Research and planning - changes to our idea and justification

- Due to various reasons we have chosen to change our plot and remodel our trailer idea. Although filming in Oxfordshire went well and we were all fond of our first idea, due to reason out of our control we had to move our location to nearer to home, as it allows us to make quick plot changes if needed. Filming in Fetcham has allowed us to explore a wider range of angles and experiment with lighting, so this decision to move closer to home has ultimately benefitted us! With our new idea we have a better unique selling point as there are very few horror films based around Christmas as the two themes completely contradict each other.

 - Our antagonist -

- The character changes we have made include only the antagonist, who in the beginning will be a typical annoying teenager who is stereotypical of the horror genre, however events will cause her to become unhinged and similar to our original idea for the antagonist. She will become cold and lose herself as she attacks her friends.

 - Costumes

 - Again the only changes we have made to costumes is that our antagonist is going to be warning normal teen clothes, as in the beginning our character is normal like her friends. This character will however be warning slightly dark plain clothes so in the scenes of horror her attire does not take away from her now evil persona.
Our character will still wear the contacts for the reasons explained below.

 - Font changes

 
- We did consider using the same font for our new title as for Martha but in the end we have decided to use a font related to Christmas as we really want to over play the theme as it makes it seem sinister.

- Heres some of our choices for titles and credit production ideas-

 

- Location

 - Our new location is my house, not only is this location a lot more practical, but the interior strongly connotes traditional family Christmas’with over the top decorations and a big open fire place adding to the red and green of the carpet and furnishings. This constantly remind the audience of the theme of the film that contradicts the idea of horror so we can catch them off guard and lull them into a false sense of security.

 

- Influences of production and sound track

- Are very similar to before with revenge based crimes ending in the death of a group of stereotypical teens, and emotion manipulating sounds that build tension up and releases it getting a reaction from the audience within the contemporary UK.

 

Research and planning - storyboard

Research and Planning Provisional Mark

Well done so far Shanie. I would like to see more evidence of your time management and of dates and times of production. A storyboard animatic would show exceptional skills in your use of ICT in the planning stage and include shots your have taken for the poster and magazine productions - what are their strengths and weaknesses? Add some extra comments to recent posts and spend some time looking over your research posts - there may be more room for analysis of the following: mise en scene, camera, editing, sound, location, target audience, unique selling points, branding, narrative, representation, genre indicators, key moments. Show me that you are an expert when it comes to your genre! 16/20

Research and planning - copyright examples

 

 

- Screenshots below display examples of coperight text we are planning to include within the end of our trailer.

 

Research and planning - shot list completion

Key
Red- Filming to be done at Bryony’s house
Green-Filming we have done
Orange-Filming we’re not doing
Blue-To be done on the computer (Title etc.)
Purple-Can be filmed in the drama studio
Pink-Can’t do as we didn’t have time to do it at Shanie’s
Shot list
1. Long shot- the teens come out of the house towards the car, with suitcases looking excited
2. Medium shot- putting the cases in the boot, shutting the boot (dialogue)
3. Long shot- the car from the outside driving through the country side
4. Medium shot - in the car the teens messing around being excited, (dialogue)
5. Close up- of driver trying to navigate, telling them to hush.
6. Long shot - outside of car again
7. Medium shot- one of the passengers (dialogue)
8. Close up- driver (I need to concentrate now) (news report of Martha, passengers drown it out)
9. Close up- driver turns the radio off
10. Long shot- car comes to a stop
11. Medium shot- driver gets out of the car and walks round to the bonnet to see what's happened
12. Medium shot- opening the bonnet (match on action) (dialogue states that there is nothing wrong with the car it just won't work)
13. Long shot- establishes the location as all the teens get out of the car, they appear confused ('do we even know where we are?') ('I have no signal')
14. Close up- of characters face showing she is worried and vulnerable, ('I thought you knew where we were going')
15. Long shot- establishes the house showing it is surrounded by fields (deep notes makes the house seem slightly sinister)
16. Close up- shows the front door is slightly open; character pushes the door fully open
17. Medium shot- door opening from the inside (match on action) teens enter the house.
18. Medium shot- teens establish that the house is deserted, one of them picks up an old newspaper.
19. Medium shot- one of the teens flops onto the sofa ('looks like this places deserted')
20. Medium shot- teen pulls a bottle of alcohol out of the cabinet ('seems like we are going to get our holiday after all')
21. Medium shot- (loud music) teens having a good time
22. Medium shot- (loud music) teens having a good time
23. Medium shot- (loud music) teens having a good time (climax)
24. Medium shot- one of the teens finds a weird picture ('look at this') (music stops)
25. Close up- of picture; a girl with her parents whose faces have been scratched out
26. Close up- of more weird stuff in the draw
27. Medium shot- shows puzzled expressions (scared) (door slams upstairs) characters jump and exchange scared expressions
28. Close up- of characters face, worried expression ('what was that?')
29. Title- fades in and out
30. Medium shot- teens looking out of place and on edge (doorbell rings) shot catches their reaction
31. Medium shot- establishing the door
32. Medium shot- character from behind looking out of the window
33. Medium shot- view from where the character is looking, nothing out there
34. Medium shot- same shot but a distorted image of our antagonist really quickly camera appears to jump
35. Close up- the characters face as she jumps back, showing her fear.
36. Medium shot- the other characters one of them laughs nervously, shot slows

