Research and Planning: Auditions

Research and Planning: Action Plan Over Christmas

Over Christmas I plan to:

• Film the majority of shots for my film
• Take SLR camera shots and create both a film poster and magazine cover
• Research posters and magazines

Research and Planning: IshowU video

Research and Planning: Note

After a discussion with my tutor and partner it has been decided that I am to work alone for the rest of the year in creating a film trailer.
The reasons for this are that our working styles were so different that working together just would not work out.
I now intend to create the trailer around the first plot idea, with the focus on an object that the main character finds associated with the other lead, the dead girl.

Research and Planning: Editing Photographs

Here is the original image I had, I used the magic wand tool to delete the colour and background surrounding my model, before fine tuning the edges of the image and making sure it looked clean cut and professional seeming.

The purpose of doing this was that my image can now be placed within a front cover of a magazine or a film poster and the background surrounding it will also be able to have the effect of eerie and creepy as well.

Research and Planning: SLR Photographs

Here are a number of shots which are the basis of which my magazine cover will be based around, my model is not currently in correct costume, but I now have some images to create a front cover around, being able to acknowledge ideas surrounding the layout and placement of the content such as cover lines.

Research and Planning: Audience Feedback

Suggestions for improvements were mostly based around the sound within the video, as a lot of the dialogue is of quite a low quality, which will need to be re-shot in order to create a better final product.
Also, the narrative confused a number of people as the chase scene in which the female character is supposed to be shown to be killed, so this scene may have to be repositioned within the trailer, perhaps nearer the middle of it.

Research and Planning: Magazine Cover Line Articles

http://prezi.com/jvch1-4umkb4/magazine-cover-line-ideas/?kw=view-jvch1-4umkb4&rc=ref-1589415

Research and Planning: Horror Music

After taking a look at some of the sounds I've made I've been unsure as to whether or not I am making the correct background scores and stings for a horror movie trailer, so I'm going to take a look at a couple of horror clips and focus on the sounds which work well to create an eerie and creepy feel to the films they are from.

The type of sounds I need to create are more deep sounding and have a sudden increase of volume in them, this is what I have found from the clips. These could be created by also adding more layers to the pieces of sound which I have created.

Research and Planning: Editing and Sound together

Here is the editing mixed together with the sound in it for the first draft. Most of the scenes aren't final since one of the characters was out of costume, however the rough outline for the final piece will follow this piece as a guide.

Research and Planning: Sound Creations

I have created a series of sounds and placed them within the first draft of the trailer. The sounds are mostly of the non-diegetic music which goes along with the scenes such as the lead female character being chased, with a low sounding piano melody, which gradually builds with strings to create an eerie feel to the trailer.
Also there is a graveyard scene where the lead male goes to take a look at the gravestone, with the female character slowly emerging from behind the gravestone. I used a more high pitched noise with a synth sound to create the atmosphere and used an even higher pitched noise to show the creepiness of the female character appearing.

Research and planning: Location Recces

Here are location recces of the locations our trailer will be filmed.

Gower hay woods

Hyde Clarendon 6th form college

 Hyde Park

St Mark's church

Research and Planning: Risk assessments

Gower Hay woods

Hyde Clarendon 6th form college

 Hyde Park

St Mark's church

Research and Planning: Auditions Poster

Here is the auditions poster created by my partner which was be used to advertise auditions.

Research and Planning: Trailer Codes and Conventions

A trailer is usually between 1 and 2 minutes long. A teaser trailer would be shorter and show less of the storyline, whereas a full length trailer will give more clues as to what the content of the film will be. They also show scenes from within the film.
Conventions of Trailers are:

• Film Name
• Montages
• Voice-overs
• Production Company
• Age Certificate
• Narrative Peaks
• Release Date
• Titles

Research and Planning: Costume And Props list for magazine

White dress

This would usually be rather expensive but the actress to be featured already has a white dress so this will cost nothing.

Alternatively, if a male were to be used then a black shirt would be needed, as well as possibly a black a black jacket

 

The contrast in colour from the male and female is essential, as is the male looking a lot more well dressed and clean than the girl who needs to show she has been dead a long time.

Research and Planning: Test Shots for magazine

Here is a male model who would be well suited to the role of the tall male lead, who is focused on his task of discovering what's happening. He would be able to tower over the female lead and looking physically more powerful than her.

