Cast:
Killer: Lisa (Vesa)
Protagonist: Kim (Sule)
Friend: Sonia (Me)
Friend: Helena (Halana)
My roles in the production process:
-Actress
-Make-up artist
-Camera woman
-Editor
-Director
We decided to make our trailer a psychological/supernatural horror film. All of our filming is going to be done in school which means we need to create a narrative that revolves around school-life and children. We decided to choose the school as our primary location because our research told us that our target audience thought that graveyards and haunted houses were an overused and outdated setting. Bringing horror to school will be a fresh, new take on things. This was one generic convention which we broke. Our killer can be a child/student as our research taught us that the most successful psychological horror films such as The Grudge, The Ring and Orphan etc. all contain children that turn out to be the psychotic killers that are taken over by evil due to an unfortunate event that happened in their past.
We began by mind-mapping ideas about what we found scary as our target audience are students in our age range (15-18). After conducting some research we realised that our target audience preferred horror films that were based around a clever concept as it ‘allowed them to think’. We came up with a questionnaire for our target audience by randomly selecting a few people and asking them for their opinion. Once all the results were collected we began to think of more ideas. Shortly after this, I mentioned the old nursery rhyme‘Ring-a-ring o’ roses’ and we then realised that this was associated with the plague. After doing some research about the context of the song, we came up with a detailed narrative. After receiving positive feedback, we began to think about where the best locations are in school to film, generic conventions we would add to our trailer and any costumes and props that we would need.
Lisa’s costume was inspired by Samara’s costume from The Ring and her make-up was inspired by The Woman in Black. Pale faces and white gowns are generic conventions for psychological horror films. We did this in the hope that our target audience would be able to pick up on this and therefore relate to our trailer more.
Evaluation of Filming:
When it came to filming our trailer, we decided to split our time into sections and create a schedule. This way we made use of our time in the most efficient way possible as we filmed each scene and then had time to evaluate the footage and see if we needed to re-film. I think my group worked extremely well when filming as we didn’t come across any major obstacles and any minor problems that did occur were solved within minutes. For exmaple, some parts of the school were not available when we needed to film so we organised a time after school and filmed our scenes then. Moreover, as we filmed on different days, we tried to make our costume, hair and make-up as similar as possible each time to make our trailer look more prefessional.
The type of camera angles and movements that are used are important when making a horror trailer. We followed many of the generic conventions of horror movies that directors use when filming. For example we filmed various extreme close-ups of both the killer’s and the victim’s eyes; we filmed low angle shots to symbolise who was in power; long shots were filmed to show the audience the dull, eerie and isolated settings and also a point of view shot so the audience can experience the same fear the character experienced by seeing it through their eyes.
When filming we could've improved our scenes by filming during the dark. This would have made
our scenes more effective because in horror films the night/dark is usually associated with evil/fear-filming during the night is a generic convention. We could’ve also filmed the same scene but from different angles to give us more of a variety of shots to choose from when editing.
Editing and Post Production:
When it came to editing, the first thing we did was put our clips in chronological order to have an overview of the narrative. From there we took out certain clips and also realised we needed one or two filler scenes to complete the trailer.
I used a range of techniques when editing:
-Trimming the Clip to get rid of unwanted sections
-Increasing/muting the audio on the clips
-Adding effects to the clips
-Adding fades and other transitions
-Including some text toward the end
-Cutting various clips to make them blend in to one scene
-Downloading clips of numerous sound effects and then isolating each one so we could apply it to different parts of the trailer
There were a few problems that I encountered when editing. Some of the footage that had been uploaded was portrait as opposed to landscape which meant that certain clips fitted in to a different frame. This was due to the camera being turned when filming. In one scene where the camera is panning across our classroom, the camera woman's thumb can be seen. This makes our trailer look unprofessional. Unfortunately this clip couldn't be re-filmed due to noticing it too late and also because it was difficult to schedule a time when our whole class was free.
Sound:
We did a lot of research to find suitable sound effects and soundtracks (non-diegetic sounds) for our trailer. Some scenes didn’t require a soundtrack because we used the diegetic sound – e.g. when Helena enters the theatre because she hears the ‘Ring-a-ring o’ rosie’ music. We researched many trailers and listened to the way they used sound effects to enhance their trailers and once we found the perfect SFX we downloaded them and applied them to our scenes. The soundtracks were harder to find as we couldn’t find one which fitted our trailer. To solve this problem we found a clip which contains various soundtracks and effects and isolated each one. I also layered many of the sounds to make it sound stronger and more powerful.
Representation of Social Groups:
Representation of Social Groups:
The group of friends in the trailer are just normal, everyday teenagers that do not enjoy being in school. This was a typical social group which is why it so easy for our trailer to have that emotional appeal. Moreover, the killer was described as a normal, teenage girl that happened to have an unfortunate death. This piece of information attracts the reader because they become eager to know what drove her to kill. Another generic convention that we used was that our characters were similar to the ones we see in horror films. The friend that figures out what is happening ends up being killed and the other friend that tries to help the protagonist also ends up in the middle of it all. However we did break one of the generic conventions. Instead of the protagonist becoming a hero she becomes psychotic and joins the killer. This twist is hinted towards the end of the trailer and this draws the audience in.
Favourite Sequence:
In addition, my favourite sequence from our trailer is towards the end where there is a POV shot and the camera is spinning around the theatre. I edited this scene to make it look like Lisa was appearing multiple times in each corner of the theatre by cutting the clips. This shot was shortly followed by a series of mid-shots of Lisa coming closer and closer to Helena. Again I used the quick cutting technique (which is another generic convention) along with inserting some blank transitions in between each clip to increase the pace of the trailer. Once the sound effects and soundtrack were added, it made these scenes very entertaining to watch as it would make our audience jump. Furthermore, this is my favourite sequence because dramatic irony is created. The audience can see that Helena is in danger but she is oblivious to this. It makes the audience even more fearful because they do not want the innocent girl to become a victim as she is so close to figuring out what's going on.
Conclusion:
Overall I think my group has done extremely well as we have created a successful horror trailer that our target audience will find scary and thrilling. If I could improve one aspect of the trailer it would be to blend the soundtracks together or to find one that would constantly play throughout. This is because at times it’s evident that the soundtracks don’t necessarily fit because the transitions between them aren’t smooth. Other than this, I truly believe that our trailer will definitely appeal to our target audience due to the characters being in the same age range as our audience so therefore they’re easy to relate to as the narrative links to school life and the education system. Our trailer has both an emotional appeal and a bandwagon appeal due to having a teenage influence. Once a new craze begins, our target audience will be the first to join and make it their own. This is why I believe that our trailer is a success. I have learnt a lot of skills such as how to use iMovie, how to film from different angles and also how to work effectively in a team. I can apply these valuable skills to other film-making projects that I may do in the future.
