Tuesday, 19 December 2017

Storyboard

While we are getting ready to create our prelim film we have also being designing a storyboard for the film trailer which we will be creating after Christmas. We had the a great advantage which is that one of our group members is currently studying art and does a lot of drawings so the pictures of each scene are a very high quality and  its easy to understand what happens in each scene. Below you can see the entire story.








As you can see by looking at the storyboard we have tried to keep it as conventional to both the horror and action genre by including a variety of scenes such as the fight scene storyboard (4th photo) as it's going to be part of a montage of the killer attacking the strike force members showing him getting one into a headlock and chasing another one down. 

We also showed our storyboard to people who fit into our target audience so that we could get them to give us some feedback on what they think of it as it will assure us that we have the right target audience for our film. We asked 5 people to look at our storyboard and their thoughts can be seen below.

Josh: 'I feel the story is explained well using the camera shots which mimics the other feels with outbreak disasters as well as the sounds and music choice. In terms of improving draw pictures too more too expand the idea if the area going into lock down.'
Owen: 'The story itself is a good concept, I like the idea of the psycho character effectively having the upper hand in the situation. The way the shots are laid out is good, but if I were to make one change, it would be the part where the guard bounces off the psycho in the tackle attempt and instead showing the psycho avoiding or countering in a way that keeps his status strong over the idea of him being invincible.'
Callum: 'The storyboard of this is very detailed and it is very clear to see and follow. it seems like you really thought of what you're going to do and from the detail of the pictures it really shows. I also like how you numbered the pages. Well done guys.'
Rob: 'Easy to follow and understandable and achievable.'
Tamzine: 'At first glance, this storyboard is well thought out and detailed. I liked the different shots and angles you've involved. With the breaks with credits make it look more professional and easier to figure out the genre. By reading we can tell its an action/horror film. So well done :).' 

My group managed to get a good amount of creative feedback that we take inspiration from when we go to create our prelim. The most useful feedback that we were given comes from Owen who gave us a positive view on the basis for the story enjoying how we have portrayed the psycho in the film as being a force to be reckoned with. In addition, he gave us some good feedback on scenes from the storyboard such having the psycho move out of the way of the guard instead of having him bounce of his chest as it would make him seem stronger as it shows as being omniscient being aware of everything around him.

Saturday, 16 December 2017

Planning for the prelim

The prelim is a short 30 second film that we are going to be creating as practise for when we go and create our full film trailer. To plan for it we have created a shooting schedule as a group for when we will be shooting our prelim.



As you can see we are planning on filming most of our media lessons next week as we will all be available next week. We hope to get all of the filming and editing of the prelim done next so that when we get back we can focus on creating our film trailer.

When we film the prelim it is going to be broken down into to segments a chase scene and a fight scene. This is because both of these are very conventional to the horror and action genre and are going to be used in our trailer as they can create lots of fear and suspense which makes scenes more interesting so we want to hone our skills so that these scenes look professional when we film for our trailer. Another reason we are filming these parts is that in previous media project that my groups members have worked on in the past I have created a short film with a chase scene being a main part of it where as another group member created a short film with a fight scene being the main focus of it so we have all have experience with filming these two parts which will allow us to create really good scenes and we can each learn how to create the scenes that the other members of our group know how to shoot but we don't.

Thursday, 7 December 2017

Location Recce

We have now finished taking the photos of all of the possible locations that we could use to film our trailers at. Overall I feel that we have a got a good variety of different locations that stand out when compared to each other. Its important that the locations are different as it can help the audience acknowledge the progression in the trailer as they see the characters are moving from one location to the other.

Keeping it local

When we took photos for this location are main goal was to go around the local vicinity and take a good combination of both urban and rural areas so we can create contrast in our trailer. The reason while we have chose to take photos of the local area is because it will always be possible to film in these areas as we won't have to take the filming equipment to a very far away location which could then lead to it being damage during transport it will also be easier to get my entire group to meet up at a local location as well. Below you can see a contact sheet of all the photos from this shoot and photos with green boxes are photos that I'll be talking about in depth. 

