Progress Log...

As I make changes and improvements to my trailer i have been uploading drafts via YouTube and asking my peers to give me feedback. I feel as if their feedback is very effective and useful because the majority are the same age group as my target audience. Their feedback is often very useful and valid so it allows me to make gradual improvements with in my trailer. One key thing they mentioned on my 3rd draft is they didn't think the second part of my soundtrack worked very well with the visuals. Therefore, i responded to this by completely scrapping the lyrical song and instead using a mixture of ambient sound tracks and using sounds effects such as heart beats and heavy breathing. The feedback from my peers showed this was a lot more successful in engaging them as well and being creepy and building tension. 

Magazine Photo Shoot Inspiration

Film magazine photo shoot inspiration from lydiag2

I researched inspirations for both magazine and website research, deciding to chose the website to carry out and create for my second ancillary task. This was because i hadn't done a website before so wanted to develop my skills in this area and make a personal online platform to advertise my films with the help of social media networks.

Format Research: Magazine Cover Inspirations and Analysis

Looking at this mood board, straight away i can see how common red is used as a colour for titles. I've put this down to the fact it is powerful, bold and dominant colour as proven here because it jumps out the page and engages the viewers attention. This is also relevant to the typography choice, which is bold and big in order to stand out. The colour red has conflicted interpretations which makes the representation of it quite interesting and comes down to the individual. Some would interpret red as passionate and loving were as for others its a sign for danger, warning and blood. I think i would like this concept of conflict on my magazine cover as it creates enigma and hopefully should draw my audience in; these magazines certainly caught my attention.  

Work in Progress- Feedback Opportunity

I did my first set of editing on IMovie on my Mac, using the  'Horror' trailer outline they provide, i edited my scenes separately and afterwards exported them to Adobe Premire to put them together and add some further effects before producing this. I like IMovie for its simplicity of how to use it however it was annoying at times because its wouldn't let you adjust how many seconds the video would be up for as it had pre set times. Therefore this is something I'll be changing and editing through Abode Premire. It helped massively getting my clips into order and was a really good starting point.

This is my 1st mock up of the trailer to show how my editing is going. I am yet to add a lot of things and make changes but this is a start so I would love some feedback so if you could comment below any advice that would be great. Thanks! I will also be changing the soundtrack as this is the one IMovie put with it.

Some Editing Tools used:

Here are some tools used in my editing process which i found really beneficial. 

This one is to do with fading sounds in and out which made my soundtrack much more flowing and consistent.

This one allowed me to 'Set in' and 'Set out' sound tracks, its a cropping technique and allowed me to merge sounds or cut them out of another piece.

Here you were given various option but my favorite was to time stretch because you could make the video clips faster or slower to help build atmosphere and tense, dramatic effects.

This is where i got my transitions from, I personally liked the 'dissolve' section the best because they were creative and better than a plain cut. It added mystery to the story which was effective. 

Promoting Poster Release on Social Networking Sites

4th day of filming!

All filming is now complete!

The bath scene has very low key lighting, but i lit candles for some source of light and to create atmosphere and i feel like it worked effectively. This will be placed into the introduction of my trailer. I will probably use a mixture of the diegetic sound of water to set the mood of tranquility but i think i will also use some diegetic music to build up the atmosphere to when the candles are all out and the masked figure appears.

I have put 3 different scenes- Bath scene, Facebook stalking scene and Annie Baileys scene into iMovie, to distinguish an order between my clips. I will export this onto Adobe Premiere to further edit it and put in my soundtrack etc.  

Further Consideration to my Poster Design

Layout Experimentation from lydiag2

Poster Planning Feedback Task

Please comment below on what you like, what you don't like and why. I would love to hear feedback on poster design and your ideas...

How I used Format Research for the Production of my Poster

What did i use in my poster from these format research inspirations?

Revenant Poster-

Gave me the idea of experimenting with the characters transparencies, 'A Law Abiding Citizen' helped me further to distinguish how to portray them as good and evil through this effect.Therefore i ended up keeping Nicole, the good protagonist, as a solid figure and Adam, the villain, as a faded figure. I also knew i wanted my characters image to be the pull focus which attracted people to the poster at first glance.