 Becky may be suitable for the female lead because she is so tiny and innocent seeming, however it would be very difficult to make her look as though she were dead, as her hair and expression appear to be very full of life. 

Sam is not really suitable to play the part of the male within the trailer as he is quite thin and not very powerful looking. He is also not very tall, so his height in relation to the actress used may then have become an issue.

Research and Planning: Magazine Drafts

Here are two drafts I have drawn which may become the basis for the front covers of my film magazine.
Each have all the stereotypical features of a film magazine, with a masthead, tagline, main title, cover titles, price and date.

Research and Planning: Sound Research

I have chosen to view this film's trailer and look at sound because it was made with a similar technique to the one we plan to use. It looks professional enough, though it keeps a strong sense of realism enough to scare the audience and excite them.

• Rustling and loud sudden crashes, create a scary eerie effect with the loudness adding to the thrill
• Ticking noise gets pulse racing, excitement built because audience are ready to be scared suddenly
• Juxtapose cheerful sounding family with eerie ticking, shows thing's aren't right and adds to atmosphere
• creaking noises heightened diegetic, more atmosphere
• Faster and louder sounds build tension 
• Dialogue yelling is sudden, makes audience jump
• screams, typical of horror
• Panicked dialogue
• Piano crash scary to conclude and also unexpected twist since it's after the release date

 Some of these features I plan to emulate within my own work, particularly the loud and sudden noises to overwhelm an audience.

Research and Planning: Script

Phonebox scene

• Male lead on the phone saying "I don't understand...the dead girl...she died 100 years ago...why is the report so recent?"
• "She's been dead 100 years, I've got to find out why this report's here now."
• "This girl...she's been dead so long...what's this about? I've got to figure this out."
• "100 years, I don't get it. It's so long ago...I need to know, why now?"

One of these also used as a sound bridge.
I've come up with a list of suggestions for this scene as the quote needs to be strong enough to carry the whole trailer. My partner will view these suggestions then discuss them with me.

Female Lead
Will have no dialogue within the trailer as she is a quiet creepy dead girl.

Research and Planning: Meeting

Me and my partner have discussed the title to our film. As her research suggested, a film about being traxfixed with someone should have a name like 'transfixiation' though it isn't a real word and is already used as a title for another form of media, so the name 'Transfixed' has been decided on by the both of us.

Research and Planning: Publication Plan

Film Magazine Publication Plan on Prezi

Research and Planning: Plan for the week

This week I intend to:

• create a publication plan
• Draw 2 film magazine drafts
• Begin taking test shots
• Complete production documents
• Sound or editing test
• Begin actor auditions

Research and Planning: Second Magazine Analysis

This is clearly a Sight and Sound Magazine as can be seen from the masthead in the top-left corner of the page. The image relates to is a horror film, as the extreme close-up of the vulnerable, shaken up woman suggests. This suggests that the character here is either evil or possessed within the film.
Typical magazine traits used here are:

• The masthead
• The positioning statement
• Bar code, issue date and price
• Main cover-line
• Smaller cover-lines
• Three colour rule

A feature not used within this magazine cover was a banner.
 The magazine is probably aimed at an older audience than Empire, perhaps film fans aged between 25 and 35, and also a more feminine audience, as the content appears to be more detailed and mature, as well as the yellow, red and white colour scheme and the focus on female character makes the magazine appear to be more feminine.

Research and Planning: Magazine Analysis

Empire magazine is a well established film magazine, as is clear from the bold red masthead which is also partially covered by the image in the centre of the page. The cover is obviously a special edition as the banner suggests there is a specific focus on covers, as well as the fact there are no smaller cover-lines, only the main cover-line about the main article within the magazine.
It is clear this is a magazine cover through the use of the following conventions:

• Masthead
• Three Colour Rule
• Banner
• Main cover-line
• Dominating image in the centre of the page
• Issue Date and Price
• Website

There is however no positioning statement or bar code on the front cover.
The narrative genre of the magazine is obviously a film magazine as the focus is entirely around a film, the medium close-up image clearly relates to a character from a film and the strict three-colour rule is used to keep with the look other magazines have.
The representation of the film fetured clearly shows that this 'hobbit' is an evil character and has a creepy twisted look in his eyes, which also do not match, adding to the creepy effect created by a horror film.
The target audience of this film magazine is presumably film fans aged between 18 and 25 as it has a strong focus on a current film and looks to be of a more mature content than young teenagers would be interested in.

