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.