Thursday, 29 April 2010
Contents
Planning/Research Contents:
Three Act Structure
Misery Poster Analysis
Sight And Sound Cover Analysis
Misery Trailer Analysis
Analysis of Total Film Magazine
1408 Trailer Analysis
Vain And The Brain Analysis
Panic Room Poster Analysis
Skins Trailer Youth Analysis
Youth Culture In Surburbia
Rebel Without a Cause
Magazine Research Questionnaire
Magazine Research Questionnaire Results
Film Questionnaire
Film Questionnaire Results Graphs Q1-Q5
Film Questionnaire Results Graphs Q6-Q9
Red Room Shot List
Steps To Creating Our Film Poster
Storyboard Pages 1-4
Storyboard Pages 5-8
Storyboard Page 9
1408 Poster Analysis
Red Room Script
Social Networking And Red Room
Poster: Draft Images
Production Contents:
Potential Poster 1
Potential Poster 2
Potential Poster 3
Steps to Creating Our Film Poster
Slapknee Title Card
Red Room Green Screen
Red Room Script
Red Room Consent Forms
The Red Room Trailer
Reel Magazine
Red Room Final Poster Justification
Evaluation Contents:
Three Act Structure Review
Red Room: The Camera Work
Lighting In The Red Room
Editing And Sound In the Red Room
Final Magazine Survey
Final Poster Survey
Final Trailer Survey
Red Room Evaluation
Three Act Structure
Misery Poster Analysis
Sight And Sound Cover Analysis
Misery Trailer Analysis
Analysis of Total Film Magazine
1408 Trailer Analysis
Vain And The Brain Analysis
Panic Room Poster Analysis
Skins Trailer Youth Analysis
Youth Culture In Surburbia
Rebel Without a Cause
Magazine Research Questionnaire
Magazine Research Questionnaire Results
Film Questionnaire
Film Questionnaire Results Graphs Q1-Q5
Film Questionnaire Results Graphs Q6-Q9
Red Room Shot List
Steps To Creating Our Film Poster
Storyboard Pages 1-4
Storyboard Pages 5-8
Storyboard Page 9
1408 Poster Analysis
Red Room Script
Social Networking And Red Room
Poster: Draft Images
Production Contents:
Potential Poster 1
Potential Poster 2
Potential Poster 3
Steps to Creating Our Film Poster
Slapknee Title Card
Red Room Green Screen
Red Room Script
Red Room Consent Forms
The Red Room Trailer
Reel Magazine
Red Room Final Poster Justification
Evaluation Contents:
Three Act Structure Review
Red Room: The Camera Work
Lighting In The Red Room
Editing And Sound In the Red Room
Final Magazine Survey
Final Poster Survey
Final Trailer Survey
Red Room Evaluation
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Editing and Sound in the Red Room.
Editing and sound effects played a massive part in the production of the Red Room trailer.
Editing:
We used a Apple iMac to edit on using iMovie 08, early tests using iMovie 09 revealed 09 couldn't produce the effects we needed, so we downgraded to 08.
At the start of the film we added our pre-made, title card and green screen. Unfortunately they did not cater for the widescreen format of the film and were not wide enough, this could be improved on next time.
In the trailer we used alot of standard cuts for most of the scenes as they keep the action flowing fast and are aesthetically pleasing, and conventional to all genres.
The lawyer scene is prehaps the most heavily edited, we changed the colour of the clips to greyscale and put the dream filter on it, this gave it an unnatural look and helped reinforce the idea it was flashback. To open the flashback sequence we used a standard fade to black, we tried numerous techniques for this, but feed back from a small group of our TMG proved a black fade to be the best.
Also in the lawyer scene, coupled with the camerawork we edited the scene to show a shot reverse shot, to further the conversation and to display both characters emotions.
We use several inserts throughout the trailer to push the narrative and help the audience understand the events. To create these we used the imovie's built in title generator, to keep continuity with our ancillary products we used the same fonts on the inserts as we used on the poster and magazine.
In one scene we used slow motion to increase dramatic effect, despite this being more a part of the action genre, we decided to use it in our film to develop its conventional potential.
Finally for the Title scene, we used grayscale and had wills character walk past the door, so the name "Red Room" was revealed.
Sound:
To add sound we sourced numerous sound effects pertaining to our work from mumerous copyright free music websites, such as freesound.org.
All sounds were used to create higher tension or move the plot along, firstly we needed to source a ringing phone and answer phone tone. This was essential so the audience could recognise the communication as a phone call.
Next we had to source a steady erie sound that could be used throughout the trailer, it needed to include a heart beat, to help reinforce the audience's views of the main character being afraid and in struggle.
It was important for us to find a powerful sound for the inserts to make them more memorable, this would obviously stick in the potential audiences head and therefore they would remember the film. The sound needed to also be linked in with the film, eventually we settled on a slamming door sound, as this ties in with the plot well and reinforces the ideas of entrapment and family fueds, two key points in the plot.
To open act 3, the montage, we needed a rising crescendo to build the tension, and the release it into the fast pace montage, we sourced this sound online also.
For the montage, we wanted a really distinctive drum beat, one that went with the fast pace action of the scenes, unfortunately we couldn't find one which met our needs so we created one instead. I personally think it worked well, the sound quality isnt is good as it could be, but it fits well with the fast pace montage. And it is memorable and sticks in your head, this is beneficial as viewers will remember the trailer, thus the film.
Editing:
We used a Apple iMac to edit on using iMovie 08, early tests using iMovie 09 revealed 09 couldn't produce the effects we needed, so we downgraded to 08.
At the start of the film we added our pre-made, title card and green screen. Unfortunately they did not cater for the widescreen format of the film and were not wide enough, this could be improved on next time.
In the trailer we used alot of standard cuts for most of the scenes as they keep the action flowing fast and are aesthetically pleasing, and conventional to all genres.
The lawyer scene is prehaps the most heavily edited, we changed the colour of the clips to greyscale and put the dream filter on it, this gave it an unnatural look and helped reinforce the idea it was flashback. To open the flashback sequence we used a standard fade to black, we tried numerous techniques for this, but feed back from a small group of our TMG proved a black fade to be the best.
Also in the lawyer scene, coupled with the camerawork we edited the scene to show a shot reverse shot, to further the conversation and to display both characters emotions.
We use several inserts throughout the trailer to push the narrative and help the audience understand the events. To create these we used the imovie's built in title generator, to keep continuity with our ancillary products we used the same fonts on the inserts as we used on the poster and magazine.
In one scene we used slow motion to increase dramatic effect, despite this being more a part of the action genre, we decided to use it in our film to develop its conventional potential.
Finally for the Title scene, we used grayscale and had wills character walk past the door, so the name "Red Room" was revealed.
Sound:
To add sound we sourced numerous sound effects pertaining to our work from mumerous copyright free music websites, such as freesound.org.
All sounds were used to create higher tension or move the plot along, firstly we needed to source a ringing phone and answer phone tone. This was essential so the audience could recognise the communication as a phone call.
Next we had to source a steady erie sound that could be used throughout the trailer, it needed to include a heart beat, to help reinforce the audience's views of the main character being afraid and in struggle.
It was important for us to find a powerful sound for the inserts to make them more memorable, this would obviously stick in the potential audiences head and therefore they would remember the film. The sound needed to also be linked in with the film, eventually we settled on a slamming door sound, as this ties in with the plot well and reinforces the ideas of entrapment and family fueds, two key points in the plot.
To open act 3, the montage, we needed a rising crescendo to build the tension, and the release it into the fast pace montage, we sourced this sound online also.
For the montage, we wanted a really distinctive drum beat, one that went with the fast pace action of the scenes, unfortunately we couldn't find one which met our needs so we created one instead. I personally think it worked well, the sound quality isnt is good as it could be, but it fits well with the fast pace montage. And it is memorable and sticks in your head, this is beneficial as viewers will remember the trailer, thus the film.
Lighting in the Red Room.
Lighting was a major part in the production of "Red Room" it was key in creating the atmosphere's we required. In the opening shot we see ambient lighting, it is the only scene in the trailer set during the day, and therefore the presence of the sun was a major part in the shot. The ambient day light itself symbolises safety, especially when placed in the horror genre (it is conventional to have the scary scenes at night in a horror film). However by capturing the shot whilst the sun is relatively low in the sky, whilst it is setting, we give the impression of oncoming night and darkness. Which as Bourdieu’s theory of cultural competence states, the audience will associate the setting sun placed in the horror genre as a sign of negative things to come.
