The film

Radio trailer for the film

Radio Trailer by lmcmedia
This is our radio trailer for our film. We used music from the film as we felt it would interlink with the film well and the music in the film is quite dramatic and adds suspense. We added other sounds over the top, for instance, we used a heartbeat and a clock ticking. We got some of the sounds off of Soundjay.com as they had a wide range of noises and sounds.
There are two people speaking in the trailer, firstly there is the main female character and we have taken the dialogue from the film and put it into the trailer as it interlinks the two again. There is also the male voiceover which uses the captions from the poster and adds the release date at the end along with where it will be released. The voiceover is there to create suspense and fear and to show off the fact that it is a horror film.
There are also other noises that create suspense such as the heartbeat and in particular the scream at the end of the trailer. We wanted to keep it as close to the trailers we looked at so that it came across as professional and flowed well.
I am very happy with the outcome of the trailer, however there are some aspects that could be improved, such as changing the volume of certain parts of the music to make them more protrudent or quieter to make the trailer more smooth overall.

First draft of our film and feedback

This is the first draft for our film. We are happy with how this came out, however, we do know that there is some tweaking to do with the music and adding credits. We also wanted to gain some feedback from the targeted audience to see what they though of the film and any improvements that could be made. To do this we used Facebook and uploaded the video so that people could give their opinion easily.

Trailer script

This is our script for our trailer. This script should make the creation of the radio trailer a quick and smooth process; we have written it in some detail so that we know exactly where things need to go. We will be taking some parts from the film, for example, the female dialogue and some of the music to make the trailer and film link well. We hope that having the script to make the process smoother will mean that we will have alot more time to edit the trailer to make it sound as professional as possible.

Radio trailer script

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Trailer research

These are two trailers that I have found on youtube to help give me some ideas and conventions of what need to be in our radio trailer. Although both are film trailers, you can interpret both into what they would sound like as radio trailers by just listening and and not watching them.

This is the film trailer for the film 'When a Stranger Calls'. I chose to look at this particular trailer because it has the same sort of story line as our film and therefore it shows the sort of things that would be good to have as in our radio trailer. The music in this trailer i feel is what creates the fear and suspense in the audience. It starts of quite but has a spooky feel to it so the audience know something may happen, but soon gets louder and scarier. However, in certain parts they cut the music and then add in a band about a second after the music stops to really make the audience jump and sit on edge. The dialogue within the trailer also adds to the suspense of the music as the lines that are said are panicked and scary which add to the fear. There isn't a voiceover in this trailer but it may be because it is a film trailer not radio trailer. However one thing I did notice was included was the caption of the film 'Have you checked the children?'. This it would seem is what combines the film and trailer together as it is the website name also. The release date is also included in the trailer which seems to be conventional because the audience need to know when the film is going to be in cinemas.


This is the trailer for the film 'The Strangers'. Similarly to the previous trailer, it is also a film trailer so you have to listen to the trailer rather than watch it. I also chose this trailer because it has similar aspects to our film and therefore would be helpful in giving me inspiration for our own trailer. I think the dialogue in this trailer is what makes the overall feel of it scary. They have picked lines from the film that create emotion within the audience and also fear and panic so that the audience that are listening to the trailer are gripped and want to go and see the film. There is some music in the trailer that slowly builds suspense, but they have silenced it in some parts as a second later there is a sound effect of a loud bang etc. This is something that I also noticed in the previous trailer, it seems to be an aspect of horror trailers that keep the audience gripped and creates fear within them. This trailer also has the caption that is in the poster and film combining the three products together and also adding a fear factor within the audience as it is quite a scary caption and could relate to anyone listening to the trailer. It would seem that this is also conventional of a horror genre trailer as it is also in the previous trailer.

Final poster

This is our official poster. We followed the sketches as best we could and took in the feedback about colour and other feedback that was given also about shadowing on the images. I am extremely happy with the outcome of this poster, I feel that the text has followed conventions of a horror as it signifies blood and gore because of thew font. Also the colour has followed conventions with the black connoting darkness and danger, the red connoting danger and blood, and the white connoting purity and death. I feel that the colours stand out from each other aswell making the text clear and easy for the audience to read.

