Filming The House Scenes!

Today we filmed our indoor house scenes and outdoor death scenes. These scenes are imporant as they show the change in Clarissa and helped express the horror genre of our film. When filming these scenes we used several makeup effects & also contact lenses, this made our footage more realistic and a lot more 'scarey'. Below is a slideshow of photos we took during filming:

fiug - slideshow with music

Feedback On Our Progress So Far:

Earlyer today we decided to get some feedback on our progress so far. We asked our volunteer Hayden to watch our trailer, and then we filmed him talk about what he had seen. The video can be watched below:



Hayden talked about how some of our shots were too long and needed shortening, this is something I strongly agree on and will remember when editing in the future. Haydens feedback has also encouraged me to think more about pace and tempo.

Production Company

The video above shows how we will introduce our production company logo at the start of the our trailer. To make the logo appear interesting and exciting we added an x-ray effect to it and edited it so it would look like the logo was flashing in and out of the screen. These effects on the production company logo will help express the theme of horror in our trailer right from the start.

Creating Our Production Logo!

Today I started creating a logo for our production company which we decided to name 'Thrilled Productions'. To create the logo I used Photoshop, a specialist design software. I made the logo by combining 2 different fonts and then overlaping them. I downloaded the fonts from DaFont.com, the first font is called LEDLIGHT and the second font is called Spider Fingers. 

Font for The Possession

Above is an image of the font we will be using for 'The Possession'.
The font is called LED Light and we downloaded it from www.dafont.com. We chose this font as it looks very supernatural which suits the synopsis of our film - the possession of the protagonist Clarissa. Also, the text looks very modern and as if its glowing, this represents the fact that our film is set in modern London.

Recording Our News Report!

Today we rocorded our radio news report which will be played in the background of the begining scene of our trailer. To record the report we used a software called 'guitar', this software allowed us to quickly record a podcast and then add effects to it to make it sound more realistic. We added a short jingle sound to ensure it resembled a real news report and also some background noise to enhance the audiences belief of the report coming live from the riots.

Using After Effects

Today I was introduced to a software called After Effects. This software allows ordinary people to make proffessional looking effects with ease. I really enjoyed using the software and made a few practise effects which I may later decide to use on our horror trailer. The video below is of my very first practise effect:

Risk Assessment!

To prevent any injuries happening to anyone involved in the production of our trailer I completed a risk assessment . In the risk assessment I identified and explained any possible risks and discussed how we would work to provent them, this can be seen below. Overall the risks for our production were very minor, this is good as we do not want any of our crew suffering from any injuries.

Target Audience For 'The Possession'

We have decided that the target audience for 'The Possession' will be those aged 15 and above. This is because 15 is legaly the minimum age which we are able to target. Below I have looked at how 'The Possession' follows the legal requirements of a certificate 15:

Theme: No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year olds.
The themes of our film are revenge, anger and the consequinces of theft, all these themes are expressed in a way suitable for 15year olds.

Language: There may be frequent use of strong language; the strongest terms are only rarely acceptable. Continued aggressive use of strong language and sexual abuse is unacceptable.
There is a limited use of strong language throughout our film, however the trailer contains no strong language at all.

Nudity: There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
There is no nudity featured in our trailer.

Sex: Sexual activity and nudity may be portrayed but without strong detail. The depiction of casual sex should be handled responsibly. There may be occasional strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.
There are no intimate or sexual scenes in our traier.

Violence: Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain, and of injuries. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief.
There is a brief scene of violence at the begining of our trailer however it is shown in a way suitable for 15year olds. There are no scenes of sexual violence. Throughtout the trailer there are also scenes that suggest violence towards characters may have taken place, however the violence itself is not shown.

Imitable techniques: Dangerous combat techniques such as ear claps, head-butts and blows to the neck are unlikely to be acceptable. There may be no emphasis on the use of easily accessible lethal weapons (in particular, knives).
In our trailer there is a shot of a character hanging from rope, it is brief and handeled in a sensative way so therefore it is suitable for the certificate 15.

