Research and Planning - Further Bad Weather

Just like the previous Saturday the weather has been really bad. I'm beginning to feel I'm cursed. The woods is once again waterlogged and the entrance to the side of the woods I need to access is cordoned off due to the extent of the mud hazard and the amount of trees that were blown down in the wind. Again, I cant film tomorrow because one of my actors works on a Sunday and another has other commitments for a few hours every Sunday. Hopefully next Saturday will be better!
*fingers crossed*

Research and Planning - Poster Feedback

Facebook feedback for my mock up poster

Research and Planning - Poster Mock Up

Mock up of my horror film poster created on Powerpoint in preparation for creating my final poster on Photoshop. They grey area on the poster represents where the photograph is going to go.

The tagline font is: Baskerville Old Face (capitals) - size 72 and 50
The title font is: Baskerville Old Face (capitals) - size 82
The credits font is: Steel Tongs - size 17
The date font is: Baskerville Old Face (capitals) - size 34
The actors font is: Baskerville Old Face (capitals) - size 34
The website font is: Baskerville Old Face (capitals) - size 22

Research and Planning - Actor Unavailable

Due to filming being postponed yesterday, I had hoped that filming could be rescheduled to today. The weather wasn't too bad last night and so the woods shouldn't be as muddy and dangerous as it was yesterday. However, my actor Matt works on Sundays until after it has gone dark outside and my actress Sara was busy for a few hours today and so filming could not go ahead. I am hoping filming can be rescheduled to next Saturday, as Saturday's seem to be the only day all my actors and myself are free at the same time. Plus, with it being the Christmas holidays, my actors' parents are off work and having family day outs during the weekdays, meaning they're not available for filming.

Research and Planning - Filming Postponed

Due to bad rainfall last night, the woods I would be filming in today is really waterlogged and muddy - therefore very unsuitable for filming in. The mud is an extreme safety hazard, as where I filmed the 'rough version' of the trailer (and where the final version will be filmed too) has a steep drop beside the path that leads to it and one slip of the foot due to bad mud may result in a visit to the Hospital ! The scenes in the Woods have to be filmed first before any other scenes as the 'dead girl's' costume has to be in good condition in the woods scenes and then has to become ripped and cover in blood for all the creepy scenes after the woods scenes - the process of ripping and throwing fake blood over the costume is irreversible, so the woods scenes HAVE to be filmed first. Therefore filming has been postponed to another day - possibly tomorrow depending on how much the mud dries out.

Research and Planning - Christmas Action Plan

This is what I plan to complete over the Christmas holiday:

• SLT Test shots for my poster and magazine
• Final SLR shots for my poster and magazine
• Film at least over half of everything that is required for the trailer
• Finish my research and planning for poster and magazine
• Mock up a poster and magazine cover and get feedback

Research and Planning - Poster Experience

I was put in charge of promoting a theatre production of 'Alice in Underland' (a loving rip-off of Alice in Wonderland) and consequently made a range of posters to be put up around the local area where the production was taking place. This gave me good experience with making professional looking posters on Photoshop and I can apply this experience to making my horror film poster.

I also gained useful knowledge from creating the posters for the theatre production. I made sure the colours i used to create the background of the poster were suited to the fantasy genre of the theatre production as well as the personality and costume of the character depicted in the poster. This is something I can apply to my horror poster. I also used a font that suited the genre of the theatre production and gave my actress a pose that reflected her character and character's personality - something I can also do with my horror film poster.

The 'Alice in Underland' poster is below:

Research and Planning - Top 10 Horror Posters

I was browsing the internet for horror poster inspiration and stumbled across this:

http://blog.solopress.com/printing/top-10-horror-movie-posters-of-all-time/

I found this blog incredibly helpful with both my movie poster and my movie trailer as it displays the top 10 horror movie posters and their trailers.

Research and Planning - Unedited Footage

I have compiled all of the clips I filmed (minus a piece of footage where a dog decided he wanted to be part of the action!) into the video above.

