Theorist - Barthe

Barthe's theory is about five codes that are "woven into any plot", although I will only be focusing on the 'action' and 'enigma' codes. The 'enigma code' refers to anything that isn't fully explained to the audience and becomes a mystery to them, giving them clues about what is happening but not fully telling them. The 'action code' refers to any action that implies a further narrative action - making the audience want to know what the outcome of the action is.

In my film, the action code applies to the bad things happening to Holly's friends, making it look as though there's a supernatural being behind it all. The plot twist in the film relies on the audience wanting to know what is causing everything and then, when Michael is revealed to be causing everything, they realise that the enigma codes all add up and it's been obvious that it's been Michael all along. This could make them want to re-watch the film now that they have a different perspective and the enigma codes no longer apply.

Film Production - Settings

Lunch hall - This is a social area that people will recognise as from in a school. These places are known for being busy and places where people gossip - there's a contrast with this idea when Holly and Amy are talking in the film trailer, alone at the table. This shows that this scene must take place during a lesson as there's nobody else around and connotes that Holly was desperate to tell her friend what's been happening.

Lockers - This scene connotes that the film is mainly set in a school and also suggests that the characters are of an age to be at school/sixth form. Like lunch halls, they also known for places of gossiping - as it's the only time people are separated from their cliques at school.

Class room - We decided to not use a typical class room as the students are older and would spend more time in computer suites.

Trees - These are typical of the horror genre and could be considered clichéd. We weren't sure if we would include this setting for that reason but decided that the trees added to the eerie vibe that we were trying to achieve. The trees provide a lot of shadows - which fits with the film title and add a sense of mystery - and we decided to film the shots near the trees when it was getting late so that the low sun gave us more shadows.

Bushes - There's a gap in the bushes that we decided could be used to hide something - which is why we used this as where Amy's body is found.

Playground - In our trailer, there's juxtaposition of friends having fun at park and swing by itself in the dark. This suggests there's something supernatural making the swing move but could also be seen as the girls disappearing suddenly from the park, or someone who has been following them.

Holly's house - This setting was used to add realism as teenagers tend to just spend time at home when they're not at school - which is why we made sure that these two settings were the most featured in our film. The familiar setting also adds to the idea of Holly not being safe in her own house and shows that the 'spirit' is following her not just at school.

The outside of the house is shown but the audience only see someone unknown pressing the doorbell in the trailer. The shadow that goes over the doorbell emphasises our focus of being 'in the shadows' but also connotes that whoever is there has bad intentions.

There are also scenes set in Holly's room to add a sense of verisimilitude. It's a typical teenage girl's room and would be where Holly feels comfortable - we contrasted with this by showing Holly having nightmares and waking up suddenly to emphasise to the audience that there's nowhere where she's safe.

Film Production - Actors

When deciding who would play Holly in our film, we chose our friend Shauna to play her as she is who we based the character on when we were planning the film. She also has experience of acting because she was the main character of a teen angst opening last year - and we needed somebody who is able to perform in our film professionally. Even though she isn't in many scenes of our trailer, the main problem with having Shauna as the actress is that it is hard to coordinate times when we are all available to film, as she had another lesson when we were media and we all had other arrangements outside of school.

Barnaby was meant to be Michael but could not meet our production schedule so we recast the role to Lucy's brother, Matthew, as he was available when Lucy was and it was easier to get footage including him - he's only briefly shown so we just needed him to be in the background of a shot in the trailer. Although he is too young to play the character, his face isn't shown in the trailer and he is tall enough to look like he's 17, so he was suitable for the role. He is an experienced actor but is only skilled in playing comedy roles, which is why we only wanted him in the trailer briefly.

Lucy and Eva play Holly's friends, Amy and Natalie. The clips of bad things happening to Holly's friends are only brief so the audience don't know much about these characters, so it doesn't matter that they are inexperienced in acting. An advantage of using these two as our side characters is that they are both in the group, so they knows all the details of the plot and how to film properly.

We didn't need an actress to be Holly's mother as she isn't shown in the trailer - although if we did need one, we would use Lucy's mother, as she would be available to film when we need her.

Film Planning - Posters and Magazine Covers

I am going to base the film's magazine cover on the 'Total Film' covers I made earlier. I will keep the colour scheme very dark to fit with the genre and use a picture of Holly as the main focus - with the shadows around her enhanced to fit with the title. I will advertise other independent films on the cover - such as the thriller films the other groups in class are making - but mention Hollywood films too as it is common for them to be featured to capture the audience's attention - these films might also all be horrors or thrillers and I could make the magazine have a genre special for thriller films.