A Law Abiding Citizen Poster-

This poster influenced me hugely of what characters to put on my cover, I ended up doing the same as them and putting my 2 main protagonists on the front and also featuring there names because it would work to attract a fan base whilst also being a valuable marketing asset. I also got the idea to add a tag line which could have been a quote or rhetorical question as this poster did. I decided the rhetorical question was best because it meant the audience would need to think about an answer and this involves them more in a personal way. Not only that but it creates enigma about narratives and characters, which gives viewers a subject to talk about and build up theories and a buzz before the film officially comes out. 

Gothika Poster-

The last one was most inspiring for its blue tint it used to give the poster a chilly, unwelcoming thrill. The coldness the blue tint creates was really effective in setting the right tone and atmosphere so this is definitely something i considered when editing my pictures. I ended up using blue tones but not to the same length. I feel however that it sill worked successfully it creating a cold atmosphere. I also ended up using double spacing like they did with their typography at the top because i liked how it used up all the available space but didn't look crowded.

Outline of Trailer- Order of Scenes

Order:
*Doctors audio script starts* (Roughly 23 seconds long)
Footage of Adams baby/childhood photos
Adam on the train
*Wuthering Heights soundtrack*
Nicole and Sam at the station
Adam passes Nicole and Sam, slo motion eye contact 
Nicole and Sam, the happy couple, watching a movie with popcorn and a blanket
Adam in dark study, stalking Nicole on Facebook
Nicole at home, in the bath and on phone to a friend, she is happy and laughing, candles lit to set a calming, relaxed atmosphere, goes underwater using the Go Pro, from her view under water, she sees a figure flash past, comes out water and no one is there; she is very shaken and confused
*Bathroom scene|diegetic sound of water, when she goes underwater, sound of heartbeat, as she sees Adam music bursts*
Close up of Adams face, on Facebook again= obsession is growing
Nicole running through country lane and fields contrasting to go pro footage of whizzing through country lane 
Adam closing car boot, view from inside
'Girl Missing' poster
Sam with head in hands, distraught
*Audio of chorus playing for fun starts*
Nicole wakes up in the cellar
Nicole gagged and tied up, establishing shot of room to set the scene 
Car with Sam in going through puddle, big splash dramatic
Nicole struggling still
Adam being creepy
Nicole screams, Sam runs through
Finishes with Adam on mask looking up at security like camera, as he reaches up to grab camera it fades to black

3rd day of filming!

The third day of filming was very successful, i now have the beginning of my trailer completely filmed, having set the scene of Adams adolescence and recorded the Doctors audio script for the intro. However, I also decided to add another element to the equilibrium to give my trailer a more structured narrative. 

I got my inspiration from the website; http://www.takethislollipop.com, which warns people on the risks of stalking on social networking. I thought the shots and lighting of the video was really effective and wanted to try something similar to introduce how the kidnapping and obsession Adam had for Nicole emerged. I am happy with the variety of shots types i achieved in this footage, and how Adam appears a lot of the time like a dark figure, its effective in creating enigma and creating suspense.

More filming | Another Shooting Scedule

Exclusive: Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes from lydiag2

Im very happy with my chosen location to film the footage of my kidnapping scenes. As you can see from the pictures its very derelict, which gives the right atmosphere of isolation and neglect. The risk assessment was key because as you can see there is a lot of stuff on the floor which could cause hazards to the film crew and actors. 

Format Research: Poster Inspiration |Mood Board

A lot of these posters have centrally focused images, these are effective as they fill the frame and they're all distorted, whether it be there skin, forehead or eyes, consequently making them creepy to look at, the close up camera angle helps enhance this factor. This makes the audience feel uncomfortable but this is effective and relevant for the genre of the film. I like that minimal colours are used and not much text because its a lot easier to look at and is clear and bold. I will use these as my inspirations for the creation of my poster, keeping in mind i like the dark colours and little typography.

I think i will use this paranormal poster as inspiration through the use of their tag line, i really like the idea of enticing the audience via this and think it creates an interesting relationship with the consumer. By creating this one on one personal relationship it should encourage the potential target audience to make the purchase as they feel personally involved with it and drawn into it. I will aim to ask a rhetorical question if it is relevant to my poster and narrative to entice them and use personal pronouns to add a personal touch. I also like the landscape design of this poster as it has allowed them to have more width for their layout over height which i think i would prefer too.

