Movie Trailer

Diary Entry #5

19/08/14

Today i tried to import all of the footage from my video camera. Unfortunately, imovie was unable to import the files from my camera so i decided that i would have to re-film the bloody scene (other shots were already done on my iphone). My cousins refused to do it again so i had to do it myself and get my older sister to film me. I wanted to get it done so we used tomato sauce rather than corn syrup and food colouring.

Diary Entry #4

10/08/14

Today my cousins came over and we did a lot of filming. The first thing we filmed was a bloody gruesome scene with lots of blood. I decided to do this outside because i didn't want to make a mess in the house. It was an easy shoot because i just had to dress them up and position them in places. The actors in the scene just played dead and i took lots of shots from different angles.

Today we also filmed the rest of the shots that i needed, which was the car park scene. I got my sister to pull into the drive way about 3 times so that we had lots of shot options. We filmed the scene at about 6 so that it reflected the dark mood of the film. We finished up on all the shooting of my sisters scenes in the trailer which include her pulling up into the house, walking into the house, and her reaction(ending shot).

Diary Entry # 3

6/08/14

Today i was lucky because it was a sunny day to film the happy scenes for the beginning of my trailer, of moments between Louis and Tasa. We went to the park and i filmed lots of moments of them together. I also recorded sweet moments between them at home.

Diary Entry #2

3/08/14

Today my cousins came over and we recorded the voice-overs for my trailers. I also looked through the internet to search for some suspenseful music that is royalty free. We also went to the opshop and supermarket to buy some resources for the bloody scenes. I plan to film these scenes next Sunday.  

Diary Entry #1

2/08/14

During the holidays i did not have anytime to do the filming so i have had to change the shooting schedule. Today i filmed my first piece of footage. It was a gloomy day, so i decided to film an establishing shot of my house.

My new filming schedule:

• Saturday (today): Shoot establishing shot of house
• Sunday: Record voice-overs with my cousins + Go to op shop and supermarket to buy old clothes and ingredients to make fake blood.
• Wednesday: Shoot establishing shots of Louis and Tasa at the park + cute moments between them at home.
• Sunday(10 August): Shoot bloody gruesome scenes with my cousins + car park scene

Production Plan (5 July-11 July)

Happy montage for the beginning of trailer - Begin shooting on Saturday 5 July

Shot List:

1. Establishing shots
2. Close up shots
3. Mid shots
4. Long shots

Location: Park, House, Street

Needs:Camera, tripod

Cast: Nitasa, Louis

The first shot i will get is an establishing shot of my house. Then my sister and I will take Louis for a walk to the park and i will film long shots of them and also cute moments between them. At home i will get shots of them cuddling (mid and close up shots)

Note: It needs to be a relatively sunny day, as i want the shots to have joyful and happy tone. Sunny natural lighting will be an important aspect to these shots and if the weather is not good then i will have to reschedule this shooting day.

Voice overs - Monday 7 July

(During the holidays, all of my little cousins and my sister will be available to record some voice over for the trailer)

Script

"OH MY GOD!!!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH"

"911 what is you're emergency?..... something is trying to kill me aaaaaaaaaaahhh"

"what is that"

"don't be so stupid, he is an innocent little dog"

Needs: Iphone(voice recorder)

Cast: Abby, Jayden, Julia, Nitasa

(Import the footage and save onto laptop)

Bloody scenes - Wednesday 9 July 

(Film the gruesome scenes.)

Shot list:

1. High angle shot
2. Closeup
3. Extreme closeup shot 
4. Establishing shot
5. Mid-closeup shot

Location: Home (lounge) 

Needs: Fake blood (red food colouring, corn syrup, flour), camera, tripod

Cast: Abby, Jayden, Julia

Costume: old clothes

I will get the bloody gruesome shots on this day. The actors will be wearing old clothes that we can throw out after, as they will be covered in fake blood. These shots will be consists of close up, extreme closeup, high angle, establishing and mid-closeup shots of the murder scene of these actors. 

Car parking scene (Friday 11 July)

(This scene is where Nitasa gets out of her car and is walking into the house.)

