Practice Shots for the Killer

Here we have compared different still shots of myself being the possible Killer. We have tried different perspectives such as an above shot and a side shot.




This is a shot from underneath, I don't particularly like this shot because I think it makes me look wierd, but it is good for making myself look powerful and of importance and threatening towards the audience.




This is a shot from me from above, this makes me look less powerful as a killer and maybe I seem like a victim instead of a Killer.





This is a shot from me from behind, I think it is quite effective because you can't see the expression on my face which is quite unsettleing, you also can't see what I might be planning and which my face may give away, I think we should use some of these shots in our Teaser Trailer.

Props Needed

Here I have put things onto a moodboard which I think we will need for filming. I have added Pyjamas because there is a scene where either Hannah or Alana gets dragged from their beds so they will be in Pyjamas but Hannah will have them at her house where I think we are filming that scene.
I have also added a Knife, Machete and a Cut-throat Razor to the prop list because we will need them to add into our scenes. I think we are going to try and find a retractable plastic knife so when I do 'stab' Alana it won't actually hurt her, and there is no chance of me actually cutting her by accident.
I have also added Tracksuits because when Alana is being dragged through the woods she will need to wear some old clothes which she doesn't mind getting muddy because it is likely that she will be getting rather wet and muddy as it is very likely that it will rain the night before/the night that we decide to film!

Costume Research

Here I have added pictures to create a Costume Moodboard, I have added pictures of capes, some in Red and some in Black. I added the capes in Red because red connotes Blood and Anger, which would be a good idea for our film as the killer is angry and goes on a killing spree, killing most of the people in the Clan. However, red is easily seen in the dark as it is quite a vibrant colour and will get dirty quite easily if we are in the woods and it has been raining. Black is a good colour as it won't show up in the dark meaning I, the Killer can be quite easily hidden and I won't be seen. I added the KKK cape as they are quite famous for hiding their faces, so noone knows who they are, I think I should hide my face so I am never revealed. Also if we did reveal the killers face in the teaser trailer it would give away quite a lot of the film and therefore people probably wouldn't go to see the full film.

Questionnaire Research - Audiences Preferences

This is interesting in which the majority of our participants don't find Religious/Cult style films Frightening, as this was the basis for our film. But if that is the case then maybe we can re-invent the genre, as we are not following the crowd in which films they are making, so we can possibly make a teaser trailer which doesn't follow the crowd.

Nearly everyone we asked said they found Films based on True Stories scary, I am guessing that this is because of the Paranormal Activity films which have just come out, as they are based on True Events, which could make people go and see them to see what happens as there has been a lot of media about the films as they are well advertised. Also people like to be scared and these films are very jumpy and will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole film as the music and the tension building leads to something that will most likely make you jump!

Again, most people said the Hand Held footage makes them scared too, again Paranormal activity uses some Hand Held footage in it which is mainly used during the day as at night the footage is filmed using a tripod. Also, if I had asked this question 10 years ago when Blair Witch Project came out I would think that the people who answered yes would be higher as well. I think that Hand Held footage is effective because it gives a a different perspective and it breaks the 4th wall. I think it gives a personal view of the film, as if you are watching it through the characters eyes, so I think this would be effective in our film to capture some of the terror and scared expressions on our characters faces.

Most people like stereotypical characters in films because I think they are so used to them being there if they weren't there it would seem weird. I think in our Teaser Trailer we are trying to steer away from using Stereotypes because we feel that we would like our film to be different

The older people I asked said they liked the Classic Horror films, this could be because the Contemporary ones are quite repetitive and there doesn't seem to be any original ideas anymore.

However the younger people I asked said they liked Contemporary Horror films, and that could be because they think the older films are boring and not modern enough for them whereas they like the fresh, crisp ideas from the Contemporary Horror films.

