Filming plans

I came up with a timetable of when me and my actors are all free to film during school time

As Christmas is coming up I am hoping to get a really good camera which I'll film on because at the minute I only have my iPhone camera which isn't the best for videoing.

So until then I am going to film some scenes on my phone so that I can get a better idea of what I'm doing and some practice for the real thing.

Targets For This Week 30th November

My targets for this week are too

• Plan filming- create a schedule which shows when everyone I need is free.
• I also need to take some pictures for my poster.

Did I Meet My Targets This Week 27th November

My targets for this week were to create a script- I did this and also included filming directions to help me know what I need to do.

Also to research more into filming styles and typical moments within horror films - I did this by looking into found footage horror films, montages within films and key moments and clichés within horror film. This had impacted the storyboard for my trailer and so I created an updated one.

Updated Storyboard

There are just a few scenes that I forgot to put on my storyboard so I've drawn them below and where they would be.

I know that when I start filming this will change a little bit and parts of the storyboard may not be in the trailer if it's too long or if they just don't fit. I may also include some new scenes but I'll post about those as I think about them...

Script

I've developed a script which I'll use when filming. I don't have a lot of dialogue in my trailer but this includes stage directions and camera angles etc.

 

 

Two Beginnings

After I did my research on found footage horror films, I really wanted to incorporate this technique into my own film as I have really enjoyed the found footage films that I have watched because they're quite creepy and it gives an interesting aspect to a film.

So with this in mind I have thought of a new beginning to the trailer and I have previously changed my original beginning so I'll talk through both of those.

Original:

The trailer begins with an establishing shot of the house, preferably in sunshine to create a contrast to a scene later on in the film where I will shoot the house in bad weather. The brother and sister are playing in the front garden in the establishing shot, as they are teenagers they will probably just be throwing a Frisbee or something like that.

In the contrasting scene at towards the end of the trailer I would film in the exact same place but show the sister alone crying and we see her brother behind her looking sinister but he isn't actually there as when she turns around he is gone.


Found Footage:

The trailer begins with the girl recording herself saying something like 'we've just moved in and here it is' as she gives a brief tour of the house. She is making the video for her friend who she left behind where they used to live. She then goes into her brother's room and makes him jump- a good contrast to the end.

I will probably film both of these just in case.

Found Footage

This is a technique used in some horror films and works well in capturing the victim's feelings at the start of the film as a contrast to the end. It's quite a scary thing to watch as it makes it seem as though the film is real.

I've found some examples of found footage films:

• The Blair Witch Project - filmed through a video camera

• the Paranormal Activity series - CCTV in the homes

This technique can work well for a 'documentary' style horror film where the protagonist is investigating someone/thing.


I watched 'The Visit' recently and the female victim was a young girl who was making a film about her family, she filmed it through 'her own' camera and her phone as well.

Montages

My teacher suggested putting part of a montage in my trailer so I did some research about them.

'Montage is a technique in film editing in which a series of short shots are edited into a sequence to condense space, time, and information.'

Montages are typically around 4 minutes long which is obviously too long for my trailer, so maybe I could just include a portion of a montage in my trailer.

Montages usually show the progression of a character or element in a film so I could do a montage of the scary events which keep happening to the sister with voice over on the top of it like I planned. Or I show repetition of the moment where the boy becomes possessed for my montage.

Key Moments/ Clichés

Here are some of my favourite horror film clichés which I might include in the additional scenes of my storyboard and trailer. When I was thinking about these clichés, a lot of them were from slasher type films where the victim is running away from a killer so instead I've thought about ones from ghost films. I think it's important to include some of these clichés because although they're sometimes annoying, they are vital in the horror genre and fans will appreciate them.

1. The false scare: where there is a build up of high tension music and so we think something really bad is going to happen but it's just something like a cat jumping out. Another example is in paranormal activity 1 where the woman is in the bathroom and we hear her scream so her boyfriend runs in and she's just screaming at a spider on the floor: it's not as bad as the things which happen to her later.

2. Parents don't understand: the victim's parents don't believe their child no matter how much danger they're in.

3. Dark: typically any scenes of horror occur at night time.

4. It's just the wind/power cut: before the victim realises what's going on, s/he dismisses any noise s/he hears as the wind and any flickering lights as 'something wrong with the electricity'.

