Updates and Changes to Script and Screenplay

I wished to update and make changes to my trailer, including taking the text message scene out, so to leave it a mystery as to why the five teenagers are in detention and cutting out the video of the party, where Percy was to have beer poured over him by Jessica. I therefore had to update my screenplay and script to show these updates in the process of my trailer.

Updated Screenplay

Updated When in Darkness Script

These are the updated script and screenplay to my trailer, When In Darkness. These updates includes changing the video and phone scene at the very beginning of the trailer to a time-lapse, in order to show the mundane, equilibrium of the school's day to day life. I also took out the dialogue with the five teenagers talking to one another, positioned in a circle and several other scenes in order to cut down the time of the trailer, otherwise it would be over three minutes long and I wish for this to remain around the two minute mark.

Camera Filming Inspiration and Ideas

For the types of shot used, I wanted to be as creative as I could in my trailer. I wanted to find existing videos on YouTube that are creative with different types of shots. One vlogging channel that I watch regularly does this, the Michalaks. They are a family who vlog the weeks events in a range of beautiful and creative montages, using a wide range of camera shots, angels and colours, the music fits with the scenes perfectly and is going to be a huge inspiration for my trailer in turns of creativity.

I screenshot several shots from the video that I hope to also use in my trailer and use angles and movements similar. From the screenshots I created a mood board of my favourite images so to give a clear idea of the different shot types, angles and movements that I will use.

This type of shot was one I wanted to use in my trailer, where an actor is stood in front of a light (in this image it happens to be TV and I may recreate this, but with a more sinister video) with the model's back not facing the audience. I hope to use this in my trailer for my villain, it will enable for their identity to remain a mystery and to create a stylised, powerful image around the villain's unknown character.

This gif was not taken from the YouTube video, but the video
does use several time lapses to show time going by

I also hope to use a timelapse of either the school (as the sun sets and darkness fall) or of the town. Time lapse are effective and make time appear to go by much quicker and aesthetically they look a lot better than just speeding up the video.

This screenshot is clearly shot through a window pane. It makes the landscape appear much older, vintage and run down. I could use this type of shot, using a low angle, to perhaps show a character in a mysterious way.






Based on this analysis, I have considered and thought about what the camera angles and shot types will look like throughout my trailer. Additionally, it has also allowed for me to think about what these different angles and shot types mean, for instance, using a low angle to show a character will make them appear to be much more powerful and bigger, suggesting an important character who is above everyone else. It has made me think more thoroughly about the impression and feelings I wish to evoke from these angles and shots. 

Computer Mock-Up of Film Magazine

This is the mock up for the film magazine that will promote my film, which I have decided to call IMPULSE. The word IMPULSE emerges from its definition:

(noun) a sudden strong and unreflective urge or desire to act.

 Impulses may come from people being forced into dangerous situations, something that I linked to the thriller genre. This mock up is a clear outline for the layout of the film magazine, allowing for me to stick to this selected layout of the magazine. Unlike the poster, I will be making the film magazine less simplistic and I have considered using unconventional colours for my thriller, such as blue or even purple. Using red may lead consumers to believe that it is a horror, but using dark blues will add elements of mystery.

I have considered using my other film title ideas within the coverlines, such as The Shadow Room which was the second most popular title based on my questionnaire results. Though I may also not be using other film titles on the magazine front cover, as I would not want my audience to stray away to other competing films.

Computer Mock-Up of Film Poster

This is the computerised mock up of the poster for my film. This will act as an outline for my poster, giving me clear instruction of the layout aspect for my poster. The mock up suggests that the poster is very simplistic, but believe that simplicity isn't used very much in film posters but I feel will convey the idea that characters are important and keeping it looking simple so to give clear indications to the genre as the colour scheme will be dark reds or blues and blacks.

Additionally using a close-up of a character will be very personal to audiences, the eyes will be a key part to my poster as they are considered to be portals to the soul, will also convey the characters emotions of fear or vulnerability. I feel that using characters for my posters will be a strong selling point for my film.

Hand Drawn Film Magazine with Annotations

Here is my hand drawn magazine design that I will be making. I have noted down several ideas for coverlines so there is a chance I will be adding more to my final magazine. This hand drawn draft will be up for further development and my final magazine may be slightly different to this, but this design will act as an outline for my magazine.

Here I have annotated the hand drawn magazine front cover, explaining and justifying why I have chosen to use these features on my magazine. Though this hand drawn copy seems simplistic and rather dull in colour, I will be using the colours dark red, black and dull whites in order to convey the magazine's chosen genre (thriller) and will create an eerie theme to magazine, which will also link to the trailer and the poster. 