Format Research: Poster Analysis

Analysis of Horror posters

Horror poster analysis from lydiag2

Setting Up Social Networking Sites (promotional)

Check out 'The Play House' pages on our Facebook and Twitter account! Exclusive pictures, behind the scenes, snippets and more!

Twitter— https://twitter.com/The_PlayHouse_ 

Facebook Page- https://www.facebook.com/The-Play-House-1485869291721121/?pnref=lhc

I have created a Facebook page promoting The Playhouse film, I will now regularly post on it to attract and engage potential audiences and consumers. I have begun by offering a link to our Twitter site too, by having this convergence it should appeal to a wider scale of people. Another thing i did straight away was add some pictures of the cast members and locations used. This was done to provide a interest for viewers to look at and comment on and share as its exclusive snippets they won't have seen anywhere else- this should gain more publicity for the upcoming movie and get people talking about it. To create a further interest to the page i will invite friends, as it says in the top left corner and kindly ask people to share it and comment, so i can spread the word and get a real buzz of excitement for the trailer.

2nd Day of filming!

Nicoles flowing top worked great to help enhance the feel of freedom, I aim to speed up some of these clips when i start editing them too make them look like she is running and spinning faster and build the feeling of confusion and dizziness. I was glad in this filming session to have the risk assessment because we encountered 2 cars; which we probably wouldn't have expected had it not been considered before hand. I will be putting these clips onto Adobe Premire to experiemnt with speeding up and slowing down the clips, I think i can make an effect montage out of them. 

Audio Script

Audio script plan from lydiag2

Progress Log

Having reviewed and being happy with my filming footage from the weekend, I will begin to crop and trim my video clips in order to put them into iMovie and Adobe premier; the programmes i will be using to produce and edit my trailer. 

There is a chance i will need to record some extra footage, this is because i would like to get some more close ups of the house, to set the mise-en-scene as i feel its important for the purpose of establishing the narrative and also I would like to define an equilibrium  at the beginning of my trailer. 

I am undecided whether this should be based on Adams equilibrium, settling into the new town and starting a 'normal' life or whether to do it from the perspective of Nicole and Sams happy relationship. I think i might prefer to do it based on Adam so its not as typical as the other 'lovey' relationships films tend to present in there equilibriums. 

I have also had an idea to do a Audio commentary rather than a graphic commentary, this is because i had the idea to add in another character who will be a narrator. It will be from the point of view of a Doctor, someone who has been monitoring Adam from a young age and knows everything about his life up till now. This is more creepy as i feel it connects his past story to his present life. This means i would sway more to setting Adams equilibrium because as the Doctor introduces to the audience, things from his past can be coming up; birth certificate, baby pictures, photo albums etc. I will be mocking up a script for this to see if i feel its something that would work with my trailer. 

Despite having not strictly followed my script plan and scenes, I feel I'm happy with the outcome and it was well considered and thought out during filming. I felt by improvising more and not being set the vivid ideas in my head, my actors came across more genuine and therefore more realistic and believable to an audience. It also meant I came across other things i preferred over my original ideas, overall adding to my narrative and miss en scene. 

Planning Consideration, what to include and where

Having done the majority of my filming for my trailer, I have decided to give myself a brief plan as to how I want my trailer to flow so i know where to start and what to include when producing it: 

A consideration for the order of my film clips...

1st day of filming!

The first day of filming is complete, it went successfully and i got the main scenes of my trailer filmed so feel like I have made good progress. Having reviewed footage and happy with the outcome, I'm going to upload them to my Mac so i can start to trim and crop the videos. I am particularly happy with the mise-en-scene which is sets the atmosphere of my trailer, i feel the building was an effective place to film and the harsh lighting from the torch was as dramatic and intense as i had hoped. 

Final Stage of Planning

FINAL DRAFT OF SCRIPT: 

Final script for Trailer from lydiag2

Shot Type Checklist:

I have printed this out to use each time I film because i know it will remind me to use a variety of shots, angles and camera movements. This sheet is very useful as it shows an example with the name of the shot type. Some ones I will definitely be using are; Birds eye, High angle, Close ups, Establishing shots, Pans and Mediums shots. I think the wider the variety of shot types i can get, the more enticing i can make my trailer through editing. 