5. Found footage: sometimes the footage is filmed by the victim and the whole film is from their handheld perspective.

Targets For This Week 23rd November

My targets for this week are to

• Write a script
• Look at filming styles and typical parts of horror films that I might want to include in my trailer.

Did I Meet My Targets 20th November

My target for this week was to ask for permission to film outside of my friend Natasha's house as well as inside. I was given permission to do this and so I am now even closer to filming.

Asking permission for filming

Here's a copy of the letter which I wrote to my friend Tasha's mum and dad asking if I could film outside of their house.

Dear Mr and Mrs Pretot,

 

Hello, I am studying media at A Level and I am currently filming a trailer for a horror film. I am writing to ask if I could possibly film outside of your house as the exterior would really fit in well with the horror genre. I would really appreciate your permission as it would really help me out.

Thank you,

Emily Rose

Targets For This Week 16th November

My target for this week is:

• write my letter asking for permission to film outside Tasha's house

Did I Meet My Targets 13th October

My target for this week was to think more about the locations for each of the shots in the trailer.

I did this and now have a better idea about where I am going to film everything and this means that I can start narrowing down when I am going to film.

Locations

When I was deciding my locations I just thought about where I wanted it to be but not exactly eg. 'Exterior house' is not specific. So I now have specific places for all of my shots, these may change but here are my ideas so far.

Shot 1&2: Establishing shot of exterior house
At first I thought I would just shoot my house from the outside for this scene but the exterior of my house isn't ideal for a horror trailer; it's not really in a secluded area. So I was thinking about houses near me and my friend's houses that I could perhaps use instead.
My friend Tasha's house is surrounded by fields and it's a barn conversion so it has the overall aged atmosphere that suits horror. I could get a wide range of shots from her house without getting other houses in the background which would affect my mise-en-scene. Tasha would be starring in the trailer so she would be happy to help out.

I want to be as professional as I would be if it was a real film so I am going to write a letter to my friend's parents asking their permission to shoot outside of their house.

Shot 3, 4 & 20: Dining room
The dining room is going to be the location of  3 scenes which show contrast. I want a nice dining table that can fit 5 people and has a space for me to place the camera at the end of the table. The dining room in my house is just like this, I can get shots from the end of the table and fit 5 more people around it. Also shooting this scene at my house means my parents could be in the trailer as the mum and dad, the only scene which they feature in.

Shot 6-10, 12, 14 & 16: The attic
I know it would be really difficult to shoot in an attic because of all the equipment. So with this in mind I may shoot the interior of the attic in a dark room with only a torch to show the things we need to see, the boxes and the music box. When the boy is lying on the floor after  being possessed he will have dropped his torch so I am hoping I can get enough light from a torch on the floor next to his head to see his face, if not I will have to look into other ways of lighting.

If I needed to show where the boy actually is, i.e. showing he's in an attic not just a dark room. Tasha also has an attic in her house so I could just shoot that attic door to imply where he is.

Shot 22, 24, 25, 27, 29 & 30-34: The girl's bedroom
For the teenage girl's bedroom I want typical girly mise-en-scene, my room is pink so I originally though this would a good idea. But my room is an odd shape so it'd be difficult to shoot in there, however Tasha's room is a rectangle which would be much easier and it also looks like a teenage girl's bedroom.

Targets For This Week 9th November

My target for this week is

• to go through my storyboard and make a list of locations which I need, then think about where to create each of these locations.

Typical Elements of Horror Poster Images : Eyes

I am thinking more about making my poster so I need more ideas. I have looked at a lot of posters and noticed that a lot of posters feature eyes.

All of these posters draw attention to the eyes. I have done some research on why this is and I found that...

• A lot of people say that the eyes are a window to the soul, so if  person is possessed the eyes are significant as their soul has been taken over. In the first three of the posters below there is something in the eye, suggesting there is another being within them.
• When the eyes are blacked out it suggests that there is no soul- like in the house of wax, final destination, one missed call. - Soulless, evil actions associated with a monster, demon etc...
• For some of the posters below the eyes are emphasised to show fear like in the scream poster. I think this is because it's a slasher film so she is being chased by a murderer.

Narrative Theories

Narrative theories from emilyrosemedia23