Actors:
Three of my friends and my younger sister have agreed to be in my trailer
Jenny played by Vicky Liddington aged 18
Alex played by Kimberly Mindam aged 17
Nina played by Aimee Johnson aged 17
Young girl/ghost played by Nicole Webb age 13
Costumes:
I told my friends to just wear clothes they would normally wear, as the three characters in the trailer don't belong to any particular clique so it wouldn't matter what they were wearing as such.
I want the costume my sister has to wear to look quite smart, plain and innocent - to contrast her characters personality, and so she will be dressed in a black pleated skirt, white t-shirt, black cardigan, black tights and black shoes. Her make-up will consist of dark grey eyeshadow applied around her eyes to make her appear deceased
Props:
The only props that will be involved are a bar of chocolate and some notes that appear to have been written by a child
Filming locations:
Day scenes: Wicksteed park
Night scenes: My house
I wanted to have the scenes in the day in a different location to the majority of the trailer so that there was a change of scenery. The main location is my house, as a convention of horror films is that they are set in a house I decided I would stick to this convention
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Risk Assessment
Location 1: Wicksteed Park
Risks:
Risks:
- Although it is a quiet part of the park there are still some cars - we will have to pay attention and be aware of any vehicles around us
- We will be near the fields there, there may be some farming machinery - again, we will have to pay attention and be aware of what is going on around us
- Although the particular area for filming is usually quiet there may be some people, we have to be careful not to disturb them - we will have to keep the noise to as quiet as we possibly can
- As it is autumn there will be leaves on the ground, we have to be careful of slipping over - we will have to make sure we walk around the place and act sensibly
- We will be filming on grass and may not be able so see what is on the floor so we have to be careful of tripping over anything that has been abandoned - same as before we will have to make sure we walk with caution
- They will be sitting on a pile of big rocks, which although are stable there is a chance they could move - they will have to be careful not too move them too much
- Issues with the weather, there may be rain that could make the ground slippery, and because of the time of year it may be cold - I will schedule filming for a day that the weather looks good for, if there is rain we will either delay filming for when it stops, if not we will reschedule for another day, as for the cold I will make sure my talent are wearing warm suitable clothing and aim to get the filming done promptly to prevent us from being out in the cold for too long
Location 2: My House
Risks:
- Breaking, Slipping or tripping over objects in the house - I will ensure that I remove any objects that my household doesn't want breaking, I will clear any spillage's up and I will remove any potential tripping hazards
- We will have to be careful not to disturb the neighbours - I will ensure that the noise is kept as low as possible
Friday, 26 October 2012
Recce
Recce Definition: A military term that has been adopted by the Media industry. It is a
pre-filming/shooting visit to a location to assess its suitability
 |
| I knew that I wanted the day scenes to be filmed at Wicksteed park and it had to be somewhere that had room for three people to be seated, so I took a trip there and found that any benches etc where in too much of a central location in the park and would have been too busy and loud to film in - plus we would have been in the way of the public. After walking around for a while I found this pile of rocks that were big enough the seat all three and were located in a quiet section of the park - so I have decided to film my day scenes here |
 |
| The rest of the filming locations are all in my house - this is the sofa that some of the conversations between the characters will happen on |
 |
| There will be some scenes filmed on the stairs |
 |
| Some scenes will take place in the kitchen |
 |
| The bathroom will be the location for the scene involving the ghosts hand slamming on the window |
 |
| This is the bedroom in which the scene where Nina goes missing will take place |
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Script
This is only the first draft - the script may change in the final product
Characters:
Ext. Park - Day
Characters:
- Jenny
- Alex
- Nina
Ext. Park - Day
Jenny
My parents are going away this weekend, do you want to come over and stay at mine?
(Both Alex and Nina are nodding and agreeing - Jenny looks don to the ground with a worried expression on her face)
Nina
Are you OK?
Jenny
Yeah, it's just... other than it will be fun to have you two over, the other reason is... I just don't want to be alone in my house
Alex
(mockingly) Why don't you want to be alone in your own house!?
Jenny
At night... it just... develops this... atmosphere, and I feel like I'm not alone - like I'm being watched
Alex
(laughs) Don't be ridiculous Jenny! - If your trying to say that your house is haunted (sighs) it cant be! Ghosts don't exist
Int. Living room - Night
Nina
That reminds me! I brought a bar of chocolate with me for us to share (goes to get up off of the sofa) I'll just go and get it from my bag
Int. Living room - Night
Alex
How long does it take to get a bar of chocolate for god's sake!