Horror: Sustained or detailed infliction of pain or injury is unacceptable.
As our film is in the horror genre it features several suggestions of death, pain and suffering, however no scenes are detailed and the 'gore' is limited.

Drugs: Drug taking may be shown but clear instructive detail is unacceptable. The film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug use.
There are no scenes or references to drug taking in our horror trailer.

USP Of The Possession!

In this post I will be looking at the unique selling points (USP's) of 'The Possession':

1. It's is realistically set in modern London.
2. The idea is based on real life events - the London Riots.
3. The hopes and fears presented by the characters reflect todas society in the aim of generating real life fears and aprirations.

Contact Lenses

Above is a photograph of the contacts we plan to be using in our horror trailer. The contacts will be worn by Clarissa after she has been possessed, this will help emphasize the change in her and improve the quality of our effects. 

Planning Our Digital Strategy.

To help bring our film and characters to life we have began developing our digital strategy. Below is a photograph of our initial planning:

We came up with several good ideas however realisticly we only have the time & resources to go ahead with a few. The marketing ideas we will be going ahead with are:

• Twitter page
• Facebook page
• An Interview with Clarissa
• Posters

The Locket.

Below is a photograph of our most important prop - the locket!
We purchased it from Claire's accessories,and we chose this particular locket as it was relitivly cheap and thus suitable for our low budget. Also, the appearence of the locket fitted in with what we imagined it would look like - old, victorian, dirty & mysterious.

Marketing 'The Possession' Through Social Networks.

Facebook Page:

Today I created a facebook page to help market our horror film 'The Possession'.
I will regularly update this page with images, clips and information about the film to develope an interest. Also, in the future I will be posting our finished horror trailer and poster in attempt to raise awarness and get feedback.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Possession/291404230892283?ref=ts

Twitter

One of my group members also created a twitter account for our film: @thepossession - this will again help market our film, and also as twitter allows direct contact with other people we can attempt promote our film to real directors and production companies.

Adorno: High Art Vs Low Art

According to Adorno there is a difference between high art and low art. High art is intellectual and stimulates the brain, whereas low art is common and does not stimulate the brain. Below are examples of these:

• High Art: Shakespeare, Novels, Plays, Operas, Classical Music.
• Low art: FIlms, Reality TV, Cartoons, Quiz Shows, TV Dramas, Soaps.

Adorno says that popular media creates false needs which causes people to buy things without thinking. This is seen as commodity fetishism - people are obsessed with objects and buying things. Adorno claims that even though all films are the same people are persuaded to go see them through marketing (e.g. TV adverts, posters, word of mouth). 

In conclusion, Adorno says that popular media is bad for us!

I disagree with Aderno's theory for several reasons. Firtstly, there are several examples of 'low art' films which do stimulate the brain and focus on important issues (Freedom Writer).

Shooting Schedual

Before starting to film we decided it was important for us to organize ourselves and prepare a shooting schedual to ensure we didnt waste time. Using Celtex, the same programme we used to create our screen play we was able to drag each scene into a calander one by one - creating our schedual. This was a process made very simple by the celtex software. Sticking to our schedual was very important - we organized the filming into our everyday scheduals and made sure our whole group were able to attend each filming session. Sticking to the schedual would allow us to prepare for each filming session properly and ensure we had the correct props. Below are images of the process and finished shooting schedual.

Test Scenes In The Void!

Today we carried out some practice filming in the void for the riot scene in the anitique shop.

This practice attempt was very usefull and helped us plan for when we would film the real thing.
After recording the shots I took them home, edited them into the right order and put the scene together, below is a screen shot of this process:

Using windows Movie Maker to edit the scene was very easy, even though it was my first time using the softwear I was able to quickly crop the shots and arrange the into the correct order.
I also added an effect called 'saphire' to the video which changed its colour - this effect made a big difference to the quality of the video in a good way, it makes it appear more modern and also as its darker the mood comes across as much more suspicious/mysterious.

