Poster Production 2

I started off by editing the photo so that the light coming through the trees did not look so bright and warm, something which a horror poster should not be. This was done by cutting out the parts which were light and welcoming, on a new layer.

I then changed the colour to black and white, which got rid of this warm and welcoming feeling the current sunlight colour did. 

I then edited the photo by using the 'cloud' effect to make it further appear dull and gloomy. 

This edited the whole photo, so it meant that I had to open the original photo on a different page and cut around her head, erasing the sky. I then transferred her head onto the main edit. 

I then changed the opacity of the 'cloud' effect so it did not look odd and unrealistic. 

After this, I then used the smudge and blur tool to blend the effect into the photo, making sure that it did not look blocky between the sky and the bushes and to make them blend into each other, so that it blurred the background slightly and the protagonist is the main attraction.

Once this was complete, I decided that it did not look as 'sinister' as I thought it would so I decided to use the gradient tool to give it a black shadow over the top of the poster. 

Poster Production 1

Due to my favorite photograph taken being landscape it caused me to question whether this would be an appropriate photo to use as all the posters I had analysed had been portrait, which suggested to me that this was conventional for a poster. However, I then decided to do some further research and found that having a landscape poster was just as normal as having a portrait and have been used on some of the most successful films. As well as this, landscape posters had also been used for many horror films and I felt that they worked well if not better than having a portrait poster as it opens up the poster and allows you to see a lot more of the location of the film.

Poster photoshoot

As my sketches for the poster varied from one another, I decided to try out a  range of different shots that I thought would work well.

The first lot of photographs I felt did not give a big enough clue as to what the film was about and lacked anything exciting or sinister. As well as this, due to it showing the whole of her body and lots of the scenery behind her, I felt that it was too similar to the photograph I had used for the double page.

After going through these photos at home, I arranged another photo shoot with the cast and this time took into consideration the faults of the last photos taken. I took a lot more close up photos this time round to show the emotion of the protagonist and also played around a lot more with the masked man in the background of the photo. Here are the photos;

My favorite photograph from the shoot was the third one as I felt that it was most fitting for the film, without giving to much away. I made sure that it didn't give too much away by using the same masked man and therefore not spoiling the other masks used in the film.

Double Page Production 4

With all the text added in, it left me with a lot of room left over and I felt that if I was to bulk up the article with more text it would look like too much text. This is when I decided to add in a pull quote. I felt that by adding in a pull quote it was not only conventional, but it also broke up the heavy text and therefore shifted the text down slightly, meaning there was a lot less room.

I made this pull quote firstly by designating a place where it would be. 

I then shifted and worked the text around this space on both sides. 

I then added in a pull quote that I felt was most exciting from the article and edited it accordingly to fit in with the rest of the article.

This then lead to shifting the rest of the article down and filling in the large gaps in between the text. 

Double Page Production 3

In between writing the article, I decided to put in the conventional parts of the article;

• Boarders
• Title of the film 
• The main text
• Small bit information given at the start of the article; star rating, distributor, director, cast.

Double Page Production 2

With a rough idea on how much I would need to write for my article, in order to fill up the allocated space, I decided to write my article on word first, meaning that I could easily edit the text if it was to be too much text or too little. It also acted as a spare copy in case something was to happen to my real article on Photoshop. 

Below is the article; 

‘The Return’

I think it’s fair to say that I will not be returning to the set in which the film was made. This is not a bad thing, in fact this is exactly what the producer of the film Jack Joules wanted, this being that it was a truly terrifying experience, I would be mad to re-live it. I will try to paint a picture of it, imagine standing in one of the largest forests in the UK, where any scream would be lost in the layer upon layers of trees that surface from beneath your feet in every possible direction, waiting to trip you up. A place where not even the raw, blood-curdling screams of the lead Amanda Rossell can be heard from the outside, yet on the other hand is hauntingly silent, filled with sounds of nature all around. And a place where the trees which look down upon you act as a cage, playing tricks on you, making you to believe that there is no escape.

