Developing Ideas

As I have started to film parts of my trailer, I discovered that my storyboard was not as strong as I thought and to make my trailer the best it can be I need to add in different scenes and make my narrative stronger. From filming, I have been able to shot good scenes which I think will work in my trailer. Other shots I have taken were not as good and need to be re shot or improved. To do this I need to brainstorm new ideas. Below are ideas I have came up with to include in my trailer.

-Moving away from the idea of a 'Hook man' and moving more towards the idea of a follower. I think this will be better as it is hard to convey the aspect of a Hook man in my trailer with both the limitation of props and the actor that I have chosen.

-The follower will still follow the same story line, however I will add a twist into my story where the person who the followers is stalking, turns out to be following them too. This will help improve my narrative and will allow me to shoot more shots.

As I have been filming, I noticed I have been focusing on more artistic shots rather than the narrative, therefore need to focus on the narrative more.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Poster & Magazine front cover i've took inspiration from

On the left is the teaser poster for the film 'Deliver us From Evil'. I chose this poster to use as inspiration for my first draft of my poster and will be used as inspiration for my final poster too. I decided to use this poster as it had a similar layout to what I had in mind for my poster. This is a teaser poster and although I am creating a main poster I still used the same style for mine. As this is a teaser poster, the date is not included but on my poster the date is. I have added in a credit block and created a suitable title. The image on this poster is of two characters, one being the villain, who are in the film and my poster will include the villain in my film and possibly another character just like this photo. The main colours used in this poster are black, white and green and my poster follows a different colour scheme which is black, red and white.

On the left is the magazine front cover which I chose to take inspiration from. I chose to follow the same layout as this magazine as I felt it was effective and related to the type of layout I wanted to go for with my own magazine. The magazine on the left is a general film magazine whereas the magazine I have created is within the genre horror therefore contains different content but the overall look is similar between the magazine front covers. I have chosen to use the same film magazine producer for my magazine which is in the other magazine. There are aspects of the magazine front cover which I have followed such as where the title and mast head are placed and the barcode.

Draft of first magazine front cover & poster

Camera & Film Workshop

To help with research, our media class went to a camera & Film Workshop. We learnt new information and ideas from someone called Robert Foster who had helped with filming on The Bill and Hollyoaks. The workshop included him explaining his own experiences and giving the group helpful hints on camera work and lighting. He had brought along his own camera which was a high range one which although I will not be using such a advanced camera to film my trailer, the techniques that he showed us were very useful and can help me to produce my horror trailer. We learnt about different ways that lighting can help you to produce the right scene you want such as adding a sheet over the light to make it more balanced and change the perception of what time it is when you're filming. He also told us about positioning for the lighting and how changing it can change how you view the character. With this, he also told us about different techniques with the camera we could use such as positioning it in different ways to show a character being a victim (by filming upwards to the character) or making them a villain (by filming downwards to the character). Over all the work shop was beneficial and helped me for getting prepared for filming. Robert Foster also talked to us about continuety and how this is important to keep a film looking consistent. With my trailer I will need to make sure if I have a scene which I am shooting on different days, I make sure I keep things consistent and looking the same in order for it to not impact my trailer.

Risk Assessment Viewed & Checked

To make sure my risk assessment was ok and everything had been thought about and precautions made, my teacher viewed my risk assessment and gave me feedback. One aspect of my risk assessment which needed to be re thought was the timing. A lot of my shooting time was later in the evening and will probably already be dark therefore I would not be able to film anything as it would be dark. From this I have now changed the timing and moved everything earlier so it's in the evening time therefore it will not be as light but also will not be as dark. Another issue was the fact about filming later at night and being in a location like a woods therefore again, I have made sure all my timings have been moved forward so they're evening time not night time.

Risk Assessment

Scheduling Script

25 Word Pitch

Above is my 25 word pitch which I have created as a YouTube Video to convey my ideas. I have done this in order for the viewers to see what my trailer will include/ a generally idea of what to expect.

Once I had produced my pitch, I then had to show it to my peers to get feedback from and how I can improve. One of the points which I did was show the narrative of the trailer, you found out from the pitch, what the initial ideas and what was going to happen in the trailer from the edited parts of the film. My pitch also showed the genre I was doing, all my peers knew what the genre was by the clips and narrative used within the clip. One part which I wasn't very clear on and need to delve into more is the target audience for my trailer. Within this pitch I have made, there is no clear target audience and this is a very important part into my film. I have already done research into the age restrictions for films and from this, it helped me to choose a age restriction for my trailer which impacts the target audience. My target audience is for older teenagers aged 15+ and also young adults. I have targeted this audience as older teenagers will be able to watch the film by the age restriction and both teens and young adults merely like films which create adrenaline and scare therefore my trailer/film will appeal to them and they will want to watch it, making my trailer a success.

Experimenting with Fonts

I have decided on a name for my trailer which is called 'Hooked'. From this I needed to make sure I included an appropriate font which fit the theme of my trailer. I asked for feedback from my peers about the fonts and asked them to chose their favourite one which would suit my trailer best. 

The first font used is called 'Blood Lust'. The feedback I got from this one is that it is a good font to use for a more violent trailer whereas mine is not like this therefore this font may give the wrong impression  and probably isn't the best suited to my trailer although does fit into the right genre I'm doing. Another person also said that the font looked cartoon like which is not a good impression to give therefore because of this feedback I have decided that the first font will not be used for my trailer.