Most shots fade out to black signifying a gap in time.


37. Close up- big knife on the counters, Martha's hand come into the shot picking the knife up (sharp eerie sound)
38. Close up- as the character spins round the camera follows her showing fear on their face, giving the effect that the character is about to faint
39. Medium shot- character running through the door tripping over the landing and slamming the door
40. Medium shot- match on action of the door
41. Close up- something falling of a counter and smashing (slow motion)
42. Long shot- character running down the stairs, falling
43. Medium shot- two characters together crying, looking at each other
44. Medium shot- character standing up looking down at them scared ('there is no escape')
45. Medium shot- character running through the room, in desperation
46. Long shot- outside of the house antagonist slowly walking towards the house creepily
47. Long shot- antagonist walks down the hall slowly with knife in her hand by her side
48. Close up- knife stabbed into the counter by antagonist
49. Close up- flashes of newspaper headlines about the antagonist (really fast) x6
50. Medium shot- male and female character under the bed crying trying to be silent, girl has hand over her mouth, Martha walks past all you see are her feet.
51. Medium shot- character from behind banging on the front door frantically trying to get out
52. Medium shot- axe on chopping block
53. Medium shot- same as before minus the axe
54. Medium shot- character on the floor scrambling backwards away from antagonist who is just outside of the picture frame
55. Close up- character space crying and scared (shouts 'what do you want')
56. Medium shot- character peers around the corner, falls to the floor as if their feet have been taken from under them
57. Long shot- same character being dragged backwards with a rope
58. Medium shot- character face down a the bath tub
59. Long shot- camera wobbling as it approaches the house (pace slows)
60. Medium shot- looking at character inside the car trying and failing to start the engine
61. Close up - of the character (still from the outside the car) showing them panting gripping the steering wheel
62. Close up- from inside of the car of the wing mirror showing the antagonist by the car (fast intake of air) flash and she is gone
63. Long shot- Character backing away down a dark hall slowly
64. Long shot- the same character spins round (as a creak sounds behind her)
65. Medium shot- shows the character turn back around to come face to face with our antagonist
66. Close up- an axe being dragged along the floor behind our antagonist, (camera at floor level only shows her bottom half)
67. Long shot- character sprinting through field (really dark)
68. Medium shot- female character curled up in the corner of a dark room crying, shadow goes over her (as if someone is standing over her, she looks up and goes to scream
69 - 74 really fast flashes of images yet to be discussed
75. Long shot- of the house at night
76. Close up - of antagonist (really short flash)
77. Long shot- of the house at night
78. Close up - of antagonist (really short flash)
79. Long shot- of the house at night
80. Coming soon
81. 31/10/14

Research and planning - credits

 

- For our credits included within our trailer we have chosen a bold standard font as it doesn't confuse the audience and doesn't distract them away from the title as the title needs to be remembered and engaging. However, even though the date of the release needs to be remebered we still want it to link to the genre, the sinister simplicity of the date links to the genre, along with the date of release being halloween.

