Research and Planning: Auditions

Yesterday we held the Auditions for our trailer. We used Emma's poster as mine came out very dark and we were worried that people might not see it. Emma's was very straight to the point. Although we did hang the posters in quite a few areas of college, nobody turned up. This puts a damper on our trailer, however we are able to turn to family and friends to help us make sure that we have enough actors for our trailer. We already have a bit of an idea on who we are going to use.

Research and Planning: Music Research for Trailer

At the end of our Trailer we decided that we wanted to use a 'creepy' children's song which we will either get a child to sing, or sing ourselves and higher the pitch of our voices. We are going to do some research into different songs and see which one would fit best.

Research and Planning: Script Draft 1

Scene 1

[Scene opens with two actors in a car]

Boy: It's working [Raises camera to Girl's face] look!
Girl: [Pushes camera from face] Stop!
Boy: [Laughs] So we're on our way to Mottram Farm, home of ghosts and crap.. So.. We're gonna film what we find.
Boy: [Moves closer to camera] LETS GO FIND US SOME GHOSTS!

Scene 2

[Scene opens with the actors arriving at the gate]

Boy: [Turns camera to Girl] You ready?
Girl: [Smiles and nods]

[Creak of the gate opening]

Scene 3

[Scene opens with the Girl in front, walking ahead]

Girl: There's nothing even here!

[Slow zoom towards Girl, appears to be alone, looking around]

Boy: [Grabs her shoulder and scares her]
Girl: For God's Sake [name], that wasn't funny! [Starts hitting him]
Boy: [Backing away laughing]

[Loud bang, Boy drops Camera]

Boy: Aw, sh- [Camera goes static, so we don't hear the end of the word]

Scene 4

[Scene opens with the two actors walking into the Barn]

Boy: I swear it came from in here!
Girl: Shut up, let's go, this place creeps me out.

[Camera goes really static with high pitched noise, Barn door shuts, light darkens with just light on the clowns face]

Scene 5

[Scene opens with both actors running across the Farm, heavy panting]

Boy: Go, go, go!

[Fast montage with loud noises and screaming from Girl]

Scene 6

[Scene opens solely on the clown's face, creepy children's music in the background, Clown opens eyes and smiles on a certain cue]

*End*

Research and Planning: Risk Assessment for Trailer

Research and Planning: Actor Audition Poster

So that we are able to get the Actors that we need to make our trailer possible, we have decided to create an actors wanted poster which we can hang around college. We will post them everywhere, but especially make sure that we post them in the Drama department so as to draw in talented actors. I have made the poster interesting to look at, I have included a picture of the famous clown 'IT' so that the audience will know what the trailer will be about. I have also used a dirty background and dark black font, also including the Carnival style font that we are going to be wanting to use for our Trailer.

Research and Planning: Social Network Feedback

Research and Planning: Genre Research (IT Trailer)

After we decided to change our trailer idea to Horror, we found inspiration in Stephen King's film IT, which involves a clown killer who kills children. As we have changed, I thought it would be appropriate to research a bit into IT and watch the trailer for it to gain even more inspiration on how we could film our own clown trailer. I noticed that the trailer uses a lot of fast editing with only certain dialogue shown including words like "Help" which relates to the film itself. There is a lot of fade editing transitions which connect all of the clips together however I do not really like how many times they used this transition as I think that a trailer should have a bit of a variety to make it more interesting. Throughout the trailer we don't really get much of a storyline other than the fact that the clown is killing people, however with our trailer I want to make sure that the audience know that there is an interesting plot line. Therefore I will be adding more dialogue to my own trailer.

Research and Planning: Costume and Props list for Poster

For shooting the image that will be the foreground of my Poster I will need all of these items to help the poster look realistic:

• A Camera with Flash photography
• A lighting device (Torch etc) Only if the flash is not lighting the faces enough
• Photoshop to edit my image
• Illustrator to create the Film Name to add to the poster
• Clown Outfit including:

1. Hat
2. Polka dot outfit
3. Clown Makeup (Smudged)

• Scarf and Coat for the girl (Preferably dirty)
• Coat for the boy
• Scruffy hair
• Hairspray to make the hair look messy and stand in place
• Make-up for the female character (Natural, liquid eyeliner) Will post trial.

