First Draft Review and Feedback

My first draft went well and in the most part I stuck to my storyboard, only changing a couple of slides and taking a few out where necessary. Although the draft made sense, it is not yet complete as it is missing more of the story and the cliffhanger ending. In my next draft I will and more to the part of the trailer that I have already done in order to make it easier to understand. I will also try to finish the whole trailer so that in my third draft I can focus on fixing and improving smaller and more subtle aspects of my trailer, and re-film parts where necessary. I may change some of the sound so that music is playing in the first part of the trailer as well as the second. I will also need to change the spelling on my title "Vengeance" as in my first draft I spelled it "Vengance".  

My teachers gave me some feedback for my first draft of my trailer and this is what they said...

"A lack of research is shown in your product. You could have got a desk and out it in the green room, put papers and an iPad to create verisimilitude and green screen the background to a news scene. Do the books in the classroom really look good? The cabinet in the media office would be more convincing. More thought needs to be put into the small details."

I will consider this when filming my second draft and plan my time more wisely so that I don't have to rush certain scenes. I will go back and re shoot the news and classroom scenes so that the environment is more realistic.

FIRST DRAFT

Recording The Voice Over

My research showed that I needed to have a voice over in my trailer as it is a very popular convention of the genre. I have chosen to have my main actress narrating a part of the trailer to give the audience more of an insight into the story. Luckily I take Music Technology at college, and so I have access to the recording studio and have the knowledge of how to record voice. I booked a studio session and went in with my actress and the script. Here is the script:

Dana- I keep having this dream. Someone, something is following me. Every night when I'm asleep I see it, I see her, I see death. Sometimes my dreams become reality, and sometimes, they come back to haunt me.

As you can see this gives a quick back story as to what lead up to the events int he trailer and re-enforces the themes of the horror film.

Here is a quick overview of how I went about recording the voice over -
1.Set up the microphone so that it was the correct height for the actress to sit comfortably.
2. Set levels. This gave the actress a chance to practice through the script within the studio environment while I set the levels. This involved getting the right volume so that the voice is not too quiet, but also not so loud that it distorts.
3. Routed the sound to a recording program on the computer so that I could have a digital copy of the audio to take with me to the edit suite.

I then took the voice over and added it to

Cast List

Cast member 1 - Lyndsey Cairns - College girl

I chose Lyndsey to play the role of the college girl mostly because she shares the same free lessons at college as me and Dana, making it easy to find a time to film where all three of us were available. I also had an idea in mind about what I wanted this character to look like, and I wanted her to have blonde hair so I also chose Lyndsey as she fits the the character's appearance well. She has also done small parts of acting for me in the past for AS Film, so I knew that she had experience and was not shy in front of the camera.





Cast member 2 - Dana Buckby - Main protagonist and antagonist.

I chose Dana to be the main character for 3 reasons. Firstly I have used her as an actress before in my AS Film, so I know she is a good and competent actress. Secondly she lives close to me and close to the locations so transport will not be an issue. Lastly she is available at the same times as me as we work on the same day so we had the same free days.

Dana was not planned to play the antagonist, however on the day we were filming my other actress let me down so she suggested that we film her dressed as the antagonist just so that I could put a first draft together, however I had constructed the costume so that you could not see the antagonists face, and so when I edited it together you could not tell it was the same actress. I decided therefore that it would be easier to use the shots I had already filmed than re-shoot using another actress, as it would have looked basically the same anyway.



Cast member 3 - Kelsey Foster - Newsreader

I chose Kelsey for the newsreader scene mostly because of her voice. She is from the south of England and so has a more formal accent typical of a news reader. She speaks clearly and you can hear what she is saying. She also shares my free lessons at college, making it easy for us to set a time to film. She also has a formal appearance (e.g. no facial piercings or un-natural hair colour) typical of a newsreader, making her the perfect actress for the role.

Costumes

Choosing costumes is an important part of the pre-production as the character needs to have an appropriate costume to have the desired effect on the audience. The costume can change how the audience perceive the character, and in something as short as a film trailer, first impressions are very important.

I chose the costume for the main character to be jeans, a t-shirt and a smart/casual coat. I think that this fairly ordinary costume helps you to relate to the character, as she is not specifically tied to a certain group of young people. I decided that she should wear a "wolverine" t-shirt as this is very popular with young people. The red on the t-shirt along with the dark colour of the jacket are conventional of the genre, with red representing blood and danger, and the dark coat representing the darkness of the genre. Her hair is in an ordinary style so that the audience is not distracted by it, and it is not in the way of her face so that facial expressions can be seen more clearly.

With this character I decided that a white jumper with "love" written on it would help set her apart from the main character. The message on it and the fact that it is white connotes purity, and helps the audience to associate her as a good character. It also matches with her hair colour and makes her come across as a positive character. The glasses help to make her look intelligent. This is important to her character as she is the one who helps the protagonist and has a lot of knowledge of the evil entity and how to overcome it.