The next shots we see are the shots in the lawyers office. The lighting in this scene was very important, firstly the lighting had to tell the audience this scene was a flashback and secondly we had again create a sense of sinisterness. To achieve these things we used relatively low key lighting, the lighting we used was artificial so to achieve an unnatural look, this would help bolster both the sinister side of the shot and the flashback. After this we put the shot in grayscale and used an after effect on the imovie editing software and put the entire scene into "Dream" this darkened the dark patches of the shot and brightened the light patches whilst adding a slight haze. This worked really well and along with the unnatural lighting we really created a paranormal and sinister flashback scene.
As the trailer arrives at the house and the Red Room, we see it has become night (again night is conventional and stereotypical in the horror genre as the time of day the paranormal takes place) although the audience has seen no shots of the night exteriors of the house yet, it is clearly visible to be night outside. This finishs the transition we started with the setting sun at the start of the film, and coupled with the unnatural lighting and effects in the lawyer scene, the audience now know something sinister is afoot. Whilst the protaganist is exploring the house we used very low key lighting, only illuminating the character and objects directly involved with the plot of the film. The rest of the shot was often black, or lit to a very small extent.
We did this so to give the impression of the main characters isolation and loneliness. Having only him lit or as shown in the photo above, the photo album creates a huge sense of tension. Its basic human instinct to be afraid of the dark, because we cannot see what possible threats may be lurking in it. This was a really important aspect for us to play on as by creating a black hole around the main character at all time we kept the tension high as the audience didn't know what possible fearful things could come out of the dark. This again is coventional to the horror genre and has been used for years, a good example is the "Vent Scene" in Ridley Scott's "Alien". One of the protagonists heads down into a pitch black vent to hunt the antagonist alien, with only the flame on the end of his flame thrower for light the scene sets up huge tension. Until finally he turns around and the alien is right behind him, which comes as a huge shock to the audience.
During the shots where the scenery in the house is slightly illuminated it was necessary to capture the most important parts of the set in those shots. For instance the stair scene.
In certain shots, it was prudent to light certain objects or parts of the house to move the narrative along. A good example of this is the shot above, we had to show the audience that the protagonist was ascending into the unknown, to symbolise this we used a set of stairs. So obviously it was important that the audience could see him climb said stairs, therefore of screen lighting was used. I would say a slightly negative point in the production of the trailer was our lack of preparation lighting wise. We were very limited to the torch the main character used and a couple of smaller less powerful torches to light the shots of screen. As unfortunately the building we filmed in only has really bright strip lights. Which wouldn't have worked too well with the low key lighting we employed in the majority of the film.
From a technical standpoint we chose to use a mag-light 4 cell led torch for the protagonist to use. As this cast again an unnatural blue light and kept the colour pallet of the film very cold and dark, two things conventional research tells us an audience associates with horror. The digital HD camera we used to shoot, really payed off in the dark scenes as it picked up images in the darkened environment a standard resolution camera would not.
Some mention should go to the neck grab scene that occurs in the bathroom, to achieve this fast pace flickering light effect, we loosened the batteries on the torch so with the slightest of movements it backed out. We then got will (whom played the main character) to shake the torch so the light cut out and relit really frantically. He held the torch below shot, and as the hands grabbed his neck he shook the torch, not only does the flickering light symbolise something sinister about happen (we see often in horror films the convention of the flickering light, the uncertainty that the bulb will last and coupled with the generic symbolism of the dark, when the bulb goes and everything is black, bad stuff will happen) The flickering light also allowed us to get the hands away from wills neck so to make them seem that they have disappeared supernaturally.
As the narrative moves on we see the main character turn a lamp on to reveal the "Red Room" the lamp used a cream shade so to bolster the browns and blacks in the shot and not to add anymore colour. (We wanted to keep browns and blacks as this was important too one keeping continuity with the ancillary products of the production, and creating a sense of an old, dark and date atmosphere in the "Red Room" once again this is conventional and generic in the horror genre as old buildings are associated with ghosts and the arcane (haunted houses)
As the plot thickens we see another flickering light, again being used for numerous tasks, such as lighting a wall displaying sinister photos, designed to move the plot forward such as the stair scene, and two building a sense of tension as it was used in the bathroom scene. I think this was one of our best achievements as it combined different factors of our lighting to bring the trailer to its crescendo.
Technically the effect was achieved by having one of our group hide under a desk and turn a lamp on and off randomly so not to create an consistency or reason to the flicker.
Finally the night scenes at the end of the trailer reinforce the narrative we started at the start of the trailer with the setting sun, as now it is night and full paranormal activities are in swing. The final shot of the trailer is of the main character banging on the "Red Room" door, to create a cliff hanger for the viewers to attract them into watching the film we used a lamp and had a group member walk past it to cast a shadow that appeared to be moving towards the protagonist. Again using Bourdieu’s theory of cultural competence, the audience will associate this with a threat and want to see what happens to him.
All in all I feel we put the lighting in the film to good use to heighten tension, to create tension, to push narrative and to create interesting effects. I feel next time we should be more prepared definitely as this time on a technical front we lacked the equipment we needed in several situations. However it should be said that we used ingenuity to conquer this and overall did a great job.
The next shots we see are the shots in the lawyers office. The lighting in this scene was very important, firstly the lighting had to tell the audience this scene was a flashback and secondly we had again create a sense of sinisterness. To achieve these things we used relatively low key lighting, the lighting we used was artificial so to achieve an unnatural look, this would help bolster both the sinister side of the shot and the flashback. After this we put the shot in grayscale and used an after effect on the imovie editing software and put the entire scene into "Dream" this darkened the dark patches of the shot and brightened the light patches whilst adding a slight haze. This worked really well and along with the unnatural lighting we really created a paranormal and sinister flashback scene.
As the trailer arrives at the house and the Red Room, we see it has become night (again night is conventional and stereotypical in the horror genre as the time of day the paranormal takes place) although the audience has seen no shots of the night exteriors of the house yet, it is clearly visible to be night outside. This finishs the transition we started with the setting sun at the start of the film, and coupled with the unnatural lighting and effects in the lawyer scene, the audience now know something sinister is afoot. Whilst the protaganist is exploring the house we used very low key lighting, only illuminating the character and objects directly involved with the plot of the film. The rest of the shot was often black, or lit to a very small extent.
We did this so to give the impression of the main characters isolation and loneliness. Having only him lit or as shown in the photo above, the photo album creates a huge sense of tension. Its basic human instinct to be afraid of the dark, because we cannot see what possible threats may be lurking in it. This was a really important aspect for us to play on as by creating a black hole around the main character at all time we kept the tension high as the audience didn't know what possible fearful things could come out of the dark. This again is coventional to the horror genre and has been used for years, a good example is the "Vent Scene" in Ridley Scott's "Alien". One of the protagonists heads down into a pitch black vent to hunt the antagonist alien, with only the flame on the end of his flame thrower for light the scene sets up huge tension. Until finally he turns around and the alien is right behind him, which comes as a huge shock to the audience.
During the shots where the scenery in the house is slightly illuminated it was necessary to capture the most important parts of the set in those shots. For instance the stair scene.
In certain shots, it was prudent to light certain objects or parts of the house to move the narrative along. A good example of this is the shot above, we had to show the audience that the protagonist was ascending into the unknown, to symbolise this we used a set of stairs. So obviously it was important that the audience could see him climb said stairs, therefore of screen lighting was used. I would say a slightly negative point in the production of the trailer was our lack of preparation lighting wise. We were very limited to the torch the main character used and a couple of smaller less powerful torches to light the shots of screen. As unfortunately the building we filmed in only has really bright strip lights. Which wouldn't have worked too well with the low key lighting we employed in the majority of the film.
From a technical standpoint we chose to use a mag-light 4 cell led torch for the protagonist to use. As this cast again an unnatural blue light and kept the colour pallet of the film very cold and dark, two things conventional research tells us an audience associates with horror. The digital HD camera we used to shoot, really payed off in the dark scenes as it picked up images in the darkened environment a standard resolution camera would not.
Some mention should go to the neck grab scene that occurs in the bathroom, to achieve this fast pace flickering light effect, we loosened the batteries on the torch so with the slightest of movements it backed out. We then got will (whom played the main character) to shake the torch so the light cut out and relit really frantically. He held the torch below shot, and as the hands grabbed his neck he shook the torch, not only does the flickering light symbolise something sinister about happen (we see often in horror films the convention of the flickering light, the uncertainty that the bulb will last and coupled with the generic symbolism of the dark, when the bulb goes and everything is black, bad stuff will happen) The flickering light also allowed us to get the hands away from wills neck so to make them seem that they have disappeared supernaturally.
