Props and Characters

Character- Tovia

Character- Emily

Character- Rizwana

                                                         Props

Website: Working Progress

I am currently making a website that coincides with our film and film trailer. I am making this website on a wesbite making software called Wix. The website contains pictures from the trailer, the trailer itself, contact information and a homepage. While I am making this website I am making it look effective and use colour schemes that symbolise the genre to the target audience. So far I have used, reds and blacks and effects thats all highlight the thriller/horror genre. The webisites purpose is to give the taregt audience more informtaion about the film and to feel like they are involved and keeping up to date. By having a website it is also a good way to advertise your film and links to it will be put on social networks, social network pages about the film will attract a larger audience and people will start to recognise the film and then decide to go and watch it.

Ancillary Task: Film Poster

A film poster is made to advertise the film and appeal to the target audience. Our film poster has three eerie looking pictures, enlarged on the front. These pictures immediately connote the genre of the film and this will be attractive to an audience that like thriller/horror films. The film website at the bottom is in red which also connotes the genre of the film, as red in this context symbolises blood and danger. Our production logo is in the left hand corner which also is a sudden signifier that our 'company' will make other thriller/horror, as the logo contains a knife with bright red blood on the knife which triggers typical eerie stereotypes in the target audiences mind. On the poster there is places where the audience can get information about the film such as the website and Facebook page, so they can become involved with the film and updates about it. This also will enable more people to hear about the film and look at the website, watch the trailer and see what it is about. We have put a Miramax logo on as they are a well known production company for making thriller/horrors and they have a great reputation. When people see this logo they will associate it with other good films they have seen, produced by this company which also makes people enthusiastic to watch it.

By putting reviews and large stars at the top of the poster, this lets people know critics reviews about the film and as it says four stars, this makes people think its an excellent film and likely to watch if have a great review.

Our poster has dark, shaded colours also to highlight the thriller/horror genre as it is a common convention in their posters, as the film contains dark and eerie content.

Our Production Logo

We wanted to create a subsidiary production logo that represented our thriller/horror film trailer. We came up with 'Blade Productions' as the name of our production logo as we wanted the audience to become aware earlier on in the trailer that it is a thriller/horror genre. We felt that the audience will become aware straightaway after looking at the production logo of what our film is based on; which is violent and contains events in which characters are killed in disturbing ways. This is a common convention for a horror/thriller films, the knife however connotes more conventions of the horror genre in comparison to thrillers where more guns are used.

Below is the production made on Macromedia Fireworks programme:

The red use of colour for the blood effect connotes danger and violence; this suggests to the audience that the film is based around people being hurt and their life being at risk by a mysterious killer. The image of the knife used in the production logo suggests that the characters/victims in the trailer will be brutally tortured and killed. The use of the drain indicates that the girls have no way of escaping, the use of black in the drain connotes  mystery and death indicating that the trailer brings up questions in the audiences mind of what could happen to the three victims and whether or not they will be able to escape from the psychotic killer. Also, the black connotes the fact that the audience are unaware of who the killer is, intriguing them into watching the film at the cinemas for the motives of the killer for hunting down the three victims in particular. The fact that there is a high key low contrast of use of lighting around the plug hole with blood dripping down, indicates the future of the victims in the trailer suggesting that they don't have anywhere to hide and are trapped underneath the plug hole. This indicates that the victims could be confided in small spaces and there is no way that they can get away from this nightmare. As the victims are three girls the plug hole could represent the vulnerability of the girls as they are seen as easy target from the killers prospective as they won't be able to fight back and defend for themselves, suggesting that the killer sees their life as being worthless and he is pouring any traces of their memories down the drain.

Our production logo can be compared to the Miramax production logo; this because our subsidiary production and Miramax have similar conventions, in that when one looks at the two production logos, there is a theme of horror/thriller in both logos. In our subsidiary logo we have created a more obvious illusion of blood and violence which is more representative of our trailer which helps generate the idea that our trailer is a horror/thriller.

