Radio Trailer

This is my final radio trailer for my short film

https://soundcloud.com/phuturemotion/whos-there-radio-trailer/s-PwsGE

Q3

FaceBook Page

I decided to make a Facebook page as a method of getting feedback about my film, the page can be liked and shared by friends therefore creating a snowball effect and getting more feedback. I also did this as a method of promotion and create an overall package effect.

Q4 How Did You Use Media Technologies In the Construction, Research, Planning, and Evaluation Stages?

Q2- How Effective Is The Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Tasks

https://tuptonhallderbyshiresch-my.sharepoint.com/personal/09loweja_tuptonhall_derbyshire_sch_uk/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?guestaccesstoken=uz946r0S%2bQzvT3VWLyaBF7B8QTWq9sUKMB9wwSxkjk0%3d&docid=2_1cffb012896e94ca5a06b0f916714b800

Q1- In What Way Does Your Media Product Use, Develop, or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?

http://prezi.com/ipi3xpdg7bxy/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Final Film

This is my final short horror film. I've made the appropriate amendments as suggested by my media teacher.

Finished Movie Poster

This is my finished poster for my short horror film, I used Pixelmater a photoshop alternative available on the mac appstore to create it. I took the picture of Donna on my iphone 6+ then used an app on the iphone appstore to create the black and white effect, then added in the facial colour afterwards. The app I used was called Colour Photo Edit, it was free to download and had a variety of tools for me to use. Once I had edited the picture on my phone, I then transferred it via lightning cable to my mac and uploaded it into Pixelmater to add in the titles. I use the text tool to add in the titles then edited the font to Tratello. I used the Tratello font through out to create a feeling of consistency and the 'overall' package effect. I also decided to use some writing as white, some as grey, and some as black to match the effect I had put on my picture of black and whiteness.

Movie Poster Vimeo

I've decided to investigate ways of making movie posters for my short film. My media teacher sent me this video which describes how to make one.

iMovie Tutorial

I've decided to edit on my mac using iMovie as I prefer this to Premier Pro. Personally, I think Premier Pro is incredibly annoying to use. This lead me into seeking alternatives, I looked into iMovie as its always been on my mac and have used it before to great effect. Therefore I decided to do some research into iMovie and this is what I found

Characters In My Film

My film consists of only three characters: The woman: Donna, her husband: John, and The Villain.
I have decided to keep my cast small because this prevents errors whilst filming as less people will be likely to drop out. I have also used my parents as the cast, this is because they both have very few to no after-work commitments so they have no excuse to drop out of filming. This will also save money and make production a lot easier as I wont have to arrange for other people to meet at certain locations. My parents are available as and when I need then. Keeping my cast small also allows me to enhance on character development throughout the narrative as in short films you have very little time to tell characters tales. Telling an in depth story about two people is a lot better than just skimming over the stories of lots of people.

Donna: Donna is a 38 year old middle class Estate Agent who lives with her husband and enjoys a 'quiet life'. She is relatively superstitious and easily spooked. This will be shown at the beginning of the film where she thinks the noise at the window is someone knocking rather than just the wind blowing something into it or a bird. She also screams and shouts for her husband which shows her to be reliant on her husband and your 'stereotypical woman'.

John: John is your stereotypical 40 year old man who, like his wife, enjoys a 'quiet life'. He isn't superstitious and is the 'problem solver' in the house. This is shown by when Donna tells him someone is in the garden, he goes for the more realistic 'it was probably just the wind'. However, he is very caring towards his wife which is shown when he goes and 'takes a look for someone'. He also suggests she 'has an early night' which shows he is worried about her health and highlights the fact he doesn't believe anyone is out there.

Narrative Change

I have had to change the narrative of my short horror due to actors dropping out; subsequently rendering my screenplay impossible to produce. I had originally intended to make the film about a teenage girl who is stalked, followed home, then finally killed by a masked villain. The actress playing my victim dropped out due to the workload placed on her.

BedFellows

BedFellow's is a two and a half minute short horror film.

The film begins with a woman in bed laid next to her boyfriend, the camera then pans around the bedroom showing the audience, pictures of the woman and her boyfriend together through various close ups, emphasising the idea that it is him she is in bed with. The phone then rings and it turns out it is her boyfriend who is calling, this tells the audience that it isn't him she's in bed with; asking the haunting question of: Who's laying next to her? The camera then jumps to a mid shot of the bed, revealing that the person in bed with her is a creature of some kind. The woman reaches her arm over to pull the covers back, this creates a build up of tension for the audience. Once her arm comes into contact with the covers, there is a jump scare through a close up of the creatures face.


