Once we had finished filming it was time to start editing. We imported the footage we wanted to use into i-movie and started with our film trailer. We put the scenes in order of how we were going to use them and cut them to the lengths we wanted. We then placed them together using our storyboard as a constant reference. Once we had the shots together it was time to add transitions to smooth out the jump in-between shots. We added a fade between the shots as it was the simplest transition we could find. We then began to add affects to some of the shots to make the trailer look a lot more professional. We added an old style film affect to the girls praying scene, repeating this twice in the final trailer.
When we had finished with our film clips we started on credits. We produced are own production logo's like those seen in real movie trailers. The first, is for a fictional company called film works, we used an italic font for the first part of the name making the logo look extremely soft contrasting with the bold font used for 'works'. We kept the black, white and red colour scheme to connote the horror genre.
The second, a logo for company 'Low films' uses a bold font throughout the logo. By adding a white drop shadow we were able to produce a bold eye catching production logo. We added both these logo's to the beginning of our trailer to make our final work look more realistic.
Finally we added the films name 'Ward 13' to the end of the trailer so the audience would know the films name, we also added the films release date.
When the editing was done it was time to add in sound. Originally we tried to use garage band but found it hard to produce the sound we liked. In the end we decided to use some non-copyrighted music from www.freeplaymusic.com. We picked a sound track called 'Abandoned infirmary' which gave the trailer a creepy atmosphere. We then added screams to the end of the trailer to finish off.
One we had finished planning we were ready to start filming. We filmed over a two day period, shooting after school at each different location. For our first shot we headed to Whittington hospital, we needed a close up of the hospitals sign to give the viewer a basic understanding of the trailers storyline. We decided to shot free hand as if the sign is being seen from the killers perspective. We then moved across the road to the Archway campus to film the hospitals establishing shots. Although the campus isn't actually a hospital because of its gothic architecture we thought it would be the perfect location for 'Ward 13'.
Our second location was Hampstead heath. These shots took a lot longer as we had more to film. Firstly we filmed the running shots, we got Yann to run around the camera whilst we tracked him. We did this as it was the most efficient way to get long running shots without taking the camera off the tripod. We then shot the girls praying scenes in a hidden corner of the heath. We placed red candles around the area and started to film. By zooming in on the candles we were able to create a very sinister shot. We then shot the killing scenes making the villain run up behind the girl. we shot this at a low angle to show the power the killer has over the viewers.
Lastly we shot a close up on the killers face whilst blood was being thrown over him. Again we shot this at a low angle with the killer looking down on us. With this shot we waited until the blood dripped off the mask before we stopped filming for the day.
The magazine was the final production piece we had to create. Having already taken the images when producing the film poster it became a matter of just picking the photograph we wanted to use. In the original storyboard we had planned on using a mid shot so we could incorporate the killers bloody shirt. By taking the image form a low angle we were able to draw more attention to the costume connoting the idea of slasher horror. When we had selected our image, a flat plan was created to give a rough idea on where everything would be placed. We also wanted to have a basic idea of the conventions we were going to use in our production work.
-Flat plan -
-Original Image-
Once we had chosen the final photograph we had to import it into adobe Photoshop to start editing. We played with the brightness of the image to give it a sinister look, then adjusted the colour making the red tones a lot more vivid. As a group we decided on the name film weekly , a simple yet clear name denoting what the magazine is about. We then looked at the typography of existing film magazines to help decided on our on font. Eventually we picked a font called aharoni adding a red drop shadow to create a 3D effect. We ended up putting our image over the top of the magazine name to show the films importance. Also by doing this it shows the magazine is a well known publication and that the content is a lot more important then the magazines name.
We added the films name 'Ward 13' to the bottom of the magazine keeping the same font as in the poster, this was to make sure our publicity campaign was consistent with each other. We then placed article names on each side of the image making the main headings white and descriptions red. This contrasts with the magazine title using the same colour scheme throughout. We then placed an emboss on the headings to make them stand out against the white shirt in the background. Because the articles relate to the horror genre we decided to make our magazine a 'Special horror edition' allowing us to focus purely on making out magazine a focused on the genre as possible.
