Film Trailer : Planning

This is the call sheet that me and Manny made so that we knew which shots we were going to use and the actors needed for this shooting period. This is the call sheet we are going to use for our first shoot which is on the 22nd of October. Manny will be shooting in a forest in Sunderland with her cousin as the main character and this has been recorded on the call sheet and given to the actor so that he knows when he is needed and the costume he needs to where as well as what the scene is about so that he can prepare his acting, as he will also have the script. So will know which parts of the scripts he needs to learn because he knows which scene is being shot. It will also help remind Manny of the equipment that is needed on the day. This call sheet is vital in making sure the actors turn up at the correct time and so that they can keep this time free so that we can have the footage shot. It helps us to keep us to a tight schedule. If we did not do this we may not get all our footage shot in time. It is definitely useful for organising our shoot.

Retrospective Blog

I have been looking over my older blog posts and i know that i need to include log sheets and call sheets in to my planning as this is required to achieve higher marks.

I have dicovered that i also need to blog more about what has happened recently and how we are progressing in our planning as i have not uploaded anything in a while and i have not identified, problems in the past week that have caused us to move the time of shooting back.
At the start of my blog i have started by uploading the research i have done , but i have done research of about 6 trailers so far, that all have a similar genre to what Manny and i are trying to achieve. I am going to continue to research different film trailers.

I have realised, afterlooking back that i need to increase the amount of research i have done into print products as i have done a limited amount of research into this, and i dont feel as if i know exactly what to include in our print product yet for this genre of film. This will be useful in the future months when we start to focus more on the ancillary products after we have finished filming and editing our film trailer which should be completed by the end of this term.

In recent weeks i have realised that i need to put a lot of analysis into blog posts as i have done for the storyboard and some of my research. I am going to include more information about the narrative of the film and how it links to the research we have done. I think i also need to include more images to show where we have been filming. Mannty and me are both going to upload the footage we have so far with a running commentary to show what we think of it so far and also to comment on the likeness to other trailers. This will help to show the progress that we have made at each stage of our project. So people will be able to see the difference between the footage we started with and the finished product.

Planning: Storyboards

Sheet 1 

The first shot that we are planning to have in our trailer is a close up shot of the room, in the house where our child character lives. In other trailers i have seen there is often an establishing shot at at first or near the beginning of the trailer as in the others and Orphan where there is a long shot of the house where the film is set. This is why we thought it would be a good idea to include a shot of the setting.  The camera will be still for about 5 seconds, this will make the audience wonder what is going on and what is the significance of this room. The transition between this shot and the next shot is going to be the shot flickering to black and white, like what happens on old televisions when the channel is changed. This makes it seem like the shots are divided from each other. In horror films sometimes there is a old look to it, the tv flickering creates the sense that it is in the past, this makes up for the lack of props in the shot which sometimes makes obvious the time period of the film. It also conveys that there the trailer is not showing a continuous story, but just clips of the film.

The next shot that will be shown is a mid shot of the room. the camera will whip up from the floor up to the corner of the room, this will show more of the setting so the audience become more familiar with the theme of the film and. This will be on the screen for 5 seconds, this is to create tension. There are two similar shots after this, both mid shots from different angles of the room, again this is to establish the setting. This setting will be dark, with minimal light coming through the windows to create the spooky atmosphere that has been prevalent on other horror trailers that we have researched.

We are going to edit some non diegetic music on top of these shots, throughout the trailer. This music will be turned down at parts so that the voice over of the young boy will be overheard. We thought that having the boy as the voice over would enable the audience to relate to the boy as he is talking from a personal point of view. We are also going to include the sounds of footsteps, to also highlight the fact that there are people living there and that they are in the room even though you cant see them.  