Rough Cut Analysis

How to improve our rough cut

When presenting our rough cut edit to the rest of the class they gave us some positive feedback such as a good variety of shots. However they also told us that we needed to improve both our sound and our main title. Our sound so far consists of continuous music which seems fine, as well as sound stings which we need more of and to improve the timing of. They are significant as they emphasise the fast sequences of shots; creating a greater impact. Also they told us we made need a voice over or maybe some more dialogue, to help with narrative exposition and also to create a break in the music. The music at the end of our trailer is too sudden so we need to make it gradually more dramatic towards the end instead. The font for our main title needs to be changed as it does not fit with the themes in our trailer or conventions of the horror/thriller genre. 

Adding a few more shots to estbalish the narrative is further needed, for example, shot of newspaper clipping and flashback of us at school laughing. Also a scary voice to do the voicover the titles to also establish the narrative further. However feedback was highly positive and many key features of our trailer was liked such as effects, flashes and sound stings.  By changing these I believe our production will dramatically improve and obtain a high grade.

Rough cut edit

Return rough cut from Emily Jesson on Vimeo.

Filming

Day 1Today we filmed the shots of Rizwana when she is tied up. We filmed a lot of close ups of her face and hands and extreme close ups as well, in order to create a variety of shots. This will make our trailer more interesting and appealing through creating the tense atmosphere that is a common in horror/thriller trailers. We had problems with the lighting as if we turned the lights off it was too dark and the camera wasn't picking anything up. Then we used a torch with a blue tint to it making the lighting seem dark and cold.

Day 2

Today we filmed the shots of Tovia when she is being chased and then dragged down the stairs. This involved filming long shots, medium shots and close ups to see Tovia's reaction and fear. We also filmed the close up of the photographs of us all on a table at Emily's garage where the lighting is chiaroscuro.We had the killers hands drawing on them, tearing them in half and the knife stabbing them. This series of shots as well as creating a tense feel, helps create narrative exposition- explaining the story and establishing that the three girls are targets.

Day 3Today we filmed the shots of Tovia in the car which are important shots as they show Tovia with a chance of escape therefore creating enigma as to whether she does actually escape. We use long shots, medium shots and close ups to see Tovia's face. One of these close ups was hard to film as we had to film an extreme close up of a reflection of Tovia's eyes in the rear view mirror, but after a few tries we were successful. Also some of the filming involved putting the camera on the dashboard in order to film a close up of Tovia's face in the front seat. This series of shots create a fast action sequence that is commonly seen in the end of trailers like in ours. We also filmed the shots of Emily in an empty car park which seemed a suitable location as we filmed it so she would look like she was walking towards a car.

Day 4

Today we filmed the shot of Tovia waking up in bed which follows on from the shot filmed previously of Emily being killed. This has a large impact as it creates a fast and strong rhythm to the pace of editing therefore adding to the drama of the trailer. We also filmed the opening establishing shot, the long shots of Rizwana and the point of view shot of the baseball bat. The point of view shot was difficult to film as we tried to film it a different way, with the camera to the side of Tovia swinging the bat, but that didn't work well either. We decided that the POV shot was more effective and if we put a fade to either black or white afterwards it could look more effective.

Any changes to plans

After our first successful filming session we discussed when and where we would film the next lot of shots. We decided to change our original plans of filming in a wood to filming in a cemetery as it would create the right atmosphere for our trailer. As well as this it would be near a specific road we wanted to film some other shots on so we could get more done. This improved the overall organisation of our group and enabled us to use our time better.
Also we decided to film some of Rizwana’s close ups, again and change the lighting and also her makeup to make it look more affective. When we did this we liked the results and decided we would use the second lot of shots. We also decided that we would film the opening scenes somewhere else- in a less public place( an empty rural path) ; due to the use of a baseball bat as a weapon. This way no-one could see us and get the wrong idea.