Nearly all of our participants said they enjoy Horror mixed with other genres, I think this is good because there are lots of sub-genres attached to Horror such as Horror-Thriller, Horror-Comedy and Horror-Sci-Fi. I think this is important to consider in our film as we might end up adding some different genres into this teaser trailer as we know our potential audience will enjoy having them in there, as it won't deter them from watching the film.

Questionnaire Research - Where/How Often/Types of Horror Films Watched

In this Pie chart I have noticed that most people watch Horror films Once a Month, and also 6 people watch them 'Other' which could mean they watch them more than once a month, but not quite once a week, or they could watch them as and when they come out into the cinema, as it is not very often. This tells me that we will need to capture our audience withing the first 10 seconds or so, so that they want to watch the main film.

The majority of people in this question watch their Horror films at home, this could be after they've watched the film at the cinema or they've seen the trailer for a film and then gone out to buy it. I think watching the film in a cinema gives a more emersive experience as the screen is much bigger than what you watch on a TV at home, and there is a massive surround sound system as well making you feel as if you are a part of the film.

But, however, if you watch a film at home you have the versatility of being able to pause and stop the DVD, also you can rewind it if you miss something important, which you don't have in the cinema. Also, once you have bought the DVD once you don't need to buy it again to watch the film another time, whereas if you went to the cinema to see the film again you would have to pay to go to the cinema again to get the ultimate viewing experience. You can also watch it as a family at home, as it is usually cheaper to buy the DVD and watch at home instead of going to the cinema and watching it. Also at home there are no interruptions and no-ones phones will go off as well, therefore you have a pleasant viewing experience and not a bad one.

The majority of our participants like Psychological Horror films, I think this is because most films nowadays have some sort of psychological concept to them as in some films such as Paranormal Activity mess with your mind and you seem to think that wherever you look there might be someone there. If I had asked the same question 15 years ago when Scream came out I expect the answers would be very different, that Slasher films would be more prominent in the results than any other films. Likewise if I had asked the same question in 2004 then Gore would probably be the most popular answer, as that is when Saw came out.

Questionnaire Research - Influences of Advertising

In this bar chart you can see that Teaser Trailers often influence people to watch the full film which comes out afterwards. (16/20 times) Only one person said that teaser trailers do not influence them to watch the full film. This gives us the idea that we need to make our teaser trailer action packed and full of information about the film but also make sure it doesn't give too much away as why watch the whole film and pay money to watch it when you could just see exactly what happens when you see the teaser trailer?


In this Pie chart you can see the most people hear about Teaser Trailer in the cinema, as they may already be seeing a film which they might've seen the teaser trailer for. 10 people said that they hear about teaser trailers on the internet, which might be from Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter posting adverts with links to trailers and teaser trailers for up-and-coming films. The Dark Knight is an example of this as they had a huge budget for their viral marketing campaign.

Questionnaire

My group and I decided to issue a questionnaire to people to see what their opinions of Horror films were, we decided to do this to see what kind of a Horror film we should make, that people will enjoy. We asked a range of ages and genders. We also asked a range of different questions to see what their favourite type of Horror films they like. The Pie charts/Bar charts will be in following Blog posts.

Pearl and Dean - audience research

I went onto the website http://www.pearlanddean.com/ to see what the age range of audiences for Horror films are. I had a bit of trouble maneuvering through the site as the last time I used it was in year 12 and the website has changed since then. But after looking for a while I found some audience profiles which I could use. I found profiles for Saw, 28 Days Later and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

This is the audience profile for the film Saw, as you can see from the above picture the majority of people who went to see this film were ages between 15-24. however this film is an 18 so I don't think 15 year olds went to see it as the majority of people in this age category were probably 18+. 55% of the audience were male, so this suggests that the Horror genre is more created for Men rather than women.

This is the audience profile for Texas Chainsaw Massacre. As you can see from the above statistics the main percent of people going to see this film were again in the 15-24 age category. But in this case there are more Females going to see this film rather than males, but only just.

From this I think our main target audience are Males and Females, who are aged between 15-24, this is a similar age to what we are now so I think we can relate to what they would like to see in a film.