Jenny
(laughs) You know what Nina's like - she's never in a hurry to do anything (looks at Alex's irritable expression and rolls her eyes and sighs) I'll go and get her
Int. Bedroom - Night
Jenny
Nina...Nina...(walks into bedroom) what is taking - (looks up to see Nina is nowhere to be seen)
Int. Hall - Night
Jenny is in the living room, Alex is in the hall
Alex
(struggling to open the front door) The damn thing's locked! Where did you put the keys!
Jenny
(frustrated) I swear I left them on the table! (mutters) Where the hell are they?!
Alex is now at the doorway in the living room
Alex
We haven't got time for that! Come on lets try the other door!
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Monday, 22 October 2012
Focus Group
- What gender are you?
- How old are you?
- Do you like watching film trailers? (if yes why, if no why not)
- What attracts you to a film trailer?
- Where do you mostly watch trailers? (on TV, online, cinema etc)
- How much does a trailer influence you on wanting to watch the film?
- What would you expect to see/hear in a trailer?
- What do you think makes a good trailer?
- Can you remember any particular trailers you have liked and why?
- Does it matter whether there are critics reviews and star ratings in the trailer? (do they influence you more or are they irrelevant to you?)
- Female (x3)
- 17, 18, 17
- Yes, yes, sometimes
- Voice over, the clips they choose
- Cinema, love film instant, if there is one I want to watch I will look it up on YouTube
- A lot (x3)
- Voiceover, title, release date, clips from the film
- Voiceover, a montage
- Twilight, The Great Gatsby, Madagascar 3
- No (x3) - I will watch the film regardless of what critics have said about it
Sunday, 21 October 2012
Representations
The representations that will be featured in my trailer are:
The 12 year old girl will appear sweet and innocent terms of her outfit and hairstyle - but however, she will be the exact opposite and will haunt and terrorise the other girls
- Three teenage girls
- One 12 year old girl
The 12 year old girl will appear sweet and innocent terms of her outfit and hairstyle - but however, she will be the exact opposite and will haunt and terrorise the other girls
Friday, 19 October 2012
Digital Technology
The majority of my work, blogging and editing, will be done on an Apple Mac - but however some of the work that can be done online, i.e. the research and blogging, may be done at home using a Packard Bell EasyNote TE and a HP Pavilion a671uk
I will be using Blogger to blog my research and plans for my trailer
To actually do the research and planning I will use youtube (to watch other trailers and analyse, deconstruct and get inspiration from) and google (as my search engine)
And safari as my browser when on a Mac and Internet Explorer when I'm on one of the computers
Finally, I will be editing my trailer using the software - Final Cut Pro - which will mean better quality of editing compared to my preliminary music video
I will be using my own camcorder, which is a Sony handycam HDR-CX190E
 |
| Apple Mac |
 |
| Packard Bell EasyNote TE |
 |
| HP Pavilion a671uk |
 |
 |
| Safari |
 |
| Internet Explorer |
 |
Final Cut Pro
Sony handycam HDR-CX190E
|
Ideology
What is ideology?
Ideology is the beliefs and ideas people have about a subject - in this case the ideology is psychological horror and trailers for that genre
Why is ideology important?
It is because of ideology that audiences understand what to expect in the film they are about to watch purely by the use of font types, transitions, sound and the pace of the film.
Why might it not be a good idea to go against ideology?
An audience will have certain expectations of a genre. If the film they were watching was to go against that genre and its ideology then the audience would get confused and would have been mislead. For example, if somebody was to sit down and watch a very sad and emotional film that had fast paced editing they would be confused - and also it just wouldn't work and would not fit the genre well at all.
Ideology of psychological horror
The ideology of this genre is to create tension and to keep the audience guessing and on the edge of their seat. Psychological horror requires the audience to pay more attention and follow the story, it is a relatively intelligent genre that relies on playing on the audiences fears in order to create a story, instead of just grossing the audience out with blood and gore. Alfred Hitchcock once said 'There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it', I think that this is key for this genre as it sums up what it is all about, it relies on slowly building tension and also then the audiences anticipation.
