Forest Massacre Trailer

Here is a link to YouTube were you will find our Forest Massacre Trailer.  As shown we have kept to many horror  codes and conventions.  This includes Low Key Lighting, slow start but speeds up as the trailer progresses, vulnerable group of people, a evil creature (Unknown Figure) and a death.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49QXlvQi71g

Evaluation

Here is a link to prezi were I have created the evaluation for my A2 coursework.

http://prezi.com/pmxqlyf8zg1i/a2-advanced-portfolio/

Film Poster

This is the poster for the film "Forest Massacre".  Posters are used to promote films by using them in magazines, billboards etc.  Firstly I am going to comment on the image I have used.  I took this picture myself whist filming.  This Poster has many features which link to good promotion and to horror conventions.  The first feature is the image used, the image is of the unknown figure, I have chosen this because within my research it shows the main villain on the poster, this is done to strike fear to viewers which will make them remember the poster and therefore the film.  The edits I have changed on this image is the brightness and the contrast, I have adjusted them to make the poster darker around the unknown figure, which links back to horror codes and conventions.  Next I am going to comment on the headline use in the middle of the page, this is the name of the film and I have created my own font to suit with the genre of the film.  I have used this font on my front cover and my poster, this creates synergy between the two which makes it consistent and professional.  I have put the name of the film on the poster so the viewers will know the name.  I have used the same phrase under the headline in both the front cover and the poster again which again creates synergy.  The phrase "Beware the shadows of the forest" is meant to spook the viewers as the use of the word beware could be interpreted as danger.  The colours I have used in these fonts are within the horror conventions because the use of the colour red is like blood which a horror convention.  I have made the phrase darker to make the headline stand out.  I have mentioned the names of the main actors in my poster because within my research it shows this because if viewers recognise the name they will be influenced to see the film.  Underneath the main text's it has the production information, this contains the names of the people involved in the creation of the film.  I have done this because it makes it look more professional.  I have put the age rating on the poster in inform viewers the age restriction on the film, this is shown in many posters as some scenes way be too violent for younger viewers.  I have mentioned the date of the film because it is a must have convention as the viewers will not know when the film is.  I have also put on it production companies to make it look more professional.         

Film Magazine Front Cover

This is my film magazine front cover which I have create myself using Photoshop.  This magazine cover has many features which make it appealing to audiences.  Firstly I am going to discuss the house style of the magazine cover I have produced.  I made a complex house style to make it look professional.  I have grey to mark subtitles, white to mark sub texts and created my own specialist font for the others.  Next I will describe the image I have used for the background.  I have taken this picture myself ad uploaded it onto Photoshop.  I took this image because it has the main villain, which might spark fear into audiences and it also has the main characters to let the audience know who is involved.  Also this image shows danger as the villain is in front of the teenagers which will intrigue audiences.  The fonts I have used link in with the horror of the cover.  However I created my own text more for the masthead and the headline.  For the masthead I used letter templates from the internet and filled them in and created my own blood using the 'paint brush tool' and 'liquidfying' it in the filter section to create a blood stream.  The blood links in with horror conventions as blood is within the category of horror.  The headline I use I created in dafont.com, I have made it fit with the horror theme of the cover, I have also made it stand out from the rest of the magazine by using the colour red.  The tagline "THE BONE CHILLING ISSUE", links with the horror theme of the cover because the use of the words "BONE CHILLING", these words together make a horror themed feeling.  I have used popular known films on this cover to intrigue the audience by using well known films.  The film "Paranormal Activity" links in with the horror theme of the magazine because it is a well known scary film.  The other two films are well known for their actors and previous films which makes them popular.  The sub texts under them link back to the titles, this gives the audience more insight into the magazine within.  I have put in the issue of the magazine, the date and the price, these three features are all must have conventions of magazine covers there I put them there to add a sense of realism to the magazine and professionalism.  I have used a pug to promote the film Skyfall and it mentions about the actor with reference to the film, this promotes Skyfall and the magazine.  I have put a tagline under the headline explain more about headline.  The phrase "BEWARE THE SHADOWS OF THE FOREST" has horror essence to it because it is play on words with horror.  This tagline is in green to again stand out from the magazine.  Finally I have put a barcode on the cover, barcodes are a must have feature for covers has it makes them personalised.  The effects I have added to the image is lowing the brightness and making the contrast higher.  I have done this to make the make the magazine darker which links back the horror theme.                     

Production Schedule

Here is my evidence of time management.  I have split this into three sections Research Requirements, Organisational requirements and Planning requirements.

