Print screens of potential trailer scenes

Printscreen of Current Filming

Locations

 We have experimented with filming in different locations to understand how the ambient lighting will effect the way our filming will be done. Often if the lighting is too bright then the faces of our actors will not be clear and we will not notice until we have uploaded the filming. The location is very important for our filming. We had taken these image with a professional canon camera because if we decided to use the location as part of our movie or poster cover then it should be clear and professionally done. It should create the right atmosphere for our movie. As our narrative is mostly based in the woods we had decided to check out several different points where we can possibly do it. It would not be beneficial for us to just check out one location as it restricts us from filming different parts of the movie. However we are not only using the woods as part of our trailer, as some of our scenes we will take shots of the actor and actresses in different places where they are hanging out, although the main focal point will not be the location it is very important that the location relates to the scene and relates the conventions.

Nature Reserve - Rainham Kent

Woods - Gillingham Kent

Outside Courtyard- Rainham School for Girls

Rainham Nature Reserve

Trailers of Chosen Genres

As a group we have decided that the genre that we have chosen to do is a documentary thriller, we have decided to do some secondary research into this and view trailers that have documentary and thriller aspects towards it. Although some of the trailers we have research does not specifically fit into our genre we have decided that it would still benefit us to look at it because it would still be a documentary, it will give us an idea of the different shots and angles used by the director to make the movie seem as if it is a documentary. The trailers will also give us an insight of the location that most thrillers are used and the type of actor/ actress, prop and lighting used to make these thriller documentary successful. I will then compare and contrast these and use the conventions and apply it to our movie trailer.

Movie 1: The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project is a American Thriller Movie created in 1999. It is a non- fiction movie depicted as a documentary. Three film students go missing after travelling into the woods in Maryland to make a documentary about the local Blair Witch legend only leaving the footage behind as evidence of their journey within the woods whilst still missing a year later.

The beginning of the trailer starts off with the independent institution that has created the movie, this allows the audience to acknowledge who had produced the movie, often in most trailer an institution would not be followed or the the institution will be well known and will come out with sound effect however this one does not, considering our trailer will be independent we will now take into consideration whether our movie should have an institution too so it will allow our audience to know who had created it before the billing block. The footage and scene afterwards is just black however there is a voice over in the background of muffled crying and hushed voices the beginning of the voice over starts with 'I would like to apoligise to my mum and...'this often happens in movies when a character is about to die, listening to this in the beginning  immediately allows us to know that the genre of the movie will not be Comedy or Romance but one of horror and thrill. A text post comes up giving us the date, location and information that they have found the camera from a group of friends that are missing from Maryland. This is a good idea for any movie because it is essential information that the audience will have to know but the actors cannot say it also makes it scarier because it is not a voice over so you would have to concentrate, read it and acknowledge it. Footage of the woman speaking allows us to now see that the filming that has been found it starting at the beginning. Already she had given us an introduction of why she is leaving the 'comfort of her home' and with whom. We can also see that it is in style of a documentary due to the amateurish like filming, the shaking of the hand and the voice over from the man taking the video. This makes it even more effective because it is showing the convention and idealistic way of how the video had been taken to make it look like a documentary from the group. It then gives the audience an idea of what the Blair Witch Project is from Strangers willing to talk to the camera. The trailer then shows reviews from different companies showing the viewer how professional companies have watched it and gave them a positive review towards the movie that they should watch, something that we could do for our own trailer too. During the end of the film there are quick cuts of the scene of the group arguing and lost, then running and screaming. The camera then allows us to see the woman at the beginning filming herself with the following dialogue 'It is all because of me that I am here, hungry, cold and hunted' before the camera falls to the floor only allowing us to see mud as the end footage. This leaves it to a cliffhanger making the audience wanting to see the movie from the powerful footage.

     Movie 2: Paranormal Activity - The Marked Ones

Paranormal Activity: The Marked ones is a sequel from a documentary supernatural thriller following the life of a young man Jesse experiencing a number of disturbing and unexplained things after the death of his neighbor. When Jesse and a group of friend decide to investigate it does not take long for him to be marked as a possession by a demonic entity and soon becomes out of control from everyone.


