Upload...

We have now uploaded our footage onto iMovie via a firewire form the camera to the computer and are now all set to edit! :D

Filming...

Filming when smoothly and we got all the shots we wanted all thanks to our very good organisation. The weather was gloomy and almost rained, therefore this was a very good aspect of filming day.

Although this went really well, our digital camera ran out of battery, therefore we could not take and still shots for our magazine cover and poster. This issue we overcome by disscusing and planning when we could do it at another time of a different shot that would not be seen in the trailer.

Synopsis of Our Trialer.

Synopsis of 'Attack Of The Nerd'

The trailer starts with production details which indicates to the audience what genre it is. If an individual is familiar with a certain production team, they may be more interested in the film trailer. Therefore the production company plays a big part in who and why people watch the film.

My trailer then goes onto show the main character which is portrayed as the evil person who caused the trouble. You see some establishing shots which set the scene and gives you an incite where the movie is based or set around.

The main USP (unique selling point) to this trailer is the actors who play in it. Dakota Fanning is a typical scary movie star, therefore people will want to go and see it as the star represents the genre. Therefore we have interpreted this convention in our own production by advertising

It has no voiceover as I felt it would ruin the atmosphere and the sound effect make up for the absent voiceover.

Dramatic sound effect contributes to the feel and effect of the trailer as its very jumpy and sudden. As the trailer progresses, each new slide or actor is introduced, it gives a loud 'BOOM' sound. This makes the audience jump and create a wanted feeling to see what happens more in the movie. Also the school bell ringing in the background connotes to the reader that it is set in a school environment. This sets a mood/atmosphere into what is expected when going to see the film.

Having clips of the setting, characters and title of the film heightens anticipation to see the film by teasing the audience.

Plot analysis...

Story Board...

We have finalised our thoughts, set dates and times to film and completed our storyboard to make sure everything is as planned and ensure that filming is successful.

Questinaire and Results...

Planning for our Title style...

In order to have a successful and realistic title style, I analysed other horror titles and gathered forms and conventions to interpret it into my own work.

Nightmare On Elms Street.

This title looks like it has been written in blood, instantly revealing th

e genre and the word ‘nightmare’ connotes a sense of disast

er has struck on the street. The moon in the background implies that the killings take place at night referring to ‘nightmare on elmstreet’. The connotations of a nightmare are horror, unpleasant and scary, this adds to the atmosphere of the title as is contributes to the genre.

Zombie Land.

The title to this slasher horror is designed with all capital letters to make the text bigger an

d bolde

r. The title is slanted to give an impression that it is across the world for example, zombies have taken over. The writing it also in a orange font that looks like fire this could represent death associating with the genre.

Black Christmas.

This title contradicts christmas as christmas is traditionally a jolly, merry time, and here black it put infront giving christmas a negative perspective. The house in the background of t

he picture could possible be the location of the film and where the main events in the film take place. The font itself are two different types, ‘black’ looks like it has been written on a steamed window whereas ‘christmas’ looks like its shattered also giving a bad vibe to christmas, like things have fallen apart.

The red colour in the background could represent blood or danger which also relates to the slasher horror genre.

Scream 2.

This is another title which is white font on black background giving the mysterious effect. The word ‘scream’ relates to fear and danger also giving the genre away to the audience immediately. The ‘2’ is red, which could suggest film two is even bloodier and scarier than the previous one. On the ‘M’ in scream the middle bit is sharper than the other ones this could suggest that the weapon used is long and sharp. Screaming is not a happy or pleasant- gesture therefore shows the genre through the name instantly.

Finalising things...

We sat down to finalise our plot line and also times and dates in wich we are going to film.

We decided before we start any production work, we were to carry out a pre-production questionnaire to find out what our target audience is looking for in horror films.

Our group came to a decision to each take some questionnaires to get completed and bring back to the next group meeting. Also we made decisions as to when and where we were to film.

As we are going to use out areas of school which are out of bounds to students, we needed to ask permission to use the area. As well as this, we need to ask the drama department if we could use their classroom to film a few scenes for our trailer and organise costumes for the characters.

Functions Of A Voiceover...

FUNCTIONS OF A VOICEOVER

The voice over is the most frequently used convention of a film trailer and has several purposes, for example it helps us make sense of the narrative by giving us background information. Such as, where the action is set, who the characters are, showcases who is starring in the film, information about important production details; director, producer and previous films. It builds a sense of anticipation, reinforces the title of the film, and sets the tone for the film. We decided not to include a voiceover in our production as we found it didn't build to the atmosphere or create any scary mood. We decided instead to use dialogue and sound effects to portray the slasher horror feel.

Here are some examples of one of the trailers which included a voice over and its effect.