Character Profiling

Alana: Alana is our helpless victim, she was chosen for the victim role because she has a feminine voice and she can make herself seem helpless. Also she can get herself into a tree quite easily and out of the 3 of us in the group she is the most agile. Alana looks like a typical teenage girl which deters from the stereotype, as in our film we are trying to stay away from the stereotypes.



Laura (Myself): I decided that I was going to be the killer in our teaser trailer this year because I felt that to deter again from the stereotypes we should have a female killer, this is also a good idea because the audience will not expect it to be a women who is killer. However the Killer is never revealed in the trailer.



Hannah: Hannah plays the part of the best friend to Alana and they are the people who want to join the clan in the first place. We chose Hannah for this role because last year she had a very important role in our last time so we thought she should have a lesser role in this film which enables her to then participate in the filming for our teaser trailer.



Milly: Milly is going to be the leader of the clan. We chose her because she is different and usually the leader of a clan or a religious cult is quite tough and hard and Milly is very girly.



Paul: We are going to use Paul (Millys elder brother) to do some of the shots in which the killer (myself) would have to be quite strong and tough, for example when the Killer would have to drag Alana through the woods, I felt that I might not be able to cope with dragging her through the woods, so we decided to enlist the help of someone a bit stronger than I am! I will have a go at trying to do the more physical jobs though.

Script for our Teaser Trailer

Today in our media lesson Alana, Hannah and I decided to create a script for our trailer. We decided not to use as much dialogue as we could as we wanted the effect of the shots and the music to create the atmosphere for us.

Script

Opening of Shot 2:

Alana: (scream) let go/please/help me (panic) (scramble)

Opening of Shot 3:

All girls synchronised chanting: "And forgive us our tress passes, for we forgive those who trespass against us." (monotone whisper)

Opening Shot 5:

Alana: (scream) let go/please/help me (panic) (scramble)

Shot 6:

Main Leader (Milly?): To join you must under go a series of tasks, to prove your strength only then can you show your commitment and worth.

Shot 7:

Killer (Laura): Thou shalt not kill.
Motions knife towards Alana’s ankle.

Shot 9:

All girls synchronised chanting: And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. (monotone whisper)

Shot 11:

Alana: (gurgled scream) I’m here.

Animatic Storyboard

We have made an animated version of our storyboard, using Adobe Premier Elements. We have also added music onto this.

Animated StoryBoard

Media Animated Storyboard

View more presentations from lorajayne.

Here I have added my animated storyboard, I have added the picture and then I have explained each shot in more detail.

Possible Locations for our Film

All of these pictures are taken from the woods at the bottom of the School field.

I thought this was quite picturesque because the river in the middle of the shot gives it that little bit more of a spooky feel, as in a shot in the dark we could have some water trickling through the river and perhaps our helpless victim turns round suddenly to see if there is anyone there.

This is a drain in the middle of the woods, however it could be portrayed as a grave or a hiding place for the killer, this could be where I come out from or where Alana tries to hide when she is running away from the Killer?

This is a shot from outside of the woods, it is quite dark there even during the day so I expect it will be very dark when we film there, as we will be filming in the evening.

This is a tree we could possibly use for the ending of our film, in which there is a shot of Alana barely breathing, and she is hanging upside down from the tree, so we need to find a tree which will support her weight and support someone else in the tree who is holding Alana in place. We also need to find a tree in which Alana can easily hang from and be comfortable.

I think that this is a creepy entrance to a Woods as everything is overhanging and it is quite deciduous and has lots of different colours.

Shot List

Below is the shot list for our film, this is just a rough idea but I expect that we shall change it once we start filming.

Shot 1: This will be a long shot where the camera is on the tripod as so not to move it too much when we are filming this shot. I will be the killer in this shot so i will be moving around in the shot, although you will not see me move around. This gives the shot a nervous feel and it is quite scary.