The images have also create a sense of danger and fear within the poster. We have specifically placed the 'Stalker' above the girl as it signifies his power over her and over the conscious and subconscious of her mind. Also the way the darkness of his face and hat blend into the background add to the mystery of the poster. However, if I was to criticise anything on this poster it would be the image of the girl. If I was to improve it I would add a glow or shadow to her image to make it a bit more outstanding and fearful.

We have also added in the website that information about our film would be on, making it accessable worldwide for people to find out as much information as they like. Not only this but we have also added the Youtube and Vimeo logo onto the bottom of the poster to make sure people know they can watch the film for free online and where it can be seen. This means that the more hits we would get, would be a deciding factor as to whether we could ever make a film that would be able to go into cinemas and be paid for.

Poster sketches

These are two sketches for two different posters. They are two designs we have drawn to decide which one we will create as we feel it has a better look than the other. We personally found that the poster with the title at the top was the better poster but we also asked for other feedback. We found that everyone was in agreement that it was the better poster, however, suggestions such as very few colourings to make the poster scarier were made. This is something we will be taking into consideration when creating the poster.

Poster research

Today I started to research film posters in the horror genre. I picked two posters that fit into this genre and they are also from well known horror films. I chose these two posters because they have many similarities making it clear what the conventions of a horror poster are. However, they do have a couple of differences which show how you can challenge the conventions to create a unique product. These are analysis's of the two posters highlighting the similarities and differences.

Film posters analysis

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Ancillary tasks

For my ancillary tasks I have chosen to create a poster and radio trailer with Lauren Jackett. We have chosen these particualar tasks as we feel that these are the most conventional for the distribution of information about films. Although a magazine article could have positives, we feel that the poster and radio trailer would have more of an effect on the film. In particullar, we have discussed the idea that you can make the poster have a 'fear factor' along with the radio trailer to add emphasis to the film, and continue to portray conventions of a horror film.

Film Script

This is the script for our film. We wrote this script so that when it came down to shooting the film we had a good idea of exactly what we needed so that we could therefore get it done quickly. However, this is only a rough outline of what each bit of the film will be, we will try to stick to it as best as possible, but some parts may change slightly or be added in as we may feel it could make the film better. As there is only a small amount of dialogue within the film, most of the script consists of music and what bit of filming goes with it. This made the script quite easy to write, but it should help us out when we start editing aswell as shooting the film.

Film script

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Pitch and feedback

This is a video of Lauren Jackett, Charlie Woollard and I, giving our pitch to the class. We did this in order to gain productive feedback so that when creating our final film we have an idea of what we need to do to gain better marks, and give the overall look of the film a more professional look.

I found the feedback we recieved very helpful and productive from our class. We discovered that the majority fo the class enjoyed the sample scene and the idea for our film, and also liked the outcome of the sample scene. We recieved alot of positive feedback, for instance, it was said that our music was put in really well within our sample scene and the editing was really smooth. Because of this we will continue to work as we have with the music and editing when creating our final film.
However, we also recieved critical feedback, which meant we knew exactly what we needed to change or ajust when creating our final film. It was said that the outdoor part of the film was too dark and needed to be brighter for all viewers to make out what is going on. We found this very helpful as it meant we knew that we either needed to get hold of some lights or use final cut express effects to brighten the outdoor clips. We found the overall pitch productive and helpful and it gave us alot of insight of things we needed to add/change for our final film.

Pitch and Storyboard for presentation

This is the powerpoint presentation that we will be using for our pitch to the class. on this presentation it goes through our storyboard and other details of our filming and preparation. I hope this can make it easier for the class to gain an understanding of the film whist we talk them through it, so that they can give us productive feedback and we can work from there.