As the narrative moves on we see the main character turn a lamp on to reveal the "Red Room" the lamp used a cream shade so to bolster the browns and blacks in the shot and not to add anymore colour. (We wanted to keep browns and blacks as this was important too one keeping continuity with the ancillary products of the production, and creating a sense of an old, dark and date atmosphere in the "Red Room" once again this is conventional and generic in the horror genre as old buildings are associated with ghosts and the arcane (haunted houses)
As the plot thickens we see another flickering light, again being used for numerous tasks, such as lighting a wall displaying sinister photos, designed to move the plot forward such as the stair scene, and two building a sense of tension as it was used in the bathroom scene. I think this was one of our best achievements as it combined different factors of our lighting to bring the trailer to its crescendo.
Technically the effect was achieved by having one of our group hide under a desk and turn a lamp on and off randomly so not to create an consistency or reason to the flicker.
Finally the night scenes at the end of the trailer reinforce the narrative we started at the start of the trailer with the setting sun, as now it is night and full paranormal activities are in swing. The final shot of the trailer is of the main character banging on the "Red Room" door, to create a cliff hanger for the viewers to attract them into watching the film we used a lamp and had a group member walk past it to cast a shadow that appeared to be moving towards the protagonist. Again using Bourdieu’s theory of cultural competence, the audience will associate this with a threat and want to see what happens to him.
All in all I feel we put the lighting in the film to good use to heighten tension, to create tension, to push narrative and to create interesting effects. I feel next time we should be more prepared definitely as this time on a technical front we lacked the equipment we needed in several situations. However it should be said that we used ingenuity to conquer this and overall did a great job.
Mise-En-Scene Considerations for Red Room.
Characters:
The protagonist
Played by William Piper
The main character of the film, he is a young go getting office worker, slowly clawing his way up the ladder of success one step at a time. He is not afraid to crush others on the way either. He is tall and clever, however he does have an emotional side, which can be revealed in extreme stressful situations, he considers himself resourceful and thinks he knows best, but all this changes when he hears of his mothers death and enters the Red Room. He has a secret buried past that even his wife Alli does not know of, and unfortunately the events that occur that fateful night in the Red Room drag this past up kicking and screaming.
-ATTIRE:
We had the character wear a suit to symbolise his professional career and his ego. He gels his hair, again reinforcing his ego, this shows him to be a vain man. The black and white suit he wears is designed to show he has conflicting elements of purity and evil inside him. The suit is very much styled to look like he is mourning, and in this case he is, however it also there to help put across to the audience he has subtle sorrows buried deep within. He is mourning something that has happened in his past. This is also reinforced by the scripting choices, especially in the lawyer scene.
The Lawyer
Played by Paul Stratford
He is arrogant and callous, he dresses to show it. This highly successful lawyer has seen his fair share of family tragedies, however he has been linked with the family in question for sometime and therefore has a deeper connection to the main character, as expressed in his un-professional attitude in the lawyer scene, possibly he knows more about the main characters past than he is letting on and he is connected to the story in numerous ways. Supernatural and all.
ATTIRE-
Originally we shot the lawyer scene with a younger actor, but quickly after reviewing the footage we decided it was not up to scratch. We felt a younger actor wouldn't seem as authoritative or sinister as an older actor. And also the character had to seem wise and all knowing which would be hard to achieve with a younger actor. Bourdieu's theory of cultural competence would go against this. People would see an older person as more wise instantly, rather than a younger person.
The Nurse:
Played by Naomi Murphy
The nurse was looking after the main characters mother when she died, she lived in the house and day by day it took hold of her, she was young and naive when she went in and now she comes out possessed and weary. Seemingly leaving in a hurry when the main character arrives and only returning not to offer help, but to cause the main character more pain.
ATTIRE-
The nurse wears a dark overcoat and ties her hair back as she is professional, we chose to use a actress (naomi) with black hair as to give her a more sinister look, this coupled with the black overcoat works really well. We decided convention-wise to make the nurse look slightly old fashioned as this is stereotypical to being negative- witches etc. Also we wanted the nurse to appear despite being young, to have some sort of timeless supernatural powers.
THE PROPS:
The car:
The main characters car is old and beat up, which indicates despite his wishes he is still not where he wants to be, it also shows him to have humility. The car is a very important prop in the film as it transports the character to the place the frighting events take place in the film. It also should be noted the car is red, which helps us connect the main character to the read room, and to give the audience the impression that perhaps the character is more bonded to this room that anyone knows.
The Torch:
The torch is the most important prop in the film, it pushes the narrative forwards on several occasions and is the characters soul friend in the film. Technically it is used to create some interesting effects such as the neck grab scene. It is a 4 cell LED torch which casts a cold blue beam, which helps keep the rooms cold and hostile. Keeping to the conventions of the horror genre.
The photos:
The photos on the wall are a macguffin designed to push narrative. They offer the viewer some explanation to the main characters relationship with his late mother. All photos on the wall have the main characters face scratched out. Similarly to the book below .v.
The Photo Album/Book:
This is another macguffin designed to trigger the events in the Red Room, when he looks at it the supernatural starts occurring. It is the turning point in the film.
The Self Running Sink:
The self running sink is conventional to the horror genre, the idea of taps turning themselves on has been used for decades, recently seen in "Paranormal Activity" It is designed to give the audience some idea the house is not what it seems. The blue torch light the main character uses gives it some sense of a supernatural aura.
The Light switch:
The light switch that the main character flicks and finds out the power is out in that portion of the house is generic and often seen in a range films in the horror genre. It is very conventional and is used to create tension.
The TV:
Another good example of a conventional Prop is the television, it turns itself on, this is a well used technique in the physicological horror genre, seen in movies such as "The Ring" (indeed the tv is the most important prop in the ring" and most recently again "Paranormal Activity". The static can also been seen as supernatural as it is linked in with ESP techniques and other ghost finding things.
The protagonist
Played by William Piper
The main character of the film, he is a young go getting office worker, slowly clawing his way up the ladder of success one step at a time. He is not afraid to crush others on the way either. He is tall and clever, however he does have an emotional side, which can be revealed in extreme stressful situations, he considers himself resourceful and thinks he knows best, but all this changes when he hears of his mothers death and enters the Red Room. He has a secret buried past that even his wife Alli does not know of, and unfortunately the events that occur that fateful night in the Red Room drag this past up kicking and screaming.
-ATTIRE:
We had the character wear a suit to symbolise his professional career and his ego. He gels his hair, again reinforcing his ego, this shows him to be a vain man. The black and white suit he wears is designed to show he has conflicting elements of purity and evil inside him. The suit is very much styled to look like he is mourning, and in this case he is, however it also there to help put across to the audience he has subtle sorrows buried deep within. He is mourning something that has happened in his past. This is also reinforced by the scripting choices, especially in the lawyer scene.
The Lawyer
Played by Paul Stratford
He is arrogant and callous, he dresses to show it. This highly successful lawyer has seen his fair share of family tragedies, however he has been linked with the family in question for sometime and therefore has a deeper connection to the main character, as expressed in his un-professional attitude in the lawyer scene, possibly he knows more about the main characters past than he is letting on and he is connected to the story in numerous ways. Supernatural and all.
ATTIRE-
Originally we shot the lawyer scene with a younger actor, but quickly after reviewing the footage we decided it was not up to scratch. We felt a younger actor wouldn't seem as authoritative or sinister as an older actor. And also the character had to seem wise and all knowing which would be hard to achieve with a younger actor. Bourdieu's theory of cultural competence would go against this. People would see an older person as more wise instantly, rather than a younger person.
The Nurse:
Played by Naomi Murphy
The nurse was looking after the main characters mother when she died, she lived in the house and day by day it took hold of her, she was young and naive when she went in and now she comes out possessed and weary. Seemingly leaving in a hurry when the main character arrives and only returning not to offer help, but to cause the main character more pain.
ATTIRE-
The nurse wears a dark overcoat and ties her hair back as she is professional, we chose to use a actress (naomi) with black hair as to give her a more sinister look, this coupled with the black overcoat works really well. We decided convention-wise to make the nurse look slightly old fashioned as this is stereotypical to being negative- witches etc. Also we wanted the nurse to appear despite being young, to have some sort of timeless supernatural powers.
THE PROPS:
The car:
The main characters car is old and beat up, which indicates despite his wishes he is still not where he wants to be, it also shows him to have humility. The car is a very important prop in the film as it transports the character to the place the frighting events take place in the film. It also should be noted the car is red, which helps us connect the main character to the read room, and to give the audience the impression that perhaps the character is more bonded to this room that anyone knows.
