Planning

Actors

Taking Drama as one of my A-Levels benefited in the planning of my trailer as I organised who was to star in it. Taking into consideration the fact that the girl needed long hair (referring back to "The Ring" inspiration) and that she needed to be fairly small (wanting her to be a child of 7-10 years old); I asked a girl in my year named Mikki- Louise Wolf if she wanted to play the part of the possessed girl. I have worked with Mikki on numerous occassions during my AS and A2 Drama classes, and she excelled brilliantly in her part as a scitzophrenic girl in our recent Drama exam (January 2010) so I knew that she would be ideal for the part as she could play this role very well.

However, I didn't want to immediatly choose one girl and not give other possibilites a chance. From my drama class, I also asked Louise Taylor as she is a petite 5 foot and also good at acting. I also asked Chloe Giddins and Jessica Pointing, who are both fairly small with long hair, and then organised auditions in the Drama room and got the girls to perform some of the actions the girl would do in the trailer. Some of which included turning their heads slowly and glaring at the camera from beneath their hair, crawling menacingly up the stairs, and stumbling across a corridor.

I organised the auditions with Nicola Muntz who also takes both Drama and Media, and afterwards we discussed who was ideal for the part. We agreed that Mikki played the role perfectly, and as I had preferred Mikki to play the part from the beginning; we gave her the role. However, I liked how Chloe came across as uneasy and almost slightly insane in her acting, and thought about how I could apply this to the role of the girl's mother. She too comes across as desperate and nervous when she is being interogatted by the police officer, so I decided to give the role of the mother to Chloe.

Deciding the role of the police officer was difficult as the people I auditioned for the part didn’t come across as intimidating and dominant as I wanted them to be. Nicola watched as I tried to show them how I wanted them to act, and afterwards she suggested that I play the part of the police officer. I thought about it but then struggled with deciding who should film the scene. I asked Oliver Robin, a pupil in my media class who’s skilled in filming, whether he could quickly film the scene whilst I starred in it, and thankfully he agreed to do so.

Locations

During the planning of my trailer, I had wanted all along to shoot it in the college. Although I had access to film in my home, the college provided more locations and rooms that appeared more eerie and frightening. I kept in mind that the girl is locked up and is forced to spend most of her time in a cold and bleak room or basement, and so I didn’t want to film it in a “homey” location. Organising the different locations also helped me develop the storyline of the trailer and what I wanted to show to the audience.


Drama Room
The drama room was perfect for filming the beginning of the trailer. I wanted to slowly zoom into the girl at the beginning to create tension, and the drama room provided dark and eerie lighting which contributed to the creepy effect I wanted. It also lead me to decide to use the drama room for the interrogation scene between the girl’s mother and the police officer/social worker, as some of the dreary lights created an intimidating “spotlight” effect.

Corridor
I wanted to show the girl being dragged/struggling with her mother, and experimented with different locations for this scene. I did originally want to use the stairs, and have the girl being dragged by her hair as the mother runs down them. But during my first ‘draft-film’, I found it difficult to film and the overall image looked clumsy. I also wanted to keep the camera still to focus purely on this scene, so I decided to place the camera at the end of the corridor, and have the girl and her mother slamming through the corridor doors and being dragged across this way. The length of the corridor made the overall image look daunting, as used in the iconic horror film, “The Shining”.





Shower Room, Drama Stage, College Roof , and Stairs
These three locations provided the series of quick shots I used in the trailer. I did want the camera to quickly zoom into the girl as one of the quick shots and thus it wouldn’t matter where we shot this as it’d only last no more than a couple of seconds. However, I experimented with placing Mikki in the shower, hunched in a corner, and I felt the white background of the shower created a ghostly effect so I used this. It also helped me create a few more quick shots at the time, such as whipping the shower curtain open to reveal a dead girl on the floor, through a point-of-view shot.

I wanted to use a trapdoor on the drama stage as a “basement” and also experimented with how to use this during filming. Originally, I wanted to place Mikki inside the “basement”, but this would only be a still-shot and as I had already used this in the shower scene, I decided to still place Mikki in the “basement” but to film her slamming her hand out of it, filming from a distance. The college roof was used for the camera to pan the girl as she looks out into the distance, with her back to the camera. I could have used any location for this, as it was outside, but from a height the camera is able to show more of a foggy view out into the distance. The height also signifies Mikki as powerful, and creating a mysterious image as she looks forward- is she plotting something? Is she searching for someone?