Hand Drawn Film Poster with Annotations

Here is my hand drawn film poster design that I will creating for my ancillary product. I have made note of the different taglines that I have considered using on my final poster. This hand drawn is simply a draft and will be up for development when I am in the process of creating it on Photoshop and the final poster may turn out to be slightly different to this copy, but here gives the basic outline for my poster.

Above I have annotated my hand drawn film poster, explaining and justifying why I have chosen to use these certain features and follow particular codes and convention. My drawn hand draft is very simplistic and lacks colour, I will be including blacks, greys and whites and also the institution banner will be placed across the bottom half of my poster. These colours convey the films genre and will serve to be a strong iconography for my film in general.

Suggested Magazine Content (Ancillary Product)

Alongside my trailer and poster, I will also be producing a magazine front cover that includes my film for promotional opportunities. In order to make this magazine and selling of my film a successful, I must communicate my genre and characters successfully. My magazine will include:

• Masthead - The masthead is the most prominent and eye-catching part of a magazine's front cover and will therefore need to bold, easy to read and also relate to the magazine's content.
• Main Image - A main image tends to use celebrities for endorsement purposes as a way of selling the magazine to consumers. For my magazine I will be including one of the characters from my film so that I inform audiences of whom is in my film.
• Coverlines - Magazine's coverlines inform audiences what will be included within the magazine, what type of articles they can expect and sometimes include what page they may find them on. 
• Anchorage Text - The anchorage text relates to a magazine's main image. It refers to an article or interview that includes whoever is the model in the main image and tells readers what to expect in the magazine.
• Barcode - The barcode is simply a compulsory feature for all magazines that I will need to include in order for my magazine to be sell-able.
• Skyline - The skyline will give information about the magazine itself, for instance the skyline could be 'Britain's No.1 Film Magazine', it is a small part of the front cover but allows for the magazine to sell itself. 
• Date & Issue Number - The date and issue number will firstly inform regular readers who may collect which issue follows which and is also a source for information about the magazine, when it will be available to.
• Price - The price may indicate the quality the magazine, for instance, a magazine worth £4 will be of much higher quality in its articles and content. It also informs audiences how much they need to pay for the magazine itself.

Suggested Poster Content (Ancillary Product)

In order to make my film well advertised to audiences, I will be producing a poster for it. The poster will include:

• The film's title - When In Darkness. This will ensure that audiences can identity the poster to be grouped with the trailer and will need to be of a substantial size in order for it to stand out from far away to consumers.
• Main Image - The main image for film posters is a way for aspects such as characters or location can be communicated to audiences. My main image will be of my main protagonist, Veronica Calder as she will be the character that is immediately associated with the film from the trailer. 
• Release date - The release date will tell audiences clearly when the film will be available to watch. I have not made the decision whether I will show a specific date or if I will simply use 'coming soon' which tends to be more suspenseful but leaves audiences unsure of when they can watch the film.
• Age certification - This will communicate my target audience's age (16-25) very clearly and will also give the audience a brief idea of what to expect from the film itself.
• Tagline - A tagline will give the consumer a brief piece of information about the film, communicate plot ideas and will be short and snappy so it will stand out to audiences much more effectively.

IDEA NUMBER 1.

IDEA NUMBER 2.

IDEA NUMBER 3.

All three of the hand drawn poster ideas above include a similar theme - the female protagonist Veronica being used and also, though the tag lines themselves are different, the reoccurring use of the universal pronoun 'we' showcases the idea of working together, which is what the characters do during the narrative in order to survive. These posters are simply first rough ideas however and I may be changing several aspects to them, though I will be sticking with one of the three tag lines and also using Veronica as the main image.

Poster Inspiration

Poster Inspiration

Inspiration for my poster comes from existing thriller films, including The Butterfly Effect, Black Swan, Regression, Salt, Dorian Gray, Red Lights, The Purge: Anarchy and Shutter Island. All of these selected posters focus on the aspects of their main characters. For my poster I wanted to also focus on characters, which is why I will be using mostly characters posters in order to showcase my different characters though this will be time consuming I believe that this will be a strong action to take as my characters are very important to my film and this will also be very effective in promoting my film for audiences to watch as these posters will act as an overt means to advertise When In Darkness.

The Different Types of Posters

For my poster I decided to firstly look into the different types of posters that film industries release their audiences.

Character Posters

Many films choose to showcase their character through a series of character poster, which contains an individual from said film. It may include the characters name (though for these Harry Potter posters, the characters are so well-known that names are not even needed). This is one of the ideas which I had for my own ancillary products, to make a poster for each of my characters in order to create a series of posters so to introduce my characters to my audience as characters are such a strong aspect to my film.