I really enjoyed BedFellows, so much so that it has inspired me to end my film in a similar way. This is because I like the cliffhanger the film ends on and how the film plays on peoples ultimate fears of waking up and finding someone in bed next to them when they are suppose to be alone. It also takes away the sense of security that we have whilst in bed and will therefore hopefully have a lasting impression on the audience after watching the film.


I could quite easily recreate and improve upon BedFellows as I have the appropriate: Props, equipment, location, mise-en-scene, and software etc available to me.

New Screen Play

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ytvJeNl-Wc9t9qioqy2ck8SfWijqJlTaZYb5pmQfkKk/edit?
usp=sharing

This is my new screen play that I had to make due to actors falling out of my original. However, this did actually allow me to develop and build up this screenplay to a better narrative.

Risk Assessment

I carried out a risk assessment of all the potential dangers that could happen throughout the duration of filming. I found that the dangers were moderate to reasonably low. All my actors will have backgrounds in the tasks they are suppose to be carrying out such as coming into contact with hot water. I will be providing safety equipment in the form of rubber gloves to prevent my actors from getting burnt.

Video Editing Software

I've been contemplating what video editing software to use, personally I find Premier Pro difficult and annoying therefore I am seeking alternatives.



I got the idea off the iphone 6s advert where Apple claims 'Student films aren't student films anymore'. This lead me into looking into video editing software on the appstore as I have an iphone 6+. I found hundreds of incredibly easy to use and professional apps that would be available for me to access. iMovie being the main software; I have experience with iMovie before having produced numerous films and also being a mac owner for several years. This would also make post production easier as I could edit at home, rather than needing access to schools computers. My iphone has great sound recording and can shoot 1080p which is equal to the DSLR I would be using. It would also make booking out and using equipment easier as I have unlimited and constant access to my phone. I don't have to take any other group members into consideration as I'm working on my own.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/imovie/id377298193?mt=8

Original ScreenPlay

This is my original screenplay what I wrote before my actors dropped out. It would be too hard for me to carry on with this narrative as I need younger actors.

https://drive.google.com/drive/my-drive

Shotlist

Practice Promotion Poster

I decided to play around with some photo editing software on my mac called 'Pixelmator'. It works similar to photoshop so I decided to practice making a Promotion poster for my short film. The picture was taken just outside my Grandparents house as I thought the tree and single street light had an amazing creepy look about it, Im considering using this as my official picture due to the awesome look it has. The only thing Id change would be, Im going to have my film 'Villain' stood underneath the street light for the actual poster and obviously more writing on the poster.

I decided to use a 'Trattatello' font which looks quite ghoulish as my film is a slasher. Ive also used red for the colour to represent blood.

The name of the film is 'Who's there?'. I decided on this as I thought I could make a play on words and it would work hand in hand with the tag line 'knock, knock'. From the popular 'Knock knock, who's there jokes'. This would create a sense of irony as the film is a horror not a comedy.

Ive also used them in reverse as normally the 'knock, knock' comes first in the jokes however, Im using it second to create a reverse psychology effect which Im also going to try and do throughout the rest of the film.

'Who's there?' and 'knock knock' also work well for my film as its about a girl being stalked and the rhetorical question 'who's there' implies we dont know.

Stay Out Of The Woods

Stay Out Of The Woods is a short horror film directed by Albert Gonzalez. The film appealed to me because it is roughly the same length as the film I have to produce and is also produced by students.

The film opens with opening credits, saying who produced, directed, wrote it etc. They use a simple black background, and the writing is white. As the credits change they use a fade effect transition. The name of the film then flashes on screen in bold and flickers like writing on an old broken TV, telling the audience that the film is a horror. I would like to use a similar effect to open my short horror film with as I think it really sets the genre.

They also use several difficult camera angles to build suspense and make the audience feel like they are the characters, the is the same experience Im trying to create in my horror. The producers used camera angles such as; POV shots to show what the subject is seeing therefore expanding on that 'in the movie feel'. Another interesting use of camera shots is the use of the high angle shots that are constantly used through out. The producers make the camera look up from a low position at the villain to emphasise that he is powerful, 'the hunter' and the girls are the weak and 'the hunted'.

A shot what is popular with in the film industry is the mid shot. I don't like this angle and Im going to try to avoid using it as I don't feel it creates any form of mood, it only shows whats happening in the film. The producers in stay out of the woods used this a lot to my annoyance where they could have used other more interesting and effective camera angles.