Ideology of psychological trailers
The ideology of trailers for psychological horror is that they are must slower paced most of the way through, they tend to be quite slow and explain the story for three quarters of the trailer and them at the end have a must faster section - which is usually a montage of clips. This structure helps to explain the story and get the audience thinking and involved even when just watching the trailer. The audience would also be expecting and anticipating the faster paced montage section - which will scare them further. As for they types of shots used there tends to be a lot of close ups and reaction shots of characters faces - to show their fear.
In my trailer...
I have decided to follow the ideology of psychological horror in order to not mislead my audience. I hope to create a trailer that starts off slow paced and then cuts to a sudden fast paced montage of clips. I also hope to play on the audiences anticipation by building tension throughout the trailer.
Ideology is the beliefs and ideas people have about a subject - in this case the ideology is psychological horror and trailers for that genre
Why is ideology important?
It is because of ideology that audiences understand what to expect in the film they are about to watch purely by the use of font types, transitions, sound and the pace of the film.
Why might it not be a good idea to go against ideology?
An audience will have certain expectations of a genre. If the film they were watching was to go against that genre and its ideology then the audience would get confused and would have been mislead. For example, if somebody was to sit down and watch a very sad and emotional film that had fast paced editing they would be confused - and also it just wouldn't work and would not fit the genre well at all.
Ideology of psychological horror
The ideology of this genre is to create tension and to keep the audience guessing and on the edge of their seat. Psychological horror requires the audience to pay more attention and follow the story, it is a relatively intelligent genre that relies on playing on the audiences fears in order to create a story, instead of just grossing the audience out with blood and gore. Alfred Hitchcock once said 'There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it', I think that this is key for this genre as it sums up what it is all about, it relies on slowly building tension and also then the audiences anticipation.
Ideology of psychological trailers
The ideology of trailers for psychological horror is that they are must slower paced most of the way through, they tend to be quite slow and explain the story for three quarters of the trailer and them at the end have a must faster section - which is usually a montage of clips. This structure helps to explain the story and get the audience thinking and involved even when just watching the trailer. The audience would also be expecting and anticipating the faster paced montage section - which will scare them further. As for they types of shots used there tends to be a lot of close ups and reaction shots of characters faces - to show their fear.
In my trailer...
I have decided to follow the ideology of psychological horror in order to not mislead my audience. I hope to create a trailer that starts off slow paced and then cuts to a sudden fast paced montage of clips. I also hope to play on the audiences anticipation by building tension throughout the trailer.
Audience Pleasures
These are the two theories that apply to my trailer:
The Hypodermic Needle Effect
This theory states that the media acts as a syringe that injects ideas, attitudes and beliefs into the audience - who have little choice but to be influenced.
The theory originated out of what is referred to as 'The Frankfurt School', who were a group of German Marxists in the 30's who witnessed first hand how Hitler used propaganda to influence a nation.
It popular when considering violence in films. Films such as 'The Exorcist' (1973) and 'A Clockwork Orange' (1971) have been banned in the past - partly due to the belief that the audience may go on to copy the crimes witnessed in the films.
Many people view the hypodermic needle effect as simplistic as it fails to take into account people's individuality. The theory is not generally used in terms of film anymore but it is still occasionally used in reference to why society has become increasingly violent - with the blame being placed on video game violence.
The Cultivation/Culmination Theory
According to this theory any one media text does not have too much effect - it would take years and years of watching more violence that will make you less sensitive to it. This process is called desensitisation.
Many people have the belief that the media affects our behaviour and that advertisers justify their fees by working on this assumption, but it can be very difficult to prove how much effect (if any) a text might have on an audience. Researchers have spent a lot of time and effort in trying to prove the validity of this theory - with no success. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that there is no truth in it.
Uses and gratifications
This is arguably the most important of the theories in terms of audience pleasure. This theory suggests that we all have different uses for the media and we make choices over what we want to watch. For example, when we come across a media text we are expecting to get some sort of gratification from it. As well as this is also says that the individual is in control and selects a media text based on their needs and satisfying them.