Sheet 2

Then the last shot will transition into the low angle shot shot of the boy running up stairs to parents, this will last 5 seconds as well, and will focus on the boy, showing he is one of the main characters. there will also be a small amount of dialogue over these 4 shots, just to reinforce the plot line. I have noticed on other trailers that i have researched there has been a short amount of dialogue in the form of a voice over, which attracts the attention of the audience and can help create a sense of suspense as there is normally a long pause between each line of dialogue. This is how we will do ours, normally on trailers it is a narrator who does the voice over and not the characters, but we thought having the main character as the voice over would form a connection between the audience and the character.

Sheet 3

The shots shown above are of the boy in the forest, this is where he is upset, There is a long shot of the boy sitting in the woods upset, you can tell this because he is hunched over. It will be a high angle shot to represent his low feeling. The camera will gradually zoom in so the audience will see more of the expression on the boys face, which will engage the audience to empathize with the character. this shot will last about 10 seconds as the zoom is going to be slow which will take up some time. We will have to consider how the music will be at this point, i think it should be slow and calm to emphasize the feelings this boy has, and to construct the atmosphere. I think the music should be quiet at the start of the trailer, as this shot is at the start of the trailer, and then build up, and transform into a louder piece of music as this will build up peoples expectations of the film and make it seem more dramatic and entertaining.  There is then going to be a quick pan of the forest, which will be a mid shot, and i think we should make it a low angle shot so it looks like something is there with the character in the forest which is the scene we are trying to portray. the voice over and dialogue is going to echo making him seem like he is alone and lost.


sheet 4

After the last shot there is going to be a fade to black, where there will be text indicating the plot of the film. I have seen this in other trailers and thought it was a good idea because sometimes the footage isn't enough to engage the audience, and in our trailer, it might be difficult to understand that something has possessed and changed the character of the boy, this is why i think we should give subtle hints as to what is happening and what could happen. the text could be ambiguous making the viewer think a bit more, so they will be thinking about the film even after they have viewed the trailer.



The length of the shots are getting shorter as well as the trailer gathers speed which will intrigue the audience more than the slow part of the trailer.



Sheet 5

There is a series of fast pans, of boy trying to hide from spirit, but the voice of the evil spirit can be still heard, so the audience know that he hasn't escaped from its presence. there is then a close up shot of red eyes of the demon that has possesed the boy, they did this in the insidious trailer, where they showed just one extremely fast shot of the demon in the film, i thought this was very creepy as it was behind one of the characters, so the the character was unaware that it was there. In this shot in our trailer it is just this character in the shot. the red eyes immediately identify that it is not human and is therefore the evil one in the film. I think this shot is effective as you cant see the face of it, so it doesn't give to much away, and so the audience want to see what they actually look like.

Sheet 6  

there is then a new setting of the boy at home, and his parents are speaking to him, he goes into his room and when his parents come to check on him they discover what as happened to him as he has become violent.

there is a montage of fast paced shots that go with the music.

the music will come to an abrupt stop as the final title will appear which is the actual title at the film.

in other trailers the title has been placed in various different places, including the start and half way through, we thought it would be best to keep it at the end so that people have to wait to see and so they have to watch the whole thing just to see the title of the film. Also they will remember the title more as it is the last thing they see.

This storyboard has more detail than the one me and Manny produced for our AS piece, we have thought more in detail about the amount of time each shot will take, and we are more clear about what voice overs we are going to have. We have also included a wider range of settings as last year we only used one setting. We also have a back up setting of where we can shoot. Last year we didn't shoot some of our footage correctly and we had to shoot it again so this year we are making sure we are including a variety of shots. We have also thought more about music and sound and have planned the voice over. As last year we didn't plan it and just added it near the end of our project as we hadn't thought about it previously. 

