Research & Planning: Animation Storyboard

Here is my animatic storyboard showing different drawings that me and Nathan have drawn together and we have taken pictures of each separate drawing and put them onto the IMac to edit them together.

Research & Planning: Codes & Conventions of a Teaser Trailer

This post is to highlight the codes & conventions of a teaser trailer.

• Film title
• Clips of different scenes
• Montage
• Voiceover/subtitles
• Dialogue from characters
• Soundtrack
• MPAA sign
• Company name
• Distribution company

Research & Planning: Treatment

After discussing different storylines with Nathan for our teaser trailer and analysing our audience feedback we came to a decision of which of our plots we are going to produce as our trailer.

We have chosen plot 1 which is the possessed girl storyline.

• We are thinking of making our teaser trailer go back in time, showing the ending result of the friends night out first. Then all the other events will happen going backwards to show towards the end of the trailer how the night started off.
• The MPAA image will be the first thing shown as this is what is usually shown first on film trailers.
• The next image would be the Studio which we have named Static Pictures. An animation of a television will go with this along with the sound of the static of the television.
• The Distribution Company will be the next image shown on the trailer which will then fade to black ready for the first scene.
• The first sequence will be an extreme close up of scary, red eyes while the camera will be slowly zooming in on them. There will also be a soundtrack behind this which will be slow but high pitched and scary to shock the audience straight away of the image.
• The next shot will be a contorted image of one of the characters faces that looks as though she is possessed. This will also be a close up just of the face alone.
• The scenes that will be shown from now on will be more disjointed.
• The trailer will be showing the events backwards, showing the final event at the beginning and going back in time throughout the trailer going on to see how it all began.
• The next scene will be showing the prop of the Ouija Board which is what started all of the events off. This will be a close up too so that the audience can clearly see what the object is.
• The next scene will show fast paced editing and the mise-en-scene will be clearly shown of the friends with their own handheld camera filming each other while on their camping trip which they will be using on running scenes with the soundtrack and the use of dialogue. This will be shown with tracking shots so the audience will be worried for the characters lives and it will be unsteady.
• There will be a range of different shots next as the next few scenes will be showing the remaining characters scared and trying to get out of their situation and saving their lives. The first scene will be a long shot of them all together running away with the soundtrack becoming tense but fast with the diagetic sound of screaming.
• There will be more scenes of the characters individually as they each separate to get away from their possessed friend. Medium close ups will be used mainly for these scenes to show if the characters are hurt and to show their facial expressions.
• From these scenes, the location of the woods will be shown more and this will all be shot in the dark to create a scarier atmosphere.
• An unsteady shot of a female falling over and having her leg grabbed by the possessed friend will be shown next as she is being dragged away.
• Then the sequence will change again fast paced and it will be an overhead shot of a male character with a severed arm and they will be dead.
• The next shot will be one of the male characters with the handheld camera and a female running away together and there will be heavy breathing and the sound of heavy footsteps.
• The next shot will be of a female tied to a tree with ropes and the camera will be static here showing the area of the small space in which she's trapped and we will here whimpering and sobs.
• Then we will see the shot of the female who was dragged off about to be killed shown with high/low angles to show who is inferior/superior. 
• One of the final shots will consist of the friends all sat around the campfire at the beginning with a birds eye view/crane shot showing how close they all are showing their friendship to the audience. This is going back to the beginning of their camping trip and shows to the audience how it all started. Dialogue will be heard of them all laughing with each other and having fun. The soundtrack would have calmed down and slowed down although it still seems tense.
• The final shot will be a long one of the possessed character as she is walking towards the handheld camera with a feral snarl on her face. She will then crouch down and it will change to a medium shot and then the viewer will see the possessed character lunge towards the camera which will frighten the audience and be the last fright of the trailer.
• Then the final part will be the fade as the title of the films shows up along with the release date.

Research & Planning: GarageBand Sound Test

This is my first attempt at making some form of sound. I stuck to making a soundtrack to fit a horror genre but this is very basic and there is room for improvement. I just used a cathedral Organ and Metropolis and tried to mix the sounds together. I need to do more research on sound to make sure that it will be much better for my teaser trailer.  I experimented with many other different sounds to see what sounds right with a horror trailer but when it came to my recording of my sound it turned out very basic. 

Research & Planning: Proposals/Group Meeting 2

Plot Idea 1

- One of our plot ideas is about a group of friends who go on a camping trip and take part in using supernatural element - Ouija Board. Things take a turn for the worst when one of the friends becomes possessed and terrorises the rest of the group.

Cinematography For Plot Idea 1

- One of the main shots we will be looking at is an extreme close up of the person's eyes who gets possessed. The camera would then zoom out to look at the features of the contorted face. We will have a birds eye view shot of the group of friends sat around in a circle beginning the nights events, also showing the bonds between them all in the beginning. Two shots will be used as well to show friends being broken apart and to show how ties are wearing thin.

Editing For Plot 1

- Jump cuts to show the peak of the teaser trailer. Straight cuts used to show the continuity.

Sound For Plot 1

- Soundtrack used to build up tension that will suddenly stop when the possessed eyes are shown. Dialogue will be used over the top of the the soundtrack so the audience notices when the music stops.

