To make our soundtrack more unique and special we have
decided to create our own music. The sound will be created using a ukulele
and will be played by Charlotte C's brother. Making our own sound track comes
with both benefits and disadvantages. The benefits mean that we are able to
base our music on our plot, but making it also means that we need to right the
music but also organised the time to make and edit it. The main reason we want
to create our music is so that it works well with the pace of the trailer. This
means we are able to finish the trailer without the music then base the music
around the pace of the clips on the trailer ,if we hadn't made our own we would
find it hard to find music that would match the trailer well. We are planning
to make the soundtrack so it has a variation in speeds and pitch's to create
tension.
Not only will we have a creepy soundtrack we are also planning to start our
trailer with a typical teenage pop song. This music will be played by the
protagonists, therefore is diegetic music, and will be put on over
clips of the teenagers driving to the common, this will reflect their
excitement and eagerness for the days ahead.
The juxtaposition between the two types of music will also put an emphasis
on how they were feeling before and what's going to happen to them. It
help to make the trailer more interesting and not bland.
The questionnaire was very helpful for us in deciding some critical decisions in the making of our film. For example, it was very useful having the audience views and opinions in what they think would be best for our film. We found out the main people who were answering our questions were between the age group of 15-24. This is good as this is our target audience for our film as we are doing a horror and studies have shown that this particular age group are the one who are most interested in horror film.
Some questions that we asked in the questionnaire was "What do you think the elements of horror should be set - daytime or night time?", the majority of the answers were in the night time.
This was initially very helpful as we were then able to make sure we timed when we went out to film correctly. This is because we were able to make sure we filmed when it was just getting dark, however not too dark that you couldn't see anything. We were also able to use torches to create the right lighting when it got slightly too dark, this meant the lighting that was created showed suspense and tension as you could only see the protagonist or antagonist depending on what the shot was.
Another very successful question that we asked was about the title of our film. We had seven different potential names that we showed them and got them to say which one they thought suited our film best. 'Betrayal' was the most successful title. I think that the reason for this is because the name itself comes across quite creepy and leaves an enigma to the audience before they have even watched it. For example,they do not know who is betraying who and will want to find out. Campsite 31 was another companion however was the least successful. I think this is because it is quite similar - least amount of votes
There have been many influences and inspiration, which has
aided us into making our theatrical trailer in this certain way. Through
extensive research involving analysing trailers from various genres, watching
horror films, seeing behind the scene exclusives, we have decided that
our theatrical trailer was going to be a horror. this research phase was one of
the important elements into directing what path our film trailer should go.
The concept of our idea; a group of friends within a wood,
camping, came from many influences primarily from horror films. Friday 13th is
one of the main influences due to the appearance of the antagonist wearing a
gas mask and the primary location of where the film is set, in a wood. We
develop this idea by making the antagonist more relatable and realistic, by the
use of mise en scene, through clothes. We achieved this by using black hoodies,
and trousers, which connotes to evil and death, but using such an everyday
piece of clothing makes the audience feel as it could be anyone. We decided our
antagonist should wear a gas mask similar to the one used in 'Friday 13th', as
it hides their identity which would create an enigma but also add the scare
factor for the audience as they do not who it is behind the mask. When using
this gas mask we would add diegetic music of someone heavily breathing,
which could become the iconic sound for our film, as when you hear it, you know
the antagonist is around. We decided to use a location similar to 'Friday 13th'
film as the woods is also very relatable; therefore would make the audience
feel frightened whenever they go into a forest or wood after seeing this film.
We also chose a wood as there lots of scary places which we could film, which
we discovered through our research and planing stage.
Another influence was the film 'The Strangers', which is where three antagonist
victimise a young couple. We used the idea of having three antagonists as it
creates a sense of no way out, so 'unescapable'. It also means that we could
use different masks for each antagonist meaning they have their own identity,
which could possibly link to the type of weapon they use as well. Have numerous
numbers of antagonists would create an eerie atmosphere as they could come
across as a family- scary. This film, 'The Strangers', also builds lots of
tension by using many meduim and long shots, with the antagonist's hiding in
the background. We have decided to use a similar technique as it would make the
audience want the protagonist to look behind them, therefore making them feel
on edge and unnerved.
