Filming

Research and Planning - Filming Diary

Today my group and I started on the first bit of filming, Matt was unable to attend so we just kept the filming to a minimum and took shots of the establishing shot and our location. I will be uploading these photos onto my blog in the next couple of days. The next time we are planning on starting to film will be on Tuesday 17th.

Script

Below I have created a rough outline of the script that we will be using however, as we are filming a teaser trailer we may have to cut out a few of the lines to make it all fit together and also as we are planning on having a voice over we may not need as much dialogue.
(Emma and Matt's eyes meet as they see eachother on the station platform)

(Emma sits down on the chair)

(Matt walks towards Emma and sits down on the chair next to Emma)

Matt: Hi there
Emma: Err Hi, sorry but I couldn't help but notice you were staring at me

Matt: (looks a little akward) I couldn't help but not notice your natural beauty

Emma: (Smiles and laughs) thank you

Matt: Sorry i've embarressed you, it's not everyday that I'll come across someone so beautiful

(Emma does a nervous laugh)

Matt: It would kill me if I didn't get your number
Emma: Yeah ok, sure (writes down  number)

(Matt get's his phone out)
Matt: I'll text you
(Emma walks towards an alley way leading towards the woods)

(Matt texts Emma saying 'get home ok? x')

(Emma replies to the text 'Yes I did thanks x')

(Emma notice's Matt standing outside her house)

Emma: Er hey, how did you know where i live? Come in...

Matt: Oh thanks I will, I brought you some flowers

Emma: Take a seat in here, I'll just be a second

(Emma is on the phone to a friend)

Emma: You will never believe it, I met a guy and he's so nice, you will never guess how i met him

Emma: Yeah I think I am starting to fall for him, but yeah I guess it is early days

(Emma drops phone)

Emma: AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH

(Matt walks towards a girl who is starting to walk up the alley way, she drops her keys as their eyes meet)

(Matt and the girl bend down at the same time to pick up the keys, their eyes meet again but this time for longer)

Girl: Errr thanks

Matt: No problem

Diary Post

Today in our lesson we have discussed where we are at in our research and planning. We have decided that we will move on to filming asap as we have finished almost all of the tasks on the lists. This year we want to start filming earlier so we have more time to edit the film, cosequentley producing a film of a higher standard then last years. We will go to Emma's to start the filming and hopefully have some footage to look at next week so we can go from there.

Research and Planning - Own Film Treatment

Here is the rough plot line of our teaser trailer 'Love Hurts'.

• two characters who bump into eachother at the station, straight away there is tension between them both however, the guy has something quite mysterious about him. They both get chatting and before you know it the young vulnerable girl has given him her number..
• The guy (stalker) then decides to follow her home without her knowing and so he then knows where she lives. Once shes home she gets a text from the guy saying 'get home ok?'.

• In a few days time after they meet, the guy decides to turn up to the girls house, at this point the audience will be able to sense that something weird is wrong with this guy and as you can assume the girl is a bit confused as to how he knows where she lives. Being the vulnerable girl she is, she invites him inside her house.. she starts to fall for him..!!
• We then see the girl leaving for work and walking through an alley way near her house, she is walking to work and chatting to a friend on the phone about the new guy she has met. Until she gets a stranger (the guy) kidnapping her from behind dressed in all black. We will next see the girls body being dragged through the alley way and the phone on the floor still being connected to her friend on the phone.
• The final shot will be of another young vulnerable girl walking through the opposite end of the alley way and the guy walking up to her and starts being 'friendly'. It is obvious to the audience, that this guy is a bit mental and he is not quite right, he seems to be a serial killer.

This is just a rough plotline of the trailer and it could change whilst filming, however we will try to stick to this plotline as much as we can, to make it look realistic as possible.

Research and Planning - How Woods Can Create Affect In Horror Films

As my group and I have decided to do some of our filming in a wood scene and down alley ways, I felt it would be appropriate to look at how woodland areas have been used in horror films to create the nail biting and heart racing atmospheres, that a horror loving audience set out to experience. I have watched the following horror films where I have discovered each had a wood element to it and then discussed it below.


