Orphan Poster Analysis

The Possession Poster Analysis

Total Film Magazine Cover Analysis

Entertaiment Weekly Magazine Cover Analysis

Empire Magazine Cover Analysis

Day 2 of Filming

The second day of filming was largely successful; myself and Christal arranged to meet with the Libby (Maria), Helen (Scarlett) and Jude (the social worker) to shoot a short part of the trailer after school today. Shahnaaz was unavailable on this day to take pictures of us filming, so I will include some pictures of what we shot from the trailer. Despite having difficulties with our shooting location, we managed to overcome this by finding a suitable alternative that would accommodate our needs.

(http://zoefreemana2media.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/location-photography-3-school.html)

In researching locations to shoot, I came across both of these rooms and thought that they would be an appropriate setting for the scene where Scarlett meets Maria. The mis-en-scene is very plain and simplistic, allowing the audience to focus on the characters in the shot. Furthermore, the white walls connote isolation and emptiness which is the tone that myself and my group want to establish during our trailer. However, the day we went to shoot in this location, there was a meeting being held meaning that we had to find another suitable location to film in. Luckily, we found a room that was very similar to that of these two meaning that we were able to create the same atmosphere in our trailer. With hindsight, I have made a note to make sure to check on the day with every location we shoot at to make sure that we are still able to use it as this is not something that myself or my group want to be repeated.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CepazW6E99U)

I was concious of making sure we incorporate a number of different shot types in our trailer, so I suggested we do an over the shoulder shot which focuses on Scarlett's face so the audience are able to establish that she is the central focus of the trailer and also so they can understand her character better. I also suggested we take a two shot of Maria and the social worker so the situation of Scarlett's adoption can be contextualised better for the audience. There was also some other shots we took that wasn't edited into the trailer, for example we took a medium close up of all the characters saying their lines to see if this would be of use in post-production.

Myself, Christal and the actors spent a large amount of time filming on this day. The amount of footage we took compared to the amount we used is something we were surprised at during the post production stages. It also meant that during the day of filming, we had to overrun slightly which wasn't very professional as we told the actors a specific time. Moving forward with this, myself and Christal have decided to write a detailed plan of what we will be filming when for the next shoot as this one was slightly unorganised.

Horror Film Trailer Interview

Initial Script for Scarlett

Scarlett the Script

Day 1 of Filming

Today, myself and my group filmed the first scene of our horror trailer. The scene we shot is the one in the storyboard which features Scarlett nervously waiting for her fate to be decided and meet her new parent. I did all of the filming for this scene; Christal checked how I positioned the camera and made sure Helen knew how to perform, whilst Shahnaaz took pictures of us talking about the shots and me filming. We decided to film this scene during our lunch break as it only features Helen, and we would be able to go to our next Media lesson (which was after lunch) with something to edit. However, we experienced a number of problems with filming at this location. Firstly, this room is normally where students go when they are unwell at school; we were warned that students may be in there when we went to film and also that we would need to leave if someone came and needed to sit in the room. We also underestimated how much space there was in the room as it became hard to maneuver the camera equipment and ourselves in a very small space. Finally, as it was our first time filming, we completely underestimated how long it would take to get the shots right and how many times we would have to practice doing it before getting it perfect. Fortunately, our actress Helen was very understanding about the situation, as were the staff who let us use the room.

Casting Update

Location Photography #4 - My Shed/Garden

After discussing out initial storyboard, one of the ways in which we considered expanding it was including a scene by which Scarlett is dragged by Maria into a garden shed where she is locked in and unable to communicate with the outside world. This would create the theme of isolation that many horror trailers have, and also relate to the mysterious tone of psychological thriller films conform to. I suggested that my garden/shed might be appropriate due to its size and also its appearance; I also thought that if we were to edit the colour balance in post-production, or film it at night, we may be able to make it look more decrepit adhering once more to the conventions of the horror sub-genre. 

Prop - The Box

One of the props we have decided to use in our trailer is this box. As we are basing portions of our trailer on an established film called The Possession (2009), we decided to incorporate the significance of a box in the plot to add to the suspense and mystery of our trailer. We chose this box based on its design; the colour of it remains subtle, yet it has an unusual pattern on it which we thought would capture the audiences attention as it does Scarlett's in the trailer. Furthermore, the small size of the box juxtaposes with the immense significance of it in the trailer.

Title Card - Final Product

This is my finished title card for my horror trailer, Scarlett. I uploaded the file to Youtube so I would be able to access it easier when posting it here. I intend on cutting it by about 5 seconds in Final Cut Pro and will add sound over it when I come to the editing stage of the final product.