Film Trailer: Planning Progress

For our planning we firstly have done a script so that we are sure of what is going to happen in each part of the trailer. We have planned the dialogue that is going to be said by each of the characters, so we don't have to think of things to say when we are actually shooting the footage. We are organised so that shooting should go smoothly and we know what we are doing. At first i made a mistake and organised the script so that it ran as a story but then Manny said there should be random shots so that it is spontaneous and unpredictable, so i have edited it so that the story is broken up a bit more. We have planned each of the shots thoroughly so that we know what props we need to create the horror effect. We are also clear what characters are in what shots and the characters that are needed. Manny has also produced a story board based on the script which shows the type of shot and the effects that are going to be used when we edit the footage as well as the props needed for shooting with. I will be uploading this to my blog shortly to show how we are thinking of planning it.

Progress over the Half Term

Over the half term Manny filmed some as the footage as the setting was very near to where she lives, i offered to travel there to help her film, but she said she would be OK with filming on her own, as she said it would easier as it is going near to the forest setting as it is near where her cousins live. The character that we needed for filming was available on that day, he was the only character that we needed for that part of the trailer. According t Manny the filming went smoothly and there wasn't many problems, they changed the time of day they were filming as it wasn't appropriate to take a child out in the dark as they were getting scared. So they decided to film in the early morning instead, we may choose to play around with the lighting when editing or may keep it the same as last year we tried to change a the light so it looked like it was a night setting rather than a day setting but this didn't work very well and you could tell it was edited, so we had to change the plot slightly making it set in the day rather than the night. but in horror movies it is common for the setting to be quite dark this has been shown through our research.

 So far we have followed the plan that we created before the half term for shooting, but we may have to rearrange some of the plan as we have decided that we need more footage from the forest as some of the positioning could be a problem, we will try and edit it to make it look like the boy is sitting in the same position but this could be tricky, some it might be easier to film that bit again with the right positioning.

This week we have uploaded the footage that Manny has recorded and we are going to render it and record a commentary for it and upload it on the blog. We are also thinking about music and sound and when we are going to insert the voice over, we haven't decided if we are going to put it on when there is a black screen or at the start before the music starts, We are also looking at sounds that we could use for the trailer, in most of the trailers that we have researched there has always been some non - diegetic sound over the top of the footage as in the trailer for insidious there is a ticking noise and music that starts of quiet and builds up towards the end where the shots are cutting quickly from one to another, this could be an idea for ours.

Film Trailer Planning: Location

House where the boy used to live with his parents: This is one of the sets that we are shooting at it is one of  the room above the shop where manny works and therefore goes there quite often. this will be used to shoot the footage. We are going to shoot the part at the start where there is a flashback and this is where the audience will know that the parents of the child are dead and that he is being fostered. This sets up the narrative for the rest of the film as he ends up running away to where his parents are buried and this is where he is going to change. I think it is a good setting to use as it looks quite bare and the window gives a small amount of light. Manny has also said some of the rooms are small and therefore she will be able to make them dark, this would make them seem trapped. This would help to portray the right mood immediatly at the start of the trailer. The genre of this film has been clear from other trailers as they have included dark settings throughout the whole trailer. The light coming through the window could be used to connote the boys innocence at the start of the trailer as he hasn't been converted yet. When i researched the film the others the setting was a old house that had no proper lighting.

Graveyard Where the boy goes to and gets "changed":

This is one of the settings that we were initially planning on filming in when we started thinking about the storyline. We thought this would effective if it was filmed in the dark as we needed a dark setting as on other trailers everything is filmed in the dark so it looks spooky and so that it connotes fear and danger. the graveyard itself has connotations of death and the afterlife fitting in with the theme of demons and evil spirits. Manny emailed the council to ask if we could use this place near to where she lives, to film but they did not allow us permission unfortunately therefore we are either going to find another setting to film or include more footage in the trailer of the settings we have, as in the film trailer of insidious it focuses ont he house setting and most shots in the trailer have furniture in the background to create the sense that it is a family that is being haunted. We may choose to this as like insidious a lot of the footage is focused on settings to do with children and reflects their nature. 