Mise-en-scene For Plot 1

- Make-up will be a main prop to use to make the possessed person look possessed and scary for the audience. Contact lenses could be used to turn the eyes red. The location used will be the woods and we will have the prop of the Ouija Board.

Plot 2

- Another plot idea that we had was similar to our first plot idea in the way that there is a group of friends out together camping but there is no supernatural elements involved. The difference with this plot is that one of the friends gets murdered and paranoia kicks in as friends wonder who it is that is going on a killing spree and it will be discovered that it is one of the friends themselves.

Cinematography For Plot 2

- High angles and low angles used to show who is superior and inferior. Birds eye view shot again to show original friendship of the group. Long shots to show running scenes from the killer. 

Editing For Plot 2

- Straight cuts again to show continuity. Tracking could be used to show that a handheld camera is being used and this shows the characters fears to the audience.

Sound For Plot 2

- Soundtrack starts off slow but builds up over time to create tension. Diagetic sounds of screaming and sound of the axe to create fear for the audience.

Mise-en-scene For Plot 2

- Props of the weapon used for the killer. Location used would be the woods. Fake blood could be used to show the violence. Friends could have dirty faces from falling in the woods.

Plot Idea 3

- Our other plot idea was a stalker storyline where and ex boyfriend gets jealous of the fact that his girlfriend dumped him and got with someone else. He follows her everywhere and takes pictures of her and everything she does to later use against her.

Cinematography For Plot 3

- In the trailer, most of the shots will be done as if looking through a camera lens. These will most likely be close ups or long shots. Close ups of them being a couple in a flashback and close ups of the break up.

Editing For Plot 3

- Flashbacks will be used to show them when they were together and also to show the breakup. Jump cuts will be used to show snippets so the audience can feel the boy's pain.

Sound For Plot 3

- The soundtrack would be eerie and slow with a lower pitch. Camera snap noises could be used to show that the camera is being used and these can get quicker as the trailer goes on. Dialogue will be used of the girl with her new boyfriend and dumping her old boyfriend.

Mise-en-scene For Plot 3

- Urban setting to show fast paced city life. Room of pictures where they all get put up of the stalkers ex girlfriend all over the wall. Prop of the camera too will be a main feature.

Research & Planning: Mediatheque

While in London we visited the Mediatheque where me and Nathan researched different horror genres and we watched three clips.

Street of Crocodiles
One of the three films that we watched was Street of Crocodiles made in 1986. This is the most recent film out of the three and perhaps the most disturbing. The sudden jump cuts in this short film of twenty minutes is crucial, if you blink you might miss something. However, it is all so disjointed it is difficult to grasp what is happening. Jump cuts are essential to a horror though as they startle the viewer and the events are usually disjointed going from one scene to the next quickly. The music is also very good and it is very chilling as it is played throughout and is very high pitched to the point where you cringe. The plot is very different and is based on puppets.

Dracula
Another film we watched part of was a Dracula, which was made in 1958. This film has supernatural elements within it, which it make it a horror on the basis that Dracula prey's on beautiful women and then turns them into one of his own kind or empties the blood from their bodies. He also has powers which work inside the mind of his victims. The mise-en-scene in Dracula films is crucial to it as the symbols are what makes it such a well known film. There is always a castle where 'Count Dracula' lives and he sleeps in a coffin, there are always rich colours which are enticing to the victims. There is also the cross which people can use to make Dracula leave them alone. There are also shadows which comes into cinematography as the lighting is low key. The compositions are also important as the soundtrack lets the viewer know what's coming next. The fact that they are also made on an organ/piano also helps me, as I can make these kind of compositions on Garage Band on the iMac's. The shots are are also crucial as there are the typical two shots of Dracula leaning over the victim and high/low angles of Dracula looking at the neck and the victim looking up at his teeth.

The Owl Service
We also watched part of the film Owl Service, made in 1969. The plot in this film is similar to what we were thinking of using as it is about a curse which possess three teenagers on a holiday together on 'haunted hills'. We are thinking of making a plot where a group of teenagers go camping and someone turns into a killer from a curse.

Research & Planning: London Research

During our stay in London we went to the London Film Museum, Mediatheque, Madame Tussaud's and Wicked.

In the London Film Museum there was different rooms for different genres. As I am making a horror teaser trailer I went into the Horror room and took pictures of all of the costumes, props and models so that I could put them onto my blog and see what props and costumes that I could use for my horror teaser trailer. Some of the models there were of recognisable horror character Hellraiser. There was also a film poster of old horror film Dracula shown in the horror room which I took a picture of to put onto my blog too.

We went to the BFI too and went to the Mediatheque to research different clips from horror films so that we could watch and analyse the films. We took notes about certain films that we watched and we watched different types of horror films. We watched Dracula, Street Of Crocodiles and The Owl Service. They are all horror films but each different.

We went to Madame Tussaud's waxworks and looked at all the different waxworks. There was a horror walk there too which we went through which showed some more waxworks that were made to look scary. I took pictures of these too as they seemed relevant for my teaser trailer so I could look at costume.

Wicked is the play that we went to watch while in London and Wicked is the untold story of The Wizard Of Oz. The play had some horror elements in it as it was to do with the witches. Some of the costumes and props used showed a part of a horror element which could help with ideas for my horror teaser trailer.