Hell Boy 2

· Sense of enigma

· Authorities

· Sense of gothic horror

· Introduces the characters and their stories

The Fourth Kind

(Website)

· Introduces the film

· Sets the history by informing audience the film is based on a true story

As we decided not to use a voiceover we looked at the film 'The Road' to study its effect and use in the trailer.

The Road (non voiceover)

(Film Website)

· Music and dialogue creates a jumpy atmosphere

CONVENTIONS OF A SLASHER HORROR

Slasher film is one of the horror film genre typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a chainsaw or scythe. Although the term "slasher" may be used as a generic term for any horror movie involving graphic acts of murder, the slasher as a genre has its own set of characteristics which set it apart from related genres. Stereotypically in slasher horror there is a killer who murders people with sharp objects, and a few themes and conventions that have become staples of the genre. Such as male killers, female/ teen victims, killer violent acts reflect the experience of a damaged journey through life, a specific event in killers life triggers this emotional outburst of violence, killer has specific targets as his victims; tend to be young, attractive and mostly to be seen as committing sins; for example, sex, drug and alcohol. The victims seem vulnerable and unaware of their surroundings, resulting them in being an easy prey for the killer. The last victim usually is a female who witnesses the violence and has been involved in a battle with the killer but escapes and eventually falls back into the hand of the killer. Consequently, results in injury fault or death.

Analysis of Trailers

To develop our ideas, we researched and studied other horror trialers in order to guide us into our own production.

Sorority Row

(Official Trailer)

· The title of the film was shown at the end of the trailer; this is in order to leave people with the idea of the title as their last thought, allowing them to remember the film.

· The stars are a way to promote a movie it can also be a reason for people to go see a movie in the first instance.

· The type of action we see in the film trailer is violence, death, horror and crime.

· The music gives us clue of the film being shock, horror and fear

· There is no voice over in the trailer however the dialogue explains the narrative and reflects the genre of the movie due to the actions used.

· The speed and camera shots resemble fear, horror of the genre and when the camera shows the facial expressions it also resembles the genre and tells us about the narrative.

· The information we are given in the very last frame of the trailer is the text ‘coming soon’ and the website for the movie. This resembles the different ways of promoting the movie.

· In my opinion a trailer rather than a poster would be more effective in making me want to see the film as I can see what is going on, what the genre is, the explanation of the narrative, advertises the production company which allows us to understand the expectations of the movie. Also, the stars are represented in their character forms. The audience can view the quality of the technology and graphics used to produce the movie.

· I expect to see the trailer before movies at the cinemas as there are slots for them to be advertised for the audience to come back to the cinema for the next film and experience the movie in the luxury of a cinema. But if a movie is advertised in the breaks of TV programme then it can suggest that it has the budget to promote its movie.

To come up with our killer, we studied the commonalities and stereotypical characteristics of killers through out well known and popular films. This is what we came up with...

Commonalities of Slasher movies.

· Masks

· Distorted faces

· Gloomy costume

· Serious facial expression shadows in setting

· Male

· Mystery

· Dark setting

· Mostly one of the main characters

· Mentally ill

· Insane

· Insecure

· Masacistic

· Isolation form society

· Hidden identity

Commonalities in slasher horror protagonists.

· Personalities are masked and hidden thus keeping humanity unseen in killers mind or victims

· Choice of weapon suggest sadistic nature of killer

· Lack or distortion of human qualities

· Costume codes show lack of awareness of image and convey isolation form society

· Body language suggest overriding resilience and strength

· Sadistic or far off gaze suggests a warped mind

· Chaos is expressed through the victims lack of verbal or non verbal communication with the killer

· The mask of killers suggests an unacceptance for the crimes committed by the killer

· Costume codes make the setting more terrifying what are normal, everyday objects become menacing weapons.

Starting out...

Based on our previous reserch into trailers we understood what elements belong in horror trailers so this was a great start when my group sat down to discuss our ideas. we decided to split our ideas into sections, Plot, Name of the film, Settings, Characters, Shot types, marketing campaign, Sound (Primary and Secondary), props and costumes. This made it more organised therefore it was clearer and practical as we had many, many ideas.
As it stated in the exam breif we were to produce a trailer aimed for 15 olds, we went onto the British Board of Film Classification (BBF) website to look at the guidelines for a certificate 15 film.
As we had many ideas, we have various plot lines, for example at first we were set on having the teacher as the killer who kills his students but we found this was inappropriate as we didnt want to portray our teacher who was going to be featuring in the film as a pupil murderer. Also we had a story line that a girl was murdered on a school feild trip, this would have complications as to filming as we needed too many big props, for example a coach full of students, a country house ect.
We decided we wanted it to involve only students so our target audience could relate to it, therefore we settled for a geek who wanted to succeed in his education to kill his fellow pupils as they are preventing him from this. As well as this, the story line has an element of bullying which is a big issue within schools currently, therefore this is another aspect our target audience can relate to.