Although I'm not sure what exactly will be on the poster, I'm planning for it to be simple but effective. It will follow the AIDA model, which is a theory for how people react to advertisement. The letters stand for: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. This means that advertisement should grab the viewer’s attention, making them interested and desire to see the film. This would then make them want to take action, by going to see the film in the cinema or researching about it. I will get the viewer's attention with a large picture and then make them interested with the vague title, which will also take up a lot of room on the poster. They will desire to see the film when they see it is 'Coming Soon' and they will take action by using a hashtag seen on the poster or by visiting the website shown.

Theorist - Mulvey

Laura Mulvey has the theory that women are in films to appeal to the 'male gaze'. This is shown in many films by the female characters being over-sexualised or being portrayed and perfect and unobtainable.

I personally find this theory very outdated as it assumes that all men would be attracted to women and all women wouldn't be attracted to the same gender. This theory is also extremely sexist and I think that modern films should have more female empowerment in them.

As none of us approve of how female characters are treated in films, we made our main character a girl who is average and relatable. We want our audience to be able to relate to her because of what she does, not because they want to look like her. We have ensured that there will be no sexualisation of our main character, as is what most films in this genre do to gain popularity with the male target audience - but our film isn't typical like them and is aimed mainly at females.

Film Planning - USP

The biggest selling point for our film is the fact the it is British, as most films in the horror/thriller genre are American. This would attract a British audience but would also make Americans want to see the film as they would be curious to see how different the film is.

Also, the fact that our film is a combination of a supernatural, crime, and horror thriller will attract audiences because it is different and doesn't stick to the conventions of just one type of thriller.

Theorist - Strauss

Levi Strauss made the theory that all narratives canter around 'binary opposites'. An example of one is the common battle between good and evil in most films.

In my film, Holly and Michael have been designed to be opposites of each other to emphasise how different they are - with the most basic difference being their genders. Holly is an extrovert, who enjoys being with friends (which is why it's so hard to isolate herself from them), while Michael is an introvert that doesn't like having contact with many people. Holly's personality is friendly and, because of this, she is popular, while Michael is unpopular due to his unfriendly personality. We are also going to show these differences by having Holly wear light clothes and Michael wear dark clothes - and this is also because it's typical for the antagonist to be wearing darker colours.

The plot also is about the difference between people's social lives and their private lives, along with how Holly acts around her friends and her family. When she is with her friends, Holly is louder and more talkative, giving off the impression that she has nothing to hide, but when she is at home, she is quieter and keeps to herself. Michael is the opposite, with him being too shy to talk to people at school and acting a lot bolder when he's at home.

Film Production - Script

Because we are only doing a film trailer, there won't be much for our actors to say - as most of the trailer will have music over the top of it.

[film production logo fading to black]

[cut to Holly]

Holly (crying, looking scared): Bad things have been happening to me.

[fade to black]

[show scenes of Holly looking happy, with friends and family]

[cut to black screen]

Amy (voiceover): So what's the problem?

[fast cuts of bad things happening to Holly and her friends]

[cut to black]

[film title]

[institutional information]

[cut back to Holly]

Holly (same scene as earlier): Help me.

[cut to black]

Film Planning - Communication

For this project, we created a Facebook group chat for the three of us to discuss ideas and organise filming times. This also allowed us to quickly send photos to each other for our blog posts, which we found very convenient.

Film Planning - Characters

Holly, 17 - main character and protagonist - We considered naming her Rose because of the fact that roses have thorns but the name gives the connotation of romance, which isn't what we want, so we named her Holly, another plant that's known for having sharp spikes. She is an 'average girl' who has a good family, good friends and good grades. She also has an interest in the supernatural, which is sown at the beginning of the movie when she tries to summon a spirit using a badly-drawn pentagram. Although it isn't mentioned in much detail in the film, she is asexual, which Michael doesn't realise when he fears she might leave him. She doesn't really like Michael due to that fact that she's been forced to be with him for years and wants him to leave her alone as he is too clingy.

Michael, 17 - antagonist - We wanted Michael to have an average name that goes with the fact that he'll be seen as just a side character until the fact that he's the bad guy is revealed. Throughout the film, the audience won't pay much attention to him as he will be portrayed as just a quiet and meek background character. People don't know what he does outside of school, but he is very smart so they assume he spends his time studying. When his childhood is revealed through flashbacks, the audience sees that Holly has been his only friend for as long as he can remember - like a sister to him - and he doesn't like how she's getting more friends and 'leaving him behind'. When he realises that Holly is starting to piece together what's behind her friends getting injured, he hurts himself and lies in a ditch (where Holly finds him) - but him injuring himself is not shown until later so that the audience and Holly rule him out as a suspect.