Teaser Poster

Teaser posters (sometimes known as an advance poster) is an early promotional poster for a film. It contains a very basic image or design which enables for hype and excitement to be built around the film without revealing much information, so to keep a mysterious element to the film. Teaser posters include a date at the bottom, a tagline which all tie in together to showcase elements of iconography. These posters often contain an iconography symbol associated to the film, for instance The Dark Knight teaser poster includes the Batman logo. This logo or symbol will also be included on any further posters, trailers and even once the film is distributed through to DVD.







Theatrical Poster

These types of posters are released near the the date of a films release and are showcased outside of cinemas. Theatrical posters are generally the main posters and give key aspects of the plot, characters, location and actors away. These are crucial posters to a films success for the films marketing companies.











Based on this research for the different types of posters, I will be focusing on creating each type of poster for my film. Though this will prove to be time consuming, it is so I will be able to create a certain hype and inform as many of my target audience as I can. These posters will be distributed throughout various social media sites as this is what my target audience uses on a day to day basis. Through using each of these poster types my media product will be have the opportunity to have as much marketing strategies as possible.

Font Designs

Above are several fonts which I am considering to use as the branding for my film When In Darkness which will be featured within the trailer and the poster. The fonts shown above do showcase a similar theme, which is using 'When In' in thin, hand-drawn looking capital letters and 'Darkness' being shown in rough and sketchy letters. All of these fonts I felt also communicated my theme of thriller and even the aspect of murder in my film. I choose to use two different fonts as it will make my poster unique and allow for the 'brand' to stand out against competing films.

These fonts I feel is not as strong as the others because the font used for 'Darkness' does not seem to fit with the 'When In'. The typography of both fonts makes for the title easy to read as they are both in capitals. The fonts contrast in the sense that 'When In' is a sans serif font, giving the title an air of simplicity while the serif 'Darkness' gives the impression of the font being eerie, referring to my genre.

The second idea for fonts are much more effective I believe. The words appear to be bolder, easier to read and in turn a lot more eye catching. This particular design also manages to in case the idea I had of appearing as though the title is messy, handwritten which connotes school. Unlike the last previous fonts, the entire title is in sans serif which allows for it to be simplistic but yet easy to read and stands out against other film posters.

The third and final fonts are again eye catching and stand out. The 'When In' appears eerie, stick-like lettering and makes for the words easy to read. 'Darkness' (which is the same font as the previous) almost looks as though it was finger written by someone in paint or blood and will looks even more effective if I chose to use colours such as red.

Film Pitch Presentation (Video)

This is the complete presentation for my film, When In Darkness. In this video I also answer any questions that the audience may have had.

 

In the video I briefly explain several aspects to my film, for instance who my target audience are, who my characters are, locations and the finalised plot. I explain all of this to members of my target audience, so those who are aged 16-25 and was given feedback, answered questions and made me consider ways in which I can improve my ideas.

What the audience seemed to like about my film was the inclusion of a bisexual character, which as I explained to my target audience was an aspect that I was passionate in including as there is a definite lack in representation in the film industry. My audience made me think about exactly how I'll be presenting my character Billie White as I'll have to think thoroughly about how I'll show a positive representation of bisexual characters in my trailer.

The film pitch also made me think about aspects of my film that I haven't yet considered, such as what camera equipment I will use and the camera angels that I will include. Altogether my pitch was successful because it gave me the opportunity to talk directly to my audience, get feedback and think about my film in much more detail.

Film Pitch

In preparation for my film pitch, I produced a presentation to go along with my pitch itself. The presentation includes my target audience, ideas for the font, synopsis of the plot, characters and even ideas for the locations. My pitch itself I will also explain exactly why I picked these certain aspects to my film and will be answering any questions.

I will be adding the video of my film pitch within the next few days. In video I will also be answering questions and will be explaining the reasoning behind certain decisions in depth. The pitch will be a chance for me to receive feedback about my ideas and maybe even develop or change them.

Animatics

Created with Padlet

The padlet above was created in my Media Studies class, in which we discussed and answered several questions in regards to animatics, from how to make them creative to why they are used in film making. An animatic is a preliminary version of a media product (for instance film, music video, TV show) which is produced by filming successive sections of storyboard occupied by music. I created my animatic for When In Darkness on Windows Movie Maker as it was the only video making software that I could obtain freely for the planning section for my main media product.

My animatic has allowed for me to showcase my ideas a lot more creatively than the story and also has given me an idea of exactly how my trailer will flow together. It is noted however that my trailer will certainly not be of this length as many of the shots included will be much quicker and fast pace. Also I will not be using the same music for my main media product, though the lyrics to True Friends by Bring Me The Horizon (the first song used in my animatic) does fit with my plot line very well ("true friends stab you in the front" and "you can run but you can't hide") and the alternative rock genre appeals to both my target audience and will make my trailer stand out by using a popular band within rock culture.