The costume used for the antagonist took the most time to prepare. I decided on dark shades with little or no colour to make her blend in to the scene more, making her look as though she is part of the creepy setting. I decided that covering her face would  make her seem more mysterious, and hiding her identity means that the audience cannot categorise or make assumptions about her, making her more creepy. I chose the lacy design of the scarf and dress as this is conventional of horror films, with the old fashion style giving the character an odd quality.

This is the costume for the newsreader character. It consists of a white blouse and a black suit jacket. I decided on this outfit as you only see the top part of the actress so the trousers didn't matter. I chose this as they are smart and they are typical of a news reader as seen in the image. They are plain and fit in with the professional image of a formal news presenter.

The Camera

For my filming I used a Canon Legria HFR506. This camera records in 1080p HD and has optical image stabilizer technology which reduces camera shake, which is good for hand held scenes. It has 57X advanced zoom and records in two formats: MP4 and AVCHD, which gives you more options for the editing stage. It also allows you to watch your footage back to see if the clip you filmed came out as you had intended. I enjoyed working with this camera, however I did encounter some issues. When I first put my SD card in the camera, it would not recognize it, and therefore I could not record onto it. I had to Google the issue and found out that I had to go into the settings to initialize the card. After I did this it recorded fine. I also could not find the white balance option on the camera, meaning that my clips took on an orange hue. I will try to resolve this issue in post production, and research how to change this before I film again.    

Filming Diary

Day 1 / Sat 6th Dec- Today I filmed the kitchen, underpass and bedroom scenes. The filming went well and I stayed on schedule. At 6:00 we started on the bedroom scene. We did encounter some lighting issues but we quickly found an alternative light source. I also had issues with the camera. When I first put my SD card in the camera, it would not recognize it, and therefore I could not record onto it. I had to Google the issue and found out that I had to go into the settings to initialize the card. After I did this it recorded fine. We finished the bedroom scene at around 6:30, then we went to film the kitchen scene. This also posed some issues as the small space struggled to accommodate the tripod, and we had to squeeze it into the space we needed. This scene finished filming at about 7:00, then we went on to film at the underpass. This scene took a bit longer as we had to change costumes and do a lot more moving around. The scene went well and we didn't encounter any major problems.

Day 2 / Wed 10th Dec - Today I filmed the classroom scene. The filming went well as the classroom I wanted was available and the light on the day was good for filming in. I did run in to a few problems such as when I was filming the birds eye shot. I had to stand on the table in order to get the character in the frame but the way I was standing meant that each way I tried to frame the shot my feet could always be seen in the corner. I decided that I still needed this shot so I shot it with my feet in the frame and I will edit it in post production.

Day 3 / Fri 12th Dec -  Today I filmed the newsreader scene at college. I quickly wrote out the script and found a space with a plain wall where I could film it. The filming was a success, however we did have some difficulty as the actress needed to read the script, so I had to write it out in bold and place it just above the camera to try and make it look like she is looking at the camera rather than the script.

Day 4 / Mon 16th Feb - Today I filmed the second part of my trailer which shows fast clips of the protagonist running through a forested area and trying to escape the antagonist. We used 2 locations for this. Firstly we used the wooded area which was part of a local park. We went there first and filmed the protagonist running through the trees. This didn't take long and we got the shots we wanted, however on a couple of takes we had to stop as members of the public walked past and came into the shot. When we were finished here we went back to my house where we shot a few scenes of the protagonist falling over and scooting backwards across the grass trying to escape. I then got a shot of her slamming the gate shot as she is trying to escape, however the gate is broken and wouldn't shut properly, but I thought that it looked okay as it was so I decided not to re-film this part. We then got the shots of the protagonists with the gun. The gin belonged to my dad and we could only use it in my back garden which is why we were filming there rather than in the park. This also went well and I have now finished my initial filming, just some re-shoots of some scenes to go.

Day 5 / Tues 24th Feb - Today I re-filmed the classroom scene in the library. This was due to my audience feedback as they said that the classroom did not look very professional, and so I re-filmed in the library making it more realistic. The filming was quick as I only needed to get a few clips and it went as planned. I had asked the librarians for permission to film a few days earlier and we agreed to film at 9:00am so we just went in and filmed what we needed.

Day 6 / Mon 23rd March - Today I re-filmed the newsreader scene on green screen. It went well as I had all of my props and costume ready. I set up the desk and had my actress sit down, and then I adjusted the lighting. We took a couple of takes but it soon became apparent that the acoustics of the room meant that her voice echoed. We tried to tackle it by moving the mic closer but it didn't work so i'll have to try and fix this post-production. The filming seemed to go well and we got some good takes, but when I put the video on the computer to be edited it showed that the camera had been set to SD instead of HD, and so I will have to try and tackle it post production or film it again at a later date as this makes it harder to remove the background.