If that hasn’t got your pulse racing then the characters in the film will; or should I say the unknown characters will. The lack of characters in the film makes it feel very real and you are able to put yourself in the shoes of the lead, Amanda Rossell. Amanda Rossell, has only been in a handful of films, with the majority of them being rom-coms such as ‘The Last Date’, where her role was of the daughter of the lead, Ryan Reynolds. This is why we were surprised when we found out that she would be the protagonist in a horror film, a huge jump in genres, therefore making us very sceptical on the decision. BUT, after watching the film, it would be criminal to say that she wasn’t suited to this role. With only being the age of 17 years old, she couldn’t be more suited to the role of a young, vulnerable girl.

The basic outline of the film, is simple, very simple, however, I believe that this is what makes it so haunting. This simple story makes it very real and is something that could happen to anyone, even you. So here it is; a young vulnerable girl (Amanda Rossell) is walking home and takes the way through the forest. However, she is oblivious to the recent going ons of other young children that have been going missing, all wearing the same pearl bracelet. She finds the bracelet and hell breaks loose. Of course this basic outline of the film does not do it justice and I think it is fair to say that is one of the frightening films I have ever seen.

With parts of the film verging on being a psychological thriller, it doesn’t fail to bring suspense and horror. This can be seen through the various points of view shots, which play with the audiences mind, implying that someone is there looking at Amanda, yet we never get to see who is there. That is until the cross roads. Without giving too much away it is the fear of the unknown that makes this a good horror film. You never know who or what is behind a mask.

When speaking to the director of the film Jack Joules, he described the film as a ‘fantastic experience’ working with a new up and coming cast and how their ‘hard work and dedication was inspirational’. ‘The Return’ is his first horror film which he has directed and ‘wanted to do something different’ to what he normally does. He also spoke about where his inspiration came from and ‘wanted to incorporate the idea of the unknown’ as there are not enough films out there like it, and is one of the ‘major things which scares [him]’. There we go; we now know how to scare one of the greatest directors, Jack Joules.

This film is set for release on the 25^th October 2014, just in time for Halloween. I truly believe that it will smash other horror films this Halloween and will be extremely successful.  If you liked ‘Enter The Forest’ you will LOVE ‘The Return’.

Double Page Production 1

With the basic design sketched out, I decided to make a rough layout on Photoshop so that I could slowly incorporate text and other final designs into it. I started off by splitting the blank page into columns with equal widths so that it would look both professional and consistent. With the columns sorted out, it allowed me to see how much space I was working with to fill up with the title, the main photo and possibly a filler.

Titles

The font of the title was particularly important, as I wanted to use the same font throughout all three products to ensure continuity. Below are the some of the fonts that I thought would work well;

I decided to go with 'Agency FB' (fourth title down) as I liked the strict, sharp edge to it, therefore linking in with the horror genre.

I then played around with different colours of the text and liked the idea of using blood red, which was both fitting for the genre and conventional. As well as this, I liked the idea of having two colours to make it appear bold and striking.

I started off by using a red drop glow around the text but thought it didn't have a striking finish and would get lost on the page. This is when I decided to strip it back and just have one colour for one word and another colour for the other.

Double Page photoshoot

These are some of the photographs I took for my double page. I liked the idea of having a large space to make the protagonist appear to be small and by taking the photo at a high angle it further made her appear vulnerable. Although all photos are clearly very similar to each other, I liked the second photograph as due to the masked man a lot more in the background it appeared to be a lot more sinister as it suggests that it is watching her and she is oblivious. 

Missing Poster- PRODUCTION

I decided to make my missing poster on Photoshop Elements 8.0, having previous experience with this program from making my music magazine last year for my AS. This experience with the program enabled me to complete the missing poster quickly and effectively, meaning that no major time was lost for filming etc.

Here is the finished poster;

Missing Poster

Half way through my filming, I decided that I would not have enough content in my film and also that I needed to have a deeper story line that would entice the audience in and answer questions that were raised by my film cast. 

