SHE

The Project

The project was to:Create a 2 minute trailer or a 5 minute film.This consisted of;• Deciding on a genre and/or sub-genre• Deciding on a target audience• Creating a survey for the target audience• Research• Creating a Story board• Making a Shot list/Script• Blocking

Subsidiary taskCreating a movie poster for your filmCreating a film magazine front cover

Shot list

• Dark room (school)

• Car

• My house

• My garden (Tree background)

• My house for many other scenes

ScriptAfter researching and watching horror trailers, I found out that not much

speech was involved. Sticking to convention I had a minimalistic script.

Living room scene 2Mike: Where is she?Megan: I don’t know, she's been ages.TransitionMike: (Shouts) Hello?

News report sceneA script was provided, however in the editing process it was decided to silence the scene to create dramatic effect.

In what ways does your film/trailer develop or challenge forms and

conventions or real films and trailers?

Genre

Horror – PsychologicalPsychological horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that relies on characters'

fears and emotional instability to build tension. It typically plays on archetypal shadow characteristics embodied by the threat. The elements of psychological horror focuses on the inside of the character's mind. This includes emotions,

personality, mental attitude of individuals, where characters are in a pervasive situation that includes high-level immorality, inhumane acts, and conspiracies.

Psychological horror aims to create discomfort by exposing common or universal psychological and emotional vulnerabilities and fears, such as the

shadowy parts of the human psyche which most people repress or deny, where plot twists are the most common tool. Whereas splatter fiction focuses

on bizarre, alien evil to which the average viewer cannot easily relate.

1408

The Strangers

Silent Hill

The strangers is about a young couple; Kristen McKay and James Hoyt who arrive at James's parents summer vacation home after attending a wedding. While at this home, a lady, unable to be seen as she is hidden in the shadows, knocks on the door asking for ‘Tamara’. Kristen and James tell her she is at the wrong house and she leaves. Later on, 3 masked strangers begin to scare and taunt the couple increasing in violence as it continues.

1408 is a psychological horror based on the short story written by Stephen King. It follows a man called Mike Enslin who becomes obsessed with the afterlife after the death of his daughter. He takes on journalism and researches into the supernatural by staying in apparent haunted hotel rooms. He begins to lose his belief into what he has researched into for years until he is given a postcard to visit room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel. Arriving at the hotel he is greeted by the manager of the hotel informing him of tragic occurrences that have happened in that particular room and pleading him not to stay in there. However Mike ignores his pleas and stays in the room. Whilst staying in the room, Mike encounters unexplainable frightening events that have killed 56 people in the past 95 years. Mike battles the supernatural room and try's to stay alive.

Silent Hill follows a 10 year old girl name Sharon who begins to speak out the words ‘Silent Hill’ whilst sleepwalking. Rose, her mother, concerned about this, drives Sharon to Silent Hill until a girl appears in the middle of the road causing Rose to swerve the car and crash. Rose awakes to find Sharon missing and fog covering the town whilst it is raining ash. Rose wanders the streets trying to find her daughter but is faced with obstacles (unfriendly townsmen and monsters). She drastically begins to find her daughter and find her way out of Silent Hill and back home before it is too late.

Conventions of a horror trailerEditing and Camera – This usually starts off with long camera shots with little use of cuts. Fast-paced shots are used during violence/a chase scene so that the audience cannot get a clear idea about what is happening with increased tension. The speed increases throughout the trailer until reaching the peak. Many dead black outs are used to add suspense and anticipation which often represent the end of something chilling. Overall, a diverse range of camera shots and angles are used within a horror trailer to antagonise the audience.

Sound – A relaxing and/or cheerful type of music are typically used at the beginning then is interrupted suddenly to scare the audience. This is followed by eerie music, slow tempo, high pitch and quiet dynamic to begin with. The tempo usually increases as the tension/action progresses in the film.

Mis-en-scene – Many horror films make use of pathetic fallacy, particularly using rain, storms, overall bad weather to evoke a ‘gloomy’ feeling. Rural locations are often used to make the victims isolated and to increase danger and fear. Dark colours are frequent in horror films, including an overuse of dark shadows. The antagonist would usually wear whites and blacks. Representing purity and innocence and then death.

