The Trailer

Ancilary Tasks

MAGAZINE FRONT COVER:

FILM POSTER:

 

Call Sheets

These are our call sheets which include all the information about the different shoots that will be taking place. These call sheets allow us and our actors to be prepared and organised for the shoots. The information included on these call sheets are the actors and crew needed for the particular shoot, make up and costume needed, the time and date of the shoot and the props needed. Here is a link to all the call sheets:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/itvqd7pj7yhehca/CALL%20SHEETS.pdf

Filming Schedule

This was our very first filming schedule that we created and was planning to stick to as closely as possible. However during the start of our filming process, the majority of our actors pulled out of the project, therefore we had to change the schedule in order to fit our new actors timetable. Again these actors decided to pull out due to coursework deadlines, therefore we had to find last minute actors. Overall we did not have a set schedule due to the amount of cancellations we had, however we aimed to film as many days a week as possible which helped us get the footage filmed as quickly as possible in order to start the editing process.

Script Of Our Trailer

Scene 1: Reporting on street

(Scene dissolves in from static. A reporter is on screen with a news report of a murder with banners detailing the report and box containing photos of murders. Diegetic sounds of the street are heard with a non-diegetic sound of police and ambulance sirens and a light chatter in the background.)

Reporter: We are live on the scene at a brutal attack in which a mother of 3 is alleged to have murdered her husband and children (camera pans to view of house) but leaving her youngest daughter as a sole survivor thanks to police intervention. (Pans to view of woman by car) Reports are coming in that the woman in question has no history of mental illness and the police are currently not aware of the cause of this vicious assault. (Woman is put in the car by “plain-clothes” police officer.)

Scene 2: Hospital

(Establishing shot of the hospital at a low angle. Scene cuts to a long 2 shot of a young woman and a doctor walking down a hospital hallway. The doctor is leading her and detailing the status of her mother’s case.)

Doctor: The discharge papers are almost finished; you just need to sign a form to assert that your mother will be staying with your family during her recuperation.

Ella: You really think that’ll help?

Doctor: Simply visiting over this past year has improved her recovery process, Mrs. Garcia. She’s no longer showing any signs of schizophrenia and we have no reason to keep her here any longer (they stop outside of the hospital door). She is cured. (Ella peeks around him into the door window) And here’s the copy of her medical history you requested (he hands over a file and she opens it but is interrupted) I think it’s time we tell her. (They enter.)

Scene 3: Hospital bedroom

(The camera tilts upwards to a long/medium shot behind the mother. She is facing a corner window on a rocking chair with a knitted blanket over her, slowly rocking. Ella walks up behind her.)

Ella: Mum? You’re gonna be coming home with me, okay? William and I are gonna take care of you for a while.

Scene 7: Kitchen

William: Ella, I’m telling you, there’s something wrong.

Ella: Will, she’s just out of hospital. She’s just transitioning.

William: There’s transitioning and then there’s…her.

Ella: Just drop it. She was in there for 15 years after a psychotic break! She’s home and she’s cured. Leave it be. (Walks out).

William: I just… don’t trust her.

Scene 8: Dinner Table

Ella: Finish of your peas, Logan. No desert ‘til that plate’s clean. (Ella and William leave the table.)

(Mary stares at Logan until he looks up at her. She shakes then he eyes roll back in her head, before turning white. Logan screams and runs away from the table.)

Ella: Honey, what’s wrong?

Logan: Mum! Mum! Don’t make me- don’t make me-

Ella: Logan! What?

Logan: Mum…her eyes. (Ella and William exchange a worried look.)

Symbiotic Link

A symbiotic link needs to connect each product so that upon viewing, the audience immediately know which movie the product belongs to.  To achieve this, we will use the same tagline, main image of the antagonist, font, clothing and colour scheme across the entire package. The tagline, “She can’t be cured”, will feature towards the end of the trailer and the base of the movie poster, however it will not be featured on the magazine front cover as it is not a convention. The main image is of our antagonist wearing a Victorian-style white nightgown with a brown cardigan and this will feature throughout our products. Font and colour scheme will be the same in the trailer and poster only due to the fact that the magazines have their own colour scheme. The clothing would be the same throughout the production package that we will be creating; this is to represent her age and her ethereal like image.  In all three of the products the antagonist will always have backcombed, scruffy hair and white tinted eyes to create the possessed look. 