Title Card - Creation

Title Card - Font Finding

I used my previous knowledge of searching for fonts appropriate to use in horror trailers after making my groups production company. Using Dafont.come again, I discovered a number of possible fonts to use in my trailer. I decided however that these were the three I liked the most, and were the ones I discussed with my group before designing and producing the product.

This is the font I decided to use in the production of my title card. I was hoping to recreate the innocence of Scarlett's character through the use of a childlike font. Whilst I recognize that there is a differing age gap between the that of which the font displays and that of Scarlett's character, the youth the font encompasses connotes the simplicity Scarlett's character desires and the normality she wishes to receive from having a family. Myself and my group discussed the implications of this font further and decided that it would be the best one to use for our title card.

What drew me to this font was the simplicity of it and how this juxtaposes with the situation Scarlett is presented with in the trailer. The preceding trailer will feature her in a number of straight cuts to demonstrate the fast paced environment she is suddenly thrown into. After discussing this with my group however, we agreed that the font doesn't look much like one which would be used in a horror trailer due to it being nicely curved and without any font feet.

I liked this font due to the gothic connotations it has; the feet of the font combined with the letters shape adds a sense of mystery and inconsistency. However, after talking to the rest of my group about this font, we decided that it would be better if we used it for the tone cards instead as this font resembles that of the one in Case 39 which we are aiming to base elements of out trailer on. 

Location Photography #3 - School

Production Company - Final Product

After Effects Production Company Research

Having no experience of using After Effects, I decided to research how I could incorporate the program in my project to make my groups production company tone card.

I created a playlist (as seen above or here) on Youtube of all the videos I watched to gain inspiration when creating my groups production company. Initially, I thought of having it fade in or appear letter by letter like a typewriter. I searched a number of videos and found tutorials on both of these. However, within these searches I came across this video:

I preferred the visual aspect of this animation more than other tutorials I had watched; the skill it would require me to develop is higher than that of the other options I was considering. Furthermore, I was conscious of how our production company is called 'Expsoure' and the smoke exposes the word behind the smoke that it leaves behind. I decided to create our production company based on this tutorial due to the presence it has on screen and also the level of skill I would need to develop in order to produce it successfully.

Production Company - Using Photoshop

I decided to create our initial production company on Photoshop as it is a program I have a large amount of experience with due to my AS coursework. Myself and my group brainstormed what we would like to include in our production company logo and what message we would like to have come across. I suggested we use some kind of image/shape as it may bring something to the image that text alone could not. After this, I looked at using different shapes that could be incorporated into our production company logo by searching on Dafont.com. Here are two I packs I came across and I tried:

After initially liking this shape pack, I became unsure of how any of these shapes would help convey the message that our production company is that which produces horror films. I thought about the meaning behind 'Exposure' however, and some of the shapes could almost connote the gradual seeping of something.

I preferred this shape pack to that of this first due to the gothic, horror connotations of a skull and crossbones. Ghost House Pictures also uses a skull as part of their logo; taking into account this existing product I considered recreating it for my own logo. 

PROTOTYPE #1

After discussing what I had found with my group, we decided that I should use a shape that already exists on photoshop as they liked the idea of the lightening bolt running through the shape. I used one of the fonts which I found on Dafont.com, positioning it under the shape.  

Production Company - Mastering the Art of Font

One of the first steps I took when looking at this project was choosing the font we would use. After looking at mastheads and other uses of font in music magazines last year, I had a greater understanding of how the font we use must match the purpose of the message we are trying to get across. With this in mind, myself and Christal compiled a list of fonts we felt might be appropriate to use for the production company in our horror trailer. I used Dafont.com to download the fonts to my Mac computer as they have a vast selection of fonts available for free. 

This is the font I decided to use for the text in our final production company logo. What I liked most about this font was the diagonally cut feet on some of the letters; the sharpness of it connotes the rigid state of structured horror films and also adds a feeling of apprehension. I found that many of the other fonts I looked at would fit better in action movies as they were quite bold and large; the simplicity of this design however was what drew me into wanting to work with it.

I looked at using this font due to it's resemblance of the one used for the masthead of the film magazine, Empire. Initially, I liked the idea of using a font similar to one which relates to a established film magazine/company that is already in existence. After considering this further however, I realized it is important to look at the differing contexts of a print magazine and a moving image horror trailer. After researching Empire magazine more, I found that it dealt with a number of different genres of film whereas I would like to give the impression that 'Exposure' deals with horror films only so I am able to show my understanding of the genre.