Location 5 - Newsreader

This location was used for the newsreader scene. I used a staircase as it has a neutral white background which makes it easy to manipulate and change if I want to. This neutral colour also helps the audience to identify the setting as a news studio as it looks like a professional setting. There was plenty of space in the room to move around and try different camera angles and different framing. I decided to use a mid shot for my final shot as this is the shot typically used in news reports. However, as it was a large space I did have to be careful with the dialogue as if the actress spoke too loudly there was a noticeable echo which would not sound good in the trailer.    

Location 4 - Classroom

 This location was chosen for the part of the trailer where the characters research about the murder and the creature who may be behind it. The computer was used to show the location of the crime scene on a map to make it more realistic for the audience to see a location. I could also use the computer for the scene where the character is uploading images onto the computer.

 During the filming for this scene I had a couple of issues as the windows provided a lot of natural light, which was good as it meant that I didn't have to use any extra lights, however it did mean that on my first few shots my characters were in silhouette. To fix this problem I shut the blinds which were directly behind the character so they could be seen clearly, leaving some blinds out of the shot open to provide some light for the scene.

 The tables were used for my research shots where the character could be seen reading a book. I thought that this would be a good location as the room looked empty, showing the characters isolation. I put my character in the centre of the tables so that the audience's attention was directed straight to her.

The last part of this location was the book shelves. This shot was only short but it showed the character collecting her research. I used this shelf instead of ones in the library as I felt that the library would be too crowded to film in and the room would be too big. I wanted a smaller space to make my audience feel enclosed.

Location 3 - Underpass

 This location of an underpass was used for the scene where the main character encounters the supernatural being. The location gives off an ambient feel as it is quite a confined space, with dark corners to make the audience feel unsafe. This location has a lot of lights, making it easier to film as I didn't need to take any extra lighting equipment with me. The location gave off enough light so that the character could be seen, but also not too much light that it looks strange for a horror trailer.

 I think that this location gives off the right contrast between low key lighting which is essential to the genre, but also enough light so that the images are clear. I chose an underpass for the meeting scene as it is quite eerie and gives off a claustrophobic vibe. It also has a long pathway meaning that the character was able to see the creature from a distance, making the audience feel uneasy as it is not clearly shown what the creature is. The dark colours of the scene also help to create the desired atmosphere as the grey of the concrete and the dark of the end of the underpass are typical colours of a horror setting.

Location 1 - Bedroom

I chose this location for the sequence where the main character is describing her dreams. I thought that I would show her having the nightmare using this fairly ordinary setting, to show that the character comes from an ordinary background. This is also the setting of when the main character is having the nightmare. The room had plenty of space for me to get a good shot of the character, so that it was apparent to the audience where she is.

Location 2 - Kitchen

This location was used at the beginning of the trailer where the main character is looking out of the window, and also when the main character is watching the news report. I chose a kitchen as a setting as it shows the character going about a normal routine in a typical daily setting, showing the equilibrium. I thought this would be a fitting place for the equilibrium to be disrupted with the news report, showing that the character's normal world has been changed.

Prop List

Here is the prop list for my film trailer. This will help me to make sure that on each date I will have the appropriate props and I will not forget any whilst filming.

News Scene
Table
Papers

Library Scene
Book
Table
Chair
Computer

Underpass Scene
Camera phone

Chase Scene
Gun

From my storyboard I can see that I don't need many props, but it it still important to plan out what I need on what day so that I don't forget anything important.

Health & Safety Grid

Organizing Dates for Filming

When I was planning dates to shoot my film trailer I had to consider different things such as when I was available to film, when all of my cast members were available to film and when the location would be available for use.

I started out by choosing some initial dates that I could use, and got in contact with my cast members to see if they were available. I have put pictures of the conversations below:

I then took these dates and checked them with local weather reports. I saw what the weather was going to be like throughout the day and picked certain times so that I would not be caught in the rain. This would have made filming outside a difficulty and also filming at the underpass more difficult as you would be able to hear the rain in the background.

Finally I chose specific times depending on weather and time and put together a plan of which scenes to film when according to availability of location and time of day, as some scenes needed to be shot at night.

Filming Schedule

Distribution of my Film Trailer

Successful Horror Trailer - Paranormal Activity

Here I will be showing some trailers from horror films that were very successful at the box office.

Paranormal Activity was a highly successful film and it's trailer was quite unique. This trailer uses common conventions by using shots from throughout the film to summarize the narrative and show some of the most tense moments. However, this trailer also uses unconventional techniques such as showing the audience's reaction to the film alongside some of the more intense clips of the film. They used the audience's reaction to create a more creepy atmosphere as we can see how everyday people react to the film, rather than just guessing how good the film will be from clips of the film. This is a great advertising technique as it shows people how others reacted to it, showing how scary the film is,  and convincing more people to go and see it. This trailer was successful as it drew the audience in with the audience reaction and the clips of the film, with the increasing pace and cliffhangers.