Our protagonist's was inspired by horror films such as 'The Cabin in the Woods'
and 'Scream'. This is because both of these films involve using a group of
protagonist's which are getting hunted down the murderous antagonists. Having a
large group of protagonists would enable there to be lot of suspense and
tension due to many murders occurring; which follows the conventions of a
horror film. Some of the protagonists also wore white clothing within these
films, which connotes to innocence and purity. This inspired us to have some of
our protagonist's within the film trailer to wear white as it would make the
audience sympathise with the characters. These films also have mixed gender
groups, which we decided to do aswell. This is because it would make it more
realistic and relatable as a group of friends does not always involve just boys
or just girls. It also makes it relatable as both male and female can relate to
both gender of characters.
Title One - We created all the titles on IMovie as we felt it had the right effects and tools to create a title we would be satisfied with. Our first idea is to incorporate the settings and location of the movie with the titles so the theme is consistent, by cropping one of photographs we took when creating the shoot for our poster, it left us with a sinister background that was good to experiment and work with. We then changed the this image to black and white by double clicking on the shot and adjusting the saturation to -100%. We then added our title on top with our chosen font; the title stands out well against the white cracks between the trees but is still camouflaged against the trees. To make the entire word stand out we decided to make the background image blurred. We then added the sound effects of the gas mask and the sound of a broken TV. The end transition we used is fading to black as it leaves an effect on the audience but also finishes the trailer in a conclusive way. Title Two - This second edit was more complicated to achieve as we decided to incorporate one of our favourite shots of the less dominant antagonists. The reason we didn’t use our main antagonist (gasmask) is so we could hide his/her identity to create enigmas on who they are, allowing the audience to question the characters and plot. The natural lighting takes away the tension from the shot as it is idyllic; however we have edited it to invert the colours to increase fear. We only used this effect for seconds at a time to create a flashing effect; this also allows the title to stand out as we didn’t show the text in the whole clip. We decided to create the flashes increase the tension as it links into pathetic fallacy as it connotes the shock of a lightning strike. We used the same sound effects for each title ending as it relates to our theme of the gas mask and hints the main antagonist without actually showing him/her on screen. Title Three - Edit three is effective because of the simplistic visuals which makes the sounds more noticeable, creating a more lasting effect on the audience. Again we used the same sounds as the other two titles because we feel they link best with our theme. To create this title we first made the background black with no image which connotes mystery and the unknown. We then decided to make the font white as it stands out against the black and also connotes the slight innocence we see in the trailer of the protagonists. The transition of the text links to one of the sounds (the static TV) as they both show the bad communication between where the movie is located and the "outside world" because it is known that there is never any good connection when you're located in a forest especially in a horror movie. The text also zooms forward towards the audience slowly, this is to create suspense even when the trailer is over.
This research is to investigate what kind of make up we could use to add the effect of injuries and brutality, which occurs during the opening scene. This video I discovered from Youtube, which is very reliable to use as this was broadcast on a BBC show, which is aimed for children; this means it is easy to do even for children.
How to make cuts? - Online tutorial.
As you can see throughout this tutorial the equipment needed to produce an effective cut is fairly easy to require, as to begin with moisturiser and make up wax is needed. The equipment also includes make up foundation ( preferably the same colour as the actors to ensure the cut looks as gruesome as a real cut), paintbrushes, cotton buds, spatula, red- brown paint and fake blood. This is all equipment which we can purchase from local shops and off the internet, with little expense.
This process is very easy to do as this tutorial was aimed at young individuals, which means the process would be easy and quick to do, with high quality results at the end. This would mean that we can focus more time on filming as this make up process does not take that long to achieve. As it is an accurate but quick process it would mean we can do quite a few of these on the actor, to show the brutality and fatally they faced, during trying to defend themselves. However as this is research these elements may not be used in our final production.
I believe this is very effective as these cuts can be added either on the antagonist or on the protagonist. Adding this make up on the antagonist, would create an enigma as the audience would not know how and where the antagonist gained these injuries. This could suggest that this is not the first time the antagonist has striked, meaning this is not his first victim...
Using this make up effect on the protagonist, could add many engima's for the audience as well. Firstly we
could use them to suggest that they have been in a fight previously but who with. They could also be used to suggest domestic violence, or something which has occurred between someone,which the audience wants to know desperately.
How to make bruises? - Online tutorial
This piece of research is to see the effects of bruises would be ideal for our opening scene.
Throughout this tutorial you can see that the process is relatively easy to do due to the use of make up brushes, and the technique of using them.
