I have a social media site that I will be using to provide updates for my trailer, social media is one of the largest forms of distribution:
https://twitter.com/caligulasaquar4
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Location, Props and Mise en Scene
Location
The narrative of my film follows a young teenager that is at high school, so location wise I will be using some shots from school corridors. One of the first scenes will take place in a school environment but for these sections of filming I will not need to use any props such as fake blood or weapons. This scene will be there to introduce the character's back story and give the audience an insight as to what she has to go through on a day to day basis. Lighting is a big problem that I had to consider when I was deciding on which locations to film as it is the winter season and any time after 4pm is too dark for my trailer. Thankfully the school has enough lighting in its new block to allow me to do my filming after school hours so I will be doing this then. For these scenes there won't be any props so I can film at any time without causing much of a disruption.
I will also be using scenes from the forest which location wise is perfect as the woods are very local to me, but lighting may be an issue as I want it to be light enough to portray daytime. If I film my trailer too late after school hours then it will almost be pitch black, which will not be what I had in mind, and too dark to be considered safe. The woods will be an ideal location for my trailer to be set as it follows the conventions of a typical psychological horror film, giving the audience the impression of solitude as woods are very isolated locations away from housing areas and technology.
One other issue with this particular location is that there are a lot of dog walkers that pass by quite frequently and I do not want to obstruct the path so I'm going to be filming this away from the main path, there are quite a few perfect areas for this where I won't cause confusion or upset anyone.
Part of the trailer will be filmed in my own house which really helps to create an equilibrium towards the start of the trailer as it shows what everyday is like without the disruption of what is to come later on in the trailer. For this location I don't need to ask for permission so it is easy for me to access with a minimal amount of hassle. There are also no timing limits on this part of the trailer because I can choose to film in this location at any time with lighting not being as big of a deal as where I am planning to film is away from windows, I can use artificial light.
Props
My horror trailer is based on a real life environment and what my main character will realistically be able to get hold of so there will not be any extreme props such as axes or chainsaws. Instead, I will be using props such as fake blood, knives and a plastic gasoline container for the fire scene which will add a sense of realism as these are all common things found in everyday life. At first I was considering using items such as fake guns but not a lot of people have access to them and they are not something commonly used in horror trailers as they don't build up any fear in the same way that a knife or more sadistic weapon would. Plus, it is rare to find anyone who owns a gun in an English countryside setting unless they use it for hunting or sport.
Mise en Scene
When I was considering what the main character should wear in my trailer I used a few horror films as an influence. Orphan and Carrie are the closest horror films that came to mind when considering the costume of the cast so I decided that I would play on stereotypes and have a big divide in the school environment. Teenagers are often portrayed in stereotypical ways even if this may not stay true to their actual behaviour in society so I wanted the bully typed characters to wear a more casual equivalent of what a "Jock" would wear in a typical American high school. The arch rival of this popular stereotype is the "non conformist" who does not agree with the beliefs of the "Jock" and often wears a Gothic themed outfit, so I will be giving the main character a Gothic dress code such as:
The narrative of my film follows a young teenager that is at high school, so location wise I will be using some shots from school corridors. One of the first scenes will take place in a school environment but for these sections of filming I will not need to use any props such as fake blood or weapons. This scene will be there to introduce the character's back story and give the audience an insight as to what she has to go through on a day to day basis. Lighting is a big problem that I had to consider when I was deciding on which locations to film as it is the winter season and any time after 4pm is too dark for my trailer. Thankfully the school has enough lighting in its new block to allow me to do my filming after school hours so I will be doing this then. For these scenes there won't be any props so I can film at any time without causing much of a disruption.
I will also be using scenes from the forest which location wise is perfect as the woods are very local to me, but lighting may be an issue as I want it to be light enough to portray daytime. If I film my trailer too late after school hours then it will almost be pitch black, which will not be what I had in mind, and too dark to be considered safe. The woods will be an ideal location for my trailer to be set as it follows the conventions of a typical psychological horror film, giving the audience the impression of solitude as woods are very isolated locations away from housing areas and technology.