Research and Planning: Meeting Post

Me and my partner have discussed the production logo and as one name that is floating around for this is "shot dead productions" she has decided to make a few attempts at a logo, with a red, white and grey colour scheme. The logo will include bullet shots and a dark grey font on a black background with a blood red effect.

We have also discussed the animated storyboard and made a plan for the ordering and sketching of the scenes within this, which will be completed over the weekend.

Research and Planning: Audience Feedback

Here I have uploaded the feedback I received from friends on facebook about the ideas for names of the film trailer within this project.

 My friends came up with a variety of different suggestions for the name of this film, however none of them discussed the ideas I presented of "Investigation"
I have spoken to my partner about film names and her research came up with the name "Transfixiation" I like the idea, but think "Transfixed" would be better since it is a real word.

Research and Planning: Name ideas for film trailer-key words

Here are a list of words associated with my chosen plot, they may be related to the title or included within the title when me and my partner decide on a final definite title.

Research and Planning: Animated Storyboard

Here is a storyboard of how me and my partner's trailer is expected to run when completed.
http://www.beckymckenziea2.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/research-and-planning-animatic.html#comment-form 

Research and Planning: Animated Storyboard

Research and Planning: Trailer Research-Focus on Sound

Sinister

Silence as the age rating is presented and company logo shown
Noises as scenes cut and flicker, shows uneasyness
Diegetic sound bridges, talking over cut scenes, one voice is the focus
Heightened diegetic sounds
Sudden loud noises with graphic scenes, thrill and shock audience
Sound bridges giving clues to plot
Thrills heightened by stings which are extremely loud compared to rest of the trailer
Slowly built into graphic horror scene within trailer
Sound bridges building suspense and fear
Film name shown then tag line and resources with one final sting.

Research and Planning: Plan For The Week

In the next week I plan to:

• Think up ideas for names for the film
• Think of names for a distribution company
• Come up with an idea for the distribution company logo
• Look for locations to shoot the film
• Design an audition poster
• Extra research into sound in film trailers

Research and Planning: Podcast

Research and Planning: Sound Test

Research and Planning: Production company logo

I have attempted a sketch of a company logo, featuring a phantom's cape, with nobody inside of it.

Research and Planning: Film Poster Analysis 2

There is a medium close up of the protagonist, showing her expression, suggesting she seems like a plain girl, but the black eyes are clear enough to see that there is something creepy about the girl.
The blue colour of her clothes and in the background links to the genre of the film being horror, as the blue links to the creepy eerieness within horror films.
The narrative seems to be that this sweet seeming, innocent girl has something twisted about her which gets discovered within the film, however there is a mystery about it, perhaps not every character notices what is wrong with the girl.
The audience for this film does seem as though it may be a younger one, perhaps only a 15 rating or lower, as the bright colours and the fact there is no suggestion of graphic or brutal scenes may appeal to a younger audience than that of the last film I analysed the poster of: Sinister.
You can tell it's a film poster by the huge image being central, dominating the page, and the release date at the bottom, showing when this film will be released.

Research and Planning: Film Poster Analysis

There is a long shot of what appears to be the protagonist from the film, however placed at the side of the poster, suggesting that there is possibly something more important within the film, perhaps the figure that is made from the blood stains on the wall.
The dark blood-red colour suggests the film may be graphic and that injuries will be cause to characters within the film, also linking to the fact the genre is a horror.
The character's stance and pose suggests she has very little control of her self, perhaps being possessed, with her head down and seeming to drag her feet, she obviously doesn't have very much power or control over what is happening.
The audience will most likely be typical horror fans, as at the top of the page, the producer is mentioned to have created two other well known horror films, which are named in block capital letters, to attract attention to themselves, attracting the audience who have seen these films and will like another, similar film.
The mise-en-scene of blood on the wall is a typical trait of many horror films featuring supernatural occurrences, so this may a suggestion there is supernatural or undead behaviour within the film.
It is clear that this is a film poster by the inclusion of the steel tongs font and the production company logos below them. 

Research and Planning: Treatment

Myself and my media partner have decided to take Plot idea 2 forward into the treatment stage.