The Torch:
The torch is the most important prop in the film, it pushes the narrative forwards on several occasions and is the characters soul friend in the film. Technically it is used to create some interesting effects such as the neck grab scene. It is a 4 cell LED torch which casts a cold blue beam, which helps keep the rooms cold and hostile. Keeping to the conventions of the horror genre.
The photos:
The photos on the wall are a macguffin designed to push narrative. They offer the viewer some explanation to the main characters relationship with his late mother. All photos on the wall have the main characters face scratched out. Similarly to the book below .v.
The Photo Album/Book:
This is another macguffin designed to trigger the events in the Red Room, when he looks at it the supernatural starts occurring. It is the turning point in the film.
The Self Running Sink:
The self running sink is conventional to the horror genre, the idea of taps turning themselves on has been used for decades, recently seen in "Paranormal Activity" It is designed to give the audience some idea the house is not what it seems. The blue torch light the main character uses gives it some sense of a supernatural aura.
The Light switch:
The light switch that the main character flicks and finds out the power is out in that portion of the house is generic and often seen in a range films in the horror genre. It is very conventional and is used to create tension.
The TV:
Another good example of a conventional Prop is the television, it turns itself on, this is a well used technique in the physicological horror genre, seen in movies such as "The Ring" (indeed the tv is the most important prop in the ring" and most recently again "Paranormal Activity". The static can also been seen as supernatural as it is linked in with ESP techniques and other ghost finding things.
Red Room: The Camera Work.
The first shot we see in Red Room is an establishing shot, primarily done to set the scene, it shows a lonesome car travelling down a road with a wide expanse of countryside around it, this one done early on to highlight the characters loneliness, however showing such a wide shot in the daylight, helps the audience establish that for the moment the main character is safe and nothing paranormal of frighting is happening yet. The camera cuts to a over the shoulder shot of the protagonist driving the car, this is done so from an early on point in the film the audience empathise with the character, and understand it is from his point of view they will be seeing the film and therefore later on, feel concern for him, which would heighten the tension of the film overall. Next we see a tracking shot of the car travelling down another stretch of road, this helps reinforce it is this character driving the car, the film will be focused around.
We fade to a POV shot, of the lawyer talking to the main character, instantly and coupled with the unnatural lighting and the dream effect, the audience according to bourdieu’s theory of cultural competence recognise this to be a flashback. The POV shot was employed here to help this recognition. Also using this technique again helps the audience understand how the character is feeling during this emotional scene. We employ the use of shot reverse shot here to show the characters in conversation, or more so the lawyer talking and the protagonists reactions. This is a conventional technique used across all genres of film making. Originally we had used the 180 degree rule in this scene to show the characters in conversation, however the images captured looked bad as the room was tight and we couldn't keep the camera steady, without the use of an expensive steady cam harness. The majority of the scene was filmed using a handheld camera technique to give it a more gritty and dark edge, which reinforces the scripting and the bad news the character is getting.
At the end of this scene we zoom into the main characters face, to capture his emotions and the cut to an insert.
The next shot is a voyeuristic shot of the main character climbing up the stairs in the house, the camera is handheld and the shot is captured between the bannisters, this gives the audience the impression that something is watching the main character, something sinister, coupled with the scary music and the low key lighting its works really well. The character being behind the bannisters also symbolises the character being behind almost prison bars, being trapped, which is a running theme through out the film. We then move on to a close up of the character walking up the stairs slowly, the shot is close up to highlight the fact he is walking up the stairs carefully and to reinforce the idea he is climbing into the unknown. This is again reinforced with a low angle shot of him climbing the stairs, making him seem almost inferior to the house. Which heightens the already tense atmosphere.
We go on to see a few close-ups of the character doing things to move the plot along, such as picking up books and turning off gushing taps, before we see the character turn a lamp on in the Red Room, the shot is wide and he is placed in the centre to again show his isolation in the house and highlight his loneliness. There was another shot in the original less reviewed film which was a personal favourite of mine, it combined a long shot to show his isolation with a voyeuristic shot through a doorway to give the impression he was being watched. It looked really creepy, however in the grand flow of the film I didn't work so it was removed.
The character sits down to read a book he found earlier, and the TV turns itself on. We wanted this scene to almost convey the TV as a hostile entity so we framed Will (The actor who plays the main character) on the left, and the TV on the right, with a wide expanse of space between them, this shot almost looks similar to a wild west show down, and I think you get a real sense of tension between the protagonist and the TV in this shot, which reinforces the audience's perceptions of the house being sinister. This scene boosts similarity's to the almost lifelike sinisterness of the hotel room in Room 1408 and the house in Paranormal Activity. Next we see the character approaching the photo wall, we wanted to create a very documentary like feel for this scene, we wanted to symbolise the character approaching the unknown in a very raw and rugged way. This helps the viewer relate to the characters fear and his unknowing also. To achieve these goals we used a hand-held camera, and reacted to the characters movements as if they were not on cue, much like the camera work one would see in a documentary. We did however frame the shot so to get a clear view of the pictures on the wall.
Next we see the bathroom scene, in this scene we employed the use of a mirror, we captured the scene like this so we good clearly see the characters reactions, it was also important for the audience to know, the character knew the hands were there physically, not just his imagination, therefore we used a mirror so it was obvious the character knew the hands were there (because he sees them in the mirror)and we were also able to capture his reactions.
After we see a shot of the main character staring at the photo wall, he faces the camera in a mid shot, this is done for two reasons, one to capture his body language and emotions at the photos on the wall, and secondly to capture in the corner of the shot the door slamming by itself indicating the paranormal entity's have locked the character in the room. We had to have will face away from the door, as it was part of the plot for him to become locked in the room, however it needed to be surprise, using this shot we can highlight this too.
In the montage act we see alot of running and jumping, the camerawork spec here was always to capture the shot so the audience could see what was happening, symbolism came second. One of the first shots we see is the stare jump shot, the shot starts of with a handheld camera following the character into the jump, it cuts in mid air to a high angle shot of him landing, this is the break out scene, the transition to a high angle shot whilst the character is in the air is designed to show his escape and conquer over the house.
Next we see several tracking shots of the character sprinting and approaching the nurse, these shots were employed to bolster the speed and excitement of his escape and discovery. We see a shot of character running through a bush, the same hand-held, documentary style look was used here to again, symbolise the characters unknowing of what is on the other side, and this shot style helps the audience relate to him.
Finally soon after we see a POV shot from a unknown driver of a car, the character runs out into the road and stops them, we choose to use a POV shot here to highlight, the main characters distress that he would run our into a road, and also to show someone else of significant value has been placed into the story. As again using Bourdieu’s theory of cultural competence, the audience will recognise the shot being from someone's point of view, and link this into them being an important character.
We fade to a POV shot, of the lawyer talking to the main character, instantly and coupled with the unnatural lighting and the dream effect, the audience according to bourdieu’s theory of cultural competence recognise this to be a flashback. The POV shot was employed here to help this recognition. Also using this technique again helps the audience understand how the character is feeling during this emotional scene. We employ the use of shot reverse shot here to show the characters in conversation, or more so the lawyer talking and the protagonists reactions. This is a conventional technique used across all genres of film making. Originally we had used the 180 degree rule in this scene to show the characters in conversation, however the images captured looked bad as the room was tight and we couldn't keep the camera steady, without the use of an expensive steady cam harness. The majority of the scene was filmed using a handheld camera technique to give it a more gritty and dark edge, which reinforces the scripting and the bad news the character is getting.
At the end of this scene we zoom into the main characters face, to capture his emotions and the cut to an insert.
The next shot is a voyeuristic shot of the main character climbing up the stairs in the house, the camera is handheld and the shot is captured between the bannisters, this gives the audience the impression that something is watching the main character, something sinister, coupled with the scary music and the low key lighting its works really well. The character being behind the bannisters also symbolises the character being behind almost prison bars, being trapped, which is a running theme through out the film. We then move on to a close up of the character walking up the stairs slowly, the shot is close up to highlight the fact he is walking up the stairs carefully and to reinforce the idea he is climbing into the unknown. This is again reinforced with a low angle shot of him climbing the stairs, making him seem almost inferior to the house. Which heightens the already tense atmosphere.