In my trailer I will aim to use the pacing techniques seen here in order to maintain the audience's interest and lead up to a suspenseful ending in order to make the film appealing and make people want to go and see it.

Test Shots

Location Shots

Animatic

Storyboard

Representation Theory

My Audience Research

LIIAR Analysis 2 - Sinister Trailer

This 2012 American horror film follows a true-crime writer who finds a cache of 8mm home movie films that suggest the murder he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose career dates back to the 1960s. The film follows him as he tries to uncover the truth of the tapes whilst protecting his family. 

Language - This film uses a lot of low key lighting to connote the darkness of the themes within the film. This combined with the use of empty space within the set leaves the audience constantly looking in the shadows. The film uses this well as the antagonist is known for being hidden in the background, and so this use of light and space keeps you in suspense throughout the film.Even during the scenes which are set in the middle of the day the set is still dark and gloomy, despite there being daylight outside. It is like the family are living within a shadow. There are also a lot of small and confined spaces such as the attic and the office. The protagonist does not really leave the house until the end of the film, and so the audience ends up feeling quite trapped within the same small environment. 

Ideology - There is a very clear message in this film about the importance of family and how you treat them. The main character is constantly uprooting his family, moving them from pillar to post for his own selfish needs. He constantly ignores his daughter who wants to interact with him, but he locks himself away in his room separate from the rest of his family. He lies to his wife and never listens to what she says, even though she in concerned for the families safety. This does not bother him and he insists that they stay so he can chase his dreams of becoming a writer. Even though his son has night terrors and becomes disruptive at school because of the things he's seen in his dad's study, he still does not give them any thought. This eventually leads to their demise as they are killed by the daughter who has clearly been mislead by the antagonist after she is neglected by her family.

Institution - This film was produced by Alliance Films and distributed by Summit Entertainment who distribute a lot of horror films.. It was written and directed by Scott Derrickson who has directed 8 films, all of them horror/sci-fi films including the very popular "Deliver us from Evil" and "The day the earth stood still".

Audience - This film has and age rating of 15 immediately ruling out anyone under this age. I feel like this film would appeal to a younger audience as when it came out the trailer promoted the scare-factor, making it appealing to young people. However it does feature Ethan Hawke playing the main character so there is a chance that it could also appeal to a slightly older audience who would recognise and be appealed to the actor.

Representation - The film represents punishment. It is about punishing the father for his selfish behaviour. This could be seen as re-enforcing Christian values as selfishness is a sin in this religion. The antagonist is seen to be an interpretation of the devil who misleads the young daughter, and as the parents pay her no attention they do not help to lead her back down the right path, and inevitably the whole family ends up being punished for their selfish ways. The main character is represented as selfish and focused on his work. Even at the point where he has to choose between his family and his work, he chooses the work. He has a helper throughout the film in the form of a young deputy police officer. He is represented as the calm advice giver as he initially overwhelmed to meet the main character, he then proceeds to give him advice and eventually solve the murders before the main character, warning him of what is going to happen next. He is a warning to the main character and can be seen as the good character who tries to save the protagonist from their selfish ways, but it inevitably too late. The other officer is initially represented negatively as in the beginning of the film as he insults the protagonist who the audience initially wants to stand up for. However as the film goes on we soon see that he was right all along and our impression of him changes from good to bad.

LIIAR Analysis 1 - As Above, So Below

As Above, So Below is a 2014 American found footage horror set in the catacombs of Paris, France. It has an age rating of 15 and was directed by John Erick Dowdle. It was produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Universal Pictures.

The films sees British Scarlett Marlowe, a young alchemy scholar who is searching for the legendary "philosopher's stone", a mythological mineral which can grant eternal life. After finding the rose key in a cave in Iran, she travels to Paris where she enlists the help of her ex-lover who already knew about her work, as well as a crew of cameramen and an underground guide who knows the area well. During their expedition their passage is blocked and they have to work though the caves and tunnels to reach the outside word again, yet on their way they pass through the gates to hell, and unexpected things start to happen as their past comes back to haunt them.

Language - The film uses a lot of low key lighting in order to connote the darkness and the danger of the place that the characters are in. As the characters descend deeper into the catacombs, the lighting of the set becomes darker, with the characters headlamps going off one by one. The use of colour is also very important, as the set starts to take on an orange-red hue, colours which connote danger. Later on in the film, the characters enter Hell. The audience can tell this as there is fire around them, which is associated with the fiery depths of Hell. They also meet a dark hooded figure which chases the character through Hell. This character is very similar to the grim reaper with the costume, connoting death to the characters.

Ideology - The ideology in this film re-enforces Christian values. The film shows a group of people who all travel down into Hell, and in order to escape must repent for the bad things they have done and regret. The film portrays the message that no one is perfect, and all people have done something wrong in life. It also shows that you must show regret and accept the wrong things you have done in order to escape from Hell. The film also carries the message of facing up to past regrets, and moving on from events accepting the past for what it is.

