Music

http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html/index.html?genre=Horror

Ancillary Tasks

Ancillary Tasks

This is without my actual photo but a substitute.

Progression Aims

By the end of this lesson I hope to have both ancillary tasks finished without the photos which will be added next lesson.

Time Management

Time Management

During this lesson i have created the classification card that will go at the beginning of my trailer. This is the final product of it including the age rating which i had previously created.

Time Management

I have been working more on my magazine and so far this is the product. I still need to add the picture in and include cover lines on it.

Time Management

As no images are allowed to be downloaded from the internet, today i have been working on creating the bbfc age rating sign to be placed on the certification card at the beginning of the trailer.
The second image is the final product of this.

Time Managment

During this past week i have been working on my Magazine front cover. I still need to add cover lines, the photo and maybe change the Text.

Time Managment

I have been working on my poster for the past week and this is the finished product so far. I still have to add the image which i need to take.

My Antagonist/Protagonist

I have decided to do something a bit different to normal horror films where there are two main people, the antagonist and the protagonist. I will have both of them in my trailer however, due to the storyline, they are the same person. My plot is similar to a possession as the antagonist is part of the protagonist. The whole thing is sort of a split personality disorder type thing which is the results of experiments done to the protagonist as a child.

Voice Over

This is just a rough copy and may be changed when creating the actual product.

"I dont know why it happened. I was just a normal person. I was just a normal kid... I went to school, got okay grades and had friends. Its strange how everything can change in the blink of an eye, isnt it? One day your life can get turned upside down and theres nothing you can do about it. I could blame other people of course. My parents for making me this way. My friends for leaving me at the first sign of trouble. And then theres Jessica. She is the one who would be most to blame. If it werent for her then things wouldnt have gone wrong. She pushed me too far with the constant bullying and one day I just let go. The walls I built within myself cracked and then 'she' escaped. Her name is Claire. And she...

(The voice over cuts off here and there are some quick shots of fighting and running. Then the camera stops on a scene of Faith standing in the middle of a room. She turns around to face the camera as it zooms in to a mid shot. She smirks and says 'This is my life now' before the screen goes black.)

Location Images

These are the images of my locations that I used

Small Film Institutions

Bray Studios - The model and miniature filming for the film Alien was shot there, as well as the Rocky Horror Picture Show. It is best known for its association with Hammer Film Productions.

Hammer Film Productions - a film production company based in the UK. Its most well known films are The Curse Of Frankenstein, Dracula, The Woman In Black, Let Me In, The Resident and The Mummy.

Ealing Studios - Its most well known films include the St Trinians franchise, The Importance Of Being Earnest and Shaun Of The Dead. It is the oldest continuously working studio facility for film production in the world.

Longcross Studios - Main films include Skyfall, Clash of the Titans, War Horse and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Pinewood Studios - Most well known as the home of Carry On, Superman, Alien, Lara Croft, Nanny McPhee, Kick Ass, Les Miserables and the James Bond film series. It also had the set for Godrics Hollow from the Harry Potter series.

Logos

I created two logos and will choose between the two later.
I got my inspiration from two of my favorite creatures, the phoenix and Ouroboros. Both are symbols of infinity, the concept of eternity and the eternal return and immortality. The name is a mix of both the two names.

Pitch

Film Trailer Name Ideas

Underneath

Black lies within
Death lies within
Split
Remember
Secrets (got a secret, can you keep it?)

