Film Log

Scene	Date	Location	People Involved	People In Scene	Props and Clothing
1	13/12/2012	Fotball Pitch	Willam,Shan,Deji and Joy	William,Shan and Joy
2	13/12/2012	School Entrance	Willam,Shan,Deji and Joy	William,Shan and Joy
3	13/12/2012	Inside Scool ( 2nd Floor )	Willam,Shan,Deji and Joy	William,Shan and Joy
4	06/12/2012	School Classroom	Willam,Shan,Deji and Joy	William,Shan and Joy	Chairs and Taples
5	06/12/2012	Drama Studio	No one	No one
6	06/12/2012	Drama Studio	Willam,Shan,Deji and Joy	William,Shan and Joy	Ouija Board
7	13/12/2012	Editing Text In	No one	No one
8	06/12/2012	Drama Studio	Willam,Shan,Deji and Joy	William,Shan and Joy
9	06/12/2012	Drama Studio	Deji	Deji	Long Black Jacket
10	06/12/2012	Drama Studio	Willam,Shan,Deji and Joy	William,Shan and Joy
11	06/12/2012	Drama Studio	Willam,Shan,Deji and Joy	William,Shan and Joy
12	06/12/2012	School Corridor	Deji	Deji	Long Black Jacket
13	13/12/2012	School Corridor	Willam,Shan,Deji and Joy	William,Shan and Joy
14	13/12/2012	School Corridor	No one	No one
15	13/12/2012	Drama Studio	Deji	Deji	Long Black Jacket
16	13/12/2012	Drama Studio	Deji	Deji	Long Black Jacket

Story Board

Concent Form

Title of Project: Filming the trailer of "Paranormal After School Activity "

·         I have been provided with a letter explaining the research project and I understand the letter.

·         I have been given the opportunity to ask questions and all my questions have been answered satisfactorily.

·         I am aware that I can contact Ben Taylor if I have any further queries, or if I have concerns or complaints. I have been given their contact details.

·         I understand that participating in this project will involve :

o   Being Filmed

o   My voice being recorded;

o   Photographs being taken of me.

o   Filming and Photos may possibly become edited

o   The work will be published online

·         I consent to having my voice recorded/ a video taken/ photographs taken during this research.

·         I understand that the researcher will be able to identify me through the filming process.

·         I am aware that the information collected during this research may be put online or on the school database

·          I understand that I can withdraw from the research at any time without penalty.

·         Any injuries or altercations that may occur during the time of the filming is not the responsibility of the Director (Ben Taylor)  

I freely agree to participate in this project:

NAME: ____________________________________________

EMAIL: ____________________________________________

SIGNATURE: ______________________________ DATE: ____________

Trailer Analysis (MAMA)

The film trailer begins with a somewhat unconventional start as it seems to begin with disequilibrium however in recent years it has become more apparent for example Sinister (2012), as it shows two small young girls in horrific conditions. One of the girls is sitting on the other shoulders, which may be seen as the “norm” and somewhat playful of young children. However due to the conditions they are in and the way in which they have chosen to stand it is somewhat unnerving and eerie. As an audience we can see how they have lost their childlike innocence and how it has been replaced with something dark and sinister.  Due to the mid-close up we are able to see how dirty and malnourished the children are as and as an audience we are wanting to help them as we feel sorry for them, this is somewhat leading us into a false sense of security as we know little about the reason they are like that.

Here we can see the start of the equilibrium. The use of the mid-close up allows us to see the children in a clean room with a white bed cover, the use of the bed cover being white could suggest purity or could be used to juxtaposes the previous location and emphasise the difference between  them and how things are getting better. The child hugging the man may show her desired to be cared and loved however her facial expression remains somewhat neutral and almost fixed which is unconventional of most hugs. Also due to the fact we only see one of the children hugging the man it may suggest that there is a difference in character between the two siblings and how the younger child may be unwilling to let the man into her life suggesting she is somewhat of a problem.

   

This we have the start of a small disequilibrium which is the youngest child kicking and screaming in the female’s arms, she then slaps the female around the face amongst all the kicking and screaming, this is emphasized due to the quick cut in the scene and the sinister non diegetic music playing. Following this jump cut, we hear the female’s voice overlapping to the next shot saying “there is no way I am ready for this” from this we can gather as an audience that complications are arising and the situation is becoming worse. The use of having a lot of empty space around the two emphasizes the point that the young girl is distressed and struggling with the female.