This is when I decided to adapt my story line and have the idea of people being taken in the forest who wore a particular bracelet. I then had the difficulty of trying to make the audience aware of this, so I decided to do some further research into the horror genre and looked through the research I had already done on my blog, looking for some inspiration. 

I previously liked the idea of using a missing poster, as seen in my earlier posts, I wanted to incorporate the poster in the ending. I then decided to follow a similar idea used in a horror film I recently watched, of who ever finds/wears a particular item, they will be taken next.

I was able to express this idea through a missing poster, as I can write about what the person was last seen in and have the protagonist find this item, deciding to wear it. To further heighten the horror of this idea I have decided to make the protagonist oblivious to the missing poster, therefore emphasizing her vulnerability.  

Camera Workshop

I recently took part in a camera workshop in school, where we got to terms with the cameras and tripods we would be using to shoot our films. This helped me to decide how practical it was to shoot certain scenes in my film and whether I had to change any of the shots from my storyboard so that they were more manageable. We started off by learning the following rules and techniques;

·         Rule of thirds, this is a straightforward principle that will help me to take well balanced and interesting shots. This important technique is where the camera is split into a grid with nine imaginary sections. The general rule is that the points of interest should occur at 1/3 or 2/3 of the way up the frame, rather than in the centre; as naturally we do not look at the centre of an image.

·         With this in mind we looked at how this rule works and how some directors break this rule by having the subject in the middle of the grid, which creates an uncomfortable scene and makes the subject appear daunting. This unconventional technique is something I would therefore take into consideration when filming my horror film, to create an uncomfortable shot.

·         We then looked at walking and talking distance. This is where you must make sure that the subject has enough room in front of them so that they do not walk off/lead the shot with the majority of the space behind them and create an uneasy frame.

·         We also looked at headroom; this is where you don’t want the shot to have excessive empty space above the subjects head. There should be little room above a person’s head in a shot, to ensure it looks comfortable for the audience.

·         We also looked at how to master a zoom. Before this workshop I would have assumed to have just stood as close as possible to the subject and then used the zoom to get closer. However, after comparing this to the new technique we learnt; standing within reasonable distance and then using the zoom to get closer to the subject, I found that it produced a crisper and more defined shot.

·         Once we had finished practicing the basic camera techniques, we moved onto learning about the tripods. Tripods are used to produce a steady frame, therefore making your film appear more professional. The length of them can be changed depending on what type of shot you are looking for; this is particularly useful, as my storyboard features numerous high angle shots, which will help to achieve these shots more affectively.

·         We ended the workshop with looking at how to shoot a conversation between two people. This put into perspective the numerous shots you need for each scene and helped me to understand how time consuming this process is going to be. For example, in a simple conversation, a master shot was used and two over the shoulder shots; one from each side of the character. 

Shot List

I decided to complete a shot list, so when it came to filming I would be able to tick of each of the shots I would have to film and therefore not rely on my storyboard where I may forget to film a certain part. This will give me reassurance when filming and hopefully make the process of filming quicker, as I will not have to work out what to film next.

Opening montage;

• Black screen dissolve into the sky
• Tilt down into establishing shot
  OR
• Gravel/path way
• Tilt into establishing shot of forest
• Extreme close up of moon behind leaves
• Establishing shot of forest path
• Feet walking along the forest path (P.O.V)

Page 3;

• Long shot/high angle shot of girl walking on the path-left hand side
• Long shot of behind the girl-on the path alone
• Hand held camera to back of girls head-becoming quicker as they become closer
• Close up of the back of her head
• Long shot of front of girl
• Median long shot-pause music/check phone
• Close up of phone

Page 4;

• Close up of phone
• Close up of bracelet
• Close up girls face
• Extreme close up of eyes-move left to right
• Hand held camera look right hand side of her path at bushes
• Hand held camera from behind the bush, move closer into the bush when she looks

Page 5;

• Hand held camera behind bush, see girl walk off
• Establishing shot/high angle of cross roads
• Hand held camera, long shot-quick flash down on path
• Hand held camera, long shot-quick flash down opposite path
• Extreme close up of girls face
• Hand held, long shot down the path-see masked man