Technical decisions and any difficulties encountered

We had to film some shots again as we accidentally recorded over them and we are in the process of working out the shots we lost so we can make sure we have everything we are going to need. We decided that we were going to film shots in the different locations with different lighting in order to create the impression of different times of day. We also did this as it is common to have chiaroscuro lighting in horror films- which we have chosen to use in some shots (Rizwana’s close ups)  in our trailer.

Editing

We have filmed the majority of our film trailer with a few scenes left to film, so we've decided to start editing and putting the shots into order. We are thinking of possible music, sound effects and visual effects to make it look like an effective trailer with the purpose we intended. Editing is happening on the software Pinnacle, where we are currently making a rough edit and experimenting with various tools on Pinnacle.

In this still from our rought edit, it shows a shot of the fast paced action scene where i nearly get caught. Shots like this highlight the horror genre with violent fast paced action that attracts the target audience. It also shows there is a killer put not actually showing what they look like so creates enigma and makes audience what to watch the film.

 

                                              

This still shows the Killer who has pictures of the victim and is cool and calm planning to kill them. It adds an eerie atnoshphere as he is crossing her eyes out and is in a dark lighted room. It all connotes horror and the idea of revenge.

This still shows the killer dragging my character down the stairs, this creates tension and shows the horror genre as it reveals violence. Again we cant see the killers face but see the outline of him which is creating enigmas within the audience.

This still shows Rizwana, gagged and looking extremely scared as the killer has kidnapped her and is about to provoke her with a knife. This close up also is a common convention in horror trailers of a young girl gagged and crying/screaming. Also shows the use of violence etc.

Filming

Filmed outside of school, at various locations in Haslingden
11th October

Props- Fake blood, car, black gloves and black hoodie

Actors- Emily, Me and Rizwana

First Filming Date

Filming- Thursday 4th October- At School
Location- Empty store cupboard

Actors- Rizwana

Props- Knife, Tape, Chair and Black Gloves

Risk Assessment

Health and safety on set is very important when filming as accidents do happen, equipment can be damaged and cast and crew can be severely hurt. Despite our film being set in a forest which has lots of dangerous elements which could harm our actor, we will mark out a path where it was safe for Tovia to run for the running scene as the Plunge forest it quite muddy and slippery.

Also, we are going to use a kitchen knife, but if possible obtain a fake knife. As we need to not harm any of the actors. As we will use q kitchen knife near Rizwana’s face, we have to be especially careful not to cut her. We therefore decided to use a very blunt knife to prevent our actor from harm yet we were still very careful and precautions when filming for the knife scenes. Also, we used duct tape on Rizwana’s mouth. We will have to be careful not to pull of her skin. To prevent this we will place the tape on some fabric to make the tape less sticky so her face is not harmed from the tape.We are going to have to safely carry the props around and make sure not observable in a public place as public safety and the actors safety is highly important.

Music and Sound effects ideas

Music can be very significant in trailers as they get across to the audience what type of genre the trailer is. The sound helps build up tension and add emotion to trailers such as horror, as the sound becomes fast paced and more dramatic the audience immediately know that something bad is going to happen.  Looking at chase scenes in many horror and thriller films we noticed that the music in the background is not necessarily instrumental and has a deep and dramatic drum beat as though it is the heart beating, which makes the pace seem very fast and dramatic.

An example of sound in a horror trailer is ‘Captivity’ which is one of the trailers which inspired us when looking for/ finding sound for our trailer. We quite liked the drum based sounds which got louder and quieter in places  and  the pace of the sounds got faster and slower creating suspense and mystery of what could happen to the victims.
We searched for non-copyrighted sites for soundtrack; we found two very good sites: FindSounds.com and AudioNetwork.com. We were looking for a range of sounds which we could use for different sections of the trailer as each part told a different story. We first looked for a slow drumbeat sound for the beginning of the scene where Rizwana is tied up on a chair is a cupboard room. This is so that the sound is quite relaxed and we wanted it to get quite dramatic with more drum based sounds that begin to get louder and quicker building up tension and suspense to show what is going to happen to Rizwana. Also for the title’s in between the trailers we wanted to in-cooperate sounds of slow drum based sound  to add suspense.  The sound we used was 'Hell on earth‘, from Audionetwork.com
We also wanted to use buzzing sound effects similar to the ones used in the opening of Se7en. We quite liked the buzzing sounds of when the killer sticks the victim’s photos from newspapers which makes it quite nerving and disturbing for the audience as it would make them think / believe that the girls are in danger. The sound we used was ‘Death blade', from Audionetwork.com. We decided to use cut parts of the sound so that the metal and scraping sound fit in with when the Killer is sticking photo's of the victims, this is so that it makes the scene look realistic as though the scraping sounds are being made by the Killer himself.  