Overall I was only slightly impressed with the finished result however I still think its good for an improvised practice attempt. Below you can watch a video of the scene:

Filming the practice scene taught me & my group a lot and we now realised how much effort is required to film a good shot. I will now list characteristics of the scene which I feel need improving:

• Lighting: even though there is a limited amount of lighting in the void our shots came out too bright, they would have been more effective if they were slightly darker as the scene takes place at night time. Also, the darker lighting would have helped reflect the deprressing mood of the scene - a woman has been killed, property is being destroyed, goods are being stolen and angry people are rebeling against the law.
• Props: as the filming session was improvised we had to make good use out of the limited props available, we done this well however we needed more 'antique' props to help the audience believe the scene was taking place inside an antiue shop.
• Costumes: the costumes of the characters in the shots corresponded with the stereotypes we were trying to display in our film - almost all of them were wearing hoodies - in todays society hoodies are iconicly linked to youth and people who wear them are often negatively stereo-typed as 'yobs'.
• Characters: the characters in the scene were all believable however on camera they may have appeared more realistic if we had used makeup effects - this especially applies to the character of the old woman Edna.

Red Eye Tears - Practice!

Today we tested a red tear solution on a member of our group - Laressa. The solution worked perfectly as Laressa immidietly began crying red tears without any discomfort. You can watch a video of the test below:

As the red eye solution worked well we will definetly be using it in our trailer - the red tears will represent blood to emphasize the fact that Clarissa has been possessed.

In doing the test we learned that the solution takes effect immidietly, this will be taken into consideration during filming as we will have to work fast to get the shot. A picture of the red tears can be seen below: 

Practising Scenes WIth Filming Equipment!

In todays lesson I took part in a group filming activity, in my group was Kurby, Laressa & Phoebe. We was given a Nikon camera and sound boom before being told to go off and record a short video.
We decided to record Phoebe and Laressa rapping as it would make equally good use of the sound and camera equipment. Below you can watch our video:


Sadly we ran into problems with our camera which meant the picture was slightly distorted, this damaged the quality of the video. Also during editing we discovered that our sound equipment hadn't recorded when we needed it too, and so unfortunelty we could only use the sound recorder by the camera.  Although these problems were very inconvinient we learned the importance of double checking our equipment - this will hopefull prevent us experiencing simular problems while filming our horror trailers.

Killers in Horror Films

In this post I will be looking at different killers in horror films, below is a presentation I made using Prezi:

After looking at the 3 horror killers I noticed that they all appeared physiclly different. None of the killers look 'normal'. I also realised that most horror killers also wear costumes and masks to hide their identity - this helps them appear more scarey. This made me see that horror as a genre exagerates our fears as in real life most killers are normal and human like.
As I am making a horror film I must think strongly about the appearance of my killer, and decide whether or not I want to challange the convention of horror killers looking physically different.

The Possession Storybaord!

Before filming our trailer I sketched out a story board of the shots we'll be using. The story board can be seen in the slideshow above!
The storyboard was a very important part of our planning, it helped us imagine our trailer and think of ways to improve it.

Practicing Makeup Effects

Today I practiced using makeup to create effects that will be used in my horror trailer.
I used eye shadow and lipgloss to create the effects and overall my attempt was very successfull.
Below are 2 photographs, the first is of a bruise, and the second is of a cut. Creating these effects was fairly easy, using the advise of the proffessional makeup artist I used materials that were cheap and easy to source.
Practising these effects has helped me plan and prepare for filming my trailer mainly because I now have experience and will be able to transfer the effects onto the actors easily, making our trailer more realistic and dramatic.

Prop List

In this post I have made a list of props me & my group will need to film our horror trailer!