The second font which I tried was called 'DK Face Your Fears'. I decided to use this one as I feel it fits the theme of my trailer and from just this writing you would be able to tell that the genre of my trailer was a horror. The feedback I got from this font was that it would be good to use as it fits my trailer and the font is different but you are still able to read it. From this feedback I decided to chose this font as the font I would use for my trailer.

The third font I tried was called 'Oh No'. The feedback I got from this was that it was also a good font to use however you can't really tell the difference between this font and the font before therefore the other font is still stronger than this one. As a result of this my decision on what font to choose ended up being the second font I tried out, which is similar to this font.

The last font I tried was called 'Crimes Times Six'. The feedback I got from this was that it was a strong font to use however would be better to include on your poster/magazine rather than the trailer as it would have more impact on a document like that rather than a trailer. From all the feedback I got, it was clear that the feedback I got back says the second font was the best and strongest one and from this I have decided to use this font as I feel it makes my title stand out and looks bold as well as fitting in with the genre I am doing.

Film Title Ideas

-Hooked
-The Forgotten
-Cold Shadow
-666
-The Dark
-Who's there?
-Escape

I started to brain storm some potential film names for my trailer. I want the name to link with the trailer and the specific genre i'm doing and also want it to be  catchy title to gain the interest of my target market and just from the name want people to want to know more about the film or even watch it.

Shooting Script

Coming up with a Company Name

To create my trailer I will need to have a production company in which creates the film. For this I will have to think of a name and all the different aspects which are involved with this. The name I have chosen to use is Dark Ring Productions. Scream time productions will be a small British advertising company that creates mainstream horror films, which will be low budget.

Key Info:

-British, Based in London

-Founded by Kara Lawrie in 2015

-Produces mainstream horror films

-Focuses mainly on horror genre, not various genres

My production company will be in charge of the advertising, meaning the trailer itself, the poster and the magazine front cover. My production company will focus on mainstream horrors, which will be created on a low budget and the company will be independent. 

Possible Logo:

Legal Considerations for Trailer

Engaging Actors:

When creating a film you must make sure that every person involved in acting in your film, signs a contributors release form. This basically gives you the right to use the acting of these people in your film and related marketing. If someone is shown only in a crowd of people or in the background, they do not need to sign a contributors form.


Term of Engagement:

With the terms of the actors and actresses, producers should be entitles to the exclusive services of an actor for a set amount of days/weeks in order to get all the filming done and complete to a standard they want. In addition, the agreement should set out if the actor will be required for rehearsals and wardrobe fittings. With this the producer can sometimes require actors for retakes, post-synchronisation and other post-production services.

Expenses:

The expenses will be the costs in which the producer will be paying for i.e. transport and accommodation.

Credit:

This should state the position of the actor's credit ( start, middle or end) and whether it will appear on a single card in the on-screen credits. It should also state as to whether the actor will be credited on any advertising material.

Health:

Actors will need to give assurance tot he producer that they are not suffering from any injuries, illness and the like which would prevent them from rendering their services and are often expected to engage in hazardous activities during shooting.

Engaging Child Actors:

If you choose to feature a child under the age of 16, you need to make sure they have a license from their local authority. This license will include medical certificate and detailed information on their availability to film. It is the producer of the film who will need to apply for the license from the child's birth certificate and a school letter authorising absence. The license grant must be kept on site at all times.

Location Agreements:

You should find a location manger to help find suitable locations which you are allowed to film on. Even if they;re untrained, it is a good idea to find someone who is willing to take on the responsibility of finding the locations and making sure you can use them. This involves looking around your local area, finding a location that suits your needs and then finding out who owns it and whether they'll let you use it. You should always try to have a location agreement in place before you shoot on anyone's land. Location agreements should allow you to not only film the place but also grant you the right to rehearse and take stills for publicity. Im your film, you may want to call the location a different name, and your agreement should give you the right to do so.

My Trailer:

When I create my trailer I will need to make sure I follow all the requirements in order for my trailer to be done legally. As I do not have any children in my trailer, it makes it easier for me as I will not need to get a concert form or request time from the children's school to take out to film. I will need to make sure that anything I film and produce is within the age range I have chosen to market my trailer at which is a 15. Including anything which is not aloud in 15 films will be against the law. When choosing my locations, I will need to make sure that if any of the places I choose are owned privately by individuals, make sure i ask permission to film and get their consent. With this I can start to film correctly and will have completed all the correct procedures needed to make my trailer.

Research: Cinematography

Before starting to shoot my trailer, I thought it would be best to do research into how to go about it and what techniques would be best for the my horror trailer, I found a really useful site:

http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/cinematography-tips-for-horror-filmmakers/

This site has helped me to think about the different shots, angles and techniques I can use and how to go about filming them. The website has gave me ideas to help me with the different shots I can use to make my trailer more effective. It has also made me aware of different filters I can use to help me with the overall scary effect of the trailer. This research will help me when planning my shooting and scheduling script as I will need to include on these the different shots I will be using and with the help of this research the shot types I use will be more varied and different, initially meaning my trailer will be to a better quality.

Story Board