Story Board

In order to construct my teaser trailer and to give me a guideline as to what scenes I am going to record and in what order, I decided on creating a storyboard of each scene that is going to take place. Below is my storyboard along with a rough outline of what is happening in each scene.

The opening scene will begin with footage of a train going ahead.

This will then cut to an extreme close up shot of one of the anonymous victim's laying on the ground - dead.

Scene will then cut back to the train still moving ahead.

WarnerBros. will then appear on screen so as to show the major conglomerate who is essentially funding my film and will also make my trailer look more authentic and effective as most trailers state the conglomerate who is funding their film.

"Lose Your Mind" will then appear on screen so as to engage the viewer further into the trailer and into the narrative itself.

Medium close up shot of the main character walking past the psychotic villain.

The villain will then jump out on the main character, who in turn looks twice to see whether or not the villain is actually real. This shot will be slowed down so as to have more of an effect on the viewer.

Will then cut to the main character running frantically in fright and this shot will be in subjective point on view.

The next scene is of the main character sitting on the bathroom floor feeling vulnerable and in terror of what they have just witnessed.

Cuts to the villain who has a knife in their hands and is making their way to their victim.

The main character is washing their hands and splashing water on their face trying to calm themselves down.

Once the central character looks up into the mirror, they see the villain in the mirror who is holding a knife thus terrifying them further.

The next scene is of the central character lying on the floor. Quick paced close up shots of firstly, her hand holding the knife that the villain was holding previously.

Then of her other hand which has cuts and blood markings.

And finally, a shot of her whole body lying dead on the floor with the villain looking over.

Cuts back to the bathroom scene, once the victim has seen the killer in the mirror, they turn around, however the killer is no longer there.

Close up shot of the killer holding the knife and looking menacing and fearful.

Next shot is of one of the character's who has been previously killed by this villain.

Cuts back to the train which is now in reverse angle shot.

Extreme close up shot of the person who has been previously killed.

Title of the movie appears - Unconscious.

Final shot is of the villain who is again jumping out but this time at the viewer themselves thus making them feel like a victim.

Release date of the film is then given.

Teaser Trailers Viewed - My Bloody Valentine

In order for me to further understand how horror trailers are constructed and what obvious conventions are made apparent, I decided to view the trailer for My Bloody Valentine 3D which is the 2010 remake of the original film which was first brought to screens in 1981.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rcoc46onlE

Trailer Analysis

First thing the audience sees is the name of the production company - Lionsgate. Four short clips are then given of the main location of the movie and a small part of the narrative is given by two of the characters speaking. The question asked by on is "Exactly what did you see here?" and the response given is "something was following us." This lures the audience in and gets them questioning as to what or who could have been following them. A short clip of the mysterious killer is then brought to the screen and is attention grabbing towards the audience. The audience are unaware of the killers identity as he is wearing a black gas mask, this opens up the question of who is this killer? Why is he brutally attacking and killing many innocent victims?

Again more short effective clips are shown of the victims in fear, screaming and running from the killer and once again a small part of the narrative is given with a female stating this brutal killing as "the valentine's day massacre."

As the trailer continues, the sound of the heartbeat is heard which gradually speeds up as the clips become faster and more terrifying.

3D effects are included such as a knife being thrown into the audience, making each individual feel as if they are one of the victims. The knife is immediately thrown as soon as the narrator says "tear through the screen." The reaction of a live audience watching the movie along with the 3D effects are effective as the people watching the trailer will be lured in as the 3D effects create a thrill of excitement and an adrenaline rush.

As the pace of the clips becomes quicker and more petrifying, the sound of the killer breathing through a gas mask is heard. This possibly makes the viewer feel as if the killer is close by and waiting to pounce on his/her next victim, thus adding suspense and excitement and making the viewer feel nervous. The title of the movie "My Bloody Valentine 3D" is then followed after this. This is very powerful as the majority of movie trailers tend to state the title of the movie at the very beginning, but the director has taken a different approach with this trailer. He has kept the audience in anticipation as to what the title of the movie is. The colour of the text is red. The colour red denotes love, danger, and blood. This fits in perfectly with the theme of the movie as the My Bloody Valentine is simply about a masked murderer on a killing spree.