Institution - This film was produced by Legendary Pictures, a major production company. The company usually focuses on actions films rather than horror, however it has produced a diverse range of genres. It was directed by John Erick Dowdle, who also wrote the film. He has written and directed his other 6 films, which were all horror/thriller.

Audience - The film is rated at 15 so people under this age are automatically rejected as part of the target audience. As the main protagonist is a female, this might make the film more appealing to women, however the film is a horror which has a wider audience of men than women.

Representation - The film represents punishment. This is achieved through the characters as they are faced with their past regrets, where they must repent for what they have done in order to escape from Hell. Failing to do this results in a traumatic and violent death, with no hope of escape. This is clear as the emotions of the characters are very exaggerated in order to match the extreme circumstances that they are in. The main protagonist is represented as a strong character as she is the person who commissioned the expedition, and when faced with difficulties she was the only character who wanted to continue, and convinced the other characters to follow her. She is presented as a strong leader as she can convince people who originally did not want to join her on the expedition to come along and help her. Each time a problem occurs during the film she manages to calm the group down and work out what to do next. It is this character who eventually figures out what is happening and how the characters can escape from Hell. The main French character Papion is initially presented as a strong character through his rebellious behavior, coming across as confident as he brags about how he can get into any cave or part of the catacombs. However, later on in the film this changes as he is reluctant to go down a certain part of the tunnel following an incident in the past where he lost his friend down there, saying that people who go in do not come back out. He then proceeds to become more disturbed throughout the events of the film, and he is strongly effected changing from being a strong character to a weaker one. In the film Hell is represented as a place of death where peoples nightmares come alive. During the film the characters are haunted by their memories from the past and forced to suffer, showing Hell as an evil and torturous place.

Trailer Timings 2

Trailer Timings (Structure)

Annabelle (2014) 

0-4 secs - Warner Bro's logo

4-5 secs - establishing shot of house 

6-8 secs - shot introducing the character

8-12 secs - MCU of character

12-14 secs - mid shot of character

14-16 secs - second character is introduced

16-17 secs - MCU of character

17-20 secs - MCU of characetrs
20-22 secs - CU of doll
22-27 secs - LS of character and doll
27-29 secs - putting doll on shelf
30-32 secs - black screen
32-34 secs - text
34-35 secs - establishing shot of house
36-51 secs - tracking shot of bed/murder
52-55 secs - characters wake up
55-56 secs - blank screen
56-57 secs - character opens door
57-59 secs - character goes to investigate
59-1 min - blank screen
1:00-1:13 - woman dressing and walking through room
1:14-1:15 - shadowy figure in doorway
1:15-1:25 - woman backing into room
1:26 - blank screen
1:27 - flickering clip of murderer
1:28 - flickering clip of character
1:29 - flickering CU of knife
1:29-1:30 - flickering clip of murderer
1:31 - blank screen
1:32-1:34 - clip of woman against wall
1:34-1:37 - titles
1:38-1:40  - zoom in on doll
1:40-1:43 - titles
1:44-1:49 - close up of blood drop
1:50-1:54 - main title
1:54-2:00 - blank screen
2:01-2:10 - doll in rocking chair
2:11-2:17 - credits

Film Trailer Narrative Structure (Evil Dead 2013)

Levi Strauss - The binary oppositions in this film are good Vs evil. The protagonist (good) releases the evil antagonist through a book, and is consequently chased by the evil entity. The narrative follows the protagonist as they try to overcome the antagonist, and reach a state of re-equilibrium.

Laura Mulvey - The male gaze theory cannot really be applied to this trailer as the female characters are not dressed provocatively, and are not dressed up to appeal to a male audience. There is not any emphasis on the female body or on the sexuality of the female characters.

Todorov - The theory of equilibrium shows the progression of a narrative, and the journey of the protagonist. This trailer, unusually, starts with disruption, which is usually seen half way through the trailer. The disruption is immediately made apparent the character announcing that the main characters are unsafe. A threat is presented by the character. This is followed by a clip of the disruption first occurring through a character reading a passage from a book. Although we have not yet seen the antagonist, the chase sequences and dialogue make it apparent that they are there. The antagonist is then shown for the first time. Another clip of the disruption is then shown as the character is seen being trapped in the woods and changed into evil. More disruption is then seen as the antagonist attacks the characters. Subsequent shots show the characters trying to defeat the evil and cause re-equilibrium, however this state is never shown in order to make the trailer more tempting. 

The History of the Medium

Nosferatu (1922)

Nosferatu was a horror film released in 1922 by German director F.W. Murnau.  It was a silent film, and is considered to be one of the earliest and most influential horror films. An adaptation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula", the company who made the film (Film Arts Guild) were sued, and ordered to destroy all copies due to copyright infringement. However, one copy survived and the film went on to become very famous, regarded as an influential film of early cinema.

