Assignment 3 - Shot list

Date	Scene	INT/EXT Day/Night	Shot descriptions/ Summary	Location	Characters	Equipment/ Props/Costumes
Day 1	Number 1	Night	Shehza, rolls back and forth during her sleep, clearly showing her fear. This shot is taken over her, and is mid-shot. She then wakes up, breathing heavily. This shot is also a mid shot, and the focus is on Shehza's character. The seen then cuts to a wide shot of Mishal, here playing Shehza's older sister, entering the room to ask Shehza if she's ok.	In the bedroom to look like a typical teenage girl's bedroom.	Shehza plays the victim - a haunted teenager.	Shehza is wearing a pair of pyjamas, lying in bed.
Day 1	Number 2	Day	Shehza's character, Isabella has an appointment with her therapist to talk about what's wrong with her. The conversation is shot 2 times, once from behind Shehza, and the other behind the therapist. using the shoulder to shoulder cut. After a few scenes, Mishal's character, the bad spirit in the nightmares, appears behind the therapist, leaving Isabella (Shehza) terrified.	The compound's clubhouse, in the area where there are simple sofas and a coffee table to look like a therapist's office.	Iman's character, the therapist, and Shehza's character, Isabella.	Iman is wearing a doctor's coat, to indicate her profession to the audience. Shehza is wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans, the typical attire for a teenager. Mishal appears, in a white mask, to make her character look scary and emotionless, and is in black clothes to draw attention to the mask.
Day 1	Number 3	Day	The bad spirit/ killer walks down a dimly lit hallway with a knife in hand. The shot is taken low, focusing on Mishal's stride and the knife,	Unrented house in compound that looks abandoned and haunted. - this is the house in Isabella's nightmares.	Mishal's character, the killer.	Mishal is wearing a mask and black clothes, with a sharp knife in hand.
Day 1	Number 4	Night	Shehza is huddled in a corner, this shot is taken at a high angle, to suggest her character's vulnerability and fear.	In empty room, with scraped walls, and dim lighting.	Just Shehza's character.	Typical teenage clothing.
Day 1	Number 5	Night	Shehza walks down the steps with a flashlight on phone in hand. The shot is a mid shot and then swivels to where Mishal is, lurking on the steps and then Shehza screams.	On the stairs of the nightmare house.	Shehza and Mishal.	Shehza has her phone in her hand facing forward with flashlight on.
Day 1	Number 6	Night	Shehza is standing in front of the mirror, fixing her hair and then the killer appears in the mirror. This shot is a mid shot. The camera then swivels showing Shehza's turning moment to see whether the killer is really there, but Mishal is gone.	In the normal house, in front of mirror.	Shehza and Mishal,	Shehza and Mishal follow the regular character costumes. The mirror is an essential prop here.
Day 1	Number 7	Night	The door opens creepily, this is a mid shot, and then a full body shot is used to show Mishal's character walking down the dark hallway.	A narrow room with a curtain in the background, blowing in the wind.	Mishal	Mishal wearing mask and dark clothes.

Assignment 3 - Film trailer proposal

Audience Research Conclusions

Our questionnaire results provided us with insight on how to make an effective trailer for our demographic.We will definitely try to make the majority of the favoured options appear in our trailer, those that may not appear are because we are limited with locations, such as the abandoned house that was the most favoured setting. We will try to film a girl being haunted by a spirit, as it was the most requested out of the three options we provided and as it will be possible to film. Due to the questionnaire, we now know details like what type of music (suitable for our genre) our audience prefers and which monster they find most intriguing (so we can encourage the audience to watch the trailer), because of this I think we can make an effective trailer.

Genre

Our film has the genre of horror. Our trailer will follow the genre conventions because these conventions work effectively for horror films and make them more recognisable, this will also give rough guidelines for our trailer to follow so we are aware of what we can film for the trailer. We won't be following all the conventions, like the involvement of a priest,  as it would make the audience lose interest in the plot very quickly as it would seem predictable, and the character of the priest usually used to solve the problem, if included in the trailer, I believe it will be less scary for the audience.