As you can see I have taken photos of many different areas such as corridors and pathways, forestry areas and bridges. Also, the photos that I have chosen not to consider as possible locations are mainly due to them contrasting from the trailers setting as the whole film is set in forest located right by a prison that is secluded from most of society so by then using locations of lots of houses, people and vehicles goes against the entire plot of the trailer. The photos in green can be seen in this montage. 
Starting from the top left I have chosen this photo because while it looks blurred this was a test to see what it would look like if I were to take a photo focusing on a building/large structure from an area with lots of foliage so that it appears as if someone is trying to get inside the building but at first observing it from afar. Also the wire makes it more serious as it implies who ever is trying to get in should not be allowed to. The next photo is taken underneath a ramp at a skate park located in the park near our college I feel like this will be a good area to shoot in because it is small metal structure and if we shoot it from the right angle like in the photo we could say that its one of the hiding spots for the killer which he uses while he waits for strike force to draw near and that is when he strikes. However an issue with this location is that if there where skaters nearby it would cause lots of unwanted background noise so we would want to film at a later time to avoid this from happening.

Now onto the top right photo, as you can see it is the underneath a bridge. I have chosen this is as a potential location as it would create a sinister atmosphere as the bridge would block out a lot of the natural light making it more scary because of the low key lighting. The next photo is located by a river with few trees but lots of space which will be useful for use as it can make scenes more intense as it can only be accessed through one way so it would be perfect for a scene where the killer traps one of the strike force members with their only escape route blocked off which will create suspense for the audience as they wonder what is going to happen next.

The middle photo is going to be used be used because of the large amount of trees in the area as they can be used for many scenes such as the killer hiding behind a tree as they stalk the strike force or having a chase scene go through this area which would thrill the audience as they will start question whats going to happen as the strike force member could run into a tree and be caught but in contrast they could use a tree to escape from the killer. The middle right photo shows a small walkway but what interests me about this location is the large wall next to it which could be used for stealth scenes as the wall is tall enough for someone to hide behind. This can be used to create tension as the killer could be right near the area the strike force members are hiding right behind the wall which scares the audience as they fear that the protagonists are going to get caught. However, their is a major issue with this location which is that this location is in a extremely close vicinity to a lot of houses so filming in this area maybe not be possible as the killer is meant to be hiding in a forest area located right by an isolated prison so this would go against continuity.

The bottom left image shows a old, decaying wooden wall. This area may potentially be used as the killers temporary hideout as the area around it is isolated from the rest of the forest with only a small pathway which leads to it. Another reason why I really like this location is because as the wood is old you there are several holes forming in it so if we were to shine a torch through them it would create several beams of light which can be used to make scenes more dramatic as it could be used to reveal small parts of the killers body as he hides. The final photo from this shoot that could be a potential location is of a very large tree that I found as the branches of it covered the area around it making it appear to be very dark and menacing so standing under this tree would also make someone look darker so having the killer stand under it will give off an ominous vibe and make them seem more threatening. 

The Lane

With this location what I like about is the natural low key lighting which is created naturally throughout this entire area. This is good because it means the area always has a unsettling vibe to it so when we film scary scenes here won't have to worry to much on what the lighting is like. However, one issue I have with this area is that it is extremely popular with many dog walkers so at times it can get quite busy so we may have to plan ahead when we film here so its at time when there are not many people around. Here you can see the contact sheet for this shoot.
You can probably see that this contact sheet is much smaller than the previous location. This is due to the location itself being very small as it only consists of a very long path with many smaller areas to the side of them. Also I have only chosen three photos but this was mainly due to some photos looking very similar or being very blurry so you were unable to make out the images. Here is the photos I chose in a larger size.
So the first photo I have chosen because of the how the pathway looks thinner because of how leaves have fallen onto it making it look narrow. Another thing that you may notice is that it is far darker than the other photos I have chosen for this shoot, this is because the trees in this section of the lane having longer branches which block out more of the sun making it look darker. This is going to be very useful for my group when we film here as we could shoot it so that it starts off bright but gradually gets darker and darker until it reaches this point making the scene a lot more sinister. 

The top right photo is of an earlier part of the lane which is much brighter than the latter part of it which is great for filming contrasting scenes as we won't have to go to a different location to get more shots. What I like about this photo is that it helps show off the length of this area as we can see that its a long pathway with the trees arching over it making it resemble a tunnel which makes the location more atmospheric as its like the trees are trying to lead you somewhere.

The final photo of this shoot shows another part of the pathway that interest me because in this are many of the trees looked tilted as if a powerful force had swept by and knocked them out of way. This could be used in filming as the strike force could chase the killer through here and the audience will notice the damaged trees and get the sense of a greater evil being a work. 