• Fake blood
• Rope
• A rocking chair
• A locket
• Makeup
• Face paint
• Mobile phone
• Radio
• Glasses
• Red eye tears
• Contact lenses
• Black bags

Below I have made a mood baord with images of some of the props:

Make Up Session

Today we had an extremely rare opertunity to meet with Oscar winning makeup artist Christine Blundel, she presented us with examples of her work before sitting down with me & my group to discuss areas in our trailer where we may require makeup. Christine also gave us a short tutorial on how to make small effects such as cuts and scratches to the body using makeup on a low budget. This was very useful to me and my group as we now have a clear understanding of what props and makeup we will need to create effects on our actors and also on where to buy them at a cheap price. Below are photos I took of some make-up dummies:

 

To maximise the effectivness of the makeup it is importnat for me & my group to understand the personalities of each of our characters, we have given each of them a past and looked at their lifestyles, this has helped us decide on how they should look and even die. By understanding who our characters truely we will also able to build a wardrobe for them - people often express themselves through the clothes they wear.
Doing this has been reletively easy for us as our film is London based and we can all identify aspects of ourselves in our characters, this is something that will hopefull attract people to the film.
We have always known that the deaths in our horror trailer will be very bloody and grousem, which means we will be using makeup to create bruises, scratches, cuts, and scars on our actors/actresses. To do this we will need to buy make-up, fake blood, and scar wax for reasonabley cheap prices as we have a low budget. Below is an interesting video I found of a makeup effect tutorial:

Applying Burtons Theory To Our Synopsis.

Below I have applied Burtons genre theory to our synopsis for 'The Possession':

 

Target Audience

Today we decided that the target market of The Possession will be people aged between 15-30. We picked this age group as we feel they will be the people that relate to and understand the film the most.
Below is collage of things people within our target market are interested in.

Screen Play

Below is our screen play for The Possessions trailer:

screen play - slideshow with music

Planning; creating our screenplay

Today in class me & my group began writing the screen play for our horror trailer, this is one of the most important parts of our planning!  Dialogue is extremely important in our trailer as it engages the audience and helps tell the story.  To write our screen play we used a software called Celtx. Celtx is a brilliant pre-production software designed for creating and organising media products like scritps, screenplays and  films etc.  While writing our screen play we found ourselves having to make decisions on several things such as locations, text, pace and sound effects, this is something that took a lot of thought and time as we had to ensure we made the best decisions. By looking at our character profiles we were able to identify how each of the characters spoke which helped us write their individual dialogues. After writing out each of the scenes we then arranged them into order, trailers are almost always in non-chronological order , this influenced our decisions here. Arranging the scenes enabled us to picture the trailer in our minds, this helped us judge the trailer and identify areas which needed editing.

The Possession - Character List

Protagonist:

Clarissa

Clarissa Campbell is an 18 year old female who lives in Hackney; she shares her home with her schizophrenic mother who is completely reliant on her. Clarissa’s mum cannot work; they are poor and depend on benefits from the government.
Clarissa goes to LaSwap 6^th Form College where she is a popular student amongst teachers and students. She has 2 best-friends (Ryanna & Mya) who are sometimes seen as her groupies.
Stock Characters:

Carol (Clarissa's mum)
Carol Campbell is the mother of Clarissa. She is a schizophrenic and is unable to survive without the help of her daughter. Because of her disability Carol is unable to provide for her daoughter, she spends most of her day in front of the TV rocking back and forth in her chair.

Edna Wallis
Edna Wallis is the owner of the antique store, she is 98 and has worked in the shop for most of her life. She is very weak and frail, sadly on the night of the riots she is knocked to the ground and killed. However her spirit is contained in a locket which possesses Clarissa in seak of revenge.

Ryanna
Rynanna is an 18 year old girl, she is best friends with Clarissa and Mya. She goes to LaSwap 6th Form College and lives in Tottenham. Ryanna's parents are very strict, at home she is the perfect daughter but when shes at school or with her friends her true personality comes out - shes rebelious and likes to drink and party all night.

Mya
Mya is another 18 years old girl that goes to LaSwap 6th Form College. Shes bestfriends with Clarissa and Mya, and like them lives in Tottenham.

Jayden
Jayden is 18, he is male and goes to LaSwap 6th Form College. He is in love with Clarissa but she sees him as a friend, because of this he has always been too affraid to tell her. Over the years Jaydens love has turned in to an obsession, he often stalks Clarissa without her knowing. After the night of the riots Jayden and Clarissa become a lot closer and together they try and figure out who's killing their friends.