I decided to use the stairs from the D.T/Photography Block where I knew the stairs were old and stone, and using inspiration from "The Exorcist" I decided to feature the girl crawling up the stairs, perhaps at the very end of the trailer. This would give the impression that the girl was coming after the viewer, and the bleak appearance of the stairs fitted in with the daunting and bleak atmosphere.

Costumes & Props

I wanted to keep the costumes and props fairly simple for the shooting of my trailer. I had learnt from my Drama Exam that trying to remember a great deal of props can affect filming and acting, and sometimes it can make the overall image look clumsy. For me, the top priority of my trailer was making sure the acting and filming was accurate, but I knew that some props were needed to contribute in making my trailer as effective as possible. For Mikki, I decided to dress her in a white dress/nightie which could symbolise either purity or ghosts. The overall image would also relate to the girl in “The Ring” where she wears a similar costume.





For the costumes during the interrogation scene, I wore a smart, dark coat to signify my sincere and intimidating character, whilst Chloe wore her hair down to imply a loss of control; wearing a fleece of the colour yellow to symbolise a lack of courage. For the props, I decided to use what we found in the locations. The Drama room provided me with a table and chairs needed for the interrogation scene, whilst giving me the right lighting so a spotlight wasn't needed. In the beginning of the trailer, when the camera slowly zooms into Mikki, we struggled with what to use in order to keep the filming as steady as possible. I experimented with keeping the camera still whilst using its zoom button, but this didn't give me the slightly 'distorted' effect that I wanted. Instead, I used a swivel chair and asked Oliver to slowly push me forward whilst I filmed. The creaking of the wheels also added to the creepy atmosphere, but during editing I decided not to use this but to use a voice-over or a piece of music instead.

Organisation of Locations and Actors

During the process of gathering my actors and deciding which locations to film in, I had to look into when my actors would be free and when the locations would be accessbile. This was the disadvantage of filming during college times, I was restricted in my time-keeping as the locations were sometimes needed for lessons and my actors had different timetables from me. This caused me to work and film swiftly with no time-wasting, so perhaps this benefited me in how I was less likely to be distracted, as I would be if I filmed at home.

I created a timetable for when my actors and locations would be free, and worked around this. It was helpful as I set specific times and dates for when I wanted to film the draft scenes for my trailer, the full trailer, and also for taking photographs for the magazine front cover and poster.

Storyboard, Shot-list, and Working Script

Storyboard:

Shot-list:

Working Script:

Before filming, I did make some changes to the storyboard that I felt were needed in the trailer. I wrote these in red, some of which included the voice-over the of the radio conversation at the beginning, the change of the ending with the girl crawling up the stairs, and using sub-titles after she turns her head: "she knows who you are" and "and she will come for you". I also made some changes during editing, such as changing the speed of some movement, altering the brightness and contrast, and over-lapping some scenes together. I also added in the "Bad T.V" effect which caused some parts of the trailer to flicker or jump, as if there was bad signal, again adding to the effect I wanted. I did this to make my trailer seem more professional and 'flow' more, rather than placing seperate scenes next to eachother. Looking at the finished product, I felt my trailer was much more effective with the changes made and my classmates agreed that the effects made a huge impact.
Draft Scenes
Before filming my trailer, I decided to film several draft scenes to see how they would look. I tested the beginning scene where the camera slowly zooms into the girl and the corridor scene. These two scenes required the most amount of re-takes as I felt they were vital in the trailer and they needed to be perfect. It also gave me the chance to change my mind and see if I preferred certain ways of Mikki being dragged across the corridor or a different expression on her face when she turns to look at the camera.
Draft Beginning Scene

Draft Corridor Scene

Poster and Magazine Front Cover Drafts

The following images helped me produce my poster:

Throughout the process of my research and planning, I had based my ideas on the imagery and themes used from "The Ring". The first picture of the girl in the white dress almost sent chills down my spine when I first saw it, and I felt the simple picture of her glaring from beneath her hair was much more effective than having lots of different images and actions for the poster. I felt if I would feature Mikki pulling the same pose as she does in the opening of the trailer, with her hair in her face and her head bent, but instead of using a white background I would choose dark (the same lighting as in the drama room). I would place her at the left hand side of the poster, and in the background I would use a similar image from "The Exorcist" poster. I would have a figure, in shadowy black so you can't see their appearnace, staring onto the girl from behind her. This could be the social worker or police officer, but I wouldn't have them holding a suitcase. I feel the shadowy effect of the figure in the distance will add the mystery to the poster as the audience wonders who they are- a victim? A villain? The girl's parent?