Research

Planning

Organisation

Forms (Venue and Risk assessment)

Running Order

Shot lists

Soundtrack Idea's

The soundtrack in a trailer is normally created by the company who created the trailer and it is suited to the genre of the film.  e.g. a horror trailer soundtrack will have a low pitch with a jumpy sound, were as a romance genre will have a soft and relaxing sound to it.

Here are some possibly soundtrack which might be used in our trailer.

The Hunger Games Soundtrack 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr_eafDUGi8

The soundtrack for this was created for the hunger games.  This sound track has a spooky start to it high high beat sounds pacing through it. This is good because a horror convention is spooky sounds with high beats sound within.  However after a minute in the soundtrack becomes too much of a action genre which might not suit are trailer.

Friday The 13th Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b71j1v5oyOY

This soundtrack is calm but spooky at the start which is a positive feature of a horror genre soundtrack. This soundtrack also speeds up which makes the soundtrack more intense as it is fast paced.  However it becomes too techno towards the end which is not part of a horror convention.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLjvXSx231s&feature=g-hist

This soundtrack is my favourite out of the soundtracks I looked at, this is because it was many feature that link to a horror genres codes and conventions.  The first one I am going to point out is the start, it is within the codes and conventions of a horror genre that the start of a sound track is slow with a spooky sound, this soundtrack fulfils this.  The second one is that it speeds up as it progresses, our trailer does this so it would match well to the footage.  Finally is that it has jumpy parts to it, this keeps the audience tense and it will frighten then which is one of the purposes of a horror genre.

Idents

In every trailer, it is a must have convention that it has a Ident.  An indent shows what film companies have supported the film in interests and filming.  Ident's are personal created by the company so it can be recognised by views and to make them remember it.  In some cases the company makes a personal Ident for a film because it is very popular.  Me and my group are going to browse Ident's and select one that suits the conventions of a horror genre and that relates to are trailer.

Here are examples of Ident's which we might use in our trailer.

LionsGate Horror Indent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaqRwg2GP6w&feature=related
 
This Ident would be good for our trailer because it has many horror features that suit the codes and conventions of a horror genre.  The first feature is the change from the original Lionsgate Ident, normally the Lionsgate Ident leads an entrance to heaven but the creators have changed this and made it seem like an entrance to hell, the concept of hell links with the horror genre due to the fact that it is possibly the worst place to go.  Another good feature about this Ident is that is the soundtrack that comes with it, this soundtrack again links in with horror codes and conventions, this is done with spooky sounds that match with a horror genre conventions.  The final positive feature about this is that it is eye appealing which the Ident last 23 seconds but keeps the viewers attention by the video which is going on.

New Line Cinema Horror Ident

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnKspJsUde4

This Ident would be good more our trailer because again it has many horror features that suit the codes and conventions of a horror genre.  The first feature is the colours used, the creators have changed the Ident to suit a horror genre, original the colours are light blue, which gives a calming affect, but the creators have changed it to a dark red colour, this could symbolise many conventions within a horror genre e.g. blood.  The second feature is the soundtrack used, the creators have changed the sound from the original Ident and replaced it with a more spooky soundtrack to suit with the horror genre.  However this Ident is as eye appealing as the lions gate one.  

Warner Brothers Horror Ident

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9FEi7kvxnY   

This Ident would again be suited to our trailer because it horror genre conventions.  The first feature I am going to explain is the colours used  original the colours are light blue, which gives a calming affect, but the creators have changed it to a dark red colour, this could symbolise many conventions within a horror genre e.g. blood.  The second feature is the soundtrack used, the creators have changed the sound from the original Ident and replaced it with a more spooky soundtrack to suit with the horror genre. 

Actors list

Characters and the people who played them

Steve (Luke Hignett)

We have chosen Luke to play the role of Steve due to the character descriptions mentioned in the film pitch and because we has stereotypical teenage features.  We have made sure that all of the cast look like stereotypical teenagers because teenagers can relate to them. 

Dave (Josh Filson)

We have chosen Josh to act in the role of Dave because of this stereotypical features and because he looks like the brave type which suits well with the trailer.  Male audiences will relate to this as they will want to be Steve in this trailer.

Chris (Tom Cannon)

We had chosen Tom to act in the role of Chris because of his stereotypical features of a teenager.  Also Chris is the entertainer of the group which will make the audience like him better.

Jason (Steven Hendrikse)

We had chosen Steven to act in the role of Jason because of his stereotypical features of a teenager.  In the character description is mentions that Jason is the intelligent member of the group therefore we kept his costume to be 'nerdy' outlook.