This could be effective to use on the antagonist to make they seem as if they have been in previous fights with their previous targets and victims. It could also be use for the protagonist, for the same reasons for using the cuts on them. This could symbolise violence occurring in the characters life, which could occurred by their partner or other sources.
In recent years many horror film trailers have started with some cheery music such as the film 'You're next'. This film involves happy non diegetic music while on screen people are being attacked and murder which contradicts each other. This contradiction creates an eerie unnerving atmosphere as the music implies that what is happening on screen is positive and a good thing, which it is not. This upbeat music is sometimes followed by and leads into creepy, normally slow paced and high pitched, music. In The Cabin in the Woods the trailer starts with a popular pop song, this mirrors the mood of the college students, reinforcing the realism of the scene. This has been done to emphasis the contrast in moods between the beginning and the end of the film. The rhythm and upbeat of the pop music gradually decreases and develops into dark slow paced music which has random snippets of a high pitched tones; this adds an individualistic style to the dull music. This music then progresses into the sounds of something ticking or counting down complimented with action music. The music then becomes more intense which contains loud, quick paced and low pitched sounds thus creating suspense and tension. The music again changes to a rock/ screamo genre of music, this will attract an audience who enjoy this genre of music. Therefore through the use of pop and screamo music they would have attracted a broad audience.
The Purge Again the purge used the new stereotype of using a piece of actual music, although classical music a lot of the time it comes across as creepy as the music they chose was calming and soothing when horrible event are occurring on screen. Later on in the trailer it becomes a bit darker however throughout the music it sounded a bit like music used in an action movie trailer due to the upbeat and heroic tune. This made it seem more sophisticated compared to most horror films. The use of sirens and digital sounding noises makes it seem more than a horror film therefore could bring a broader audience due to the mix of genres. The church choir music which is very slow paced makes the characters look like heroes due to pureness within the voices of the choir. The ambient diegetic sounds of screams and weapons contradict the calm non-diegetic music in the background and mirror the mood of America before the purge and now.
Deliver Us from Evil for the first half of the trailer there is a very slow paced, quiet and eerie piece of music played, this builds up tension as the audience will be waiting for the scare big factor to be reveal. Whilst the slow paced music there are pauses within the music therefore breaking up the rhythm of the music, creating suspense due to the jerkiness generated. For some of the second part of the trailer there is use of a fast paced beating sound which gives the impression that something is going to happen, this is a contrast from the slow paced music from before. This use of fast paced music makes reflects the tension and the fear which would be present within the trailer. Ranging the tempo of the music keeps the audience on each throughout watching it. This could be ideal and effective to use for our trailer as it would create the same suspense technique which is very effective as it would appeal to horror fans, our target audience
For our theatrical trailer we need music, diegetic and non-diegetic music which compliments what we capture within our shots. This means we have to research into the soundtrack in lots of depth as we don't want music which takes the audience away from the trailer, we want them to lose themselves when wathcing this. This blog is about finding the right scream for our trailer, so we have an idea of what scream we can produce when making our own music.
Scream #1
This scream was the first one I researched. This could be ideal for our horror film trailer as it can be edited in during our fast pace editing as it would reinforce the tension filled horrifying atmosphere we want to create at the end of the trailer. This scream is powerful and emphasises how frightened or in pain she is due to the strain of her voice. This tells me when producing our diegetic music, if we use a scream it should have feeling within it, so it would make the trailer seem realistic, therefore the audience actually believe this could happen to them.
Scream #2
This is scream 2 which is a group of children screaming. This would not be ideal for our trailer as it comes across tacky and more suitable for a comedy. However, it may have been suitable for a demonic horror film as if the pitch and the tones were altered into a higher pitch it would create an unnerving noise, which does not sound human. We could create something similar to this, by using older voices which would provide us a deeper tone, as they are young adults. However, due to the plot we have for our trailer this is not suitable for our trailer, therefore we would not produce something like this.
Scream #3
This scream is very effective due to the scream building up in power and anger. This create many images, such as, him realising the pain he's in or it could come across as if he is going mad. This scream may be good within the fast pace editing at the end of the trailer as when the shots increase in speed, this scream can be editing over, revealing the last shot of him finally screaming. Due to the effectiveness of this scream we may create one similar to include within our production.
Scream #4
This is one of the most effective screams I found during researchign scream sound effects. This is effective because there is an undertone of a squelching of what we presume to be is flesh which would be ideal for our trailer as it is a horror therefore following the conventions of this genre. THis tells me when we are producing sound effects for the diegetic music, we should involve more than one effect.