The Plot line: A man becomes transfixed with the crime reports of a girl who has recently gone missing and been suspected dead. He finds something of the girl's and realises that the girl in question actually died hundreds of years ago and the deeper he becomes involved in unravelling the mystery, the more paranormal things keep happening to him and the ghost of the girl begins to appear more and more.

Below is a rough idea of how the trailer will run, some ideas may change over time, however for now this is how myself and my partner want the trailer to run:

• BBFC rating
• Production Company logo - "Phantom Productions"
• Close up low key lighting attack montage short sequence (details still undecided)
• high angle shot of drowned bleeding girl sprawled in the woods beside the stream in the moonlight
• Mastershot of the woods where the dead girl is, from a high angle (like in a tree with a few branches overlapping the shot)
• Title
• Master shot of male character inside a phone-box (shot from the outside of the box)
• Mid-shot of male character on the phone inside the phone box (shot from inside the box)
• Close up of character touching the poster of the dead girl in the phone box
• Back to mid shot of the male character on the phone inside the phone box
• Sound bridge from the above scenes runs over to an over the shoulder shot of the male character finding internet information about the dead girl.
• Long shot of male character finding the girl's gravestone and the date on it, he squats down and illuminates the death date with a lantern.
• Close up of the illuminated death date.
• Twig snapping sounds and close up of fingers curling around the top of the gravestone from behind
• Close up of male characters petrified face
• Over the shoulder shot (from behind the male character) from a low angle of the male character moving the lantern upwards to illuminate the dead girl.
• High angle shot of the male character falling backwards in shock and dropping the lantern
• Slow motion close up of the lantern hitting the ground and going out - fade to black.
• Title
• Wide shot of male character pinning up crime reports on a basement wall the light starts to flicker
• Close up of the light bulb flickering and going out.
• Wide shot from behind the male character of a red painted message such as "Behind You" scrawled across the crime report wall
• Camera pan from looking at the crime report wall, to the male characters reaction and round to the dead girl standing a few meters behind the male character.
• Jump cuts of the girl getting closer and reaching out before the scene goes to black
• Title
• Over shoulder shot of male character looking in a mirror
• shot of male character splashing his face with water
• shot of male character jumping as he looks back in the mirror and the reflection of the girl is there.
• Wide shot from behind the male character showing him turning around in shock to look behind him
• Character POV to show the girl has disappeared
• Three scenes with fade to black inbetween
• fast montage
• Film name
• Social networking/website info
• Coming Soon title
• End scary scene

Research and Planning: Group Meeting

Today the treatment was discussed in detail, it has been ordered with lots of consideration into how the scenes will flow, taking a large focus on where to fit three scenes and titles. The outcome has been successful and the final order of how the scenes will flow within the trailer is to be put up on this blog.
Also, there was a discussion of the production company logo and name. The name was chosen by me as "Phantom Productions" and ideas for the logo are of a male figure in a cape, with the text around it. It was also suggested by my partner that there should be a smoke effect in the background, similar to the logo of Lionsgate productions.

Research and Planning: Costume and Props list

Prop and Costume List

Male Lead Character (hero) Costume

• Black jeans/Dark jeans
• Black/Red/Dark coloured t-shirt/checked shirt
• Leather jacket
• Black boots

The male lead has an interest in crime and the supernatural, however he is a typical young adult, and his costumes will show this. The character will resemble a modern day vampire hunter, similar to the ones in the Vampire Diaries. This isbecause the character needs to look clearly different to the dead girl, as they are from different time periods, but he needs to look slightly gothic to fit in with the plot and genre of the film.

Female Lead Character (villain) Costume

• White slightly discoloured dress, with black marks on it and possible rips, needs to be/look wet
• white flat pump style shoes/dolly shoes

The female lead character is supposed to be a girl from 100 years ago who drowned in a river in the woods and has come back to haunt a young man investigating the reported death the same girl. The female character needs to look clearly different from the male character, as they are from different time periods and one is the hero and one is the villain. I hope to achieve this contrast by giving the lead female character vintage gothic style white clothing and the lead dark modern style clothing.

Other Costumes

• Detective style outfit - long overcoat
• Boiler suit style costume for a crime scene investigator

Male Lead Character (hero) Props

• Lantern
• Torch
• Laptop
• Camera
• Crime reports/folders
• Photographs of the dead girl

Other Props

• Camera for detective
• Police tape
• Phone