film poster layout

FROM THIS POINT ON THE VILLAIN IN THE FILM IS NOW A GIRL AND NOT A BOY. THIS WILL BE EXPLAINED IN THE EVALUATION.

final trailer

This is my finished trailer for my horror film.

storyboard animatic

This is the animatic for our story board:

storyboard (written)

Frame 1

Our logo against a black background. Fades in and out to black.

Frame 2

Car is driving along a road. Establishing shot so audience will see the outside of the car and setting. Filmed on a quiet suburban road at dusk. Panning as the car drives past. Diagetic sounds of radio playing in background.

Frame 3

Long shot of car driving in the background with boy running across the road in the foreground.

Frame 4

Medium shot of car getting closer to the camera. Camera positioned in the middle of the road.

Frame 5

Black screen. Non diagetic sound of car screeching, then to silence (sound affect added over.)

Frame 6

Close up of TV screen showing news report about the hit and run. Diagetic sound of news report.

Frame 7

Medium shot of behind the girl watching the news report. Top of boys head in the foreground, this shows that he is watching her. Diagetic sound of news report.

(Lighting gets brighter, increase of white balance effect. Start of dream sequence.)

Frame 8

Long shot of boy holding rope as he walks slowly towards a victim. As he walks off screen the camera remains on the same spot that the boy was in. Diagetic sound of boy tying rope and girls muffled cry for help. 

Frame 9

Medium shot of legs hanging and twitching then stop moving.

(End of dream sequence. Camera effects return to normal.)

Frame 10

Extreme close up of girls eye as she wakes up. Diagetic sound of her heavy breathing, and non-diagetic sound of heartbeat.

Frame 11

Low key lighting. Medium shot of girl suddenly sitting up in her bed, camera positioned at the end of her bed. Girl is sweating and terrified. Diagetic sound of heavy breathing.

(Fast pace music starts to play.)

Frame 12

Low key lighting, Long shot of boy at the end of a corridor. 

Frame 13 

Straight cut. Medium point of view shot (from boy), camera positioned in the back of the car

Frame 14

Straight cut back to long shot of boy in the corridor, but has moved closer than before.

Frame 15 

Straight cut to empty swing swinging in an empty park. Diagetic sound of swing sqeaking/creaking.

Frame 16 

Straight cut to boy crawling up the stairs. The boy is covered in blood and looks distorted.

Frame 17

Straight cut to close up of boy in the corridor.

(Fast pace music stops and is silent.)

Frame 18

Straight cut of girl hiding under her bed. Diagetic sound of her breathing, non diagetic sound of heartbeat.

Frame 19

Straight cut to close up of girls face as she gets dragged out of the bed by her feet. Diagetic sound of girl screaming.

Frame 20

Name of film written in blood red against a black background. Fade to and from black.

Frame 21

Date of release written in the same style with the same black background. Fade to and from black.

shooting locations and cast

Cast

The antagonist that I have used for my products is a young girl aged around 12. The reason that I have used a young girl is because it is not what the audience expects as the connotations for a child are quite sweet and innocent. This innocence is then taken away when the young girl becomes the antagonist and starts terrorizing the victim. In recent years it has become quite conventional for children to become the antagonists in horror films. Films such as Orphan and The Unborn both use children as the killers as it what the audience least expects and creates a sense of surprise to the audience. Although the young girl is the antagonist, we have dressed her in a pink dress and cardigan with her hair tied back. This challenges the conventions and the idea of her being a killer as she looks so young and innocent. However, to make her look scarier after the crash we did her make up to make her look as if she was back from the dead.

We chose to use a female protagonist as this is typical of a horror film. Existing films that have used female protagonists are films like Paranormal Activity and The Ring. Our film will be similar to these as they both include paranormal experiences.

Shooting Locations

Most of the trailer is shot inside the protagonist’s house and car, this makes the audience feel more comfortable and safe as when you are at home is when you feel most secure. This also gives the audience a false sense of security as they trust that nothing bad will happen in the safety of their own home. Once again his technique was also used in the Paranormal Activity trilogy.

The setting I chose for the place of the young girl's death is amongst a lot of tall, thin trees which gives the trailer a more eerie feel. This gives a creepy effect as the woods is suggested to be mysterious and dangerous.

film name font

film name questionnaire and results

Results

After conducting a questionnaire we have found that the most popular name for our film is The Retribution. The reason we chose The Retribution as a possible name for our film is because retribution means punishment or vengeance. This fits with our plot as the young boy is taking his revenge on his killer.

blurb

In 2007, a sickening event shook the small town of Lindford, when a 12 year old boy was killed in a hit and run. Terrified to come forward, the driver, Isabella is consumed with guilt and paranoia sets in. When her nightmares become reality, she questions whether her fears are paranoia or paranormal?

From Pinnacle Productions, comes ‘Film Name’; a sinister tale of a stolen innocence and the revenge that ensues.

our logo: Pinnacle Productions

Pinnacle productions is the name of our production company. This is because pinnacle means the highest point as of success, power or fame. This suggests that our production company is better than the others. 
The logo is in black and white. This makes the logo look quite old, this suggests that it has been around for a long time and so therefore may be quite a popular and established company. 
Also by only using the colours black and white this also makes the logo seem quite dark and moody. This fits in well with our horror theme.

production logos

website analysis'

website navigation

The Descent

Insidious

trailer analysis'

poster analysis'

types of villains

 

altman's theory

Semantic

Syntactic

horror film questionnaire and results

The results of this questionnaire are as follows:

1. I made sure that I asked an equal amount of males and females so that I had a fair result.

2. The age of people I gave my questionnaire to were between 15-39 as this was the age of my target market.

3. Most of the people that I asked said that they liked horror films as this was the point of the questionnaire.

4. I found that the thing my target audience disliked most about horror films was when they were 'cheesey'. I will keep this is mind when making my trailer and I will try to make it look as professional as possible.

5. The most popular kind of horror film that my target audience liked to watch was supernatural. Therefore when creating my media products I shall use a supernatural theme.

6. When I gathered the results from my questionnaire I discovered that most of my target audience would not like to see a horror film in 3D.

7. My target audience said that there isn't anything that they would find particularly inappropriate in a horror film.

8. From my questionnaire I found that the features that make a horror film successful include tension-building music and quick cuts.

9. My target audience had a wide range of favourite horror movies, however the main reason that it was their favourite was because it made them jump.

10. From my questionnaire I found that my target audience's least favourite films all were quite old and therefore the special effects were not very good. This means that I will make sure that the special effects are effective.

11. When my target audience choose a film they choose it because of the plot.

12. The target audience for my media products said that they would like to see the trailer on the website and they would also like it to be interactive.

13. My audience would like to see the antagonist on the poster for my film.

14. From my results I found that the target audience for my film would prefer to see an advert electronically.

15. Once again my audience decided that the poster should have an image of the villain.

Introduction

Centre No: 27258
Candidate No: 6070

My name is Lauren Griggs and I am an A-level student studying media at Sponne School. This blog is dedicated to my media coursework where I shall be creating my own horror film trailer, poster and website. On this blog I shall include all of my research and planning and an evaluation of my three media products.