Synopsis

The Possession
Clarissa is an ordinary 18 year old girl who lives in Tottenham; she shares her home with her schizophrenic mother who needs constant care and attention. At school Clarissa is very popular amongst everybody; she and her 2 best friends Mya and Ryanna are always having fun and getting into trouble. On the 7^th of August violent riots break out in Tottenham, police lose control and watch on as protestors destroy private property, steal from shops, and set fire to buildings. Clarissa and her friends decide to go out and join in with the riot in the hope of stealing goods they otherwise couldn’t afford. When Clarissa arrives she follows a group of people into an old antique store. Edna Wallis (the owner of the shop) tries her best to protect her antiques and chase away the looters; however she is knocked to the ground and killed. Clarissa sees Edna's body lying dead on the floor and notices she is wearing a large gold locket; she grabs the locket and runs away. From that moment on Clarissa’s life changes dramatically - one by one her friends and family are brutally murdered, and in a heart-retching battle against time she must figure out what’s happening and save her loved ones from the unknown killer.

Synopsis Background

The synopsis for my groups horror film is based on the London riots, this is a very recent and contreversial subject that many people can relate to. To help us write our synopsis we did some research into the riots, in this post I have gathered news videas and images.

Setting - The Void

To film part of are trailer we needed an setting that is destroyed and full of rubble. The void fits this desciption perfectly and is easily accessable to me & my group. Below are some images I took of the void:

Music For Our Trailer!

Today we had a meeting with a music artist called Awate. We explained to him the story line of our film and told him what themes we hoped to project. He then gave us permission to use his non copy-righted music and suggested a few songs that would help express our themes!
We decided to use Awates music in our trailer as he is from London - the same place we aim to set our film, and so his lyrics should help reflect the opinions of our characters.
Above is a video of Awate performing his song - 'Flame on'.

Themes In The Possession

We have now decided on the name of our horror film, and also on the themes which will feature in the film. These decisions should help us write our synopsis!

Name:The Possession

Themes:

• Stealing - Would you take it if you could?
• Revenge - Do 2 wrongs make a right?

Naming Our Horror FIlm!

We have now decided on a name for our horror film:
'The Possession'
We chose this name as we feel it represents what the film is about. In the film the protagonist is possessed by a locket, this relates to the title in two ways:

1. The locket is a possession originally belonging to Edna.
2. The locket possesses Clarissa after she steals it.

Applying Todorov's Theory To A Trailer!

In this post I will be applying todorovs theory to the Scream 4 trailer! Below you can watch the trailer:



Equilibrium: There is no equilibrium! As its a trailer there is no time to show the audience what normality is like, the audience needs to be sucked in straight away!
Disruption: The trailer begins with a phone call from the famous villain 'Ghost Face' - this is the first and most dramatic disruption as it signifies the return of the killer!
Recognition: After the phone calls people are murdered and the whole town is aware and fearful of the killer, at school the stock characters discuss the rules of a horror & how they have changed.
Repair: 3 of the main characters are desperatly trying to figure out who 'Ghost face' is in a bid to protect themselves and their loved ones.
Resolution: we are not shown the resolution of the film, this is because the purpose of the trailer is to create mystery and encourage people to go watch the film - and so if the trailer revealed the resolution there would be no need to watch the film. In this case we can we can estimate that the resolution will occur when they figure out who ghost face is.

Applying Todorov's Theory To A Film...

In this post I will be applying Todorovs theory to the film 'Bridesmades':

Equilibrium: At the start we are introduced to the main character Annie who is in a casual relationship with a man she likes. We are made aware of the fact that she is unhappy with her love life and career.

Disruption: Annies best friend Lillian announces that she's engaged and asks her to be maid of honour, Annie acts happy but is aware that her Lillian is moving on with her life and shes concerened about how things will change. Annie is then introduced to Helen, one of Lillians bridesmaids, there is immediate competition between the pair who are both jelous of eachothers friendships with Lillian. Annie breaks ends her casual relationship.