This unedited footage is very useful to me as I can use it as a guide for the filming of the shots for my real trailer and will also enable me to see what can be made better - helping me to improve my cinematography and mise-en-scene for my final trailer.

Research and Planning - Film Magazine Types

I thought looking at different types of film magazines would be very beneficial to me, so I know what type of magazine to use as inspiration for my own magazine and what type of layout to follow.

EMPIRE

Empire is a British film magazine first published in July 1989. Empire typically promotes big mainstream conglomerate blockbuster films on its cover and in its content, however it does also review art films occasionally.Typically the image used on the cover is of a character in full costume posing for a promotional photograph to promote the film, rather than being an actual image taken from the film, or the leading actor/actress out of costume in a photoshoot style pose/location. This magazine is sold in supermarkets, typical high street stores such as HMV and WHSmith, as well as online. I believe this is the type of magazine my horror film "Transfixed" would be promoted in due to the horror genre and the conglomerate style production/distribution company logos in the trailer which are supposed to have funded/created/distributed the film.

Sight and Sound

Sight and Sound magazine was first published in 1932 and is a monthly released British film magazine published by the British Film Institute. It is an independent magazine that is primarily sold online. It typically contains social realist and independent films and its cover image is usually of a key actor/actress, out of character and out of costume, in a photoshoot style pose and location. This type of magazine would not be suitable for my film due to the horror genre and the type of in character and costume image I want on the cover of my magazine.

Total Film

 

Total Film is similar to EMPIRE, its a British film magazine which promotes mainly conglomerate mainstream films, but also reviews independent views. Total Film was first published in 1997 and the typical image used on the cover is of a character in full costume posing for a promotional photograph to promote the film, rather than being an actual image taken from the film, or the leading actor/actress out of costume in a photoshoot style pose/location. This magazine is sold in supermarkets, typical high street stores such as HMV and WHSmith, as well as online. Similarly to EMPIRE, I believe this is the type of magazine my horror film "Transfixed" would be promoted in for the same reasons.

Diabolique

Diabolique is a fairly new hammer horror style film magazine first published in 2010 as an online magazine by Horror Unlimited, but has since been published on paper and is sold online and in e-reader form for Kindle's and tablets, as well as being available on the iTunes app store. Diabolique focuses on the hammer horror genre, making it not suitable for my horror film, as mine is a newer, more contemporary, style of horror than this magazine typically contains.

Research and Planning - Magazine Cover Line Examples

The most eye catching cover lines on this Total Film magazine cover are located centralised in the bottom half of the cover. I believed they are only located there due to the dark colour of the character/actor's suit/costume being a suitable background.

The cover lines themselves are similar to what I have already considered having on my cover, such as polls and countdowns of things such as 'the 27 most mind-blowing movies ever' and interviews like the one inferred by the cover line 'meet the master of mind flicks'

The main eye-catching cover lines on this Total Film magazine cover are situated on either side of the bottom half of the cover. The cover lines themselves are similar to what I have already thought of using on my own cover, such as film star news/gossip like 'Matt Damon mouths off' and interviews/reviews such as 'Tron 2, Jeff Bridges on the 'astounding' sequel'.

The main eye-catching cover lines on this Empire magazine are located on the right hand side of the bottom half of the cover. The cover lines include content about new films such as 'Sweeny Todd' - I hope to have similar cover lines about new films such as 'Les Miserable'.

From looking at these three magazines which are suitable for my horror film to be promoted in, I now realise that the majority of the cover lines (or the most eye catching ones at least) are placed in the bottom half of the cover and usually down the sides. This has helped me to understand where to best place my cover lines and has also confirmed to me that the cover line ideas I have are suitable for and typical of a film magazine.

Research and Planning - Film Poster Taglines

I have a film poster tagline in mind, however by looking at other existing taglines on film posters I will decide if my poster tagline is suitable or not.

The film 'Hide and Seek' has adapted the traditional chant associated with the children's game hide and seek (come out come out wherever you are) to make it sound more creepy. The tagline is clearly linked to the title and is a clever twist on something that most people are already aware of.

