Poster Ideas

Here on paint we have created another possible idea for our Poster. I think this is very creepy as it looks like there are two of Alana, The Killer in the shot. We print screened the shot and then pasted it onto paint. We opened another paint and then cut out Alana and then pasted it onto the blank shot of Alana. We then flipped the shot of Alana to make it look like she had a twin standing next to her. Here is the final product.

 In this shot we added the shot of Alana, but this time we made 3 copies of her and then pasted them into the background shot. I think this is very effective as she looks like she may have come from a Mental Hospital with the way she is standing and the way you can see the mask on her face. This pose is very unsettling for the audience.

Possible Poster Ideas

After doing everything we could with editing our film we set out making a Poster for our film. We have to make a Film poster and a Film Magazine front cover.
We had the idea of cutting up a screen grab of the Killer, one black and white and one colour, and then layering them on top of each other so it looks like the pictures have been weaved together. I had a go at this on paint and the results were quite effective.

I also had a go at changing the colour of the shot and then print screening the shot and then cutting out some of that and placing it on top of a shot of the Killer, again I think the results were quite effective but I think the Black and White/Colour shot will be more effective than the Colourful one.

Editing

Today we have started to edit our film together, we are again using Adobe Premier Elements editing software like we did last year, we have had a few technical problems with it on the school computers such as the files not saving so we had to save the file as a different version each time we wanted to save, which as you can imagine was quite irritating. But now these problems seem to be resolved and we are glad with this. Today we got all of our captured footage, and then uploaded it onto the Adobe software, as we had tried to upload it several times before we were not sure if it had actually uploaded but thankfully it had. so we had lots of copies of the files to play around with. We used different effects for the footage as we thought that the footage from involving the Killer would be in a different colour to that from Milly or Hannahs point of view. We decided on a grainy, old style of film with the lines going across the shot to give it a kind of western style, we used this effect on the shot of Milly being dragged through the mud in the woods, we also found out how to make this scene play backwards, so that Milly now goes forward, I think it looks creepier that way as you don't expect it!! We also made the scenes in which Hannah and Milly are talking in Millys bedroom darker so it looks like they are in the dark when we actually filmed the scene with the light on. We made the scenes with the Killer in them monochrome and darker as we think it looks effective and ties in with the theme of the Killers scenes being in black and white.
(add screengrabs)
Also on the scenes where Milly and Hannah are talking we have edited them to make it look like they are being filmed with a Night Vision camera, so we edited them to make them greenish and dark. We are then going to add a little red circle in the corner which is going to flash on and off and add the letters REC so it looks like the camera is actually recording.

For this image we made the footage grainy, so it looked like an old style film.

Here are the two images of Alana, The Killer, we made her monchrome as she looks very creepy.

This is a shot of Hannah - The victims best friend. We made her green so it looks like she is being filmed on a night vision camera, I thought it was very effective.

Filming - Alana moving around

Last week Alana and I took the cameras after school and did some filming by her house, we found a street lamp that she could stand under and then took a 4 second clip, we then moved her but didn't move the camera so it looked like she was moving. We played back all the footage and it looks really creepy. We also filmed Alana outside some garages and did the same thing again where the camera doesn't move but she did, we moved her in front of all the garages and then again played the footage back and it looks really creepy, I think if we have this flashing on and off really quickly on screen then we can scare our audience.

Filming - Where Milly is dragged through the Woods

The other day we decided to film the scene where Milly is dragged through the woods, as we didn't have access to the woods where we were originally going to film we used the wooded area at the bottom of our school field. We kept the continuity within the shot by using the same pyjamas that Milly was wearing in the Bedroom Scene. When we filmed in the woods it was quite cold and we decided that we would try to get the filming over as quickly as possible so that Milly wouldn't get too cold. Alana dragged Milly along the ground but when we watched the footage back we could see our belongings hanging on the tree behind us, so we decided to film the other way round. We used a canted angle to add suspense and worry the audience. We then filmed Milly in the tree saying help and being out of breath as she has been dragged and she's also been screaming.

Filming

Last Friday we decided to start filming for our Teaser Trailer. We filmed the scene where Milly and Hannah are in the bedroom and the killer is behind them. We have had to change people round as the people we wanted to use weren't available. So no Milly is playing the Character of the Victim, which originally was Alana's Character, Hannah is still herself as the Victims best friend. Alana has now taken my original place in becoming the Killer as we thought it'd be easier for Alana to become the killer rather than anyone else. Hannah left her tape at home by mistake so we used my digital camera to film the footage on. We did a lighted rehearsal so Milly knew what was going on and then we filmed the scene in the dark. For effective lighting we used a massive torch to light the bedroom, as the girls were having a sleepover, so it looked like the girls had a bedroom lamp on. Overall I think the filming went quite well, but the quality of the footage may not be as good as if we had filmed it with the Camcorders.

Poster Ancillary Task Practice

In media today we were given a brief walkthrough on how to use Adobe PhotoShop and Adobe Illustrator. I have to edit a picture by cutting out the background and then adding it into a plain background to create a basic poster. The steps we had to follow were quite easy to follow however they used Mac computers and we have Windows computers so perhaps the instructions were quite different. After we cut out the background I had to put it onto Adobe Illustrator and then add text and Billing Block



Here is my finished Product.

