Film Poster research

Analysis: This is the film poster for the second Insidious film. The genre of the film is horror and there are certain features of the poster that show this. The colour black is usually associated with the dark and with things that scare us and this is why it is used on the poster. Red is the other colour that features on the poster and this is because it has the connotations of 'death' and 'blood'. The poster also has a child on it but the darkness hides his face. This makes him mysterious and can make the audience feel uncomfortable. The film poster also includes a small slogan that is used to draw the audience in. 'It will take what you love most' is quite a sadistic quote that will without doubt cause the audience to feel scared and uncomfortable. The simplicity of the film poster is key here as it focuses all the attention on the child in the rocking chair. The child looks small in proportion to the room he is in which portrays the idea that the child is lonely and vulnerable.




By conducting this research i have found several features that we will need to include in our film;
- Dark background colours.
- Red text to connote fear and blood.
- A slogan that will have an uncomfortable affect on the audience.
- Simplicity in terms of the main image in order to focus the audiences attention.

How to make video look like film.

How to make video look like film.

Film Posters.

The poster for sinister uses aspects of horror to illustrate the whole film into something small and interesting. It uses typical iconography such as blood to make images seen throughout the film to intrigue the audience. In the background of the poster, in a substance that looks like blood, the outline of a mans face is drawn, linking to the character in the film which causes the children to kill. The background seen, is the wallpaper seen throughout one of the houses in the film. For me, the ides of the figures hanging from the name is the most interesting part as it allows the audience to question what may happen.

Production Logo.

Fake money for film use.

We decided to look into the best way to create a large amount of fake money for our film without making it look like we are committing a crime. This video has given us a really good idea of how to create our own and we have decided to give it a go. Hopefully, this will work out like it does in the video and would give us an overall better effect. We have decided not to make loads of this s it will make the drug deal look unrealistic as we believe that the girl paying for the drugs doesn't look as if she would be able to afford a lot therefore we needed to carry this out through the scene.

Photo Storyboard.

Storyboard.

Location Photos.

 

Set backs

Unfortunately, we have had a few minor set backs within the past few week. However, this has not been a disadvantage as it has allowed us to plan out exactly what needs to be done and allow us to arrange in plenty of time when everyone is next available to film. We are planning to go out and film two days next week which allows us to get the majority of our film out of the way in one week and allow us to catch up. This allows us to then start being able to editing in between the two days we are filming to see what works and what does not.

Filming plan.

Wednesday 26th November

• Film drug deal
• Re-film the bedroom scene
• Film outside of house
• Film downstairs scene (locking doors etc)

To be able to film all these we will need;

• Small zip lock bag
• Flour to be used as a drug substance
• Hoodies
• Pyjamas
• Knife
• Fake blood
• Envelope
• Black marker pen
• Black eyeshadow
• Fake money

Logo Ideas

After doing some research into different horror film promotion logos, i have found a common theme throughout such as colour; the colours mostly used are black red and white. These colours, especially red connote danger therefore i think it will be useful to use in our logo as our film contains danger and violence. Some of these logos are from mainstream companies such as New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. However most of them are Independent
and unique such as Handmade and GhostHouse. I think the use of
the word 'ghost' 'horror' or 'scream' instantly connotes a thriller film
which i think we should use for our film to show from the outset its
a horror.


 For our promotion logo i think the simple black background and white or red writing will fit our genre the best. Most logos use simplicity in their logos which i see as effective as it gives a hint of the film before it actually starts. Creating our logo will be very easy as a member of our group studies graphic design and we are going for a simple look therefore should be quick and easy to make. Some ideas we came up with was 'Scream' with a picture of a person screaming, an open mouth or a simple film strip which are ubiquitous in film production logos.

Independent film research.

I believe that our film, if created professionally would be classed as an independent one rather than a mainstream one due to the niche target audience of the film. Because of this I have decided to look into other independent films and their distributors for inspiration and to compare to our own.