We go on to see a few close-ups of the character doing things to move the plot along, such as picking up books and turning off gushing taps, before we see the character turn a lamp on in the Red Room, the shot is wide and he is placed in the centre to again show his isolation in the house and highlight his loneliness. There was another shot in the original less reviewed film which was a personal favourite of mine, it combined a long shot to show his isolation with a voyeuristic shot through a doorway to give the impression he was being watched. It looked really creepy, however in the grand flow of the film I didn't work so it was removed.
The character sits down to read a book he found earlier, and the TV turns itself on. We wanted this scene to almost convey the TV as a hostile entity so we framed Will (The actor who plays the main character) on the left, and the TV on the right, with a wide expanse of space between them, this shot almost looks similar to a wild west show down, and I think you get a real sense of tension between the protagonist and the TV in this shot, which reinforces the audience's perceptions of the house being sinister. This scene boosts similarity's to the almost lifelike sinisterness of the hotel room in Room 1408 and the house in Paranormal Activity. Next we see the character approaching the photo wall, we wanted to create a very documentary like feel for this scene, we wanted to symbolise the character approaching the unknown in a very raw and rugged way. This helps the viewer relate to the characters fear and his unknowing also. To achieve these goals we used a hand-held camera, and reacted to the characters movements as if they were not on cue, much like the camera work one would see in a documentary. We did however frame the shot so to get a clear view of the pictures on the wall.
Next we see the bathroom scene, in this scene we employed the use of a mirror, we captured the scene like this so we good clearly see the characters reactions, it was also important for the audience to know, the character knew the hands were there physically, not just his imagination, therefore we used a mirror so it was obvious the character knew the hands were there (because he sees them in the mirror)and we were also able to capture his reactions.
After we see a shot of the main character staring at the photo wall, he faces the camera in a mid shot, this is done for two reasons, one to capture his body language and emotions at the photos on the wall, and secondly to capture in the corner of the shot the door slamming by itself indicating the paranormal entity's have locked the character in the room. We had to have will face away from the door, as it was part of the plot for him to become locked in the room, however it needed to be surprise, using this shot we can highlight this too.
In the montage act we see alot of running and jumping, the camerawork spec here was always to capture the shot so the audience could see what was happening, symbolism came second. One of the first shots we see is the stare jump shot, the shot starts of with a handheld camera following the character into the jump, it cuts in mid air to a high angle shot of him landing, this is the break out scene, the transition to a high angle shot whilst the character is in the air is designed to show his escape and conquer over the house.
Next we see several tracking shots of the character sprinting and approaching the nurse, these shots were employed to bolster the speed and excitement of his escape and discovery. We see a shot of character running through a bush, the same hand-held, documentary style look was used here to again, symbolise the characters unknowing of what is on the other side, and this shot style helps the audience relate to him.
Finally soon after we see a POV shot from a unknown driver of a car, the character runs out into the road and stops them, we choose to use a POV shot here to highlight, the main characters distress that he would run our into a road, and also to show someone else of significant value has been placed into the story. As again using Bourdieu’s theory of cultural competence, the audience will recognise the shot being from someone's point of view, and link this into them being an important character.
Three Act Structure: Review.
Early on in the process we researched the three act structure, which consisted of these rules..
"1. The premise, the story is set
2. This act pushes the narrative forwards and normally ends with a climax
3. A visual montage consisting of noteworthy, strong moments from the movie and emotional scenes, a cast run may be included if the cast is well known enough to drive sales. Often includes powerful music."
Personally I feel we did this well, when watching the film the three act structure is clearly defined, at the start of the film we see the protagonist heading to his mothers, we also see a flashback of him speaking to a lawyer, about his mothers death, with this the story is set.
Next the narrative is driven forwards as the main character explores the house, as he is looking he begins to uncover secrets and things surrounding the Red Room, we get the impression a supernatural force is stalking him, this act ends in a four part climax, the picture discovery, the neck grab scene, the nurses line "There is no escape" echoing continuity again between all aspects of our work and finally the door slam.
After the doors slam, we hear a powerful driving drum song, played over a montage of clips from the film, before having a cast run at the end of the trailer.
All in all I feel we put the three act structure into use. To help reinforce the boundaries between acts we divided them up with inserts.
"1. The premise, the story is set
2. This act pushes the narrative forwards and normally ends with a climax
3. A visual montage consisting of noteworthy, strong moments from the movie and emotional scenes, a cast run may be included if the cast is well known enough to drive sales. Often includes powerful music."
Personally I feel we did this well, when watching the film the three act structure is clearly defined, at the start of the film we see the protagonist heading to his mothers, we also see a flashback of him speaking to a lawyer, about his mothers death, with this the story is set.
Next the narrative is driven forwards as the main character explores the house, as he is looking he begins to uncover secrets and things surrounding the Red Room, we get the impression a supernatural force is stalking him, this act ends in a four part climax, the picture discovery, the neck grab scene, the nurses line "There is no escape" echoing continuity again between all aspects of our work and finally the door slam.
After the doors slam, we hear a powerful driving drum song, played over a montage of clips from the film, before having a cast run at the end of the trailer.
All in all I feel we put the three act structure into use. To help reinforce the boundaries between acts we divided them up with inserts.
Friday, 26 March 2010
Social Networking and Red Room.
To boost the viral and standard marketing prospects for our film we decided to create a facebook page and a twitter page. Facebook and twitter are well known for their huge user base, which according to research has a high percentage of our target audience. Using online networking sites such as facebook and twitter to advertise is now a popular medium in the film business due to its extremely low cost and its huge potential. It only takes one click between a user being interested and to them finding out information. Also with the ability to subscribe to the groups or account, potential audience members can be updated regularly on the status of the film. Other such film productions to use the internet as a marketing medium have been the very successful "The Dark Knight" whereby users had to enter details to reveal a pixel of an image. Of course people wanted to know what the image was and therefore got more audience members to come and reveal a pixel themselves. This spread like wildfire and attracted thousands. Recently "The Fourth Kind" made use of the internet to create false news stories to attract attention to their film.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=103538033017549
http://twitter.com/redroomfilm
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=103538033017549
http://twitter.com/redroomfilm
Red Room Green Screen
Again like the SlapKnee productions logo, to add a greater sense of realism we created and added a much seen in the film trailer industry green screen at the start of the trailer.
SlapKnee Productions Title Card Evaluation.
To make our trailer look more professional and give it a greater sense of verisimilitude we decided to add production company title card at the start of the trailer, we decided on a name and created said cards on Macromedia Fireworks, the idea of the SlapKnee Production card was to become electrocuted, and for the colours to quickly invert then return to normal, we achieved this effect by placing the inverted title card between two regular title cards, the inverted card was made to last only for a split second. We also added a high pitched screech sound effect over this as it was conventional to the bones in the title cards.
Red Room Consent Forms
It was important from a legal stance, to have our actors fill in consent forms to allow us to film them and release said film
Red Room Script.
(Establishing shot of cold snowy road, red car travels down the road towards the camera)
(Camera cuts to POV shot of main character driving, soothing non-diegetic music sets a calm, causal tone for the scene, character is quiet)
Voiceover: Phone Rings to answerphone
Alli- very cheerful, a good juxtaposition against the main characters concern and bleakness.
"Heya you've reached Alli I can't get to the phone right now, so leave a message"
Main Character-Rushed, worried and concerned
"Honey I've had some bad news, I've had to go away for a few days, love you, bye"
(Camera fades to white as scene changes- flashback. Fade from white shows main character in lawyer’s office. Scene opens with close-up of main character.)
Lawyer-In an authoritative tone, with an air of arrogance and superiority.
“Let’s get straight to it. I have bad news; your mother has passed away. I know that you haven’t visited her in a long time, despite her illnesses, so I assume you will be unaware of the state of the house?”
Main character-
(Look of embarrassment and guilt)
Lawyer-
“Yeah, that’s what I thought... The carer who looked after your mother is renovating the house for re-sale. As her son it is only appropriate that you collect any items of possession that your mother has left to you.”
(Pause)
“I have been told to inform you that most of your things have been stored in the ‘Red Room’.”
“When you lose someone close to you, the pain can be too much… There is no escape…”
(Fade to white and back to coloured action.)
(Scene changes to main character climbing stairs exploring the house. Look of confusion and fear on characters face. Main character finds photo album, look of misery and distress cross his face. He is scared.)
(Slow, tense music builds suspense and heightens tension. Sound effects such as the door slamming, wind whistling and heartbeat can all be heard to set the scene and add effect.)
(Sink scene shows low-key and chiaroscuro lighting to add the element of fear to the narrative. Hands appear round main characters throat unexpectedly, introduces supernatural action. Flashing of lights emphasises supernatural activity, scene is accompanied by a sudden change in pace of music to fast-paced action music indicating that something is about to happen and thus heightening tension.)