One other issue with this particular location is that there are a lot of dog walkers that pass by quite frequently and I do not want to obstruct the path so I'm going to be filming this away from the main path, there are quite a few perfect areas for this where I won't cause confusion or upset anyone.
Part of the trailer will be filmed in my own house which really helps to create an equilibrium towards the start of the trailer as it shows what everyday is like without the disruption of what is to come later on in the trailer. For this location I don't need to ask for permission so it is easy for me to access with a minimal amount of hassle. There are also no timing limits on this part of the trailer because I can choose to film in this location at any time with lighting not being as big of a deal as where I am planning to film is away from windows, I can use artificial light.
Props
My horror trailer is based on a real life environment and what my main character will realistically be able to get hold of so there will not be any extreme props such as axes or chainsaws. Instead, I will be using props such as fake blood, knives and a plastic gasoline container for the fire scene which will add a sense of realism as these are all common things found in everyday life. At first I was considering using items such as fake guns but not a lot of people have access to them and they are not something commonly used in horror trailers as they don't build up any fear in the same way that a knife or more sadistic weapon would. Plus, it is rare to find anyone who owns a gun in an English countryside setting unless they use it for hunting or sport.
Mise en Scene
When I was considering what the main character should wear in my trailer I used a few horror films as an influence. Orphan and Carrie are the closest horror films that came to mind when considering the costume of the cast so I decided that I would play on stereotypes and have a big divide in the school environment. Teenagers are often portrayed in stereotypical ways even if this may not stay true to their actual behaviour in society so I wanted the bully typed characters to wear a more casual equivalent of what a "Jock" would wear in a typical American high school. The arch rival of this popular stereotype is the "non conformist" who does not agree with the beliefs of the "Jock" and often wears a Gothic themed outfit, so I will be giving the main character a Gothic dress code such as:
- Creeper/Platform shoes
- Choker necklace
- A dark wig with a fringe
- Patterned tights
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Thursday, 5 November 2015
Survey Results
After gathering the results from my survey I found out a few key things that helped influence the direction of my movie trailer, one main factor being the audience of my questionnaire. All of the respondents were at a secondary school age so that is why I have chosen to base it upon that target group. Conventionally, horror films based on this age group feature a main protagonist that is relatively young as it is usually somebody they can relate to, so I have chosen to use a young female actress for my main role to suit this. Younger groups also seem to be drawn to blood and gore, so for my trailer there will be two scenes of death, a typical horror movie trailer will not reveal all the deaths that will happen in the movie as they need to leave enough for the viewer to be satisfied by, but to still be curious as to what happens in the film. 80% of the people who answered the survey said that they preferred when not a lot of the plot was revealed to them, this type of trailer proving to make the movie seem underwhelming. Horror films also tend to use lighting to create emotion which is something that the respondents of my survey valued as an important aspect of a trailer, this heavily influenced my decision making as it is something that viewers find important in order to create a successful horror movie trailer. Low key lighting completely changes the atmosphere of a trailer, it alerts the viewer of the genre and gives the impression that it is not going to be light hearted. The movie "Se7en" used a lot of low key lighting in the trailer which gave a very effective result, instantly setting the dismal mood of the thriller and helping the audience to identify the genre of the movie.
As for the setting of the trailer, 50% of respondents said that they would like it to be set in a domestic setting, with 25% saying that they would like it to be set in an isolated area. Luckily, living in the countryside allows me to infuse both of these ideas as I have access to woodland area but also residential areas that would bring in the domestic side of the results. A domestic setting is perfect for my trailer as it gives a touch of realism and makes it easy for me to display an equilibrium, a functioning society where everything is running smoothly and nothing is disrupting the peace of the setting. Domestic settings also work in the way that we can relate to them more, which is why a lot of modern horror films are set in a modern society as this is often the most unsettling for the viewer.
Due to this I have decided I will be filming my trailer around my housing area and parts of our local forest, they are easy for me to access and I can do part of the filming in the school as the storyline follows a teenage girl in secondary school.
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