To finish off we added a barcode, date, website and price (£3.00).
As part of our publicity campaign, we had to produce a film poster to help advertise the film. To begin design work we looked at some pre-existing film posters to help gain a understanding of the conventions used in normal posters. We created a spider diagram of the different concepts we wanted to include in our poster and came up with a final flat plan.
-Flat plan-
Once we had produced the flat plan we showed it to five 15-19 year olds, asking what they thought of the design we came up with. The feedback we received was mainly good except when it came to the typography. Most of the teenagers we asked agreed that the font should be bolder, so it would stand out on the page. This meant scraping the original idea of using an italic, blood dripped font for the films title. Using adobe Photoshop we was able to put all the elements we originally planned into the poster. Downloading a font from www.dafont.com produced a bold, yet chilling title fitting the slasher genre. The tagline "this will hurt a bit" is a commonly used phrase by doctors and connotes the idea of pain suggesting the film may 'hurt' the viewer. We used a font called ariel bold for the tagline, placing it directly under the films title 'Ward 13'. Both title and tagline are written in red representing blood, denoting the slasher genre. In the background we used a black and white image of an old hospital ward. After we had figured out the background we started out on main image. We planned on using a long shot of the main character David Slash standing with his arms caught in a straight jacket. For this we took a number of images at different angles to capture the perfect picture. Once we were happy with the image we used a filter to add an artist stoke and blur the image. We then cut the image form its original background placing it in the centre of the hospital photo. In addition we blurred the edges to make the image consistent with the background.
-Original Images-
Finally we added the films release date and production information to the bottom of the poster. Again we used ariel bold for the release date to keep consistency in the poster.
We wanted to see people reactions to the storyline we had come up with so we produced this publicity poster. This poster is designed to look like a metropolitan police poster warning people of an escaped crimal. We placed the poster around are local area to see the reaction it would cause. We based this idea on the publicity campaign for film District 9, which featured posters warning people of alien attacks. These poster were posted in certain locations featuring the words 'Humans only'. We also looked at the publicity campaign for The Blair witch project. Artisan Entertainment created a hugely successful publicity campaign, creating missing posters for the films characters.
We started out our project by looking at the key elements of the slasher genre. This helped us to write the final synopsis which we would base our publicity campaign on.The synopsis; Ex- mental patient David Slash is a broken man in more ways then one; after escaping from well known mental facility 'Ward 13' he is hell bent on returning to his hometown to kill his enemies. The film is set in suburban London with David hiding out in the woods where he played as a child. He is wearing a cream straight jacket denoting the fact he has escaped from a mental hospital. He is also seen wearing a white mask hiding his face from his victims, this is iconic to the idea of a horror movie with a stereotypical villains trying to hide there true identities. The mask; a normal white art mask will have the number thirteen engraved into the forehead connoting the films name 'Ward 13', a constant reminder of what the viewer is watching. The protagonist of the film David Slash, uses a old cutting knife in order to kill his enemies.
Our initial idea for the trailer was to focus on only shots involving the films protagonist teen mental patient, David Slash and the weeks following his escape from "Ward 13". Our first storyboard included most of this but became to long for a short teaser trailer. We then cut this down to produce the final plan;
When we had story boarded our trailer it was time to start planning the rest of our production work. Here I have included a copy of our production sheet and shooting schedule;
-Production Sheet-
-Shooting Schedule-
Location
Choosing the filming locations was one of the most important aspects to planning our trailer. We wanted the locations to match the ones in the films synopsis and because of this they had to be just right. For the establishing shots of a hospital we ended up picking two different locations, the Whittington hospital and the Archway campus . For the park scenes we chose Hampstead heath a location close to our school.
-Hampstead Heath-
-The Archway Campus-
Props
We then looked at props and what would be the appropriate costume for the killer. In our synopsis we wanted the killer to wear a white art mask with the number 13 engraved into the forehead. We managed to buy a mask like this in a local costume shop but found it too hard to cut 13 in the forehead. We also bought a large fake knife for the killers weapon.