Recognition: Annie realises that Helen is setting her up and trying to ruin her relationship with Lillian and take over as maid of honour. So she tries pulling out all the stocks to impress the bride. Annie also meets Officer Nathan, and in her hour of need the pair hes exactly what she needs.

Repair: Annie realises that the competition is damaging her friendship with Lillian and ruining her wedding, and after a huge row with her she quits and lets Helen take over as maid of honour. Meanwhile Annie also realises that she wants to be with officer Nathan.

Resolution: Lillian disappears on the morning of her wedding and Helen has no choce but to seek help from Annie, she finds Lillian and talks her into returning home to get married. After saving the day Annie recieves an apology from Helen and the pair realize they have a lot in common. Officer Nathan turnes up to the wedding, him and Annie solve their problems and repair their relationship. 

Todorov's Theory

Todorov's theory looks at narrative structures within a movie.
His theory states that all narrative structures follow 5 different stages; equilibrium, disruption, recognition, repair & resolution. Below I have explained these 5 stages:

1. In the beginning of the film there is always a state of equilibrium, all is calm, normal and balanced, nothing is wrong at this stage
2. A disruption to the equilibrium would then occur, things begin to turn for the worst, and the equilibrium becomes distorted 
3. Then there is recognition of the disruption; characters realize that there is something wrong and that they need to do something about it
4. An attempt to repair the disruption is then made; events will occur to try restore what's gone wrong
5. Finally there is a resolution; all is restored and a new equilibrium is made

Testing Mulveys Male Gaze Theory

In this post I will testing Mulveys theory against two horror film trailers; Grave Encounters & Tucker Dale Vs Evil.

Grave Encounters:



This trailer supports Mulveys thoery in many ways. All the main characters are male, the female characters simply support the male lead. Throughout the whole trailer we can hear screams from the female characters, this shows their vulnerability and helplessness, which contrasts the male characters who contain themselves well in dificult situations.In the trailer we see a girl in her nighty, this costume is very revieling and the camera appears to stare at her for a short while from eye level, this is an example of how females are seen through the male gaze as sexual objects.

Tocker Dale Vs Evil:



This trailer supports Mulveys male gaze theory even more then  the Grave Encounters trailer does, this is because all the female characters are wearing revealing costumes whereas the male characters arent. One of the female characters also says 'did you see the way he was looking at us', this is ironic as the male gaze camera is constantly watching them throughout the film. Also, the male characters are alot stronger then the females who are passive to them, this emphasizes the females vulnerability and presents them as the weeker sex.

Mulvey's Male Gaze - Audience Theory!

In the presentation below I have explained Mulvey's male gaze theory:

Investigating common stock characters in slaher horror!

Films Cool - Plotting

Films Cool is a unique programme my media class is taking part in which allows us to speak to media industry proffessionals and get their feed back on our work. During this weeks session me & my group started planning our ideas for a horror film synopsis. Below you can see pictures of our ideas.

Observations Into Burtons Genre Theory!

In this post I will be testing Burtons theory against 3 films; Orphan, Scream 4 & Final Destination 5.

Below I have listed my observations of Burtons theory, examples of films demonstrating these observations can be seen in red:

• Most horror films take place in the private sphere which illustrates a danger within the home (a place noramly considered as safe). Down turn in society and a lack of hope at being saved increases vulvnarability. Examples that demonstrate this are: Dont Be Afriaid Of The Dark, Scream, Drag Me To Hell, Insidious, Orphan.
• Stock characters are always realted to each other in one way or another. Common stock characters are groups of young adults each representing positive or negative aspects of society. This mainly applies to slasher horrors like: Piranna, Tucker Dale Vs Evil, Scream 4, Final Destination.
• Some horrors explore the theme truth Vs deciet in the form of cover ups or new found tapes, for example: Rec, Quarintine, Blair Witch, Appollo 18, Paranormal Activity.
• Stock situations invole murder, torture, mind games, physical torture, revenge & sibling rivalry. These things mainly involve victims that have sinned. This applies to All Horrors.
• Often the hero protagonist uncovers the truth in an envirnment of non believers, for example: Orphan, Scream, Dont Be Affraid Of The Dark.
• The theme of voyerism comes through the use of being given access to areas we might not otherwise reach. This can be seen in all horror films.