Lighting – Lighting is a big factor used, changing how the audience feels. This means that in most hoor films, dim lighting is used with many black moments.

MY TRAILER CLIPS

Here I have included a shot reverse shot with over the shoulder shots. I have done this to represent a conversation being had and focusing on each person as they talk. I have taken this from my story board exactly, sticking to plan. This then leads into a sequenced scene.

My film trailer matches forms of conventions of real films through my use of mis-en-scene (dark and enclosed spaces) and lighting (dim and gloomy)I challenged forms and conventions of real films by using a pop song however, this made my made trailer quite sinister and overall worked well. I also had my female protagonist become the villan.

How effective is the combination of your main

product and ancillary task?

The poster for Black Swan has a black background with a picture of a woman (Natalie Portman), the title of the film, actor names and a comment/rating of the film. The colours used are dark (Black background matching the font of the title) which represents a dark nature of the film, suggesting the genre of a horror/thriller kind. The picture is a close up of her face conveying that she is the protagonist. She has a large crack on the side of her face as if she was a china doll. This could represent her vulnerable character in the film that forebodes her breaking. Big names such as Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis are used to entice the audience into being interested in this film. Above Natalie Portman’s’ name says ‘Academy Award Nominee’. This has been added onto the poster to show that the actors are well known and are good at what they do so that their acting will be great in the film. “An extraordinary intoxicating masterpiece” is written in white font on the black background. This has been highlighted to catch attention and been used to show to the audience that people have enjoyed this film.

This poster for Let the right one is has the title in yellow and white font covering nearly half of the poster. On the right hand side is a girl who actually looks ill with what looks like make-up or blood on her face from her eyes and definitely blood around her mouth. The background isn't easily seen due to it being out of focus for the girl to be in focus. The colours are black, blues and greens which could represent the dark, scary nature of the setting/environment they are in. The girl is looking to the side, away from the camera. I believe this has been done to convey her worry about something and/or her leaving this place, as to having her back against the not so obvious looking building wall. On the capital fonted title “Let the right one in” the words “right one” is to a different colour (white) than the rest of the title (yellow) This suggests to me that perhaps she may not be the ‘right one’ and that because the colours don’t really contrast each other in an obvious way, that perhaps it will be hard to distinguish the ‘right one’ from the ‘wrong one’ and that they blend in.

This poster for Silence of the lambs has a colour edited close-up of a face. This face bug with wings and a skull picture on its back covering the mouth. This poster also has actor names, the title of the film and one line of wording. The close up face is a pale white, shadowed look which begins to blend into the top half of the background but is however contrasted with the dark blue background at the bottom. The eyes are highlighted from the big and shiny brown/red look. The wasp looking bug covering the mouth could resemble that perhaps she knows a secret and needs to keep it in and the skull could convey that what she knows is evil. The title of the film is coloured in orange which stands out against the background. Actor names have been used ‘Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn’. These big names have been used to entice the audience of an interest into this film. At the bottom of this poster reads ‘From the terrifying bestseller’. This firstly lets you know for definite the horror/thriller genre to this film. This also lets you know that this film is based on a book which again would entice the audience for this film but also to perhaps the book as well.

Analyzing Psychological

horror posters

Poster Ideas

Final Poster

Above was the process of making my final poster. I began with a photo that I took of my protagonist. I used the software Adobe Photoshop to crop her out of the

background. After this I again used Adobe Photoshop to edit the pictures colour to make an eery/mystery look. I then added a dark background to follow that theme.

After I fiddled around and like the look of the layout, I was able to then go onto making the conventions of a poster. I added the title, actor name, slogan and credits.

This made my poster look professional. After this was done, I made slight adjustments to the layout until I was fully satisfied with making a poster that fitted

with my psychological horror genre film.

I included the protagonist actor name onto my film poster to let the audience know the main actor in this film.

I have centred my poster around the protagonist photo. I have made edits to the original photo (half black and white whilst cropping some of the picture out) I have done this to catch the audiences attention and to relate the poster with the film and genre of the film, creating a mystery effect to this horror poster.

I have created this slogan to interest the reader and to relate it with my film, giving hints about it. I have positioned it to the right to avoid covering up the main photo and centred the writing to make it look professional. I coloured this slogan differently to create an interesting/mystery effect.