Plot

The girl, Faith, 16, is getting bullied at school. The bully, Jessica, corners her in a park on the way home from school and Faith can't escape. Faith gets hit once in the face and stumbles backwards. The screen goes black and then cuts to a shot of Faith waking up in bed the next morning as per usual. She can't remember anything after she got hit. She goes about her day as normal and walks to school. She doesn't see Jessica anywhere but all of Jessica's friends whisper to each other when she passes. During the day this continues until lunch when one of the friends grab her and says "Its all your fault". They converse and Faith finds out that Jessica is in hospital. She had been beat up really bad and had got amnesia from a knock to the head. During English a student comes into Faiths class and explains to the teacher that Faith is wanted in the Head teachers office. When Faith gets there she finds two police officers waiting. They question her saying she was the last to see Jessica before the incident happened however she cant remember anything. Camera cuts to black and goes back to the same clip. Its not Faith sat there anymore, even though it looks like her. The person sat in the chair is Claire, the antagonist. She is part of Faith and the rest of the film is Faith trying to stop Claire from killing people without harming herself in the process. Faith cant control Claire who goes on a killing spree killing many people, including Faiths father. Towards the end Faith decides to stop it all together and attempts to kill herself, killing Claire in the process.

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Costume and Makeup planning 2

My main model will likely use normal light make up at the beginning like this image underneath.


                                       

However once the antagonist is introduced the make up will get darker- mainly due to the fact the antagonist is part of the protagonist.

Costume and Makeup planning

My film trailer is based mostly around normal people therefore the makeup and costumes will just be normal and casual for whichever age the people are. For instance the teenage/young girl will wear normal clothes such as jeans/skirt and a shirt with likely a leather jacket.

Eg.

Whereas the adults would likely wear more sophisticated clothes than the teenager albiet still casual.

 

 

I will make sure my models wear clothes like these in order to stick to the normal conventions of a horror.

Characterisation and character motivation and history

Girl – Parents experimented on her when she was a child.

2 sets of memories- One her parents installed in her and the real ones. (Real ones just beginning to remember).

Something inside of her. Blackouts.

Based on the Niki/Jessica storyline from Heroes- Split personality- super strength.

Tries to figure out what is happening.

Focus/facebook groups/Questionaire/Target audience

TARGET AUDIENCE -

My target audience is aimed to be around the age of 15-25 as my chosen genre is horror and more young people prefer to watch horror films than older people. Young people generally try to live their life the best they can at that age and attempt to do that by seeking a thrill. Horror movies are one of the best ways for them to receive that thrill which allows it to excite the younger audience easier than the older ones. The younger audience are not bothered about the blood and gore scenes which will often put the older audience members off from wanting to watch it.

On a female to male ratio it will lean more towards the males in the way that they are more likely to want to watch a horror than females. This is due to the stereotypical thoughts that males are more likely to be thrill seekers than females and can relate more to characters on the screen. Also stereotypically males enjoy watching violence more than females which horror films tend to contain a lot of.

Horror films tend to be aimed more towards the working class people. This is normally because of the thrill they can receive off the film for a low price. Middle class audiences tend to seek a high level of satisfaction from watching films which is why most of them prefer to watch romance or action which may sometimes have a sub genre of horror.

Quite often one of the categories of people who watch horror films are couples on the first date. This is because it can not only be a good start to a conversation but also because the comfort needed after watching a horror is at a level comfortable enough to make the date successful.

Moodboards for Protagonists (Research+Planning)

This is a moodboard of some protagonists in horror films. I will base my protagonist in my trailer around these ones to help make it better.

Moodboard for Antagonists (Research+Planning)

This is a moodboard of the antagonists of many different horror films. From films like Scream down to films like Sinister. This will help my research as i know what many antagonists tend to look like in a good horror film. This means i can base my antagonist on factors I like about these ones.

Lighting and Sound

Lighting - My film will mostly consist of dark shots with a few natural light shots in the beginning to give a feeling of calm before the storm. The darkness in the film will relate to the isolation the character will be feeling. It will also affect the audience as they will have to watch intently at the screen to see what is happening which will emphasise the shock that will happen.

Sound - Part of my trailer will consist of a voice over which will explain to the audience the story without giving everything away. There will also likely be many sound effects such as the sound of a swing creaking, the wind howling and/or people screaming.

Editing

CUTS - this is probably the simplest editing technique and also the most effective. Cuts are used to keep the audiences attention by moving from one viewpoint to another. This is because if the film//trailer constantly stayed in one viewpoint then the audience would get bored. There are a few different cuts that can be very effective in a horror film. The first one is a jump cut where the camera quickly cuts from one thing quickly to create a dramatic point.

