ANCILLARY TASK: The product

This is was my first draft as to which I created using ideas from similar products identified in my previous research. I used an obscure text for the main title "The Kid" and also used this at the top and bottom to show continuity of colour and to identify the film as a continuous storyline. I also decided to use a new tag line that has not been used in my trailer, as this is a different product I wanted to present the audience with some change rather than the same ideas in all areas of promotion and the trailer itself. This tagline 'Just when you thought you were safe" is in a font which is very broad connoting the depth of the saying as it leaves the audience with enigma as to why are they not safe. I used an image direct from filming, and this image is actually from shots I decided not to include in my trailer. I feel this is effective as it shows that there may be more to the film than what is shown in the trailer and poster and it also identifies the protagonist in the correct manor too, as eerie and obscure. 

After feedback about this draft of my film poster, I realised I left some key conventions of a film poster out. This is the tagline which often appears at the top of a poster stating 'from the creators of...' I also was made aware that the white typography of the actresses names were in white which did not fit the colour scheme or typography flow, and therefore needed to be changed to show continuity and professionalism through the poster.

Following the feedback for the draft of my poster I made some changes and this is the improved version. 

You can see that I have added "from the creators of GONE GIRL" at the top of the page and I have used this film as it is a top seller which will attract a similar audience. It is also a thriller film which is a direct link to the promotion of the film "The Kid" as this is also a thriller. The typography I decided to use for this was the same as "The Kid" and 'Coming soon', this was to reflect the significance of the fact that it is from the same creators and to also show continuity. The red resembles the thriller genre and stands out much more than the white and grey colours used. 

I also changed the typography and colour of the names of the two main characters. This now is the same as the tagline and weblink, I felt this was appropriate as these are all important features of a poster but do not over rule the title, they also look more in place than they did in the previous colour of white.

The colour scheme I decided to use was rule of three, grey, red and white. These colours worked well in representing the eerie thriller genre as well as looking professional and causing enigma. 

The intertextuality if the website link I have put on the poster is to show that there is many multimedias involved in the production and promotion of the film showing it is of high market value. It also gives the audience more levels of access to stay connected to the film and go on a journey with it to the lead up to the release date. 

The extra information at the bottom in small white print is a convention typical of a film poster and I therefore included this to comply with the typical conventions. It is an important factor to include the name of producers, actors, directors, music, screenplay and much more. I have used a very basic font and very small print in white so that it does not divert the attention away from the main image and title.

RESEARCH: Thriller poster mood boards

Here I have put together a mood board of a range of thriller film posters. As well as my previous in depth analysis on 3 posters these have helped me to develop my own product. They have shown me the typical colours to use within the thriller genre are darker colours based around black, grey, red and browns. I have taken this into consideration and will use three colours red, black and grey.  

ANCILLARY TASK: Promotional movie poster

Poster analysis from GEeegi

I have done some research into the key codes and conventions of film posters in order to help me identify what I need to use for my own work. I looked at two thriller posters, Gone Girl and Inception as well as a horror poster, Halloween. I looked into two different genres as they are similar and I wanted to identify what I should not include in my own to stop it looking like a horror poster when it is actually a thriller.

I had some understanding of what to include in a poster before I done this research, however this has helped me be more sure of what to include such as low-key lighting, a range of colours and image placement. Further, from my research I have identified that over complicating the poster makes it more comical rather than scary/tense, wit this in mind I am not going to use to much and keep it simple so that it has a bigger impact and follows the genre better. 

A main concept that I am going to follow is the use of one protagonist so that the target audience can feel personal with the character and may connect with them in the film. Further, low key lighting and use of dark colours is something I intend to emphasis to make the thriller genre evident and more eerie. In terms of typogrpahy I will use the same as I intend to use in the trailer to show some intertextuality, and this will be in the colour red to reflect the connotations of scariness in the trailer. I will make the background and protagonist obvious to the audience and clearly linked to the trailer so that the audience can feel some connection to the narrative. I will also include a powerful tagline as following my research I feel this will help grasp the attention of the audience and impact them using Roloand Barthes enigma code. Overall this research has helped me in deciding upon the main outlines for the thriller genre and what to include in the poster.