I've included the title of the film to let the audience know and remember what the film is.

I have included credits onto my poster to make it look more professional and to allow information about the people working on the film.

On the Entertainment magazine front cover there is a colour scheme of Blue, While, Grey, Black and Red. This follows the theme of the feature article photo of Johnny Depp in dull colours (black, grey and white) Blue has been used for an eye catching effect. The mastahead is covered over the feature article photo. The feature ‘Holiday Movie Preview’ fonted in white has been positioned over the feature article photo also. This has been used to entice the reader into reading the magazine whilst also including information about the magazine, to let the audience know what they will be buying. Another feature has been used ‘The inside scoop on 39 new films’ This is made with three different fonts and three different colours (red, blue and white) They have done this to catch the audience’s attention as three different colours is eye-catching. Although they have done this, this again follows the theme of the magazine and the film. The feature article photo of the famous actor Johnny Depp would already interest the reader, however, having a medium close up of him whilst looking stern and serious would entice the readers more as this is something that is different, being a universal actor. There is a cvoverline on the bottom right of the magazine with the Actors name which matches the feature article photo. Underneath this, other famous actor’s names are printed. This would have been used to interest the reader.

On the Empire magazine front cover there is a continuous colour scheme of red, greys and silver/whites. The feature article photo is of the famous actor Will Smith. This already entices the reader by finding out his new film and role. The body shot of Will Smith has fog/mist by the side of him, this creates a mystery/creepy illusion, matching the genre of the film. He is holding a gun. This interest the audience whilst releasing some information about the film. The Skyline ‘best winter preview ever!’ is positioned at the top of the magazine coloured in two different colours (grey/silver and white) This becomes interesting as the two colours contrast bringing attention to the reader onto this point. This also shows the reader that this is a good magazine and what is included will be what the reader wants. The red mastahead is positioned behind the feature article photo, which relates to the magazine being a popular one so much that the audience do not have to see the whole mastahead to know what this magazine is. The side of the magazine is filled with red, white and grey/silver features. This encompasses information about other films and other articles within the magazine that would inform the reader into what they’re buying and if they want to actually buy it. This magazine front cover also has the title of the film it is presenting ‘I am legend’ in a large font, covering part of Will Smiths torso. At the bottom of the magazine front cover, there are pictures of 4 different film snapshot, with their names above them. This again would interest/entice the reader.

For the Total film magazine front cover, there is a colour scheme of Blue, white and red. The feature article photo is the famous actor Leonardo Dicaprio. This long shot would first of all capture the audience’s attention by having this star on their magazine. There is a mist/fog that covers the background and begins to effect the feature article photo, this is a very clever edit as it links in with the mystery genre of the film and links in witht the scheme of the magazine. There is a red coloured skyline at the top of the magazine which reads ‘greatest movie art ever’ this is used to boost the status of the magazine therefore creating more people to be interested in this magazine and then buying it. There is a picture at the top left corner of the magazine, used to reel the audience in and find out what this is for. The mastahead, coloured in white, has been positioned behind the feature article photo. This has be done to show the audience that this is a recognisable magazine and therefore isn’t needed to show all of it for them to know which magazine it is. There are features on the side of the magazine to again interest the audience into reading these articles. The name of the film they are presenting has been positioned in the middle left of the magazine and coloured red. This is eye-catching and defines what the magazine is mainly about. There is also a feature picture on the right side of the magazine and films names at the bottom to show the audiences that they have the information about the best upcoming films within this magazine.

Magazine cover

templates

This was my first template for my magazine cover. I already knew the layout I wanted for my magazine cover so it wasn’t difficult to begin the process. I liked how I made the blurred out edit, however, I feel like this made the film look too innocent for a horror film.

This template came after my first template. I made a few changes to it, for example the colour scheme. I advanced the misty look, to make it look more real and sinister. I added more conventions to make it look more professional, for example the feature/coverlines.

The title of the magazine ‘Full Film’ has been coloured in black to follow the colour theme of the magazine and film. This is in capitals to express the importance of the magazine with an unusual font to interest the reader. This is behind the feature article photo to show its high ranking of not needing to be entirely visible for the reader to know what magazine it is.

