Planning • Makeup Sketches

I visited several charity shops for my actors wardrobes so it was cheap and looked authentically worn, anything new wouldn't have represented the characters well, as the clothes would look to placed as if it didn't belong to them.

the clothes I bought, on the actors, on the rail etc. I felt that I needed makeup that went with the clothing style I had chosen to create realistic characterisation.

Here are two sketches of ideas for Emma's makeup, one being at the start of the narrative and one towards the end.

Planning • Costume

For my costume,  I want very simple understated fabrics and colours, so the focus wasn't on my miss-en-scene it's more on the actors facial expression. I will be buying my items from a charity shop because they are cheaper and it means that it doesn't matter if the clothes get dirty or ruined. It also means that I'm not wasting money on clothes that may or not get destroyed.

Planning • Initial Storyboard (Highlighting key scenes as well as locations)

For my teaser trailer I want my cuts to jump from shot to shot without telling a strong linear narrative. I thought about the first three ideas that popped into my head when I thought about the style of my film and the story line's creative potential. To look at some of contrasting shots I did some rough doodles of some of my most poignant shots that will really help highlight the style of the film I am creating.

Emma's hair, the use of lighting and the effect of the trees to create a sense of being lost and how these three ideas relate to isolation of the protagonist where really important to my shot ideas.

Planning • Location Scouting, Reports and Photos (External Location)

A2 Media Location Scouting, a set on Flickr.

External Location - The Forest

The forest is being used for most of the outside shots, the green space creates plenty of shadow that I can emphasise with my camera, to give the grey and dingy feel I want for my indie inspired trailer footage. The breaks in the trees create the perfect opportunity for natural light to seep through and create a dappled and poured effect on my actors faces, which means given I work effectively to schedule at my planned times I shouldn't need artificial lights to show my actors on camera.

I uploaded the photos onto a Flickr set, where I had so many high quality images, I thought it would be best to display them all in one collection.

Planning • Shot List (Highlighting key shots required and how and where you are going to get them)

Here is a basic bullet point list of my initial thoughts on what kind of things I want to include in my trailer with my actors.

• INT. Candle, black background & fanning to blow it out

To get this shot I will use a real candle as a prop and a large sheet of plywood to blow it out as it its done it by itself. The black background is at the studio already.

• EXT. Emma walking alongside a busy main road with cars passing and the wind blowing against her

To get this shot I will follow slightly behind to the right hand side of my actor as she walks along a roadside pavement and using the video camera get a profile of her with the cars in the background. I hope to do this as the sky is turning dark to get a grey effect in the lighting.

• EXT. Birds Eye view of Emma and zoom into her face and concentrate on her eyes 'waking up'

For this I will need to be raised above my actor on a platform so I can get a shot directly above her, I will do this by either standing over her, or if that's too close then I will use a tree branch to support myself.

• EXT. Tilt up from feet to side of thigh and hand

This will be a simple shot where I will crouch beside my actor and shoot closely to her leg and film her hand from where it naturally falls by her thigh.

• EXT. Tight closeup eyes/face widening with shock 

This will be a simple close up where I shall shoot the seconds of footage close to my actors face and use the zoom button to get the framing right.

• INT. Her emerging from the bath and going in the water 

To get this shot I will need to borrow a bath tub and fill it with warm water so my actor doesn't freeze. I will stand above the bath and shoot it as though the camera is looking down as my actor rises from the water.

• EXT. The photo of them together being ripped and falling then a pan of it following into ground of mud and puddles 

For this I will simply film my actor ripping up a printed photograph, which is one of my props, and treat it the same as any close up. When the photo has been ripped and my actor releases the small segments I shall use my handheld video camera to film it falling in a tilt down.

• EXT. Medium shot of blood on the underwear and tights (my slip up ones)

This will be a static shot that I will simply stand and face a tree branch where I shall hang my props from and film it for a few seconds.

• EXT/INT. Emmas hand reaching out to touch something

This again will be like the shot above where I will stand and film my actors hand reaching out for something. The static shot will only last a few seconds.

• EXT. Dom breaking down and crying

Another static shot, that may be turned into a movement because of how my actor improvises. I will use my hand held camera to film him probably in a tilt down if my actor decides to hit the floor. I will film this repeatedly and choose the best improvised scene. This will be longer than my other shots as I will not direct what my actor does, I think it will be best to let him do his own thing and come up with a natural reaction. I may shoot this outside in the woods or in Emma's bedroom.

• EXT. Dom running (and Emma running separately)

To get this shot, it will require many takes from many different angles to try and find the right 'look' I will stand in different positions and get my actors to do multiple runs whilst I film, the clip will be a couple of minutes which I will edit down. speed up or slow down etc.

• EXT. Dom panicking in the woods (and Emma doing the same in a separate shot)

This shot needs to seem quite manic, so I will have my handheld camera moving from face shots to full length as my actors spins and move. The camera will mimic the movements as it follows my actor.

• INT. Pan of Emmas bedroom

This will be a simple shot to film, I will use my tripod to film a sweep across the room in a slow fluid motion. The shot shall look very still and motionless as the camera gently pans the width of the room from the doorframe.

• EXT. Close up on tear

This will be a close up static shot where I will film a tear falling down my actors face.

• EXT. Profile shot of Dom screaming 'Emma' and her screaming 'I'm here' and then Dom's reaction.

This will be two shots that I will edit together in a shot reverse shot or a faded overlap to look like both their faces together. This is about the actors reactions so it will be from the side profile and then Dom's reaction will move slightly to the front from that side so it's a slight low angle that captures the side and front of his face. I will be stood on his right for this as he faces forwards.