Social Media

After researching into methods of distribution I decided that social media is one of the most effective methods of promoting and distributing anything. Therefore I believe it will be an effective way to hook in the target audience of "The Kid", and keep the audience posted with updates and information about the film/trailer.

I have made both a twitter and Facebook page for "The Kid" thriller film and this is so that it is interactive with both types of media as these are two of the main used social media sites worldwide. It is also a platform which is extremely easy to use and does not cost anything to use. 

Twitter

This is evidence of the twitter page which is in progress, you can see some information about it in the bio and that there has been a post which is an image of one of the actresses. This is helpful as people can see the updates instantly.

This is the link to the twitter account of the film: https://twitter.com/TheKidFilm

Other media

I have used a website to create a 'breaking news' picture of the 'victim' actress Ella. This will be shown in the trailer and has been promoted on twitter and Facebook accounts as a preview for the audience, also getting the 'victim' label identified is meeting Propps theory.

Facebook

This is evidence of the Facebook page that has been created in order to promote the trailer, you can see that there has been updates of some posts so far these will continue to be updated so that the target audience can stay connected.

This is the link to the Facebook page which people can 'like' and join in order to see updates and stay connected with the film: https://www.facebook.com/thekidthriller/

Diary Update

I am behind schedule asI am now on week 14. However I have managed to write two letters to the shopping centre and church that I want to film at and am waiting on a reply to make sure that this is okay. I have also put together a risk assessment which was important as I am using a 10 year old as my protagonist. This means her safety is paramount so this was a task that was very important. Furthermore, I have put together a shooting schedule along with a storyboard. This is the main step towards actually filming my trailer as it will help me as a guide with the shots, and action that I want to include in the filming. I have also added more detail below the storyboard as I could not include the depth of detail I wanted to on the original storyboard. After I created my storyboard I saw some links to narrative theories and this is important to acknowledge, so I made a powerpoint with the narratives I have included to make the links more obvious.

I will aim to start filming and create social media sites within the next two weeks.

Narratives and my storyboard from GEeegi

PLANNING: Storyboard

This is my storyboard for my trailer, it seems very erratic because it is not a short story. This is because I will use a lot of quick cut editing and jumping around from scene to scene therefore the storyboard at this moment does not flow properly, this is on purpose. I have done this as hopefully it will build an overall picture of the actual film and show a lot of scenes involved within the film itself. The arrow seen in 10 to 11 and 21 to 22 are because they are in the wrong places and should be the other way around. I choose to draw my storyboard rather than storyboard that as I felt it was more appropriate as storyboard that did not have some of the mise-en-scene that i needed so the storyboard would have been very inaccurate.

Scene 1: This first clip is purely introducing the production company I am going to use, which is one I have created “Black Asylum Productions.” I have chosen to do this as after researching trailers this is what happens at the start of everyone, therefore, this will make it look professional and will follow the trend of all modern day trailers. This will only last 2 seconds so that it can be identified, but is not there long enough to bore the audience.

Scene 2: This is going to be a very short shot; I am going to use an establishing shot using my protagonist and the abandoned location I am using. This will hopefully set the suspense of the trailer straight away, this will immediately have an overlay of non-diegetic music so that it is creepy and links to the genre. The edit to the next slide will be a flash cutting; this is very quick into the next shot with the non-diegetic music continuing.

Scene 3: This will be a quick shot again, lasting 3 seconds long. The protagonist will be on a swing and the shot I am going to use is a long shot which then zooms into a medium shot so that the audience can see the expression of the charcteter. The non-diegetic music will continue and make suspense build up more and this will flash cut into scene 4.

Scene 4:  This will last 2 seconds and is a close up of a new character, which is the victim, crying. The non-diegetic music will change to a slower pace for these few seconds. I will use a fade edit into scene 5 to keep the slow music on.

Scene 5: this is a medium shot of the protagonist revealing a knife in her hand. I will take this shot with natural low-key lighting so around 4 o’clock.  This will have a change in the non-diegetic music from the previous scene and will become more tense and creepy music, possibly using the gravity soundtrack. This will last around 3 seconds and then have an abrupt jump cut to the next scene.

