Revising Locations

Another one of the issues with our old script was actually getting to the locations, one of the locations we tried to use an old abandoned steel mill was locked by the council because it was deemed dangerous, and setting plays a huge part in film so when you are not able to use a specific setting you planned to use, it really affects the rest of the film. Even the woods became near impossible to film in due to bad weather, it was just to muddy and unsafe due to steep and slippy terrain. So this really effected the film, then we decided to re-write the plot with new locations. The new locations are far safer and easier to get to, but still great places where I can get some good shots. I would also like to base my plot around the setting, it really helped me re-write the story. I'd like to shoot quite a bit of the trailer in my own house, a big part of the film is isolation and the feeling that the protagonist is being watched, driving him into his home in fear. We have already done a bit of filming with new locations, and putting filters and effects over footage really helps set atmosphere and a level of suspense I've found. 

 - This shot pictured above is one of the newer pieces of footage, we took this at a path near my house that leads into a field by a lake. I have included this in the new storyboard for I believe there are quite a few good shots we could get out here. Also this is what I mean by adding effects and filters, it was quite a sunny day, not very intimidating. So I altered the brightness and put a filter over the footage and it has a very eerie look, especially when you see the actual footage with the backing track. Very effective.

- The shot pictured below took us nearly an hour to get, we had to go into my attic but its very cluttered and not a lot of room to move and because we couldn't see the camera screen it really was just a case of trial and error. We couldn't see where his headd was until he came down, I went up and watched the footage. Eventually we thought, go up, but move up and down so start high and gradually come lower so we definitely get your head in the shot. This is a scene I really want to re-shoot because it could be very effective, but I'd like to get more of his body in it and more of the attic.

25 Word Pitch including Youtube Video

"A teen psychological horror, featuring a constant state of paranoia and unease with an unnamed stalker who is ever watching, waiting for the right moment"

Reflection on Production so Far

Filming has been much harder than expected, there is so many things I didn't really take into account before we started filming. Finding actors, getting them together at the same time, reviewing the footage on the computer after, lighting, camera angles and general audio. So at first, personally I struggled. I was very excited at first, so when I wrote the first plot I went  into a lot of detail because I wanted to create the most impressive trailer I could. Then when it came to actually filming it I realized that it was not going to be straight forward at all, getting all the actors together at the same time, and actually getting to the location was a big problem. Then when it came to acting, the script was a bit to elaborate, when looking at the footage it just looked cheap and it generally wasn't very good. So instead of sitting around and using the poor footage I decided to re-write the plot, something that was easier to film but the final product would still be just as good. And I am confident in the plot, even filming at the minute is far more enjoyable and the scenes we are coming up with a far more creative. We are not far from getting all the footage we need, then I can start the final edit and put all the pieces together. I have some good ideas I want to include in the film and some different shots I would like to get.

Music Research + Choices

Music research + Choices:

Perhaps one of the most important factors in film, especially the horror genre. Music sets the tone in each scene and gives you a vague idea of what is about to happen. Some of the biggest horror films of all time have unforgettable soundtracks / audio, for example JAWS, that low resonating sound “Duh duh… Duh duh.... duh duh, duh duh, duh duh, duh duh”. Halloween, a Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, the Exorcist, all have unforgettable spine tingling soundtracks. My favourite perhaps the screeching violins in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.

I would like the trailer to be quite quiet, eerie, full of tension and suspense with little speech. This is why the music is such a big deal in our film, it must set the tone for the whole trailer and set a tense setting. We have reviewed a number of tracks to use, here was the first one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ewQiU3q5jM

It is the sound of an old music box which sounds rather scary, creating that tense vibe, as if something or someone is watching. Another one I found was on a visual zoom in world on youtube, I wasn’t even looking for music at this point, I was browsing Youtube and the music was very trippy, it doesn’t really make much sense but makes you feel very uncomfortable, especially when matched with some of the footage we have, I want to use it over the murder scenes, for I put it over the the scene where I am hanging and it was very effective, by far the best scene we have. Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDxE5Pi_oLM

The last piece of audio I got was personally my favourite, the low resonating sound is very effective in trying to create tension and suspense, even when the scene itself is not neccesarily scary, the music always keeps you on the edge of your seat. Here is the link:

I am not sure if I will use anymore different audio, or even the three I have. I will decide when I come to the final edit, all of these videos are copyright free.

Title Font

I have been browsing different fonts for my title, the title on the film trailer and also the poster. The title font is always effective because usually you can tell the genre by the font, whether it be Sci-fi or horror.

1)

Font: YouMurderer

Site: http://www.fontspace.com/blambot/youmurderer-bb

2) 

Font: SomethingStrange

Site: http://www.fontspace.com/jonathan-s-harris/something-strange

3)

Font: VTCAllSkratchedUpOne

Site: 

http://www.fontspace.com/vigilante-typeface-corp/vtcallskratchedupone

These are the three font's that I have chosen as my final three, and the final font I have chosen is font one because I think it looks like it has been written with blood and has a very gritty, creepy look about it. Each font individually has things I like about it, for example font 1 looks like it has been splattered on the wall, make the font red and it would look like blood. Same with font two, but instead it looks like it is dripping down the wall.