• EXT. Extreme close up of Emma whispering 'Help me' and Dom doing it too (fade over each other)

For this shot I will repeat the action from the above shot, but I will film from the front so I can focus the camera on their mouths forming the words. This should look fairly dramatic and emotive.

• EXT. Low angle whilst she turns and looks up

This will be a very conventional shot for a film, where the camera will almost be at floor level looking up as my actor Emma turns her body on the spot and looks round with her head to give a distorted feel.

• Ext. Back of Lara's hair walking and Emma's following her (mirror effect)

This will be a shot that requires me to walk at the same pace as the actors, to show the camera following them because I don't have a track for the camera to move on. I may use my tripod to keep it still and then use the zoom to act like it's staying the same distance away from the actors walking.

• INT. Him writing a love letter and pushing it into the bin

This shot I will be behind my actor sat at a desk, slightly to the right so it looks like it's at an off angle. The camera will be still on a tripod just filming him writing by a lamp, then I shall film another shot of the letter and his hand writing and then one of the side of his face concentrating and edit these together. I will also have a shot of the side of him pushing it into the bin which will be the final edit to the sequence of shots.

• INT. Dom tearing through Emma's room looking for anything and not finding it. He looks lost stood in the center of the room.

This will be a mix between the tripod being in the door frame like the first time we see Emma's room in the panning shot and then a handheld camera movement following his actions to give the desperation I want across. It will be quite a long section that I will edit between the still and shakey camera shots.

• INT. Close up of turning a lamp off

This is a simple extreme close up and close up cut together to show Dom's hand clicking the lamp switch and then watching the bulb go out so the shot goes dark. I will zoom in with my camera on a tripod for this.

• EXT. Emma's hair blowing (side of her hair and trees in background)

This will be a static or handheld shot, depending on what I decide looks best on the day, where I will show Emma's hair blowing in the breeze. If there's no wind that day I will use the same technique as I will with the candle so the hair has motion.

• INT. Baby video

This will be a case of filming a TV screen with a baby video playing. I may have a static medium long shot of Dom sat close to the TV watching it.

• EXT. Flowers on a grave

This is a shot I may not use, if I do it will be a static shot that's self explained.

• EXT. Car wheels going round

This I will use the photographer who I'm borrowing the studio from to drive his car as I have the camera zoomed in on the wheels. I will try from lots of different angles to make sure I get the right one. 

• EXT. Dom banging on a door shouting 'You did this!'

Another static shot that will be to left of Dom, medium close up to make sure I capture his emotion. The camera can be handheld if I want to close up on anything.

• EXT. Dom confronting the killer

This is if I can get another actor to play the part I need, I will use a handheld motion for this.

• EXT. Camera sound and picture of Emma appears

This will be an editing technique of a sound effect and a photograph edited together.

• Voice Over

This will be a pre-recorded dialogue I will edit over my shots.

• EXT. Shot of cold breath coming out her mouth

This will be a close up of Emma's mouth from different angles and breathe coming out of it. 

I chose these because I think they will look most effective for emotional impact and relate well to the horror genre I am looking at.
To get them I will be using a studio and outdoor woodland space that I have hired, with a tripod and HD video camera to film it. I will use the same actors to perform in my shots and spend a couple of days 'shooting the scenes'.

Planning • Location Scouting, Reports and Photos (Internal Location)

For my horror trailer location I have organised the use of studio space which is perfect because it's right next to a woodland forest where I plan on doing most of my filming, it's also near long roads which I can use for my advantage and has plenty of space to do the shots I want. So this wasn't so much 'scouting' as I knew instantly where I was going to go to do it and how to get there. For my actors this is slightly more challenging because they have to travel further but as it is by my house I have said they can sleepover to make travelling home less stressful. The location will work well for all times of day which is something that's really important, as the lighting needs to look right in order to capture what tone and effect I want for each mood of the characters.

Internal Location - The Photography Studio
The photography studio will be used for some of my internal shots, the rest will be at Emma's house for the bedroom and TV shots. I like the space as it isn't daunting to try and use but isn't too small it feels cramped.

Here is the area used for photographing, I will be using this for my candle shots, and later for the photo shoot I will do for the poster and magazine front cover. I set up the two backdrops so I could photograph them hanging in full length.

Here is the roll of the backdrop before being set up/after being used.

This is an overview of the general room we will be using to film/take photos later on.

These are the lights on the left side of the studio, there are also some of the right, which will be predominantly used to create my desired lighting effect. These lights are easy to adjust and move accordingly to how I want them to look. 

This is the TV and desk that I will be using for my work. The TV allows me to playback my footage directly from the camera, so I can watch back my work in full size as though it was a real trailer that would appear in a TV ad break, and the desk is what will be used for Dom's scene's mostly. I will change the lamp and move things around slightly to get the angle and positioning right.

Planning • Script

For my film trailer I don't want the editing to dictate a clear linear narrative, however I don't want my trailer to be a random and very jumpy to confuse the audience. I want to tell a story through linked shots even though they do not flow in narrative order. Because of this I haven't planned on using a specific script for my actors to follow. Any dialogue to used in my trailer will be improvisation that will relate to my shot and feel significant to 'the scene' at the time. 

Planning • Lighting Test

A2 Media Lighting Test, a set on Flickr.

My lighting and use of props complicated my final shot that will be used in my trailer and hopefully used in my poster for the film. I tested my ideas on myself, using the candle and the placing that I will want on the day of mine.