Content/ Structure

Our film will be called Incubus and we chose this as it was the most popular out of the options we provided when we asked our audience what our film's title should be. Our group personally liked this title the most as well as it sounds mysterious, threatening and scary, relating to the plot and horror genre itself. Our film focuses on a teenage girl who is haunted by nightmares containing the same masked killer, and it begins to come after her in real life as well. We plan to reveal a small amount of the story but enough to make sure our audience is aware of the plot. Our tagline will probably be Don't Dare Dream, to make sure the audience can remember it clearly and to catch their attention.

Audience

Our target audience is of the ages of 13 and above. The target demographic is people with the average disposable income and those who are of normal class and are actively interested in horror movies and perhaps things like the supernatural. The trailer will probably appeal to this audience because we plan on following horror conventions and the answers from the questionnaire as they were given by people from this demographic.

Representation

The main teenage girl will be seen as a vulnerable and victimized, showing how the monster affects her and her life. The monster itself is masked and wearing all black, to make him seem threatening and mysterious, and the therapist is seen wearing a lab coat and makeup to look mature and professional.

Institution

Our trailer will be distributed as a part of the film campaign and we will probably release the trailers in front of other horror film in the cinema to ensure the right demographic is watching it. 

Assignment 3 - Costume/props planning

In order to accurately portray characters on screen, costumes and props must be taken into account.

First of all, the teenage victim is always seen wearing normal clothes appropriate for today's demographic. Her outfits are always jeans and a t-shirt to relate to most of the audience, as this will then make them scared for her character more - out of a feeling of familiarity. Her clothes are always dark colors, reflecting the dark and scary tone of the trailer, and showing how the monster has affected her as well, in terms of personality reflecting through appearance.

The therapist in the trailer is seen wearing a lab coat, making the audience aware of her profession and allowing them to take her character more seriously in her approach. She also wears glasses to look mature and intellectual, indicating how talented at her job she is. The use of makeup on her face and her hairstyle also adds to her mature and adult-like appearance.










The killer is always seen masked and in black clothing. The mask causes a feeling of terror as it allows the killer to have a st
raight face, which never changes expression, this causes the audience to believe he may lack humanity of any kind for the other characters. His black clothing only emphasizes the effect of the white mask because it allows it to stand out of his outfit.
Along with this, his prop is a knife with a large and sharp blade, indicating the fact that he's a killer and intends on harming the teenage girl.

Assignment 3 - Location planning

We mainly plan on using 3 different locations in close vicinity to one another as this will allow more time for filming and less time wasted spent driving to different locations.

The first location is my house as it is the average house that belongs to a typical family and has rooms  that resemble those we picture the main character living in. This idea of a normal house and a normal family envokes more fear in the audience as it causes them to believe that the horrifying things the protagonist experiences can happen to anyone of them. We only plan on showing the interior of the house and not the exterior, as the exterior resembles houses in the Middle East which look very different to those in America or the UK, where most of the demographic live or originate from. The two rooms we have decided to film are: my bedroom, which resembles the main characters bedroom, and the living room downstairs, which has a nice antique mirror which is suitable for a scene we wish  to shoot.

The other location is the abandoned house next to my house and as it is the neighboring house and is abandoned it is easily accessible and gives the right kind of setting we need for our shots. The rooms located inside have chipped walls and no electricity. The windows are also left open which causes the curtains to blow around, creating a sinister atmosphere. The house also contains narrow dimly lit hallways perfect for filming the monster walking towards the camera.

For our therapist scenes, we plan on using the clubhouse as it has white walls, comfortable sofas and tables which comprise a therapists office perfectly, but we will most likely film at less busy hours to avoid noise in the background and to avoid disrupting people in the clubhouse.

Assignment 3 - Storyboard

Assignment 3 - Moodboard

Assignment 3 - Questionnaire results

Assignment 3 - Questionnaire

What is your gender?