I took a picture of Drew Barrymore and then cut her out and added her to a red backround which connotes Blood.

When Films come out to Cinema

I have decided to research when films of similar genres to the one we are producing come out to the cinema. I have looked at recent films which are going to, or have come out at the cinema within the horror genre of film.

As you can see from the above pictures the four films which I researched (Paranormal Activity 2, Saw, Buried and Scream 4) all of them come out either just before Halloween or just after Halloween. However this is with the exception of Scream 4 which comes out in April. From this research I think we should market our film to come out within the October/November month.

Hannah- Victims Best Friend - Character Profile

Hannah is the best friend of Alana who dies in the film, we are not sure in the teaser trailer if you see Hannah die or not but you might get the idea that she does.

Alana- Victim -Character Profile

Alana is the Victim in our film, we have chosen her because she is a female and usually the victims in Horror films are female, the only difference between the two is that in our film Alana survives the attack and in most Horror films the girls die.







Here I have compared her to Drew Barrymore in Scream, as she is one of the girls who gets murdered by the Killer. However, Alana is not a helpless victim as she doesn't die whereas Drew does. Drew is a stereotypical character because she is Blonde, although she isn't dumb, she is quite smart. She screams and cries quite a lot in this film as obviously she doesn't want to die.

The Killer- Paul - Character Profile

Although I was the Killer at the beginning I have broken my foot and now I cannot possibly play the role of the Killer. So now we have enlisted the help of Millys older brother Paul. We have chosen Paul because he is strong and he will be able to do the harder scenes in the film such as dragging Alana along the ground.



I have compared him to the Killer from Scream because the costume is going to be similar, with a black body and then a masked face, and also the killer from Scream would have had to be strong because he has to dispose of the bodies in a way in which would probably cause a normal person some aches and pains. In the Opening scene the Killer in Scream has killed Drew Barrymore and then he hangs her on the tree by her neck so obviously he will need some physical strength to carry a dead body and then hang her up.

Props

We have just ordered Masks from Amazon for our filming in two weeks time. We are using half-face masks (such as the one in Phantom of the Opera) for the Clan Members, and then for the Clan Leader we have got a theatrical face masks, we ordered two, one smiling and one with a sad face because then the Clan Leader can wear one and then the Killer can wear the other one, which will confuse the audience to see who is the Clan Leader and who is the Killer.

These are the two masks which the Clan Leader and the Killer will wear, we have chosen these because although they are similar with the facial features they are different from each other because of the happy/sad face. We have not yet decided who we will give each of the masks to, but I'm sure that on the day we will decide.



These are the masks in which the Clan Memebers will wear, these are simple yet effective and we are going to paint the masks with elaborate designs (maybe skeleton?) to make them all different and unique. These masks are also very different from the full-face mask that the clan leader wears, showing that she has earned her full-face mask and the members have not yet earned there full-face mask.

Shooting Schedule

Here is our shooting schedule, we are planning to film everything over one weekend apart from the scene where we are filming at school in which we can film during one of our media lessons.
As our film is dark we have to film during the night time which then limits our time schedule to just the evenings, but during the day we can paint the masks which the clan memebers will have and the clan leader will have.

Worrying News

Last week I had an accident where I fell down some stairs and I broke my foot, I am on crutches for the foreseeable future at the moment so we, as a group are thinking about casting someone else as the killer as I am not sure if I will be able to stand on my foot for long periods of time. We are not quite sure what to do because if I am well and I can walk on my foot then obviously I would love to be the killer, but if I cannot walk on my foot very well then we're going to have to find someone else to be the Killer. In the Half Term we are planning on filming everything so we will have to find someone else to fill my shoes, which could be difficult seeing as we are planning on filming everything in a week.

Non-Copyright Music Research

Last year we used the website http://www.freeplaymusic.com/ for our music to our opening two minutes. I think finding the music is the hardest part of the whole editing process as it takes the longest amount of time to find something to fit to our scenes. Last year we wanted an upbeat tune for our opening two minutes. This year I think we are going to try and find something dark and mysterious to use for our Teaser Trailer. I am going to research different non-copyright music websites on Google to see what comes up.


http://www.nvmdigital.com/nvmusic/library/mp3frameset.html This is a music site, which is non-copyright music but you need to pay for music so we would be able to use this.

I have looked on Google but I can't seem to find anything which is free and easy to use, but I'm sure we will use Freeplay music as this is the easiest one to use.

Intertitles Practice

Today I have practiced making Intertitles. An Intertitle is a scene of text in between perhaps two scenes of action. I am using Windows Movie Maker as on this computer I do not have access to Adobe Premier Elements. I went onto a website called http://www.metacafe.com/ where I could view trailers. I then decided to print screen the titles so I could have them on my video. Once I had gathered enough information about Horror intertitles I attempted to make my own.
I used the red colour from the Nightmare on Elm street, as I thought it was the most effective and because it was red it connoted the thought of blood and the thought of being angry and perhaps revenge?
I have decided to use three different effects for my intertitles as I think these were the best effects to use as they are probably the most commonly used in teaser trailers.

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.