(Car scene. Main character is seeking help, he stops a car to ask for help.)
Driver-
“There is no escape…”
(Pace of music builds following this as the action enters a montage of various shots that interchange using fast-paced cuts and jumps. This builds suspense.)
(Music dies down as trailer draws to a close. Final shot has slow music with heavy bass to add to the supernatural, creepy element and re-install fear into the viewer. The newspaper falls from the door and reveals the words ‘Red Room’.)
(Trailer concludes.)
(Camera cuts to POV shot of main character driving, soothing non-diegetic music sets a calm, causal tone for the scene, character is quiet)
Voiceover: Phone Rings to answerphone
Alli- very cheerful, a good juxtaposition against the main characters concern and bleakness.
"Heya you've reached Alli I can't get to the phone right now, so leave a message"
Main Character-Rushed, worried and concerned
"Honey I've had some bad news, I've had to go away for a few days, love you, bye"
(Camera fades to white as scene changes- flashback. Fade from white shows main character in lawyer’s office. Scene opens with close-up of main character.)
Lawyer-In an authoritative tone, with an air of arrogance and superiority.
“Let’s get straight to it. I have bad news; your mother has passed away. I know that you haven’t visited her in a long time, despite her illnesses, so I assume you will be unaware of the state of the house?”
Main character-
(Look of embarrassment and guilt)
Lawyer-
“Yeah, that’s what I thought... The carer who looked after your mother is renovating the house for re-sale. As her son it is only appropriate that you collect any items of possession that your mother has left to you.”
(Pause)
“I have been told to inform you that most of your things have been stored in the ‘Red Room’.”
“When you lose someone close to you, the pain can be too much… There is no escape…”
(Fade to white and back to coloured action.)
(Scene changes to main character climbing stairs exploring the house. Look of confusion and fear on characters face. Main character finds photo album, look of misery and distress cross his face. He is scared.)
(Slow, tense music builds suspense and heightens tension. Sound effects such as the door slamming, wind whistling and heartbeat can all be heard to set the scene and add effect.)
(Sink scene shows low-key and chiaroscuro lighting to add the element of fear to the narrative. Hands appear round main characters throat unexpectedly, introduces supernatural action. Flashing of lights emphasises supernatural activity, scene is accompanied by a sudden change in pace of music to fast-paced action music indicating that something is about to happen and thus heightening tension.)
(Car scene. Main character is seeking help, he stops a car to ask for help.)
Driver-
“There is no escape…”
(Pace of music builds following this as the action enters a montage of various shots that interchange using fast-paced cuts and jumps. This builds suspense.)
(Music dies down as trailer draws to a close. Final shot has slow music with heavy bass to add to the supernatural, creepy element and re-install fear into the viewer. The newspaper falls from the door and reveals the words ‘Red Room’.)
(Trailer concludes.)
Reel Magazine In Depth.
When creating "Reel" magazine it was important to follow research and conventions. To attain the information we needed we set about studying existing film magazines, and creating a questionnaire. The results of which can be found on the blog.
We began by selecting an appropriate name, we decided on "Reel" as it boosts strong film connotations and is a play on words with the word "real"
By placing the mast head in the top left, we place it in the terminal area. The mast had itself is designed to attract viewers, the bold red block that surrounds the name "Reel" draws the eye and therefore entices the audience into wanting to read the magazine. The pure and innocent white of the "Reel" name is a good juxtaposition against the angry and loud red. Placing the mast head in this position is a similar technique to "Sigh And Sound Magazine" We followed conventions by placing the pricing and date close to the masthead.
After the viewer has read the masthead their eye travels across the top of the main image following the "Line of The Eye" convention to the articles section. Here however we broke conventions, on our research magazines we often see the articles placed on the left hand side of the page as it is the dominant side, and therefore gets the most attention, this is particularly viewable in "Empire"
We broke conventions here as it was necessary to make the magazine work well as a whole cover, placing the articles in the left, although conventional would have made the cover look cluttered as they would have collided with our image. It was important to consider aesthetics when creating the magazine, so the page would not be confusing and the viewer would be more convinced to read it. The colours of the articles are however conventional, we see on many magazines yellow being used to highlight article header. The white colour of the articles themselves stands out against the black background and works really well.
As the line of the eye continues down across the page heading over the face of the main focus of the magazine (This is backed up by the main story) The main character from "Red Room" occupies the POA and is lit in high key lighting. This was done so to make use of the main point of the magazine which will draw the audience in above all else. The high key lighting on the characters face stands out against the low key lighting in the rest of the image. And the avoids the gaze of the audience, as dyers theory states, he is masculine and does not want to be objectified, again this is conventional.
As the line of the eye continues into the left hand corner the audience sees another article employing the same technique as before yellow heading, white article. This time we chose to employ the use of the "exclusive interview" line, this is seen in many magazines and articles around the world, it is shown as a sign of prestige as the magazine can get an "Exclusive" interview, this prestige will help attract and audience and coupled with the excitement readers will get at the idea of reading an interview they can read nowhere else, its a potent sales formula.
The readers eye is now on the main article of the page the "Red Room" story, and its sub heading "Piper Has No Escape" It is conventional to place the main story heading here, as its the last thing the audience views, and therefore the thing they most remember. The fonts and colours we used, all kept continuity between our other products including the poster and film.
To create the Magazine we used Microsoft Publisher, and captured our main image, using an Olympus HD Camera.
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Potential Poster 3 (Winner)
We and the TMG decided poster 3 was the best poster. It by far works the best and is the most visually striking.
The poster meets conventions and follows the line of the eye and the POA also.
Firstly the eye travels across the cast at the top of the poster, if this were a real production, this would be a great technique employed by film producers, as big power cast names at the top of the poster would draw attention. Next the eye moves down and across the page diagonally passing over the POA, which has been highlighted using high-key lighting whereas the rest of the image is in low key, this proved very effective in making the name Red Room memorable. Also it adds a really distinctive creepy feel to the whole peace.
We fashioned the newspaper on the door to guide the readers eye to the Red Room title, as I have mentioned before, in the how we made the posters blog, we tried to juxtapose the evil red in Red Room, with white that stands for purity. And all fonts were chosen as they look dated, which is conventional to the horror genre.
The poster meets conventions and follows the line of the eye and the POA also.
Firstly the eye travels across the cast at the top of the poster, if this were a real production, this would be a great technique employed by film producers, as big power cast names at the top of the poster would draw attention. Next the eye moves down and across the page diagonally passing over the POA, which has been highlighted using high-key lighting whereas the rest of the image is in low key, this proved very effective in making the name Red Room memorable. Also it adds a really distinctive creepy feel to the whole peace.
We fashioned the newspaper on the door to guide the readers eye to the Red Room title, as I have mentioned before, in the how we made the posters blog, we tried to juxtapose the evil red in Red Room, with white that stands for purity. And all fonts were chosen as they look dated, which is conventional to the horror genre.
Steps To Creating Our Film Poster.
Poster Analysis:
The movie poster is a key point in the marketing of a film. Its largely responsible for the attracting of the target audience. With this in mind we decided to create a set of posters which was both visually striking and followed the conventions of modern horror films. The poster for the movie “1408” was major inspiration for us. When creating the poster we felt we needed to capture the feel of the movie itself and also appeal to our TMG. After we had created numerous options we decided on one final poster.
Step One
of creating the poster consisted of capturing images which gave the viewer a good idea about the film itself. Visually the film is very dark and there are a lot of browns and blacks. So an image which conveyed this was important. As the film is about the “Red Room” we felt that a visualisation of this on the poster would be better than a visualisation of protagonist. We took a camera into the set and set about taking pictures. We framed them so the dominant side of the poster (the left) had the most eye capturing point. The lighting was very important, we wanted to create a strong idea of good against bad and the unknown. (This is best shown in poster 3) this involved casting areas of the room in the back ground in dark light and having the central points in the poster which conveyed the room in light. To make the “Red” in “Red Room” stand out (an early idea in the poster making process was to have the red in red room in a bright red so it stood out against the blandness of the background, also the colour red connotes anger and rage which is a major plot point in the film) also the browns and blacks keep continuity with film itself. We also wanted to follow conventions, films such as the “Amityville Horror” and “1408” show the setting of the scary events, thus we decided to stick to these conventions and do the same.