Researchers have found four types of gratification:
Information: we want to find out about society and the world in order to satisfy our curiosity. We can fulfil this by watching programs like the news and documentaries
Personal identity: we may watch TV to find models of our behaviour. So, we tend to identify with characters as they help us to decide what we feel about ourselves. We can do this by watching soaps and dramas
Integration and social interaction: we use the media to help us find out more about other people and their circumstances. Watching TV helps us to empathise and sympathise with the lives of others. We may even end up thinking of some of the characters as friends. As well as this, TV can help us get along with the real people around us better as we are able to talk with them about the media
Entertainment: we simply use the media as a source of enjoyment, relaxation or just to pass the time
Of these uses and gratifications I think entertainment will apply to my trailer - as according to my questionnaire my target audience watch them for enjoyment, with some saying they like to be scared by them and also like getting an adrenaline rush from them
However, as important as this theory is there have been some criticisms made. Firstly, it completely ignores the fact that we don't always have a choice in what we receive from the media. I.e. family may end up listening to the same music as us sometimes. And, we don't have a choice in the advertising we see on billboards etc however objectionable we may find them. Secondly, the advertisements we see may be sexist. This is something we obviously cannot change the advert to want we would like to see. This problem also affects out encounters with the media - we generally have to choose what we want to consume from what is available. This undermines use and gratifications as it would meant that we may not all have the same potential to use and enjoy the media products we want.
The Hypodermic Needle Effect
This theory states that the media acts as a syringe that injects ideas, attitudes and beliefs into the audience - who have little choice but to be influenced.
The theory originated out of what is referred to as 'The Frankfurt School', who were a group of German Marxists in the 30's who witnessed first hand how Hitler used propaganda to influence a nation.
It popular when considering violence in films. Films such as 'The Exorcist' (1973) and 'A Clockwork Orange' (1971) have been banned in the past - partly due to the belief that the audience may go on to copy the crimes witnessed in the films.
Many people view the hypodermic needle effect as simplistic as it fails to take into account people's individuality. The theory is not generally used in terms of film anymore but it is still occasionally used in reference to why society has become increasingly violent - with the blame being placed on video game violence.
The Cultivation/Culmination Theory
According to this theory any one media text does not have too much effect - it would take years and years of watching more violence that will make you less sensitive to it. This process is called desensitisation.
Many people have the belief that the media affects our behaviour and that advertisers justify their fees by working on this assumption, but it can be very difficult to prove how much effect (if any) a text might have on an audience. Researchers have spent a lot of time and effort in trying to prove the validity of this theory - with no success. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that there is no truth in it.
Uses and gratifications
This is arguably the most important of the theories in terms of audience pleasure. This theory suggests that we all have different uses for the media and we make choices over what we want to watch. For example, when we come across a media text we are expecting to get some sort of gratification from it. As well as this is also says that the individual is in control and selects a media text based on their needs and satisfying them.
Researchers have found four types of gratification:
Information: we want to find out about society and the world in order to satisfy our curiosity. We can fulfil this by watching programs like the news and documentaries
Personal identity: we may watch TV to find models of our behaviour. So, we tend to identify with characters as they help us to decide what we feel about ourselves. We can do this by watching soaps and dramas
Integration and social interaction: we use the media to help us find out more about other people and their circumstances. Watching TV helps us to empathise and sympathise with the lives of others. We may even end up thinking of some of the characters as friends. As well as this, TV can help us get along with the real people around us better as we are able to talk with them about the media
Entertainment: we simply use the media as a source of enjoyment, relaxation or just to pass the time
Of these uses and gratifications I think entertainment will apply to my trailer - as according to my questionnaire my target audience watch them for enjoyment, with some saying they like to be scared by them and also like getting an adrenaline rush from them
However, as important as this theory is there have been some criticisms made. Firstly, it completely ignores the fact that we don't always have a choice in what we receive from the media. I.e. family may end up listening to the same music as us sometimes. And, we don't have a choice in the advertising we see on billboards etc however objectionable we may find them. Secondly, the advertisements we see may be sexist. This is something we obviously cannot change the advert to want we would like to see. This problem also affects out encounters with the media - we generally have to choose what we want to consume from what is available. This undermines use and gratifications as it would meant that we may not all have the same potential to use and enjoy the media products we want.
Friday, 12 October 2012
Target Audience
In order to be certain of my target audience I conducted a questionnaire which I asked people to fill out over facebook and also by asking people around me.
The questions:
Judging by the most common answers, based on this questionnaire, my target audience are:
The questions:
- What is your gender?
