thanatos to The Path. in my opinion i prefer The Path to Thanatos as the trailer revolves around the group straying from the path resulting in them being killed. but on the other hand i like Thanatos because of the link to the death but just from looking at the trailer it would make more sense to call it the path but i will do more questioning with my target audience to make sure im                                                                                                                not making a mistake.

Research into similar products (Film Titles)

Looking at horror movie titles it is easy to see that they don't complicated what they are getting across and they make the title itself quite simple yet they are very effective. the film title The Woman In Black in a sense summarizes the film with as it tells you the antagonist and by looking at the font and color they use on the picture you can see it is going to be a horror film which bases around ghosts (told by the ghostly font). Meanwhile the horror films sinister and insidious use very short yet very effective titles as even without the scary fonts we can see that the films are going to be horror movies as both of the titles use one word which both give off scary vibes as insidious means "proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, but with very harmful effects" and Sinister means "giving the impression that something harmful or evil is happening or will happen". this shows how even using a simple and basic film title it can have a huge effect on the audience.
Because my film centers around a group of friends who stray from the path and become lost i want to include a reference to path. My ideas for my film title are: The Path, Pista (which means track) and Thanato's Touch 

Drafting and planning (slight change in the plot)

when we presented our idea to the class it was pointed out to me that the idea of a group of friends going for a walk wasn't really a realistic idea as a few people said that nobody goes for walks for no reason. this means i had to think of a reason for my cast to go for a walk in the woods which was difficult as i had to make sure that it ended with the cast becoming lost and killed. My class kindly provided some ideas to why they went for the walk and they all involved the group going to explore something like a haunted section of the forest or an old murder scene from a few years ago but i really didn't like the concepts as too me it seemed very cliche and generic. it wasn't until my friend said maybe they are going to find something in the woods and then i thought it would be a good concept to have the group looking for their missing friend. the idea can easily be placed into my trailer and it is going to make my trailer have alot more depth and it will be reasonably longer because of it. i will need to think of a more suitable title for my trailer as i was thinking of calling it ManHunt as the group were hunted by a mad man but i don't think that this title will go with my idea as well as it would have before the introduction of the new plot line.
i will need to have one more cast member to play the missing person but i think i will only show the missing person walk through the tree line in the distance drawing the group off the path to find that the missing person wasn't really there. im going to cast a female at the role of the missing person as im going to play on the stereotype that women are in need of help and assistance as they arnt able to do it for them self.

Drafting and planning

this is the first part of my storyboard for my project. after researching a number of trailers i am confident that my shot types and transitions will make my trailer look realistic and not like a fan trailer. i know what i am going to do for the rest of my trailer but i am yet to draw the next section of the storyboard. in past  blog posts i have said that i dont want to use alot of dialog in my trailer but i have been forced to change my mind as i have changed my plot and to get the story across to the audience i will need to use a fair amount of dialog. my one worry is that the cameras wont be able to pick up the voices of my cast but if that is a real problem i will have to attempt to do voice overs so i will record the                                                                                           dialog separately to the filming which will be a                                                                                       hassle but if it makes the trailer look better it will                                                                                     have to be done. the eighth shot of my                                                                                                       storyboard is a point of view show which will                                                                                         have to be filmed with a tripod as i don't have the                                                                                     equipment to film a point of view the                                                                                                       conventional way but my idea is to extend the                                                                                         tripod legs so it is taller than my cast and angle                                                                                       the camera just over the shoulder of one of my                                                                                         cast members so i can get their point of view of                                                                                       them trying to comfort another person.

Research into similar products

this is the trailer for the upcoming film the forest staring Natalie Dormer. this film is quite similar to mine as they are both set in the woods where if you stray from the path bad things will happen. the difference between my film and this one is that the forest deals with the supernatural as ghosts and spirits haunt and kill the people who leave the path where as in my film when you become lost you are brutally killed by a unseen pysco. because my film closely relates to the forest i can get some ideas from the trailer.

to start with the costume of the protagonists. this is how i would like my protagonists as it is casual and i cant have my cast wearing shorts when filming as we will be filming in the winter months so they will freeze.
Another thing i can use in my trailer is the transitions from day to night used in the trailer at 1:15 - 1:17. i like this transition because it creates the illusion that the characters have been walking for a long time as they don't stop walking but the light level lowers dramatically                                                                                         which shows that they have been walking for a                                                                                         long enough time for it to go dark.