I used this text in my experimental production company logo on Photoshop. What stood out for me in this font was the graduation in colour from black to white. I considered how this would look in our trailer, but eventually decided that the graduation between colours would not work with the transition style that I used.

Christal identified a similar font to this when we were planning our production company name. Whilst as a group we all agreed that it looked the most effective when it was drawn, it didn’t have the same appeal on the Mac computer when we looked at it. 

Production Company - The Birth of Exposure Productions

For the editing side of the coursework, I have decided to create a production company using a program called After Effects. Myself and my group discussed using a company that already produces horror films such as Ghost House Pictures, but we decided that we wanted to make our trailer personal and incorporate as much of our own work as possible.

Christal compiled potential names of what we could call our production company. I put forward the name 'Exposure' as it reminds me of a film reel and other features associated with filming.

Trial Shots #1 and #2 (Watch in HD)

In order to have a greater understanding of how filming works, myself and my group decided to trial a couple of locations with the same scene from the storyboard to compare how they would look. I also thought it would be a good idea to be able to know what to expect when it comes to filming the trailer itself.

This first shot was taken at the initial location that we were going to use as the entrance of the orphanage. Christal used a tripod to position the camera and have it pan/track me as I walked towards the entrance. Whilst we were fond of the location, we found it hard to find a position that wouldn't be obstructed by the black metal railings and found it hard to maneuver the tripod as it was balancing on a raised part of concrete.

We were less prepared for this shot as we came across it by chance meaning we wasn't fully equip to shoot the scene how we would have liked to. The shakiness of the camera would be removed were we to have had a tripod with us, and we might have been able to incorporate a pan/zoom in this scene also. We did however prefer this location to the previous one; it was much more open and looked more authentic in relation to it looking like the doors of an orphanage. Myself and my group intend on returning to this location again and most probably shooting the actual scene here too.

Location Photography #2 - School

After reviewing and revisiting the location we were initially going to use for the orphan trailer scenes, we decided to see if there was any other places that would be better suited to what we hope to produce. Whilst we have decided to use this location for some scenes, we will also incorporate elements of the old location too such as the bed and the stairs as they seem to fit well with this location.

As a group we concluded that this secluded pathway would work much better than the open one from our initial location photography. We experimented with a high angle shot to see if that would add to the sense of isolation in the second picture, but found that the first shot we took was much more successful in creating the feeling of desolation. 

Upon further exploring this area of the school, we came across a door similar to that of which we were going to use originally. We particularly wanted to use a door which is red as not only does it connote danger and evil, it also relates to our trailers name 'Scarlett'. 

Accessing this area of the school was something we had to get permission to do as it is not normally available to students. Also, the doors appear to be a fire exit so we would need to consider if it would be possible to open them without setting off any alarms. The next step myself and my group will take in regards to this is investigating how we would go about getting permission to film in this location during after school hours.

Shooting Schedule

Experimenting With Fake Blood

As the majority of horror films, regardless of their sub genre, include elements of gore through the use of blood, myself and my group experimented with the concept of using blood in our trailer and how best we could incorporate it to fit with what we were attempting to create.

Firstly, we looked at Scarlett's character and dealt with the issue of how we would best be able to incorporate the use of blood. As we want to distance ourselves from the slasher genre, we excluded the idea of having anyone being killed or stabbed violently on camera as we would find it hard to recreate to a professional enough standard. We also consistantly want to feature elements of red in our trailer and have them related to Scarlett's character as she will embody the danger and passion associated with her name. After this, we came to the conclusion that the easiest and most professional way to incorporate this was through having Scarlett appear to self-harm. We discussed the issues incorperating the blood in such a way as it may raise issues because it could be deemed as 'sensitive' material. However, we agreed that including this would relate the psychological/thriller sub genre as Scarlett is inflicting the pain on herself and the audience begin to ask why.

Our teacher provided us with some fake blood and we looked at how best we would be able to make it seem on camera that the cut, if it is to be filmed, is realistic. As we tried this at school, we made a fake blade out of a plastic cup and sprayed the fake blood on the cup to see if it was possible to create. We found that the particular fake blood that we used was very liquidy and wasn't a true representation of how much blood would be released were the cut to be real. In order to solve this problem, we ordered a thicker type of blood that is known as 'stage blood' as it is what actors use in horror films. Hopefully, a thicker type of blood will make the scene in the trailer appear more horrific and realistic to the audience.