Planning: Call Sheets

I produced these call sheets to help me be more organised when filming our trailer. These explain what was needed to be done on each day. On the first day we filmed the scene of the round about at the park which relates back to a lonely childhood and then we film the two nurses having a conversation about the mental patient. We decided to use a shot reverse shot to make this look more effective. We believed that by getting this shot out the way then Charlotte could then help with the rest of the filming. Then on the second day of filming we filmed the main girl Jade, this is where we used several different shots all in the same location but used different scenes from in the school and any different shots and movement. We tryed to include conventions that you may see in other horror films to make it look appealing such as the shot of the close up shot knife in her hand and we filmed a Jade banging her head against a wall looking as though she is crazy in head and by her wearing white eye contacts made her look scary and evil. By planning these calls sheets this would help us know where and when we needed to film.

Planning: storyboard

As a group we planned our film trailer by firstly drawing out a sketched diagram of a storyboard. This is the storyboard we used for our trailer. The storyboard has a sentence on each shot explaining what is going on in the shot and how long it will last for, it also explains what camera techniques we will use and what we are trying to emphasize. We will also explain on the diagram whether we are using any sound within that shot and if or not it will be non diagetic or diagetic. We also included still image diagrams as a second source of planning for a storyboard to show clear images of our trailer. Clearer images are shown and changes are able to be made.

Planning: Cast list & Job roles

Cast List & Job Roles

At this stage we know have a good idea of what our horror trailer is going to be based on. Therefore we needed to give each member of the group a job role each. We had to allocate appropriate actors to suit such roles. From previous media work we had a good idea of what each member was best at so it was wuite easy to define who would be doing what. Our film trailer will only consist of three actors, we asked a friend outside our group if they would help participate in our A2 media work, we decided that Jade Cruise would best suit the main character as she is a good confident actor and would be best suited for what our plan for the main character is going to be which is a mental patient, this is because she has pale skin and dark hair which will make her look scary. As an individual she felt that she would succeed in producing a very professional and successful trailer overall, Jade is very enthusiastic and able to portray emotions effectively.Our other two characters needed are two doctors therefore we asked another friend Sarah Lolley if she would ask a small role in our film trailer and then we decided that Charlotte Magill would be allocated the other, this is because I have more experience with the camera and Charlotte would be a better actor.

My job role was to research into the horror genre and input in the planning, (all members of the group created there own research), to make our trailer, film poster and magazine cover effective. From previous experience in our AS coursework I am very creative which helps significantly with creating a film poster and magazine cover, I am capable of outlining the best ideas to attract a audience. As a group we also decided that I would film the footage as i filmed in our previous opening for AS.

Charlotte Magill is the othe member of the group felt comfortable with acting as the doctor/nurse in our trailer. However she will not be the main acress as she didnt want to take on the main role as she didnt feel very stongly in her acting skills. Charlotte was given a very simplistic role so therefore was up for acting. Charlotte will only be needed in a shot reverse shot of a conversation between the doctors, this will only take up a short amount of time and there will not be much speech needed so this role suited her best. Charlotte didnt have a main job role but she did participate in all set tasks thats was given to both of us to complete such as group decusions, mind maps, planning a magazine front cover ect. However, Charlotte can help me out in parts of filming in taking different shots and movements in order to have a wide range when it will come to us editing.

There was a number of roles that myself and my two partners had to allocate each to. Each member of the group had different skills so therefore suited different roles. We have been able to outline our different skills over the two year period of the media course. As a group we identified that I was best suited for the camera work as I felt most comfortable, I also did not like being withing the eye of the camera so therefore this role suited me best, however Charlotte Magill did help with numerous shots. We was able to ask two friends of our to help us out with our filming and we decided that Jade Cruise was best for the main actress as she had more experience within the scenes and had more practice in front of the camera rather than behind it and Sarah Lolley would be a great help in order for us to shoot her in one shot.

We decided that both me and charlotte would help contribute to producing the magazine cover along with the film poster. This would mean that all members have to include creativity skills to incorporate a high standard level of work. However, due to me not taking any action in front of the camera and taking responsibility for the camera, i will take a more catered role in producing the magazine and poster. Charlotte however contributed to acting, helping with the camera, the poster and the magazine front cover. All members of the group will take credit in editing our trailer overall as will all share a range of different skills.

