Research into similar products - media conventions - mise en scene

There are various aspects of Mise en scene in film. Mise en scene stands for what is in the scene so this could be anything From: Props, facial expressions, body language, Costumes and many other details throughout the clip.

Props: Props are anything that are within the scene, they could contain a secret message behind them. In my film i will be shooting in an abandoned warehouse where there will be graffiti. This will create an effect and express to the audience how its abandoned as it looks scruffy and none cares about it. Also the weapon my killer will be using is a knife.


Facial expressions: The killer in my horror movie will have relatively relaxed facial expressions which will show elements of psychopathy as i want him to seem sick and twisted because that's what is scary and by having relaxed facial expressions it will seem that this is normal everyday work for him. Then the victims will have facial expressions that will represent fear.


Body Language: The killers body language will be calm and slow as this will show him to be twisted and less intelligent than normal people.


Costumes: The victims will be wearing normal everyday clothes to show how they were not expecting the events that are about to happen and how the day seemed like a normal day. On the other hand the Killer will be wearing burnt rags as the story line goes he burnt in a fire.

Research into similar products - media conventions - camerawork

There are various types of camerawork i can use to create chilling effects throughout my film trailer.

Close up/Extreme close up: This can be used to capture the facial expressions of the victim and will block out the attacker from behind so when the camera pans away you will see the demon/attacker behind them.


Establishing shot: This can be used to show the haunted scenery and to set the scene or location.


Over the shoulder shot: This can be used to show the attacker coming from behind them, creating tension as the audience will be scared when the killer slowly approaches.



POV shot: The point of view shot can be used so the audience will see the view from the main characters view. This will create a sense of realism.


There will also be lots of camera movements involved in my media production.

Tracking: This will be used to track the victim running away from the killer.


Pan: The camera will slowly move away to reveal something shocking.

Cut away: There will be various cut a ways to take the attention off the main character and show other important details.

Potential target audience and Research and planning - Classification of film

When creating my film i will need to judge what classification my film will fit under. My original thought is that my film would be an 18 as i would intend to make my film very realistic with elements of blood and gore. However, as i have been looking on the BBFC website, The criteria for the 15 allows: Strong violence, Frequent strong language, Drug taking, sexual nudity and many more things that i felt would be 18. This is good for me as i could easily make my film trailer a 15 which could result in a wider range of audiences and more viewers.

Drafting and planning - Film title

When creating the title for my film, i need something that grasps the readers attention and entices them to go out and find out what the film is about. Effective film titles to me are movies like 'The exorcist' or 'Dead silence' because they are short and snappy yet create a powerful effect sending a chill down your spine.

To help me think of a title i have used the Visual Thesaurus in which i typed the word 'Monster' and 'Devil' in to provide me with some inspiration.  and the results are shown below.
When i typed in 'Devil' i found out that the devil was also known as Lucifer which could be an effective name for my film as it sounds like an everyday name but has a secret message behind it.

organisation - Props

There are various props in which i can use throughout my film to indicate evil elements. Such things to indicate this could be: Guns, knives, ropes and masks. Props will be key to create my film trailer as they create a story line without words and i will need to chose carefully which ones i will select as the right prop will express the killers attitude as predominantly psychopaths will have axes and chainsaws whilst ghosts will have rocking horses and fake toys.

Research into similar products - similar film trailers

This is the film trailer for the film 'Insidious Chapter 2'. I really like the way this trailer has been constructed as it creates a chilling atmosphere throughout the scene. The use of sound makes it seem more realistic and spooky either though it doesn't technically suit the theme of the trailer as they use a lullaby. The use of the ghostly woman is quite scary and i feel that i can create something pretty similar to scare my audience.

Research into similar products - Sound

The are 3 types of sound i can use throughout my horror movie trailer and theses are: Diegetic sound, non diegetic sound and either parallel or contrapuntal sound.

When i create my film trailer i will use elements of Diegetic sound through dialogue to show how the actors in the film are not expecting the upcoming events, i will also use things like creaking floorboards and door knobs turning which will create a chilling atmosphere.

Next is Non-diegetic sound. With all good horror movies they have a scary soundtrack to amplify the horror theme, for example Tubular bells for the 'Exorcist'. I may decide to add in a sound track to contribute to the horror theme. Furthermore i will then have to decide what sort of soundtrack would be suited. If i was to use Parallel sound, it would mean that the music sounds scary to flow with the theme. However if i was to use Contrapuntal sound, it would mean that the soundtrack would sound happy or cheerful which wouldn't reflect the mood but would still be effective as i could use a edited nursery rhyme to strike fear similar in such films as 'The woman in black'.

