Equipment

For the filming process we plan to use a couple of pieces of equipment.

A Video Camera & Tripod:

For the actual filming process, the camera will be used to film the desired scene, and the tripod will be used in order to get some of the shots that we want to, featured in the planning e.g. panning shot. The film footage will then be uploaded to a computer for the trailer production.

Computer:

This will be used for the editing, and trailer construction. I will use video editing software to do this such as Windows movie maker or, adobe premiere. The final trailer will then be turned into a video file and uploaded to the blog.

Poster Plan

Here is my plan for my poster. Very simple layout that is easy to produce, colours and fonts are undecided but the basic structure is there.

Much like previously analysed posters, the website address will be featured at the bottom, but will set itself apart from the colour scheme that I will choose.

Location Shots

Here are shots that we took for the location in which we plan to film. Each shot represents an area that we looked the like of and may well be implemented in the filming process. All photos were shot in Branksome woods.

Storyboard

This is the opening shot, this is used to set a scene for the audience, it also gives a background story about the text they are about to see, it is set out in a professional cinematic way, this increases the realism and draws the audience closer in, and as this is a hand-held production the close the audience are the better.

This is just a secondary introduction shot just to give a clear indication that this and the shot before were an simply an introduction and this one is used to give a clear barrier between the introduction and the actual filmed footage.

As mystery and confusion are two common aspects often exploited in the horror genre we though we would try to include them in our trailer, in this shot there is a mysterious stone object in the distance is being hand-held filmed by the main character, who's voice can be heard saying "What the f**k is that?" this shows that the character is confused and scared by the mysterious object and it is clearly not what he expected to see at the location he was at that particular time.

This is an effective way of addressing our audience as it shows some mystery in the trailer, hopefully this will make them want to find out what the mystery is and how it is resolved, this will make them want to see the actual film itself and that is exactly what a trailer is supposed to do.

The point of this endorsement is that it is (in theory) from a trusted source and proves to the audience that this film has been given approval by an impartial third party, and if this third party is one that the audience feel that they can trust their opinion of the text will be more positive.

Also this shot has a filter effect over a panning shot of the location of the film, this is used to keep continuity of the trailer which is important to the audience as they need to receive a proffesional impression from the trailer.

This is simply used to show the audience who produced the film and hopefully encourage them to research the directors who produced this text, also if any of the members are fans of these directors it could make them more likely to see the film.

It is also a typical convention of a lot of film promotional trailers to include the directors name or brand somewhere in the text. This increases the professional style of the trailer.

This shot is used to clearly show the audience that this is a hand-held production. But furthermore it shows another theme carried through our text which is terror, here we show one of the characters running and screaming with another running behind, this shows that they are clearly running from something and that there is a fear of some kind of mysterious entity, this will make the audience want to find out more.

We did this shot so that the audience felt a close personal link with the main character as well as get a final clear impression of the genre by clearly showing the terror in the characters facial expressions, deep breathing and by what he is actually saying.

Once again another endorsement by a third party, as this is a trailer for a horror film this endorsement is particularly powerful as it lets the audience know that it is "a reminder of what really scares us" if the audience are fans of the horror genre, and going by our audience profile, they are then this will further increase their interest in seeing the film, this is the whole point of the trailer.

This was a shot we had seen in many hand-held horror genre films and trailers. Basically the character is running whilst holding the camera to their own face, although no actual words are uttered the message conveyed is very powerful and that is of terror and that the character is either hurrying away from or hurrying to some sort of mysterious entity and leaves the audience wanting to know exactly what it is.

This gives a tiny glimpse of the mysterious entity that has been ongoing throughout the trailer that has caused the terror and lets the audience know that it is a human-shaped figure but not who they are, once again hooking the audiences interest by leaving them with mystery.

This is how conventionally most trailers are ended and just gives a name to the text and will help the audience remember the trailer they have just seen and hopefully leave a lasting impression.

This is followed by a link to the website which is a way of letting the audience find out more and gives us more of a canvas to promote the film to the audience and will hopefully contain information that the audience will find interesting as well as this due to recent technological advances almost every film produced has a promotional website made about it so therefore has become a typical convention and I believe would be something that audience would expect.

Basis for film trailer

With my trailer, I want it to come across as very fast paced, and next to no continuity throughout.

This trailer for Cloverfield incorporates both of those ideas. As stated in the Research section, this Trailer gave off an action / hollywood style feel. We do not want our trailer to give off the same impression, but I like how the trailer came across to me. Despite it's obvious big budget and special effects, it still felt fairly realistic to me, and that's what I want my final trailer to feel like. The Cloverfield trailer gives off a very mixed impression to our audience. With our media package being very broad, and using a diverse range of medium for promotion, it would make sense to spur some interest with a trailer. Following on from this, our audience will then want to explore further into the films back story, cast etc.

Edits

This trailer makes good use of quick and fade edits. This keeps the pace fast throughout, and lets the audience know that because of the use of a lot of clips, that the story is a deep one, which will need to be seen to be understood. I plan to use a multitude of clips that will be used together to try and give off a visual synopsis of what the film is about.