The Meadow

The next location we choose to take photos of is of a large meadow area just outside of the local photo shoot that we did earlier. What I like about this location is that it consists of many large open fields which will be good for filming chase sequences. In addition, there are many smaller more secluded locations with many trees surrounding it which can be used to make scenes more suspenseful as I could have the characters hide from the killer in these locations which will create tension.
As you can see I have chosen many photos from this shoot to analyse as there was a variety of different areas in this location for me to use. You may notice that the contact sheet looks difference this is only because it was done on a Mac instead of a Windows.

So starting from the top left this is one of the small secluded locations that I mentioned earlier. As you can see many trees cover this are making it look smaller meaning you would need to crouch down to get into here properly which is why I want to use this area for when characters are sneaking around the killer as it will increase the tension and make the audience worry for them. The top right photo is of a long pathway with tall bushes on one side and a fence on the other. This area could be good for filming as we could use the fence as what separates the prison in our film and the forest were the killer escapes to.

The next photo is of another pathway but with this one being in a much more open are. You can also see at the end of the path the trees form another close in area so this could be used for in chase scenes as well with the killer chasing the characters in this area trapping them this would make the audience panic as they start to fear if the characters are going to escape or die. After this photo the next one I took was of an area with many more trees but very similar to the previous photo. Despite this I still used the photo as if you look at the end of the path you can see that the trees form a tunnel like structure which again like the previous photo would be good for the killer to chase the characters into it to make the scenes more suspenseful.

The bottom left photo is an example of one of the large field area in this locations as you can see there are barely any trees in this area so it would be good for scenes with large amounts of action involved as there would be no obstacles in the way to make shoots more difficult. An example of a action scene that could be filmed here is a fight scene between the the killer and the strike force as they would start of in the field where they have the advantage but then the killer flees deeper into the forest where the tables are turned. The final photo I took in this area was of another secluded location but this one I liked as it was bigger than the other secluded area which will allow us to use this location for more scenes such as the killer trapping the characters in here to fight them one on one where he would have the upper hand.

The Woods

The final location that we decided to take photos of was also the furthest location from the college but we decided to take photos here as one of the members of my group lives very near to this area and he volunteered to take photos of this location as it would give us a larger variety of photos as many of the previous shoots had photos that looked similar to photos in other shoots.
While this contact sheet is not as big as ones from other shoots but it still contains many unique looking photos that stand out among my other shoots.


The first photo that I have chosen from this shoot is of a forestry area with many trees in the surrounding area. What I like about this area is that all of the leaves have fallen from the trees covering the ground which gives the location a different feel to the ones in my previous shoots as it makes it feel somewhat peaceful this may also make audiences feel nostalgic by giving them a sense of deja vu as if they been to this place before.

The next photo is of an area with less trees making useful for scenes which involve a lot of movement such as chase sequences. However despite the lack of trees it still has many area where we could have the killer hide in so that he can catch the strike force of guard.

The final photo from this shoot is another area with many trees but what I like about this area is the variety of different trees as they are of many different shapes and forms with some being straight with  branches sticking out of them as if they were arms, some are very tall and intimidating which makes you feel weaker as it appears that they are looking down on you. My favourite tree from this shoot is the large red one in the centre of the photo as the colour red connotes with many sinister meanings such as blood and death which juxtaposes with the peaceful atmosphere that the location creates.

Tuesday, 21 November 2017

Location Recce planning

The location recce is an extremely important part of a films production as it can help determine the best suitable location for a film to be shot at. Because of this my group are creating a plan so that we are fully prepared when we do it for real.

Above you can see a table which I have created which displays the times that me and my group are available to go out and take photos of location with the numbers showing what periods we are available one each day. You may notice that segments of the table are highlighted in two separated colours, this is because the red is for days which it at least two of us are not available to meet up for long enough to go and take photos. Now the names highlighted in yellow show when at least two members of the group can meet up to take photos. For example, looking on Wednesday me and Ash can take photos during periods 1 and 2 whereas Will won't be able to join us until periods 3 and 4. In addition, when we got to take the photos we will be using my camera as I use it for photography all of the time and can get very detailed photos with it.

At this moment on each day we are going to be at a different location so that we can get a variety of different photos to use these locations can be seen below.

Keeping it local


This shoot will be taking place on Wednesday as it is by far the largest area so we are going to use the day where we have the most time to take photos overall. We have chose this location because it has a good mixture of both natural and urban areas which will be perfect for setting different atmospheres for our film as we can shoot in the woods to make the audience feel isolated while urban areas like streets will make them feel more relaxed it is closer to civilisation.

