Test Footage

A piece of experimental footage, testing: lighting, camera movement and composition, colour schemes and tones.

Location scouting, work on mise-en-scene.

Locations:

An old abandoned warehouse was my first idea, however I was not given permission to film here as the building was made from asbestos which is why it was shut down and presumably abandoned.

My second idea was the Brackley Industrial estate, however again I wasn't given permission and due to the distance it would have been difficult to have moved all the props and equipment.

So my final Idea was my own home, this was my last idea as it seemed too.. homely. However if Im shooting with just torches lighting the shot, the home wont be so cozy. I will also purchase some fake spiderweb and other haunted house props to make it feel like it has been abandoned.

Handheld Video Camera Shooting Tips

Hand-held camera was a technique first used sporadically towards the last years of the silent era. Although many movie cameras produced before that period were lightweight enough to be carried by a single person, the camera shapes were too boxy and bulky to be adequately operated without some form of camera support. Further, they were often hand cranked, adding to the difficulty of hand-held shooting.

By the early 1920s, however, cameras were beginning to be created with hand-held ergonomics in mind; this was largely in order to satisfy demand from both the growing documentary field, as well as the emerging amateur market. These cameras were specifically designed to hold shorter lengths of film—usually 100 to 200 feet—and included hand-wound spring motors which could be pre-wound enough to last continuously through most or even all of a roll.

The emergence of the sound film had an immediate dampening effect on the use of hand-held shots due to the need for camera motors to maintain a constant film speed. The motors were far too loud to be able to record synchronized sound on set, and thus early sound films were forced to install the camera within a soundproof booth. By 1929, camera manufacturers and studios had devised shells, called blimps, to encase the camera and dampen the mechanical noise sufficiently to allow the cameras to be free of the booths.

Filmmakers notable for their use of hand-held cameras

Peter Berg (born March 11, 1962) is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is known for directing films such as Friday Night lights, The kingdom, The Rundown and Hancock.

Steven Spielberg, (born December 18, 1946) is an American film director, screenwriter, film producer and video game designer. In a career spanning six decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. He is also one of the founders of Dreamworks.

Target Audience

The expected audience to watch Horror films are, male teenagers to adults ranging from 13 onwards, because of this there is avery wide range of people whom it may appeal to. Often youll find, the younger teenagers are interested in very grewsome films such as SAW however, the older viewers pefer a film with has a stronger story line or plot. You can find these in sci-fi horrors like the one I wish to make. Because my horror wont involve as much blood, gore and distruction and I hope it will have a slighly more mature plot, I will target my film at an older age, such as 17 to 30. I chose to end my TA at 30 as I asked my parents whom are both over 40 weather they would chose to watch this style of film, they both said no. However when I asked my friends who are all 17-18 they said they all would. I also asked my band mates who 24 and they also said they would.

I will like most horrors aim my film at males.

Basic Ideas

I wish to create a Sci-fi Horror, which will involve a swat team having to move into an infected house due to a breakout from an untested HIV vaccine. The house will be filled with zombie type enemies and the swat team will have to move throughout the house to fine the vaccine. I hope to make this slightly clearer in my teaser as I will be adding intertitles which will explain the basic plot.

I want to shoot the clips during the night and only use torch light as lighting. This will make the shoots very dark, which will follow many horror conventions.

I also with to use props such as guns and fake blood to symbosise voilence and death again conforming to the conventions of a horror.

Story Board

Click to enlarge

Mood Board

Here is my mood board, I want to show all the ideas I'm having here. Ive included pics like the gun and swat team as I wish to include violence and a team of police or swat team. Ive also included pics of zombies as I feel this would be the most appropriate enemy, I have considered aliens however I feel due to limited budget they may just look ridiculous! Ive included the moon to symbolise, night, dark which also related to the Fear of dark. Finally Ive included a picture of a haunted house as I want this to be my location for filming. Ill ask my friends however the house I live in now is extremely old and has lot of long corridors which may be perfect.

Codes and conventions of a horror trailer

A definition of the genre

Horror films often involve a complex set of codes and conventions that will give the audience the idea that they are watching a horror film. In most media texts, particularly advertisement posters concerned with films of the genre, many of the codes and conventions displayed within the narrative of the film are portrayed to an effect that will suggest important aspects of the film i.e. lead characters and their alignment (good/evil). This is important in informing the audience of what to expect of the film and give them an idea of the narrative structure or plot, which in itself is very inviting as we want to see why these particular elements and themes
tool of representation for characters, the monster is often enshrouded in darkness and we rarely see its face in most posters.
§A monster or representation of distorted humanity and evil:
The monster is mostly a singular entity and is often pictured in the background if at all as if to linger over his victim(s). The monster often has a trademark tool for killing i.e. a claw, hook or knives that is emphasised in the pictography.
§The victims:
The victims are often displayed in different colours than the text and monster to show innocence or neutrality. The lead character that is often the sole survivor (another regularly used convention of the horror genre)