Shooting Schedule

Monday 7th December- Shooting begins. I will be filming the opening scenes to the trailer, which includes Coren Vincent giving the characters detentions and them either defending their case or accepting their detention. If I complete this quickly I will also be filming the five characters in their detention and arguing before the power cuts out.

Wednesday 9th December - Here I will be filming several of the quick cut shots. Mainly the scenes involving inside of the school. For instance Finn running down the corridor and filming Percy's scenes, including him calling for Finn and perhaps his murder.

Thrusday 10th December - Scenes including Billie and Jessica running from the villain over the fields.

Friday 11th December - This will primarily be filming the fight in the viral video. I have most of the day to film this as it is a weekend day though may arise issues such as weekend jobs my actors may have.

Monday 14th December - Here I will be filming the final scenes of the trailer, where Finn and Billie are seen together and also library scenes will be filmed here.

Wednesday 16th December - I am planning to film or record the characters voice overs for my trailer this will mainly include Veronica.

Friday 18th December - Here I will film the office scenes with Veronica and Finn.

This shooting schedule is a draft, chances are I will not be completely sticking to this filming schedule as aspects such as the weather and prior engagements with my actors for part-time jobs. But this will give me an outline of my filming and will additionally give me an advantage in the planning.

Shot List

A shot list is list of the different shots that I will be using for my trailer. A shot list helps in terms of the planning for my trailer and also the filming itself. It lists the types of shots, the description, angels of each of these shot, the location and finally the characters used within the shot.

Below is the shot list for my trailer.

Creating this shot list has enabled me a very clear idea of the trailer so far, it also will help me in terms of thinking about the different camera shots and angles. It's purpose is so I can make sure that every part of my script, screenplay is assigned with a certain shot.

Storyboarding

Storyboards are used in order to depict events within a moving image through the use of pictures. The storyboard allows for me to clearly picture my trailer through these various images and how they will appear in the shot types chosen.

My completed storyboard will be an outline for my trailer. This has given me a much more clear and visual look upon my trailer and has made me think about the camera angles I will use, the movements and the overall theme of the trailer. This includes the fonts I will use and the non-diegetic sounds (background music) that I will include. Overall, my storyboard has allowed for me to advance in my trailer production and planning.

Script

This is the script I created for my film, When In Darkness. Scripts are very important in the process of film making as they give clear instructions for the dialogue, actions and order of scenes within a media text. 

When In Darkness Script from alltimejas

Creating a script has enabled me to process in creating a solid outline and order for my trailer. From this, I will be able to have a clear idea of what I will be needing to film and additionally what dialogue I will be including. I will be printing out this script and adding notes to it over the coming weeks and posting this to my blog, to highlight any changes or additional scenes added from either careful planning or those I thought of spontaneously.

When in Darkness

My script contains many quick shots, which will be very fast pace, two to three seconds shots of various scenes in order to make the trailer have a fast pace, in order to get my audiences' hearts racing along with the trailer and adds to the aspects of thriller within my trailer.

Screenplay

A screenplay is a film script, complete with stage directions and acting instructions.

This is the screenplay for my trailer, When In Darkness. I will be partly sticking to this screenplay as it is noted that I may produce more ideas during filming but this screenplay enables me to give a brief overview of the dialogue I wish to include in the trailer.

When In Darkness Screenplay

This screenplay helped me greatly in thinking about the type of content and plot details that I wish to include in my trailer. I want to show as little of the plot as possible in order to avoid spoilers but yet enough to let audiences know the film's synopsis and begin to introduce them to characters. The screenplay is also open to further annotation and ideas, so I will be able to communicate my characters more strongly through the trailer. Secondly, it will create a much more tense experience for my audience through aspects such as camera angles, movements and lighting. Overall however, creating this screenplay has given me a much firmer idea of what I will ultimately include in my trailer.

Recce

Embed above is the recce for my film. Recce refers to visiting (and taking pictures) of where I plan to shoot and also where I will consider the issues that may arise when filming, including lighting and access to these locations.

Possible Issues

• Getting permission to film in the library after dark will prove to be difficult as there are certain health and safety risks for those who own the library must consider.
• Filming will only take place during the night for all outside locations and some inside ones also. This will mean that filming will be limited and start from around 4:30 to 7:00 (when the school closes).
• Filming at night will also mean that it will be in the pitch black and may mean that some scenes will be difficult to make out and therefore will be need to be further edited.
• Other students or members of staff may infer with filming which is something that I hope to avoid.
• Inferring noises from birds, cars, people etc.
• Weather may affect filming, for instance if it rains and I am filming the running scene it will arise safety hazards.