The tagline for 'Zombie Land' is 'This place is so dead' - the tagline clearly fits with the name of the film, as Zombies are dead and a Land is a place, therefore using 'this place is so dead' as a tagline is both fitting with the title and clever!

After looking at the above two examples, I have now decided my tagline is suitable. My tagline is "Far beyond obsession..." my logic behind this tagline is: if you are 'Transfixed' with something, you are definitely 'far beyond obsession'... and the title of my film is 'Transfixed' - making my tagline fit with my film title.

Research and Planning - Cover Line Ideas

I have created a prezi which contains some ideas I have for potential cover lines for my film magazine.

Research and Planning - Editing Inspiration

I remember watching the below Alton Tower's ride advertisements and absolutely loving the fast editing, flashes of white between scenes and the fades and dissolves used to add an extra creepy dimension to the adverts. I know they're not film trailers, however they are really influential inspiration. They also contain some great mise-en-scene and cinematography that I can apply to my horror trailer.

Research and Planning - Sound Inspiration

I recently stumbled across this student made horror trailer on Youtube whilst looking for sound inspiration for my trailer... and although I don't particularly like this trailer and think the cinematography is rather poor, I really love the sound/score on it. It's distinctly horror and contains the type of stings and eerie elements which I want in my horror trailer - making this great horror sound/score inspiration. Also, this student created the sound on GarageBand, the programme I am going to be using to create the sound for my horror trailer, so I know that creating sound/a score like the one in this trailer is not beyond me/the resources I have available to me.

Research and Planning - Group Split

My media teacher suggested last week that it might be better for myself and my partner to split from the paired group as we are working at very different paces and ending up with very different workloads. I'm finding I'm pushing my partner to work too hard and too fast because I'm a stickler for keeping up to date with my work and not missing deadlines, whereas my partner says he works better at the last minute before deadlines. Our blogs are vastly different with around a 40 post count difference between us. I've found that to keep us both up to date and hitting deadlines I'm taking on my partner's role of editing, which isn't fair on either of us, as he doesn't want me getting credit for a job he was supposed to do and I don't want to have to do extra work that he is meant to do just so that we can meet deadlines.

I was also a little annoyed that I had spent 3 weeks working on my mise-en-scene and cinematography roles and my partner only spent 45 minutes working on the sound/score on the day before the deadline and I ended up doing the editing so the rough version of the trailer would be ready for the presentation and feedback deadline our teacher had set. Our teacher had some concerns about how we both work so differently and how the workload has not been shared out equally between us and believed it to be best if we split - myself and my partner agreed and we are now working independently and taking on all four roles of the film trailer each.

My research for the trailer up to this point has been primarily mise-en-scene and cinematography, so now I will begin to research in more depth editing and sound as I have now taken on these roles too.

Research and Planning - Group Meeting

Myself and my partner had a discussion about the feedback we received for our horror trailer. I felt a little awkward showing my partner the feedback we had received as the vast majority of features identified as strengths and complimented were areas of the trailer I had worked on such as Mise-en-scene, Cinematography, the production and distribution logos and the editing... and the vast majority of features identified as weaknesses was the sound/score which was what my partner had been working on.

We discussed how it wasn't particularly right that I had to take on the editing role for the rough trailer just so it could be completed on time, as my partner was supposed to be the editor. I had already spent 3 weeks buying props, finding locations and costumes for my mise-en-scene role and then a few weekends filming the trailer for my cinematography role and my partner only managed to spend 45 minutes doing the sound/score the day before the deadline and we wouldn't have met the deadline had I left him to do the editing too. The problem is, I got very positive and complimentary feedback on my editing (one feedback form called my editing "Amaseballz" !!!) and it was identified as a strength of the trailer - I don't doubt that my partner is a good editor, however now my editing has gotten good feedback, it doesn't make much sense to change the editing, but if my partner just re-creates my editing... then technically it isn't his own work. We will have to discuss this problem more and hopefully come to a solution.

