Flat Plan

Rough Cut

So far we are really pleased with how our film has progressed however there are many adjustments we need to make to achieve the high standard we want. The first issue we need to address is how well the film flows, we all agreed that at the moment, even though we are following the story board, the film looks rather rigid and when looking at other trailers we see the order is often messy, so rather than it being like a short story it is more fragmented and adds to the interest of it.

Another key issue is the lack of music, at the moment we are struggling to find the suitable music for our production we want a combination of rather eerie and chime like music alongside a hard-hitting and powerful soundtrack. As well as a soundtrack we want to use sound effects to make the scarier parts more alarming for the audience,  for example a loud crash will be put in to alarm the audience. We also plan on changing Evylyn’s voice using this software we aim to make her sound less high pitched and feminine we want her to challenge these conventions by sounding deep and domineering.

In terms of titles we have a long way to go we aim to use intertitles to narrate the story and help create suspense and mystery we debated with the idea of having a voiceover however we all agreed it isn't suitable for the genre and you’re more likely to see voiceovers in more action packed trailers. 

Here is our rough cut:


somnium from Francesca Roncoli on Vimeo.

Fonts for titles chosen

When deciding our fonts we had a very clear idea of what we wanted. The genre had to be evident through the font this meant extensive research into the perfect font. The website for this is dafont.com which has thousands of different fonts. Focusing souly on the horror section of the website we found our ideal font.

We drew inspiration from films such as nightmare on elm street. These titles are effective as they are sharp and gripping the blood splatters have a menacing appeal and foreshadow the danger to come. We liked the way in which these titles looked rather cutting and sharp.

However we really drew inspiration from the film se7en which like our poster background had a scratchy effect about it which connotes distress and entrapment all of which our main themes within our production. We thought the dark dim colours were less obvious than the harsh red titles in Nightmare on Elm Street but still were just as effective in conveying the genre of horror.

This is a picture of the font we decided on we were all extremely pleased with this font we thought it fit the genre perfectly and will be used on both our magazine cover and poster for it to become instantly recognisable with audience and therefore create a stronger brand image.

Film Rating

We feel our trailer is appropriate for a 15 certificate audience. On the BBFC website it details the following about what is acceptable for a 15 film:

What does the 15 symbol mean?

No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a 15 rated video. 15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age.

Are there any limits on what sort of theme a work can have at 15?

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

What might I see in a 15 rated film or video?

Any of the following:

•   strong violence
•   frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').
•   portrayals of sexual activity
•   strong verbal references to sex
•   sexual nudity
•   brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
•   discriminatory language or behaviour
•   drug taking

Why would our film be a 15?

I believe our film is a 15 as there is a strong threat of horror although there is no sustained focused on sadistic or sexualised threat. However our film does contain menacing threats of horror whilst not psychologically disturbing still not suitable for audiences under the age of 15.

Looking at hypodermic needle theory we can see why these restrictions are put in place. Hypodermic needle theory states that media has a direct, immediate and powerful effect on audiences and can influence their audience and their behaviour. The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response.

The theory states that media products can influence a mass audience by ‘injecting’ them with certain messages through media to gain a desired response. This theory works on the assumption that audiences are passive and therefore unable to resist the impact of media and its message. The passive audience have messages injected into their mind which ultimately leads to an influence over their actions.

This is why, particularly in horror films, there must be restrictions as children are much more susceptible to these messages. Looking at the murder of James Bulger hypodermic needle theory would state that the media (the film Chucky) has effected the minds of the audience and therefore their actions.

Overall we can see it is imperative that our trailer has a suitable certificate in order to ensure we are not affecting the minds of a susceptible audience (under 15's) 

Intertitles

Intertitles, are often used as a way of telling the story rather than a voice over, personally I find intertitles to be more effective for a horror movie as they are more eerie and create more suspense than perhaps a voiceover would. Intertitles are used in many horror trailers to narrate the story. This is seen in the movie Jessabelle:

I believe the use of intertitles has been extremely effective in our production we decided to use ‘what would you do’ ‘if your childhood nightmare’ ‘came to life?’ we were very selective about the words we chose as we didn’t want them to be too telling but enough to intrigue the audience. Ending on the words came to life I believe is extremely powerful as it almost involves the audience by asking them a rhetorical question they are left to ponder what if, which creates a sense of involvement for them.  

Music

When choosing our music we had to sieve through a lot of pieces to find one suitable for our production. We decided on two main pieces for our production both of which we were extremely pleased with. The first piece; Possession by Purple Planet Royalty free music,  in which opens the trailer, is quiet and chime like it is suitable as it almost reflects a nursery rhyme or lullaby which connotes the innocence of young Rosie. It is soft and mysterious thus making the more intense and fast paced music have more of an impact on the audience. We also incorporated this music at the end of the trailer in order to tie the production together and be rather symmetrical.

Purple Planet Royalty Free Music

The second piece of music had a lower and more eerie tones to it and was introduced at the point just after the audience saw the ghostly woman for the first time (this subsequently is the point where the trailer adapts more menacing and haunting themes)


We also used sound effects to add intensity. For example, we used loud bangs to scare the audience at points where they were least expecting it. Using high pitched eerie sounds at certain points in the trailer created a haunting/chilling affect for the audience. The sounds used for the sound effects were 'apprehensive sound by Mike Koeing which we found on www.soundbible.com

"Music adds to the emotional quality of the film. There is some empirical evidence to support this: fast and loud music arouses, slow and soft music calms. Motion and emotion are often entwined." -Meyer 1956

Changes to Shot List

We found when filming that we were rather ambitious with some of the shots and it was unrealistic for us to complete them within the time frame. This meant cutting out certain scenes that we felt were not as meaningful or exciting as the others. I personally feel by doing this we were able to focus more on the quality of the other scenes and making them to a high standard rather than cramming in as many scenes as we possibly could.

3-12-14 Production Diary

On this day we had to get film the classroom scene, however it proved to be rather problematic as we soon discovered that when filming a classroom full of year sevens not only can it be quite hard to manage, but we had to ensure that no child's full face featured in our trailer as that would mean seeking permission of not only them but their parents.

First of all we found a classroom which was suitable and after seeking the teachers permission to film, we began. The first challenge when filming was trying to calm the children down in order to ensure they didn't drown out Rosie's voice, we found the children to be extremely co-operative and spoke/kept quiet when necessary.

We then had to shoot from a few different angles to decide on the right one, we eventually agreed that a long shot was more suitable as it establishes the setting and we can really get an insight into Rosie's everyday life and therefore her caring nature.

 Overall I am extremely pleased with the scenes we shot on this day and I thought that the part where Rosie rights the title on the board is extremely effective and creates continuity by linking the text to the trailer.