The film uses excellent use of sound throughout to great effect. The producers opened with a mellow saxophone playing as the credits role, setting the audience at ease and knocking them off guard for whats to come. Once the scene begins, two girls are walking peacefully through some woodlands with birds tweeting blissfully in the background. Once the girls make the decision to go into the woods; the tune changes; birds stop tweeting and an unsettling tune begins to play, indicating the girls have made a bad decision and something is about to occur.
A monotone hum plays as the girls get changed and several shots of the woods are shown, however the tune suddenly drops as the girls spot one of the villains. The girl runs over to confront the villain and he disappears, as she looks around a violin increases its frequency and volume to nearly a point that it hurts the audiences ears, this makes the audience feel physically injured by the film themselves and even more scarier. Once the killer reveals himself, a loud drum and symbol crash make the audience jump which is added to by the violin build up. The sound drops as the girl believes its her boyfriend however the sound begins to build up again, which tells the audience he isn't her boyfriend. The villain then takes a swipe at the girls with an axe and a slashing sound is heard which creates the effect that the blade is sharp and informs the audience that he's aiming to kill.

The girls are then surrounded by several killers who beat them, the beating isn't shown as as shot of the woods is used and screams are played in the background, indicating they are being injured. I want to use a scene exactly like this as my opener.

Film Tagline

The tagline for my short horror film is still a work in progress however so far I think I'm going with 'Knock, Knock' as my film name is 'Who's there?'. I decided on this as both phrases fit together from the joke 'Knock, knock; who's there?' but I'm going to be using them in reverse, so its almost a play on words. The tagline is also fitting to the narrative of the film as its a story about a woman who's terrorised in her own home by an unknown entity.

I decided to research into some of the most iconic and well known horror films to see what their tag lines are see if I can get any inspiration:

Nightmare On Elm Street- Sleep Kills: like my own, the headlines go hand in hand with the name of the film being 'Nightmare' and the tag line 'sleep kills'.

Halloween- The night HE came home!- The emphasis on 'he' creates a feeling of mysterious and highlights to the audience that 'he' is a force to be reckoned with and fear, contrastingly the tag line also has 'home' in it which should create the feeling of comfortability however the producers have used it to create the effect of insecurity and fear.

Paranormal Activity- What happens when you sleep?- The producers of paranormal activity used a rhetorical question to implant doubt and fear into the audiences mind, by asking 'What happens when you sleep?'. This goes hand in hand with the name of the film 'paranormal activity'. The name of the film is made out to be the answer to the question. This realisation will create a lasting psychological effect for the audience as when they go to sleep they will be thinking paranormal activity is taking place within their own home.

Insidious- It will take what you love most- The tag line begins with the word 'it' which implies that 'it'  is some form of creature/ villain. The rest of the tag line is quite stereotypical of a horror film and is kinda boring as it has no effect on the audience. This is the type of tag line I'm trying to avoid.

Characters In My Original Narrative

My film only consists of two people: The Victim and The Villain. Ive decided to keep a relatively small cast as this will make filming a lot easier. By not having as many people, I won't have to organise and plan filming timetables as much. It will also make storyboarding and screenplay easier as I won't have to take into account for too many parts to be played. This will allow me to develop and focus on the two characters better and tell their story in greater detail. If I had too many characters, I wouldn't be able to tell as good a story because its a short film and I don't have that much time for character development.

The Victim: The Victim shall be played by and will be a typical teenage sixth form girl. I decided that by casting an actual student to play the part will make performance better because as it will be just acting out her everyday life. It will also save money on props such as school bags, books etc as she will already have them, therefore resulting in a realistic miss-en-scene. This will make finding a film location easier as I wish to begin the film in our school/ on the school grounds, The Victim will begin the film by walking out of school on her way home. I will use POV and over the shoulder shots to create the feeling that the audience is in the film effect. As she gets further home, I will also shoot in areas where there isn't that much light to imply to the audience that the narrative 'is getting darker'. As she gets closer home, she will become increasingly aware that she is being followed. I will convey this to the audience via close up shots which will also highlight the fear on her face. The film will end in her house and ultimately her death.

The Villain: The Villain will appear very little in the beginning and build up of the film, and the audience won't see the Villain as Im going to blur him out to create the effect of confusion and mystery.

Film Regulations And Certifications

My film will likely be rated 12 on the BBCFC rating scale as there is no/ little violence or gore used that may upset the viewer, there will only be the use of suspense and psychological effects that will create the emotion of fear within the viewer. Im also using no drugs, sexual, or graphical scenes. There will be the presence of a knife being used as a prop however it won't be used to inflict harm upon anyone.

There may be slight gore used towards the end when the victim is killed, however as mentioned previously this will not be shown to the viewer.

Also, with my film being a short film it means it will be produced on a very little budget so there wont be any exotic props used that would create to much fear for the audience. Short films tend to have nice audiences and will only be shown at specific short film festivals where this audience gathers. An alternative way of them being viewed is through online viewing platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo. Subsequently, this makes them very hard to regulate who watches them, to counteract this I may be able to place age restrictions on the video prior to being viewed and when this isn't possible; display the age rating certificate before the film begins,.