Male
Female

Which of these options is the most compelling monster?

A masked spirit in the form of a killer
A creepy stalker
A creature who wants revenge

Which of these scenes would interest you most?

A girl being haunted by a spirit
A party game that is actually haunted
A spirit possessing someone

Which setting would be most effective in a horror genre?

An abandoned/ haunted house
A graveyard
An insane asylum

What kind of music would suit our horror genre?

Techno
Child-like (ie a music box)
Sinister

Should we reveal the plot?

Yes
No
Just a little

Which of these should we use

A voice over
Captions
Nothing at all

What should we call our film?

Haunted
Incubus
The Nightmare

Assignment 3 - Conventions of horror trailers

I believe that the majority of horror films follow the conventions of the genre to create more chilling and horrific film that the audience will enjoy.

Characters/ Scenes

1. A possessed character, item or monster.

Most horror movies focus around this convention, because the items used are usually found in every common household, causing the demographic to be more frightened, the same thing applies when a human is possessed as the audience begins to fear if this would happen in real life. A monster of some sort (a spirit, a killer or a creature) is always used as the thing that is the source of the terror or fear inflicted on the characters.

2. A religious figure, ie priest.

This character is often used to solve the horrific problem, usually possessions by performing an exorcism.

3. Jumpscares.

These are filmed to leave the audience shook and terrified after a painful moment of silence or a scene lacking action.

Shots/ Cuts

Shots that contain horrifying material are usually edited together with quick cuts to depict a constant feeling of fear and the idea that the characters are always being terrified, these are prevalent especially in chase scenes. Other scenes that consist of normal everyday actions or conversations between characters are edited in the normal way, the technique that is used in all films.

Setting

Trailers in this genre usually have the setting of an abandoned or haunted house to make the audience feel unsettled at the idea that something as average as houses could be the source of the character's terror, along with this the idea that all these terrible things are happening in or because of the house, it gives the idea of endless horror and hopelessness for the characters.

Graveyards are popular for movies containing the undead like zombies or vampires, as they in general are places people like to avoid, and in the movies are usually locked at night and obscured by thick mist, to create suspense.

Woodland or Forests are popular for movies with monsters that come from nature, like a swamp monster or werewolves. They are used because they are huge and the protagonist(s) usually find it difficult to navigate in them. Along with this, the trees are used as camouflage for the monsters and also provide difficulty when characters are running, as they have to dodge in and out of the trees to escape, diegetic sounds like the snap of a branch or the crunch of leaves are emphasized or singled out amongst silence, creating moments of suspense or tension as they alert the monster of the location of the character(s).

Lighting

The lighting in these trailers is almost always low key, as most of the scary things occur in the darkness or at night time. Scenes that depict daytime use high key lighting from the sun to make the scenes look realistic.

Assignment 3 - Film trailer analysis

Genre

Nightmare on Elm Street is a hybrid film. In this case, it is a crime, drama and horror film, which is also a famous remake of the 1984 movie of the same name. Much like other horror trailers, it follows conventions to make the demographic interested in the movie, like how it begins with a scene that provides the audience with insight to how these people are affected in their dreams and then in real life too before proceeding to more fast shots and cuts as the tempo of the music rises.

Mise en Scene

Different settings are used, like a restaurant, a school and doctor's room, but they are all places where we trust to be safe and protected. The idea that people are getting attacked in these places, and their dreams no less, scares the audience as they usually trust these places and makes the demographic realise how vulnerable the victims are before and during the time the spirit attacks them.

All characters besides the killer wear the same typical clothing for their age, but all the clothes are in darker colours to emphasise the dark and scary tone of the trailer, because their clothing reflects on how they are feeling and if the clothes were bright and colourful it would take away some of the trailer's effectiveness as it would indicate the characters are happy and cheerful. The killer, however, is always seen wearing the same clothes: a full sleeved shirt, pants and a hat, this indicates that the killer is stuck in this idea of revenge and murder, much like he is stuck in the same wardrobe. It also makes him easier to recognise, aside from his burned features.