As it is an extremely local production company to us, I decided to look in to Warp Pictures as it has a wide variety of films and also, being local, it means it may understand our concepts and humour etc.
Films and series from Warp include;

• Dead mans shoes
• This Is England
• Four lions

Analysis of questionnaire results.

Roughly 60% of people that took part in our questionnaire believed that the genre of our film was a horror. A further 50% of these believed that the film was a thriller. We have decided to disguard some of our results as people who have answered the questionnaire clearly haven't taken it seriously. However, overall I am happy with the results achieved from the genre question as the general public have clearly understood the genre we are aiming for. Around 70% of people believed that the film would be seen in either the cinema or put straight onto Netflix.
Roughly 80/85% of people really liked the title of our film 'counterplay' and understood the link to the film.
50% of people believed that the certificate of the film should be a 15 which is the certificate we were aiming for, however, many other people believed that the film should be a 18 which may be something we should discuss changing within our group.

Everyone who took part, minus three, said they would definitely go see our film if it got released. This is mirrored in the question 'would you recommend the film?'

We will definitely take the results from our questionnaire into account and may look at changing aspects of our film/ where we would expect for it to be released. Overall I am quite happy with the general publics responses to our film.

Tuesday 18th November

We intend to go out on Tuesday and have another go at filming this same scene. In order to do this we need to ensure that all of our group are prepared to go filming on this day and also that our venue to film is available. Due to none of my group actually acting in the film, we also need to make sure that the actors are available on this day.
To make sure our filming on this day is successful we need to make sure we have;

• shot list
• props (knife/fake blood)
• costumes
• appropriate lighting within the setting

Filming problems

On Monday we decided to take out a camera and have a go at starting to create our film. We set out to one of our locations and decided to just have a rough go at putting together one of our scenes. Due to having a limited amount of time, we only managed to get a small amount of this done. I believe that by doing this and it not working out the way we planned, it has given us a greater idea of timescale and how long it will take to shoot certain aspects. As well as timing being an issue, things such as lighting affected our outcome as due to the time of day we filmed, the light had faded much quicker than imagined. Other things such as; not being able to post the envelope under the door like we wished to. Also, the main girl in our film was pictured to be awakening from bed in one of our scenes. However, in this particular shot we had forgotten to remind our actor to change her clothes in order to fit the description we had given. After putting this footage onto final cut express, we established that some of our footage could actually be used as it created the overall image we was aiming for. However, a large part can not.
This is not a disadvantage however as we are now able to plan correctly to avoid these issues and try again to hopefully achieve a better overall result.

Risk Assesment

Tricky shots

During our film, there will be a scene which requires us to film in the dark. To do this we need to make sure that the room is correctly lit so the scene isn't too grainy and still be visible due to the dark.
We decided to look at this video tutorial to give us a better understanding.

http://revision3.com/filmriot/light-a-dark-room/

Other shots that have proven to be slightly tricky is our low angle shots of an envelope being posted under the door, This is because we cant use a tripod to assist in balancing the camera as the shot would be too high and give us a shot that we are not aiming for. This may mean that the shot may have to be taken a few times to ensure we get it right. It also gives us the option of choosing the best looking one when exported into final cut express.

Another shot we believe that may be difficult is when we are trying to capture the stabbing through seeing a shadow rather than peoples actual bodies as we want to create tension for the audience by not knowing who actually killed who. We have decided we are going to try this shot out a few times to see if we get the effect we are looking for, if not, we may end up changing how it is done.

We have also found it difficult to try and capture the characters running up the stairs as we want to try and achieve a low angle shot of them moving up the stairs. However, we found that this is tricky due to the pace so it may take a few try's to perfect it.