Amy, 17 - Holly's best friend - Holly trusts Amy a lot as she is the first person she tells about her problems and also one of the people Holly refuses to talk to when she believes that she is cursed - thinking that the 'curse' causes bad things to happen to those she is close to. She met Holly in their first year of secondary school and was the first 'best friend' she's had since Michael. Although she acts friendly to him, she doesn't like Michael due to the fact that he's always trying to take Holly away from her. She is found dead in a field and the cause of her death is unknown as there is no sign of injury - although it is later revealed that she has ingested poison.

Natalie, 17 - another friend of Holly's and one of Michael's first victims - Natalie is who Holly got her interest in spirits from, as she is fascinated with the subject. She has only recently became friends with Holly but they became close friends very quickly - which annoys Michael a lot. Michael kidnaps Natalie to keep her away from Holly, but takes his methods of keeping her quiet too far and almost kills her. Holly finds Natalie in Michael's house after an urgent message from her, which is how she finds out Michael is behind the bad things happening.

Sarah, 42 - Holly's mum - Sarah is close friends with Michael's mother and wants Holly to be friends with him. Although she has a good relationship with her daughter, Holly doesn't go to her for help when she fears she is cursed, and instead talk to her friends.

Film Planning - Production Company

We were going to use one of the film companies we made last year, but decided to create a new one for this project. We made some draft designs for this while planning the film and decided that we liked this logo's design the best:

I later made the logo in Photoshop and decided to make the design simpler and more professional:

'L E V' stands for Lucy, Eva, Viki, and it adds a personal touch to the film - while also creating a name that's short and easy to remember. The colours are red, green and blue to represent the RGB colour model - which is associated with TVs and computer monitors - and the circles represent spotlights, which further emphasises that our company makes quality films - although I might make the colours more darker and sinister to fit the thriller genre:

The logo catches the viewer's attention with the basic shapes and simple colours - which is vital as it's the first thing shown in the trailer. If I have the time, I would like to attempt to animate the logo, so that the circles move onto the screen from the left, revealing the logo - also to fit in with the spotlight imagery. As we are also considering using a pentagram in our trailer, I've been considering making the middle circle fade into a pentagram just before the trailer starts.

Film Planning - Pitch

Once we had an idea of what we wanted our film to be about, we had to present the ideas to the rest of the class as a 'pitch'. This allowed the others to give us an opinion on what we wanted to do - including what they liked and what we should change. All of the members in our group were given three slides to present:

Eva

- USP

- Target Audience

- Production Company and Logo

Lucy

- Plot Outlines and Narrative

- Characters

- Generic Conventions

Me

- Trailer Conventions

- Music

- Settings/Locations

We presented this in the form of a PowerPoint presentation which can be seen below:

Film Planning - Shot List

From our storyboard, we have compiled a full list of every shot in our trailer:

• Age certificate information
• LEV Productions logo
• Tracking behind friends
• Mid shot of Holly and Amy sitting and talking
• Mid shot of Holly and a friend
• Close-up of phone
• Long shot of Holly, Amy and Natalie
• Long shot of Amy and Natalie on swings
• Tracking behind Holly
• Fade to black screen
• Long shot of power cut on stairs
• Tracking shot of Michael's feet
• Close-up of a phone call coming in from Michael
• Close-up of someone ringing a doorbell
• Close-up of car window
• Mid shot of Amy getting attacked
• Long shot of empty moving swing
• High angle Holly waking up in bed
• Mid shot Holly waking up in bed
• Close-up of turning keys in ignition and starting a car
• Canted angle of Holly running upstairs
• Low angle of rain coming down at night
• High angle of dropping phone
• Close-up of hands banging on door
• Mid shot of Holly sleeping
• Long shot of Holly walking through trees
• Long shot of Natalie walking down alley
• Close-up of Natalie's face
• Close-up of candle going out
• 'In the Shadows' intertitle
• 'Coming Soon' intertitle
• Institutional information
• Close-up of Holly saying "Help Me"

Theorist - Todorov

Todorov's theory was that all films followed the same structure: equilibrium, disruption of the equilibrium, recognition of the disruption, an attempt to repair the damage, and a new equilibrium. The plot of our film follows the structure in this way:

- Equilibrium - Holly is happy and has friends.
- Disruption of the equilibrium - She tries to summon a spirit/Michael gets jealous.
- Recognition of the disruption - Bad things happen to her and her friends.
- An attempt to repair the damage - She tries to isolate herself and then thinks the curse is gone so she talks to her friends again.
-- Another disruption - Amy goes missing/is found dead.
-- Another attempt to repair - She finds out the 'ghost' is Michael.
- New equilibrium - Michael is arrested but Amy is dead and Holly and Natalie are emotionally scarred.

We didn't follow the theory exactly because we have more than one disruption and the ending doesn't exactly end with an equilibrium, although I feel as though this applies to many modern films as it adds more tension and makes the audience wonder if the characters will ever achieve another equilibrium.