Jump Cut Examples

The cutting rhythm indicates the speed in which the scenes are cut and can be quite a main factor in making a film a horror. If the cutting rhythm is quick and frequent then this helps install fear and suspense into the audience.

Quick Cutting Rhythm Example

Then there are things such as cross cutting, parallel editing and a cutaway shot.

Cross Cutting Example
Parallel Editing Examples
Cutaway Shot Example

CAMERA MOVEMENT - Sometimes in a horror film you will find that the camera movement seem to be very still during the calm parts and suddenly much more energetic around the scary parts. This causes the audience to react as they get used to the normal camera movements so the more energetic movements around the horror parts unsettle the audience causing them to feel fear along with the film.

Camera Movement Example

Soundtrack Organisation

I may use one or more of these in my trailer.

Nox Arcana - Lullaby

Nox Arcana - Night of the wolf

Wiccan Chant

However I may use one of the songs out of this link too.

Random songs

http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/

http://www.audionautix.com/index.html

Poster Flat Plan

Magazine Flat Plan

OR

Photoshoot Planning NEW

Are there any potential hazards that could pose a health and safety risk where your filming will take place? (Trailing cables/traffic/other objects)?

Some of my filming may take place in just a normal building. This may have a few hazards such as tripping over things however its a very low risk. Some of my filming may take place outside in the college however if it gets dark then there is a risk of something bad happening. This is due to the fact I will be out at night with equipment such as a camera. Also if I do the shoot at night then the area will be very dark so I will have to make sure that, when not doing to actual filming, the area is well lit (probably by using a flashlight). 

Will the time of day/weather affect the outcome of the videos? Have you allowed for this?

I believe that I would be able to do the filming in any type of weather however, as my film trailer is a horror, it would likely be best if it was not too sunny and maybe raining to suit the theme. My trailer will have to be set at different times of day and weather so I will just film whichever part suits the weather.

Have you considered the background to your videos, particularly if taken outside? How will you ensure you will get the background you want?

I have a few ideas on backgrounds to my videos. I want most of the trailer to be set around a normal building which wouldn't be too hard to get. If anyone is in the way during the filming then I would just ask them to leave the room for a little bit.

Do you need permission to take videos in the place/venue you have in mind?

As both places im thinking about filming are available to the public, i will not need permission to take the videos there. I will most likely use the college as the main place of filming so i will also not need permission to take the videos.

Are other people/crowds likely to be an issue for you? What have you done to ensure that it will not spoil the effect?

I will go to the place to take the filming at a time when there wont be many people around so it will not be an issue to me. However I may use the people in the background in my video if i get their permissions.

Are you reliant on lifts/props/friends' equipment/models? How have you planned that these things will come together at the appointed time? Plan B?

I should be able to get to any of the locations at any time i need to so that shouldnt be an issue. The props, if i will be using any, should be easy to get. As I have already told the people in question that they may be needed to act in my film trailer I should be able to make a time that suits everyone.

Institutions

Most of the time if a company creates a film then they will also make the trailer to go with the film. There are generally 6 main companies in the film business as shown in the picture below. These are all conglonerates meaning they own smaller companies so almost every film in Hollywood will have something to do with one of these companies.

However it costs just as much money to make a trailer so only companies with lots of money can create a trailer too. Smaller companies are less likely to make a trailer because of the money issues and if they did it would likely be not as good.

I have created another post detailing smaller film institutions and which one i would more likely use. See link below.

Small Film Institutions

Last year students work

Last Years Students Work

This link shows a youtube playlist of previous students work.

These trailers use many of the chosen conventions which i wish to incorperate into my own work, such as in the Ominous trailer where the writing comes up on the screen and explans the story, in Possessed it has a dark scary atmosphere throughout most the film and in Supernatural Encounters it has reviews placed on the screen part way through the trailer. The other trailers are msotly good however i dont wish to do what trailers such as Paranoia do where it seems too similar to other trailers, as in this case of Paranormal Activity.

