Trailer Planning: Props, costume and Location

After deciding on our plan for our film trailer as a group we had to decide on the logistics of the trailer and how we were going film it. We started by organising what Props and costumes we'd need and where the location for our filming would be:

The Props we would require include:

• Games Console -  For use in the trailer, to be used as an outlet for the game to be played on in scenes of the trailer. Our main character will play on the games console.
• Games Console Controller - Will be used in the trailer as our main character holds it while playing on the game
• Television - Will be used in the trailer, as the main characters plays the game, he will be staring at the television
• News Desk - In the trailer the news reader will be sat behind a desk as if he was reading the news.

In addition to the props we required we made note of the costume our actors would need to be in:

• Main character - In the scenes while playing on the console, he will need to be dressed in dark casual clothing but in the scenes in the school corridor he will need to be wearing smart clothing in order to look realistic
• News Reader - In the News scenes, the presenter will need to be dressed in a shirt and tie in order to give a professional and authentic impression.
• The Bullies - Will need to be dressed similarly to the main character in the corridor scene, as they will also be at school, possibly dressed a little scruffier to indicate they are the bullies.

After deciding on the props and costumes for our trailer, we focused on the locations we would need to film in to create a successful trailer:

• Bedroom - For the scenes of our main character playing the game, we require a bedroom as the set for this scenes. It will need to be dimly lit to create a sense of mystery and suspense.
• School Corridor - A long school corridor with lockers either side, this will allow our main character to walk down the corridor before being confronted by the bullies. I would preferably need to be empty and quiet to allow for the focus to be on the main character.
• Media Suite - The same place in which I took photos for my magazine cover, the white backdrop will need to be used to create a professional and slick look for the presenter to read the news stories out

Photo-Shoot for Magazine cover

In the production of my magazine cover I need to produce my own photo to be included on the cover of the magazine. In order to obtain a suitable photo I conducted a photo-shoot with the main character of our film testing out different angles and poses so I could decide which would be most suitable for the magazine cover

                                               

These photos all show the different poses and angles I took photos on. I took all of the photos in front of a white backdrop so they would stand out and the background wouldn't take away from the photo. The background means they will easily work on the cover of the magazine and could easily be edited.

Film Trailer Storyboard animation

After I created sketches for the magazine covers and film posters as a group we created a storyboard for our main task, creating a film trailer. It allowed us to visualise what our trailer would look like and plan the order, and even help with the planning of the filming process. I then took the pictures from the story and used the program 'Windows Movie Maker' to create an animation depicting our storyboard as our trailer. This helped us gain an idea of what it would look like on screen. In our final cut of our trailer it does not feature the same scenes in this animation as during filming and editing we discovered issues with them and we even added scenes that aren't in this animation to improve it, despite this, this process was extremely useful in the creation of our final trailer and as a group and as individuals we learnt a lot.

Sketches for Magazine and Poster Design

To brainstorm some ideas for the creation of my film poster and magazine cover, I sketched out some drawings  as a plan for possible design ideas. Here are the sketches I drew:

These sketches are only rough but I took inspiration from existing posters and magazine covers and combined them with my own ideas to create possibilities for my media products. This may not be used as the final pieces, but they have helped be brainstorm and develop my ideas.

Film Magazine Analysis

Similarly to the analysis of the existing Horror Film Trailers and Posters I looked at existing Magazine covers that focus on horror films. Here are some examples of covers I looked at with a few annotations explaining what I found:

I have learnt about the connotations of existing magazine covers and this will aid me in the creation of my own magazine cover.

Film Poster Analysis

To try and gain an idea of what existing Film Posters contain I looked at existing ones. Here are some examples of the posters I looked one with some annotations

After studying these posters, I hope this has helped me with ideas of what a horror film poster looks like and ultimately improve my final design

Film Trailer Analysis

As part of the planning for the creation of my group's Film Trailer, I have looked at some existing trailers for the genre we have chosen.

I looked at the trailers for the films 'Don't be Afraid of the Dark' and 'The Blair Witch Project. I have made notes on the Media Language/Mise en Scene, the Narrative, Genre, Audience, Representation, Ideologies and Insitution through both of the trailers. I have learnt a lot about Horror Film trailers after studying these and I hope that this experience can aid my group's creation of our own Horror Film Trailer.