Many props are used to relay the story, like how one of the students finds a book with a drawing of the exact same hand with claws she dreams of, and other drawings or video blogs on one of the characters computers which help her understand that she is not the only one being haunted by the vengeful spirit. These props help the victims realise that they are not alone and are all being hunted in their dreams. The killer himself has a prop of his own: his claws, which help him harm the victims, its his very own murder weapon attached to his own body, meaning he's never without it or vulnerable, causing the audience to become more terrified for the lives of the main characters.

The NVC in moments of suspense directly relay how the characters truly feel, causing the audience themselves to feel what they are feeling and make them aware how vulnerable the characters really are. The NVC in some scenes depicts realisation, which allows the audience to realise how much trouble the characters are really in.

The lighting in all scenes is low key, even in those that are filmed in the day, have cloudy skies or just dim sunlight, suggesting an overall dark and morbid tone. Many of the shots have lighting which appears to be a greenish blue, depicting a cold and desolate atmosphere, which is perfect for shots portraying the dreams, or how the characters look when asleep, this is seen in some of the above photos. The trailer follows the convention for low key lighting in horror films as it sets the perfect backdrop and feeling to certain scenes, specifically the ones containing horror material.

The overall mise en scene is very typical for this genre as horror is defined by many of these conventions and films rely on them to create the perfect atmosphere and feeling of suspense from the audience when filming these scenes.

Narrative/ Voice-Over

Rather than narration the trailer relies on the conversations between characters to tell the story, some of the character's speech is overlaid on scenes that are relevant but quickly cut together, to summarise what the character means to the audience, this creates a bit of a voice over, but not really. The narrative is presented in a fragmented order to create a larger sense of chaos and terror in order to spook the audience, it also allows the audience's attention to be undivided from the trailer.

Characters

All characters who are victimized are seen as vulnerable, paranoid and frightened, this shows the audience how the spirit can terrify any type of person, demonstrating how truly powerless the characters can be against him. This representation accurately fits in the genre, as there is always someone who is paranoid i.e. the video blogger, usually girls seen helpless i.e. blonde haired student and girl patient and those who are brave enough to try to face the monster himself. The spirit is portrayed as someone ultimately powerful over the main characters, in control of the situation and who usually has some sort of vendetta or reason to be haunting these specific characters, here it is because their ancestors burned him alive. This is the general stereotype/ conventions for the monster or evil entity in horror films.

On-screen Graphics/ Captions

All the vital information is revealed through the characters themselves, the onscreen captions merely add to the sense of fear through the use of the font and color mirroring the color of blood and the font being sharp and modern, reminding the audience of a weapon.

Editing and post production

The pace of the trailer increases rapidly much like the background music does, the pace is changed through the use of quick cuts between short scenes, which cause the shots to seem fragmented and scarier as the audience sometimes does not fully understand what is going on in them. Special effects like the black mist when the victims fall into their beds or when the blonde haired student suddenly begins dreaming it looks like the dream is taking over violently invoke feelings of terror in the demographic as it is clear there are supernatural forces, which we do not understand, at hand here.

Music and other sound effects

The music in the background of the trailer sets its pace and affects the heartbeats of the audience, causing them to become more scared when watching the trailer. Other sound effects like fragmented screams and the scraping of the claws against metal are emphasised to make these scenes more intense and frightening.

Camerawork

Many reaction shots are used, as the audience directly related to how the characters feel, especially when they are terrified. Dolly shots are used to track cautious movement and build up suspense for the demographic as well and are also used in scenes where the characters are running away, giving the effect that they are being chased as they look back behind the camera frequently whilst these shots occur. Some shots are also wide to show how alone the characters are in a setting like when the man walks across the restaurant, to make them seem vulnerable and build up tension and suspense. Some camera angles are taken from a high angle so it looks like the spirit is towering over the victims and others are from a low angle, like the shot at the end where the doctors hand becomes a claw, to show that the spirit is in control and has power.