Mock Ups

Mock Ups

                                                    

This was our original idea for our movie poster because we felt that it fit the narrative well. After analysing other supernatural movie posters, we began to discuss our mock up and decided that it did not fit our sub genre very well. After looking at the design closely we came to the conclusion that it looked to much like a promotion for a slasher movie and therefore we drew up a new design and decided to have a medium shot of the main antagonist.

Magazine Front Cover Mock Up

For our magazine front cover, we decided to use a medium shot of our main antagonist with a distorted look. After analysing other magazine front covers, we noticed that medium shots of the main antagonist or actor was the most common thing. We decided to carry this convention on, and we feel the image fits nicely on our front cover. We also decided to a halloween special on a normal film magazine, therefore the horror affect becomes more noticeable, we chose to do this because we did not want to make the magazine purely based around horror movies, such as fangoria. Our Masthead is also similar to many other magazine mastheads, because it is bold and placed above the main image, which is conventional in order for people to recognise the magazine. 

Movie Poster

For our film poster, we decided to use a similar image to our magazine front cover in order to keep a symbiotic link throughout our three pieces. The image is of the main antagonist looking into the mirror with a disorted look. We feel that this image is effective and will appeal to the target audience because it is a clever shot and is frightening. We also added 'based on true events' at the top of the poster which adds realism to our movie overall. The title and tagline are at the bottom of the page, which is a typical convention of  poster, so the main image stands our more.

Storyboard Of Film Trailer

Actors Featuring In Our Trailer

Name: Sonia Sharma
Age: 17
Occupation: Student
Character: Mary Wilson

Why we chose her: 

I decided to play the part of Mary Wilson who is the main antagonist in my horror movie trailer because i feel that with make up and costume, i looked the part. It is also very hard to find someone who is willing to take this seriously, especially if they are playing a part where they must be frightening and do strange things. Therefore I volunteered to play the part of Mary because I will take it seriously because it is my project, and I know that my trailer will be effective in the long run because when filming i will do what ever i need to do in order to create a trailer that is successfully scary. 

             
















Name: Charleigh Kirby
Age: 17
Occupation: Student
Character: Ella Garcia

Why we chose her:

Charleigh was chosen to play the part of our main protagonist because she is available to film on multiple days and she takes it seriously. We used many other females to film with, but unfortunately they dropped out of the project, and therefore we chose Charleigh because she is a reliable person. Charleigh is naturally very pretty, and dresses very casual with a modern look, which helps fit the modern feel to our film. We would not have to use any make up for Charleigh because we want the character of Ella to look very natural and pretty. 

                

Name: Stephen Yu
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Character: William Garcia

Why we chose him: 

Stephen is a good looking and young male, who fits the character of William well. Although he is only 18, by dressing him modern and smartly, we are able to make him look mature and slightly older. Stephen is available to film with us on various days, therefore our filming will get done. 

Name: Jacob

Age: 11

Occupation: Student

Character: Logan Garcia

Why we chose him:

Jacob was a last minute decision to play the part of Logan who is the child of Ella and William. We struggled to find a child who was available to film on various days, or who was available to film the same days as our other actors. Therefore we asked around our sixth form and found someone with a little brother. Although Jacob is in year 7, he looks very young, which is what we need for our trailer.

Name: Nicole Broderick
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Character: News Reporter

Why we chose her: 

Nicole was chosen to be in our trailer as the news reporter because she looks very mature and is also a media student, therefore she understands that taking it seriously is important. Nicole lives locally to where we were filming her scene therefore she could get there easily and stay for a long period of time in order to get it done. 

Name: Hayley Gorrod
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Character: Police/Detective

Why we chose her:

The person we chose for playing this role was an issue because we preferably wanted a male who was slightly older. However we could not get an actor for this, therefore we chose Hayley because she lives down the street where we were filming and she looks a lot older then she is. We got her to dress in smart clothing, therefore she looked older and her face was not really seen int he shot. 