Scene 6: This will have diegetic noise of the protagonist sharpening a knife but will also continue to have a tense non-diegetic music overlay. This shot will be an over the shoulder mid shot to show at the same level as the protagonist what she is doing. After these 6 seconds, I will use a flash cut into scene 7 to then up the tempo of the trailer again.

Scene 7: This will be a flash into a close up of the protagonist who’s facial expression is very creepy and looks evil. At this point the non-diegetic music will be becoming very tense to make this shot creepier than it already is. This shot clip of 2 seconds will follow into a fade cut to the next scene.

Scene 8: This will make the trailer feel like it has come to a breather, as it has been so fast paced. This will last around 4 seconds and has flashing typography saying “so captivating”, however this may change to different typography. This will then cross cut into scene 9.

Scene 9: The non-diegetic music track may change here, to a tenser tempo. This shot is a medium shot of the protagonist following someone. This shot will last 3 seconds and the closer the protagonist gets to the victim you can hear the diegetic noise of the footsteps. This will then a jump cut to the next scene.

(The arrow between 10 and 11 is to show they should be the other way around) Scene 10: This scene links to 11 so I will use a match cut to edit these scenes together. This scene lasts around 6 seconds as it has the only diegetic speech in the trailer. It will be an argument between the protagonist and her mum and will be a long shot zooming into a mid shot and will also have a quiet overlay of non-diegetic suspense music. Here I will use match cut edit for the next scene.

Scene 11: This follows on from scene 10, and shows the mother chasing after the protagonist this will be 3 seconds and a mid shot of the mum and a long shot of the protagonist walking away. This will then jump cut to scene 12 to keep the fast pace going.

Scene 12: This is a long shot of the protagonist standing in the middle of a road in low-key lighting. This will be 5 seconds long as the protagonist will turn around and look at the camera showing her possessed facial features. I will use a fade out edit to the next scene.

Scene 13: this is a shot of typography with non-diegetic sound, I will use the ‘slipnot- psychosocial’ sound track here and the typography will say “psychologically stimulating”, however this may change. This will then fade in the next shot.

Scene 14: this will be a 4/5 second clip of the protagonist showing her ‘powers’ in the abandoned barn. She will throw something, and this will be a mid shot showing both the protagonist and the creepy setting. This will have diegetic noise of the wind and the sound of the object ebing thrown. As well as this, it will also have overlay of the non-diegetic music to show the continuity throughout the trailer, keeping the suspense high.

Scene 15: The jump cut into this scene will add to the creepiness of the close up of the protagonists face and red eyes. The non-diegetic music is still continuing in this, but you can also hear the diegetic noise of the protagonist breathing. This shot will last 4 seconds so that the facial expression can have a lasting effect and will use a subliminal cut to the next slide so that the cut cannot even be seen.

Scene 16: This will last 3 seconds and is a bird’s eye view mid shot of the protagonist practicing stabbing a toy. This will have the continued non-diegetic music which will be increasingly tense and have  a quick cut edit into the next scene.

Scene 17: This will be a fast paced scene as I intend to ‘fast forward’ the clip to make it look like the victim is running a lot faster than she is. It will last around 3 seconds, and use a panning, close up shot of the victim running through a field, this will be natural lighting but on a dull day so that the atmosphere is still creepy but the victim can be identified properly. This will have very quick intense non-diegetic music overlaying it. Followed by a fade cut to the next scene.

Scene 18: this will be around 3 seconds and will be showing a news article on the TV of a missing girl, who is also the one that the protagonist has been following. This leaves enigma with the audience and shows a disruption in the equilibrium and there will be a diegetic noise of a scream followed by non-diegetic intense music. This will fade into the next scene.

Scene 19: This will last 4 seconds and is a basic mid shot of the protagonist and her mum hugging panning into a close up of the protagonists evil face in the natural indoor lighting so will be very clear. This will fade out to the next scene.

Scene 20: this will be another quote to break up the trailer into segments. It will have a typography scene saying “little beast” with non-diegetic music overlaying.

(Scene 21 and 22 are in the wrong order hence the arrow) scene 21: This will last 3 seconds and will show the victim tied up with tape on her mouth, this leads to diegetic noise of the victim struggling. This will be in the barn with low-key lighting to keep the suspense running. This will jump cut to the next scene.