Shot 2: This is going to be a mid-shot and hand held from the killers POV.

Shot 3: This is the scene where you see a girl being dragged out of her bed, I think for this shot we are going to use a mid shot or a long shot, which may be canted. There are going to be about 5 or 6 girls around the bonfire, I think that we will be doing this in a shot where we will be choosing either shot if we film two different shots and then we can decide which one is the best one.

Shot 4: We have decided to make this a high angle shot/crane shot, which could possibly be canted. We will also be doing it in a 2 shot, and then decide which is best.

Shot 5: This is the shot where Alana is dragged through the woodland, I think in this shot we are going to use a zoom, which will first be zoomed into Alanas face and then it will zoom out to see her being dragged by someone in a hooded cape.

Shot 6: This will be the main leader of the religious group telling them what the girls need to do to get into the group. We have decided to do this in a close up.

Shot 7: This is the shot where the Killer is trying to 'slice n dice' Alana with a knife whilst she is trying to get away, I think this is going to be a two shot so we can see both of the people in the shot, but more of the focus will be on the killer, we could use a zoom to show emphasis on the knife going into Alana.

Shot 8: Intertitle.

Shot 9: This scene is a repeat of shot 3 as we are going to film a longer shot for this and then cut the clip into two so we can use it for this shot.

Shot 10: Intertitle.

Shot 11: This is one of the most disturbing shots as this is where Alana will be hanging from the tree, I think this will be a canted angle shot so we can see her face whilst she is struggling for breath.

Shot 12: Intertitle.

Mood Board of Horror Films

As you can see below I have made 3 mood boards of Horror films, some are new releases and some are old classics, I think I have added lots of variety of horror films, but although some of them are not horror films completely they have elements of horror in them.

The first one includes films such as;

• Saw
• One Missed Call
• The Uninvited
• The Shining
• Omen
• The Last House on the Left
• The Exorcism of Emily Rose
• The Ring
• Scream
• Friday the 13th
• Shrooms
• The Exorcist
• Silence of the Lambs
• Ghost Ship
• The Strangers
• 6th Sense
• Blair Witch Project
• Carrie
• The Grudge
• And, Nightmare on Elm Street
  

The second Mood Board I made includes some older films, most of which I haven't seen, this includes:

• The Village
• Thirteen Ghosts
• Gothika
• The Haunting in Connecticut
• Christine
• An American Werewolf in London
• Pet Semetary
• Halloween
• The Crazies
• Amityville Horror
• The Eye
• It
• Wrong Turn
• [REC]
• Dawn of the Dead
• Hell Raiser
• The Orphanage
• The Fog
• Darkness Falls
• And, Texas Chainsaw Massacre

And Finally, the last mood board I made included films which are mainly new films, or films that have just been released at the cinema. These include;

• Poltergeist
• The Hills Have Eyes
• Hostel
• Mirrors
• The Unborn
• Buried
• Final Destination
• Devil
• Cube
• Hatchet
• Sleeping with the Enemy
• Trick r Treat
• Let me in
• Let the right one in
• Martyrs
• Paranormal Activity
• House of Wax

Altogether. I think I have listed nearly every horror film which I could find, I might have left out a few but I think that majority of them are there. I think that when it comes to finding a name for our film we can look back on this and see what other films we can use to give us ideas. We will also probably take elements from films to use in our film, such as in many of these horror films there are masks which indicates that people behind them don't want to be seen which could imply the hint of secrecy within the film, in our film we are going to be using masks so I think I might do a mood board of masks so I can see what type of masks are being using in the Horror Genre.