Film Planning - Music

Our trailer will have fast-paced music that starts off slow, creepy and suspenseful as the trailer tells the initial information/story. It will then speed up dramatically and reach crescendo while the trailer shows short, fast clips of action from the movie. We will probably only need one music clip that starts off slow and speeds up, and we will edit it so that the pace fits the images being shown.

The only diegetic sound in the trailer will be Holly talking to her friend about her problems - which will be used as the voiceover for our trailer - while the rest of the sound will be muted so that the music will have more of an effect. This is very common in trailers from the horror/thriller genre as it builds suspense and makes the audience want to watch the trailer again by keeping the information given to them very limited. I personally think that the music is the most important aspect of a trailer, so it is vital that we choose a good track.

We are also going to use silence for emphasis at some points. For example, at the beginning of the trailer when Holly says that bad things are happening to her, there will be no music in the background so that her words are more effective.

Film Planning - Typical Trailer Conventions

All action/thriller/horror films have similar trailers, with many conventions that are typically seen in many trailers:

• Low-key lighting is used to make everything seem more dramatic and dark - especially if the film is a horror/psychological thriller because the audience want to be scared/thrilled by the film.
• Fast-paced music and clips are used to emphasise the action happening and make the trailer more intense. They grab the audience's attention and make them interested in the film.
• Intertitles give the audience more information and an idea of the story without wasting trailer time on useless clips. They can also show names of famous actors/directors who worked on the film, usually coupled with a voiceover reading out what they say so that the audience's attention isn't broken by having to read (normally read by an American man with a deep voice). The intertitles can also show reviews from critics.
• The film production logo is the first thing that's shown in a trailer, even if just for a second, which can benefit the film trailer by making the audience want to know what the film is because they've seen films by that company before. They can also give the audience an idea of what the budget of the film is and what to expect (e.g. if they see a Disney logo, they will expect a family film).
• The film title is extremely important because the audience need to know what the film the trailer is advertising. The font and background are important in letting the viewer know what genre the film is - and it needs to tell them this even if they haven't seen the trailer or film before.
• A lot of trailers now include a hashtag that people can use to talk about the film on social media and the company can track to see what the reception to the trailer is like. This also results in free advertisement because the audience are promoting the film to their friends. Trailers also tend to have a website that the audience can visit so that they can find out more - which is important if the trailer doesn't have a definite release date and just says 'coming soon'.
• The film certificate lets the audience know immediately if they can see the film in cinemas and also gives an indication of what the film contains (e.g. if a horror film had a certificate of 12A then people might not see it because they know it wouldn't be that scary, but this could work in attracting a younger audience because the would be unable to see other films of the genre, which are usually rated 15 or 18).
• Most trailers include character introductions that give the audience an idea of who's in the film and what they're like. This could make people want to watch the film for 'personal identity' reasons because they relate and share characteristics with them, and could also make people want to find out what happens to these people and what they will do.

Film Planning - Title

The title of a film is extremely important as the audience need to know what film the trailer is advertising. The font and background are also vital in letting the viewer know what genre the film is - and they need to tell them this even if they haven't heard of the film before.

We wanted a title that suggested that the film was a thriller and gave the impression that it could be about something supernatural. The title needed to also incorporate the fact that somebody might be stalking Holly, but without giving away the plot twist. Some of the ideas we had (such as 'It Follows') were already films and we wanted a title that was unique.

After going through a lot of ideas, we decided that 'In The Shadows' would be an ideal title as it connotes the horror genre, while emphasising the fear of the unknown - which is the main plot of our film. The title leads the audience to believe that the antagonist is something supernatural but also makes sense when they realise it is actually Michael.

We haven't yet decided on a font/colour for the title and we are intending to do this when we start post-production. The idea we want for it is to have 'In The' in a bold, white font and 'Shadows' to be elongated and slanted, like a shadow. If our editing software allows us to, we would also like to have the title fade out to emphasise the shadowy aspect.

I have made some concept art of what I would like the title to look like:

Film Planning - Target Audience

Our target audience are British people, although the fact that it is different could draw in an American audience that want to see how it compares to the average thriller.

We intend for our film to appeal to males and females who enjoy the thrill of scary films. this is because males are typically known for enjoying horror films more, but females also enjoy these types of film and would also watch the film for 'personal identity' reasons as they might identify with some factor of Holly.

The film will appeal to and audience between the ages of 15 and 30. It is going to be rated 15 for the psychological horror and violence included, so audiences younger than 15 wouldn't be able to watch the film - and most horror films are rated 15 or 18 anyway. People up to the age of 20 would watch the film because they are around the age of the characters, while people up to 30 would see the film just because they enjoy thrillers - this demographic is also the people that got to the cinema the most and watch the most films.