Research into similar products

this is the poster for Eden lake, a film that closely relates for my film idea. i really like this poster as it is quite dark and frames multiple people yet our focus is drawn mainly to only one person. this is done to add mystery and fear as we can quite clearly see the female on the left yet all of the other people in the shot have been darkened out so we cant see their faces or intentions this adds to the mystery and intimidation shown by the characters as their body language isn't representing them as friendly or cheerful. however what i like about this poster is how simple and effective it is as the poster doesn't give much away yet we can make a whole story by just looking at it, as we can see                                                                                         that she isn't wanting to be seen by the people in                                                                                     the background and because we cant see the                                                                                             faces of the people we know that they are going                                                                                       to do something bad if they find her

This is the poster for Alone in the dark and this is the poster that inspired my poster idea. although this poster doesn't use photography and is drawn i still think it should be studied. the thing i like about this poster is the way the villain on the left has been framed as you cant see him/her which adds to the mystery that it could be anyone and mix that with the low angle which shows the mystery, intimidation and fear.
another thing i like is the way the axe is shown in his hand as its covered in blood which shows that it hasn't been chopping wood and the way its being held as the villain looks to have a tight grip on the blood soaked weapon which gives us an indication of his future intentions.

Organisation (sound in the trailer)

in our film trailers we are given a limit of 15 seconds for copyrighted music so it is important that i use the right music for the 15 seconds. i currently have no plans of using any mainstream music that includes lyrics so i am looking into using instrumental versions of songs.

i want to use instrumental music because it gives the song and story a whole new meaning when you don't have someone talking over the music, as the song is about not giving up on someone you love but by taking the lyrics away it makes the audience give the song a new meaning and with the right shots behind it they will be able to make the connection. one of the instrumental songs ive looked at is the opening to the instrumental version of say something. if i was going to use this i would probably use it for the whole 15 seconds but i will need to check if i can use the song for longer than 15 seconds because the creator of the video has given permission for people to download the instrumental from his sound cloud account.
as i said in a previous blog post i plan to have a short phone call at the start of my trailer whilst the film indents and certification screen are being displayed. my plan is to play this song at the start of the trailer after the film indents and certification when the opening shot of the friends walking along the path. in my last blog post i talked about the idea of creating a reason why the group go for a walk and i think that if i use the idea that they are going to investigate if the woods are haunted then the music will go extremely well with the plot. my reasons behind this is because the song itself is already quite sad and having the repeated piano key gives it a creepy feel.

Organisation (response to presentation)

this is my film presentation that i presented to the class before half term. we all did a presentation each and gave feedback on each others ideas and work. on the whole the class was positive and tried to give me as much help as they could. one criticism i received was about my shot list, as they thought that a storyboard would have served a better purpose than a list of my shots and transitions. i believe that the storyboard would help me to get my film idea across to others alot better than a shot list as i understand what i intend to do its the struggle to get the idea across to my peers and teacher through a shot list. i did receive a mixture of positive and negative feedback on my plot from the class as they all appeared to dislike the idea of a group of friends going for a walk in the woods for no reason, i was quite confused to here this as i tend to go for a walk around the country park for no reason. it wasn't until i read the feedback that i agreed with them as they pointed out that in no horror movie the protagonists go out with no reason, some of my peers also gave me ideas of why the friends go for the walk, two of the ideas stood out the most to me. the first idea was that the group went for the walk to investigate a murder and the other idea was that the group went to the superposed "haunted woods" to see if it was really haunted. i like both of the ideas and i will have to decide which idea will go best with my trailer. i also received feedback on my poster idea which will also be the last scene of my trailer. the feedback towards the poster was positive as they thought it would look good but they didn't like the idea of it being the last scene of my trailer. i pointed out that there would be differences between the two but it was pointed out that with most horror movie posters the image is something that isn't shown in the film.