For the cemetery scene of Tovia running, we wanted to add some chase music which would make Tovia running more dramatic and will help the audience understand that she is running away from the killer. The sound will also add mystery and enigma’s as the audience will be left wondering why Tovia is running and who is this mystery person chasing her.  The sound we used was ‘Fear Factor, from Audionetwork.com. We cut the 'Fear factor' sound and used different sections to speed up the tension as Tovia is running through the cemetery, as we wanted to create a climax, making the audince wonder what could possibly happen to Tovia.

The screams I came across before were quite short and didn't create the suspense we wanted.  We wanted a long scream which will act as a soundbridge to the end of the trailer to create mystery and engimas of what could possibly be happening to the female victim. When trying to cut the sounds an bring them to together so that the screaming sound is longer, it made the screaming sound like a seagal which was inappropriate. It was very difficult trying to find a scream effect that would fit into out trailer, I came across a scream sound from findsounds.com and the sound that I thought best fitted our trailer was the female scream. This was much more appropriate and we didint have todo any changes to the sound as it fitted with Tovia screaming when she is being dragged down the stairs. 

Trailer Storyboard

Storyboard for Trailer from ToviaBalo

Institutional Information

Our genre is horror, well known film production companies such as Miramax, Lionsgate and Ghost House these have made renowned films like the Saw films, The Possession, Drag me to hell and The Grudge. We would be looking to release our film at the end from Mid to the end of October as this period is Halloween and when horror films are extremely popular.

This Ghost House logo is highly effective as it has the use of black and white for binary oppositions showing the good and evil of the genre. There are obvious connotations of a skull that has been shadowed and made to look scary, frightening. They have used writing for the titles that has the effect like its dripping blood to also connote the genre of the film.

The Miramax is an independent film company owned by Walt Disney. They have been known to make some horrors and exciting thrillers. This logo is also black and white showing binary oppositions within the genres. Also the writing is in sans serif which makes it look more modern and sharper. The Miramax writing is big and bold and stands out to the audience. Miramax have been known to make some great horrors such as, Jeepers Creepers, Scream, Don't be afraid of the dark and Halloween H20.

Lionsgate is a well known production company when it comes to horror films. From 2012 it is known as the most commercially successful independent film and television distribution company in North America and the sixth most profitable movie studio. They have made very famous horrors such as, the Saw collection, Cabin in the Woods, See no evil and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The logo has a red background that looks like red clouds and adds an eerie horror feel to the logo. The writing is sans serif and is in capitals to make it stand out on the red background. The font colour is grey and the contrast against red fully highlights the horror genre.

For our trailer we probably would be produced by Lionsgate as they have made films with similar content to ours. As they have made the Saw collection which features gore, horror and torture. In our film we would have torture and gore as the man is getting revenge in a horrific way. Lionsgate are also every well known know and when people see the logo they automatically associate logo with previous films they have seen and will know is likely to be a box office hit.

We would release our trailer on to multiplex cinemas, as horror/thriller films can appeal to a variety of ages . It is likely to do well at multiplex's as we would preferably like to release at Halloween time when the horror/thriller genre is at its most popular. I think our trailer would be international as the content and story is similar to others that have been popular.

Ours is a hybrid genre between horror and thriller, as both genres include goore abd violent crime. Not clear boundaries between them both, but more obviously if a horror contains supernatural/monsters it specifically horror. However out trailer crosses between both genres as