 We now have an attempt to resolve the disequilibrium by having the doctor talking to the young girl, the way in which she is sitting could suggest she is somewhat possessed due to her posture and the way her eyes are fixated, this may suggest a theme of this horror (Demonic Possession). From the low key lighting used it makes the image seem ominous and makes the audience focus solely on the doctor and young child and in my opinion mainly focus on the way in which he is leaning towards her offering help the way her body is positioned is like she in unwilling to take his help, which may confuse the audience as there parental instincts would be to want the child safe and yet she is unwilling to take help.

The final shot we see the two young children sitting at a table together, with the youngest staring at towards the audience with a large grin on her face as if she is happy to see someone or something, this unnerves the audience as we are unable to see what she is looking at making the thing or person more scary. Shortly after her smile we hear a very childlike laugh which is amplified and played over creepy music. This makes us change our opinion of the child as she seems to be a part of the problem arising in the house and almost seems to be enjoying it. 

Audience Analysis

1)      Does Music Affect You When Watching A Horror Movie? If So Please State How Below

From the answers I received it seems that music is a key part in people’s perceptions of what makes a good horror movie. The majority of the responses stated how music builds suspense and tension and should be used just before a key scene, such as a killing or a scene in which I wish the audience to jump as it adds more drama to the scene.

2)      What do you prefer in horror movies?

Being Made To Jump		78.9%	15
Blood And Gore		21.1%	4

From the results gathered the majority of people I asked stated they prefer “being made to jump” over “blood and gore”. However due to a fact that I am going to try stick to the conventions of horror movies I may include some blood and gore although not too much as I still would prefer to make my audience jump.  

3)      Do you think the representational characters in a horror movie are too cliché?

Yes		57.9%	11
No		10.5%	2
Don't Care		31.6%	6

From the results gathered it shows that most find the representational characters in the movie to cliché. This may be quite advantageous as I am hoping to change the audience’s perspective of certain characters, thus subverting the typical horror genre characters.

4)      Do you find young children in movies scary?

Yes		100.0%	19
No		0.0%	0

From the results gathered it shows that everyone I asked finds young children in movies scary. This is extremely important as now I know that having young children in my movie is a must.

5)      5. When the Movie says "Based on true events ". How does it make you feel?

Makes the movie scarier		36.8%	7
Makes you think more about the story line/narrative more		52.6%	10
Makes you think they're lying as it couldn’t be real		10.5%	2
Doesn't affect how you feel		0.0%	0

From the results gathered it seem that I should definitely include how my movie was based on true events as it either makes the audience think more about the narrative or makes the movie seem more scarier. And by doing this I am somewhat following another horror convention.

6)      How much of an influence does the trailer have on you? And if yes please state why.

From the answers I received it seems that the trailer of a movie is key to the success of the movie. However some answers were that the trailer can sometimes ruin the movie as it can sometime create too high of an expectation or all the best bits will be in the trailer thus making the movie somewhat less scary.

7)      What Props/objects scare you the most in horror films? And why?

From the answers I received it seems that sharp objects such as knives are what people consider to be most scary. Although due to the fact I want to make m audience jump and am aiming for more of a ghost type horror it may be include this. However people also stated how the way in which you could use a mirror could be somewhat scary, this is rather helpful as I am hoping to do the same thing.

8)      Please state your favourite horror movie. And please state why it is your favourite.

From the answers I received it seems that there are two clear favourites, these are Orphan and Paranormal Activity. Orphan seems to have been chosen due to its narrative and how surprising it is, I also believe it’s due to the fact a young child was used the reason I believe this is because of my previous data. Paranormal Activity was chosen due to the fact that hand held cameras were used and how that made the audience jump more and made the film seem more realistic. This is very helpful as I am also using handheld cameras to film my trailer and from the results gathered it seem that if I am able to film the trailer successfully then it should be a convincing horror movie.