Presentation for pitch media

Sample scene of film

This is a sample scene of our film, this will be presented to the class to gain feedback on what we can do to make the film better, to achieve a better outcome. Once we had got into creating this sample scene, we found it easier as it went along. I found the hardest part to be adding the music to each shot to make the film flow, however, I found that after we had got the hang of it, it became much easier. it was a case of making sure the sound of the music fit to what was going on in the film at the time.

editing the sample scene

Today we started to edit our sample scene. We began by downloading all of our clips onto final cut express, and then picking out the clips that we wished to use within the film. Once we had all the clips that we were definatly going to use, we then, in order, put them in one by one and cut them to where we wanted them to start and finish

filming the sample scene

Over the weekend we filmed our sample scene so that it is ready for Monday and we can start editing it and adding music to it in time for the deadline.
We managed to get everything filmed that we wanted to, and it went well, however the only difficulty we ran into was trying to create light outside as we were filming at nightime and it was very dark. Therefore we improvised and used the headlights of a car to create enough light to see the main parts of the shot throughout that section of the scene. We found that this worked quite well as we didn't want it too bright, as we wanted to keep the darkness as it is a dark film.
We used different shots with the camera, n made good use from the tripod to make the shots smooth and still, which therefore gives the film a more professional feel.

preparing for sample scene

Today we were set the task to get our sample scene done for next week, therefore the three of us (Charlie Woolard, Lauren Jackett and I) started to discuss who we would be using as the actors, and also any costumes we would need, what camera to use, if we would need a tripod etc.
We decided that for the sample scene, one of the three of us would do the acting, the costumes would be every day clothing. We will borrow a camera from school as well as a tripod to keep the camera steady. As for the 'Stalker' within the film, he will be a friend of ours, who will be wearing all black or very dark colours, to keep the 'fear factor' and mystery of who he is.

Reply about our permission letter

Today we were emailed back by the council to let us know they could not give us permisson to film anywhere abandonded. Although this was a dissapointment to us, we had come up with another idea in case this would happen. we decided to stick to filming it in a house; we also thought that this may have been a better idea anyway as we would not be sure as to how to get lighting for somewhere abandoned. Once we had tweeked the idea slightly to the house, we were ready to shoot.

sample scene planning

As we still werent positive on a setting, not only for our sample scene, but also our real film, we discussed where we thought would be best to film it. Our first idea was in an abandoned place, for instance and mental asylum, as it would really fit into the horror genre and show many conventions also. We also thought it would have the shock factor on thre audience and therefore if it was a film that was to be published, it could have an edge that made it stand out. So we decided to get in contact to the council and see if we could get permission to film in any abandonded place, we made a phone call and also sent this letter to explain what it is we are looking for and if there was any way of using somewhere like that.

Permission letter

Whilst waiting for a reply we talked about whether we would have any dialogue or just sound (music) to add effect; we also talked about what time of day we should film it and also whether we would need any additional lighting. Props and costume did come into discussion but we each agreed that it would be best to keep it simple and to use every day clothing for thde main character and dark clothing for the 'stalker' character.

Not only did we do this, but we also started to experiment with the sort of music we will be using within the film. We used Garage Band, and found small pieces of music and put them together to see what they sounded like, and to see if it was the sort of music we would like in our film. The more we experimented with the clips the more we found that we liked, and found that it would be easier for us to use once we have trhe sample scene.

Experimenting with GarageBand to create scary music

During this lesson, we experimented with GarageBand to learn how to use it better and also to see what sound effects and music was on it that would work in our horror film. This is just a few bits of music that we have looked at together that we think create a scary feel and what we may perhaps use in our sample scene.
Thriller by lmcmedia
Heartbeat by lmcmedia
Enemy Behind The Door by lmcmedia
Abandoned Infirmary by lmcmedia
Female Scream by lmcmedia

Discussing the sample scene

We started to decide what we are going to be doing for our sample scene today; not only do we need to think about what part of the film we wanted to use for the sample to use, we also need to think about the lighting we will be using, camera, tripod, costumes, props, setting etc.
Once we had picked the part of the film that we will be using, we then started discussing all the technical elements that would need to be in the scene, aswell as the conventions that we will need.