Mask Ideas, Continued

Here I have produced two mood boards with possible masks on them. The first mood board is masks in which the clan memebers could wear, and at the bottom of the mood board there are several ways in which the plain white masks have been decorated, as we had the idea of buying the plain white masks and then decorating them differently to make the members of the clans individual, this could also further identify them as following the main leader of the clan as they all have simmilar masks to hers, but the leaders will be the most intracte.
The second mood board I have made includes masks which the killer could wear, I think most of these desgins are absolutley horrible and would definatley terrify me if I saw them in a film! I think the best ones out of these are the Scream style masks, but this could been seen as copyright as it is what mask is worn in the Scream films. Again, what mask we decide to buy will depends on what type of budget we could possibley get to either hire out a mask or buy one. However, hiring a mask will be cheaper, but we might need it for longer periods of time in which we might have to hire it again, whereas if we buy the mask we can use it whenever we need to.

Mask Ideas

Today I looked at masks to use for our clan members, I looked on Ebay and a party shop near to where I live.

We have an idea to use half-masks such as this one and then add bits on to make them all individual. We will make the leader have a more intricate one than the others as she is the leader. For the Killer we might use a scream type mask or buy another type mask, we're not too sure yet. However we do need one that can cover the full face as we don't see the Killers identity until the end shot where Alana is hanging over the tree.

This is the type of mask we would use for the members of the clan as we can then add details onto it and paint the other side of people faces. The only problem with painting peoples faces is that if we have to film on another day we will have to try and get the face paint exactly the same as before to make sure the continuity flows.

Here is an example of the Scream masks used in the film Scream. We would use this because it covers the whole of the Killers face so the identity isn't revealed.

However, as this is a horror teaser trailer we would like to have a really scary mask, but we feel that we might frighten ourselves with a mask such as this. Although if we quickly flash on the mask it would probably make people jump as they are not expecting it so I think it is a good idea.

Above, is two examples of some scary masks which the Killer could wear, I think these are terrifying which would be good if we did flash on the mask and then off again.

Storyboard of Shots

In our media lesson today Hannah, Alana and myself decided on the shots that we were going to include in our Final Task. We have thought about trying to muddle up the narrative of the Film such as have some of the end shots first, and then the beginning and then the middle, so the film doesn't run consequently. We also had the idea of children chanting the lords prayer, so I will discuss what part of the lords prayer will be chanted in a clip.

Shot One
This the First shot you will see, this is a long shot of the killer in the film moving around in the shots, where actually the camera stays still and its one long shot, but the Killer moves around and changes their position, such as in front of the camera, and then in the background, then in the middle ground. I thought that a good place for this to take place would be a children's playground, where the Killer could sit on the swing, then on the see-saw and then in front of the camera etc. There is a park like this in Leatherhead, which is good because it is close to School, meaning we could take the cameras out in the day to get an idea of what to include in the shots. Also, in this shot there is a line of the Lords Prayer which we are going to chant over the top of it. This is 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven', this could link into our shot because the Killer is trying to kill people, so they are most likely to go to heaven, if they have been good, but if they have done something wrong then they are going to go to hell.

Shot 2
In this shot, there is a girl being dragged from her bed in her room whilst she is asleep, we thought that this shot would be effective because it also emphasises the stereotype that everything bad happens at night, in the dark. Also it shows the vulnerability of girls in horror films. When this girl is being dragged from her bed her hands are trying to scrabble to hold onto something, she is trying to save herself, but of course it doesn't work. To make this shot effective we should make sure the sounds of the girl desperately trying to grab onto something are emphasised, which will show the audience the fear that is going through her mind. Also to make this shot effective we could have a quick flash of her eye widening when she first gets dragged out of her bed.

Shot 3
In this shot there is a bonfire in the middle of a group of girls, who are a part of a clan, they are chanting around the bonfire, they are wearing masks which are a part of their costumes for the clan. The chant which they are chanting is another line of the Lords Prayer, which is 'And forgive us our trespassers because we trespass those who trespass against us.'

Shot 4
In this shot there is a table, probably at a school where the leaders of the clan are sitting, there are two girls who come up to the table and pass a message on a piece of paper, this says 'we want to join', meaning that they want to join the clan. I think it will be effective as it gives some of the film away but it still keeps the mystery of why the girls set up the clan in the first place a secret.