Practice Shots

These are a few practice shots we have taken for our film poster and magazine. The shots are very basic, without costume or make up, we took these shots to get a feel on which angle to take the photo from. We realised after taking various shots, that the mirror effect of the image works best with the light off, but using the flash on the camera. We found that the flash gave a gloomy effect to the photo, which allows the audience to see that we are trying to advertise a horror movie. With the make up and the costume, we feel as a group that our final photos will turn our to a high standard, and we feel that the type of shot we have used is really effective and will lure in the target audience. 

Reconaissance

This image is of the main hallway in the apartment where we are filming, The hallway is used a lot within our trailer because we feel it is a typical location for a horror based within a household. The hallway is used multiple times within our trailer, for example we see Ella running through the hallway, and we also get a shot of William walking down and seeing Mary in the bedroom. 

This image is in the far corner of the living room in the apartment we used to film. For our trailer we used this area for the mental hospital scene, where Ella comes to collect her mother who is now being released. Mary is sitting in a rocking chair facing this window when Ella comes to get her.

This image shows the bedroom in the apartment we are filming in. This bedroom is int he trailer a few times where we see Mary settling in to her new home. The bedroom is also significant in the trailer because it is the first place we see a disruption within the trailer. 

The kitchen is used within our trailer showing Ella and William discussing Mary, and how they think there is something seriously wrong with her. We feel that the kitchen is very modern which fits our modern horror movie. 

These are a few photos that we took of our main location, which is inside a house. Due to our trailer being based mostly in a house, we feel that it should be a modern day house, with a few antiques that give it that edge. There is a bedroom, which is important for our trailer because we have a really good scene to shoot in there, and we also feel that the hallway has a really creepy feel to it, because it is long and dark. The window view is a great shot, because this is where the main antagonist will be sitting, on her rocking chair as a part of the trailer. We still have more locations to explore, and we will be visiting these locations soon in order to photograph them. The bathroom is going to be used for our sting at the end of the trailer, we feel if we took all the colourful things out, it would be a good place to film.

This is a quick video of our schools hallway which we would like to use for the metal home's hallway. We would have to take off the colourful board sign, so that it looks less like a school and more of a hospital. we have chosen this area because there is a lot of iconography of horror such as the cross at the start of the video, the statue of Jesus and also the doors and hallway looks like a hospital.

This again is a quick shot of a hallway in our school, we can use this also for our horror trailer as the metal hospital hallway, it has colourful pictures but we can use it in the dark.

Tagline Ideas

Approaching the tagline for this film, we already had a clear idea for the narrative and film title, so the tagline had to tie in with both neatly. The primary idea was to have a theme of curing, healing and saving that is commonly tied to people with a possession; the idea of salvation. We also tried to connect the family aspect and came up with “How do you protect yourself from your own family?”, “Mother’s coming to visit. Forever.”, “Eternal damnation is hereditary.” and “A mother’s vendetta.”. After deliberating each of these, they were all ruled out though. The first, second and fourth seemed far too much like that of the slasher genre, and the third just did not fit in with our narrative as the possession does not pass down through generations. “The darkness wants you.” also did not quite fit the narrative as whilst the “darkness” is driving the mother to attack her daughter and her family, the tagline is slightly ambiguous in that it seems as if the daughter is in danger of being possessed, and that is not in the story-line. From that we came up with “They thought she was better, but she can’t be healed.”, but it seemed far too long as we wanted to keep the tagline short like the title. Upon that decision, we tried shortening it to just the last 4 words “She can’t be saved.”. As of there, we tried “cured” and “healed”, but decided that “cured” was in fact the best fit and so our tagline is “She can’t be cured.”