The Meadow


This location is a little bit further than the area that we will be covering on Wednesday so we will be taking photos here next Tuesday as while not all of my group but me and Will have a long amount of time to go and take photos. This is a good area because it is more hidden away so it is not often that you see large amounts of people there so it would be a good spot for filming. Also as it is natural area it will give off an isolated atmosphere like the local location.

The Lane


The lane is the smallest location that we will be taking photos in so we will be doing this on Thursday as this is the day where all of us are only have a small amount of time to take photos. It is an extremely forestry area making it look dark and mysterious which can be used to create some very scary scenes.

The Woods


The woods is the furthest potential location which we could be filming. However, we are chosing this location as it is very close by to one of out group members making it easier fo us to meet their. The location itself is a mixture of forest and fields which makes it a great place to get a varierty of different shots without having to go to two seperate locations.


Monday, 20 November 2017

Questionnaire Analysis

After we finished having people fill in our questionnaire we tallied up the scores and put them into a pie chart so that I could then analyse the results. Here you can see a prezi that I have created which goes into detail about all of the questions in my questionnaire.

Monday, 13 November 2017

Action/Horror Questionnaire


As part of my groups audience research we have all come together to create a questionnaire to give out to our potential audience here you can see a copy of the questionnaire:

Action/Horror Questionnaire

1.      How old are you?
12 – 14   15 – 16  17 – 18  19 – 20  21 – 25  26 - 30  31 - 35  36 – 40+

2.      What is your gender
Male   Female

3.      Which one of these descriptions best suits you? (Circle one)
       Tribe Wired: Digital, free-spirited, creative young person
       Fun/atics: Aspirational, fun-seeking, active young person
Renaissance Women: Active, caring, affluent
       Rugged Traditionalist: Traditional male values, love of the outdoors
Dynamic Duo: Part of a Hard-driving, High-involvement couple
Priority Parent: Family values, activities, media strongly dominant
Home Solider: Home-centric, family-oriented, materially ambitious
Struggling Single: High aspirations, low economic status
Settled Elder: Devout, older, sedentary lifestyles
Free Bird: Vital, active, altruistic

4.      What social class do you believe you are in?
A: Upper class
 B: Middle class
     C1: Low middle class
           C2: Skilled working class 
D: Working class
E: Non-working

5.      What 3 things do you expect to see in an action film?





6.      What 3 things do you expect to see in a horror film?





7.      Would you be interested in seeing an Action/Horror film?
Yes     no

8.      In an action/horror film what setting would you expect it to have?
Natural (Forest, woods, cave)    Urban (school, prison, abandoned building)

9.      Out of the given choices what role would you like to see the main character as?
Average person   solider  college student  hero


10.  Which one of these film magazines have you heard of?

           Empire   Total Film   So Film  Sight and Sound  none of them
  
11.  What do you expect the most to see on the front cover of a film magazine?
Film Screen shots  Actors  Advertising upcoming films   Information about articles  Other (please specify in space below)





12.   The colours on a magazine cover should be

              Vibrant    Contrasting    Bold   Bright   Dark


13. By looking at these film posters, which one makes you, want to watch the film more? (Circle chosen poster)






14. Why did you choose this poster?





15. What information should appear on a poster?





16. Should the trailer have a cliff-hanger ending?
        Yes      No



17.Why do you believe this?




18. What would you expect to see in an action-horror trailer?




Thursday, 9 November 2017

Audience Research

The audience is a very key factor for any film as without them no one would go to see the film so it would not make any money. Because of this it is important to determine who the target demographic for are film is so that we can cater towards them attracting them to our film. To determine who are audience we have created a mind map showing the audience for the Action/Horror genre.


As you can see by the mind map we have split it into three sections action, horror and action/horror so that we can find out what the audience is for both genres is and if we see any similarities between them.

Psychographics
Before I get into the main audiences for both genres I want to firstly explain what a psychographic is as they can be used to further determine who my main audience is. Psychographic is very similar to the word demographic but where demographics usually focuses on the population as a whole psychographics focuses on single people and what they are like such as their lifestyle and personality. There are many different psychographics that a person can fit into these can be seen below:

Tribe Wired: Digital, free-spirited, creative young person
Fun/atics: Aspirational, fun-seeking, active young person
Renaissance Women: Active, caring, affluent, influential mums  
Rugged Traditionalist: Traditional male values, love of the outdoors
Dynamic Duo: Part of a Hard-driving, High-involvement couple
Priority Parent: Family values, activities, media strongly dominant
Home Solider: Home-centric, family-oriented, materially ambitious
Struggling Single: High aspirations, low economic status
Settled Elder: Devout, seniors, sedentary lifestyles
Free Bird: Vital, active, altruistic

As you can see compared social classes there are a lot more that my audience could be meaning that it is useful to find out the main psychographic that my audience is so I can include things that they would like. For example, if the main audience consists of tribe wired people I would include links to the films social media pages so that they can follow the film.