New Revised Plot (Cassette I)

Age Rating: 15
Cassette I:
Cassette tells the story of a young man who stumbles across a series of cassettes in his attic. No-one knows where they are from so he runs them through the TV and watches them. Upon watching them he realises he hold a series of snuff videos and brutal murders on film. In the days following he feels an overpowering presence of someone watching him, slowly driving him mad. I want to make the trailer different to other trailers, by breaking the usual conventions and methods, I would like it to be quite psychologically challenging with little speech and sound because I believe this will set quite a tense atmosphere for the trailer and the viewers.

P I) Jake sitting in his room, hears knocking in his loft, goes up to have a look. Stumbles upon an old box of cassettes and an old camera and decides to watch them, upon viewing he finds out that the footage is of numerous unsolved murders but the killer is barely seen in each video.

P II) Scarred from the footage he hides them in his room and goes for a walk, as he does he feels an overpowering feeling and sense that he is being watched. He decides to go home and go to bed, before he does he shuts his curtain and notices a figure standing down the street looking straight at him. Slightly shocked he closes the curtains and goes to bed.

P III) Waking up the next day he goes downstairs to find a letter addressed to him with his bank card and a note inside, the note written in scrawly handwriting reading “You’re not safe, I can see you”. Scared and worried he does not tell anyone. Looking at another one of the videos he travels to the site where it occurred, the killer can be seen in multiple shots in the background watching, he see’s the murder weapons with the blood still wet.

P IV) He goes to call the police when his phone rings, and all that can be heard is series of grunts and groans. He sees a figure standing at the path nearby watching him and decides to walk the long way home, walking through a field near his house he hears a loud low groan, turns around the killer is standing there, with a weapon in hand.

Why we are re-doing parts of the film and the plot

Upon reviewing our old plot we had a-lot of trouble actually filming it with location issues and also the plot itself was rather optimistic and to in depth for a small independent school trailer. Also another problem was finding actors, during the week it got dark very early which made it hard to film and it was even harder to find actors at the weekend due to people having weekend jobs so we revised the plot, which I also believe will make a better final product.
This means there is various things we will have to go over again like the shooting script and plot, but I will keep the old ones on my blog to show how the film trailer has changed and evolved into the final product. So things like the production schedule and risk assesment will have to be re-done, I will not delete the old ones because it shows proof of our original planning but also we did use the schedules and risk assessment, it's just we've now changed the plot which will alter where we film and how we do it. But posts like the mood-board and target audience would still be the same for we are altering the plot, the general feel and mood is still the same.

Production Schedule

Here is mine and Thomas' production schedule, these are the days on which we are planning to film on. Some of the days may change for the clocks go back on the 30th so we may need to change it ti weekend filming for the place we are going to film is generally a dark place and is in the woods. Filming after school would not be practical because it would be ark at 5 o'clock. Though our film is based mostly at night, we would like a few hours of sunlight, filming into dusk some get a range of footage. Also due to safety issues it wouldn't be practical to travel to the location in the dark.

Problems with production

In class we discussed a number or problems that we could face during filming and planning, we also spoke about ways we could work our way around these issues and deciding whether to scrap the idea altogether.

Props in school:

• Objects could be banned in school
• Unable to get them to school (e.g to big)
• Could be seen as a threat to other students (Knifes, glass etc...)
• Could draw to much attention to you from other students
• Need permission from the school

Solution: Get all of your cast together (with permission from them) and film in a quiet place where you will not disturb anyone, a time before or after school, even breakfast or lunch.

Filming within school grounds:

• Child protection laws, safeguarding.
• Need permission from school to film on site.
• Lighting would be an issue due to the amount of reflective glass, also the general look of the school is different compared to other schools, has a more business center look.
• Live atmosphere we cannot control, need to find an isolated area.
• Could disturb teachers and students who are trying to work.

Solution: Find an isolated area of the school to film in that is also well lit, or if you cannot do that, wait until the day ends to film when it is quiet, or even before school before people arrive. Remember to have permission from the school to film.

Children on film:

• Child protection laws, safeguarding.
• Content of filming could cause emotional or physical harm to under 18's.
• Written consent would have to come from the guardian.
• Depending on the age they may not be self reliant and need someone to look after them.

Solution: Make sure you have gone through the correct protocol with the school, cast and parents. Try to film in the day in a safe environment. The content would have to be suitable for the age of the cast, unless you have consent from them and their parents.

Health & Safety

There are various health and safety concerns for me to take mind of in my production. I have 4 separate shooting spots for my film, each requiring different health and safety precautions.
Our first location is the Everard arms pub. This is a chain pub situated in corby. I will be using this to film only a couple of shots for the introduction of my film, using the back room. The permission comes from the fact that one of the cast works there so we have full permission to film there. We will have to pick a time when it is either closed or not very busy to avoid interruptions and causing any issues. We will have to be careful with any probe or equipment due to it all being used in a small space. Due to the small amount of risk, this is a low level risk assessment.
Our second location is situated within the school, the Mac room. This is quite an isolated room and is one of the least busy areas of the school. This works well as it means there is little chance of interrupting any students in lesson. Secondly, we must also be careful of the equipment in the room as it is very expensive and it could possibly harm me or those around me if they were to fall and smash. I must also make sure that the glass reflections don't harm the shot and still allow me to get a good scene taken. I will also be using quite a lot of small props for this shot, so I will have to be careful not to leave the place messy incase somebody potentially trips up. This is also a low level risk assessment as we are in a safe and protected area.