Shot list: 

1. Long shot
2. P.O.V shot
3. Mid shot
4. Close up shot

Location: Home

Needs: Camera, Tripod, Car

Cast: Louis, Nitasa

I will get all the shots for the scene where we see Nitasa come home and open the door and screams (close up) which ends in a cliffhanger. First we will get a long shot of Nitasa driving into the driveway. Then I will need to get a P.O.V shot of Louis watching Nitasa get out of the car. Next I will need a mid tracking shot of Nitasa walking into the house, where we will then get a close up reaction shot of her screaming.

Editing Process starts beginning of Term 3

Note: I will need to make sure that i record more than one shot in every scene so that i have more than one option to choose from when i edit my trailer. This will save me having to re-shoot scenes if something is wrong with a shot.

TREATMENT

Title: Killer Dog

Main Plot: The main storyline is about a loving dog named Louis who becomes possessed by a dark force which makes him kill people. Once was a cute loving dog, but then suddenly turns on his owner and tries to kill her.

Audience: My target audience will be the youth aged from 18-22 as I think the plot idea is quite silly and ridiculous but will still consist of killing and gruesome scenes.

Aim: The aim of my trailer is to shock and scare the audience and to encourage them to want to watch the film and see what the rest of the film is about. It is important to show evidence of blood and violence throughout the trailer as it must maintain the style of a horror film.

Characters: The characters will consist of a main villain- Louis, and a vulnerable female victim- my sister, along with other murder victims.

Setting/Locations: The trailer will be filmed around my house, that way it would be easier to organize and I wouldn’t need any transport to any places. The happy scenes will be shot in the day to contrast with the darker gloomy scenes shot in the night. The daylight will help enforce the light mood I want to show in the beginning of the trailer where Louis is shown in a positive light. It is going to be set in the present time in settings such as my house, the park and the street

Music/Voiceovers: The music of the film is going to reflect the mood of the film. I will use a royalty free music website the music i will use for my trailer. I will need to find a happy tune for the beginning of the trailer where the mood is happy and light. As it transitions between the two moods, i will need a BANG sound to create the effect of shock and fright. iMovie and After effects have sound effects available that I could use.

Text Style: The font for the text is also an important factor because in horror film trailers, there is a certain style. The style of text will need to be comical and oversized to emphasise the dramatic scenarios. Maybe red? to enforce blood and killing.

Costume and Props: I will make fake blood with corn syrup, flour and red food colouring. For the victims, they will need to be wearing ripped up clothes which I will get from an op shop and cut up myself.

It is going to start of innocent and cute and then all of a sudden change to a really frightening situation where my dog becomes really creepy and will consist of murder and killing. I will contrast cute happy scenes with bloody gruesome scenes. I will open my trailer with a production logo and establishing shots of the house and the street to establish the setting of the film. I want to start of with a happy mood and make Louis(my dog) look cute and innocent. I will establish this by using happy music and close up and establishing shots of Louis and my sister who is his master, along with text saying; MEET LOUIS. THE WORLDS CUTEST DOG... UNTIL ONEDAY..... A DARK FORCE TAKES OVER (zoom close up of Louis) then all of a sudden the music will change to something threatening and face paced cuts of reaction shots and bloody murder scenes will occur, the music will help to force a scary, fearful mood. I will also use voice overs of screams and an emergency phone call to add drama and tension. The transition between these two moods will happen quite quickly in order to add shock and surprise (perhaps with a static transition?). A point of view shot through the eyes of Louis will watch his owner(played by my sister) while she is getting home. The house will look dark and gloomy as she walks in and gets the feeling like something is wrong. The trailer will end with a close up reaction shot of my sister screaming(but not revealing what she is screaming at)  then to a black background with text saying KILLER DOG……………COMING SOON. And then social media links such as www.killerdogmovie.com and www.facebook/killerdogmovie.com will appear.

  Resources:

• Camera
• Editing Software (iMovie, After Effects)
• Locations - House, park, streets
• Royalty free music websites
• Tripod

Props + Costume

Josie, the main character played by my sister will wear light coloured clothes as she represents the innocent victim. The dead bodies in my trailer will be wearing ripped up clothes covered in blood. I will need to get old clothes from the op shop so that they can be ruined. I will create the effect of blood with red food colouring and corn syrup. I will spend an overall cost of about $15 which include the costs of old clothes, food colouring and corn syrup.

