My first drafts of our film poster

This is my first draft poster for our horror film.
I made this by taking a few photos of Dan (the main character) and then choosing one to put on my poster. The fact that Dan looks tired in the photo is effective because the film is called 'Sweet Dreams'. Also, the way the photo is placed is effective because some of the face is not shown giving the idea that there is more to this character than what you see.
I think the typography is effective because the opagued cloud behind it and the shadow behind the word 'dreams' gives it a dream-like quality. The typography design relates to what is written, making it witty.
In the background, you can just about make out that 'police' is written there, informing the audience that there is an element of crime in the film.
I typed a lot of letters and numbers and opagued them over the background to give the poster a sense of confusion because in the film the murderer is unknown until the end.
The whole poster is in B&W, which is quite effective because the trailer is mostly going to be in film noir. However, I think I will have to add some colour to make it more eye-catching.


Here is the same poster with some colour added. I chose the blue, white and red colour theme because 1. it's set in Britain and is a British film and 2. it's the colours of the police force.
I think this poster looks effective with some colour added because it gives it more depth and the red at the bottom could portray blood. The poster looks more sinister and suggests that this is a horror film despite having 'sweet dreams' as a title.
I quite like the title, however, because it is contrasting to the actual film, which is effective.

Poster Analysis

I looked at this movie poster for ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ because it has a fantasy feel to it. Our film now has aspects of Rapunzel, a fairytale, so our film poster could suggest this somehow. I like the blue colours because it looks creepy and sinister. I like the slight mist because it adds to the atmosphere.
The text in which the title is written is effective because it looks enchanted and like it could be in a fairytale book.
The focal point is the title, which is framed by the arch and the light behind it which grabs the viewer’s attention.
The poster looks interesting because the person is so small and everything around her is really big in comparison which gives the person a sense of inferiority.






I looked at this poster as an idea for our poster because it is also a film based on a fairytale.
I think the colours used are effective because it looks magical and dark with the use of blue. I like the mist because this adds to the fairytale atmosphere.
This has a romantic feel to it as well, with the two characters in the middle. The swords, lightning and boat suggests that this will be an adventure film.
The text used to write the title is appropriate because it looks enchanted and eyecatching.
The focal point is the two characters in the middle. They are looking at the camera so your eyes are drawn to them. There is also a kind of spotlight behind them to really accentuate them. The fact that they are the main focal point suggests that a big part of the movie is going to revolve around these two characters.

Revised Plot

We have decided to change our plot slightly as some of the shots we were planning to use were a bit difficult to film etc. We also have one less person in our group now that Denver is gone and we think that it's best that the plot is altered.

Some of our shots were taken in a tower which was at the firestation. It made us think of Rapunzel, the fairytale. We then played with this idea to think up a contrasting horror film idea based on the fairytale.
Allen Spencer, the 21st century policeman, is the knight in shining armour who is on the case to find the murderer. Throughout the film, you see the sillouette of the murderer. We thought about having the murders taking place in the tower each time so it's like a reoccuring shot in the trailer the whole time.
You also see the unrecognisable murderer attending therapy sessions but when the phsychiatrist, Dr Lauren Avril, starts to figure out what is going on and tries to make the murderer confess, she is killed too.
Tia Smith and Allen Spencer, two collegues in the police force, fall in love whilst working together on the case.
Yet another murder takes place and Allen Spencer is really frustrated that he has not figured anything out by now.
It ends with Tia Smith being dragged up the tower by the murderer. A gun is held to Tia's head but the murderer shoots himself instead. The final twist is that the murderer was Allen Spencer!

Initial Filming

During half term we started filming for our trailer. We went down to the firestation which had a free office that we could use to film some of the clips like the parts with the police and phsychiatrist in. We tried to get a variety of different shots from various angles.

The following weekend, we hired the camera's from the college again to film some of the action scenes. We filmed a chase scene and the shot through the door revealing the murdered parents of Allen Spencer.

After watching our filming back, we realised that we will have to take some more shots and that we may need to revise our plot for our film and trailer.

Here is a video showing some of the clips we took when filming. It also shows some editing practice, like fading to black, overlaying clips etc.