The beginning of the trailer

Movie 3: Chronicle

Movie 4: Project X

Movie 5: Catfish

Storyboards

Before we start filming for our movie we have decided that we would create a storyboard in order to organise our thoughts within the groups. The narrative has allowed us to have different perspective of the scenes we could have for our genre but overall the storyboard would essentially allow us to know which part of the filming needs to be done as soon as possible and is time efficient so we do not waste time on filming different scenes that we would not need. The storyboard was created by each of us however we had decided to just use one member to draw the images so there are no confusions when we are putting it together. When researching other trailer we had made sure we wrote important conventions in the trailer so we can add it in and make it seem professional. 

Storyboard for our Trailer

We added many quick cuts during the end as many paranormal thriller documentaries do this compared to romantic or comedy trailers that have long shots because they do not have to create the suspense that thrillers have to do. The individual story board that are coloured in black often have a voiceover or dialogue in the background in order for the narrative to follow just in case the scenes that we want cannot be produced. The storyboard essentially allows us to see how the film will turn out in an animated version. We had decided to hand draw our storyboard instead of digitally using it as often digital storyboards restrict the way we can make our scenes, especially if we had decided to film in different angles which we will be doing as it fits in the conventions of it. We have not put audio in our storyboard yet as we are still developing our movie in garage band. The beginning of the shots will be long cuts, this allows the target audience to understand the background information between the characters and when the quick cuts appears this will make the suspense and thrill higher making them want to watch it without giving much narrative away, which most target markets hate about watching trailers. We have decided that we will film in different locations to make the documentary look realistic. Overall the storyboard will allow us to understand what the filming we will be doing will hopefully turn out.

Research on Target Audience for Magazine and Poster

The target audience for our magazine will differ from our movie poster. The text and features used in a magazine will determine the target audience that you want to come across. The language used in a magazine has to be chosen carefully in order for the target market to understand what is being said. For example; if the target market for the magazine is towards teenagers from 13-19 then the language used in the magazine should allow them to understand what is being said, so it should not be as literal like 'the guardian' newspaper. When we create our magazine we would have to be careful on the types of features that we would have to use on our magazine, the colours that we would use relating on the genre and the other subheadings that will link into our magazine that would capture our target markets interests. As shown from our secondary research, my group had gone through different types of magazine for each target market. Whilst one magazine had the actor not as his character to interest the girls in the target market (Robert Paterson - Twilight) another one would have just an image on the female character that would interest boys more (Megan Fox - Jennifers body) The colours we choose have to be professional and relatable to our genre. For Example; the colour red often refers too thriller and horror, if we were to use this in an animated disney story it would not look right due to the steretypical conventions often used in magazines.

Conventions of Film Magazine- Research

As part of our coursework, we will be creating a Magazine cover of our film and fitting towards the the conventions of magazine features and cover. Although we will be only creating the front page of our coursework consisting of the image of the movie and included features in the magazine. We will be researching through the magazine to understand why a film magazine is important to promote a film and how it essentially effects the way a target market will perceive the way a movie will turn out and the effectiveness of it. Often there are certain magazines for new releases of films. These are for film fanatics or those who want to be updates on new films and can access information that cannot be viewed on the internet. These are often sold in cinemas or other shops that a target audience could have easy access too. Often a film magazine will consist of new releases on films, feedback from Target audience and their opinion of the film, ratings on a new film which will allow a target audience to understand how good the film is and whether they should watch it and often the main feature, consisting of individual or group interview with the main actor and actress of the film that they are featuring on. For our research we will be comparing different Movie magazines and the contrast towards them or how a genre can be depicted in a magazine and how the layout can allow us to see that it is a different genre.

Inception Magazine Cover

Salt Magazine Cover

Both the magazine have a similar theme when comparing it to each other, they both have a long shot of the main character in the films. Instead of just having the actor as himself they wanted to portray the character that is shown in the film. For example; the magazine on the left depicts an agent which portrays the genre as action due to the gun she is holding in her hand. The actress Angelina Jolie, is dressed up as her character to bring the film fanatics in and market the film that she will be starring in. Whilst Leonardo DiCaprio is dressed up as the business man from his movie the Inception. The title for the film is the main feature for the magazine this is why the title is larger, bolder and a different font then all the subheadings in the picture. This allows the target audience to capture the magazine and reel in them in so they can know more about the image. The focus of the magazine are the actors and actresses from the movies that are famous, they are the middle ground whilst the font is the foreground. As we can see the background is not busy and is often just a subtle colour so we can just focus on the model however we can see small images of the scenes within the movie but nothing too much so it gives it away. The total Film title often refers to the movie whilst the salt magazine looks broken and has been shot the inception title looks electronic and sci-fi like the movie itself.