Research and planning - title

 

 

 

- For our title we have chosen this 'to-forgive-regular'. The reasoning of this choice is because it combines the conventions of different horror sub-genres which creates the effectiveness we want to portray towards the audience. The use of the handwritten effect represents a child's handwriting which conveys our character. Furthermore, the use of the contrast of the black background and white font text allows it to stand out which engages the audience within our trailer.

Research and planning - day 1 of our filming

Research and planning - location and setting for our trailer

- For our location and setting we chose a deserted countryside house based in the middle of nowhere which was Oxfordshire. The reason of the chosen location consisted of many reasons, firstly the location has big fields which has a few houses which were separated out. This creates the effect of mystery towards the audience. Furthermore, this creates an eerie effect as its going to be quiet and the use of a 'abandoned' house infers that someone has left the house and could be coming back to haunt the house. However, in our trailer we have a girl which lives there which has run away from an asylum.

- The use of the swing within our trailer creates information towards the audience as it connotes children which links towards our antagonist as she is young and was young when living in that house when she was a child and it creates mystery and confusion as the swing is just left there hanging on the tree. Furthermore, the use of the swing in our trailer gives a brief guideline of the antagonist and how she used to be and how we lived a normal childhood life.

- These are the fields that surrounds the house creating the feel of isolation, making our location conventional to our chosen genre.

- The use of using an old looking cottage gives the horror effect more suspense as it could create the audience to feel as if the house is haunted and links within the story of 'Martha' within our trailer.

 - The way the road which leads up to the house has no other houses based on that road nearby, this creates the feel of the house being alone and deserted which gives the audience more to question about what the house is going to in tale and what they are going to expect to find within the house which creates the audience to have questions which creates the audience to be intrigued which shall create the trailer to be successful within the media industry.







- Inside the house it linked within the conventions of a horror genre film. The rooms we used and certain places and items within the house we chose to use gives more of an effect towards the audience and we used a diverse set of shots and ideas to create a sense of realism towards the audience which shall make the film successful within the film industry.

Research and planning - film title desgin ideas

- For our film title we have chosen to go for a black background with white writing as it is a well used title effect for a horror genre film. The use of the back black ground shall give off the look of mystery and darkness. Furthermore, the black background shall contrast the white text which connotes purity and it stands out significantly which shall create the audience to remember the film name in order to make the film successful.

- Ideas for our font for the title

- The name of our film is 'Martha'. There is a variety of different types of fonts we could chose from as the titles of horror films tend to be standard and basic and not over the top. We have researched horror genre film fonts and we have found that they use a basic font.

- These fonts are similar fonts to the ones we want to use for our title font as they aren't complicated and they have a standard basic font which creates the audience not question to reason of having a detailed font and how it relates to the film, whereas, having the basic font makes it more simplistic towards the film.

- Font design ideas

- For our own film title idea we like the idea of the handwritten effect as it looks as if 'Martha' the antagonist has written it for herself which gives the effect towards the audience that she has run away from the asylum or she writes her name to make sure she's known to be out and free from the asylum which links within what's going to happen throughout the film. Furthermore, by using her own handwriting gives a sense towards the audience what type of person she is and how she's feeling and handwriting shall present and represent 'Martha's' past experiences and her mental state within the film which shall make the audience feel engaged towards the character 'Martha' before the film is released which shall make the film successful within the film industry.

Research and planning - characters costumes

- Antagonist costume

 

 

 

 

 

- Picture of our antagonist for our trailer - Bryony.

 

 

 

 

- What this costume portrays?

- We have chosen for the antagonist to wear a patient gown as it links to her past ( asylum ) and shows she is mentally unstable which is the effect and look we want to portray towards the audience. The use of the colour white is clever because the colour connotes purity which contradicts the character completely, which deceives the audience.