Our third location is one of the cast members house. This is used in a planning shot before leaving for the mill. This is one of the safer places to film as it is within someones bedroom. Still, we must be careful of our surroundings and not cause any harm to ourselves or others. There is pets there so we must be careful for them incase anyone has any type of allergy that may be a risk. This is also a low risk area as we are at somebody's house and there is little possibility of an accident.
Fourthly, our final location is a concrete mill. This is an old shutdown concrete mill on the outskirts of town. It is potentially quite dangerous due to us filming here in the dark as well as there being potentially old machinery about. Because of this, we must not go in the mill and instead get shots around/outside it for safety reasons. We must stick together as it is quite a bit within the woods, incase one of us got lost. We have a trained first aider and will make sure to bring a kit with us incase of any small accidents. Finally, we will al come clothed appropriately to transverse the woods. This is a medium risk. It is quite out of the way and through a trek of woods, coupled with filming in the dark there is some quite serious risks here to be aware of. 

Shooting Script

Shooting Script

Gladewick Productions (Brief introduction to our company)

Our production company is called Gladewick Productions, we are an independent and niche film company that has a deep investment in the horror genre. The company is founded and based in the UK and only deals with domestic advertising. Our goal is to advertise high quality but low budget psychological horror films that push the boundaries and will deeply intrigue our audience.

My Trailer Mood-board

Here is the mood-board / collage for my trailer. I basically tried to set out a very basic plot, or general feeling for my trailer. Looking at it you can see the woods and abandoned house, my trailer will be featured in an abandoned mill in the middle of the woods, giving off the effect of isolation and the overpowering sense of nature. And if you pay attention to the other images, the hands, footprints, man in the corner you will notice that none of them are really graphic for a horror film. And that is my plan, I don't want it to be full of blood and gore, i want to intrigue the viewer by tension and  anxiousness (kind of heard but not seen, giving the feeling that something is always watching). My mood-board is also black and white for most of my trailer will be shot at night and it also re-enforces the horror genre and sets the atmosphere. You will not see my antagonist / monster / villian, it will only be heard or nearby like a stalker. But also my villian is not one being, it is an energy of the dead.

DESPERO (First Trailer Draft)

A2 Media Trailer

Title: DESPERO (Latin for no hope or despair)

Age Rating: 18

DESPERO is about four friends who are making a film for a media project about a local rumour. They go to an infamous spot (concrete mill), very well known in the local area where back in the 1960’s dozens of workers were killed when one of the tanks exploded and 3 other men were killed when they fell into a water filled hole and drowned (there’s actually a deep hole of water on the site with warning signs). Various rumours and tales are told, stories like people who never return upon entering. When the four boys arrive to start filming it all starts to go wrong, and what they once thought was a lie, begins to come true.

Stage I:

Four characters, Jamie (Princess), Ethan (Hero), Luke (False-hero), Ryan (The Helper II, behind camera).

All four boys are sitting in the mac room at school, researching the area and planning out their film. Background information is revealed about the site and the strange disappearances that nobody believes.

Stage II:

Ethan, Ryan, Jamie and Luke are walking up to the location through the forest, everyone admitting their nerves and an overwhelming feeling of unease.  Upon arrival at the location everyone splits up and starts looking around the site, looking for places to film and thinking of ideas. When filming noises are going off, bangs, smashes that are created on purpose, then un-explained and un-planned occurrence’s start happening. Also Luke starts to act odd, bursts of anger and sadness. (Jump-scare) Ryan almost hit by object thrown by unknown person. Jamie goes to take a piss.

Stage III:

Everyone starts to panic and realise that something is off, and the gate they used to come in will not open. Luke’s fits of anger become a lot worse until he passes out and starts having a fit on the floor. Ryan notices that Jamie has not returned and sets out to find him while Ethan helps Luke. It’s clear now that there is something seriously wrong with the location they are in, but they must find Jamie before they can leave.

Stage IV:

Jamie is heard shouting for help in one of the rooms, but when Ryan try’s to open the door it is locked. When Ryan goes to look for something to open the door with,   Jamie is heard screaming, Ryan eventually opens the door and Jamie is found dead covered in blood. Luke’s situation becomes worse and Ethan tells shouts for Ryan to hurry up. Jamie’s body has to be left and Ryan and Ethan who is carrying Luke make a break for the gate which they pry open. When they start to run away from the mill, they see Jamie’s lifeless body standing at the end of the road.

(The whole trailer itself will be very quiet, with a faint piano in the background in some scenes, this is a detailed version of the trailer and a lot of the plot included will be cut from the final piece)