Questionnaire Results

Click here for questionnaire results

Audience Questionnaire

Link to share for questionnaire

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1aIIjQbxorKfer7Pi9iOxpRIWwNez4WSu66nxMYcF8Bk/viewform?usp=send_form

Music research

Generic horror movie music tends to be created using really deep notes or extremely high notes to create suspense. The music usually starts off slow and builds up pace as the pace of the film is increased to show greater danger. Many of these pieces of music also have an echo to them to again create tension and make things scarier for the viewers. I personally like the music used in sinister as it really fits around the events of the film perfectly and uses unexpected elements to spook the audience.



By listening to what feedback we received from our video questionnaire, I decided to look into the use of classical music as a way of creating horror and suspense. As stated by many people we questioned, i agree with the fact that horror adds a different dimension to the film, I believe because of the intense use of different instruments, it adds extra layers to the music and coupled with a horror
film allows the desired effect to be achieved.

Fake money research.

As seen in the beginning of our film, a drug deal is carried out with the exchange of drugs and money seen. However, as established at the end of our film, the money given to the dealer was in fact fake. For this, we need to create some sort of replica of real money in order to make the situation seem real. However, creating real fake money is in fact illegal, so we need to create something paper based which can be easily recognised without getting us into trouble. I believe we should try experimenting with ways of making this happen. For example, we could; colour photocopy actual notes, print images of real notes to the same size as a note.

Props2

As well as the blood aspect, we also need props to suit the description of the characters involved. As the film opens with a drug deal, we need to create something in which looks realistic to an actual drug deal, this includes the substance being exchanged and the packet its in. For this we discussed many options but we figured the best idea would be to use a small zip lock bag and fill it with flour to give the illusion of real substances. This is the best thing to use as it is easily accessible and cheap to buy but giving the film an overall realistic feel.

As well as literal props, our characters will also need costumes which fit their descriptions. For the opening of the film, where the drug deal occurs, we decided we would like our characters to be wearing hooded jumpers in order to hide their gender, adding a suspicious element to the film. These are easily accessible as our actors each have hoodies which can be used.

Throughout the film, the suspicious man is going to be seen wearing his hoodie as it adds an extra level of suspicion to him and enables a build up of tension.








However, the female character will then be seen at home, getting herself ready for bed. Because of this, the character will be wearing some pyjamas to make the situation realistic. Again they are easily accessible as the actor will have a pair of these which can be used.

Props

As our film follows the genre of a horror/thriller, we decided to look into typical iconography that is seen throughout these films. As we have a stabbing scene involved with the end of our film, we believed it would be a good idea to look into the blood aspect of this and how we can make it as very similitude to real life as possible. For the blood aspect, we decided to look into making nour own before going out and buying it. http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/fake-blood-recipes
When looking into recipes to make fake blood, I found this website extremley useful as it gives many different recipes and a step by step guide of making them. It also suggests which is the best one for looking realistic. All of these recipes could be useful in different ways as they all seem to give a different overall effect depending on the ingredients used to create the blood. We also decided to look at videos on how to make the blood in order to get a better visual understanding of how to do it.

As well as looking into creating our own fake blood, we looked into buying it just in case the recipes weren't to work out or time became an issue. Many stores stock fake blood, especially around Halloween as many people use it as part of their outfit. We found that prices of fake blood were actually really cheap which makes it easily affordable and accessible for us.

Video Questionnaire

Video Questionnaire


 

Genre research for film idea 2

My second film also fell into the genre 'Thriller' and so I will not once again explain the things that are usually found within a film of this genre. My film idea is very similar to the film Taken in the fact that a person is deceived by someone whilst away in another country and then something bad happens to them. The trailer to taken is below.

Taken has been a hugely popular film since its release and I am hoping that my idea could be just as successful.

