Risk Assessment Form

This is the risk assessment form where I outlined all the potential risks that could have happened when filming. I then assessed how high the risk of that happening was and also said how we could overcome this and make sure that it did not happen. The reason for this is because when filming on sets are not synthetic safety precautions have to be made to ensure the team behind the filming are all the safest they can be.

Storyboards

 Here are the storyboards that my group drew up before recording for the film trailer. This was used when filming to tell us what scenes are next and roughly how long we intended them to last. Because this was done before the making of the film trailer, the final product is not 100% the same to how we intended. This is because we had to change things while we were doing to to fit the surroundings, and also when one of our group member had an idea which we could film just in case we felt it would fit better when editing the final trailer.

Location,Props and Costumes Used

Here are the characters who are featured in the film. Their costumes reflect how people would see a teenager in this modern day. The conventions of a teenager in this day are hooded jackets, jeans and trainers. This is apparent in all of the cast that we have used simply because the film is about a group of teenagers, therefore they must all be dressed similar because of this.
Another aspect of this is that the group do not look prepared for their time out in the forest. This is also another stereotype of teenagers because they are seen as unprepared and lazy. Fitting the stereotype was very important in the shooting of this film trailer because it helps the audience to instantly establish a opinion about the characters, in particular to horror films, their vulnerability and ignorance.

 The character of the Unknown Figure was dressed in all black because little of this character is given away in the trailer. For this to stay unknown to the viewer, there must be no distinctive features about the character and this is why we chose to dress him in all black. Also the stereotypes that go along with the colour black are that they are not wanting to be seen easily and could be potentially dangerous. This is in contrast to the more brightly dressed teenagers.







Here is the location shot of the bridge where the teenagers first enter the forest. This is used as an establishing shot to show the viewer where the teenagers are coming from, and where they will be heading towards.

Here is another establishing shot used to show the general setting that the film will be set in. This shows the viewer that the general area in which this will be set in will be a wooded area. As well as this is, it also shows that the area is remote and there is little places to run to for help.

 Because the teenagers are going into the forest to camp, the idea that they will need sleeping bags is assumed. But without belongings such as these, it would not seem that they are going into the forest for the whole night, it would appear that they are just passing through. This is the reason why we needed these props.

This goes along with the above picture of the fact that the teenagers would need to have some sort of belongings with them to appear like that they are there for a long time. This is is why we chose to give all the characters a bag to carry with them into the forest.

Fake blood is used when the character 'Steve' is shown to be dead. This was not particularly used in the final edit of the trailer because of daylight reasons, but if we were to have kept in the footage of the close up scenes showing the blood, this would have been the prop to have been used.

Here is a picture of the fake knife that we used for the unknown figure character. The reason why we used this instead of a real knife are for safety and legal reasons. Therefore this was the only option we had if we wanted to include a small weapon for the unknown figure.










This picture here shows the wooded area where we chose to film. It also shows a tree that we used to climb up to get a higher angle shot of some scenes.

Here is a picture of the camp site that we used when the teenagers have just entered the wooded area. This is only used for a few scenes because they are alerted by the unknown figure very soon after arriving.

 This selection of photo's are of the run down house that we used for the parts where the group of teenagers are being chased and are forced to hide by the unknown figure. The reason why we chose this are to film in was because of the fact that the are looks old and derelict. These follow conventions of horror films because the places that they usually happen in are unappealing to the audience to make them not want to be in their situation.

Another key aspect about this area is that it is all overgrown which means that it has been out of use for a long time. Again this is another feature that is used a lot in horror films because it brings with it the idea that nobody goes there often, therefore no help for the group who are in danger in this location.

 Even though this area was in a completely different location to the rest of the places where we chose to film, I still feel that it fits in due to the fact that it is still surrounded by trees and has the same general 'creepy' feel to it.

Film Poster and Magazine Front Cover Mock Up's

 Here is the plan that I have made for my film poster.

For the film poster I have kept the layout very simplistic. This is because these are not intended to give much away to the audience, they are simply put there to showcase the film and hint at what it might be about. Examples that I have found can be seen on the following link, displaying 10 different horror posters Click here.

Here is the magazine front cover that I have planned. The features of this would be that instead of trying to keep as much detail as possible away from the audience, this is giving the audience selected pieces of information about the film so ensure that they are curious about watching it. The reason for this is because of the style of the magazine, the target audience has already been cornered off all you need to do is make them aware of what the film is going to be about and then hopefully the storyline will interest them enough to watch it. For influence, I looked at a edition of Total Film Magazine featuring Inception when that was being released, and this is where I got the layout and style ideas for my magazine. The example is shown below. As you can see, I have used some of the same features that it uses like the masthead placement and the film title placement. 