Film Poster Deconstructions

This poster has a large image on the whole page which is one thing i will use in my own poster. Also it has writing on it which is shown on the first part of the trailer which i am hoping to do with my own poster to intrigue the audience more.

The main image is shown on the whole page and there is barely any writing on this poster relying on the image itself to appeal to the audience. I dont want to put too much on my poster as it would distract the audiences attention however the name of the film will be placed at the bottom as in this poster.

I am going to swap some of what this poster does in that the slogan will be placed under the name of the film and the other information will be found at the top.

Film magazine deconstructions

This magazine inspires me as there is many different things on the front cover which is a common conventions in magazines. The name of the film is placed across the middle of the magazine on a slant which intrigues and grabs the audiences attention. The main image covers the magazines name which is one of the most common conventions used on magazines. The slogan is placed in the top third of the magazine which is often one of the first places people read and will therefore attract the audiences attention.

                                                                                           This magazine inspires me because the main image is directly in the centre and attracts the audiences attention. Also the magazine name is changed to fit in with the image as it is red and has flames on it. This is different to normal mastheads which would persuade people to read it.  

      On this front cover there isnt a lot on it however it still attracts the audiences attention as the image is directly in the centre and the name of the film is quite large meaning its one of the first things that the reader will see. Also the main image covers the masthead which is a convention i would like to incorperate into my own magazine.

Film Trailer Deconstruction - Blair Witch

The Blair Witch Project - Trailer from SamW1

I will use words in my trailer as it has done in this one including non diabetic sound to make the audience more curious. I will hopefully have a dark atmosphere throughout my trailer too to give a feeling of fear.

Oculus Trailer

This trailer has given me an insight on what works well in a horror trailer. I will use a few of the techniques used in this trailer. For example there will likely be many quick cuts in my trailer to create suspense. I will also add many close ups of the main character to add sympathy. I will also add a small sting at the end to give a huge shock to the audience.

Alien Trailer deconstruction

Alien trailer from SamW1

From this deconstruction i have found out that even the simplest trailers are quite good which will be good for me as i will not have good enough resources to construct a long, complicated trailer. I will use the slowness of the beginning of this trailer in my own and add many quick clips towards the end. Hopefully this will shock the audience as my trailer is a horror.

Reconstruction

Media Preliminary Task - Reconstruction

This is my preliminary task reconstruction. This is the first 30 seconds of the twilight trailer which is shown below.

Twilight Trailer

As you can see there are a lot of faults with out reconstruction however we were under a lot of pressure after out first reconstruction disappeared to create another and this is the end result. Hopefully i will be able to learn from the mistakes in this trailer and make something that looks more professional.

Editing -

We used premiere pro to edit the video and this is what i will use for my final product. Its simple and easy to upload the videos and I found out many things about the software such as how to speed it up/slow it down and how to add and mute audio.

Common Things in a Horror Trailer

Question

Generally, most of the best horror movies ask a question. A situation will be created in the trailer which leaves the viewer wanting to know more. A great example of this is the 1979 "Alien" trailer. The camera shows shots from the film after pulling back slowly with the camera ending on a large, alien egg. The egg then cracks emitting an eerie glow and there are many quick cuts. The trailer ends with the subtext "In space, no one can hear you scream." Nothing is clearly established in this trailer other than the fact something horrible is going to come out of that egg. We, the viewers, learn nothing about any of the characters, what the storyline is about, how the egg was found- all we know is that whatever is in the egg will frighten many people. The question the trailer makes us ask is "What is in the egg?"

What happened?

Another well known horror trailer convention is the "What happened to those children?" scenario. There are many well known films who use this for the trailer such as Quarantine, Wolf Creek and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre however one of the most infamous ones is probably The Blair Witch Project. The trailer began with the subtext "In October of 1994, three student film makers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while filming a documentary. A year later their footage was found." Then there is a couple of short takes from the film explaining how they are attempting to find them and then a really short clip of the footage they found. That's it. There is nothing else in the trailer that gives any indication of what else happens in the film. We know something happened to those kids but you have to watch the trailer to find out what.