Film Magazine Name Ideas

The masthead of a magazine sets the standard for the entire magazine and also creates an opinion in the reader on the magazine and whether they would want to read it or not. Our magazine would appeal to our target audience, and would therefore need to contain aspects that would appeal to them. We created a brainstorm of potential mastheads in order to narrow down our ideas to a final decision. The options were varied, each trying to hit a certain target. Total Horror, whilst straightforward and powerful, it is to similar to an existing product, and therefore cannot be used. Now Horror, Movies 101, Box Office, Scene Stealer, Movie Galore and Blockbuster all seemed to be to cliche for our target audience. Frame was too ambiguous and could be mistaken for a photography magazine, as was Scene. This left us choosing between Shutter, Gore, and Shocker to choose from. Shocker seemed far too childish for our demographic, and so it was removed, however the choice between Gore and Shutter was more difficult. Gore would immediately connotate horror films, however Shutter encapsulates cinema as a whole. In the end, we decided to go with Shutter as it has a stronger connotation the film industry  and also provides us with a wide range of possibilities in regards to the design of the masthead. As Shutter is a film magazine, we decided to create a special Halloween edition to feature our film and focus on the genre specifically. This is so that we can play around with the fonts and colour schemes without having to adhere to codes and conventions as strictly as would be necessary with an average film magazine.

Film Name Ideas

To begin these brainstorms, we first looked over various existing film titles and observed the conventions that they contain. The titles can be split into two halves; one word titles and two or more word titles, each excluding “the”. The titles with 2 or more words tend to be limited to four words, and in some cases five as with “Last House on the Left” and those with one word have a single striking adjective that resonates with the audience. Essentially, the aim is to have a title that the audience will remember whether that is through its brevity, or the foreshadowing of terror that it gives. Whilst looking into titles, it became apparent to us that we mainly wanted a single word title, but none that we looked at fit our project properly. It was evident that we needed two words to do the narrative justice. However, forming coherent and effective two word titles proved challenging as our expectations for this title grew higher. In the end, we came up with three 2 or more word titles that were to be considered for our project. Overall, we found that “Darkness Within” had a much scarier connotation, as “Demon Within” was too obvious and “Last One Standing” seemed far more suited to an action movie. “Darkness Within” also has the connotations with possession, and therefore fits in with our narrative much more effectively.

Non Diegetic Sound Ideas

Non diegetic sounds

Typical non Diegetic sounds that feature in horror movie trailers tend to be big bangs, eerie sounds, added  music that creates tension, orchestra, piano, contrapuntal sounds and stabs. These non diegetic sounds are added in a horror movie to emphasise the moment of that scene. Music adds more tension to the scene because people get scared when there is a build up to a jumpy moment and so it gets us ready for something big. Usually the added music starts of slow and calm within the trailer then the pace gets faster as it goes on. A stab is one of the most effective types of non diegetic sound that is added in horror movies and its trailer, a stab is a short, sudden, burst of sound which is used to potentially make the audience jump. A stab is a crucial sound to have in the trailer since its one thing that the target audience always remembers. Stab sounds can coincide with a moment of drama and help to heighten the existing drama. Some sounds appear to add tension that matches the scene in the trailer/ movie, it just gives that extra fear factor that the audience want to hear since if it was only dialogue, it would not be as effectively scary. Eerie music is one main sound effect that is added to create tension. For example, in the grave encounters film trailer, sounds are used to create tension throughout, such as deep hums and then sudden stabs of sound. 

Our ideas

What we have decided to use for our non diegetic sounds are existing sounds from other movies and trailers. This will be an easy option since we would not have the high quality sound software to create these non diegetic sounds. We will use a range of sounds from contrapuntal music to stabs and eerie sounds.  We will use a range of sounds from other types of media like games, music and TV programmes. The soundtracks that we would consider using is from grave encounters, the devil inside, call of duty black ops zombie mode etc. We will also use sounds from websites that offer sound effects. All these would be added to the trailer to create a unique sound to it and effectively create a frightening trailer. We plan to use eerie and strange sounds for the beginning of the trailer, to build up the tension for the disruption in the trailer, these sounds will include a few stabs and deep hums. Contrapuntal sound will be used for our fast montage, because instead of using loud quick sounds throughout the fast montage we have decided to use the sound of a enhanced heartbeat which will get faster and then blend into eerie music, and then a stab of sound.