Research and Planning - Trailer Changes

Changes I plan to make inspired by the feedback I received:

-Tint the College scenes on the stairs darker to fit the over all horror tone of the trailer
-Film the animatic storyboard scenes
-Create better sound/score
-Make the dialogue clearer
-Make the image sharper/clearer and colours better

Research and Planning - Trailer feedback

Below are examples of some of the feedback myself and my partner received after showing our rough version trailer to the class:

I completely agree with the feedback regarding more non-diegetic sound needing to be added and I am very happy to have my narrative idea and logos complimented!

Again, I completely agree that sound stings need to be added to scare the audience, however this is down to my partner to do. I'm very pleased to have my cinematography and narrative idea complimented!

I've really found the suggestion of a more distinctive title font thought provoking and I will definitely look into a different font style, or a variation of the one I've already used. I'm really pleased to have my cinematography/scenes complimented once again and I'm so glad the narrative of the trailer is clear and complimented by this member of my class!

Again, I'm so pleased my cinematography has been complimented again and I'm very happy that the 'beginning was very impressive' as this person says! I do agree the colour is not very defined, however I did explain before the trailer was shown that the colour and image was slightly distorted during converting the video file so my partner could add sound to it.

I'm so happy someone picked up on the use of the blue tinge/tint I added to the scenes in the woods and graveyard and complimented them along with my location choices! I completely agree the storyboard parts need to be filmed and they will be. I also agree the music/score needs to be slightly improved. Fast editing, as suggested, will be used during the montage.

The location and logos I used/created have been complimented here and I'm very pleased! I agree Matt's dialogue needs to be clearer and this will be sorted for the real trailer.

My cinematography has yet again been complimented here and again the sound is the area that needs improvement.

My mise-en-scene and editing has been pointed out as a strength by this class member and I'm very pleased! The music/score again is mentioned as an area for improvement - I completely agree.

My editing and production company logos have been complimented and identified as a strength yet again and I'm very pleased they have been described as "amazeballzz" !!! The sound is again the area for improvement. This is the first feedback which suggests the narrative is slightly unclear, the narrative has been complimented by others, but I will certainly look into improving it to make it clearer.

My mise-en-scene costumes and locations have been identified as a strength and I love the suggestion to add a darker tint to the scenes in college - I knew there was something not quite right about them and now I realise its because they're not as dark, or eerie, as the rest of the trailer scenes are!

Once again my mise-en-scene and narrative/storyline have been complimented and the sound has been identified as an area that needs development - this seems to be a very common theme now!

I'm glad to say that all the feedback forms recognised that my film genre was horror and correctly described the narrative of the trailer - this makes me believe that I am on the right track for conveying my genre and storyline.

I am very pleased that my logos were identified as a strength by 3 people, my cinematography was identified as a strength by 4 people, my mise-en-scene was identified as a strength by 5 people, my narrative/storyline was identified as a strength by 4 people and my editing was identified as a strength and highly complimented by 2 people.

I completely agree that the main area for improvement is the sound, as suggested by 8 people's feedback forms.

During the creation of this rough version of the trailer I took on the roles of: Cinematography, Mise-en-scene and Editing - as well as creating the production and distribution company logos. My partner worked on the sound.

Research and Planning - First Draft Trailer

Below are two versions if my first draft trailer. They contain the same content, however one is of a different resolution and video size, making one look fuzzier and more discoloured than the other. I did find the problem of my footage changing colour slightly and becoming of a worse quality when the file had to be converted so that my partner could add sound onto it.

Below is the 'high resolution' and 'large video size' which has discoloured and slightly distorted the video:

 

Below is the 'medium resolution' and 'medium video size' which is not as discoloured or distorted:

Research and Planning - Logo Feedback

After completing the production company and distribution company logos I wanted check they would get positive feedback from my trailer's target audience. This is the feedback I got off Facebook from people who viewed both logos:

After such positive feedback I've decided my logos are definitely complete and don't need changing.

Research and Planning - Production/Distribution Logos

This is the Production Company logo I created from scratch in an online photo editing website (similar to photoshop) called pixlr. I then animated it in windows movie maker.