Audience of the Action genre
as you can see the action genre is one of the most popular modern film genres meaning that its audience is very mainstream with a larger part of their audience coming from the the B - D social class which is a very big part of today's society. In addition to this a large part of action genres audience consists of men as it shown that many of them go to watch action movies for the intense actions and explosions however that does not mean that literally no women see action films its just that there is only a small amount who go to watch them.

The age of the audience who got to see action movies can range from younger audiences all the way to adults. However the primary age of the genres audience is 15 - 18 as it allows studios to put in more intense content into their films that the audience without having to worry about children seeing the film and attempting to recreate scenes from the films. On the other hand, there are many action films made with a larger age range for their audience which can be something like 12 - 30 + this is mainly for family action films such as many superhero films as they are meant to be enjoyed by children who find them fun and for adults who are entertained to the film.

The main psychographic of the action genre varies this is due to a large range of ages who watch these films so there are many different psychographics who will watch my film. So to determine who my main psychographic I'm looking at the action genres audiences primary age which is 15 - 18. Because of this it is very likely that they are part of the tribe wired psychographic. The reason I think this is because a majority of young people nowadays have their mobile phones with them at all times and use them to search the Internet and communicate via social media. So to make sure that my film appeals to them I will include links to the films social media so they can follow the films production. in addition to this I will also have the film trailer uploaded onto youtube so that all of my audience can easily view the trailer.

Audience of the Horror genre
Like the action genre the horror genre is a mainstream genre just not as much as the action this is because while their audience share the same social classes (B - D) the age of the audience is much more limited as younger audiences will not be able to get in and see the film as they would be much more prone to the copycat effect when seeing a horror film instead of an action film because the content is a lot more violent and gory. The primary age group for the horror genre is around 15 - 30. You have probably noticed how large this age range is well this is mainly because of the content that is commonly found in the horror genre is definitely not suitable for younger audiences as you rarely see horror films below the 15 rating. This is actually beneficial my film as it will allow me to put more violent scenes into the film. However, despite being limited to older audiences the horror genre manages to attract large audiences as many people go to see films as part of groups as thrill seekers so they can have fun (Blumler and Katz 1974) by being scared. Also there isn't a specific gender who sees the film more than others with most horror films attracting both genders.

In addition, as the age range is so large this also means that I have a variety of different psychographics. While tribe wired is still very prominent in the the horror genre this does not apply to the older audience who will watch my film as they most likely use their mobile phones as much as the youth of today. Because of this they could be a variety of different psychographics but I believe that they would mainly consist of Priority Parents, Rugged traditionalists and Renaissance women. The reason I think these would be the most likely psychographics because many older people do have children so they would fit the Priority Parent psychographic as when going to see a film they may wish to do so as a family so the film they go to see will may have to include less mature content so that the younger family members will enjoy it more. Many older women would also be part of Renaissance women as like I mentioned with Priority Parents many older women would now be mothers and because of this they would be very active and caring with their children who she will be very influential to. Now Rugged traditionalist will also be part of the older audience as there are many men who have very traditional values.

As I mentioned earlier while the genre is mainstream its not as popular as the action genre. This is mainly due to the popularity of the genre decreasing not because of bad films being released but because they are no longer in the peak popularity as when they first came out in the 20th century they were extremely popular and this can be scene through many of the classic horror films from the 1950's as to this day many people still considered these films to be some of the best horror films to ever be released and these were so popular the BBFC had to create their own rating for the genre H.

Audience of the Action/Horror genre
After looking at the two separate genres audiences I believe that I have an idea of what the audience for an Action/Horror film would be. First of all, the main social class that would watch my movie would be from the B - D class which is a majority of the public so I definitely have an audience for my film. Next, as my movie is incorporating  many elements from the action genre my film may be enjoyed by a male audience due to the action scenes I will still try to make the enjoyable for female audiences as well.

Going on to the age of the my audience I can say that the main age group for my film is going to be 15 - 18 + the reason that the age range doesn't go any lower is due to the some of the scenes that will be in the trailer will not be suitable for younger audiences who may be scared of the film and in a worse case scenario try to replicate what they see in the film (copycat effect). This is also beneficial to my film as it means I can add more violent scenes to the film which can be enjoyed by older audiences.