Blood thirst

One convention of horror trailers is to 'feed' the blood thirst as it may be seen. Depending on the trailer you'll see some knives being plunged, axes being thrown, chainsaws being swung- just plain violence. The whole point in trailers like this is to promise the audience blood. Ever since the days of the cavemen humans have had a thirst for blood, to watch blood being spilled and to make entertainment out of it. In those days the entertainment was watching someone being thumped over the head with a club. Now people prefer to go to the cinema to see someone get hit on the head with an axe.

Evil Dead -

Inspiration For Horror Trailer

Oculus

Insidious

Insidious 2

The Quiet Ones

Sinister

All of these trailers have most the conventions used in horror trailers in them. They don't give much away at the same time as they intrigue the audience into wanting to watch more.

The Oculus trailer explains whats going on in the film- e.g. it talks about how the mirror is responsible for many deaths. This storyline is very interesting and persuades the audience into watching the film and seeing whether its true. It also has a very popular actress, Karen Gillan, in it which means that all the people who like her and her acting will watch the film.

In the Insidious trailer it never gives you a clear image of who/what the bad guy is which makes the audience want to watch it to find out.

Insidious 2 is a sequel to a previous film which means it already has a fan base meaning all the people  who watched the first one will be willing to watch the second one too.

Sinister - Uses incidental music the whole way through the trailer which builds up at the scary moments to frighten the audience more.

I would like to incorporate the explanation of the film in the trailer, never seeing the bad guy fully and the incidental music in my own trailer to make it as good as possible. All of these conventions are used in actual horror film trailers which will help make mine as authentic as possible.

Conventions of Horror Trailers

- Shows the 'best parts' of the film
This helps to attract the viewers into watching the film

- Blood and gore
This appeals to lovers of the chosen genre

- Battle of Good vs Evil
This causes suspense and the audience tends to root for a certain side which means they will watch the whole film in order to see who wins

- Screaming
This makes the audience wonder what is so bad that someone will be that scared of it

- Shows the well known actors/actresses
This will attract more of an audience if the person already has a fan base of people who will watch them in films

- Dark scary atmosphere (Stormy sky etc)
This is to visually cause fear to the audience as a dark atmosphere indicates a dark storyline

- Commonly used Dialogue (Who's there? What do you want?)
People who have already seen good horror films with this dialogue in will be drawn towards the film

- Authority figures (A policeman)
A denotation of Good vs Evil

- Dramatic Camera Angles (low angle)
These tend to show the characters more and allow the audience to understand who is more important and who is more or less powerful than others

- Isolated Location
This means not many people are around and more stuff can happen that if they were in say a crowded neighborhood

- Incidental Music
This is to indicate that a scary moment is coming up- Its a build up to the action

- Voice Overs
These are often used at the beginning to explain the narrative/context of the film. A young childs voice is ofter used as it adds an eerie effect.

- Sting
The sting is often placed at the end of a trailer after the title. It is often the scariest part as it aims to shock the audience and leave an impact persuading the audience to watch the film. Often the music and pace of the trailer slow down right before the sting allowing the audience to relax and calm down which increases the shock at the end. (The Conjuring Trailer)



In my trailer i hope to use quite a few of these conventions. My trailer will show the best parts of the film, the Battle of Good vs Evil, someone screaming, commonly used dialogue, dramatic camera angles, an isolated location, incidental music, a dark scary atmosphere and a Sting. It may also have a voice over.

AS Media Refection

What I did well in.

I think that during my AS year i gained many skills. I researched many different texts in order to gain a good understanding at how my product should be. I will use that in A2 when creating the text I choose to do. I also gained an increased knowledge of how Photoshop works and the best way to do things. I now know many different camera shots and angles which will help me a lot during my media a level.

What skills I need to improve on.

I need to improve on keeping to my schedules and not rushing towards the end.