My ideal target audience are teenagers aged between 16-19, they are likely to be students who have a small disposable income who enjoy horrors, therefore meaning they are likely to fall into the band E on the demographic table which includes people who are unemployed,students, pensioners and casual workers. Due to the fact I'm  targeting people at my school its clear the large majority will be made up of students. As well as being in the demographic group E my audience may be considered to be Mainstreamer's as they are likely to want to stick to the conventional horror movie as they are against change. although my audience may be aspirer's as they may be attracted to the "packaging of the movie" and tend to prefer the look of the movie rather than the actual movie.        

Genre

Genre

Genre is a French word that means type or kind. Most people will be aware of genre as a way of putting films, television programmes and other media texts into groups that share similar characteristics, such as the story, or the characters, the settings and even the way the characters dress. This makes films much more accessible for us as an audience as we are able to identify and spot such characteristics and therefore enables us to have more control over what we watch and what we enjoy to watch.

But this is not the only way in which genre aids us as an audience, genre helps us build up expectations about a film. As an audience we have certain assumptions and expectations about the movies we see and due to this, movies can become rather repetitive and thus become boring so as an audience we crave change, and evolve by responding to contextual influences to do with the way society changes. This can be achieved through Hybrid or Mixed Genres; these are very popular, as producers think that by mixing say the thriller genre with the action genre they will find the traditional audiences for both genres.

Location,Costume & Prop

Here you can see some of the locations that I have chosen to be the setting for my horror trailer. As you can see I have chosen locations that are rather naturalistic and simplistic. The reason I have done this is so it makes the narrative of the movie more believable as these are everyday locations and thus meaning it may be easier for the audience to relate to. However I will try and make the locations somewhat darker as I am hoping it will make them scarier. One of the locations is painted black I hope this will work as one of the key settings as the colour black has numerous connotations for being dark and negative. Also by having such a dark background it may allow other features to stand out more on screen, possibly mean they will have a stronger presence in the shot.

The costume I want my actors to wear is school 6^th form attire, for example black trousers and shirt for the males and a black skirt and blouse for the females, due to the fact it will be more realistic and cheaper as all my actors have this. Although due to the fact that I will be filming on different days the trailer may be lacking in continuity editing so therefore I am going to make each of my actors wear a hoddie or jumper over the top, to keep realism and continuity editing at a high.

The props I am going to use are the camera I am filming with as I filming this film from a first person perspective with a handheld camera. Another prop I am hoping to use is a picture of an Ouija board, placed on some card to represent a real Ouija board. 

Website Deconstruction

Conventions of a movie poster

Audit

In order to fulfil; the brief, what skills will you need to develop? In order to fulfil; the brief, I feel that I will need to develop my filming skills as I believe this is my weakest area, this is due to the little experience I have with filming. However I feel that if I am able to get enough practice with the equipment I will be able to use to properly and thus improve my filming skills. Another skill I feel that I need to develop is my organisational skills as I feel that i am too unorganised when it comes to my workload and organising my priorities. Although I feel that if I able to plan when I should complete the work and communicate with my teacher more I should be able to become organised. Are there any areas in ICT you will need to develop? I feel that my general ICT are rather poor and therefore causing me many problems when trying to fulfil the brief. But the two skills I feel I most need to develop are my Photoshop/editing skills. I feel that this is one of my weakest areas and believe that these areas are important for the brief so I will need to practice these skills more. Another area I believe I need to develop is my Blogger Skills as I frequently find it frustrating using the site as I am unaware on how certain aspects work.

My Narrative Pitch

The Welcoming from taylorben

Initial Research Stage

When starting the initial research stage we each had to choose a genre of our choice, I myself chose horror. I developed my understanding of this genre by study different narrative theorists, this then lead into my research of Todorov and Prop, by researching these two theorists it enabled me to get a better understanding of the conventional narrative structure to the horror genre.  

After choosing our genre we started to research posters and trailers. While researching film posters I was able to spot codes and conventions such as the layout and the mise-en scene; which I could then use when making my own poster such as the billing block, which then expanded my terminology range. While researching trailers I was able to analyse layout of the trailer and the sequences in which they present their trailer. 

After watching numerous trailers I was able to see a continuous pattern in that they all mentioned their production company. After realising this I thought it would be best to conduct research into the production companies and find specific information about them. By doing this it enabled me to create my own production company.

Poster Analysis