Towards the end of the trailer, a real life audience is shown watching the movie as a large flame of fire is thrown out into the audience in a 3D manner. The audience's shocked and amazed reaction is seen and heard. The flame of fire was unexpected bu nevertheless still exciting.

The very last thing that appears on screen is "coming soon." The release date of the My Bloody Valentine 3D has not yet been given, which possibly makes the viewer feel more excited and pumped to anticipate this new slasher movie.

Horror Synopsis

Below is the horror synopsis and tag line for my movie "Unconscious".

Unconscious

Tagline: “Anything’s possible if you just lose your mind to it.”

In 2006, Amy Stewart began hallucinating a young girl, who she believed very much existed and was apart of the real world, when in fact this girl was nothing but a figment of her imagination. Amy named this figment ‘Annabelle’ and deluded herself into believing that she was possessed, however, Amy was unaware that she was suffering from a psychological state named Hallucinosis, which leads a person to having continual hallucinations. She convinced herself that Annabelle wanted to harm and kill her, which therefore, led to her tragic and sudden death, which in her own eyes Annabelle had committed but in fact Amy had killed herself.

Amy had a younger sister, named Kristen, aged eighteen. Four years later, after coping with the loss of her sister, Kristen began to re-live a very happy teenaged life as she had good friends, wonderful parents and a loving boyfriend, but all this happiness was soon going to be taken away from her. Her first hallucination of Annabelle was when she was traveling home from work on the train and saw her when walking to her home. Everywhere Kristen looked, Annabelle’s menacing face appeared from each corner taunting her with an evil stare. Kristen began to panic and fear and thought that she was deluding herself of this girl.

As she carried on making her way back to her home, Kristen’s hallucinations of the sinister girl carried on and gradually became worse as Annabelle watches Kristen with each step she takes frightening her further. She frantically runs home in alarm and believes that because she is in the comfort of her own home, the menacing girl will not appear and terrify her any longer However, this is not the case as Kristen’s psychological state still has the rest of the night to delude her of this girl, resulting in her own death.

Research and Planning 2 - Production name and logo

The production company name that I decided on was Take One and also decided on typically using a clapper board as the company logo, as this is what an individual would normally associate with the term 'take one'. Below is my production company logo that I created within Photoshop.

Research and Planning (summary of why I did my pre-production)

The reasons for why I conducted thorough research about the history of horror films, is so I could gain a greater understanding of the creative processes that are typically seen in many horror films today and how they have changed dramatically over the years in order to adapt and satisfy each new generation. I acknowledged how Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, became such an influential horror film for numerous directors as Hitchcock himself had pioneered many techniques within the thriller genre and had therefore opened up a whole new genre for other directors to experiment with. I recognised and discussed the different themes that have been introduced over the years to the horror industry and learned how the themes have gradually evolved from supernatural monsters to devil possession to alien invasions to psychopathic killers etc.

From producing a case study of two popular slasher films, Halloween (1978) and Saw (2004), I was able to analyze and compare the opening scenes of both films in terms of mise-en-scene, camera shots, themes, sound and representation. I was then able to discuss the similarities and differences of both films and comment on how the techniques have changed and evolved over the years.

Due to the classification of my film being suitable for viewers who are aged eighteen and above, I distributed my questionnaire to other members of my year as they fall into this age group. This allowed me to get the best response to each given question and will ultimately help me to produce an effective trailer. This is why creating a questionnaire was essential.

My textual analysis of the opening sequence to Scream and of The Shining, both assisted me in acknowledging the conventions that are typically associated with the horror genre and what practical techniques were put in place by each director to make the narrative more exciting and heart-pumping for the audience. In terms of mise-en-scene, camera angles, sound and editing, I was able to note and recognise what typical elements are used within the horror genre to produce a more apprehensive story line and therefore result in the audience feeling tense and uneasy.

Overall my pre-production altogether has helped me gain a better perspective as to what the film industry itself does in order to produce a successful horror film and what conventions and techniques are typically seen within the narrative and how they have developed over time in order to satisfy each new generation. Each step of my pre-production has enabled me to produce a successful idea for my teaser trailer and what typical conventions should be made apparent within the narrative.