The Strangers:




The Strangers is most probably one of the scariest films I have ever watched. The strangers manages to terrify their audience with the impeccable timing, eerie sounds and twisted characters and this is exactly what happened to me the first time when I watched the film. The Strangers is truly horrifying and purely because it is so realistic, where there is no happy ending, which makes it a stereotypical horror film, with it's supernatural element and when someone dies they stay dead. The woods isolate the victims, no where left to run flashes through the audiences head as they figure out this is where the events are set. The film is entirely shot through the night and so the darkness really give the ominous feel to the woods, making this the perfect place for the murderers to hide away.

In conclusion woods really do play a significant role in setting the mood for horror film and can help effect the audience's expectation and opinion of the film and effect the way they approach the film. I feel that this is something that we have to get right when filming our scenes in the woods for our trailer.

Research and Planning - Soundtrack Research (non-copyright music)

My group and I had previously spoken about composing our own non-copyright music on cubase. However, we are also looking into non-copy right music sites incase we change our minds, we will not know exactly what we will go with until we have filmed our teaser trailer, as we will need to see which goes better with each shot/scene etc.

Here I have found some free play non- copy right music, that we would be able to play over our teaser trailer. We have previously used the following webiste:

AS Coursework Reflection

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

How did you use media forms to come up with something new and original?

How effective was the research and planning that you undertook in helping you to create your media product?

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Characters- Research and Planning

Emma is our hopeless victim, she was chosen for the role as she has a feminine voice and can play the role of the victim very well. She plays the stereotypical girl who becomes the target of a obsessed male, we have made sure her costume and actions represent the sterotypical role Emma will be playing. For example, Emma will become alarmed at first but then dismiss his actions, however, she will start to worry more as the trailer goes on. This is a comventional feature in a horror trailer. Simalrities to Brittany Snow who plays a young, vunerable victim lusted over by a stalker are her age and physical appearance.

Matt will be the stalker in the teaser trailer. Matt was chosen for the role as he is a A level drama student so can therefore perform a realistic and dramatic performance. He was also chosen as he fits the role of what we were looking for; the same age as Emma and looks rather unassuming. We will make sure his costume and actions represent that of normal guy who starts off as someone Emma would like but then quickly realises he is not the guy for her. We will make sure the soundtrack also plays behind many of matts scenes so that the audience pick up on the darkness of matts character.

Research and Planning - Checklist #3

Research

• Soundtrack research (non copyright music)
• Costume and location research
• Actors and props photos
• Audience Research (typical audience member and similar films)
• Uploaded YouTube videos of teaser trailers and titles analysed in detail
• Upload YouTube videos of similar genre films analysed in detail
• Institution research (Paramount etc)
• Certificate research
• Font research for magazine/poster etc
• Film Magazines researched and analysed
• Teaser posters researched and analysed

Planning

• Own film idea brainstorm
• Own film treatment
• Shot lists
• Questionnaire (and feedback)
• Photos etc of filming
• Diary of filming/editing etc with photos and screen grabs
• Mood board
• Storyboard - prezi
• Script
• Practice titles created and uploaded

Research and Planning - Question 5 Results

Results for question 5;

By looking at these results, it surprised me that people prefer a stereo typical character, where as I thought that someone new and unpredictable in a horror film, would have an audience more intrigued and amused as the character would be new to them, and the audience would be drawn to what they may do.

Research and Planning - Question 4 Results

Results to question 4;

This was a clear choice in the what people want. The main attraction of a horror film is that you become scared, I feel that people find things based on true events more scary and so therefore wish to watch them more as they are realistic, than other more unrealistic films.

Research and Planning - Question 3 Results

Results for question 3;

Seeing from the results, it shows that the results are mutual. However, we will not be doing our camera footage as hand held, due to the type of teaser trailer and plot line that we have chosen to produce. I personally find hand held footage frightening because of the realistic edge and so people find this more relatable to themselves putting them into the film.

Research and Planning - Question 2 Results

Results for question 2;

 

Our teaser trailer we plan to be a mix between a romance aspect and horror. shown in the results a large percentage say that they would indeed prefer to watch a horror film mixed with another genre. This good news for us as we to wish to combine our teaser trailer genre. I think people prefer this because it is not constantly tense and waiting for something to happen, but dramatic scenes seem more intense but again the audience are allowed to breathe through some of the film.

Research and Planning - Question 1 Results

Results for question 1;

Our first question we decided whether to ask if a teaser trailer could influence the audience into going to see a horror film. Looking at the results on our graph, the immediate response would be yes. I think this is due to the intense mood set that forces audiences attention and engages them in the story lines. Lots of information allows the audience to respond in a curious way making them want to know more about the film and therefore go and research it or at least create awareness of the film itself.