As I am using the idea of this being the devil reincarnation, or the reincarnation of Eve, I originally came up with the slogan "be careful what you sin for" (this being a play on words of "be careful what you wish for"). This was to link with punishment and disobediance, and also revenge. The girl's parents can be seen as "evil" for locking the girl in the basement, or abusing her as a way of restraining her, and thus they are seen as "sinning". They are then in risk of becoming part of their daughter's revenge. However, after thinking about it I found the line to be quite cheesy. Instead, I decided to use the line "she knows who you are..." and on a seperate line, "... and she will come for you." I felt that using a line such as this would be directly aimed at the viewer, with the use of the word "you", and this would appeal to them into watching the full film if they felt personally targeted.

Poster Drafts

Originally, I wanted to use a similar image from "The Ring" where the girl is sitting down in a corner against a dark and blurry background. However, once taking this picture and uploading it, I realised that it didn't really target the audience. I decided to still use the image of Mikki sitting on the chair with her hair in her face, but to use this as a faded image for the background within the main picture of the girl's face. I decided to use the same stratagy as I had for the magazine front cover, and take a close-up of Mikki as she stares menacingly into the camera, and perhaps have the image only showing half of her face. I drew another draft of my poster and preferred what I had come up with.

First Poster Draft:

Second Poster Draft:

For the magazine front cover, I used inspiration from my friend who takes photography, and I felt the following picture she did for her AS Coursework was appropriate for the message I wanted to bring out in my magazine front cover:

The picture signify's a mixture of identities, as the girl is constantly being judged- is she evil, or should she be entitled to revenge? Is she a victim? I also felt the picture gave a "Jekyll and Hyde" image of how the character is fighting with their different personalities, and I felt it would be effective for a magazine front cover as the different faces and expressions of the girl would attract the public, and it is also quite an unusual image to

have on the front cover of a magazine.

Magazine Front Cover Draft:



Creating drafts of my poster and magazine front cover enabled me to change some ideas and explore in different advertising techniques. I decided to use 'Empire' as the magazine to advertise my film, as it is "the biggest selling film magazine in Britain", and attracts my target audience of 15-24 through its pop culture: "Empire is populist in both approach and coverage unlike less irreverent and more 'serious' magazines such as Slight and Sound." As well as reviewing both mainstream and arthouse films, 'Empire' also features a regular 'Top 10' in which the magazine lists its choice of "the top ten examples of something film-related." Readers are invited to voice their opinion if they disagree with the choices made, proving that 'Empire' is a magazine which takes its audiences' opinions seriously and into consideration.



This front cover of this 2008 issue of 'Empire' magazine, despite being a Turkish issue, still shows a extreme close-up shot of the actress, and although there is no action in the image, it is effective because she seems to communicate with the buyer as she stares closely at them. There is no clue as to what type of character she is, her facial expression doesn't imply that she is a villian or a heroine, and the mystery in this, as well as the intimacy of the picture, will attract the buyer.

In the following issue of 'Empire' magazine, the main character stares menacingly into the buyer's eyes. There seems to be a connection between them and the buyer, rather than a distance. I liked how both the character and the buyer are represented as on the same 'level' almost, and decided that I too wanted my character staring into the buyer's eyes on the front cover. Because I will have 2 or 3 faded images of the character's face around or on top of this (as shown in the example image furthur above), I decided that it will be the middle image of the character's face, the image with the most focus, that will be staring menacingly into the camera and appear the most intimidating. I decided to annotate the front cover as a way of gathering more ideas and tips.



Audience Feedback

After showing my trailer to some members of my target audience, I decided to film them and their feedback. I asked for any comments or constructive criticism on my trailer that they may have had, and was pleased with what they had to say as their feedback was often positive. Some of the comments they made on my trailer were expected, after having done research into my target audience and knowing what they would want to see. I also found that particular members of my target audience with different interests and view-points made different comments on certain parts of my trailer. For example, the following video shows me asking the girl what she thought of the trailer, and as she does A2 Music, she focused mainly on my trailer's use of volume and soundtrack.

I also asked two male members of my target audience and asked what they thought of my trailer. I was pleased as they commented on what I hoped to achieve in my filming and editing, such as creating the suspense and mystery and making the audience hooked onto what they were seeing and wanting to find out what's about to happen next.