Insidious Soundtrack
This is the soundtrack for the horror film, 'Insidious'. At the beginning of this soundtrack there is a constant low whirling noise, acting as though it a ghastly wind. Complimenting this is a quiet low tone violin tune, like the bumble bee effect. Due to these, it automatically creates an unwelcoming atmosphere, in which is ideal for a horror film. As you continue to listen, the violin increases in volume, and the rhythm is increasingly getting faster. Due to the frantic noise created it makes the audience feel tense and full of adrenaline. Combining this with a horror scene, it would create an effective and terrifying shot which would most indefinitely woudl scare the target audience. The shrill tone of what I assume is a violin, pierces the audience ears, ensuring constant concentration but overwhelming them too due to the sharpness of the sound. After listen to this soundtrack, I believe we should have sections of our soundtrack in this sharp high pitch tone, as it goes straight through you, suggesting the fear will too. Also I like the use of the violin instrument, as you can create an erratic tune which is off putting and scary, which would be ideal for when our antagonists are revealed during our trailer.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
This is from the film, 'A Nightmare on Elm Street',. As you can hear, this is soundtrack goes for a different approach as they use someone's voice for the music. Using a woman's high toned voice singing, could imply the innocence of the protagonists which would appear in the film. However, in my opinion it create a more supernatural atmosphere, implying that it involves aliens, which would confuse the audience when hearing but also ruin the affect of the shot and continuity of the film. In comparison to the 'Insidious' soundtrack, there is a similarity, which the sharp high pitch tone, which is in the background of this soundtrack. Due to the repetition of this sound effect, it tells me that it is very much associated with horror films, which may be ideal to use for our trailer. Within this soundtrack, there are the sound of metal chimes, which could be a metaphor for the sharp blades of the antagonist's murder weapon within the film. However, this sound, to me, again applies that alien event could occur, which can create confusion over the genre of the film.
Dead Silence
This soundtrack is from the horror film called 'Dead Silence'. At the start of the soundtrack, a nursery like tune is used, which creates an innocent but unnerving atmosphere as there is no other music combined with it, creating a silent but chilling effect. This can remind audience's of childhood, suggesting the film links with childhood fears. This nursery rhyme then increases in tempo, and a lower tone is added furthers the unnerving atmosphere which is effective, especially for a horror film. Continuing on during the soundtrack, the nursery tune gradually fades out, introducing a low droning tune, with a few choir like people singing. This could suggest the that evil is consuming the innocence. The nursery rhyme is re-introduced which keeps the continuity of the film. If my trailer involved a haunted, abandoned house or had ghostly little children, I would follow the approach, of this film soundtrack. Unfortunately, I am not, so this soundtrack may not be ideal for our trailer.
It
This is the soundtrack from the film 'It', which involves a killer clown, which targets its prey mainly at children. This soundtrack doesn't really need to much analyse due to the simplistic element to the music. The soundtrack is obviously a circus like theme tune which is constantly played at circuses and fun fairs which is ideal for the antagonist of the film, a clown. Having such a jolly happy song for a murderous clown, automatically contradicts with each other which creates a fear factor, as it suggests that things aren't as they seem.
Our main inspiration for our film poster is this photo that we found online, its very simple however we think it makes a massive impact for our film and for the audience. The black and white filter is very simplistic but also effective, it makes the location seem more secluded and creepy but also sad at the same time. The use of the medium shot allows us to the character in the foreground, while being able to see the location of the film. The character is clearly wearing dark clothing therefore matches well with the grey backdrop. The black and white filter connotes sadness , anger and portrayal also reflecting the mood of the film. The misty gloomy background gives the impression that something could be hiding behind it and emphasises the seclusion in which the forest has, suggesting that there's no way back when you go in. The tall thin trees tower over our antagonist making him look less powerful, dominant and significant, however portraying him like this could symbolise him being able to hide around any corner.
The basic choices of clothes connotes that the character could be a teenager therefore very naïve, also giving the audience a hint to what type of character are film is going to include. The clothes also reflects the normality of the character, suggesting that the antagonist could be anyone. The gas mask is quite a new form of disguise in horror/thriller films but is also suitable because its very accessible. The mask is also very good as it doesn't show any emotion or give a hint as to what gender the person behind it could be therefore creating tension. The tilt to the antagonists head is very subtle but effective it gives the audience the impression that they are confident and arrogant therefore intimidating.