The settings that we have decided to use so far are :
The Forest
The room above Manny's shop

Research: Film Trailer, Insidious

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Insidious is a conventional horror film that was produced in 2010 and released in 2011 in the UK. It was directed by James Wan. The plot line of the story is a boy gets possessed by evil spirits. The boy, Dalton falls and ends up in a coma. Months later strange things start happening in the house so the family decide to move  Dalton's mother is sure that the house is haunted but starts to see ghosts in the new house as well. She decides to get ghost hunters to come look at the house and they explain that it is not the house that is haunted it is Dalton. The boys spirit has left his physical body and is now lost in another world called the further where demons can possess the boy and cause him to do evil things. 

The film was given a 15 certificate and its gross revenue was  £6,827,578

Mise -en - Scene 

 From the trailer it is easy to tell that the film is set in a normal family home in a normal neighbourhood we can tell this because of the furniture such as beds, chairs and picture frames as in this screen shot. Also in this screen shot there is a rocking horse which has connotations of childhood and youth highlighting the fact the film is focused on a family with a young boy who is possessed.The rocking horse is stopped by the mother and looks as though it was moving by itself, the movement can create the sense of a ghost of some sort being in the room which in keeping with the horror theme. The first prop that is seen in the trailer is a metronome this is a device used to help with maintaining rhythm, the audience may associate this with time, as is symbolizing the pace of the film as well as used for hypnotising the actor as well as the audience, this creates tension.

 The walls all seem to be a white colour symbolizing purity and innocence which is obviously associated with a child's nature. The bed is featured in the trailer a lot, a bed is a place of peace which is odd as this is where the evil spirits are taking over Dalton. There is also a hospital setting featured which signifies death and blood.

In one of the shots there is the white bed sheets stained with blood showing that the innocence and purity of the boy has been ruined and is now taken over by the demons, the red symbolizing evil and danger in juxtaposition with the white. Blood is also a common convention in horror trailers also so this maintains the theme of the film and makes clear the genre of the film. Me and manny have seen on many trailers that blood is included and were thinking that we should include it in ours, this is something we are discussing at this stage in the planning.

Editing

The trailer starts with cuts between the father and the metronome, the title insidious cross fades onto the screen repeatedly throughout the trailer, this is so the word is incorporated into the storyline and allows the audience to see the connection between the title and the narrative of the film. There are a large amount of cuts throughout the trailer as there is a need to create the sense of horror and by starting off with slow cuts and then progressing into faster and more swift cuts creates the thrill that the viewer wants to receive. The amount of cuts are necessary in order to show the setting, characters, and set the mood, tone and atmosphere of the film. Many other horror trailers are put together this way.

Sound

In the trailer there is the diegtic noise of the metronome ticking which creates a sense of time and is used to hypnotise the father. There is then a transition and the noise becomes non diegetic and is played throughout the trailer which keeps the audience in anticipation. There is a lot of non diegetic crashing sounds especially when the insidious logo appears on the screen as it alarms the audience and again creates that thrilling sense. When the mother is shown looking through all the rooms the sound gets louder and there is a diegetic sound of baby crying suggesting panic and an unsettling presence. The opposing sound at the start compared to the end shows there is a gradual change between the mood of the film at the start to the mood at the end as at the start there is the diegetic sound of laughter and calm chatter, this is portraying that they are a normal family whereas nearing the end of the trailer there are torturous screams that get progressively louder emphasizing the increasing danger that this family face.

Camera
The first shot in the trailer is a close up shot of the metronome this quickly focuses the audiences attention towards this making, the time and rhythm of the trailer, as well as the hypnotising being involved in the storyline a significant feature and prop in the film.

As in this screenshot there is a Close up shot of the father in the film it shows the emotion and stress on his face which is not an expression you would associate with a father figure as fathers are thought of as strong and brave, but in this he looks defeated. The audience instantly detect the danger and panic associated with the film. The setting is dark in the background only a few lights lit possibly signifying that things are going to get worse and this is not the full extent of danger that will happen in the film or making it appear more real as he is in his living room which has connotations of family and this shows where this plot is based and offers some background for the viewer. I have noticed the dark sets in film trailers like the others as well which is set in a large family home with only dim or natural lighting coming through windows. Black has connotations of fear and the unknown and is associated with Halloween, the use of dark colours is persistent through out many of the film trailers i have watched and it is undoubtedly one of the factors that me and manny will be including when we construct our trailer.

