Location of filming

Location of the film

For the location of the film, we needed to initially look into the conventions of where Horror films are usually filmed.

As a group we realised that deciding the location and time of filming is just as important as choosing the actors. Due to our film being low budget and being funded by micro wave, we decided that filming in one house is the best way to keep cost down. Filming on location is cheaper, rather than filming on a constructed set or in a studio. However, a downfall of shooting in a real life environment is that the light and camera angles may suffer. The natural lighting on streets and inside buildings will be of a lower quality and standard, however, it is the best way to make the scenes realistic and believable for the audience.

It would be more difficult for us to film in an outdoor public environment as it could be unpredictable, noises of traffic or members of the public could alter the scene and how it looks.

Outdoor scenes

Throughout the film and the trailer there will be scenes showing an outdoor area. For example, Annabelle will have to move into her new house. This will be difficult to control as the weather and environment will be unpredictable on a daily basis.

There are areas in the garden and I the house where we will film which will give off eerie feeling. When Annabelle is walking into her home after moving in and trying to speak to the paper boy, it is likely that she will be feeling on edge, we want the location to portray this and therefore the location of where she walks is important.

Indoor scenes

Depending on the size of the scene, it may be more expensive to shoot a film on location, however in a house where Annabelle will be living, it will be very low budget as props will already be there and available for us to create the scene. There are always great benefits to filming on location; for example, the audience will get to see an inset into the characters lives and how they spend their daily lives in their home environment.

The kitchen is usually the hub of a home and where scenes will be filmed. The character of Annabelle will be spending time in the kitchen and watching outside her windows to the garden.

Character profile

There are certain aspects of classic horror characters that will be eminent in our trailer. We have looked into conventions of different characters in order to see what personality traits we can portray onto our victims.
Firstly, our character Annabelle will be of the age range of our target audience, this is because we want them to feel engaged throughout and keep the attention of them. Also, by having a young girl as the main character it will be appealing for both males and females to watch the film in the cinema. Another reason for having a female victim is that it is a convention of a horror film. They can easily be portrayed as vulnerable which means her personality will be conveyed as on edge. This is an important personality trait as it means when she jumps the audience in then will also be scared. This can build on the suspense in the trailer.
Within our film trailer, we decided that Annabelle would be a protagonist which means she herself will experience the horror of the anonymous figure at first hand. She has been terrifiably caught up in events that's are beyond her control, which then lead on to show her personality as anxious and scared.
As our film plot is victim narrated, the female character is at the heart of the entire plot, we get to see her change from a relatively happy and content person to a petrified and unsettled victim of an unknown figure lurking in her new home. This is a modern twise we have added to our plot in order to see it defy the usual conventions. Annabelle faces the horror character by herself which isn't usually seen in most horrors. A convention would be a female character being saved, however, we are glad to add a different twist and challenge usual conventions of a male hero. Annabelle manages to locate the source of horror being inflicted on her home without the aid of a male making this a strong statement of her character.

Change of film idea

We decided as a group that we needed to listen to our audience feedback. It's difficult for us to decide on a new direction from the work we've put into the first plot,  however, we decided in order to get the best result and make the best trailer we can,  we are now doing to switch to a horror genre and a different storyline.
By doing this, we are maximising our audiences feedback and we can incorporate a more thrilling plot to engage them.
We decided to look into horror films and use different conventions that can in turn create a more thrilling experience. If we did not listen to our audiences feedback we'd struggle to find a good place in the market of film. When we compared feedback for both plot lines we saw that the second plot line was a lot more popular for those in the age group of 15-25. Also, if the target audience is more drawn to the horror genre then immediately we are likely to sell more tickets and create a more creative film.
We noticed that by doing a horror film we could use different lighting and camera angles. We can shoot parts of the trailer in different natural lightings whilst also using a spotlight to highlight certain parts of the scene. Also, the acting can be more dynamic and we can adapt the way the acting is done to create an eerie and unknowing feel.
I am excited and apprehensive to start filming the new idea as I feel the direction of this plot is a lot more clear and precise to what we want the film to be.

Feedback for original idea of anonymous

Pitch for original Anonymous

We have created a pitch to show our original idea for our film anonymous. It includes important information about our pitch.

Pitch for #Anonymous

Diary of lesson

During todays lesson we looked into a semiotic analysis of trailers. We were using this so that we could then interpret what we had learn into our own trailer. It was also useful as this meant that we could go on to analyse movies within the same genre as our chosen story line and analyse them.

As an example, we used the trailer of the Da Vinci Code. This is a film made in 2006 by the institutes of Columbia Pictures and Imagine entertainment. The institution that will be funding this is featured at the start of the trailer. It helps to establish who was involved in the creation of the film.

It was directed by Ron Hammond which led to more people being interested in watching the film. It also involved a famous actor who is Tom Hanks. This would lead to a larger fan base being interested in watching the film and seeing what the trailer has to offer.

Why was Blair Witch made?

During the creation of the second Blair witch film, they decided that it was a risk to announce they were creating a sequel to the film. This is because they could face backlash as to why they didn't create a original film or why they were trying to recreate a film which was already good.A statement by the director stated that they planned to keep it a secret. There was also at one point a discussion at Lionsgate whether the entire film should be kept a secret. 

Their original plan was to release the film as 'The Woods' and hope that people decided to watch it. However they then decided that they would reveal it at Comic-Con to a positive reaction.

They wanted to re frame the idea that every sequel could never be as good as the original. Therefore they did this by updating the way in which the film was made. they modernised different aspects to give it a contemporary film whilst still linking to the same idea of the original with a group of vulnerable young teens. 

With the publicity of the new film, the director released a statement explaining the reason for a remake of the original successful film.