One of the reasons that this film was so iconic was the way that it used conventions. It was one of the first films that used the now recognizable conventions which make the film easily identifiable as horror. These conventions include the use of low key lighting, shadows of figures and the use of make-up to create a supernatural being.  

[A clip from Nosferatu where a shadowy figure is seen slowly climbing the stairs]

The image of Nosferatu was used in NAZI Germany during the second world war. The NAZI's used the image to portray Jews in propaganda messages. This was used as the image was seen to scare people as it looked threatening and un-human, giving a negative image. This shows how well the Nosferatu character was portrayed in the film, as the audience had a clear understanding that the character was a threat to the protagonist, even before the character was fully shown on screen.  

Some Initial Plot Ideas

Idea 1 - Group of people go to investigate an asylum where strange things have been happening. They find that the patients had revolted against the abusive staff. Ghosts of the dead patients haunt anyone who tries to stay there overnight. Havoc ensues.

Idea 2 - 2 brothers in car crash. One survives other ends up in coma. One in coma is roaming around as a spirit, he realises he is in a coma but cannot communicate with anyone. He is stalked by a reaper who is trying to persuade him to give up and die but he manages to communicate with a brother through a ouija board. Will the brother save him or end up getting trapped himself?

Idea 3 - Man who used to be a serial killer named the "human hunter" was executed. Now the forest where the prison was where he died is haunted by him and he will try to kill anyone who dare enter the forest!!

The Voiceover

One of the main conventions of a film trailer is the voice over. This can be performed either by a narrator or by one of the film characters. The voice over has many functions such as :

• Helping the audience to make sense of the narrative by giving background information such as the setting of the film or character introduction.  
• They introduce the stars of the film as they appear on screen.
• Gives information about other important personnel such as the director, and gives examples of well known previous works.
• Sets the tone of the film by using an up-beat voice for a comedy film or a deep voice for an action film etc. 
• Summaries the story in around 5-8 lines re-enforcing the action on the screen without spoiling the film. This helps to build tension and make the film more appealing.

The voice over is arguably one of the most important parts of the trailer, creating tension as the music and story of the trailer progresses. The voice over in horror films is usually voiced by one of the protagonists of the film, with clips of dialogue taken from the film and ordered to give a back story or introduce characters during the trailer. Another convention in horror film trailers is to have the voice over reading a poem or something to do with the plot, in order to create tension, but a direct voice over where the narrator talks about the actors of the film is not normally used in a horror film trailer.
This is a good technique, and I am planning to have a narrator reading a poem on my trailer as I feel that this would be a great way to create tension, as well as connote my plot to the audience.   

Horror Film Survey

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Cinema Previews

Another way for film trailers to be distributed is to be shown before another film in the cinema previews. This is a great way to get the trailer seen by the target audience. The film trailer will be shown before films or the same genre or certification, in order for it to be shown to the audience who is most likely to go and see the film. This saves money by showing it directly to the audience that it will appeal to, rather than showing it on TV where it is shown to a general audience. I would show my trailer before films that are of a horror/action/supernatural genre, and are a certificate 15. This is because my film will be quite scary and gory, leading to a 15 certificate, but not so much that it will need to be an 18.

Internet Distribution

The internet is a great platform which companies can use to distribute film trailers. Websites such as "Internet Movie Database" (IMDb), "YouTube" and official film websites have made it easier for companies to get their footage seen around the world, without having to pay for TV advert time. This also allows for different trailers to be released on the same platform or website. This means that a green band trailer (suitable for all ages) can be released alongside red band trailers (Suitable for over 18's). This increases the audience reach for the company, increasing the success of the film overall. This also means that the companies can get their trailers seen by audiences in countries where TV advertising is not possible. Online forums can also be used to get the audience to talk about the film, increasing anticipation for it. The options for the audience to comment on videos and keep up to date with the release via social network all enable the audience to engage with the film before it's release. Viral marketing campaigns are often used by companies to gain awareness for the film and generate interest from a mass audience.  

    

Film Trailer Distribution

Basic Plot Outline

Genre - Supernatural horror
Binary oppositions - Good V's Evil

• Equilibrium is introduced - The protagonist is shown  in the normal world.
• Disruption - Protagonist sees news report about the body of a girl being found in the woods near their house.
• Protagonist goes to crime scene whilst out walking. They stop to look and see a shadowy figure in the background of the taped off area.
• Protagonist starts to be followed, starts to get paranoid, he is being followed by shadowy figure.
• One night looks out of window and sees a girl, pale and covered in blood stood in the middle of the deserted street.
• Ends up with protagonist and dead spirit meeting, they try to kill it but she takes revenge by killing protagonist. 