Drafting and Planning (Starting The Trailer)

at the beginning of horror trailers a green screen will be presented and will give the classification of the film, the example on the left is for a 18 rated film and has been labeled with restricted. in trailers this image will be displayed for a minimum of five seconds and following this they will either start the trailer and show the production company logo around 20 seconds into the trailer or they will show the certification                                                                                             screen for five seconds and then show the                                                                                                 production company logo for around two                                                                                                 seconds directly after.

at the start of my trailer i am going to use both certification screen and production company logo within the first 10 seconds of my trailer. looking at other trailers it can take up to eight seconds to show both logos and during this time i have noticed that there will be some small use of sound/music so the audience doesn't get bored or it will be silent for the eight seconds. i have now come to realization that i have a eight second window at the start of my trailer that i can use to expand on my story.
Because my trailer is about a group of friends who get lost i wanted to expand on the social aspect of the group by possibly using a phone conversation between two of the friends. This phone conversation will consist of a mobile phone ringing for around three seconds and then one sentence. the sentence will be "are you coming on this walk then" (the person who says this will be the one who phoned and the person who answered the phone wont say anything). all of this will be happening as the certification and the production company signs are being shown. i believe that this is a efficient way of using the eight second time gap i have at the start of the trailer as i would rather have something small that expands a tiny bit of the plot than using music to fill the eight seconds so the audience doesn't get bored.

Research into similar products

i have recently started to look at other slasher films of my genre such as films by the late Wes Craven. i looked at the Scream 4 trailer and it has shown me alot about making Slasher trailers. for starters the way they structure the dialog. what i mean by this is how they talk about the killer 30 seconds into the trailer as if he is just a game as the male is talking about how there are rules but the kills have to be much more extreme which is suggesting that the killer needs rules on how he can kill. looking at the trailer it is also easy to see that it is a dialog driven trailer which in my opinion is just lazy film making and not my ideal trailer as in trailers i prefer to make the audience put the plot together in their head instead of having one of my characters describe it to them which will just make the audience bored and not interested in the film. so i would rather prefer to make my trailer pop out with dynamic shots and fast/exciting editing.

another thing i picked out from the trailer was the way they show the movement of the killer. what i mean by this is when he goes to strike his victim with the blade they cut when the blade is around a foot away from the victim. and that the 3 seconds we see the killer it is 4 different shots fastly edited together. i like this as it adds suspense to the scene and by not showing the blade hitting the victim it doesn't spoil the story as we still don't know weather she is alive or dead.

Organisation

as half term is approaching it will be the perfect time to go out to my chosen location and map out exactly where i will shoot each scene of my trailer.
i already have the location of my opening shot where my characters will walk over a small bridge whilst chatting (This dialog between characters will have no defined plot purpose but to be used to make the scene look busier). due to my location being in an awkward place i might have to film other parts of the trailer in a different location such as Lickey Hills park or the Waseley hills in rubery the only problem with filming in two different locations is that it might create continuity errors because the weather may be different.
the week off for half term will also be perfect time to gather my props which shouldn't be hard as i only really need the axe as it is the defining prop of my trailer as all horror villain have their tools as Jason had his Machete, Freddy had his glove, Leather face has his chainsaw and my villain has his axe.
 i will also be testing how fake blood looks through cameras as i don't want to get reflections showing up in shots as it will make my scenes look amateurish especially for my films poster as i need to capture blood dripping from the blade of the axe and if the fake blood doesn't have the perfect consistency it wont drip from the blade it will just pour off it.

Similar Products (ancillary products: Posters)

from what i can see most movie posters center around one thing this will usually be a character or a murder weapon of some sort. usually with horror movies the poster will center around the murder weapon. i intend to do the same thing with my ancillary product as i want to center my poster around the image of the axe that will be carried by my movies antagonist. because an axe on its own will look boring im going to have the background of my poster be one of my protagonists sitting with there back towards a tree. to make my poster look dynamic im going to blur everything in the shot other than the low angle of the axe, this will ensure that my poster will be centered around the axe itself. the text on the poster is a huge part of the poster itself as without the text you wouldn't know what it would be advertising. looking at other slasher posters it is clear that most of them title the film in a big red font. im going to follow the red font convention as it will go well with the dark blurred background.

Similar Products: I Spit On Your Grave

this is the trailer for the 2010 remake of the classic horror film I Spit On Your Grave. this film is of the same genre as my trailer as it too is a slasher horror movie. however this trailer/movie takes a very different approach to the slasher genre and how it portrays the Protagonists. An example of this is the way they first portray the protagonist (The Female) as they portray her as a week young girl who is the victim of a horrible experience which is the normal way to portray the protagonists in a slasher but they turn the representation of the girl around as she then becomes more of an Antagonist than a Protagonist as she goes out of her way to kill the people who hurt her.
This is an interesting trailer to study as it is closely similar to my trailer but takes a alternative route to the way the protagonist acts.