Total Film, Inception Edition

Idents

The definition of an ident is a visual image, usually placed before the trailer or film, that shows the audience who has made the particular thing that they are viewing. Usually the company keeps the idents the same for all the films that they are associated with, but sometimes they tweak the ident to represent the genre of the film it is placed before. An example of this would be in this link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaqRwg2GP6w&feature=related

This short clip shows Lionsgate creating a different style ident to fit the horror genre. Another Example would be in 'Harry Potter', Warner Bros change the ident to fit in with the style of the film, this is shown in the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6hzL_P5oow&feature=related

Both of these idents suit the films that they are being used in and this is a key method used by the production companies to keep the feel of the film consistent.

For the trailer me and my group are creating, I think personally that the Lionsgate link shown at the start of this blog would work very well keeping with the feel of the trailer. Another ident that I think would work would be the New Line Cinema ident for 'A Nightmare on Elm Street', this is shown in the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnKspJsUde4

Soundtrack Ideas

Here are some of the ideas that I have had to put behind the shots that me and my group have filmed. Because our selected genre is 'Horror' I decided that choosing scores from successful horror films was a step in the right direction. Below are the links to three of the ones that stood out, and I feel would suit the style of our trailer.

This clip was taken from the Film 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning'. This particular score has a very tense feel to it and would fit the action shots very well. I chose this one purely for the reason that it could be used in the fast jump cut scenes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAchOVXMsBY&feature=g-hist

The next one is from the same film but this time has more of a eerie, atmospheric feel to it. This could be used in the scenes where there is dialogue or the slow scenes that set the general mood of the trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLjvXSx231s&feature=g-hist

The last score that I found was from the film 'The Amityville Horror' film from 2005. This particular score again has the atmospheric feel to it that horror films need to make the film seem to be 'on edge' and 'thrilling'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjIv_Yi7kzI&feature=g-hist

Actors List and Shoot Update

After the fist shoot of my groups trailer, we decided that the scenes we filmed were not dark enough to fit the conventions of the horror genre, therefore had to re-film some of the scenes in the darkness. Due to the level of darkness once the sun had fully set it meant that we could not proceed with the filming because the camera could not pick up faces at all. This meant that we only had about a half an hour time slot from dusk till complete darkness to film, which meant the filming took place over two separate nights.

As well as the darkness being an issue in the first shoot, we also decided as a group that the character of 'Matt' who is played by my is unnecessary and would compromise the standard of the final product due to me playing two people in the film (Matt and The Unknown Figure). This now means that it is just the four teenagers in the woods who come across the the Unknown Figure. This also makes the film seem somewhat more tense and life like because it would be less people in the group which means they have a slimmer chance of surviving the dangerous situation.

Actors List

Steve (Played by Josh Filson) is the quiet member of the group, and he often wonders off without telling anyone for some alone time. The character of Steve doesn't frighten easily and usually holds the group together. This personality type fits Steve well due to his 'early death' which is seen in the trailer, where he 'walks off' on his own. This is a convention of a horror film because they frequently use people getting lost on their own at the first victim.

In order to keep a balance in characters in the group, there must be some brave characters, smart characters and some leading characters. This is also frequently seen in horror movies where they all chip in and work as a team to survive or get rid of the threat at hand. The characters who fit this team role are;

Dave (Played by Luke Hignett) is the daredevil of the group and is always getting himself injured. Dave is also a risk taker and not easily shaken by unfamiliar circumstances. This character type is particularly useful due to the risk of this situation. Someone in the group must be willing to risk their lives for the good of the group, and Dave would be the one to do this.

Matt (Played by Me) is the outgoing member of the group who likes to take control of that people do in the group. Matt likes to make decisions and does not like it when people side against him.  Horror films will always have a leader who takes charge of the group. The fact that he also doesnt like people siding against him means that there could be room for a debate beteen the group which could create an alternative tense situation which they would have to overcome.

Chris (Played by Tom Cannon) is the entertainer of the group who likes to make everyone laugh. Chris likes being centre of attention and he is also a likeable character that everyone tends to get along with. Chris is the character that the audience would like due to his entertaining nature, even though this might not be helpful in this risky situation.

Jason (Played by Steven Hendrikise) is the intelligent member of the group and always knows right from wrong, Jason always has the right idea when things turn south. In the group there must always be a smart member who has a significant input on the decisions made by the group. This character will often be the main reason why the group has survived in the first place.

The 'Unknown Figure' who you see throughout the film trailer never has his identity shown to the public, therefore is played by me, and if filmed by Josh filson for the point of view shots. The Unknown Figure will always remain masked because this will build tention in the film mainly because you will usually never find out who it is untill the end of the film, or in the sequal. This would also be some shared understanding between the group and the audience because of the fact that both of them do not know who it is, this means it is relatable.

The cast was decided by the characters of the actors and we tried to make it match with the people who they were playing. This gives the actor a more natural method of acting which  would be more efficient.  

Film Pitch for 'Forrest Massacre'

The following link will take you to the film pitch that our group has uploaded to Youtube. This pitch will describe what research we have done to come up with our film ideas, and what film we have taken influence from. We also talk in full about the storyboards we created to make the film trailer, hoping to tempt the producation company to invest in our film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ99Hs1-OAM