Although we love the way the photo looks at the moment we also want to add our own twist, therefore experimenting. Of course we will take a completely new photo ,but one that is very similar, but add faded layers of similar photos on top of the original photo. We were thinking of adding photos that were the exact same photo but zoomed in , giving the illusion that the antagonist is walking towards the audience but also disappearing too. You will be able to see this through the developing stages of our poster manufacturing.
Slogan
We have decided that we want a short snappy slogan that will consist of a 3-4 word sentence or just 3-4 relatable words. Les miserable's film poster has become an influence of ours. Their slogan is short ,snappy but doesn't take centre stage on the poster. Although Les Miserable is romance musical it still has given us ideas which could come across as creepy on our poster. The use of the full stops after every word makes each of them distinct and powerful. The simplistic texts works well against the dominant picture which would also work well with our choice of photo that's all simplistic. Even though the slogan isn't in the centre of the poster the idea of having it above the film title means that people can get an idea of what the film is about before they know the name. The slogan is also in capital letters making it seem significant. Title
Due to our inspiration for our background picture, we have decided to have the name of the film at the top of the poster. The picture we have been inspired by has a lot of bare space which could be easily filled by the title. Even though the background is black and white we still want to go with either black or white writing, both stand out well against the light grey background and both have different meanings. With black connoting Death, power and mystery and white being associated with purity and innocence, they both go with the themes of our film. The bold, simple font from this movie poster, The Echo, means that it doesn't take notice away from the poster and means that the title speaks for its self rather than it being obvious to the audience what the film could be about. Having a detailed font can give a lot away about a movie for example if the font looked like dripping blood, then you know people will be killed
Font
1
This font, as you can see, is called 'Rosario' and it comes in four different
formats. This gives us a variety of choice on which format to use for different
features of the magazine, for example 'Rosario Italic' could be used for the
anchorage text to display information, whereas the 'Rosario Bold' could be used
for the sell lines of the magazine as the are bold therefore stand out form the
magazine cover more. This font is also very simple and easy to read, which is a
key feature as we want the audience can read it from
various distances. Due to the simplicity of the font, it would be associated
with a range of film genres which could be present with on the cover.
Font 2 Automatically
from looking a this, it reminds me of an old fashion
court files font, which would confuse the audience as they would be expecting a
lot of the cover to be based on our films and horror films. Also this font is
very hard to read, especially if it an image was behind it, therefore not ideal
for us to use it.
Font 3
'Blockhead Regular' gives has three different formats; regular, bold and fat.
This, again, gives us an option of which ones to use. However, easy to read up
close, if the magazine was on the shelf, it would be rather hard to read
therefore not effective or efficient to use for a magazine cover. The rounded
edges and techno like design of the font connotes to sci fi like atmosphere, of
which we would prefer to have a eerie/ horror sense due to the magazine main
image being our horror film, 'Betrayal'.
Font 4
This font is simlar to font 1 due to the simplicity of the font. However, this
font only has one type of format which doesn't give us much options, which is
required due to the different features which on consist on magazine; puffs,
anchorage text, sell lines etc. Although it does not give any options it is
easy to read as the letters are spaced out evenly therefore clear. A suggestion
would be mixing font 1 and font 4 together; however that would disrupt the
continuity of the cover as from research of magazine, the font is all the same,
except from the mast head of the magazine. Therefore this means that this font
may not be ideal to use for our horror magazine cover.
Font 5
This font is very effective as it creates a eerie like atmosphere of which is
due to the bulb like ends of the font. This font also gives us two options;
either regular or bold, which are the important types of formats as one can be
used to attract the audience and the other would give more information about
it. This is also similar to our font we used in our trailer, which could be an
advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage being that it would not disrupt the
appearance of the magazine. On the other hand, using similar font of which the
title of our film would be in, could make all the information seem as though it
is only linked to the film. Therefore only attracting one type of target
audience (horror fans), which would be good but adding small sell lines about
other films would attract a even larger audience.
Font 6
These fonts are have more of a intricate design with complex patterns added on
to the font. In my opinion, if this went onto our magazine, it would make it
tacky and come across childish. This would mean completely missing who our
target audience, meaning no one would buy the magazine due to contradicting
images; having a horrifying image form our horror film, with tacky childish
typefaces. Due to the tackiness and designs of cobwebs on these fonts, it would
make our film magazine cover child-like and therefore not professional looking
or effective.