Theories applied to my Storyboard/Narrative

Theories applied to storyboard from lydiag2

Shooting Schedule Plan

Official Story Board Plan

Scene 1:

Scene 2:

Scene 3:

Scene 4:

1st Draft Storyboard Plan

Type of shots used in this scene: Handheld, Eye-level, low angle shot, establishing shot, close ups

Diegetic sound: heavy breathing, distress, shouting, yells for help

Non-diegetic sound: Music sound track playing 

Type of shots used in this scene: extreme close ups, long shots, panning, high angle shots

Diegetic sound: Heart beat/ heavy breathing 

Non-diegetic sound: Enhance diegetic sound effects

Type of shots used in this scene: Hand held, two shot, over the shoulder, POV shot

Diegetic sound: Shouting, Screaming 

Non-diegetic sound: Creepy horror music fading in and out 

1st Script of Scenes

1st draft script from lydiag2

Here is a first draft of a plan for my trailer scenes, Its not something i'll stick to 100% but its a nice, solid base/direction to follow to achieve get the footage i would like.

RISK ASSESSMENT FOR LOCATIONS

I knew it was really important to assess the area i was filming in, I couldn't have put myself or my actors in danger so i created a risk assessment and took into consideration what i would do in order to prevent the risk. I did come across a few problems but due to the organisation and preperation i had from the risk assesment, they were easy to solve.

The worst one was the danger of the tripping hazards which could have resulted in injury. Before we started filming, I took the acting crew around and showed them the dangers, so they were aware of the risks. We took the precaution of clearing what we could out of the main filming room or running path ways to get rid of the hazard. I also reminded them just before we would shoot a scene to stay aware of the enviroment they're in. 

When we filmed down the country lane we made sure we were alert at all times for the possibility of cars, due to the isolated location this was unlikely but still a possibility everyone was made aware of. 

Letter request for Graveyard location:

***After having sent the Letter, I had a unsure response where they didn't seem quite comfortable with the idea of filming at the graveyard therefore I was more than willing to reconsider my locations and film somewhere else. I did some further planning and decided i will film down a country lane and in fields.*** 

Request confirmation for filming in someones house:

Character Profiling

Planning of filming locations and lighting

I created this presentation on the website PowToon and uploaded it onto Youtube to embed it onto my blog. 

Creating the Production Company...

Creating the company from lydiag2

Sound Track inspirations for trailer:

Music is a key aspect of horror films, often used to create atmosphere and enhance certain emotions of the characters. Often, long suspensful notes are used to build tension and build up to a big event and then when the event happens, the music changes to short, sharp notes to help further shock the audience. Lots of voices are used in horror films to reflect fear and realism. Sound effects could include such things as echoed voices, giving a ghostly feel or classic sounds such as crows, bats, church bells and witches cackling. I have been browsing youtube a lot to try and find a sound track for my trailer in which the lyrics and image will be relevant and tie in. I have found some that I really like and will strongly consider using:

I feel like the chorus of this sound track could be really effective to use in my trailer. I feel the lyrics could link very well to Adams character profile and I can adjust it to fit the narrative. Instead of Adam just knowing Nicole at High School she could have been his disastrous 'First Love'. The line 'you better run now' and 'playing for fun' is really creepy, fitting into my narrative of Adam making Nicole his life size doll. The females high pitch voice could work really well with some editing all based round Adam, because it puts the listener into quite a trance. It build up suspense and causes excitement for the audience as they prepare for some action.

Full Lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dashberlin/manontherun.html

Lyrics relevant to my trailer:
It's such a travesty
The way you say our love should be
Yeah, such a tragedy
Think you can just break my heart and leave me
Well, you better run now
Man on the run
Playing for fun
Wind me up
Leave me undone

Another track i've found and would like to consider using are these:

This Kate Bush track is also appropriate for my trailer therefore its a possibility, certain parts of the lyrics can also be used to suit by trailer. The voice is the most creepy part of this sound track, she has high pitched vocals which are quite trancing. This could be effective for scenes inside the house, something Adam might put on in the background so its diegetic sound as its part of the scene.

I really like this second one because it can be used quite multi-purposely, it would be a good consistent one. Despite this video being 56 minutes long, the sound that is built up throughout it, by adding different intrumsents, increases the intensity which i feel could suit the narrative of my trailer. It would also fit well the the thriller genre type music that i have listened to whilst researching. I think this could be effective to use after my voice commentary and despite originally wanting lyrics in the sound track I feel this is really effective without any distracting influences. 