No more Denver :(

We have had some problems with the actors/actresses that we'd have liked to use...
Denver, the original main character (Allen Spencer), is no longer able to participate in our film, which I'm gutted about. However, its ok because Dan has 'volunteered' to fill in. :)

()()
0'', )
// ,,)/

Denver if you're reading this we would like you to know that you have let us down... Even though you can't be in media with us anymore, we expected you to still make, we mean help us, with our trailer! Now we just don't know what to do! What would we have done if Dan had refused to step in??? WE WOULD FAIL... THANK YOU DENVER :P
We have, however, finally forgiven you and would welcome you back into our group anytime... hint hint ;)
love Lisa and Jana :) :) :)

Distribution of our trailer

"One of the UK's leading independant film distributors, Pathe Distribution releases around 20 titles each year, ranging from quality and specialised films to crowd-pleasing mainstream movies and genre titles." - http://www.pathe.co.uk/

I think that Pathe would be a good distributor for our film because our film will be a specialised British film by new directors.

Some films distributed by Pathe include 'The Queen', a major British Film.

A similar film to ours, distributed by Pathe, is The Blair Witch Project (1999). It has the same genre of horror/thriller/mystery. Therefore, we know that Pathe will be a suitable distribution company for our film.

Practice Filming

We practiced some more interesting and advanced filming techniques like jumping over the camera, filming shadows, and experimenting with the use of a reflection in the mirror.
Here is our footage:

The jumping over the camera makes it look like Lisa has jumped down the flight of steps. We filmed it in three shots- Lisa running up to the camera, jumping over the camera, landing and running on.
The use of the reflection in the mirror was quite difficult to film because we had to make sure you could not see the camera in the reflection too.
I like the filming of shadows because it adds a bit of variety. It is also useful for when you do not have realistic looking weapons.
I think that the jumping over the camera looks quite quite effective, however I think we need a bit more practice with that shot to improve.

Shots in our trailer

Here is a detailed table of which shots we are going to try and include in our trailer:

Sin City Trailer

This is the trailer for Sin City(2005). I really like this trailer because it uses characteristics of film noir and the comic like effect. I like the fact that there is a lot going on in the trailer because it makes it more interesting to watch and doesn't give any of the film away.

The genre of the film is Action/Crime/Thriller. The mention of murder and police sirens suggests the crime genre and then the fast-paced editing and action later on in the trailer shows that the genre is action and thriller too. This would appeal to a wider audience because it falls into the category of three different genres, also making it more exciting.

This trailer has the typical characteristics of film noir, for example the urban landscapes, low-key lighting, shadows, and canted camera angles. This is really effective because it adds mystery.

I like the drawings of the characters used in the trailer because it gives it a comic-like effect, which is cool and it appeals to a younger audience. The bursts of colour between the B&W is also effective because it makes the trailer interesting to watch. It also highlights things that the audience should notice. The red writing is effective because it stands out against the B&W background. It is also like a reoccurring motif and shows prominence and represents the sin in the city.

As far as sound is concerned, there is a voice-over explaining the situation of the character being framed for murder. It is said in a low quiet voice, which is effective because it sounds mysterious. There is a music track throughout as well as diegetic sound like the thunder and rain.

There are some good camera shots used, including close-ups like at the beginning to introduce the audience to the characters. Zooming, like in the car when the camera zooms in on the guy with the blood on his face to emphasise this. Also a lot of different angles, for example at the end there is a low-angle shot looking up, making the character seem superior.

Lists

Shooting Schedule
???

Costumes

Police- uniforms

everyone else in normal clothes

Location List

• Alexandra Park
• Woods
• Office
• Bedroom
• 'News Room'

Prop List

Gun (Fake obviously)

Drawer

Photos

Blood (Fake obviously)

Actors List
Allen Spencer- Dan
Policeman #1- ???????????
Policeman #2- ???????????????
Tia Smith/Victim#1- Lisa
Dr. Lauren Avril- Me :P
Victim #2- Chris
Victim #3- ??????????????
Victim in the woods- ????????????????

Our Storyboard

This is our first draft of our storyboard for our trailer.
As you can see, it is in the style of film noir, which i believe is extremely effective especially for our genre of horror.
We have described the cinematography, mise-en-scene, sound, and editing under each of the pictures.

Our Moodboard

This is our moodboard that we used in our pitch to portray our ideas about the styles, inspiration, conventions and themes of our trailer.
In case you can't read what it says I will type it here...

Styles: Colour, spotlights, canted angles, film noir, low-key lighting, B&W, high and low angles, diegetic sound, shadows.

Inspiration: The machinist (because it's a horror), Memento (because of the narrative- starts at the end), Animal (because of the storyline- the main character does things in his sleep without realising).

Themes: Murder, pshycological, crime, good vs. evil, horror.

Conventions:
Cohere: sound, camera angles, lighting, editing, themes.
Rejects: Plot/Storyline, no real ending, heroes lose, characters.