Research and Planning: Costume and Props list for Magazine

For shooting my Magazine I will need a range of props and costume to make the image look realistic:

• A professional Camera to take the image
• Some sort of lighting device (Torch etc) as I am going to shoot in the dark
• Balloons for the Clown to hold (In my draft)
• Scarf and coat for the girl in my trailer (Preferably with dirt on them to make her look like she has been running around etc)
• Clown Costume for the clown including:

1. Hat
2. Polka dot Outfit
3. Clown Makeup (Smudged)

I will need all of these things so as to achieve the image that I want.

Research and Planning: Chosen Font Idea

For the font of our film name, I have decided that I am going to draw it myself and scan it into the computer, or download the font from a professional website. This way it will make the film more personal and realistic. However I have to make sure that it looks professional and that the font looks realistic. I will try to draw it first, but if it doesn't work then the downloaded font will be a backup.
This is the look I will be going for:

Research and Planning: Film Font Ideas

Research and Planning: Audition Posters

So that we gain publicity on for our Auditions we have hung some posters up in various places around college, including doors, walls and classrooms. This will hopefully make sure that people come along to our auditions so that we can get actors for our trailer.

Research and Planning: Film Magazine Draft #2

Here is the second draft for my film Magazine. The title is 'Feature' which is a word associated with cinema and I think it sounds professional. I made the magazine so that the girl is the main focus of the image, with the clown in the background holding some balloons. I think that this is creepier than the other magazine because it reflects more on what the film is about, a couple being trapped with a clown creeping behind them. Also the audience will see the girl first and be confused but then see the clown in the background and get scared.

Research and Planning: Location Recce for Trailer

Research and Planning: Film Magazine Draft #1

Here is the first draft for my Film Magazine. I have made sure that the Masthead is at the top of the magazine because I feel like this is the conventions of a magazine and I want my magazine to fit in with the rest, however I want it to stand out which is why I used a large image of the clown on the front. Although this might make some people not want to read the magazine because they are scared of clowns so maybe having such a big image of the clown is not a good idea. When making the magazine I will have to add random stories to the page to make it look realistic and so that the audience knows that the magazine is about many films and not just the one.

Research and Planning: Prop List (Horror)

Research And Planning - Props List

• Balloons (so that the clown can hold them to make the character more realistic) 
• Old Signs (to show that there was once a carnival there) 
• Bunting 
• Cameras
• Phones
• 'No Trespassing' sign

Research and Planning: Costume List (Horror)

Costume List

Clown Costume - We have already decided on the clown costume and we are going to purchase it this weekend so that it will be here in time for us to start filming.
Teenagers - Normal looking clothes, normal teenagers. However will have some clothes that they do not mind getting dirty. The dirt will take into account that they could be falling onto the ground and that the weather might have been bad so they will need to know that the farm will be muddy and dirty.

The costume list for this Trailer is quite short as there are not many characters in our trailer, however the people that are in our trailer will have to be good and look authentic.

Research and Planning: Plan for the Weekend

Plan:

• Magazine Drafts x2
• Poster Drafts x2
• Buy the Costume & Makeup
• Location Recce
• Audition Posters
• Find Actors

I will hope to have these completed by Monday to make sure that I keep on track with my work.

Research and Planning: Chosen Costume

Here is the costume in which we have decided to purchase from Amazon. Included in the costume we get the dotted outfit, the neck ruffle and the red hat. I think that including this we will need to buy some Halloween makeup, or clown makeup as this is what we're going to use instead of a mask. We have decided this because using makeup means that we will be able to smear it and add dirt and make it look more authentic whereas if we use a mask I think that it will make the trailer look more childlike. Therefore choosing the makeup will be better for our trailer.

Research and Planning: Costume Research

As our trailer is going to have a clown, we decided to look up some costumes and props as we will need these to make the film look authentic and real. We have been looking on ebay and amazon. We have decided that we are going to use a clown costume and buy it ourselves because we want our trailer to be the best it can be.

Research and Planning: Chosen Location

For our location we have found that, due to Emma's family connections, we will be able to use this farm for filming our trailer. I think that this will be a really good location as we can film in the dark and it will look real and authentic and terrifying. Emma's family are happy for us to use the farm day and night so we can maybe film some with the teens in the day looking around and come by nightfall it will be eerie and scary.