Narrative Theories

 Tim O'Sullivan believed that all media texts produce a narrative. He believed that to make a narrative, a story and a plot both had to be present in the text. Story+Plot = Narrative. He believed that the story is made up of what is inferred (what happens),  the plot is what is presented by the text (how we are shown what happens) and that these added with non-diegetic material produced a narrative. The diegesis of a text is the fictional world where the narrative occurs.
Tim believed that narratives offer a set of ideas of us as a society, and how we are represented. This is why we find narratives interesting. Tim also argued that the narrative had to have a degree of verisimilitude (how real/true the story is). 

Tzvetan Todorov's theory of equilibrium can be used to back up the statement: "Linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution." His theory for narrative structure explains how a narrative starts with a state of equilibrium, where the protagonist and antagonist are in their own diegesis and everything is in balance. The "enigma" occurs in the next stage of the narrative, which Tzvetan labels as a state of disruption. This disruption is often where the meeting of the protagonist and antagonist occurs. This then leads to the next stage which is the quest. This is the main [art of the narrative where the protagonist tries to overcome the obstacle which is the disruption. This overcoming then leads to the final stage of the theory, which is where a state of re-equilibrium is found as the diegesis and protagonist are back to the normal balance.

Claude Levi Strauss  came up with the theory of binary oppositions. He claimed that within a narrative, either the protagonists or the protagonist and antagonist are binary opposites. Examples of these oppositions are good V's evil, black V's white, rich V's poor etc. This opposition helps to fuel the narrative and give the audience a clear indication of which characters are fighting for which cause.

Introduction to Genre

A genre is a category which helps the audience to identify a product based on common elements and conventions. This has become popular over the past 30 years with the rise of TV and home entertainment meaning that films became available outside of the cinema with inventions such as the VCR, meaning that people could rent and watch films. The new generation are now the most media literate generation there has ever been. As they have grown up surrounded by media texts, they can identify genres very easily, and link conventions to a genre.

Steve Neil came up with a theory for genre. He argued that "Genres are not 'systems' they are a process of systematization." This means that genres evolve over time, they are dynamic and as people push the conventions of a genre, it changes and becomes more popular, eventually becoming a common and recognizable element of the genre.
Steve says that a genre can be identified through -

• costume
• setting
• props
• weapons
• transport
• narrative     

Following Steve's outline you can easily identify a genre and apply it to most films. However, following this method shows that films which may be regarded as a certain genre by most people, is not recognized by Steve. For example, according to Steve Neil comedy would not be a genre as this outline cannot be applied to it. In addition to these, a genre can also be recognized through

• mise-en-scene
• narrative types
• character types
• production studios
• editing styles

Films have to change in order to keep the audience interested, but they still have to keep recognizable conventions so that the audience can still identify with the text. This means that genres can change slowly over time but are still recognizable, and can be compared to films of the same genre from the past.  

Conventions Research

There are many key conventions of film trailers which make them effective to the audience. These are used in the majority of film trailers, and I will try to utilise these in my trailer. The most common conventions are :

• Voiceovers explaining the basic story and giving information
• A clip of each of the stars to pull in the audience
• Subtitles or words on the screen giving information about the setting or story
• Clips of conversation between characters to outline the story
• A range of camera angles used to make the trailer more exciting
• Action builds with the increasing pace of the film
• Music creates an atmosphere giving an idea of the genre
• The film title appears at the end of the trailer after all the action
• A montage is often used to highlight the most important or dramatic parts of the film  

Structural Conventions

A film trailer is often structured around the most exciting parts of the film without giving away too much of the plot. These clips will be chosen in order to attract the widest possible audience, with a basic narrative structure. This structure will most commonly be as follows:

• Opening - A few clips to establish the setting and mood of the film, and introduce the main character(s).
• Build up - A development of the characters, giving more information about them and the place they are set in. 
• Problem - A dilemma is presented where the characters are faced with an obstacle to overcome. There may be one problem or a few, depending on the genre.
• Events - A series of events are shown of the characters struggle to overcome these obstacles and solve problems. The pace of the film builds and is usually left on a small cliffhanger in order to attract the audience into seeing the full film.   

Successful A2 Film Trailer Example

This film trailer got an A* as it is a very successful film trailer. It uses many good qualities such as continuity editing and a good range of clips. It makes the genre and plot of the story clear to the audience, without giving too much of the plot away. The reason it was so successful is because it has a good structure and achieves it's purpose. Firstly the sound in conventional and matches the pace of the trailer. When the text comes up it fits to the music, which is very conventional and something that I want to achieve in my trailer.

This A2 trailer is of the same genre as my own, and so I can get most of the inspiration from this. This trailer achieved a grade A and met it's aims well. It had a good explanation of the back story which acted as a set up for the trailer. They used conventional characters such as young girls as ghosts which is a very common convention. The use of music is good and the editing to make the colours darker really crates a scary ambience. This would be a good technique to use in my video.    

This last trailer got the lower grade of the 3, grade B. Although this is still good I think that it was not as successful as the other trailers as elements such as the sound and camera angles were not as competent. For example there are some parts where the music just stops or the camera is shaky, making it look less professional. This would be something to avoid in my trailer in order to achieve a higher grade.