There is then an establishing shot which is more clearly setting the scene as it is displaying a typical family home with a big garden suggesting it is in a clean friendly neighbourhood and again indicates that the film is centred on the family that live there. It is a low angle shot looking up at the house which makes it seem like it is towering over everything making it appear more important to the plot, as well as making it look menacing and daunting. The camera is at slightly slanted angle so the trees appear as if they are towering over the house making it seem more crowded, this suggests isolation, possibly from their neighbours as they are different because of the event of the boy being taken over.

There are then a series of mid shots showing the characters involved in the film, mainly the mother and father. The mother is first shown crouching over her son which makes her look like shes protecting him, like a caring mother would do, it also conveys the relationship between the characters as he looks like he is playing at home. There is then a cut to the couple laughing, they are within a very close proximity of each other suggesting they are together, maybe married. There is then mid shot including the father holding up his baby, the mothers eyes fixed on the child suggesting that this child is important and something may happen to a child. It emphasizes that this film is about children.

There is then a few shots, one being a mid shot showing a boy, we can tell this as he is wearing a cape suggesting a child playing, climbing a ladder, the scenery can't be seen clearly as it is completely dark making it seem like he doing this in secret and like he shouldn't really be there. The only prop that can be seen is the ladder highlighting its importance. There is then a jump cut to show a close up the ladder breaking, this is a close up as this is the point where disaster strikes and their is a rapid change in the plot. It then cuts to show the title insidious leaving the audience wondering what actually happened the boy.

 I think this is another effective shot which shows a shadow of a person in the window, showing perhaps someone who shouldn't be there is, the shadow is also very dark and distinct making it increasingly terrifying and is very creepy. 

This shot is a high angle shot showing the baby monitor and the mother, the mother is clearly alarmed which is portrayed through her facial expression, the baby monitor is placed higher than the mother showing the focus on the baby. Her expression suggests that she senses that her baby is in danger.

this is a mid shot of showing the hospital room that was previously shown in the trailer which looked clean and tidy looks quite the opposite in this shot as all the sheets are strewn across the floor with smeared blood as well as the distinctive hand print. The hand print draws the audiences attention to the blood and also makes it more personal towards the boy as it looks like a humans hand print. Handprints are also associated with children, the trailer therefore maintaining the child theme.the parents are surrounding the boy the father holding the clearly injured, possibly dead child, the mother is looking up for help.

Here is a close up, this is the only shot showing the demon that is possessing the boy and causing grief within the family. the shot is very abrupt and flashes on and off so the audience get just a glimpse so of it, the bright red contrasts with the grey dull colours in the rest of the shot so that it is hard to miss. As the trailer nears its climax there needs to be more thrilling and haunting shots to encourage the audience that this is the scary film that they have been anticipating. This trailer does this very effectively by having more fast paced shots and more panic stricken screams that ultimately frightens the audience.




Movie Poster:

This poster includes the same setting that was shown in the trailer interlinking the two, and also has the same connotations as the trailer, it being a about a family. The boy is shown to look like he is in a shadow and his eyes look very distant and its hard to relate to him showing that maybe he has another character or showing that he is not being himself. The font of the title is the same on the poster as it in the trailer, making this an identifiable logo. It also includes the films that the production company has made e.g paranormal activity and saw which both very successful horror movies, and if the audience has already seen them they may be more inclined to go see this one as well.This movie poster has the main character positioned in the centre which is a similar aspect to other horror movie posters i have seen and is something that me and manny will consider doing when it comes to creating our ancillary products.

This is another version of the poster and this has the quotes and 5 star rating printed on encouraging and convincing the reader that this is a must see film.