Research and Planning: IMDB Research on Horror

I did some more research into IMDB Horror as my last IMDB post was about Romance films in which we are not doing anymore. I have found that most of the popular horror films are very recent, i.e from 2010+, I think this is because the graphics and computer generated images have greatly improved since before the 2000s and I think that Horror has to look good to be scary and believable, which is probably why therefore a lot of the films are very recent. A lot of the top horror films on the list have a very 'real' feel to them and feel like they could be very real, I think this is why they are the most popular ones because if a horror does not seem real, it doesn't feel real and therefore won't be scary.

Research and Planning: Film Name

The name we have chosen is 'The Carnival' - we have chosen this name because of the theme being about clowns and an old carnival I feel like this is a fitting name without sounding too cliche. We don't want the name to sound too obvious but we don't want the name to be so out there that the audience will have no clue what the film is about. By having the name as the Carnival it will give the audience the idea that the film will be about clowns, therefore if someone has a phobia of clowns they will know not to go and watch the film. We have also decided to put 'The' before it because this is a well known stereotype of horror films to have the word the before it.

Horror Films beginning with 'The'

Research and Planning: Film Name ideas on Solvr

http://solvr.freshbrain.com/d/7ibw49sxh3

Research and Planning: Proposal Idea 2

After having another meeting we have decided on another idea in which I think we are going to go ahead with. As me and Emma are both terrified of clowns, we thought making our trailer around this idea would make the trailer scary for us as well as our audience.
The idea is:
The trailer will be set on an old farm, (we already have one that we can use) in which there used to be a Carnival. However, one night one of the acts went wrong in the middle of the set and a clown was killed in the process. Now there is an old ghost story going through the town that there is still a clown that haunts the farm, waiting for the Carnival to come back in town. The trailer will still be from the point of view of the camera man, ie. like they are filming a document. A group of teenagers (2 or 3) go to investigate the area and struggle to make it out alive.

Research and Planning: Maniac Trailer

After talking about our ideas with our Tutor, she mentioned this film to us, which has the same sort of idea that we have, to use the camera to the same point of view as the protagonist. I think that this is a good and popular idea as it makes the film seem more lifelike and more personal, making it like you're in the film with the person or that you're a real person. After looking at this trailer we have gained tips and hints on how to film our trailer should be filmed and I think that the p.o.v idea is really good and will make a good trailer. Although this trailer has a completely different idea to ours, by looking at it it has given us some good tips into making a successful trailer.

Research and Planning: Proposal Idea 1

Emma and I had a meeting, and we discussed an idea for our plot. We are considering doing a trailer from the p.o.v from the person who is recording it, meaning the person holding the camera is 'searching' for a well-known killer, in an attempt to determine whether or not the killer is fact or fiction. The killer will be found and will start 'torturing' the camera man, by showing up where he least expects etc. We want the killer to be masked, and we are thinking of using the well known anonymous mask, and maybe linking the trailer to this somehow.

Research and Planning: 'House Of Wax' Poster Analysis

Genre

Straight away we can see that the poster is for a Horror film, the main image is of a distorted woman in which she is in an eerie green colour, which is associated with moss and disgusting imagery. The shot is a close up, which is ensuring that the audience can see closely the pattern in which is emerging from her face, the effect is of dripping wax which is to relate to the title of the film. We can also see that it is horror by the way that the close up of the woman appears to have no eyes, which is disturbing to some people and is seen in many horror films. We can also see that the poster has a slogan saying 'Prey. Slay. Display' which is a catchy little slogan for the film, however the chosen words are quite distressing and often seen within horror trailers and posters, with the word 'Display' bringing in the film's plot twist and makes the audience wonder what it could mean by display.

Representation 

The first thing that the audience looks at is the main image which is of the woman, this is stereotypical and the audience will be able to see this as woman are stereotyped as weak and vulnerable and by showing that this woman in the image has obviously been captured or killed, she is shown as the first one to die, therefore playing on the stereotype of women. She is also represented to be quite disgusting though as the effect on the image seems to be that of her dripping wax, which when seen by the audience can give quite different reactions. Whereas normally the women are represented as girly and inviting, therefore this makes the poster more interesting and makes the audience want to see it.