 

- Ideas for lenses  

 

 

- One of our ideas for the antagonist lenses is the use of using no pupil contact lenses which links within the idea of the supernatural and the fact that her pupil has rolled to the back of her head, suggesting her as being mental and abnormal.

This conforms to the stereotype of her being scary mentally unstable and its creates a sense of mystery as you won't be able to read the antagonist which shall create more  suspense towards the audience.

 

 

- Another idea and option for the contact lenses is pure white which shows the pupil. This creates the effect of purity and innocents. Furthermore, by 'Martha' wearing white contact lenses links to the innocents we want the audience to see from her as it creates the conventions of a horror genre antagonist.

 

 

 

- Clothing for the teens.

 

  

  

- Picture of the stereotypical teens for our trailer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

- For the costumes and clothing for the character of the four teenagers they are going to be wearing normal standard casual clothes. By not having the characters wear clothes which aren't seen as the norm for teenagers which won't give the audience a snese of reality from the film which is the reason we have chosen the teens to be dressed using their items of clothing. 

 



Research and planning - instituion logo

 

 

 

 

- For our institution logo we used fireworks to choose our font. The reason we chose this particular font is because it links to the distorted look and to the name of the institution name we chose which is 'Distored pictures'

 

- The colour of our text is going to be white which stands out from the background which is going to be black. We chose these contrasting colours for the text and background as it compliments the dark and mysterious look we want to send across towards the audience and within the trailer. 

 

 

Research and planning - representations of characters

- How are we representing our characters within our film?

- Antagonist - Bryony
- For our antagonist we are have a girl which has ran away from an asylum and is mentally unstable. This gives an effect that shes going to be possessed and disturbed which creates people to be aware of her and that shes going to commit a series of deaths. Furthermore, this gives effect towards the audience as it makes it more clear as to who those victims are. It allows the audience to feel as though they too are the victims, as they know the antagonists background. This makes the audience feel more engaged towards our trailer. Overall, we are representing our antagonist as a possessed mentally unstable girl.

- Teens - Emma, Shanie, Jordan and Sam
- For our trailer the teens are going to be represented as the stereotypical annoying teens common within horror films. In most films of a similar genre the victims tend to be arrogant obnoxious and ignorant, this shall create the audience want the victims to die therefore gaining more satisfaction out of the film which leads them to be more engaged within the trailer.

Research and planning - Instituion animation

-For our trailer we have created our own institution production company. We think that we have produced an effective and conventional logo.  The effects that we used are named 'noise' and 'lightnening'. The noise effect creates the static TV background and the lightening helps the effect of making it look dated. It fits within the conventions of a horror genre as the colours used are dark and dull, as the contrast from the colour blue in the lightening creates mystery. Which initially engages the audience intriguing them to want to watch the films create by this certain production company which shall make the film successful within the film industry.

Palnning Targets

Well done - a fanstastic effort so far. Evidence video blogging, source (preferrably make) music for your production and create and evaluate titles. Include storyboarding of your trailer!