Scene 22: this will last 3 seconds and it will have low key lighting due to filming at 3 o’clock. This will add to the tense atmosphere the trailer already has and will also have non-diegetic music continuation through this scene. This will be a medium shot of the protagonist and her surrounds and she will have the knife and blood on her hands.

Scene 23: This will fade in and show two silhouettes that can not be made out properly, this is due to the dark lighting. This leaves enigma with the audience as to who is laying down and who is standing up over powering the other person and what has happened. Further, this will be a long shot with non- diegetic music reaching its peak with tension. This will then jump cut into the final scene.

Scene 24: This is the final scene that shows the title “The Kid” which will be flashing typography. This will last 3 seconds so that the trailer remains fresh in the audiences mind but also so they remember the name of the film. It will have slow music to end the trailer.

This is not the set in stone plan for my trailer, however it is a plan i intend to stick to but some changes may possibly be made when I finally put the product together. 

PLANNING: Shooting schedule

This is a shooting schedule I have created as it is a skeleton as to what I need to work by with both the filming directions as well as the editing and creating of the trailer. However it is important to note that this is NOT the order as to which the scenes will be put into my trailer and that this is undecided at the moment. This will be decided at a later date of editing but these are the scenes that will be definitely included. The reason for this not being the set out order is due to the research I have done into other trailers and that a trailer is NOT  a short story but a lot of quick cute editing into creating a fast moving product to leave enigma and suspense in the audience minds, it is used as a teaser into a number of the scenes and cram into a minute or so an hours worth of a film.

PLANNING: Risk assessment

PLANNING: Letter of request to film

I have sent this email in other to gain permission to film in my local shopping centre. I have had to ask for permission in order to make the security aware of what I am doing and on what date. It is important for me to have done this as my main protagonist is a 10 year old, Amber Gibbs, due to her age she is more vulnerable and therefore it is essential that all aspects of my filming are monitored and safe. If this is approved I can add characters to my footage as well as use passers by as extras in the background. Furthermore, the reason I have chosen to use the Eden, shopping centre is due to it being a public place which therefore portrays the sense of realism and also because it is a fast moving place which has a lot of people and will add to the intense atmosphere. It is a large area and I can therefore take a number of shots in different places around the setting and this means I have the opportunity to experiment with a number of shots. 

There is more than one location that I intend to film at therefore I have had to send another letter to Penn Holy Trinity Church of England as this is a location that I would also like to film at. I have asked for permission to film at this Church as it is the perfect isolated location which is eerie in the evening, due to it being a church I needed to ask for permission as it is a holy place and need permission to film here to ensure I am not trespassing. It is important for me to make sure that it is ok to use this location at a time that it is not in use as my protagonist, is young and may become scared if people are about. The reason I have chosen this location is due to it being a large church which is quiet and therefore meets conventions of an isolated location in a thriller film. Due to the time of the day I have requested to film at, the lighting will be low-key and if the church is not in use I have the opportunity to use the area and change the area I am shooting in and take numerous shots to ensure I get the correct footage I need and so that I do not need to return again.

Diary Update

I am now on week 11 of my coursework timeline. 

After careful consideration and planning for the main aspects of my trailer (location, props, lighting, sounds and narrative) I have come to a final plan of what the narrative and content of my trailer include. 

• I have decided the locations I want to use are a shopping centre, woodlands, an old abandoned barn and my home. These will give me the contrast I need for my trailer and can all adapt to be eerie in some manor to fit in with the thriller genre. Locations I use may be changed or added when it comes to editing the footage as other places may fit in better with the trailer.
• I have also decided to base the narrative on a young girl who is a stalker seeking revenge for the death of her father.
• Props I will include will be normal clothing so that the sense of realism is included as well as a childish pink rucksack and a knife as a weapon to coordinate with the thriller.
• Lighting will mainly be low-key lighting however in a few shots I will use natural lighting or artificial lighting for some shots to create an eerie atmosphere.
• I will use a range of non-diegetic and diegetic sounds as of which I have not yet decided upon.

The next step is to create my storyboard, shooting schedule along with the letters of request and risk assessments of the places I plan to film. This will take me up to week 13 which means I am slightly behind as I should be filming now.