Research and Planning - How Woods Can Create Affect In Horror Films

As my group and I have decided to do some of our filming in a wood scene and down alley ways, I felt it would be appropriate to look at how woodland areas have been used in horror films to create the nail biting and heart racing atmospheres, that a horror loving audience set out to experience. I have watched the following horror films where I have discovered each had a wood element to it and then discussed it below.


The Strangers:




The Strangers is most probably one of the scariest films I have ever watched. The strangers manages to terrify their audience with the impeccable timing, eerie sounds and twisted characters and this is exactly what happened to me the first time when I watched the film. The Strangers is truly horrifying and purely because it is so realistic, where there is no happy ending, which makes it a stereotypical horror film, with it's supernatural element and when someone dies they stay dead. The woods isolate the victims, no where left to run flashes through the audiences head as they figure out this is where the events are set. The film is entirely shot through the night and so the darkness really give the ominous feel to the woods, making this the perfect place for the murderers to hide away.

In conclusion woods really do play a significant role in setting the mood for horror film and can help effect the audience's expectation and opinion of the film and effect the way they approach the film. I feel that this is something that we have to get right when filming our scenes in the woods for our trailer.

Research and Planning - The Chosen Questions For Our Horror Teaser Trailer Questionnaire

Here Kate, Sarah and I decided to research further into our research and planning on horror teaser trailers and have decided to conduct a questionnaire as to the effectiveness of teaser trailers and the audience. Below I have attached the questions that we will be asking;

1. Do Teaser Trailers influence you to whatch the whole film?

2. Do you Enjoy Horror mixed with other genres?

3. Do you find handheld footage such as Paranormal Activity more frightening than formal film footage?

4. Do you find horror films based on true events scary?

5. Do you like stereotypical characters in horror films?

Research and Planning - Horror Genre Standards

1. Horror films often exhibit the theory that if left alone, adolescents will form into cliques of psychopaths and lemming victims. In these horror films, adults are seen as dangerously skeptical fools, jaded by their own several experiences with psychotic peers.
2. Horror films often exploit the dangerously slippery path into damnation modern youth exhibits; Having intercourse, preparing to have intercourse, kissing, experimenting with herbs, taking part in interracial activities (such as dancing), being mean to others, etc...
3. Horror movies effectively signify that the overpopulation of police are really useless and the underpopulation of virgins are the most useful.
4. The typical killer in horror is an expression of the dangers of a bad childhood, including spending too much time with relatives, being pushed around by even bigger psychopaths, or having a conservative Christian upbringing.
5. Often, horror movie villains will live in a totally secluded environment. This is not necessarily to provide a cheap way to explain away absence of authorities, but to heighten the fear of the killer, who doesn't even need food to survive all on his own.
6. Fear of the unknown and forbidden is employed in horror films. When characters stay on the ground floor of a place, things are usually all right. However when going upstairs or downstairs, danger is ever present. Bad things also occur in forbidden rooms such as the bedroom, bathroom, or kitchen.
7. Horror uses a sense of hypochondria to toy with the viewer. Knowing a pencil in the side can instantly kill, being whacked into a tree will split your skull open, or that tripping and falling can cause a broken leg, brings a sense of sheer terror to the viewer that more realistic wounds cannot.
8. Horror films exemplify the real dangers of those ugly, filthy people who live alone. Hillbillies are never good, taken to rape and incest because they can't get any chicks to fuck like normal civilized beings, taken to cannibalism because hunting is a lost art, and taken to witchcraft for revenge because they are all stupid and cannot understand forgiveness or the right to a fair trial.
9. Horror films show that all technology is evil; cars never start the first time, and weapons are useless. Not to mention the fact that even more evil technologies such as computers, televisions, and washing machines are all instruments of the devil. Inversely, in some cases the killer is seen as a sort of messiah, delivering humanity from the evils of technology; The killer never uses wicked things such as guns, except for impalement, and can always catch up with evil cars!
10. The villain of a horror movie never really dies. This is not truly to exploit the fear of an "invincible killer", but to exploit the fear of more scary movies!
11. A sense of foreshadowing may be used with characterization.

Research and Planning - The Rough Plotline

Here is the rough plot line of our teaser trailer 'Love Hurts'.