Does Burtons Theory work?

My research into horror films has lead me to conclude that Burtons genre theory is true. By looking at lots of different horror films I am able to identify lots of conventional elements which are repeated throughtout the genre. This proves the theory of repetition and veriation and also shows how genres each have specific features(features of the horror genre can be seen above).
A balance between repetition and veriation is however vital towards the success of a movie, this is because each movie should try and bring something new to the table which hasnt been seen before, and at the same time include recognisable features of its specific genre. Without veriation all films belonging to a genre would simply be repeating themselves, and so nobody would want to watch them, this demonstrates why the balance is so important
Burtons theory looks at several key elements, all of these elements are equally as important, for example, it is impossible for me to imagine a horror film without stock characters.This alone is enough evidence to prove how correct Burtons theory is.

Looking into Burtons theory has helped me with my planning as I now have a much deeper understanding of what features make up the horror genre. I am also now confident that my trailer will express the theme of horror as I will be including all of Burtons key elements into my sypnopsis.

Horror Fonts!

In this post I will be looking at different fonts that would be suitable to use in the horror genre. I found all my fonts on a website called Dafont.com where I can also download them onto my PC.

1)

In the font october crow, the letters appear as though someone has scratched them in using their nails. I think that this text would mostly suit a supernatural type horror, however it would also be effective when partnered with a slasha type horror as the lettering could represent panic and desperation.

2)

Nightmare is a very common font used within the horror genre, its slightly comical and so would suit horror comedys such as scarey movie. The letters of this font appear to be rough and slightly disfigured, this may suggest that the villain of the film is not human. I think that this font would mostly be effective in the colour red agains a dark background.

3)

Typewriter is a very mysterious font, its very plain and simple. The letters appear to be slightly faded, or as though they have been scratched out, this raises suspence and connects with the horror genre. This font is commonly used in realistic documentry slytle horrors such as paranormal activity.

Editing Eye Colours To Add Effect

In the horror genre most images are distorted or edited to add effect and appear 'scarey'. In this post you can see 2 photographs (before and after), the 2nd photo is a edited version of the 1st. I edited the image using effects found in photoshop.

BloodShed High Pitch

In order to understand and successfully apply recognizable conventions of a horror trailer, me and my partner Phoebe came up with ideas about how to market/ promote a new horror film called bloodShed High.
Overall I think the task was very successfulas I now have a clear understanding of how important it is to plan and explain when pitching an idea.
Throughout the task we made several decisions that positively effected the way our film would be marketed. We decided that the USP of our film would be that it realistically generates fear and asperations in order to reflect the hopes and fears of the people living in contempary London. We decided to go with a supernatural themed plot where the ghost of the girl comes back for revenge as it clearly represents the horror genre.
In our horror film we only have one known actress which is Shona McGarty, famous for her role of Whitney in Eastenders. We decided to introduce a group of new actresses to play the roles of all the other characters as we feel this would make it seem more realistic as we want our audience to truely believe that our character are normal school students living in London.

Appling The Conventions Of A Trailer To Bloodshed High!