Research and planning - breif story board

Story board preview:
1. Long shot- the teens come out of the house towards the car, with suitcases looking excited
2. Medium shot- putting the cases in the boot, shutting the boot (dialogue)
3. Long shot- the car from the outside driving through the country side
4. Medium shot - in the car the teens messing around being excited, (dialogue)
5. Close up- of driver trying to navigate, telling them to hush.
6. Long shot - outside of car again
7. Medium shot- one of the passengers (dialogue)
8. Close up- driver (I need to concentrate now) (news report of Martha, passengers drown it out)
9. Close up- driver turns the radio off
10. Long shot- car comes to a stop
11. Medium shot- driver gets out of the car and walks round to the bonnet to see what's happened
12. Medium shot- opening the bonnet (match on action) (dialogue states that there is nothing wrong with the car it just won't work)
13. Long shot- establishes the location as all the teens get out of the car, they appear confused ('do we even know where we are?') ('I have no signal')
14. Close up- of characters face showing she is worried and vulnerable, ('I thought you knew where we were going')
15. Long shot- establishes the house showing it is surrounded by fields (deep notes makes the house seem slightly sinister)
16. Close up- shows the front door is slightly open; character pushes the door fully open
17. Medium shot- door opening from the inside (match on action) teens enter the house.
18. Medium shot- teens establish that the house is deserted, one of them picks up an old newspaper.
19. Medium shot- one of the teens flops onto the sofa ('looks like this places deserted')
20. Medium shot- teen pulls a bottle of alcohol out of the cabinet ('seems like we are going to get our holiday after all')
21. Medium shot- (loud music) teens having a good time
22. Medium shot- (loud music) teens having a good time
23. Medium shot- (loud music) teens having a good time (climax)
24. Medium shot- one of the teens finds a weird picture ('look at this') (music stops)
25. Close up- of picture; a girl with her parents whose faces have been scratched out
26. Close up- of more weird stuff in the draw
27. Medium shot- shows puzzled expressions (scared) (door slams upstairs) characters jump and exchange scared expressions
28. Close up- of characters face, worried expression ('what was that?')
29. Title- fades in and out
30. Medium shot- teens looking out of place and on edge (doorbell rings) shot catches their reaction
31. Medium shot- establishing the door
32. Medium shot- character from behind looking out of the window
33. Medium shot- view from where the character is looking, nothing out there
34. Medium shot- same shot but a distorted image of our antagonist really quickly camera appears to jump
35. Close up- the characters face as she jumps back, showing her fear.
36. Medium shot- the other characters one of them laughs nervously, shot slows

Most shots fade out to black signifying a gap in time.

37. Close up- big knife on the counters, Martha's hand come into the shot picking the knife up (sharp eerie sound)38. Close up- as the character spins round the camera follows her showing fear on their face, giving the effect that the character is about to faint
39. Medium shot- character running through the door tripping over the landing and slamming the door
40. Medium shot- match on action of the door
41. Close up- something falling of a counter and smashing (slow motion)
42. Long shot- character running down the stairs, falling
43. Medium shot- two characters together crying, looking at each other
44. Medium shot- character standing up looking down at them scared ('there is no escape')
45. Medium shot- character running through the room, in desperation
46. Long shot- outside of the house antagonist slowly walking towards the house creepily
47. Long shot- antagonist walks down the hall slowly with knife in her hand by her side
48. Close up- knife stabbed into the counter by antagonist
49. Close up- flashes of newspaper headlines about the antagonist (really fast) x6
50. Medium shot- male and female character under the bed crying trying to be silent, girl has hand over her mouth, Martha walks past all you see are her feet.
51. Medium shot- character from behind banging on the front door frantically trying to get out
52. Medium shot- axe on chopping block
53. Medium shot- same as before minus the axe
54. Medium shot- character on the floor scrambling backwards away from antagonist who is just outside of the picture frame
55. Close up- character space crying and scared (shouts 'what do you want')
56. Medium shot- character peers around the corner, falls to the floor as if their feet have been taken from under them
57. Long shot- same character being dragged backwards with a rope
58. Medium shot- character face down a the bath tub
59. Long shot- camera wobbling as it approaches the house (pace slows)
60. Medium shot- looking at character inside the car trying and failing to start the engine
61. Close up - of the character (still from the outside the car) showing them panting gripping the steering wheel
62. Close up- from inside of the car of the wing mirror showing the antagonist by the car (fast intake of air) flash and she is gone
63. Long shot- Character backing away down a dark hall slowly
64. Long shot- the same character spins round (as a creak sounds behind her)
65. Medium shot- shows the character turn back around to come face to face with our antagonist
66. Close up- an axe being dragged along the floor behind our antagonist, (camera at floor level only shows her bottom half)
67. Long shot- character sprinting through field (really dark)
68. Medium shot- female character curled up in the corner of a dark room crying, shadow goes over her (as if someone is standing over her, she looks up and goes to scream
69 - 74 really fast flashes of images yet to be discussed
75. Long shot- of the house at night
76. Close up - of antagonist (really short flash)
77. Long shot- of the house at night
78. Close up - of antagonist (really short flash)
79. Long shot- of the house at night
80. Coming soon
81. 31/10/14