The best horror trailers ask a question. They set up a premise or a situation, and then leave the viewer wanting to know more. One of the best examples is the original 'Alien' (1979) trailer. The camera splices shots of the film with a long, slow pull back of a large, alien egg. The egg cracks, emitting an eerie glow and the trailer ends with the subscript "In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream." The trailer doesn't really tell us about the characters, doesn't establish much at all. All we know is something horrible is going to come out of that egg, something that makes people screams. We, the audience, want to know what's in that egg.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oYNvmNZP…
Another common convention is the "What happened to those kids?" question. Quarantine, Wolf Creek, and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre use this model, but the Blair Witch Project really did it best. The now-infamous trailer began with the subscript "In 1994 three student film makers disappeared in the woods near Burkitsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found." That's it. That's the whole trailer. The audience knows something horrible happened to those kids, but you have to watch the movie to find out what.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZu1cTg-x…
Also, horror trailers usually appeal to the visceral on some level. Invariably, you'll see a few action shots of knives plunging, pick axes being thrown, or chainsaws being swung. The trailer promises blood. A tried and true method a Primal entertainment, as old as the Roman stadiums that housed gladiators, there will always be people who are lured in to see the axe split the teenager's head open. Showing the 24 frames prior to the head split is as effective as walking the viewer to the steps of the theatre. The most recent Friday the 13th trailer includes 13 such sizzler shots in a row. Cheap but effective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZZxnLxL
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Quarantine Trailer Analysis

Directed by
John Erick Dowdle

Writing credits (WGA)
John Erick Dowdle
Drew Dowdle

http://www.containthetruth.com/

I have chosen the Trailer from the film Quarantine to analyse as this relates very strongly to my basic ideas and the genre and style of shooting. The film is a sci-fi horror and is shot using hand held techniques. The story and plot of the film also related to my ideas as a fire fighting team receive a call to a building to find that a strange form of rabies is spreading and slowly infects the members of the building. I really liked this film as there are lots of jumpy moments and the style of the shots and composition of the shots look very attractive. The lighting also is great, the shots slowly become darker and darker throughout which emphasises the virus spreading. Although there is no filter in the trailer, I have watched the whole film and there are many areas where a blue/green filter is used. I wanted to copy this effect as it makes the shot become colder and slightly creepier. The props are also very good, the Firefighters are the only ones with brightly light outfits which emphasises their importants and role. The location is again perfect, with lots of floors for different sequences. The building itself looks very old and worn down which conforms to the horror style of film.

Television reporter Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman (Steve Harris) are assigned to spend the night shift with a Los Angeles Fire Station. After a routine 911 call takes them to a small apartment building, they find police officers already on the scene in response to blood curdling screams coming from one of the apartment units. They soon learn that a woman living in the building has been infected by something unknown. After a few of the residents are viciously attacked, they try to escape with the news crew in tow, only to find that the CDC has quarantined the building. Phones, internet, televisions and cell phone access have been cut-off, and officials are not relaying information to those locked inside. When the quarantine is finally lifted, the only evidence of what took place is the news crew's videotape.

Category:

Entertainment

Genres:Horror / Thriller

Film analysis

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REC 2 Trailer Analysis

Release Date: 9 July 2010
Genre: Horror
Cast: Jonathan Mellor, Manuela Velasco, Óscar Zafra, Ferran Terraza
Director: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
Writers: Jaume Balagueró, Manu Díez
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

Plot:
The action continues from [Rec] (2007), with the medical officer and a SWAT team outfitted with video cameras are sent into the sealed off apartment to control the situation.

This trailer follows many patterns, such as a group of four in an isolated environment, hunted by 'zombies'. This is a classic story line, however this film reveals how the infection spread and how religion can solve the problem which is not normally the solution. The viewer can immediately establish the genre of the film due to iconography such as the, weapons and swat like characters in the first few shots of the trailer. The guns are especially recognizable as they symbolize danger, violence and protection because of this there is a direct mode of address which again allows the viewer to establish the genre and depicts the target audience, male teenagers. There are also screens of text, which narrate the 'swat' teams purpose. sound is used effectively as there is emphasis on the reloading and checking of the weapons, and the screams of the infected. There is also a very deep buzz like sound which ads to the atmosphere and tone creating an eerie drone, similar to the sound I which to add to my own footage. Each shot lasts for no more that 5 seconds, the first few shots last for 1.5 seconds each and become more rapid through out the trailer as the suspense and action increases.

This trailer is intended primarily for a male teenage audience, as there are many features that would interest this target age and gender group. There are many professional techniques within this trailer, such as the composition and style of shot. The lighting is also very interesting, as the building the team are in is dark however there is a strong source of light from each of the windows, possible symbolizing, a heaven like theme in contrast with the hell like building. The light also adds a strong contrast, and many shadows are built adding to the drama and impact of the footage.

Category:
Entertainment
Genres:Horror / Thriller

Diary of the Dead Trailer Analysis

A group of young film students run into real-life zombies while filming a horror movie of their own.
Director: George A. Romero
Writer: George A. Romero
Release Date:7 March 2008 (UK)
Diary of the Dead is an entirely “mediated film. Like The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, and Redacted, it is composed entirely of shots that are taken from multiple sources, and edited together.
The mood of Diary of the Dead is somber and continually tense. The cast consist of white college students (together with one older white man, their film professor). As in many of Romero’s films, there is a reversal of conventional gender stereotypes. The women are generally more competent, and more able to hold themselves together emotionally and psychologically, than the white men.
Genre Horror
Primary TA - Teenage and adult males.

I chose to analyse this trailer as it relates to my own ideas of story, which involves zombies, and hand held camera techniques. I enjoyed this trailer as it the shots are really well composed, and I noticed some followed techniques like the rule of thirds and the golden ratio which are both designed so the viewer is made to focus on a certain object. The sound also in this trailer was great, the sound effects of the zombies and the base sound layer really dramatises the trailer. I think the lighting is also very good. Almost all of the trailer is shot in average light, which is slightly odd as the conventions of a horror film seem to follow darker lighting. Knowing this I will stick to shooting in complete darkness but only using torch light to light the set.