Plot Narrative

The Plot Narrative and Theories from lydiag2

Brainstorm on Narratives, Shots, Sound, Props and Locations

http://imm.to/AdY95- To see my mind map through the site, here is the link, below I have provided a screenshot. I found brainstorming some of my ideas allowed me too make decisions on what i want to use and the purpose of it; the effect it will have on the viewers and why it will suit my genre. I found this activity was particulary helpful for looking at shots and camera angles, as I went into detail why each shot was effective and why i might want to use it.

Focus Group Video

Analysis of my Focus Group:

I had 5 student participants in my focus group, aged 17-18, which fits within the age group my trailer is going to be targeted at. I included a mixed group of males and females, to avoid gender bias and instead analyse both answers in order to make my trailer appeal to both genders. The focus group were great discussing and voicing there opinions and this will really help me in the planing and production of my trailer, I will analyse each of there answers below to give me a clearer picture of how the results have been summarized.

1- Do you prefer horror or thriller films? Or a hybrid horror/thriller?

This question was important to see if i was targeting my questions at the right mixture of people, because they had different opinions and answer i felt the hybrid genre was a good choice and suitable to question this group of people. They commented they preferred the narrative of a thriller because it was more psychological, giving them things to think about and consider. They felt horrors could get boring, as they're all quite the same, which makes horror films quite predictable. 

2- Do you prefer the trailer to give away a lot or a little?

The main answer here was that the focus group preferred the trailer to give away a little, but would like to include some of the peak bits of the narrative in order to excite and engage the viewers. Overall it was decided, the right balance needed to be acheived for the trailer to fulfill its purpose of attracting the audience. 

3- What codes and conventions do you expect to see in a horror film?

-Intense music-

-fast pace editing-

-blood and gore-

-low key lighting-

-colour representation- dark, dull gloomy colours (reds/blacks)- 

4- Do the codes and conventions of a horror differ from a thriller?

-horror conventions more set-

-differentiate one thriller from another-

-editng is different-

-they both however often have dark, sinister storylines-

-low key lighting-

-colour representations,dark, dull gloomy colours-

5- What locations do you expect to see in a) horror b) thriller?

Horror:

Abandoned houses

Road-Trips

Isolated Locations

Woods

Graveyards

secluded mansions

Thriller:

more modern story line so locations need to be more realistic, fit into everyday life so the narrative becomes more believable and has a sense of realism.

6- Is the film rating important when watching these genre films?

Overall, people found the age rating only meant the content would be deemed inappropriate for younger audience and this mainly included violence and language therefore they felt the age rating of an 18, wouldn't be any more scary then a 12. 

7- Favourite films!!

-Sinister-

-The Shining-

-The Conjuring-

-Silence of the Lambs-

-Psycho-

-Dr. strange love-

8- What do you expect to see in the narrative of these genres?

Jump scares!! 

Fake scares, to build the audience up to put them on the edge of their seat.

Varying opinions of whether it should be based on a true story

Progress Log- Reviewing genres

I have recorded myself reviewing genres options and posted it online onto sound cloud, here is the direct link to the audio: https://soundcloud.com/user695666251/reviewing-genres

Distribution and Marketing Trailers

My Target Audience...

Despite this being a small sample, their is one outstanding result which doesn't fit in. So, this has shown me I wont be directing my trailer at older people, e.g Nicole who is 38 and upper class and doesn't show a particular interest or curiosity in horror or thriller films but does state she prefers a psychological thriller narrative to stimulate her mind. My choice to direct my trailer at middle/working class people isn't based on this factor however I just feel I will be able to appeal and attract a larger audience if I create a trailer for middle/working class. I also would prefer to direct my trailer to younger audiences, as they're much more up to date with sites and programmes you can use to watch upcoming films so are more likely to show an interest and watch the trailer. Its also because I can base a lot of my audience research on people around the age group 16-24, because these are the majority of people that surround me in my school and work environment therefore giving me lots of opportunities to ask for their feedback and opinions as to what appeals to them. I also feel I can use my own knowledge more, to create a trailer for a younger age group as i'm in that category therefore my expectations are likely to be similar to other peoples expectations.