Props for our film

In order to make our film look both professional and realistic, we need to have some props to film with. In our film we will need;
- Fake Money
- Knife
- Fake Blood
- A substance that can be used to represent drugs.
- A small bag for the fake drugs.
- A mobile Phone for when the girl makes a phonecall.
- An alarm clock

Genre Research - Iconography

Horror/thriller films tend to have the same iconography. Some of the things that fall into this are as follows;
- Weapon (Knife)
- Blood
- Protagonist (Usually a vulnerable women)
- Antagonist (Usually a male villain)
- Dark Setting
- Deserted House
- Lots of scary diagetic and non diagetic sounds.

It is extremely important that we use all of these things within our film in order to make sure our film fits the criteria for our chosen genre. All of the above are ways in which we can create fear upon the audience and they all must be considered in deep detail.

Logos

Part of our task this year was to create our own production logo to go with our film. In order to get some ideas of ones we could use for ours, we did some research. We found that a lot of the logos names were puns or just simple acronyms so we thought we could apply this to our own. We came up with the idea of putting all of initials together and forming them into a name. As Abigail has a clear talent for graphics, we decided to let her design it for us and she came up with some good designs.

Some of the designs were as follows;
- An Open Mouth
- A Film Strip
- Mouth Open Screaming
- Side Of Face Shown Screaming

Colours involved in the design;
- Black
- White
- Red

Below is the final logo that Abigail designed and we are extremely happy with the design she produced.

Script

Research into sound and music

Music - Non-diagetic 
Our film is going to contain very tense scenes in which our protagonists life is in danger. The music we want should be classical music bringing a sense of horror to our film. It should start of slow and build up to a fast paced rhythm to build up the tension, suspense and horror. Examples were found on YouTube:



These songs are found in all horror/thriller films as they add extra thrill and make the whole scene seem more frightening. We would use a song like one of these on the opening title sequence to set the mood and tone of the film, and in more frightening scenes to enhance the scariness for example when our main character finds out there is someone in the house.



These examples of sounds are exactly what we need in our film to make it more thrilling. A good way to use a sound effect in our film is when our girl character hears a noise. This will make the whole scene seem scarier as after the sound effect, there will be a sudden silence which will reinforce the fact shes in the house alone. These effects also create a lot of suspense and may make our audience jump.

Free music/sounds websites:

https://www.freesound.org/browse/tags/sound-effects/

http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/pir/PIRsfx.shtml

http://www.audiomicro.com/free-sound-effects/free-musical-instrument-and-sound-effects

Diagetic sounds
We will use various diagetic sounds throughout our film for example; phone ringing, screaming, knocking, footsteps, typing on laptop and doors shutting. The phone and laptop sounds show our characters youth due to the amount of modern technology in our film. Knocking on the door will create a intense atmosphere as its late at night and these sounds are happening.



Ambient sounds 
To give our film verisimilitude to the real world, we will try and get some ambient sounds in our film. A good place where we could use them is when our character sits up in bed in the middle of the night after hearing a knock on the door. Night time ambient sounds could be played to reinforce the time and how late at night it is. For example:



Before our character goes to bed, she checks all the doors are locked and lights are switched off. While she is doing this, or while she is closing the curtains, a random car could drive past reflecting light into the window and the noise of the car could be heard going past or neighbors on the street could be pulling into their driveways. This will make the film look more realistic and create a sense of realism. An example was found on YouTube:

Mise-en-scene

Props-

Knife-

Knifes are ubiquitous in horror films and will be used ironically as a girl is seen holding it. We will use a large kitchen knife to make it more realistic and scary.

Mobile phone-

A phone will be needed when our protagonist is on the phone to her friend, and it will also make the film more realistic. We will use a current iPhone to make our film have verisimilitude as it’s the most contemporary phone available at the moment.

Laptop-

We will also show a laptop to show the girls Facebook page which also shows her youth. Laptops are also contemporary which will again make it look realistic.

Fake blood-

This will increase the horror/thriller aspect to our film as blood in associated with danger and pain.

Costumes-

Our girl will be getting ready for bed so she will be wearing pyjamas or casual clothes such as jogging bottoms and a t-shirt. This will reinforce her youth and will set the scene of being night time. Our male will be wearing dark clothes to show his character as mysterious and dangerous. 

