Final Blog Post

Name: Sarah Collumb
Candidate Number: 8033
Centre Number: 20299
Centre Name: Bishop Walsh Catholic School

final trailer from sarah collumb on Vimeo.

Evaluation: Question 4

Evaluation: Question 3

My Movie from sarah collumb on Vimeo.

Evaluation: Question 2

Evaluation: Question 1

Final Trailer

final trailer from sarah collumb on Vimeo.

Final Poster

Final magazine front cover

Poster and Magazine Font Cover photogrpahy

I challenged the conventions of other film poster and media products already out there, as I found the majority of these products included long/medium long shots as there main image. Instead I decided to use close up and medium close up images as a felt this would work effectively in displaying the emotions of the characters to the audience. 

Film Poster Images

I used these two images as the main images on film poster,  The pictures alongside each show the pictures when they were first taken to after I had edited them. I think the editing of my photos works well in portraying the genre of the film and creating a sense of mystery. I used Microsoft Word to edit my photos by using the soft edges tool. I challenged conventions also in my poster photography by not giving any direct address from the actors and instead getting them to look away from the camera. I found this to be effective as it too creating mystery, by for example making the audience wonder what is the young girl looking at in the first photo.

Magazine Photography

For my magazine I found it to be more effective to have just one main focus on the page, and therefore decided to use just one main image. Moreover I found this to be a convention the majority of magazines had. I again used the soft edges tool in order to create a link between my magazine front cover and film poster. I also found the photo editing I used worked as a shadow around the photo, representing the title of the film. For my magazine photography, I used a direct address by getting the actors to look directly into the camera in order to draw in the audiences attention and give off a personal effect, as though the actors are looking at you personally to buy this magazine.

Billing block

In most film posters a billing block is featured at the bottom of the poster. These contain the credits of the creation of the film, for example, the production company and who the film was written by. I found the billing block to be the most important convention of a poster in order to make it look like a professional poster. 

I therefore decided to make my own billing block for my poster. In order for it to look professional, I researched billing blocks on the internet to ensure I knew the correct codes and conventions I should include.

After research I found all billing blocks to have a similar layout, in that they are only a few lines long and that they written in a small font so that they do that take away the focus from main features on the poster. The font size also varies from big to small which is a convention that stands out the most, the idea of this is so that the audience are able to clearly see the information they want the most, for example who is starred in the film. Another convention I found to be in every billing block was that they are all done in black and white, this is effective as the billing block does not need to stand out and by being in black and white it allows it to be subtle.

What I shall include in my billing block:

Production company - Collumb productions

Title of my film - Shadow

Directed by - Sarah Collumb

Starring - Kieran Jenkins and Grace Parcell

Written by - Sarah Collumb

Music by - Lloyd Evans

Produced By  - Sarah Collumb

This is the billing block I have created which will feature at the bottom of my trailer. I created using a black background on word and white writing and typing out what I had previously planned to put in my billing block. After typing it out I played around with the font types and sizes in order to give it a professional look of what a real billing block should look like.

Film Poster Plan

Front cover plan

Magazine Front Cover Research

Film Poster Research

Film Poster Research

Poster Research

Trailer Titles

From my research and planning I had the text between  short scenes in a trailer to be one of the key conventions which made it a trailer. In order for my trailer to seem effective and professional to my target audience, I similarly develop my own text to include throughout my trailer.

The text gives away clues to the film and allows the audience to question what is going to happen next. As well as this the text is important in telling the audience key information of the title of the film and when the film is going to be released.

Film Title

I decided to call my film 'Shadow' as I felt it linked well to the plot of the film. As the film is about a male character who is stalking a young girl, which it called be said he was shadowing her. Furthermore I linked the title of the film to how I presented the title by using Microsoft Word to create a shadow effect on the writing. The black and white stood out as a title by contrasting each other to make a big bold title. Moreover I also used black and white as black is a typical colour used in horror films to create mystery and fear. 

I also was able to link the title of my film to a short scene in my film which was an over the shoulder shot of the young girls shadow and another shadow following behind her. By making may links to my title is allows the title to be more memorable and recognisable to the audience.

Camera shot and angles I have included in my trailer

Low level Shot

This shot in the trailer creates suspense as you are unaware of who the character is are you cannot see there face, leaving a sense of mystery for the audience to find out who this is.

Hight Angle shot

Hight angle shots show the vulnerability of the victim. Furthermore, the dark shadow of the stalker it seen to be more dominant in this shot than the shadow of the victim, suggesting the stalker is superior to the victim.

Point of view shot

This point of view shot shows the stalker looking in on the victim in her own home. This creates a since of fear as the victim in unaware she has someone watching her which could be seen as relatable to the audience as it is set in the comfort of the girls home. This shot creates tension for the audience as the audience is still unaware of who and what this stalker looks like.

Medium Close up

This shots provides us with a view of both the main characters, along with the setting of the victims home. This shot creates enigma as the audience know more than the victim as we are aware she is being watched and we now know who by.

Long Shot

Long shots give us the whole of the character and also provides us with the setting. The setting in this shot is of an empty allay way, the audience may relate to the characters feelings from their own experiences.

Extreme Long shot

This shot provides us with detail of the setting and surroundings.

Planning my Film trailer

Narrative

The narrative to my film trailer will be a young girl who is being stalked by a man. As the trailer begins the audience will be unaware of the stalker, just like the young girl is. Moreover the the audience will built up the same feeling as the young girl and create a sense of fear for the young girl as they will begin noticing the stalker before she does. As the trailer goes on the young girl will begin to get suspicions and tension will arise. The more clear the stalker becomes to the girl the pace will quicken and the tension will become greater. The trailer will end on a cliffhanger, leaving the audience with a sense of mystery as to what has happened to the young girl. 

Setting

The setting is one of the most important features of a film trailer in creating effect and overall impact. To make my trailer seems realistic to the narrative, having a 'stalker', I will use a variety of effective horror film settings. From research I have found isolated setting to be effective in creating suspence. Furthermore a girl walking alone at night seems to be a classic feature of Horror films. I will develop this by using recreating similar scenes but also by using other setting such as the girls home which may create fear for the audience as they may see it as relatable.

Costumes

Two characters:

Young girl:

I have chosen a young girl as one of my main characters as since I have decided on giving my film trailer a 12 rating, I think by having a young girl as the main character, the film becomes more appealing to teenagers and allowing them to relate to the character. I have also decided of giving the young girl the role of the victim as stereotypically girls are seen as more vulnerable than boys, this decision therefore may create a bigger sense of fear.

Male:

I have therefore chosen the male character to be the villain of the film trailer as from doing research and watching other films/film trailers the male characters are taken more seriously as the villain and are usually seen as the more intermediating character.

As the there is going to be no dialogue in the trailer, the costumes along with with the acting will show the audience who this the victim and who is the villain. The costumes are therefore an essential part in being able to get this across to the audience from the very first scene. For my female character, I am thinking of having her wear normal casual everyday clothes, in order to to make her look like any other young girl so that she can be relatable. I will then dress my male character in dark clothing to represent fear. He will wear a dark hoodie with his hood up which will create fear and tension as the audience will not be able to see his face properly.

Story Board Planning

Conventions of a horror film