These are a few different sounds that we found on youtube that could be included into our horror movie trailer, because we feel that have that eerie factor to them. The first video is a sequence of eerier sounds which could be used at any point in our trailer, because it will create tension successfully and will lead up nicely to the build up of different sounds. The two game soundtracks include creepy piano music, which could be used at the start of the trailer for the narrative or at the end whilst the credits appear on screen. 

Lighting Ideas

One of the main elements of creating a movie, lighting can change the entire mood and perception of a scene. Horror movies utilize lighting to set the tone of a scene and also give foreshadowing of events to come. For example, if a girl is in a dark room with light only coming from her phone or natural lighting from an open window, then the audience sit in baited breath for something to jump out of the darkness. The reactions the audience have are also due to lighting conventions of horror such as profile lighting, back lighting, under lighting when the lights shine upwards, and ambient lighting. Each of these gives a specific tone to each scene that is unique.

Profile lighting is when light falls on only half of a person’s face. This gives a sinister tone to the scene and the character or it can highlight the shock on a victim’s face. Another use for this lighting is to highlight specific features that may be deemed grotesque, and this effect enhances that.  This image below is an example of profile lighting in Halloween.

Under lighting is also used for all of these reasons but is achieved by having a high angle light shine on a character from below them to make them seem menacing. These effects may be used in our trailer to bring focus to the protagonist’s shocked face as the protagonist attacks her.

Back lighting is the placement of a light in the background of the scene to create a silhouette of those in the foreground. This technique hides the features of those in the foreground and also gives a sinister effect.

Ambient lighting is the available lighting in a scene, such as the sun. This gives a more realistic and natural look to the scene. We will use this technique during the street scene as it will be outdoors and most styles of lighting will be rendered useless. Another example of ambient lighting is the moon, which is typical within the horror genre because it adds that eerie effect the the footage. Darkness is also something that could be used within a horror movie trailer because it is a typical convention of horror, using darkness instead of light will scare the audience further. Using shadow is also another option whilst filming, profile lighting is an example where shadow is used cleverly to create a sinister look to the antagonist. Half of the face is in shadow and half is in light therefore the antagonist is partially hidden. 

For my horror movie trailer, ambient lighting will be our main source available. We are filming the majority of our trailer within an apartment, therefore the lighting that we have will be used. For example, we have a shot of our main actress running down the hallway, and for this shot we turned all of the lights off, except one light to increase visibility, but also create an eerie effect. We decided to use ambient lighting throughout our trailer because we feel that supernatural horrors need to have a sense of realism in order to frighten to audience, and we feel that by creating this sense of realism, the audience will effectively be frightened. 

Camera Ideas

Camera shots

Trailer
The typical camera shots and angles that appear in a movie trailer range from long shots to extreme close ups. Generally they tend to start off with either an establishing shot of where the location is and where the whole horror scene is going to happen or a long shot of the protagonist. Throughout the trailer, we see a range of shots and angles to enhance a scene for example, a close up will be used in order to show the emotions of either the antagonist or protagonist, or to show us the demonic features and this can be shown in The Possession throughout. By using a range of angles it will give us an idea of how strong or weak the character at the certain scene, like a high angle shot looking down at the protagonist so represent that they are getting watched and make them seen vulnerable and weak. In Silent hill, high angle shots are used a lot which emphasises at the start that she is weak and vulnerable, but as the trailer goes on, low angle shots are used as she becomes stronger. 

Here are some examples of camera shots that are common within horror movie trailers:

Camera movement is also important in horror movie trailer because it improves the scene and adds fluidity to the trailer. Camera movements include tracking shots, crane shots, zoom in/zoom out, pan, tilt etc. In horror movie trailers, these movements are used frequently, which allows the transitions between shots to flow nicely. An example of a tracking shot is in the Amityville horror is to show how the house is, the environment and the area in which it is located. This is a good way of getting a lot of information in a small amount of time but yet it does not give out a lot of the narrative.