• two characters who bump into eachother at the station, straight away there is tension between them both however, the guy has something quite mysterious about him. They both get chatting and before you know it the young vulnerable girl has given him her number..
• The guy (stalker) then decides to follow her home without her knowing and so he then knows where she lives. Once shes home she gets a text from the guy saying 'get home ok?'.

• In a few days time after they meet, the guy decides to turn up to the girls house, at this point the audience will be able to sense that something weird is wrong with this guy and as you can assume the girl is a bit confused as to how he knows where she lives. Being the vulnerable girl she is, she invites him inside her house.. she starts to fall for him..!!
• We then see the girl leaving for work and walking through an alley way near her house, she is walking to work and chatting to a friend on the phone about the new guy she has met. Until she gets a stranger (the guy) kidnapping her from behind dressed in all black. We will next see the girls body being dragged through the alley way and the phone on the floor still being connected to her friend on the phone.
• The final shot will be of another young vulnerable girl walking through the opposite end of the alley way and the guy walking up to her and starts being 'friendly'. It is obvious to the audience, that this guy is a bit mental and he is not quite right, he seems to be a serial killer.

This is just a rough plotline of the trailer and it could change whilst filming, however we will try to stick to this plotline as much as we can, to make it look realistic as possible.

Research and Planning - Shot List

In class today my group and I decided to plan out the shot list. Below I have written out the shots and angles that we have decided on (it may be easier to refer back to the story board when talking about each shot):

• Approval Screen

• Production Company

• Shot 1: Establishing shot, with the camera on the tripod. This will be at Oxshott train station taken from the alley way opposite the station.

• Shot 2: This is going to be a long shot of the two characters standing at the platform at the train station, both of the characters keep looking at eachother when the other is not looking.

• Intertitle

• Shot 3: Carrying on from the second scene, this is going to be a medium shot of the two characters walking towards eachother and then sitting down on the seat. We have taken into consideration that as the location for this scene is at a public train station there will be other people around they may be in the background.

• Shot 4: We have decided to make this a medium shot and a zoom. However we may change the medium shot to a long shot depending which shot looks better out of the two. This shot will show the female vulnerable character walking through the woods and the guy character following her.
• Shot 5: This shot will be an over the shoulder shot, where the camera will show the vulnerable girl character recieving a text from the guy she has just met at the train station, and zooming in showing the text, bearing in mind she has know idea that this guy has just followed her home.

• Shot 6: This shot will be a medium shot of the girl character sitting on the sofa and looking out the window seeing that the guy character is outside, but thinks she is just seeing things, the door bel will then ring.

• Intertitle

• Shot 7: This is going to be an over the shoulder shot/medium shot from different angles moving with the action, showing the girl open the door and finding the guy at the door.

• Shot 8: The 8th shot will be a medium shot, over the shoulder shot and a high angle shot of the guy character looking t photos of the vulnerable girl character.

• Intertitle

• Shot 9: This shot will be a medium shot of the girl character walking down an alley way near her house on the phone to a friend.

• Shot 10: This shot will be of a close up and a medium shot of the killer coming right up behind the girl and putting his hand over her mouth and face.

• Shot 11: The 11th shot will be of a medium shot showing the killer dragging the girl character through the alley way.

• Intertitle

• Shot 12: The 12th shot will be the most disturbing shot in my opinion our of the whole trailer, of a close up showing the girls hand moving throwing the mud and leaves.

• Shot 13: This shot will be a close up shot/zoom of the phone still being connected to the friend on the phone and them shouting down the phone.

• Shot 14: This is the final shot and it will be a long shot of the killer walking towards his new victim.

• Title of the film 'Love Hurts'

• Credits

• 'Coming Soon'

Research and Planning - Title Choices

Here I have gathered the titles of our film that Sarah, Kate and I have brain stormed together, and have picked out some of our favourites which are highlighted below:

• Love Hurts
• Trust
• Good vs Evil
• Let the Right One In
• Betrayed
• I think I Like You

After spending some time on thinking about what would be the right title for our teaser trailer we have come to the conclusion that our trailer is going to be called 'Love Hurts'. We have chosen this title as we feel this represents and pretty much sums up what our film is going to be about. This title does not give the immediate effect or suggestion of a horror film, but after the images of the trailer, the audience will soon be able to notice the genre of this film, and a romance horror never starts off with uneasy tension, usually with happy feelings, and our film isn't going to be a stereotypical horror film, as you can tell.