Makeup-

For our male, we will give him dark circles under his eyes as he is a drug user and is known to be involved in gangs and fights, whereas our girl will be clear faced to show her youth and innocence which will make our audience have sympathy for her. 

Research into another similar film

Another film that is similar to ours is 'Strangers' which has the same genre, horror/thriller.



Synopsis: When
After returning from a wedding reception, a couple staying in an isolated vacation house receive a knock on the door in the mid-hours of the night. What ensues is a violent invasion by three strangers, their faces hidden behind masks. The couple find themselves in a violent struggle, in which they go beyond what either of them thought capable in order to survive.

When the woman in The Strangers answer the door a girl appears asking for someone, however in our film we decide that no one is there after the door is knocked on which will create a sense of horror and terror. This will make the girl look more vulnerable due to the scary and dangerous situation she is in.

Another part in this film which i would like to use in ours is the part where the stranger is stood behind the woman without her knowing. This will make our audience have a sense of worry for the girl as the target audience will be the same age as her to they will feel sympathy for her. We will also use the long shot as it shows them both in the frame to show they're alone with no escape.

In the last scene of The Strangers the woman is seen to be dead on the floor, however, a close up shot is used and her eyes suddenly open to show she didn't get killed by the strangers. We do this in our film as the girl subverts the stereotype and ends up killing the killer. However, we do this in a more dramatic way as the girl is seen walking away with the blood knife in her hands.

Research into similar films

Taken

This film is similar to ours, 'Counterplay' as it is about a young girl who gets attacked by a stranger. We show the parents to have left for vacation and left the daughter alone at home whereas in taken, the daughter goes away for vacation. We chose to keep the daughter  at home due to the location as we think a lonely house best fits our genre of a horror.

I think we should use this in our film when our victim is on the phone to her friend after hearing a knock on the door. I want our victims environment to be cold, dark and lonely and her friends house to be warm and cosy to juxtapose the environments to make her setting seem a lot worse. Another film called 'The Lovely Bones' does this in a different way but is equally effective.

The fast paced shots in Taken creates a high amount of suspense and tension which i want to create in our horror. The end of the Taken trailer is also very effective as the title and credits come on screen in silence apart from the diagetic sound of the mobile phone. This fits in with the horror genre and would be useful to use in our film to create a sinister atmosphere.

Logos

As we had to create our own production logo, we had to create a company name in which we could include on our logo. From looking at existing production logos we have seen that many companies use film related puns as their names. When discussing ideas for our logo name, we was going to use the idea of placing our initials together in a sequence to make a unique name. However, this type of thing has been used loads. After plenty of discussion, we gathered the idea of the name 'Scream Productions'. By using this as our name it gave us many different options in creating our logo.

Basic logo ideas;

• Open mouth
• Film strip
• Mouth open/screaming
• Side of face shown screaming

Colours to be used;

• Black
• White
• Red

Existing production logos.

I decided to create a mood-board of many existing production logos in order to get a greater idea of what seems to work and to include in our own. I can see from many existing companies that the use of the film reel and the film its self is a popular option. Many of the existing companies also use film or media related puns. For example ; Reelium, Take Two. Many companies tend to keep the colour schemes of their logos really simplistic by using black and white. I believe this can be really effective as they are memorable due to their simplicity. The most familiar of these production logos include; Walt Disney, 20th Century Fox, Universal and New Line Cinema. I find that the most original of these logos are the independent companies. For example; Grow Production is extremely unique along with HandMade.
For our own production logo we believe that the use of a film strip is really quirky and really exaggerates what the company is. From looking at these existing companies i now have a greater idea of what to include in our own logo in order for it to be memorable.

Individual Analysis of Title Sequence

Part of our task is to create a title sequence as part of our film. In order for us to create a successful one I conducted some research and looked at some of the already existing title sequences that are out there today.