Unknown Figure (Andy Nelson)

We have chosen Andy to act in the role of the Unknown Figure because he has a good height, which makes the unknown figure more feared,  his clothing of all black and because he has physical features of a horror being.
 
 

Storyboards

Here are the story boards which me and my group created on A3 paper.  These storyboards show the different stages/scenes which will take place in our trailer.  However whist we were filming we changed the storyboards slightly to suit with the enviroment around us and the lighting we had. 

Location Pictures List

The images shown below are the locations were we filmed our trailer.  These images also have a brief explanation below the image about why we used this certain location.

Entrance Bridge

This is the location of the first scenes were the teenagers enter the woods, this scene is used at the start if our trailer as it shows the teenager entering the woods.  This scene was shot from two different angles, the first angle was on the right hand side, this was so the house's and school were not in the shot, in this shot it shows the teenagers walking across the bridge from a long shot view.  The second shot was at the bottom of the hill and it shows the teenagers walking towards it.  We shot from two different views to make the trailer look faster and therefore intense.

 Pathway 

  

This location was were the teenagers are walking across a pathway which leads into the forest.  This scene was filmed from one view and the camera pans clockwise as the teenagers move along the pathway.  This shot was done to show the teenagers leaving civilisation and entering the woods.  

Campsite

This location is the campsite were the teenagers setting up their camping gear and staying the night.  This location was filmed from many different shots because it makes teenagers seem more vulnerable and it speeds up the trailer.  The shots in this scene were birds eye, long panning shot and over the shoulder shots.  This shots show more about the teenagers which will intrigue the audience.  The group set up this campsite our self's to make it look more realistic. 

Trees 

Tree's were used in are trailer for two different purposes.  One over the purposes was the birds eye shot in other scenes, the other use of tree's was to be filmed as part of the scene.  The scene this tree was filmed in was when Dave was being lunged on by the unknown figure.

Abandoned building

 

This building was used for one of the most dramatic scenes in the trailer.  This was used in the scene were the group find Steve's body.  This location was perfect for this scene because it looks abandoned (which makes it more scary), and it is overgrown which makes it look old.  This location was very dark which made it perfect for group to find Steve because it links in with horror genre conventions.  

Props List

The Images Below show the props we used in our trailer.  These props are basic equipments that is used when people go camping.  Underneath the images there is a brief paragraph which explains why the prop was necessary in our trailer.  Props are one of the most important features in filming industry due to the fact that it adds a sense of realism to the scene which makes the scene more believable.  

Alcohol

This prop most empty beer cans, these cans were scattered across the group in the camp-site.  This prop was necessary for our trailer because is adds a sense of realism as teenagers will often leave there beer cans on the floor.  

Bags/Rucksacks

   

This prop is bags and rucksacks which were used by all the characters in the trailer.  This prop adds an a sense of realism as bags and rucksacks are a must have feature in a real life camping trip.  This prop was also on the floor in the camp site as it looks like a real camp site.  

Knife 

This prop is a knife which is one of the most essential props we used.  This knife is the weapon of the unknown figure.  This prop makes the trailer more tense and dangerous as it a violent weapon.  This knife was used on many scenes with the unknown figure as it makes him look more dangerous.  This prop is also a horror convention as it adds fear and danger into the trailer.    

Camping Gear

This prop is sleeping backs and roll mats used by the actors in the trailer.  This bags were used in the starting scene and in the camp site scenes as it adds a sense of realism to the trailer as these are must have features in a camping trip.  

Fake Blood

This prop is fake blood which is used to show danger in the trailer.  The blood is used when the teenagers find Steve dead, it is on Steve's clothes in this scene.  This prop is used to establish danger in the trailer as blood marks danger and fear, this links in with the conventions of a horror genre.  

Flash Lights 

This prop is flash lights which were used dark scenes in the trailer.  The Flash Lights were used in mainly the dark scenes as it adds a sense of realism and whist watching the trailer it makes it more clear of the scene. 

Film Pitch

Me and my group had to produce and film a film pitch because in real film making the writers will produce a pitch to try and persuade investors to invest into their film.  This film pitch explains the outline of the story which investors will take to mind as they will want to know what the film is about.  This stage in the filming making process is one of the most crucial due to the fact that money pays more better equipments, effects etc.   This pitch also includes Costume list, Props list, location picture, synopsis and why investors should invest in our film.

Here is a link to are film pitch which has been uploaded to you tube 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ99Hs1-OAM 

Clapper Boards

When me and my group were filming, we discovered that not everything went to plan (by the story boards), we had to change some scenes to suit the lighting and the forest surrounding us.  These clapper boards show the scenes we filmed and the problems which occurred whist filming.