if we compare the two images on the left we see the transition how the character develops through the trailer as with the first image she is seen as small, insignificant and scared because someone has broken into her house and then the second image which is how she is shown to be after the experience and she is a completely different person as she is shown to be near monstrous which shows how she developed from the scared protagonist to the angry antagonist  

Organisation (Casting)

I have a solid idea of the way my characters will look in my trailer. As my film is a horror im not really having to rely on the character development as they will more than likely be killed by the antagonist. For my trailer i will need to have at least 6 people to be in my trailer. 5 of these people will be acting as the lost walkers in the forest and the sixth person will be playing the antagonist.
Antagonist: the antagonist in my trailer will be unseen but i still need a tall male to play the role. i have decided to play the antagonist myself as my face wont be seen by the camera and i am the right height for the role (6ft 2)
Protagonists: the protagonists can be played by anyone really as all i need is two girls and three boys for the walkers that are going to be playing people in their late teens which all of my friends are so i shouldn't struggle to find people to be in my trailer. i want to use people in their late teens because my trailer is a slasher which usually in-tales teens being brutally murdered (examples: Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Friday The 13th etc.)

Reaserch into similar products (Dialog in trailers)

in trailers one of the ways you attract the audience is the dialog. alot of trailers in horror contain quite alot of dialog such as the trailers at the bottom of the post. because i am not very confident in the quality of the micraphones in the video cameras we will be using i have decided that my trailer wont be dialog driven. becasue i wont be using dialog to explain the plot i will have to use visual storytelling to make the viewer put the plot together in their head. luckily i have chosen to make a slasher trailer so the plot isnt too complicated as a group of friends get lost on a walk and are hunted by a axe weilding maniac. because my plot is quite simple it will be easy to show the plot through the small pecies of dialog that i will use and the fact that there will be afew hints to what is happening by the close ups of the axe.
the trailer below is for the 2012 horror movie Sinister. throughout the trailer they use dialog to tell the audience the plot such as the voice saying that there was a killing in the house and then the voice of the little girl complaining about that she had to move house. this dialog is used so the audience can get the grasp of what the film is going to be about. the trailer uses an equal amount of visual storytelling as it does dialog storytelling as the dialog explains the start of the story and then the visual comes into play when the farther starts to watch the videos which expands on the plot as it shows that the demon has been killing through the images.

Target Audience

for my trailer i will need to set a target audience so i know what i need to include in the trailer to get the attention of my selected audience. looking into the horror genre it is easily seen that the age certificate for near to all horror movies is 18 examples of this is A Nightmare On Elm Street 18, Friday The 13th 18, Scream 18, Disturbia 18 and i could go on. this is a clear indication that my audience is going to be people aged over the age of 18. according to the BBFC to make a film the 18 certificate it must have a variety of things included in the film such as very strong violence, frequent strong language (e.g Fu*k), strong portrayals of sexual activity, scenes of sexual violence, strong horror, strong blood and gore and discriminatory language and behavior. for obvious reasons i wont include all of these things in my trailer but i will have to make sure my trailer looks horrific enough to make it look like an 18 certificate to get the attention of my audience.

to the left there is the banner that is included in trailers to indicate that the film has been approved by the company that made it to be viewed by their audience and in this situation there audience is referred to as R which means restricted. this is the age rating that has been given to the film and it means that it isn't suitable for anyone under the age of 18. this is a good place to start my trailer as it will indicate the
                                                                                    nature of the trailer.

The trailer below is of a film that is rated 18. looking at the trailer it is easy to see why the film is rated an 18 as it shows torture, death of both adults and children and alot of gore. i will have to take a similar approach when i make my trailer as i want to make it easy for my audience to see that my film is a 18. because my film is going to be a slasher film i will have to show the rating by using alot of fake blood to show that there is strong violence.

Organisation (location of my trailer)

for the location of my horror trailer i have decided to film in a wood/forest. i have chosen a forest as it already holds a sense of fear as no one wants to be lost in the woods at night. there are plenty of woods/forests in Birmingham that i could choose from but i have chosen to film in Uffmoor woods in halseowen. Uffmoor is 209 acres of walking paths and dense trees. this is going to be the perfect location for my trailer as there are plenty of open areas to film in.

the picture on the left is about a six minuet walk into the woods and the perfect place for my opening shot. it is the ideal shot as there is a rise in the ground to give me the perfect spot to film from a high angle and the tree line above the bridge isnt too thick to block the light which means the shot wont be too dark.
because the woods is mainly paths to film the scenes where the group gets lost and took off the path i will have to leave the path and go into the thickness of the trees. filming in the tree line might be abit difficult for lighting reasons but there wont be any people walking off the paths so i wont be distrubed or have people                                                                                  walking there dogs caught in the background of my                                                                                shots.