Step Two
involved choosing the fonts and colours, after deciding to put the “Red” in “Red Room” in bright red, we wanted to find colours which would work well with it. White stands out against the darker background and also connotes purity against the anger in the red. The fonts themselves were very important. Conventionally fonts on posters have always been linked into the film. With this in mind we went about choosing a font which suited the look of the film and the artistic direction of set. The colours and the design of the set were chosen to make it look dated and old. After all it is an old woman’s house. Therefore we decided to pick a font which also connoted this. “Blacktalkserif BTN” suited this perfectly it looked old enough to be in a old woman’s house yet not so old it looked period.
Step Three
finally and technically the layout of the poster was very important. It was important to make use of the rules of poster conventions. The three big things that were essential in the poster were the line of the eye, the rule of thirds and the POA. We tried to follow each of these on all of the possible posters we made. Another convention of posters which felt was important to include was the cast and credits section at the bottom. Conventionally the section uses the same fonts and the rest of the poster. See in depth analysis of the separate posters for more:
The movie poster is a key point in the marketing of a film. Its largely responsible for the attracting of the target audience. With this in mind we decided to create a set of posters which was both visually striking and followed the conventions of modern horror films. The poster for the movie “1408” was major inspiration for us. When creating the poster we felt we needed to capture the feel of the movie itself and also appeal to our TMG. After we had created numerous options we decided on one final poster.
Step One
of creating the poster consisted of capturing images which gave the viewer a good idea about the film itself. Visually the film is very dark and there are a lot of browns and blacks. So an image which conveyed this was important. As the film is about the “Red Room” we felt that a visualisation of this on the poster would be better than a visualisation of protagonist. We took a camera into the set and set about taking pictures. We framed them so the dominant side of the poster (the left) had the most eye capturing point. The lighting was very important, we wanted to create a strong idea of good against bad and the unknown. (This is best shown in poster 3) this involved casting areas of the room in the back ground in dark light and having the central points in the poster which conveyed the room in light. To make the “Red” in “Red Room” stand out (an early idea in the poster making process was to have the red in red room in a bright red so it stood out against the blandness of the background, also the colour red connotes anger and rage which is a major plot point in the film) also the browns and blacks keep continuity with film itself. We also wanted to follow conventions, films such as the “Amityville Horror” and “1408” show the setting of the scary events, thus we decided to stick to these conventions and do the same.
Step Two
involved choosing the fonts and colours, after deciding to put the “Red” in “Red Room” in bright red, we wanted to find colours which would work well with it. White stands out against the darker background and also connotes purity against the anger in the red. The fonts themselves were very important. Conventionally fonts on posters have always been linked into the film. With this in mind we went about choosing a font which suited the look of the film and the artistic direction of set. The colours and the design of the set were chosen to make it look dated and old. After all it is an old woman’s house. Therefore we decided to pick a font which also connoted this. “Blacktalkserif BTN” suited this perfectly it looked old enough to be in a old woman’s house yet not so old it looked period.
Step Three
finally and technically the layout of the poster was very important. It was important to make use of the rules of poster conventions. The three big things that were essential in the poster were the line of the eye, the rule of thirds and the POA. We tried to follow each of these on all of the possible posters we made. Another convention of posters which felt was important to include was the cast and credits section at the bottom. Conventionally the section uses the same fonts and the rest of the poster. See in depth analysis of the separate posters for more:
Very Important.
After this date, blogger.com was blocked on my school network, making me unable to login. Unfortuantly this meant I had to create another blog and upload my work on a different site, however just recently full access to the site has been restored allowing me upload my work back onto this blog. This is why so much work is being uploaded today and after this date.
Draft Poster Images
Here are the draft images we used to create our three potential posters, they were taken on the set of Red Room. For more information see the "Steps To Creating Our Film Poster".
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Red Room Shot List
Red Room’ shot list
The film opens with an establishing shot of an isolated vehicle driving towards the camera on an open road. The camera then moves inside the car and into an over-the-shoulder shot of the driver. The scene cuts to a flashback where the driver recalls an earlier conversation he had with a lawyer. The camera fades to white as it is conventional for flashbacks to be accompanied by fades to and from white. The film changes to black and white colours to emphasise the fact that it is a flashback. The flashback begins with an over-the-shoulder shot looking over the main character’s shoulder at the lawyer. The camera then moves into a high-angle shot where the camera is looking down on the main character and lawyer as it dominates over the pair. A 180 degree shot is used as the camera rotates the length of the table into a wide shot, followed by a two-shot and eventually finishing with an over-the-shoulder shot looking over the shoulder of the lawyer and at the main character. Shot-reverse-shot editing is used to highlight the conversation between the two characters. The camera then fades to white once more and back into the over-the-shoulder shot of the driver.
Scene switches to the main character climbing the stairs. A high-angle mid-shot is used to show his confusion as he searches for his answers. Scene then cuts to a mid-shot of the main character attempting to turn the lights on, using a mid-shot allows the camera to view the actions of the actor. The main character then picks up a book; the camera is positioned at a low-angle and tilts up as the book is raised from the floor. The camera then tracks the movement of the book before jumping into a close-up of main character assessing the book. A focus pull is then used to lead into the next shot; a high-angle shot of a sink which is showing running water. There is a close-up of the sink as the main character turns the taps off before the camera cuts to a long-shot of main character looking around a room. The actor moves further away from the camera so the shot changes to an extreme long-shot. The camera then cuts into an over-the-shoulder shot of the main character sitting in an armchair staring at pictures of him and his dead mother however his face has been scratched out. A mid-shot shows the main character discovering the hidden pictures on the wall. The camera cuts to a close-up point-of-view shot of the main character looking in a mirror. The shot is seen at a low-angle as the main character is shown to be dominant over the camera.
The camera cuts to a mid-shot which tracks the main characters movements around the car. A point-of-view shot shows a secondary character talking to the main character and giving him a warning. There is a close-up on the secondary character to show her facial expression as she delivers her warning. The camera switches to a wide-shot; we see a close-up of the main character’s expression as he tears photographs of him and his mother from the wall but also see the door slam shut in the background to add effect to the gloomy atmosphere. The camera moves into a long-shot of the main character kicking the door trying to break in. Fast-paced editing is accompanied by handheld camera action to add suspense and heighten tension. The fast-paced montage continues with a long-shot of the main character moving into an extreme close-up before moving into a point-of-view shot and then a mid-shot once more before the main character jumps down the stairs. The camera quickly cuts to a low-angle shot as we view the action from an alternative viewpoint; this is known as match on action.
An extreme long-shot shows the main character running, the camera is tracking his movement. Handheld camerawork is used to demonstrate a sense of urgency and fear. The camera cuts back to the previous mid-shot of the main character discovering the hidden pictures on the wall, this is an example of non-continuity editing. The narrative returns to the running scene, a close-up of the main character illustrates his desire to escape the proximity. Handheld camerawork is used once more to further demonstrate the main character’s urgency. The camera then becomes still as the main character finally escapes it; the camera is almost acting as the evil that the main character is running from. The camera moves from a point-of-view shot from the main character looking at the wall into an extreme close-up of him ripping the photographs down from the wall, this illustrates his anger and pain.
A long-shot shows a carer coming towards the main character who is in the foreground of the shot. The camera switches to a mid-shot when we see more of the main character before it becomes a two-shot when the two characters interact for the first time. The male character is conventionally higher in the frame than the female character to demonstrate male dominance and superiority. A low-angle extreme long-shot shows the main character struggling to escape from the room. The shot is conventional and the fact that it has been shot at an angle suggests that something is not quite right. A low-angle mid-shot shows the main character looking at his childhood memories. He is intentionally filmed on the left-hand side of the frame while on the right-hand side of the frame the television switches itself on, this further adds to the unusual atmosphere that has been established throughout the trailer and tension is heightened as a result.
The camera switches to a point-of-view shot of the driver inside the car. The camera shows the main character emerging from the bushes to indicate panic and fear. The final shot is an extreme close-up showing the main character walking past the door. As he moves past the door a piece of newspaper falls from it and reveals the words, ‘Red Room’. The scene fades to black as the letters of ‘Red Room’ turn to a bright, blood-like red and take up the centre position of the screen.
The film opens with an establishing shot of an isolated vehicle driving towards the camera on an open road. The camera then moves inside the car and into an over-the-shoulder shot of the driver. The scene cuts to a flashback where the driver recalls an earlier conversation he had with a lawyer. The camera fades to white as it is conventional for flashbacks to be accompanied by fades to and from white. The film changes to black and white colours to emphasise the fact that it is a flashback. The flashback begins with an over-the-shoulder shot looking over the main character’s shoulder at the lawyer. The camera then moves into a high-angle shot where the camera is looking down on the main character and lawyer as it dominates over the pair. A 180 degree shot is used as the camera rotates the length of the table into a wide shot, followed by a two-shot and eventually finishing with an over-the-shoulder shot looking over the shoulder of the lawyer and at the main character. Shot-reverse-shot editing is used to highlight the conversation between the two characters. The camera then fades to white once more and back into the over-the-shoulder shot of the driver.