Page 6;

• Hand held camera- screams and turns away
• Close up low angle shot of masked man in her way
• Jump cut mum at home
• Close up of clock, hand move from 7:00
• Close up of full moon
• Tilt down from moon onto the path
• Camera in front of girl-running past
• Hand held camera of girl running (POV)

Page 7;

• Tracking shot flash past left side of woods
• Median long shot flash past right side of woods
• Median long shot of girl screaming
• Zoom on feet tripping over stick
• Low angle shot of masked people surrounding girl (hole)
• High angle of girl on the floor-trying to back up

Page 8;

• Low angle of masked people with weapon
• Establishing shot of the forest; trees
• Worms eye view of phone-mum trying to call
• Focus pull on phone
• Focus pull on phone- hand in the background with blood scrunching the ground
• Worms eye view of girls hand trying to reach phone
• Focus pull change to girl trying to get phone
• Foot stamp on phone
• Close up on girl crying
• Tilt up from her phone to the masked man

Page 9;

• High angle of girl looking up to masked man
• From her head-long shot tracking shot another masked man pulling her by the feet
• low angle-hand held camera (P.O.V) of girl////high angle (P.O.V from masked man) of girl being dragged away
• Close up on bracelet
• Slow zoom out of bracelet- as much as you can
• Establishing shot of forest
• Median long shot of front door
• Close up of girl in mask holding a knife

EXTRA SCENES

Page 4

• Texting, focus pull on bracelet on floor,
• Close up on bracelet,
• Pick bracelet up,
• Close up on girls face,

Page 3

• Missing poster on tree-walks past it,
• Slow zoom on the poster-bracelet, poster on one of the trees,

Location

I recently went out to take my location shots for my film, where it helped me to visualize my ideas for the film and come up with any new scenes or shots that I could incorporate to the storyboard.

I went to two locations, both of which being forests, however, my preferred choice was the location below, due to it being more overgrown and unkempt, which I felt added to the horror of the film.

In my storyboard it features a cross road, where the character has to decide which path to go down, this cross road therefore satisfies my idea and enabled me to plan certain shots, ready for my filming. 

CROSS ROADS

CROSS ROADS

CROSS ROADS

CROSS ROADS

There was a ditch type, raised piece of land that looked down on the ground below, which gave me inspiration of the masked people looking down on the protagonist, further emphasizing the low angle shot I would use to show their power over her. I therefore then went home and incorporated this into my 'extra scenes' notes, so that I could try this shot out when filming.

DITCH

These establishing shots gave me the idea to have similar shots in the opening montage of the film, showing the greatness of the forest and therefore emphasizing the characters vulnerability. Especially by using a pan shot, this should further show the vastness of the setting.

ESTABLISHING SHOT

ESTABLISHING SHOT

ESTABLISHING SHOT

These shots of the location helped me to finalize any ideas I had on a particular scene of the film and made sure the ideas I had were practical to film.

Timetable

I decided to make a timetable, so that both my cast and I, are aware of what is going on during the next couple of weeks in regards to filming; where and when. This has helped me to organize myself and means that i can focus on other aspects of this project- such as the analysis of the film posters, when I am not busy filming, meaning that I can keep update to date with everything.

Date	Time	Task	Completed
22/9/2014	9:00am	Sort out a cast, Run through what is needed of them,
26/9/2014	9:00am	Order masks, Sort out what clothing the cast should wear,
28/9/2014	3:00pm	Take photos of location; -forest/woods
3/10/2014	9:00am	Make a shot list; -list of the shots so I can tick them off whilst filming
4/10/2014	4:00-7:30pm	Film first ½ of film; -only forest scenes
5/10/2014	5:00-6:00pm	Film second ½ of film; -only forest scenes
11/10/2014	6:00-7:00	Film indoor scenes; -kitchen -outside the front door
12/10/2014 18/10/2014	4:30-6:30	Re-film any scenes not happy with