“Talking about it in 2013, it was very clear to me that the right approach was to use all the chronological changes and updates,” Barrett said. “Even of just like the camping experience. In the first film, they’re arguing over maps. It’s pre-GPS devices, cellphones, and all those other things. It’s changed a lot in those 20 years. So it definitely was part of the creative approach to take advantage of that. But [I also] don’t know how else we would have done it.”

This statement makes it clear that the remake was created with the idea that the film would give an updated idea of a horror film which had already been successful in its first release. By releasing a horror film which already had a fan base from years previous. They had a good chance of creating a box office success.

Why was 'Sket' made?

Sket is another film which fits into the category of capturing society’s underworld, in this films case that society is in London. The film displays another dimension of everyday life tat is uncommonly seen by the rest of England. This type of living is still quite apparent to those aware of it making the film intriguing to watch.


By reading statements released by the director, I can see that the reason for creating a film is to raise awareness to the growth of female gangs and what their lives may be like.


Nirpal Bhogal, the film’s director, explains his reasons for working on this project in the press pack for the film:

"There is a distinct lack of public knowledge about female gang culture, which results in a high level of fascination – yet not one film has dared to explore it – until now.
I met with various members of male and female gangs in order to learn why young women were now, more than ever, adopting aggressive male behaviour. The more I immersed myself in their ideologies the more I realised that their shift in behaviour could be explained as progressive adaptation, a theme that is at the very heart of ‘Sket’: society is changing, and girls and women must change with it in order to survive."

From reading this, it is clear that the director had a clear vision on how he wanted the film to be interpreted by its viewers. It shines a light on the different areas of life in London that are unseen by most people. This coverage shown in the film gives it an exciting edge.

Why was 'Me before you' made?

"Me before you" follows a tragic storyline seen in a few major films that have become popular films. The film me before you portrays a disabled man who has a live in carer. This film has given an insight of what its like to live with a disability and the daily struggles and unhappiness it can bring. However, it has been seen to glamorize the reality, this has caused a backlash from viewers as the man choses euthanasia over living as a quadriplegic. The film has caused controversy and has brought the topic to light in the media
The director of the film released a statement, She adds, “This is a brave ending. It’s too easy to do it the other way. We could all tell that story tomorrow. But this way… this is the more interesting way.”
But “more interesting” has also resulted in an outcry from disability advocacy groups offended the main character would take his life rather than live as a quadriplegic.
By creating a film with controversy such as this, the producers has allowed the topic to be brought up for discussion.
Another statement released shows that the film was made to be a tear jerker an provoke reaction from people.  Despite the mixed reaction to the movie, the fact that people are out there talking about it and sharing it is an accomplishment to her.
“There is something wonderful about knowing that the person next to you is also bawling their eyes out and you’re sharing that with them,” says Sharrock. “I think that’s a hugely cathartic thing. That side of it, I’m really proud of.”
This is clearly a reason as to why the film was made as it has meant people can share views on such a controversial topic.

Interview found on-
http://www.ew.com/article/2016/06/05/me-before-you-ending-director-responds

Diary- Film Trailers

During one of our first lessons. We took a look at film trailers. This is the first insight we've had into what the upcoming year will involve. It was interesting to look into major films that I've watched multiple times and see the ay in which the trailer was put together. An interesting fact that I learnt first of all was that the trailer doesn't get made by the production company. This was interesting as I had always assumed it was.
Music is used so that the trailer can entice the audience. The dramatic music can grab attention to go and watch the film.
We then took a closer look at the 3 different stages of the production of the trailer. These are known as 'Acts'.
The first act involves the story and it lays out the plotline.
The second act accelerates the story and gives a dramatic climax which then leads onto the third act. This usually involves a montage of key aspects of the film. These are designed to intrigue the audience and give an overall view of the key moments in the film.

Blair Witch

SKET

The film is based in the UK and shows a side to British culture not always explored in the media industry. It is appealing to a British middle class audience. The film uses London as a setting and undiscovered British actors. The use of unknown actors gives a sense of reality to the plot line and takes away from the glamorous movie-making side that Hollywood may portray. 

The plot of the film is a young women who is attacked by a notorious gang led by the violent leader named Trey. When she is attacked, her younger sister Kayla is out to get revenge on the group. She joins a rival group with the damaged and man-hating leader Danielle. They vow to take revenge on their rival gang. Kayla ends up sleeping rough on the streets until she gets to join the tough all girl gang. She gains membership and is introduced to their ways of crime and violence as a way of surviving.

The tagline for the film is "Mans World, Sisters hood." This mean that from the begining the film had a clear aim at who the audience was and what they wanted the film to be seen as. It also meant that their target audience was reached.

The film was directed by Nirpal Bhogal. The production company ranged from different organisations such as Gunslinger, Gateway Films and Creativity media. The distribution companies were 21st century pictures, Kock media, one2see movies, resolver entertainment and Sunfilm entertainment.

The film starred actors such as Lily Loveless, Riann Steele, Aime Kelly, Emmal Hartley-Miller,Adeleyo Adeyo, Varada Sethu, Rich Campbell and Katie Foster-Barnes. 

The films budget was set at 1 million. They made £227,283. This meant the total gross lost of the film from the box office was £772,717.

The film was made available on YouTube, DVD and Netflix. They also produced Blu-ray editions to boost sales. 

The camera used to film was a digital camera. It is a Arri Alexa and was estimated to cost around £40000 and £60000 to film with. 
The film Genre is hard to define individually and therefore the film is classified under Crime Fiction and Thriller.

Me Before You Analysis

For a new start, in A2 I will be building on the work I did at AS Level and look more fully at the contexts of media production and consumption. The focus will be on why as well as how texts are created. I will be approaching texts more critically and looking in more detail at the work of key media.