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.

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

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.

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.

Contributor Release Form

I made my own contributor release form for the actors staring in my film to sign. This gives me consent and permission for me to upload the film online to YouTube. This also clears me legally in the case of injury and/or death of a person during production.

StoryBoard

I drew my opening scene of my short horror film. My artistic work is appalling so I may use another method for storyboarding the rest of the film however this was just a trial method and helps me to film regardless.  

Feedback on pitch

 

This is the feedback I got back from my pitch for the short horror film I'm going to produce.

 

I'm going to edit my pitch and upload it to my blog soon, however this is a quick 'things to consider' at the minute.

I was told to consider my settings on where to film, with proposed scenes shot in London, I was told to take into account the fact that London is a more populated area so people may be more likely to take action against something they perceive as dangerous. This goes against my original idea, as I felt that people in London would be less likely to be shocked at the sight of someone filming because London is one of the 'film hubs' of the world.

However, with the current threat level being 'severe' of a terrorist attack in London, I've decided to not film there as people may be a bit more cautious and likely to call the police should they see something out of the ordinary- https://www.mi5.gov.uk/home/the-threats/terrorism/threat-levels.html

Ideas for Short Horror Film

I've had several idea for my short horror so I've decided to list them all and ask for feedback from friends on what would be the best and efficient film to produce. Here they are:

Dreams can come true:

A film about a boy who has nightmares of demons tormenting him, torturing then finally killing him. He awakens to find out it was just a dream. At school he keeps seeing the demon from his dream throughout the day, reflections in mirrors, windows, has visions of the demon becoming the teacher etc. He goes to bed the next night and is suddenly awoken to find the demon at the bottom of his bed, ends on cliff hanger.

St'orker:

A girl is on her way home from school and keeps thinking she is being followed. She looks over her shoulder only to see no one there, as she carries on walking, she becomes more and more paranoid that someone is behind her, in her desperate bid to get home she takes a short cut through a graveyard and hides behind a headstone, to her horror she sees a hooded man walk through the graveyard looking for her, enlightening us on the fact that she was indeed being followed. She waits for him to go before running home and convincing herself that he was just some pervert. That night she's home alone doing work when she looks out of her window and thinks she seems someone walk past. She locks the doors, runs upstairs and calls her parents, she peers out of the window again to see him at the bottom of the drive. She then hers the stalker open the gate and try the door handles, by this point she's to scared to call the police and the sounds have all gone quiet.

Conversion to Short Horror Film

I have decided to change my idea from a music video to a short horror film.

The reasoning behind my choice is because I have more experience in the film industry over the music and I'm now working alone. To create a music video I would probably need more than one person to help film, edit, etc.

However, I've previously produced short horrors solo before, so this will be nothing out of the norm for me and working alone will actually help for this task rather than hinder me.

There's also been an influx of short horror films being shot in the North of England, not far from where I live:

http://www.castingnow.co.uk/auditions/acting-auditions/dreamscape-a-film-about-a-young-woman-who-has-had-nightmares-11962

http://www.castingnow.co.uk/auditions/acting-auditions/main-actor-19-26-for-independent-horror-film-able-to-speak-w-11749

This will allow me to get extra help should I need it, I could also email local directors for advice and tips on how to get an overall quality product.