Sound

This trailer makes fantastic use of both diegetic & non-diegetic sound. There is the loud effects of the film that have been turned up to high volume for dramatic effect (an example being the crash of the head from the statue of liberty). Also between clips, there as sound effects such as loud thuds, that will allow the viewer to partition the clips from one another. I will use sound effects in my trailer, along with intense sound throughout, to make sure that the tone stays serious throughout.

Lighting

This trailer looks like it made use of both normal lighting, and studio lighting. Our trailer will include all natural lighting, that will be on location. Reason being, we want to feel as if our film was an actual event that happened, so we do not want the lighting to look as if it isn't natural.

Length

The trailer for Cloverfield clocks in at about 2:00 minutes. We plan to make our trailer about half the length of this. Reason being, our trailer will act as more of a teaser. At the end, we will put a website address, which will be for our film. This is where most of the information concerning our film will be held. Our audience are predominantly teenagers, who we now know make constant use of the internet for finding out about the latest films.

Basis for film poster

This poster for the film "Jacobs Ladder" is where I will draw inspiration from, for the creation of my film poster. It hosts several typical conventions that I plan to incorporate into my own.

Colours
The poster uses a blend of red, white and black colours, which in co-operation with each other become very effective. The use of Red suggests the idea of anger, blood, redemption, things that are associated with the horror genre. The use of black suggests a dark underlying theme to the film, with a white face in the middle that has been blurred, to suggest that the character is trying to escape but he can not. The font colour for the tagline comes across as very bold, with it being white on a black background.

Images
One central image is shown, of a mans face as he appears to be screaming and almost struggling because of the picture being blurred. This suggests a large amount of things to the audience. From this image they can understand the fact that the film will be about the protagonist (given away through the film title, photo, and tagline) also the fact that the film will be scary and because you can see the image of the man looking at something, that there will be some sort of binary opposition. (Good Vs Evil)

Fonts
The poster makes use of normal fonts to give off a serious tone towards the audience. The poster would not have the same affect if the fonts, were the centre piece of the poster. As much emphasis as possible has been put on the image of the man in the middle, the fonts are there, to merely inform, not attract.

Poster Shots

Here are a number of images that I took that will possibly be used for the basis of my film poster. As you can see they all incorporate a black & white tone, and are shots of various locations in a local woods. The reason being because I wanted the idea of positioning the audience into getting an idea for the setting and concept of our film, but not giving an plot give-aways. A definitive example of this would be if I had a photo of a character, with a shadowed figure behind

him, in a shot of the woods. This is immediately showing our audience what to expect when they got to see this film: a cat and mouse chase in a woodland setting. I want to do the opposite, and give our audience as little knowledge as possible, and is done by the use of hardly any iconography, natural lighting as shown below, and no central point of the photo itself.

Location

For our trailer we have chosen our location in a Forest.

Reason being, in a setting such as this, it is a lot easier to convey horror conventions (e.g Isolation, fear etc.) and is a common stereotypical setting among horror films.

We have chosen Branksome Woods as our primary area to film in. It's easy to gain access to, and there are a lot of potential filming locations to choose from within it.

Iconography is there as well, with large trees and bushes, as well as dark surroundings and odd peices of man made structues (an example being the stone arch that is featured in our trailer)

Many horror films in recent years have utilized the setting of a forest, great examples being:

- The Blair Witch Project
- Cabin Fever
- Shrooms

Script

This our script. There is not much dialogue in our trailer, the bits that are, were mostly improvised, we wanted to keep the realism factor apparent, so audiences would not feel that the scenes were scripted.

First Scene

Male character: "What the **** is that?!"
(Referring to sighting in the woods)

Second Scene

*Running through woods*

Female Character: *Scream*

Third Scene

Male Character: *Holding camera up to his face in dark woods with light on face* "I'm so scared, I don't even know whats happening"

Fourth Scene

*Running through woods*
*Fall to floor*

Male Character: *Muffeled Scream*

Audience Profile

Our target audience is largely students between the ages of 16 - 18 because these were the people that were asked to complete my questionnaire.

From my findings it showed that our audience were very keen on the Horror and Action genre with them being the two most popular choices. Also the two places that my audience watched films were at home and in the cinema. With the majority of my audience saying that they watch Trailers before seeing a film, this helps as the bulk of our promotional package will be our Trailer.

Another thing I noticed was how our audience find out about films. It seems that their source ofinformation about upcoming films comes from the Internet, and film Trailers themselves.

Also in terms of uses and gratifications our audience are looking for specific things in horror movies, the top choices were "Parts that make you jump" and "Gore." This is good because our Trailer will be based on shock tactics with the use of a handheld camera and a realistic tone throughout.

Overall is seems our audience will be relatively young with a liking for exciting genres. Also our audience have an expectation of stereotypical conventions of horror films, and find out about the latest films primarily on the internet. This allows us to try and base most of our promtional activites on our website and Trailer.

Question I am attempting

The question my and my partner are attempting is question number two:

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

Out of the three, me and my partner will be producing a poster and a website.