Scene switches to the main character climbing the stairs. A high-angle mid-shot is used to show his confusion as he searches for his answers. Scene then cuts to a mid-shot of the main character attempting to turn the lights on, using a mid-shot allows the camera to view the actions of the actor. The main character then picks up a book; the camera is positioned at a low-angle and tilts up as the book is raised from the floor. The camera then tracks the movement of the book before jumping into a close-up of main character assessing the book. A focus pull is then used to lead into the next shot; a high-angle shot of a sink which is showing running water. There is a close-up of the sink as the main character turns the taps off before the camera cuts to a long-shot of main character looking around a room. The actor moves further away from the camera so the shot changes to an extreme long-shot. The camera then cuts into an over-the-shoulder shot of the main character sitting in an armchair staring at pictures of him and his dead mother however his face has been scratched out. A mid-shot shows the main character discovering the hidden pictures on the wall. The camera cuts to a close-up point-of-view shot of the main character looking in a mirror. The shot is seen at a low-angle as the main character is shown to be dominant over the camera.
The camera cuts to a mid-shot which tracks the main characters movements around the car. A point-of-view shot shows a secondary character talking to the main character and giving him a warning. There is a close-up on the secondary character to show her facial expression as she delivers her warning. The camera switches to a wide-shot; we see a close-up of the main character’s expression as he tears photographs of him and his mother from the wall but also see the door slam shut in the background to add effect to the gloomy atmosphere. The camera moves into a long-shot of the main character kicking the door trying to break in. Fast-paced editing is accompanied by handheld camera action to add suspense and heighten tension. The fast-paced montage continues with a long-shot of the main character moving into an extreme close-up before moving into a point-of-view shot and then a mid-shot once more before the main character jumps down the stairs. The camera quickly cuts to a low-angle shot as we view the action from an alternative viewpoint; this is known as match on action.
An extreme long-shot shows the main character running, the camera is tracking his movement. Handheld camerawork is used to demonstrate a sense of urgency and fear. The camera cuts back to the previous mid-shot of the main character discovering the hidden pictures on the wall, this is an example of non-continuity editing. The narrative returns to the running scene, a close-up of the main character illustrates his desire to escape the proximity. Handheld camerawork is used once more to further demonstrate the main character’s urgency. The camera then becomes still as the main character finally escapes it; the camera is almost acting as the evil that the main character is running from. The camera moves from a point-of-view shot from the main character looking at the wall into an extreme close-up of him ripping the photographs down from the wall, this illustrates his anger and pain.
A long-shot shows a carer coming towards the main character who is in the foreground of the shot. The camera switches to a mid-shot when we see more of the main character before it becomes a two-shot when the two characters interact for the first time. The male character is conventionally higher in the frame than the female character to demonstrate male dominance and superiority. A low-angle extreme long-shot shows the main character struggling to escape from the room. The shot is conventional and the fact that it has been shot at an angle suggests that something is not quite right. A low-angle mid-shot shows the main character looking at his childhood memories. He is intentionally filmed on the left-hand side of the frame while on the right-hand side of the frame the television switches itself on, this further adds to the unusual atmosphere that has been established throughout the trailer and tension is heightened as a result.
The camera switches to a point-of-view shot of the driver inside the car. The camera shows the main character emerging from the bushes to indicate panic and fear. The final shot is an extreme close-up showing the main character walking past the door. As he moves past the door a piece of newspaper falls from it and reveals the words, ‘Red Room’. The scene fades to black as the letters of ‘Red Room’ turn to a bright, blood-like red and take up the centre position of the screen.
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Friday, 1 January 2010
Film Questionnaire
Questionnaire
How old are you?
10-16 17-25 26-35 36-45 46-60 61+
What gender are you?
Male Female
How many times a month on average do you watch films?
0-1 1-2 2-3 3-4 5+
What is your favourite genre?
Action Thriller Horror Romance Comedy Psychological Horror
Do you feel psychological horrors are only for girls?
Yes No
Why?.................................................................................................................
What is the film that you most associate with the psychological horror genre?
……………………………………………………………………………..
Who is the usual victim in the psychological horror genre?
Boy Girl Man Woman Stranger
What is the personality of the main character typically?
Shy Confident Loud Geek Popular Mentally insane
What is a typical ending?
Happy Sad Cliff-hanger Death Other ………………………..
What would you change about psychological horror if possible?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
What conventional costumes would the characters wear in the psychological horror genre?
…………………………………………………………………………………………
What is the main lighting type you would expect to see?
Low Key Neutral High key Ambient
What are the main areas of a plot you would expect to see?
…………………………………………………………………………………
How old are you?
10-16 17-25 26-35 36-45 46-60 61+
What gender are you?
Male Female
How many times a month on average do you watch films?
0-1 1-2 2-3 3-4 5+
What is your favourite genre?
Action Thriller Horror Romance Comedy Psychological Horror
Do you feel psychological horrors are only for girls?
Yes No
Why?.................................................................................................................
What is the film that you most associate with the psychological horror genre?
……………………………………………………………………………..
Who is the usual victim in the psychological horror genre?
Boy Girl Man Woman Stranger
What is the personality of the main character typically?
Shy Confident Loud Geek Popular Mentally insane
What is a typical ending?
Happy Sad Cliff-hanger Death Other ………………………..
What would you change about psychological horror if possible?
…………………………………………………………………………………….
What conventional costumes would the characters wear in the psychological horror genre?
…………………………………………………………………………………………
What is the main lighting type you would expect to see?
Low Key Neutral High key Ambient
What are the main areas of a plot you would expect to see?
…………………………………………………………………………………
Magazine Research Questionnaire Results.
Here are the results of the questionnaire, they will prove important in the production of our film magazine.
1.How old are you?
10-16 (3) 17-25 (7) 36-45 (5) 46-60 (1) 61+ (1)
2.What gender are you?
Male (10) Female (10)
3.How many times a month, on average, do you read film magazines?
0-1 (5) 2-3 (8) 4-5 (4) 6+ (2)
4.What are the names of the film magazines that you read?
(The most common film magazines that our target audience read are ‘Total Film’, ‘Empire’ and ‘Sight and Sound’)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
5.What colours do you usually associate with film magazines?
(Our target audience found that the most conventional colours for magazine covers are reds, blacks and whites while other colours such as orange, yellow, silver and greys are also used)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
6.What genre do you feel should be advertised more on film magazine covers?
(Our target audience felt that genres such as psychological horrors, horrors and thrillers should be more heavily advertised on the front of film magazines. Other genres were action, fantasy and romance.)
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
7.Do you think it is conventional to have an image of the films main character as the main focus of the magazine cover?
Yes (13) No (7)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
8.What type of stories do you expect to be advertised on the front cover of a film magazine?
(Our target audience felt that interviews and articles containing celebrity or movie gossip should feature on the front cover of film magazines more often. Other ideas such as additional information or dates and times of movies etc could also feature.)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
1.How old are you?
10-16 (3) 17-25 (7) 36-45 (5) 46-60 (1) 61+ (1)
2.What gender are you?
Male (10) Female (10)
3.How many times a month, on average, do you read film magazines?
0-1 (5) 2-3 (8) 4-5 (4) 6+ (2)
4.What are the names of the film magazines that you read?
(The most common film magazines that our target audience read are ‘Total Film’, ‘Empire’ and ‘Sight and Sound’)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
5.What colours do you usually associate with film magazines?
(Our target audience found that the most conventional colours for magazine covers are reds, blacks and whites while other colours such as orange, yellow, silver and greys are also used)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
6.What genre do you feel should be advertised more on film magazine covers?
(Our target audience felt that genres such as psychological horrors, horrors and thrillers should be more heavily advertised on the front of film magazines. Other genres were action, fantasy and romance.)
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
7.Do you think it is conventional to have an image of the films main character as the main focus of the magazine cover?
Yes (13) No (7)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
8.What type of stories do you expect to be advertised on the front cover of a film magazine?
(Our target audience felt that interviews and articles containing celebrity or movie gossip should feature on the front cover of film magazines more often. Other ideas such as additional information or dates and times of movies etc could also feature.)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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