Poster/magazine
When analysing the posters and magazine covers, we have realised that there is a link between the main images and they usually are the same image but with less effects on the magazine cover. The shots that are used are usually long shots, mediums shots or a close up of the antagonist. A long shot is to show us the entire body and any deformities; it lets us see all of the it in one shot which gives us the idea of what is wrong with the antagonist. A close up is to show us the intensity of the demotic possession of the antagonist. These shots have been cleverly used to show the audience exactly what the story is about but they have disguised it well. An example where a long shot is used, is the Friday 13th poster, and this show allows us to see the whole of his body, and makes him look very dominating. The majority of supernatural movie posters include medium/close ups of the antagonist such as the possession and the devil inside and shown below.

Our ideas

We have decided to use a range of shots and movement within our trailer to attract and retain audience attention. If  we were to use only a single angle and technique of movement, the audience would soon become bored. To begin our trailer, we have decided to use an establishing shot of a house that pans to a medium shot of a reporter. We will use the movements to link our shots together to give the fluidity needed. We will also be using long shots and medium shots to show the antagonist throughout the trailer. Long shots are also being used to show Ella running down a hallway. We also plan to use a sequence of over the shoulder shots between Mary and Logan at the dinner table to lead up to a scene of possession and to create tension. Our magazine cover will feature a medium shot to show the audience the demonic possession of the antagonist. This links with the main poster that has the same medium shot but with a longer image that will be reflected in an old standing mirror. The poster will be shot in an over the shoulder fashion to show a contrast between her “normal” state and her possessed state. We have decided to use a medium shot for our ancillary tasks because after researching other posters and magazines, this seemed to be the most frequent shot used, therefore we agreed to stick to conventions. We also feel that our arrangement of the shot would not have worked if it was a close up, because the editing of the image would have become to obvious to the audience, but the medium shot is effective and also shows the mirror in the shot. 

Location Ideas

Location Ideas

The typical locations that tend to appear in horror movies are generally very isolated. These locations consist of isolated homes in a suburban setting, a forest, motels or a lake side area. These locations are used in horror movies to add to the effect of the victims not being able to get contact with anyone for help when they are in trouble. Isolated locations also allow vast building with a lot of rooms where the victim can be chased and it also created a maze like feel which adds more intensity to the chase. Amytiville horror is a key example as to where the location is an isolated house in a suburban area which allows the characters to have no contact. The strangers is another prime example where a couple are in an isolated house essentially in the middle of no where, and it is almost impossible to get help. These locations tend to be dark and dull areas which allow the audience to feel on edge when seeing these locations because they are typical areas where everyday people tend to be in. In supernatural horror movies a normal family home is used in order to scare the audience further because it is tainting the comfort of their own home, and they can no longer feel safe in their home. An example of a normal family home is Paranormal activity, although it may be a normal house, there is obviously something wrong within the house, and this scares the audience because they feel unsafe in the comfort of their own home. Locations in horror movies are key conventions which add to the movie’s success of scaring the audience. The location of a horror movie must be dark, and must be away from social contact; otherwise the audience would not feel scared. For example, a horror movie based in a forest makes the audience feel on edge because someone could be lurking in the trees, which gives a sense of someone watching them. Friday 13th is set in a cabin on the lake, which is in a forest, therefore is very isolated and a typical location for a slasher movie, because no one will find them and no one can help them except themselves. 

Our ideas

Taking into account existing locations for horror movies we have decided to use an isolated house for the majority of the trailer, because we feel that tainting the comfort of someone’s home will be key feature to scare our audience, some of the other scenes that we would consider using are an establishing shot of a mental hospital, a scene in the bathroom, and a hallway of a mental hospital. We feel that these locations are reasonably isolated which fits in the conventions of a horror movie. The establishing shot of the metal hospital will allow the narrative to become clearer for the audience because this will show them that there is something wrong with the character “Mary”. We would film these locations in available lighting to give it a dull atmosphere that creates more of horror movie feel. As we progress more through our portfolio, we will have images of these locations and we will get feedback from our target audience to see if these locations are effective to make our horror movie successful.