‘Horror movie of the year’ this skyline has to been used to show the importance of the current article and information about what will be included.

I have included coverlines to convince an audience into buying this magazines well as information about what is inside.

This feature article photo is a close up of the protaganist in the film ‘SHE’ I used a picture with her looking dead at the camera to create serious atmosphere. My model is also looking straight at the camera which gives eye contact to the reader.

I have included a sticker to make this magazine look more professional and to persuade an audience to buy this magazine

I have included a plug to attract an audience

I added the title of the film onto my magazine to show the reader what the magazines main article is about

I have included extras and actor names to entice the reader

Overall I believe that my combination of my main task and ancillary task is effective as I have used a continuous mystery effect throughout. I have used my protagonist as the focus point of all three tasks. I have

used different edits to create the same effect, making everything a new, interesting thing to see.

My trailer shows a horror themed, high impact film. I believe that this is good however, works better with the poster and magazine cover.

For my poster, I used a half a black and white edit whilst simply washing out the other half. This creates an interesting half and half effect which matches the theme/genre horror as this doesn’t reveal

any information as to what the film is, causing the audience to be enticed.

For my magazine cover, I used a paint brush and many dull colours to create the effect of mist and fog over the main article photo. This

relates to the horror genre whilst interesting the audience into what the role and the film entails.

What have you learned from your audience

feedback?

My Beginning Survey1. Should the trailer follow Torodov’s Theory of narrative?______________________________________2. Do producer logos make you want to watch the film?______________________________________3. Which do you prefer and why?Voice over – Narration – Character inner voice – Narration______________________________________4. Which of the following , combined, would be more effective and why?Fast music – Slow music – Fast transitions – Slow transitions – All of the above______________________________________5. What would you like to find out about the plot?______________________________________

6. What would you like to find out about the main character(s)________________________________________7. Would you like there to be an official main character or a group and why?________________________________________8. Describe your favourite type of horror ‘villan’________________________________________9. Which factors in a film trailer would most persuade you to watch the film?________________________________________10. What do you especially like about psychological horror trailers?________________________________________

This survey gave me an idea into what I need do to make my audience happy. I did base my trailer around many of the answers were given back to me. For example the results showed they didn’t want me to follow Torodov’s Theory of Narrative and therefore I didn’t. However, I didn’t follow some, for example the results said that the preference would be to have a voice over in the trailer. I thought that they would only want this because of other psychological horror films have done this and they are used to this. Therefore, I broke conventions to make my trailer more unique. Overall, this survey helped me structure my trailer and helped me to create a trailer that could be compared to the professional's.

My After Trailer Survey

I created a survey for my target audience to those who watched my trailer in progress. This trailer enabled me to make changes to overall improve my trailer to make it suitable and good enough for them to want more. This helped me very much and because of this and the feedback I was able to make the trailer that I have now.

How did you use new media technologies in the

construction and research, planning and

evaluation stage?

Adobe PremiereThis software entitled me to make my film. I was able to upload clips onto this software and could cut, edit and position the clips in anyway I wanted. This was an easy software to use as it had a large variety of tools, enabling me to edit my film however I liked and to also play around to see if there were edits I like better. Overall this was a good software for me to use and I made the trailer just how I wanted.

Adobe PhotoshopThis software entitled me to making my ancillary tasks (A poster and a magazine front cover) This software was easy to use and had many tools, making the process successful. I was able to view my tasks in any way thanks to the editing equipment which made the process very creative. Overall I was happy with my ancillary tasks because this software was so helpful.

The Internet was the software I used for my research and planning into these tasks. I was able to find many already made films, posters and magazines to help

me with the understanding and ideas to make my own. I was also able to find articles/surveys/blogs which included opinions and facts about the tasks I was

about to make. The internet I a massive network full of search engines that enable you to find anything you need. This greatly helped me as because of this, not only did it help me with the process, it also helped me by easily and cheaply being able to find examples to know what every film/poster/magazine needs to

include.

Evaluation

I have used the software ‘Microsoft Powerpoint’ to create a slideshow (this slideshow) to be able to share my process of making my film, poster and magazine cover.

I have used the blogging system ‘blogger’ to create a page where all of my build up to making my tasks can be seen.