Audience Profile

Here is my audience profile. Here I can put together and see what my target audience is like, what existing products appeal to them and what is popular with the age group.

My target audience is young people as people aged from 15-18 and 19-24 make up the majority of horror film audiences. Although the genre is popular with both genres, it is less popular with females. I aim to challenge this and make a film that will appeal to both genders.

This mood board shows some of the popular items that people in my age group would buy or use. I can see from this that my audience use a lot of social media and web 2.0. This provides a great platform for me to show my trailers and get them to the target audience. It also means that the audience can stay connected to my product and get updates and news, creating hype leading up to the release of the film. My target audience also attend the cinema frequently and visit DVD stores, meaning that it would be very effective for me to reach the target audience through theatrical trailers shown in the cinema and posters put up in DVD stores.      

Horror Genre, Conventions and Audience Research

Film Trailer Research

I began my project by researching the definition and purpose of film trailers in order to understand how they work and what I will need to achieve in order to make my trailer successful.

The definition of a film trailer is "A short promotional film for a forthcoming feature film. By showing significant and exciting moments with fast cutting, dramatic music and an intense commentary. It aims to create a need and desire in the audience to see the film."

A film trailer has to do many things in a very short time in order to promote the film well. These include:

• making the film seem exciting and interesting
• raising the expectations of the film for the audience
• promoting the stars of the film
• making the genre of the film obvious
• generating interest in the characters
• outlining the story/plot without giving too much away
• highlighting the main action and dramatic scenes
• showcasing the USP of the film
• highlighting members of the production team such as directors

Plan

Brief
Genre research
History of the genre
Audience demographic and psycho-graphic profile
Codes and conventions
Narrative theories
Deconstruction of media texts
Production Plan
Script and synopsis
Storyboard
Animatic
Location report
Test Shots
Casting
Costumes
Health and safety assessment
Prop list and final locations
Shoot first draft
Edit first draft
Codes and conventions of ancillary texts
Plan ancillary texts
Draft ancillary texts
Final edit of film trailers
Evaluation

Mark Scheme (Planning)

Marks out of a total of 20
Minimal 0-7 Basic 8-11 Proficient 12-15 Excellent 16-20

• research into similar products and potential target audience
• organisation of actors, locations, costumes and props
• shortlists, layouts drafting, scripting and storyboarding
• time management
• presentation of the research and planning
• use of digital technology and ICT presentation
• communication skills

Each area is marked as Minimal/basic/proficient/excellent 

A2 Coursework Project Brief

For my A2 coursework I have decided to chose the following brief:

 A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:

•a website homepage for the film;

•a film magazine front cover, featuring the film;

•a poster for the film. 

I will be completing the two options of a film magazine front cover and a poster for the film.

The genre of my film will be a hybrid of horror/action. I will create 3 trailers, one which is 2 minutes long, one which is 30 seconds long and one which is 15 seconds long. 

Different Music Videos

Brief - Select 5 different music videos of different genres.

1. Health - "Tears"
I liked this video because it is very unique and adds a story to the music playing.
The video is quite graphic which goes with the heavy style of the music, however this may cause some people to feel uncomfortable and only appeal to a niche audience.

2.Storm Queen - "Look right through"
This video is good as it is full of quirky and interesting scenes that keep the audience entertained throughout the duration of the song. It follows a lose story-line but in other places is completely random and does not go particularly well with the music.

3. Toro Y Moi - "So many details"

This video is good as it follows a basic plot which changes locations in order to get a wide variety of shots and keep the audience entertained.

4. Bring me the horizon - "Can you feel my heart"
I like the video as it goes well with the lyrics and the style of the music.

Eminem - "Without Me"

I like this video as it is funny and upbeat to match the song. It follows a basic plot with some extra scenes for extra humor.

Music Video Evaluation

Overall I think that our video re-make was very successful. As a team we worked well to get the correct shots needed and didn't have to go back to film extra scenes. We managed to get all the necessary shots and edit them together in the same order as the original video.

I think that the group worked well to overcome problems such as pinning up backdrops and creating smoke for the shot with the smoking clock. We came together as a team and tried our hardest to re-create the props and mise-en-scene as the original video, paying extra attention the props in the background. We also took care when framing each shot in order to get it as close to the original as possible. We also worked well as a team in post-production editing the footage so that the shots were in time with the music and of similar length to the shots in the original video. We also managed to edit an image of a crowd at the end of the video which we figured out and edited as a team, and it made the video look better than before.

However, we could have made this video better by taking more time to set up proper lighting, improving the quality of the video, as some scenes in the final video were too dark and the quality was diminished. We could also have improved by spending more time finding locations, as the locations used were not the same as in the original video, and I think that we could have found better locations with more time and planning. But overall our team worked well to plan, shoot and edit the video, and the result was a video which is similar to the original and well put together. I am very pleased with the end product.

Final Video