Here are my notes for 'Don't be Afraid of the Dark'

Media Language/Mise en scene

·         Opening shot of House
·         Leave blowing along the ground
·         Wind blowing
·         Fades to show an old fireplace
·         In the dark
·         Fades into close up of grill on wall
·         ‘THEY HIDE IN THE DARK’ comes up on screen.
·         Mirrored cupboard fades on screen which opens slowly
·         A close up of plug/switch before fading into black
·         ‘THEY WATCH FROM THE SHADOWS’ appears on screen, creating suspense and tension due to the slow start to the trailer
·         Fades between scenes of an old dungeon and a close up of an old rusty grill,  creating suspense wondering what is behind the grills. The rustic and historic look of house and inside it gives the idea that the film will contain historic references
·         ‘AND THEY HAVE BEEN WAITING’ is the next to come up on screen. Creates even more suspension to wonder who ‘THEY’ are.
·         Close up to hand opening front gate
·         Quick cuts between the family members, change of pace in the trailer
·         Little girl looking up at house scared, the family are moving into the old house
·         ‘FOR YOU’ appears on screen, suggesting ‘they’ have been waiting for a family to move in.
·         Little girl, shown in the dark with a torch, showing she is scared.
·         Scenes are dark, the unknown, adding more suspense
·         An Old door opening slowly, into a dark room
·         Eye looking through the key hole, possible metaphor for unlocking something?
·         Something comes through the keyhole to the man on other side before a close up of arms clawing at old fireplace grill earlier in the trailer
·         Quick cuts between scenes, final one is father screaming daughter’s name as a door shuts on him, scene fades to dark.
·         Trailer begins to slow again as little girl takes a bath in the dark
·         Girl’s scream is heard before cutting to scene with ‘DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK’, the title of the film is across the screen.

Audience

·         Scary, horror/thriller, for thrillseekers who enjoy getting scared.
·         Fulfils audience adrenaline needs
·         Trailer leads you to believe you will be entertained and kept in suspense.

Ideologies/Media Values

·         Father protects daughter
·         Little girl chosen to be target of ‘THEM’, the creatures in the film.

Narrative

·         Creepy, quiet voice over, not telling a direct story but more addressing the characters in the trailer and not the audience itself
·         No real structure to the narrative, just short quotes and not from main characters, but from the unknown beasts.

Institution

·         ‘Film District’ and ‘Miramax’, institutions who are well known for creating successful films
·         Fade in to trailer so as not to take away from it, but still gets point across.
·         Actors are not recognisable to add realism to it and make it more believable.

Genre

·         Horror, creepy dark house and rooms. Darkness and the unknown are very typical in horror films
·         Historical, the old building could be a big part in the storyline.
·         Thriller, the quick cuts between scenes suggests a fast moving film.

Representation

·         Young children are easily scared
·         Girls are easily scared and likely to be picked on
·         Male, the father, is shown as the protector, as he tries to save his daughter

Here are my notes for 'The Blair Witch Project':

Media Language/Mise en scene

• Dark screen, informative text appears on screen, “In October 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary” before a few seconds later “A year later their footage was found” appears underneath
• Black and white flashing cuts of woods with creepy witch signs with quotes from Film reviews
•  Flashing screen between black and white, making the audience jump
•    Close up of girl crying, no indication of why
• Handheld camera running through forest as man screams for help, suggesting
• Slight pause then the name of film flashes up on screen along with unknown symbol underneath
• The dark creates tension and suspense as it is very mysterious and unnerving.
•  Hand held footage on screen, not very clear what is happening and the footage is accompanied by similar screaming
• Cuts and fades to ‘This Summer’ followed by website of the film

Audience

• The main characters are teenagers so will appeal to people of similar ages
•  Described as ‘The Creepiest film since the Exorcist’ so people who like that film or similar films will be attracted to it.
• Quick flashes so could attract fans of action films.
• Ideologies/Media Values
• Students are interested in the woods and myths
• They are likely to fall into traps and may suffer horrific consequences
• That people who go into the woods alone will not return

Narrative

• No Voice Over
• Just the muffled screams and sobbing of the characters, unstructured and doesn’t give away the story line
• Entices people to find out what happens in the film by not giving much away.

Institution

• Artisan Entertainment, a rather unknown company fades before the trailer starts
• Quotes from established institutions’ reviews such as ‘Entertainment Weekly’ improve the reputation of the film

Genre

• Horror; the dark scenes in the woods, the handheld camera and the sobbing and screaming are conventions of the horror genre
• Thriller/Action; the handheld camera running away suggests possible action
• Mystery; darkness, screaming and hard to make out scenes