Organisation

having researched a number of horror movies and started my storyboard/shot list for my trailer i now know what i will need for my trailer. in this post i am going to make a small list of the items i will need for the filming of my trailer.

Costume:
in horror films the costume will define the character as it will show the audience from the start whether this is a character which will be feared of liked. an example could be Jason's costume from Friday the 13th as his costume is ripped and groggy looking which even without the mask makes him look scary. the villain in my trailer is an axe wielding psychopath so i have want his costume to consist of CAT boots, muddy and worn out jeans with a large muddy and torn coat or hoodie. in my trailer im not going to show the face of the villain as i believe that its what we don't see that is truly terrifying. i think that this costume choice for my villain is a smart  v                                                                                         one as when put together the messy and dark                                                                                           clothing will make him look menacing.

Another prop i will need is an axe. i don't think that a toy axe will look realistic or help in the making of my trailer so i have decided to purchase a real axe but never film fast movement of the axe as it will be a health hazard. this prop will not be used as a toy as it is anything but so the usage of this prop will be handled with the most care. because harsh and fast movements will be dangerous im only going to use the prop for still and slow moving shots to avoid hurting anyone.
the rest the characters in the trailer are hikers/walkers so their costume will be very easy to obtain as it will be walking shoes a shirt and the choice of joggers or shorts.

Drafting and Planning (My Horror Trailer So Far)

For my A2 media project i am going to make a film trailer. I have chosen to make a horror trailer as i believe that it is one of the best genres for trailers as the fast paced editing and sound that can be used in the trailer.
Below is my shot for shot plan of my trailer so far  i think that my plot is big enough for me to be able to make a trailer of at least 2 minuets
Plot summary: Group of walkers get lost whilst walking in the woods and are cut down one by one by an unseen axe wielding man.
Shot Plan:
Establishing shot: The group walking along the path in the woods talking.
From the establishing shot fade into a medium close up of the group and a female member of the group realizing they have strayed from the path and are now lost.
Fade into a close up of a male member of the group saying that its getting too dark let’s stop for the night and look for the path when we have the light.
Quick fade to a long shot of the group around a small fire, cut to a medium shot of a member of the group looking into the flame :shot holds for around 5 seconds: (no sound other than the fire flickering for 5 seconds and then branches are heard breaking)
Quick cut to one of the male members walking towards the noise to investigate whilst yelling "everyone stay by the fire.

Research into Similar products (Genre Crossovers)

 

After looking at my chosen genre for my trailer i am looking into other genres that have crossed over with the horror genre.
alot of films have been released under the genre of horror comedy but none of them have done it better than  Ruben Fleischer 2009 hit Zombie Land. Zombie Land mixed the perfect amount of fear with the perfect amount of comedy by using characters such as Woody Harrelson to be a man that enjoyed killing zombies whilst being with Jesse Eisenberg who is scared of everything that makes a noise. The horror aspect of the film is seen in the trailer at 0:31 to 0:47 where it shows the fear of everyday people as they are chased by bloody and horrific zombies and the comedy shown at 1:40 by Woody Harrelson. the two genre mixed together so well mainly because of the attitude of the characters as most of them make a game out of it and the horror that comes with the hordes of zombies chasing people throughout the film.

Research into similar products (mise-en-scene of the horror genre)

Mise-en-scene:

Setting:
the setting in horror films will typically be a haunted, abandoned or isolated area. these types of locations are used because just by looking at them they will create a large sense of tension or eeriness. typically if the setting is a normal modern day house the majority of the film will be shot at night as that is the best way to make a harmless location seem scary.


Lighting:
the lighting in horror films will mainly be low key. low key lighting will make it easier to make the scene look scary. using low key lighting will make it easier to scare the audience as you can have anything pop out from the shadows which is the case in most slasher films such as Friday the 13th and Scream.

Costume:
the costume in horror films will be something that will hide the villains face. this is because like Steven Spielberg said when making Jaws "its what we don't see that is truly terrifying".

Body Language:
the body language in horror films needs to portray
the villain as power full by having the character
standing up straight shown by a low angle and the
other characters need to be shown as small and
insignificant. this is because the villain will be the
one with the power to kill so he needs to be shown
with the power.