Research into similar products - conventions of a horror movie

There will be various themes throughout my trailer and these are :

Fear - The person/object causing the fear has to be quite scary and this will have to be seen by the facial expressions of the victim.

Realism - The film needs to seem realistic because if it seems completely fake then people wont be scared.

Struggle - The characters will need to struggle or push themselves to the limit in order to survive. No half-hearted attempts to survive because it doesn't appeal to the audience

Drafting and planning - Colour connotations

The colour connotations commonly used in horror movies are red and black as they symbolise: death, darkness and blood which are all featured. Some horror movies have now started using bright white which either though it symbolises purity, they are using it to say that there is darkness even in the light creating a chilling effect. Some other horror movies have started to use elements of light blue to express the extraterrestrial such as aliens whilst other films have used green in the form of night vision to make it look like someone has recorded the film via there phone making it seem realistic. Such films that use this effect are Paranormal activity and grave encounters.
 

Research into similar products - Little White lies

This is a magazine called little white lies and they are very different from the traditional magazine set up. I feel that this type of magazine is fantastic as it is really simple but very effective and i particularly like the way there are no cover lines cutting into the image.

A close up is used

This magazine has used a traditional close up shot with a person shadowed away. This expresses the Film lawless and shows the main actor hidden away. 

Use of colour:

They have used a colour scheme of black and white which expresses how the film is based in older times and gives it a vintage look to appeal to the audience.

Research into potential target audience - film magazines

After looking on Google i have found various magazines that specialize in the horror genre. This means that if i was to use there masthead on my magazine it would be suited. However if i am trying to appeal to a wider audience i may consider using Empire magazine as they are a well known film magazine and they also occasionally have magazines with a horror front cover. My main target audience will most likely read both magazines so either one I choose will be very effective.

There is another Magazine which differs from all these mainstream magazines called little white lies and i feel this could be really effective in creating a horror magazine as the are no cover lines ruining the overall image. This is probably the magazine which i will create.

Organisation - Potential locations

One potential location to shoot my trailer is the abandoned warehouse in Kings heath which was recently burnt down. The mess inside creates a naturally spooky atmosphere which would create a great effect for my horror movie trailer. Around this location is a lot of woodland creating a forest effect which when the victims try to escape will still be very chilling and spooky which is shown on the right.

Another potential location is a dark alley way. If i was to use a dark alleyway then the natural shadows would be very scary and the streetlamps showing a little bit of light would be a great prop to show hope being surrounded by darkness. However, i will find it very hard to tie this scenery into the film and in my it doesn't really tie into my story line. This alleyway is shown on the right.

Overall i have decided to use the abandoned warehouse as the scenery outside creates a more scary effect and the use of graffiti on the walls creates a further scary/messy effect. Furthermore the burnt down building ties in with the story line of my film trailer almost creating a natural atmosphere.

Research into similar products - similar film posters.

This is the film poster for the film Cloverfield, The poster is very effective as it shows a really important figure being destroyed and the city in ruin. By showing this they create an effect of despair into the audience and it really entices the audience into going to see the film in cinemas. However creating a poster like this would be very difficult as i cant exactly destroy the statue of liberty.










To the right is the film poster for 'The Conjuring'. I feel this film poster is really effective as the props used create a chilling feeling with the use of: the spooky house, Rope and the shadow of the person.

Research into similar products - types of films posters

Similar products to my film are Friday the 13th and Nightmare on elm street as they both contain big ironic characters that strike fear into the audience e.g. Jason X and Freddy krueger. They are also similar as they involve a group of friends who slowly get killed one by one.
Throughout my film trailer there will be a big iconic figure which will strike fear into my audience similar to these two characters.

Research and Planning - Other potential film genres

One potential film genre is comedy. I feel recreating a comedy film trailer would be very difficult as different people find different aspects of comedy more interesting than others. This means that advertising to a large audience may be very difficult.
I am very interested in recreating a horror film but i feel that by making a hybrid film with aspects of horror and comedy would be very effective similar to films such as: Shaun of the dead, Haunted house or This is the end.

Research and Planning - Film genre's

There are many different types of film genre in which i can base my film trailer about. One of which is horror. The first horror movie ever made was in 1896 by an imaginative film maker called Georges Melies in which he created a 2 minute long movie called 'Le Manoir Du Diable' also known as the Devils house. This film terrified audiences all over France and England and i would hope to recreate the same effect to my potential target audience.

This is my A2 media blog in which i will be making: a film trailer, film magazine front cover and a film poster