Overall I fell that me and Charlotte work well together an we will aim to create the best trailer we can and we have decided on which job roles best suit eachother and we will help eachother throughout.

planning: shooting script

By creating a shooting script this helped us understand what and when we were going to film each day. This will help us be organised in order for us to know what actors and costume/props would be needed and the dialogue we were going to use. However when planning our trailer we didnt have much dialogue to use so this wasnt included in our shooting script.

This shooting script shows that on the 12th March we aimed to film both locations, use various shots and angles however not all shots. We also included filming both the characters on the same day as the one acress did not have a big part. Other shooting scripts we have produced shows other shots and angles used within our trailer.

Planning: props/costume

After a group descusion we came up with an idea of what our horror film trailer was going to be based on. Therefore, we came up with a props and costume list which helped organise our film and in order for us to get everything we needed before actually filming. Props are very important in any type of film this is because it gives the identity of the characters and it enables the audience to understand the storyline. In our horror trailer there will be many props used props used for symbolism and hints for the plot. For example, a knife will be the antagonists, we chose a knife as a weapon because we believe that it keeps the plot and killing of the victims more realistic rather than using an out of the ordinary weapon. Some props we are not able to use correctly, for exmple we are not able to use real blood for hygienic reasons so therefore have to buy fake blood or summet that looks very realistic.

We decided that the main character, the antagonist will be wearing very pale make - up, although we will use little amount to make a pale ill looking image, we came up with the idea of the antagonist wearing white eye contacts in order to hide her true identity and to make her look very scary. The costume of the antagonist also portays a stong image and story as it is a hospital gown, and the whole body expressions given portray a stong sense of storyline. Body language used by the antagonist also the trailer in total helps the audience outline much of the genre. The behaviour portrayed by this character tends to be uncontrolable, and very dangerous, hence the reason living in a institution.
Other characters involved in this trailer will be the protagonist, these will be the two nurses who are working in this institution. They will wear white cloacks making them look like doctors and we will use probs such as a clip board and stethoscope so that the image of doctors is understood by the audience watching. These props will be gathered by both us in the group as some of the items we already have and are able to gather.

Planning: Shot List

This is the shot list that we came up with. We decided that in our film trailer we will use several different shots inorder for our trailer to incorprate better results. From reseach and experience in media techniques we deided to include various shots, angles and movement. Hopefully when it comes to filming by feeding back to this shot list sheet it will be clear to use on what shots need to be included in our trailer. However, as we know when it comes to filming and editing later on we may not stick directly to this shot list and may incorporate serveral other shots in which may make our product better.

From looking back to my research i noticed that in film trailers there are loads of cuts used to show parts of the storyline and several fade to black in order to move the trailer on. I looked at different shots film trailers used an this will help me when i make my final product. When watching the dark knight trailer i noticed that different shots where used on different characters in order to show their power i will try to include this when focusing on my main character as i think i could work effectivly on the audiences view of the character just by the different shots i could us. Also genre is another important issue and in the film trailer it is important that the audience understand what genre our film will be based on. I could incorporate this by using different shots and the lighting in different shots to set the mood. Close ups and medium shots are good to use in film trailers as people are in suspense of what is going to happen next, close ups help signify emotion and expression. I also noticed a strong low angle shot which also makes the audience question themselves about what is looking up at the character. The various shots and angles overall made the trailer more appealing and interesting to the audience, so including such techniques within my own trailer is very important as I aim to face the needs of the audience.

Planning: Location

After deliberation we decided that our main location for our film would be set in our school Parkhall Academy. We chose our location to be placed here because we needed to base our film with somewhere that had long empty white corridors for it to look like a mental institution and clinical. Although from the outside it does not look like a hospital but it does pull off a institution look from the inside corridors. The shots which we intent to take are isolated so it ralate to an institutional view and our storyline will be based on a girl being isolated for peers on the wider world. As our trailer is a genre of horror the school is an ideal place and the closest location we could film in as a hospital would not be appropriate for medical reasons. The location is good for us to portray images and clips of isolation and a girl trying to escape, large wide windows with no possibility of opening helps our trailer create this image.