Shot 5
In this shot there is a girl being dragged through the mud, we are not sure, as the audience whether this is the killer or the leaders of the clan, but we can see the girl again furiously trying to grab onto something to prevent from being dragged away, we can see the fear on her face and in her eyes in this shot which i think will portray the shot beautifully. This shot will have to be filmed in the woods and probably in the dark as well to make it effective and scary for the audience to watch.

Shot 6
This is the 6th shot, this is the mid point in the teaser trailer, this is a mid shot of the leader of the clan saying to the possible girls who want to join the clan what they have to do in their initiation tasks. This shot would probably be shot either in the woods where they are doing the last initiation task or around the bonfire where there are girls chanting. I'm not too sure yet where we're going to film it.


Shot 7
This is a shot of the killer grabbing a girl by her legs as she also furiously tries to get to her feet to run away, the killer has a weapon in her hand which is presumably the murder weapon, the killer is going to murder all of the girls in the clan as her revenge. This shot will be filmed in the woods when the girls are completing their initiation tasks, like i said in the plot line, the girls think that it is just the girls who are in the clan following them around when it is actually the killer.


Shot 8
This shot, after the previous one will fade to black and it will be a text shot, where the the titles of the directors (us) come up and what other films we have made will also come up. I think that this shot should be a black screen with red writing and possibly have some blood splats on the screen as well to emphasise the brutality of this film.


Shot 9
This is a repeat of the third shot, which was of the girls chanting around the bonfire with masks on. this again then emphasises the serious matter in the film which is the girls dying, this also makes the audience a bit bewildered as to what is going on, I think we're just flashing this shot on, as it has already been seen. There is a bit of the Lords Prayer in this aswell, this is 'And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil', this statement could be linked with the fact that the clan are supporting evil within the devil and it could also be to do with the killer as obviously this is evil at its finest.


Shot 10
After the previous shot this will then fade to black and the title of the film will come up, again I think it should be red writing and a black background, As red connotes blood and the heart beating furiously.


Shot 11
This shot, is of a girl, the last one remaining in the clan who is alive being hung from a tree upside down, her eyes are open and she has a shocked expression on her face as to why she is upside down on a tree. There is a trickle of blood in this shot which runs down from her neck to her forehead and then drips off, this is the final shot you see of people in the trailer, and I think that this will be effective because it again shows the brutality of the film and it gives an insight into what could've happened to the other girls who are already dead. In this shot we will need to find a sturdy tree in which one of our characters can hang off comfortably, we will have to think about her being upside down for a long period of time and make sure that it's alright for her and she can maintain the same positions without her eyes flickering. I think that this shot will be effective also because there is a similar shot to this in the opening of scream, in which the blonde character is hanging from a tree, the shot is filmed from a distance away so you can see that she is suspended from the tree by her neck. To make this shot a bit different for ourselves we are going to do several shots, ones from close up and some from further away, which I think will give a good range of shots used within our film.


Shot 12
This shot is after the vicious one of the girl suspended from the tree, it is a text shot as it shows the release date. there is a part of the Lords Prayer in this as well, it says 'Forever and ever Amen.' there is then a scream after this which I think will add more to shot giving it more depth.

Possible Title Names for our Final Task

Here is a list of names which Me, Alana & Hannah thought of together for our film. We were trying to take some elements from other Horror films titles and also try and not give too much away of our own film. We also wanted to try and capture the genre of our film within the title as well.

• Reincarnation
• The Clan
• The Pact
• The Deal
• Burn in Hell
• Temptation
• Trespassers
• Kingdom of Evil
• Deliver from Evil
• Save us from Evil
• Religion
• Masked
• Stranger in the Woods
• Beaten
• Initiation
• Silent but Deadly
• Awaken
• Disturbed

I thought that most of the names were good, but I don't think we've found the right one yet, I think once we start filming and editing we will have more of an idea on what to call our film.