This is the Distribution Company logo I created in windows movie maker. The rose clip was taken from youtube, however the lettering and text animation is my own work and I tinted the rose clip black and white for a more horror effect.

Research and Planning - Budget Update

Since my last budget update I have not purchased any more items, however I have found a few things out:

-My Dad has the red spray paint that is required for the trailer, so I do not have to purchase any.

-TheBodyJewelleryShop online no longer sells white zombie contact lenses, so the price of this item has drastically shot up from around £6 which that shop used to sell them for, to £14 which is the cheapest I can now find after hours of searching online.

-My actress Sara already has a suitable pair of dolly shoes which can be used as part of her costume, so I don't have to buy these.

-My Mum is kindly letting me use one of her vintage looking knives for filming - however for health and safety purposes I am going to put a large amount of transparent Sellotape over the knife's blade and point during filming to ensure no one slices their hands off or kills anyone during filming.

Although I no longer need to worry about buying spray paint, a knife, or dolly shoes, I don't believe the amount of the budget I am saving from this will compensate for the dramatically increased price of the white zombie contact lenses.

Research and Planning - Rough Trailer Version

To get feedback on our trailers, the class has to have a rough version of their trailer created to show the class.

My rough version contains the three actors I am actually going to use (Sara, James, Matt and myself) and a few of the costumes (Jame's 'vintage murderer' costume) and props (lantern, candle, knife) which will be used in the real trailer.

My media partner is in charge of editing, however due to him having other media related commitments and a short time scale to create the rough edit, I did the editing on this rough version (I also did the editing because the video camera I used to film the scenes was my own and because the scenes I needed to use from the animatic storyboard were on my computer).

As my partner has yet to add a score to this, the rough version below is all my own work (minus a few of my friend's photographs which represent scenes which I have yet to film with my own actress due to the costume not arriving in time.)

Please note, both the production company and distribution company logos were created by myself, but based on both mine and my partner's ideas. They may change before the real trailer is created.

Research and Planning - Rough Version Filming

Filming went well ! However, due to the rain in the morning before we went out filming, the woods we began filming in was very slippery and muddy - meaning my actors could not run through the woods as fast, or for as long, as I had planned due to safety issues. The acting during the chase scenes was not too good either, however I understand my actors were more concerned about not slipping and falling than getting into character and maintaining suitable facial expressions for their roles.

There was a lighting issue in the graveyard scene, as the sun was really low in the sky and made the scene appear lighter than it should. When I film in the graveyard for the real version I want the natural light to be limited so the candle in the lantern is the main source of light, to give a more eerie effect.

But over all, I think filming went well and this rough version of the trailer will really help me improve the real version when I come to film it.

Research and Planning - Filming Preparation

In preparation for filming the rough version of the trailer I had my three actors meet at my house for 11am to get them in costume, do their make-up and their hair.

My friend Sara (playing the dead girl) kindly allowed me to give her a black eye (I'd like to point out this was given via make-up and not physical contact!) and the first version is pictured below:

I have to confess that the make-up looked more authentic in person, however because the audience is going to see the make-up on a screen through a camera, I have to make sure the make-up looks good on camera, even if it looks over the top, or unrealistic, in person. I will continue with make-up tests to make sure I get something that looks better on camera than this does.

Sara's costume has yet to arrive in the post after being purchased from eBay and so she was not wearing the proper 'vintage dead girl' costume when filming the 'rough' version of the trailer. Matt was in partial costume - wearing the correct black boots and leather jacket.

The only person who was able to have their full costume for this 'rough' version of filming was James (playing the vintage 'Jack the Ripper' style murderer) as his costume was basically my 'Phantom of The Opera' outfit, consisting of: black trousers, shiny vintage black shoes, white shirt, black waistcoat, silver pocket watch chain, white bow tie and tailcoat. James looked great in the costume and when I restyled his hair into a 'vintage schoolboy' style, he really looked the part. The look was then completed with a knife. James pictured in his costume and with the knife prop: