2. After finding out that I needed to make a teaser trailer for a film, I began looking at the various genres that are available. I personally find both the horror and thriller genres fascinating, so after much consideration I decided that my trailer would follow a horror/ thriller genre. Primary Research I began looking at different images that can be associated with these genres, in order to gain a greater idea of what images I could use in my film trailer. To the left Is a mood board that I created showing things associated with the horror genre.
3. Primary Research Continued The above table shows more elements that make up the horror genre. Rocking Chair Nightmares Spine Chilling Hide and Seek Hell Hammer Scary Eyes Anti-Christ Banshees Other Possession Visions (Flash Backs) Scars Summon Exorcism Blood Curdling Walking under a ladder Raven Black Cats Other Zombies Ouija Board Beasts Spirits Vampires Werewolf Supernatural Voodoo Dolls China Dolls Dolls Creaking Footsteps Heavy Breathing Blades Screams Eerie wind Wolf Cry Owl Hoot Sounds Tattoos Tribal face paint Masks Masked Identity Coffins Skeletons Candles Witches Bats Pumpkins Halloween Abandoned building Mental Institution Haunted House Forest Lake Torture Chambers Dungeon Grave Yard Gothic Castle Setting Cold, Rain, Thunder and Lightning Weather White- Mist, Ghostly Presence Grey- Historical Black- Death, Darkness, Abysses Red- Blood, danger and sacrifice Colours associated with horror
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6. British Film Continued The above is a copy of a slideshow that I made. The slide shows various things that are featured in British films. The bold font highlights regional dialect, council estates, high fashion and ethnic diversity which feature in our trailer. I believe that each of these helps to make our trailer British.
7. What Makes Blood Circle British? Ethnic Diversity Ethnic Diversity is a huge part of British culture. For this reason I found it important to portray this in our film trailer . Fashion Accent Council Estate London is one of the worlds fashion capitals. When considering my characters outfits I looked at the current trends. Blair wore bangles and gladiator shoes. Regional accents are also very important in the connotation of Britishness. Blood circle has London accent with general ‘southern’ accents. Council Estates are commonly associated with Britain. For this reason, we filmed on a council estate.
8. Britishness… Royal Family Regionality Fashion James Bond Class System Heritage Music Under dog Feminism New Labour Britishness
11. Aspects of Films Lighting Camera Angles Setting Lighting Sound Track Costumes Accents Star Text Mise en Scene Script Metanarrative Edits Migraine Diagetic Colour
12. Horror Codes & Conventions Codes & Conventions Love Twist Dark/ Bad Weather Blood & Gore Norms and Values of Society are destroyed Attractive Female Victim left alone & unprotected Popular Charachters Violence Eerie Music/ Strange Noises Strange/ Silent phone calls Dippy/ Blonde female Killer is a loner
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16. Poster Deconstructions There are three main colours used on each which is a convention Kurt and I have followed onto our poster. Another convention that all three of these posters have in common is that they use 1 main image- this is a convention that we have also followed. The title has been positioned in the middle of these posters, however, due to the format of our image, we have positioned out title at the top of the poster. Similarly, we have positioned our credits at the bottom of the poster and have used similar fonts. Kurt and I chose to use red, black and grey- these 3 colours are common with the genre and we have followed this through all of our media products.
19. Chosen Poster Flat Plan The flat plan to the left is the one in which Kurt and I felt would be the best to base our poster around.
20. Progress of Film Poster The above was our first draft of the poster. After asking a focus group we found that this poster didn’t look very professional and the image was too dark. For the second draft we chose a different image which had more enigma codes… What is she looking at/for. After talking to our peers we found that the poster was a little plain and the fonts used on the credits didn’t fit the conventions.
21. Progress of Film Poster Continued With the third draft I decided to try and make a circle of blood to mirror the name ‘Blood Circle,’ however, after looking at the poster, it wasn’t very effective and looked more like graffiti. This poster was a great improvement, after asking our peers their views via Facebook we found that there where a few areas in which we could tweak further.
22. Final Poster This splattered style blood draws the attention to the title and across the poster. The image used creates an enigma code that attracts the audience…What is she looking at/ for? The misty look of the poster represents the spirit world. This font is positioned in a curve to mirror “Blood Circle.” The font used looks like dripping blood and the curves signify no end. This tag line was made smaller after our survey results. Coming Soon is smaller than the title which is a convention in which we’ve followed. The company logos have been placed here to follow the conventions. After audience feedback we made our credits smaller and added a film website.
23. Audience Feedback What Genre does the film poster suggest? What gender does the film poster appeal to? The majority of respondents said that the poster signified the horror genre. This shows that we followed enough conventions on our poster. I am very happy that the majority of people believe that our poster will be suitable for both genders; this means that our target audience has been reached.
24. Audience Feedback Continued What attracts your attention to the poster? Does the poster reflect a British film? The varied results show us that our poster is effective in numerous ways. It can often be difficult to tell if a film’s British by the poster, so the fact that ours has received such a high response is brillaint.
25. Magazine Deconstructions As with the poster, the magazines all have a 3 colour scheme. This convention Kurt and I followed, once more with red, black and grey- these colours are significant because the red signifies blood and danger, the black signifies death and the grey signifies spirits. The main image is usually of the main character- this convention has been followed on our magazine. Another convention that we followed was positioning the masthead in the top left of the cover and usually take up ¼ of the page.
28. Chosen Magazine Flat Plan The flat plan to the left is the one in which Kurt and I felt would be the best to base our Magazine on.
29. Progress of Magazine Our first draft of our magazine didn’t look very professional magazine, therefore we began making changes. The second draft was much more improved, however, there was still something missing. FINAL MAGAZINE COVER
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31. Audience Feedback What type of magazine do you think Cue Flicks is? Do the colours used go with the image used? The majority of people chose Film magazine which shows we followed enough of the codes and conventions. Once again this is positive as we followed the convention of using 3 colours; red, black and yellow.
32. Audience Feedback Continued What genre does the image indicate? Does the magazine look professional? The two most popular answers here are horror and thriller- Blood Circle is a horror, however, both genres often overlap. Therefore, this tells us again that we have followed the correct codes and conventions. This is a high percentage of people who agree that the magazine looks professional.
33. Plot Ideas A photographers obsession with a celebrity leaves him stalking her. His psychiatric disorder leads him to believe that they are married. When the photographer sees his “wife” with her boyfriend, he is tipped over the edge and all hell breaks loose. A group of friends go hiking in a forest, where, unknown to them, a ‘forest clan’ is not happy with their presence. After playing with a Ouija board the friends begin to realise that they are in big trouble. After friends participate in a Ouija board, one of them becomes possessed by a negative energy, forcing her to kill and attack her friends. 4 friends take part in playing a Ouija board, whilst doing so they unleash a ‘ghost child’ who seeks revenge. In order to capture the concept of Britishness, I decided that we could film in London, showing London buses and other such icons. Filming in this location would also allow us to film classy clubs which would host celebrity events. However, after planning the trailer Kurt and I realised that we were being unrealistic and our plans for this trailer were quashed. In order to portray the ‘forest clan,’ I used make-up and wild hair on my friends, we then made a bonfire in which they danced around and chanted “6, 6, 6”- the sign of the devil. Upon reviewing this filming, I was very pleased with the result. Unfortunately, due to the quality of lighting in Parkhurst forest, Kurt and I decided that we once again, needed to re-think our story. After reviewing our filming for this plot, it became clear that the shakiness of the camera meant that we couldn’t use this filming for our trailer. Fortunately, after so many disasters, the filming of this plot was very successful.
34. Location The location is very important, which I established in a PowerPoint. Above are various locations that Would suit the horror genre.
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36. Naming our Film Soul Cry Hunting Heat Blood Circle After Brainstorming ideas for the possible name of our film, Kurt and I asked our peers there opinions on each name… Our class mates said that this name signified the sci-fi genre rather than horror. Class mates said that Hunting Heat did fit in with the horror genre. Blood Circle was the preferred name, students said that the title signified the horror genre. Kurt and I decided that as our film is about a Ouija Board which is round.. This would fit in with the “Circle”
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38. Planning for Filming Before we could start filming, I created a shooting script detailing clothes, accent and facial expressions for my friends to follow when acting in the trailer.
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40. Filming Blood Circle Filming Tripod to Create a Steady product Hand held Camera to Give a Disturbed feel
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46. Trailer Feedback What genre do you think Blood Circle belongs in? Did the sound used add to the overall effect of the trailer? This shows us that we followed enough conventions for the audience to understand the genre. 100% of people agreed that the sounds added to the overall effect of the trailer- this shows that the sounds that Kurt and I added worked well.
47. Trailer Feedback Continued Was the child's singing and sound effects successful in creating an eerie feeling? Would you say that Blood Circle fits into the conventions of a British film? 100% of people agreed with this; after talking to our focus group, it became apparent that the child’s singing was very important in installing fear. 100% of people agreed with this; this tells Kurt and I that the aspects of ‘Britishness’ that we chose to illustrate paid of.
48. Trailer Feedback Continued Did the film trailer leave you in fear? Do you think that the scene with the green tint and the scene with the high contrast where effective? After showing our focus group the trailer, many of them where peeking through their hands! Because of the suspense and mystery teamed with the effective use of sound. In order to distinguish these two scenes as separate we decided that it was necessary to change the colour of one. Clearly this has paid of thanks to the delirious feel.
