Location Ideas

Previously I only really had ideas for close up and extreme close ups of the characters face to be in my teaser trailer, inspired by the trailer for Godzilla. I knew this was too short, and so have been thinking of other shots to include. After some research on slideshare and google images into locations, I found some conventional locations used in horror films. The slideshare which helped is embeded below.

Codes and conventions in Horror Films from kbamediastudies

Horror Film Forms and Conventions from lalaland_xo

Overall I found locations that are isolated, and away from the city are most commonly used in horrors, as they are unfamiliar, secluded areas that if anything or anyone were to be or go wrong, the victim could easily get lost. Also, as they're areas that are unfamiliar, how would the innocent person know there were trouble round the corner?

The most common areas are abandoned houses, malls and other buildings and the woods or other countryside places. Examples of Horror genre films and tv series that include these locations are listed below, and I used this website to help find this info.

Examples of abandoned areas:

• Silent Hill
• The Abandoned
• I Am Legend
• The Walking Dead
• 28 Days Later
• Chernobyl Diaries

I love the idea of using shots from an abandoned area, it gives the audience an unsettling feeling that the character will go through misfortune, as they're isolated and alone. 28 Days Later is one of my all time favourite horror films (I have to admit I like the sequel, 28 Weeks Later more) and so if I were to shoot sections in an abandoned area, I'd take inspiration from this film. To get an abandoned location is hard however, it's all down to luck and filming when there happens to be no one there, and it's definitely too difficult to try and film an abandoned city like in 28 Days and Weeks Later, so I can't try this. An abandoned building will be a lot easier, but I still find this to be difficult.

Website used

Examples of woods and other countryside areas:

• Sleepy Hollow
• Friday the 13th
• Blair Witch
• Wrong Turn
• Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• The Hills Have Eyes
• Don't Go In the Woods

Personally, filming shots in the woods will be a lot easier for me as I live right next to Mousehold woods. As it's more convenient for me, I can do this quicker! The only problem about this is lighting, as I'll need to be filming in the dark, I'll need to film in early evening so it isn't too dark to film. Over the summer holidays, I will borrow a camera from school and take some test shots and stills of the location, as it gets dark a lot slower and later in the summer than any other season, and so this will be the perfect time!

Art of the Title research

I looked on the Art of the Title website for inspiration for my teaser trailer. Art of the Title only shows the opening sequence of some films, but it will give me good inspiration. On my "Brief 2" presentation, I've talked about how I'd like to incorporate a close up or extreme close up of my eyes, as this is a conventional and common angle used in horror films. If you look at the presentation embeded below, you can see examples.



On Art of the Title I found the opening title sequence of a film that included lots of these shots, linked below.
http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/the-island-of-dr-moreau/

Conventional Horrors

Horror Film Forms and Conventions from lalaland_xo

I found this SlideShare online which includes conventions of horror genres. This is helpful as I want my film to be of this genre, and so for my teaser trailer I need to include some of the conventions.

Characters:
In my teaser trailer I'm planning to be the only character shown, but this may change. From my research I've found females are common characters in horror films. From the slideshare I've found the female characters are usually the protagonist or a minor character with sex appeal. In my teaser trailer, my idea is to be the villain, which is unconventional. However, I will show some sex appeal by wearing lipstick.

Iconography:
From my previous point, my red lipstick will also link to the conventional iconography of horror films. Dark colours are usually used, but the main colours are red and black. Along with the red lipstick I can put fake blood on, running down each side of my mouth.

Locations:
In my teaser trailer, I want to weird, uncomfortable angles, such as extreme close ups etc, and so the location will not really be shown. However, as I live very close to a wood, I will use this to add shots of the wood at night, which is a conventional location due to it's dark, creepy look.

Lighting:
As said in my previous point, if I use shots from woods the lighting will be dark as I'll be filming at night. For the closer shots of my face, the lighting will be very chiaroscuro, meaning the lighting will be very harsh, with bright lights and dark shadows. I believe this will make me look menacing, but due to the bright lights, my face will still be clearly shown.

Film website homepage analysis

GODZILLA



http://www.godzillamovie.com/

What is a teaser trailer?

As my main task for my brief is to create a teaser trailer, I knew I had to do some research. Below is a SlideShare I found online which helps me understand what a teaser trailer is.

What is the difference between a teaser trailer from Beccihammond

The main points outlined in the SlideShare are:

• Must be short, under 2 mins - just to tease the audience!
• Due to it's length, it must be brief and not give away the plot, again, this teases the audience.
• The important people in the film (such as director, producer, etc) must be mentioned as this will make the film more appealing, creating a larger audience.
• The teaser trailer is created and exhibited a lot earlier than a normal theatrical trailer, so phrases such as "COMING SOON", "THIS SPRING" or "COMING TO A CINEMA NEAR YOU" must be used.

Teaser Trailer examples:

GODZILLA

Godzilla Official Teaser Trailer #1 (2014) HD from Godzilla on Vimeo.

Man of Steel 2



Man of Steel 2 Teaser Trailer from Dave Jones on Vimeo.

OTHER TEASER TRAILERS TO INCLUDE THAT AREN'T ACCESSIBLE FROM SCHOOL

Cloverfield 2






THE CANDIDATE from David Karlak on Vimeo.

WILD EXPECTATIONS Teaser Trailer 2 from NEDO on Vimeo.

LUNAR, Teaser Trailer from Tyson Wade Johnston on Vimeo.

Choosing a Brief

Brief 2: A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with:

1. A website homepage for the film
2. A film magazine front cover, featuring the film

Due to it's genre, I'm very interested and motivated to do this project. Horror is my favourite genre, and so creating a Horror teaser trailer will be fun for me. Previously in Media I have created a Horror documentry, as it's of the same genre, it's similar. Also, last year I created an opening title sequence of a Film Noir, although both genres are different, it gave me additional skills and ideas for my next project, as we filmed in black & white and used fake blood, both of these things I want to incorporate into my Horror teaser trailer. This brief will challenge me, as I've never created a teaser trailer, magazine cover, or website homepage for a film before. I have used WIX.com previously, which will help with my website homepage, and the other media forms I will research in great detail. I'm really excited to be doing this brief.

1st Task - Intertextuality Presentation

Below is the Prezi presentation I created which is based on the franchise of Tomb Raider, including it's films, video games, and comics. I presented this to my class and teacher.

Below is a picture of the feedback I got from my teacher.