Avatar Movie Magazine

Jennifer's Body Film magazine

These movies do not have the same genre but are very fictional in different way. When comparing these magazine we can see the editors and publishers that created this had different ideas for both movies. For the avatar image we can see that they have opted for the close up picture image of the character, this goes straight for the audience gaze so the magazine is eye catching literally to the people that are going to buy. The background is minimalists but the same colour as the avatar himself. Being the foreground means that the avatar seems as if it is coming towards you. Instead of just using the main character as himself the producers had decided to go through a fanatical theme to capture their target market. The Name of the movie is larger than the all the subheadings as it is the main feature.  However the Jennifer's Body magazine cover differs from the avatar magazine. With a plain white background, the subject matter, Megan Fox playing Jennifer, is the focal point of the image. Unlike the Avatar magazine, the Jennifer's Body magazine is organised and clear with different subheadings. Often the movies or subheading are in different colours so the colour co ordinates with each other. The Megan Fox appeals to both female and male, Laura Mulveys male gaze applies to this theory as Megan Fox is a pretty character that they are willing to see and females would want to see it, However we can see that Jennifer's Body is fictional too due to the blood that is dripping down her hand on the blood on the floor. Both the film magazine have the same logo to represent that they are from the same company and have the same conventions of the magazine.

TOTAL FILM ANALYSIS ON MAGAZINE

                                     

• Total Film (Company Logo) at the top of the character but often under the main feature of the magazine or different features within the magazine.
• Main Actor of film as his character right in the middle of the magazine.
• Often a mid shot or a close shot but not long shot as much, allows us to see the close up of the actor and create a target audience gaze.
• Background is minimal, just colours or blurred out scene from the movie.
• Website and date in the corner- information on website allows the target audience to access more information on the company or the film.
• Title of movie bigger than the other feature and is often in the middle with the character with it slogan a little smaller.
• Often a review from other people to create positive feedback so the target audience will assume that other people like the movie.
• Subheadings in different colours that is relatable to the theme with other features and sneak peaks in the magazine.

My Magazine

The research that I have found on the film magazine will be applied to our film magazine that we will create for our trailer. As a group we have decided to use the company 'Total Film' instead of 'Empire' as most of our research had been looking into Film magazine all together. Total film magazine is also a magazine that looks more into the movie than the actors that Empire often do. We will make sure that we will apply the logo and barcode so our target audience are aware that it is a film magazine poster that they are aware of. According to statistics from 'Total Film', the film magazine poster had been a popular choice for younger target market than the Empire  again. The magazines that we have researched have shown the characters of the movies as a focal point in the magazine, this is why we have decided to incorporate this into our design of the magazine. In order to capture the audience attention of our film we have decided that the focal point of our magazine will be the characters, in their own clothing seen in the trailer. Keeping it simplistic and in their character will allow the cover not to give too much information away about our trailer and movie but enough information that our target market would want to look inside the magazine, which 'total magazine' would often like to do. The title of our movie will be bigger than the subheadings as it will allow our target audience to

There is some detailed analysis here Rebecca. Consider the following things:
- you need to link your observations and comments to any or all ideas that you have for your own.
- make sure you spot and comment on the use of puns, iconic phrases like 'feel the force' on the Avatar one to show your knowledge of films.
- check spellings and sentence structure.

Narrative Ideas

A group of troubled teenagers witness an event that has potentially affected the way they behave from now, an incident so traumatic that the teenagers cannot shake off the feeling of permanent despair. In order to clear their minds and conscious the teens decide a camping trip is in order in the local wood that is far away from the news in the local town. The woods seem different, quieter and almost serene and dissimilar from what the group had expected as if it was already ready for them. This is the last year the groups are going to be together before they go off to university and decide to film their entire trip to create a lasting memory that they can share between them after the trip is done. The group’s arrival takes a sudden turn when one of their friends goes missing, his decision to follow another figure into the deeper woods will now determine the future of his other friends. The teens are aware that if they separate they will cover more ground and decide to partner up for protection and each will now face challenges that could make them or break them. The incident that they had decided to ignore has now consequently caught up with them and will soon destroy them in way that they believed could not be possible. Their families and friends will now be challenged and their decision to go to the woods now means they cannot warn their family or protect them either. The challenges that they will go through will determine if the families are safe or gone.The pattern of challenges makes the friend realize that someone close to them has set them up, someone close to home. Their deepest and darkest fears are coming for them just as they thought things cannot go worse.