- What is your age?
- Are you in education?
- Do you have a job? (If yes is it part or full time?)
- What do you do in your spare time?
- What hobbies/interests do you have?
- Do you like watching psychological horror films?
- Why do you/do you not like this genre?
- Would you say this is a popular genre? Do you know a lot of people who watch psychological horrors?
- Which socio-economic group do you fall into?
The results:
Person
|
Gender
|
Age
|
In education?
|
Job? (Part/Full time)
|
Spare time
|
Hobbies/interests
|
Like psychological horror?
|
Why like/dislike the genre?
|
Is it a popular genre?
|
Socio economic group
|
1
|
Female
|
17
|
Yes
|
Yes, Full time
|
Reading, listening to music, horse riding
|
Horse riding, reading (horror etc), walking and music
|
Yes
|
Because it gives you an adrenaline rush
|
I know a lot of people who watch it but in general I don’t think its a very popular genre
|
E
|
2
|
Female
|
24
|
No
|
Yes, full time
|
Reading, listening to music, socializing
|
Horror films, karaoke, watching crime dramas
|
Yes
|
I love horror because I like the blood and gore, plus I like twists at the end
|
People normally Watch ‘normal’ horrors so no it’s not a general genre people go for
|
D
|
3
|
Female
|
17
|
Yes
|
Yes, part time
|
Reading, cooking, socialising, drawing, watching TV and films
|
Running, reading and cooking
|
Yes
|
Horror films can be very intriguing
|
Yes
|
E
|
4
|
Female
|
18
|
Yes
|
No
|
Horse riding, shopping and tennis
|
Horse riding, shopping and tennis
|
No
|
Never watched them
|
Not really
|
E
|
5
|
Female
|
18
|
Yes
|
No
|
Internet, social networking, cinema, TV and baking
|
Baking, horse riding and animal care
|
Yes but I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch them, only if they were on TV – I wouldn’t go out and buy them or watch them at the cinema
|
Clever writing, good storylines – most of the time
|
Quite popular, but most people watch them to be scared, not for the storyline. A few of my friends enjoy them
|
E
|
6
|
Female
|
17
|
Yes
|
Yes, part time
|
Reading, watching films and writing
|
Walking reading and writing
|
Yes
|
I love the plots and the imagery and the dark side of films
|
Yes and yes
|
E
|
7
|
Female
|
12
|
Yes
|
No
|
Interent, chatting to freinds on BBM and watching TV
|
Football, diving, fashion and acting
|
Yes
|
They are mysterious
|
Yeah and I think so
|
E
|
8
|
Male
|
47
|
No
|
Yes, full time
|
Watch TV, cooking, gardening, car maintenance and DIY
|
Football, gardening and motor sport
|
No
|
They don’t interest me
|
No
|
C2
|
9
|
Female
|
44
|
No
|
Yes, part time
|
TV and shopping
|
Baking and shopping
|
They’re ok
|
I have to be in the mood to watch them
|
No – they only appeal to a certain audience
|
D
|
10
|
Female
|
17
|
Yes
|
No
|
Internet, TV and eating
|
Eating and shopping
|
Yes
|
They are full of tension and keep you guessing
|
Yes and no
|
E
|
11
|
Female
|
35
|
No
|
No
|
Painting, meeting up with friends, taking my daughter to tot group and kids play, cinema and shopping
|
Painting, meeting up with friends, taking my daughter to tot group and kids play, cinema and shopping
|
Yeah – I like all films apart from gory horrors
|
They aren’t to scary or gory to watch
|
Yeah and a lot of my friends like them
|
E
|
12
|
Female
|
19
|
No
|
No
|
Spending time with friends and family, taking my daughter to tot group and kids play, cinema and shopping
|
Cinema and shopping
|
Yes
|
I like getting scared by them
|
Yes a lot of my friends and family like them
|
E
|
Judging by the most common answers, based on this questionnaire, my target audience are:
- Female
- 17-18
- In education
- Not in employment
- Most common activity during spare time is watching TV, followed by socialising, reading and shopping
- Most people liked psychological horror
- Reasons why they were liked were varied but included they are intriging, mysterious and they keep you guessing
- Only just over half said they thought it was a popular genre - a very close number said they didnt think it was, so it may be a difficult question
- Most of the people were from soci-economic group E
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