Audience

We can see from the close up of the disturbing image and the slogan 'Prey. Slay. Display' that the film will be for an older audience. The age certificate of the film is a 15, which shows us that the film is not for children, which the audience can already gather from the creepy slogan. I think that by using the image of a woman who seems to have no clothes on, the audience might be aimed more towards a male audience as the woman could look desirable, and it also shows that there is to be other women in the film who might also showcase some kind of nudity. However it could also be aimed at women, as stereotypically girls do not agree with each other, the poster could be aiming it at women so that they will be able to see the pretty girl die. Which stereotypically is what some women would want to see. As we see that the slogan says 'Display' which could show to the audience some kind of plot twist that a younger audience might not understand.

Narrative

After looking up the plotline of the film, I can see that the poster relates to the film very well. The plot is that there is a House of Wax in a deserted town and two twin brothers have been killing the towns people and making them into wax figures. When six teens stumble upon this they have to survive without becoming the next exhibit. I can see that the tagline also relates to the film as the twin brothers would 'Prey' on their victims, 'Slay' their victims, and then 'Display' their victims in the Wax House. 

Media Language

The rhythmic sound of the slogan and the rhyme which is used makes the slogan stick in the audience's head which creates a wider synergy around the film, making it reach a wider audience. The close up used of the woman's face is the main focus of the poster as the audience is immediately drawn to the image. The title of the film is done in a normal looking font, however with some sort of glowing effect on it which reminds the audience of some sort of Carnival, which then relates to the House of Wax as they are a public attraction, much like what a Carnival is.

Research and Planning: Production/Distribution Companies

After Emma and I decided that we were going to change the genre of our film to Horror, we realised that we will need to also change the names of our Production and Distribution company names. We decided that the name Windmill still fit into the category as windmills can also be creepy and lonely as well as free and in the meadow. Therefore if we just make the logo look a little more dark and eerie I think this will be fine.
However we will definitely be needing to change our Distribution company name as the name 'Tranquil Studios' does definitely not sound like something that would be associated with Horror.
After having a meeting we have decided that our names are going to be:
Midnight Productions and Windmill Studios
We have changed the Windmill to the studios because Midnight is more related to Horror.

Research and Planning: Production Logo Draft

Here is a first draft of our Production Company logo.

Research and Planning: Publication Plan

Research and Planning: Meeting about Change of Direction

After meeting with both my tutor and Emma we have decided to change the genre of our film to Horror, we have decided this because with Romance we would have to make sure that the film is portrayed properly which we would have to find good actors for, while we were going to hold an auditions casting session we still think that the film will not be able to be portrayed properly and not taken seriously. With Horror, as me and Emma both really enjoy horror films I think that we will find this easier to create and the outcome will be much better than that if we had created a Romance film.

As a consequence, we now need to do:

• New animatic storyboard
• New proposals
• More analysis' to do with Horror
• Genre posts
• Costume and Props lists updated
• New film name
• New distribution company name/logo

Research and Planning: Animatic Storyboard without Sound

This is our animatic storyboard, however we have yet to add the sound and voiceover and shall do so in a later date.

Research and Planning: Preparing Animatic Storyboard

When Emma and I started to create our storyboard we started out making it very detailed and analytical, however we found that as we needed quite a few shots this would take too much time and we would fall behind schedule quite a bit. Therefore we have decided to make a shorter less detailed storyboard, which will serve the purpose and will help us but will not be as time consuming. After drawing the storyboard we will need to place it into iMovie in which we will then do a voiceover and add sound in our free time.

Research and Planning: Social Feedback

Research and Planning: Group Meeting

Today Emma and I had a meeting concerning the Actors in which are going to be shown in our trailer, there is concern for how we are going to get the right actors in which will portray our characters correctly and make sure that it doesn't come across as cheesy. We have decided that we are going to create some posters advertising our need for Actors and hold auditions which will be open to our fellow students within college. I think this is a good idea because we want to make sure that we have the right actors and not some people who are just chosen quickly because we need actors.

Research and Planning: Film Name Ideas using Solvr

http://solvr.freshbrain.com/d/8gj58z1w9q

Here are some film name ideas that we came up with which we think reflect what our trailer will be about and which suggest to the audience what kind of genre the film is, which is a Romance.

Research and Planning: Plan for the Week

My Plan for the week is to finish:

• Animatic Storyboard
• Podcast
• Independent Research
• Make up tests
• Logo for Company
• Logo for Film Name