After coming up with are final synopsis for 'Bloodshed High'we decided to begin planning the trailer by breaking down each scene in a story board, this can be seen below:

To make sure our 'Bloodshed High' trailer is good me and Phoebe added lots of recognisable conventions to help the audience understand what our film is about. Below I have listed some of these conventions:

• The trailer previews the best parts of the film - the initial murder, the revenge killings.
• The audience is introduced to the main characters, and the background of the protagonist
• The soundtrack is urban and helps the audience establish the fact that the films set in London
• The narrative of the film is not in chronological order, we picked out the scenes which have the most impact to generate excitment from the audience.
• The pace at the beginning of the trailer is slow as we wanted to make sure the audience understands the background of the film, however after Shauna is killed the mood changes and the pace increases dramatically
• The trailer ends at a climax and doesnt show the resolution, this grabs the audiences attention and generates mystery.
• The name of our film 'Bloodshed High' will be shown at the end of the trailer, this is because its the last thing the audience will see, and so the name will stick in their head

'Bloodshed High' Planning

Today in media me and my partner Phoebe were given a task to help us apply the conventions of a trailer, to do this we had to come up with a setting, synopsis, USP & character list for a horror film with the name 'Bloodshed High'.
Below is an image of are initial plans:

Below you can see are final decisions!

Synopsis:

Setting & USP:

Characters:

Analysing Horror Film Posters!

To gain more of an understanding into the features and conventions of a horror film poster I created a presentation and analysed 5 posters from well known horror films. Below you can view the presentation:

I found my analysis of the horror film posters very valuable, I was able to gain an understanding of what makes a good horror movie poster. Below I have listed some of my findings:

• The colour schemes of all the posters are black, white and red. These colours are very dark, and this corresponds with most story lines within the horror genre. The colour red was used to emphasize key pieces of information, e.g. the name or release date of the film. Red text is famously used within the horror genre and is a negative connotation of blood/death.
• Most of the images on the poster are black and white, this makes them very dark and mysterious. The black and white images are one of the main conventions of horror film poster and therefore the viewer is easily able to identify the genre of the film.
• In almost all of the posters the image was a picture of the villain, this is another convention of horror posters. Showing the audience an image of the villain generates lots of mystery and interest towards the film, which encourages them to find out more and pay to see the film.

Conventions Of A Trailer!

Below I have listed some recognisable coventions of a trailer:

• They highlight the 'best bits' & most important parts of the film, these parts are normally very funny, very sad, action packed or mysterious.
• The narrative story is not shown in chronological order
• The stars of the films are showcased
• Visual images flash on the screen just long enough for our minds to process what they are
• Conversations between characters are short, usually just one line each
• The action in interspersed with credits on the screen
• Voice overs tell the story of the film and give credit information
• Voices and lines from characters in the film are sometimes used in the place of a voiceover
• Music and sound effects play an important role, they create atmosphere and emphasize the mood
• The trailers build up to a climax, where they then end
• The resolution of the film is never shown, this leaves the audience wanting to know more

Film trailer analysis

This post shows my analysis of a film trailer!
The film trailer I decided to analyse was the 'Orphan'. The Orphan is one of my favorite films and is also within the horror genre, this is why I picked it.
Below you can watch the full trailer!



One of the first things I looked at after watching the trailer was its pace and tempo, I noticed the following pattern - at the begining the pace was slow and calm, however a discovery is made by one of the characters and from that point onwards the pace increases dramaticly! The pace of the trailer then continues to increase until the end,when it suddenly slows down again on the last 2 shots. The effects of this on the audience are incredible, by the end of the trailer we are left sitting on the end of our seets wanting to know more about what happens.  

I decided that the best way to analyse my trailer further in a detailed way was by making a presentation, which can be seen below:

Sound

I will now look at the sound of the trailer. Using a website called soundcloud I extracted the sound from the trailer so you can listen below:



Listening to the trailer without watching it was very interesting. Even though I was not seeing anything I still reacted to what I was hearing and found it interesting. This made me realise how important sound was in a trailer.
Unlike most trailers 'Orphan' does not have a voiceover - instead it uses dialog from characters in different shots to help explain the story. This is very effective in this trailer, and it helps the audience develop an emotional conection with the characters which will encourage them to go and watch the film.

Text

The text used in the trailer is also very effective in regards to explaining the story, in the slideshow below you can see that the 4 text shots alone give us information about the story line and generate a lot of mystery.

Orphan Trailer Text

Below I have looked at how the 'Orphan' trailer expresses its genre - horror!