The title sequence of the TV show Dexter consists of the main character, 'Dexter', getting ready in the morning. Some of the seemingly normal stuff he does though have connotations that give away details about his personality and job. This is clever by the directors as they are giving hints to the audience, without giving too much away. In my opinion the title sequence really draws the audience in and would definitely make most people watch the actual show.

One title sequence I particularly like is the one used for the TV show 'Walking Dead. Below is the title sequence I am talking about.

It consists of showing several moving shots of places that feature within the TV show. I like this as it gives the audience a taste of what sort of places the walking dead takes place but does it without giving too much away as to what happens. This is something that I'd like us to use within our own film and I hope that it will be just as effective and successful.

This research has been very useful for me and has given me an insight into how long the title sequence should last and has shown me a few ideas of what we could include within our own.

Similar Films

One film that is similar to our idea is Strangers. Strangers consists of a young couple staying in an isolated vacation home. Whilst staying there, they are terrorized by three unknown assailants. Our film is similar to this as our character is also being terrorized by an unknown assailant in an isolated home. By watching The Strangers, we were able to pick up some important iconography and some other good ideas that we can use within our own film.

Individual research in to similar genres

The genre of our film is Horror/thriller

The things you would find in an horror would be:  

• Blood (splattered)
• Masks
• Creaking Floorboards
• Shadows

A horror film that best portraits horror is:

The things you find in an thriller: 

• Gun 
• Knife 
• Dark setting
• Dark clothing

A film that best portraits thriller films is:

Character Profiles

Actors name: Harriet Grant
Character name: Harriet
Harriet has blonde hair and blue eyes.
She is roughly 5'4 in height.
The role she plays in our film is a student, who is spending the weekend at home alone due to her parents being away.
She is a dedicated student, always enthusiastic.










Actors name: Cameron Hudson
Character name: Cameron
Cameron has blonde hair and brown eyes.
He is roughly 5'9 in height.
The role he plays in our film is an aggravated drug dealer, attempting to take revenge on the person who screwed him over.
He is a nice man, who got in with the wrong crowd.

Individual title sequence analysis.

The title sequence opens by showing the company that produces the film. From the background an image of a girl spinning becomes clearer. It is shown in blues and reds. These colours to me suggest the horror genre as areas where supernormal activity appears, things seem to become cold, hence the blue. Also horror movies tend to include iconography such as blood which suggests the use of the red. Her eyes then glow, suggesting something isn't quite right, this instantly creates suspicion. This scene then ripples out, then we see the word 'presents'. After this, different shots of many different locations are seen, all of these look abandoned. This part of the title sequence reminds me of The Walking Dead title sequence which suggests everything is empty and gone. Names of actors are then seen in what appears to be blood splats, which is a really good aspect to use as it further exaggerates the genre. The text is seen in a simple font with the use of the colour white which makes it stand out from the background. The name of the film is seen right at the end of the opening sequence which i believe is a really good aspect as it keeps the audience guessing. The title follows the theme of the rest of the sequence as we see smudged/splattered blood. The name of the film is seen to be spelled out in blood again giving a spooky/horror feel.

Individual analysis of a title sequence + screen shots + link to video

I have done some research into title sequences and what is expected in a horror/thriller type of opening. I have looked at sound, images, editing and credits. I film i found what a short horror film and the opening had lots of connotations of horror films.

This shot is using auto focus and the background is blurred and the credit is standing out. I would like to use this in our film as it shows that the storyline is a mystery and not clear until the end.

The opening off this film is something we were going for as our opening scene shows the stalker looking at the girls Facebook page. The background's lighting is dark, where our character will be sitting which shows he is mysterious and unrevealed.






This title sequence had a lot of pull focus throughout which i'd like to use in our title sequence as it add's pace and movement to the title sequence which will build up tension and suspense.