STORYBOARD

Film Promotion + Characters

Production Label

Music + Voice overs

Music is an important aspect to the overall mood of the movie trailer. I will need to have a fun, light melody to start as i am trying to create a happy joyful mood while showing Louis as a cute adorable dog. To contrast with this happy music, i will use a more threatening and darker song to convey the tension and conflict within the film. An obstacle i will need to overcome is that i cannot use copyrighted music meaning i must find royalty free music that is legal for use. I will do this by using the sound effects and music provided through imovie and after effects and also by finding music through the website http://incompetech.com. I will also add in voiceovers of screams and the sounds of a people in a threatening situation over top of the scary music. The use of voice overs will add dialogue and create a sense of jumpiness and fear upon the viewer. I want to do this by taking voice recordings of a pretend emergency 911 call and people screaming and yelling out, acted out by my sister and little cousins, and then editing it in.

Lighting + Camera Angles

LIGHTING:
The convention of Dark lighting is a commonly used convention in horror films and contributes to the overall mood of a scene. Dark lighting is generally used in horror films because fear is usually associated with darkness or the unknown. In the first scenes, Louis is going to be shown in a positive light and made to look cute and adorable. I will rely on natural lighting for these scenes, so i must film all these shots on a nice sunny day, in order to convey a light, joyful mood. As the mood begins to darken and we begin to see Louis in a negative light, the lighting of the scenes will become darker. I will do this by editing the shots on the editing software and also by shooting the scenes during dusk. My production plan will need to follow these requirements as the time of shooting is important in order to set the tone of the film.

CAMERA ANGLES 
Camera angles are an important aspect when creating a film in any genre. In the horror genre, the use of certain camera angles have a particular purpose. I will use a variety of camera shots within my trailer. The use of high angle shots looking down on a subject is used to make the character or thing look weak and powerless. In my trailer, i will use high angles to make the victims of Louie look vulnerable. In the shots of Louie(villain), i will use low angle shots to make him seem threatening and powerful.

LOCATION SCOUTING + MOOD

Location: My house and the street i live on

I have chosen to use my house and street as the main shooting location for my movie trailer. This will make it easy for me to shoot the scenes and i also wouldn't need to rely on anyone for transport. As the film is set in an ordinary house on a street, this is the perfect location for my trailer. 

The mood of the film will be quite dark and gloomy. I will do this with lighting, dialogue, music and suspense. 

Planning

Here i have plotted out some ideas for a new story line and shots for a film called Killer Dog. I have made the decision to change the overall concept of my trailer because i did not feel that many good ideas were coming to me with my initial concept.

Further planning

What am i doing? I am going to make a movie trailer for a supernatural thriller/horror film. The story is about a woman (my sister) who is being haunted by child ghosts (my little cousins) and will be set in present time. The lead role will be played my sister who will play a young woman in her 20s. My cousins will play the ghosts. 2 of which will play 13-15 year old ghosts and my youngest cousin will play a 4 year old ghost.

My main goal for this trailer is to 1.Be scary and 2. Make people want to seeit.

Audience: I have decided the targeted audience for my movie trailer will be for people over the age of 16. It is a ghost horror film, so i think that it would appeal to a variety of ages, but would still consist of very frightening and haunting images which would be too scary for people younger than the age of 16. My aim is for it not to appeal to a certain demographic but rather just people who like to watch horror films and being scared.

Planning Concepts & Ideas

I have decided to make a trailer for a super-natural horror film.
Not quite sure of title.
Audience: Teenagers (16+)

Resources:

• My house
• Public parks
• Family members
• Video Camera
• Editing software (imovie, after effects)
• Make-up

Plot ideas:

• Ghosts
• Infant character
• Female victim
• Taking pictures and seeing ghost in them
• Set in present time
• Crazy characters 
• Old people

Ideas:

Location: A house, Playground
Music: sombre vs dark vs happy children's music

Opening-Establishing shot of playground

Voice over: children laughing

cut to swing swinging by itself etc

Some sort of reaction shot

A haunting ending shot

Text ideas:

THIS SUMMER

COMING TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU

SHE THOUGHT HER LIFE WAS BORING

BUT LITTLE DID SHE KNOW

THEY'RE COMING