Our Slideshow

Below is a copy of our slideshow that we showed during our pitch. It shows all our initial ideas for the characters and storyline of the film.

Narrative

Structure

Most film structures support Todorov's theory which says that all film narratives follow a three part structure:
Equilibrium- everything is normal and balanced.
Disequilibrium- There is a disruption.
and then back to equilibrium when everything is all fine and happy again.

Let me give you an example of this using the film, Pirates of the Caribbean. It starts off like any other Todorov theory following film with everybody happy and everything fine.
Then there is a disruption in the perfectly happy world when the pirates come and kidnap Kiera Knightly.
Finally at the end all is well again when kiera knightly and orlando bloom fall in love.
And there you have it. A perfect example of Todorov's theory.

Characters

The theorist, Vladmir Propp, came up with the theory that all films only have a certain number of characters. For example the Hero, Villain, heroine, father, and the donor. They also have certain characteristics to identify these characters.
The Hero often leads the narrative, he does not neccessarily have to be male or have super powers.
The Villain usually conflicts with the hero and looks wierd or different.
The heroine is usually female (but can be male if the hero is female) and is usually pretty and is some sort of prize for the hero.
The father character is the authoritive figure in the film.
The helper is the wingman of the hero, for example Robin is Batmans helper.
The Donor helps the hero in some way an example of a donor is the butler in the film 'The Dark Knight'.

Our Media Pitch

Here is a video of our presentation that we did on our media trailer. We talk about the themes, inspiration, styles, conventions, characters, the plot and the storyboard ideas for our horror trailer, (if you can hear what we are saying...).

Overall, I think our pitch went quite well. It was quite long and complicated, so maybe it could have been improved if we simplified our brief a bit.

Filming Practice

Here is some footage of me and my friends trying out some filming techniques that could be useful for our horror trailer, like shot-reverse-shot, someone being dragged away, passing through a door, subjective view point, chase scenes, and scenes from different perspectives.

We edited the video footage on Windows Movie Maker to try out different effects like B&W, fading to black, and changing the speed. I think the fading to black is an effective transition, especially for the horror genre.

Horror Trailers

We looked at a few Horror film trailers, for example, Psycho (1960) and The Shining (1980).


Psycho (1960)

This trailer is very long, but i think it builds up tension this way because you keep expecting for something to jump out or something. It is not very fast paced like more recent film trailers like 'The Hills Have Eyes' (2006).
Mise-en-scene: Old sinister house, a typical characteristic of the horror genre.
Sound: Happy music, going against the conventions of a horror film.
Cinematography: Basically tracking the old man through the house. Although this does not follow the conventions of a typical horror, it is still effective due to the fact that you expect something to happen all the time. There is a twist at the end when he opens the shower curtains and the lady screams. It is effective because it is what the audience have been waiting for to happen but you and it leaves them in suspense because it is the end of the trailer, making them want to see the film.
Editing: Very slow-paced editing, rejecting the typical conventions of fast-paced editing.

The Shining (1980)

This trailer is short but effective because it doesn't give anything away from the film. There is just one shot of some doors with red blood coming through and creepy music. It is simple but the fact that nothing happens makes the trailer more scary because you almost expect something to jump out at you the whole time.
Mise-en-scene: empty room with red doors, with red blood streaming through.
Sound: Creepy music that gets louder, building up tension.
Cinematography: One straightforward shot, rejecting the conventions of horror films having shots from different angles in order to build up tension.
Editing: Hardly any editing except for the fading to black at the end.

Horror Genre

What is a genre?

• Genres are defined by the film industry and recognised by the mass audience.
• Genres are located in a particular topic and structure.
• Genre films share Characteristics.
• Genre is a useful category because it bridges multiple concerns.
• Genres are trans-historical.

Why is it important?

Having a genre is important for both the audiences, producers and film distributors so that:

• Film distributors can target a specific audience.
• Audiences can decide to watch a film if it is a particular genre that they like.
• Film distributors know when and where to advertise films.e.g. for example showing a trailers in the cinema before a film with the same genre is shown.
• Producers know which actors to use because certain actors are better at acting in certain genres, for example Bruce Willis is usually in action films.

The three major types of genre are:

Major, Sub-genre, and Hybrid.

The key characteristics of horror films are:

• Screaming
• Sudden frights
• heavy breathing
• heartbeating
• dark, low-key lighting
• sense of mystery, uncertainty
• fast paced editing
• tension
• evil trying to conquer good
• sense of danger