A teaser trailer is a short 30-second trailer giving a brief insight into a film. Teaser Trailers are usually introduced months before a movie is actually released building up anticipation for a film. The trailer I looked at is for teenage horror ‘Jennifer‘s body‘; The trailer starts with the 20th century fox production logo, this fades into a long shot of someone swimming in a lake. The trailer then cuts into a mid shot and we see it is a woman in the lake, whilst this is going on the audience can hear creepy music playing in the background making us wonder if the girl is in danger. It then cuts to a close up of the girls face, this allows us to see a sinister expression making us think perhaps she isn’t the films victim. The trailer uses a mix of clips from the film and short sentences to help the reader understand the films basic plot. These are interspersed within each other with the clip usually relating to what the viewer has read on screen. This finally ends with the words “would die for” denoting that the girl we initially thought was the victim is actually the killer.
The trailer uses typical horror movie conventions to connote the idea it is part of the horror genre. These conventions are made oblivious toward the middle of the trailer when it is clear to us who the films killer is. Her eyes change colour and the entire feel of the trailer becomes extremely dark. The remainder of shots shown are mainly set at night and the colour red, connoting blood is used when we see her shadow change into a inhuman character. The trailer then switches to show another part of the storyline showing a teenage girl trying to take down the killer. This is connoted by the change in music becoming more fast paced, like an action film.
The trailer then ends with the movies name ‘Jennifer’s Body’ and the films release date. Telling audiences when they can see the film. This is typical of movie trailers as it forces people to watch the entire trailer before they can know its name.
Production Logo's
WARNER BROS. PICTURES Clouds in the background connote the idea that Warner Bros. usually produces light-hearted comedies or family films. This is also denoted in the colour scheme used in the logo as primary colours like blue and yellow are usually used when trying to target a younger audience as they attract the eye. The actual Warner Bros. logo is representive of medallion connoting a police badge or idea that perhaps they produce mostly action, drama contrasting with the idea of a very family orientated company.
UNITED ARTIST By mixing a silver font with a dark black background the united artist production logo connotes the idea that perhaps they’re quite a dark company. Also because the typography is written in silver contrasted with the black creates an almost sci-fi look connoting that the company specialises in the sci-fi genre, which is also denoted in the bold font.
Questionnaire We gave a questionnaire to twenty 15-19 year olds to gain a better understanding on what attracts them to the horror genre. We asked;
-What attracts you to a horror film? -What is your favourite (slasher) horror film? -What type of iconic weapons would a villain have in a slasher film? -What defines a slasher horror for you? -What is your favourite horror soundtrack? -Who is your all time favourite horror villain? -What real life situations make you scared? -How often do you see a horror film? -What type of thing attracts you in a film poster?
The main feedback received was that are age group were mainly attracted by movie trailers and posters rather then reviews in magazines. The group also wrote that they were heavily influenced by viral campaigns and advertisements on the internet, social networking sites and television. We also asked people what they looked for in a horror villain. From this we found out that the audience preferred masked killers as they create a sense of mystery. Because of this we decided to make our villain completely masked throughout the film. We also asked about the real life situations that really scared our audience. Most of the group said that they were more scared of the idea of escaped villain or metal patients then anything else.
Film Publicity- Borat
Since its release date borat has grossed over $260 million worldwide, the film was also nominated for numerous awards including a golden globe and Academy award.
The film's success is somewhat due to the help of clever publicity stunts building up the movies reputation. Sacha Baron Cohen's character Borat was seen around popular tourist destinations months before the film's release, even trying to give George Bush an invite to the movies premier whilst on a trip to the white house. Cohen's stunt was timed to coincide with the official vistis by the Kazakh President, who was scheduled to meet with BUsh at the time. Cohen was also seen in Cannes wearing a green mankini before his film was shown at the Cannes film festival creating an idea on what the movie was going to be like. Borat was also previewed at the Comic-Con International in San Diego, California.
Location
