Film posters

I decided to start looking at general horror film posters so I would know what conventions i should follow when it came to making my own poster for Hidden.
When looking at the posters I looked at these speciffic things:

• Main picture- how it represents the story
• font- which font is used and what effect that has
• Title- how it is displayed which colour is commonly used
• If the poster is visually effective
• where the posters were distributed
• What the poster included I.E directors names, actors names- some credits.

I really liked this inparticular poster as I feel it represents the genre directly.  I like the way the picture has been altered to make different colours more saturated, Yasmin and I both want to use this technique when making our poster. We want to add a surreal element to it like "Squeal" in the way that the writing is blood dripping down the poster. 

Experimental Footage

As Yasmin and I have decided to change the location, it is vital for us to get some experimental footage as soon as possible to make sure the location is going to work.
After doing some experimental footage we can decide what needs to be changed what will work and what won't.  We want to get as many different angles and shots so we can see what are the best shots to use to create maximum impact to the film.

Audience feedback

We decided that the best way to know what the audience want in a horror/experimental film was to ask them. We decided that we would ask different people questions about what they expect from horror, if they would watch our film etc..
We decided that we would film this then we can look back over the tapes after to see what people wanted.
We wanted to ask people with different tastes, personalities and social groups to get as wide a variety of opinions as we could. Here are the questions asked:
Where would a Horror/surreal film usually be located?
What character stereotypes would you expect to see?
What certificate do you expect a good horror film to be?
Below is the video of the research:

Problems with filming

Yasmin and I wanted to get some location shots while it was dark so we would be able to see what our film would look like without any artificial lighting. However after looking at the pictures we decided that it wasn't an  option as objects, people, expressions weren't visible in the dark. 
We began to think of how we could change the lighting, location or plot to make the filming a better quality. We decided that we would change our location to a field in Kingsdown, Deal. The field has a barn in which we could use as a source of artificial light we also wanted to use it in the story as the place the killer owns. Because  we changed the story so the barn belonged to the killer we were able to make the story more surreal as we could add in more objects which you wouldn't usually find. We also found that changing location meant we had less restrictions, Yasmin's father owns the field so it was easy for us to get permission for an open fire, we are able to access it at any time and it also meant we could change anything in the field that we wanted. Because of the changes made we are going to be changing the script and making another storyboard.   We feel that changing the location will let us explore a more surreal element to the film.

Here a few shots of the original location which we took at the time we were wanting to film:









We feel if we carried on with the same location the film wouldn't be as effective.  We took pictures with the flash off and on so we could see the difference. We played on the idea of having the flash on throughout the film however it wasn't viable as we wouldn't have a source of electricity to charge the camera.

Below are shots of our new location. We feel it works well as the barn gives light to the field, it also meant we can film in the tent in the barn so that the audience think they are outside but  are actually inside. We could use the lighting from the barn to light the characters faces.

Casting

For our film we wanted good experienced actors who would enjoy the storyline and feel as if they were apart of a good fillm. To find actors we decided that the best place to advertise was on Facebook. Yasmin published this post which everyone could read.

People were then able to comment and let us know if they were able to take part or not.

We decided that we also wanted to hold auditions so that we could casts the parts to better people. We decided that we would make posters and place them around school stating who we needed, when the auditions would be and where. Applicants were then able to write there name down on the sign up sheet, this gave Yasmin and I a good idea of how many people would come. After applicants had signed up we waited for the auditions gave each participant a script and let them audition from this we were able to choose who would be best for our film. We plan to do this within the next week so we can start to think about shooting the film. 

We also had in mind some boys that we wanted to use so Yasmin wrote an email to them detailing what we wanted, when and why. We felt this was the best way to do it as we already know the boys so know how they work together and how they will work in our film.

Title to the film

While I was finishing off the script Yasmin started to brainstorm some names for the title of our film. It was really important for our film title to relate to the horror genre. As the title is what everyone recognises and remembers it was important for it to represent the genre.

Here is the brainstorm Yasmin created.

After  completing the brainstorm we looked at the titles and the script to our film to decided which fit the criteria best. At first we decided on Hide and Seek as we liked how it was sinister but also a child's game. We then thought about the story and it didn't really fit as well as it should. We both liked the name Hidden as it is short, precise and easy to remember we also thought it fit in with the script as the characters fail to see the killer throughout the film.

Yasmin and I both feel Hidden is the best idea as the word is very sinister, it suggests that someone is watching who shouldn't.

What we have changed from our initial idea so far

When looking back at the three film I had analysed I didn't feel we were going to use all the right techniques that we could have nor the cinematography that we had wanted.  We both felt that we needed to make our story more abstract. After dilberating with a few ideas we decided that our "killer" would be dressed in a full clown costume and will always be holding a balloon as we felt that added a more sinister tone to the film. We also decided that we wanted to make the events that unfold very quirky and experimental in comparison to other horrors which are based on events that could happen. To do this we decided that unusual things would appear that people wouldn't  necessarily notice. We also decided on how we can use editing to dramitcally change the outcome to the film we decided that we would add in sound, edit the colour and saturation of the footage. We feel this would really make our film more unusual and quirky which is what we want to create.

Here are some objects that we want to include in our film.

The chosen genre and Target Audience

Genre:
Our chosen genre is horror/thriller as we feel that this genre is very popular and it is something that we haven't done before but interests us.  We already learnt what is needs to be included in a successful horror film. We feel we have the factors included in our script, shots, costume and and location to call our film a horror.  Yasmin and I both want our short film to be surreal as we feel this works really well with horror/ thriller within a short film.

Target Audience:
When deciding on a target audience we had to look at the script in depth and the issues we were portraying and from that decide who would be a suitable audience. We decided on a fifteen film as we felt that some of the language was too strong for a younger audience. Yasmin and I both felt that story may  be frightening for someone under the age of fifteen.  After readin the guidlines on the British Borad Of Film Classifications website we realised that it had to be a fifeteen due to the content being shown.
Below is the list of restrictions set out by the film board:

Suitable only for 15 years and over

No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest  terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

Inspiration

When looking for inspiration we decided that the best thing to do would be to look at previous films and decide which shots,costume, make up and scenes inspired us. I decided to look at campfire stories and camp fire pictures to see which shots I liked and could use.

The film Campfire Tales inspired us as it is based around horror stories and a campfire. We were also inspired by Saw and other films in which murderers take on different personas as we want our killer to do so too.

Roles I am undertaking

When deciding which roles to undertake we had to decide who would be able to do each one best. As there are only two of us in the group it made deciding on the roles easier as there weren't more people wanting the same role.  Me and Yasmin both decided to both be director and producers as we feel we nboth have strong ideas and don't feel one would be better than the other.
Yasmin took a keen interest into the costumes and make up so she will be undertaking the role of mise-en-scene. I will be looking at cinemeatography as i enjoy editing and feel i will prefer this role to mise-en-scene.