Colin

Colin is a low budget movie costing just £45, the movie is unique as it is the only movie which is told through the eyes of the zombie, where as most movies that contain zombies do not have the narrative from the perspective of the zombie.

I feel i can link to this movie as we will not have a high budget like most Horror films such as The Grudge with the budget of $10 million and Final Destination with $23 Million.

This movie tells us that you do not need a high budget to have a successful film, which gives me high hopes that the film will be successful, but not as great as a mainstream, highbudgetted movie

Opening scenes/Theories

We watched a couple of movies which have many different narratives and goes against the usually typical Todorov and Propp. Some of the opening scenes containes The Hermeneutic Code, this was invented by a man called Roland Barthes, his code was to create an enigmatic ability which is basically making the audience ask questions to why the characters are in that situation and how they got there, the information isn't explained immediately at the beginning of the movie like most movies do, which explain the setting and whom the characters are.

Examples of this is Reservoir Dogs, the opening scene confuses the audience as they dont know who the main character is as the camera doesnt focus on one particular charatcer most of the time, this gives a sense of allianation towards the audience as the conversation starts off in the middle and the audience doesn't have a clue on whats going on. This is also emphasised by the fact that the lense sometimes goes unfocused, this may have been purposely used to make the audience become more curious on what is going on between all the characters.

Another movie which does this is Sunset Boulevard, the opening scene we see police cars arrive at a murder scene, we see a body in the pool and then the voice over tells us it's him. This is a great way of making the audience think and wonder how he was murdered and why, it hassortof given us information about the character, but we don't know who he truly is.

A man called Jacques Derrida had a theory of changing the typical stero type of a character to something else that we would not expect. This is perfectly shown through The Pirates of The Caribbean, where Johnny Depp is on top of a mast which seems to be a large pirate ship, the camera angel is a low angle showing us he is the Hero, this is then turned around when he jumps down and we see the whole picture of his ship which is actually a small fishing boat. For Derrida's theory to work, you would have to know the typical stero-type before hand, pirates are usually seen as cunning and witty, also the hero is seen as the smart heroic type. In one single shot all our thoughts on the typical character is turned around.

Mood Board

I really like the result of the mood board, the genre is really strong through the use of the back ground image and colour. I like how chalice and myself have created a collage type way of explaining our ideas/theme/influences. The top left are the films which have influenced us, halloween has influenced us by the fact it is low budget and the use of low angles, Nightmare On Elm Street influenced us by the 'Dream' idea of someone going into your dreams, but instead of a murderer, it will be your fears or just your dreams killing you. The music box represents the sound we will preferably use at the beginning of the trailer, i feel this is effective because it will contrast the genre or horror and emphasis how innocent and elegant the sound of the music box is. I feel if we do use the music box at the beginning it can start out sounding calm and gradually sounding more sinister, at first this would confuse the audience thinking it's nice and calming, and will trick the audience into thinking it's a happy movie, but the use of the music box turning sinister will aid the idea that the movie is actually horror. We used the clown because people tend to be afraid of clowns so this can be a nightmare where as the bear is usually a contrasted to horror, which children may tend to dream about. We put the bear there to show that it may be one of the 'dreams' we will show that will turn evil and shows that not just fears will kill them but the things they cherish as well. The man with the knife and the question mark upon his face was put on there because usually you dont know who the killer is, and i think the trailer will be effective because people will possibly think at first it is just one person and not realising is a multiple of things. The use of the house is to show that's where we will mainly be shooting most of the footage, and also that the film is based in the house, also the woman shows that the murdering will happen when you are sleeping. I do think Chalice and myself have done the mood board successfully and people will be able to know what the film is about/genre.

More Narrative notes

source - http://www.aber.ac.uk/media

There are many ways of getting information across to the audience can be given out in many ways, and not just by the protagonist talking. 'Narrative Devices' can be used to control how the information is revealed, to which character and when abouts it should be told. One form of narrative is the use of shifting time, this can include flash backs of the past of the characters previous actions or life style, flashfowards, this would probably be used in a sci-fi film with people being able to see the future such as The Dead Zone by Stephen King. Repetition of a sequence, one story shown in many P.O.V shots. Dream sequences - someone could be dreaming about their past, or a symbolic sign within their dream represents their past, this can also show someone's fear or something which they may have picked up.

Also flashbacks can alter signs in the present time, prime example is Saving Private Ryan. The whole story is basically told in Flashback, but at the end of the movie the man at the beginning has his identity revealed showing the memories belonging to him. the point-of-view in narrative had been shifted as well.

The use of shifts in narrative point-of-view and time have several effects.

• Delaying information can build up tension which in an effort to manipulate the audience


• the use of shifting point of view can shift the empathy towards the characters.


• The power between characters can change with the use of shifting point of view.

Different techniques used by Filmmakers can be seen as having a desired effect. But sometimes the intention can be interpreted in many different ways.

Technique

Flashback, Flashforward, present. 'Effect' - Information being revealed at one point in a time frame will/can alter the understanding which the audience may have in another time frame.

Saving Private Ryan is a perfect example for this.

Repetition - effect - information can sometimes be revealed by increasing the amount of times the incident is shown, or the point- of -view is changed yet on the same incident. A good example of this is Memento.

Dreams - Effect - The use of dreams can mislead people into what is real and not, sometimes giving a false belief as the audience may believe that some events are actually taking place when really they are not. Examples - Jacob's Ladder and Mulholland Drive.

Hallucinations - Effect - The use of hallucinations are great for misleading the audiences, this situtates the audience with the character as they both have the same amount of knowledge on the situtation. Example - A Beautiful Mind

Premonitions - Effect - These are the expectations on what is about to happen in the narrative but these expectations can sometimes not happen. Example Don't Look Now

Voice-Over - Effect- voice-overs can be discrepancy which is basically talking over a certain shot but not necessarily talking about what is happening in the shot. This is usually used in trailers.

Mood Board/ Development of ideas

I've basically done a draft of the mood board with one of the other group members whilst the other two are drawing out the story board. We have been considering what movies have influenced us, whom we're going to use within our movie, where we are going to have it mainly set, the style which the film will be.
We have come up with an idea of what the first shot might be, but we may change it or ulter it slightly, the opening scene of the trailer will be shot at nighttime obviously to represent and show that the character is asleep, the music will be from a mobile or from an ornament to create a calming atmosphere giving the idea that the movie is not horror, i think this is effective as this may trick the audience into thinkingit's not horror. The camera will be shot from point of view, which is often used to show through the eyes of the killer, it will look around to show where the set is and whom the character is, the camera will then slowly move over to the victim and look above them. Then the shot is in a forest, this represents on what the person is dreaming and what they are doing, the camera shot will still be in point of view and will gradually run to the victim then it will cut. I really do like this idea as it goes from a calming atmosphere to suddenly horrific, also the idea of the mobile lullaby gives a sense of vulnerability compared to the movie, emphasising how dangerous the killer is.

HalloweenSeries.com Halloween Trailer

This trailer is very effective as most of the film is dark and hardly any light shining through, except for a few clips. The high pitched, screeching music is effective as it tends to send shivers towards the audience because it is a build up to the horrifying scene. Also it has been cleverly planned out as the sound isn't always used, which creates more tension because nothing is there to guide you when something bad is about to commence. The shots which they decided to use are very effective, a point of view shot has been used at first in the eyes of the killer which you then see a few seconds later on whom it is, it's effective because you never would have thought of it to be a child as they are seen as vulnerable and innocent. This would instantly draw the audience in as it is unexpected and they would probably want to know why he did it and his motive. It is a typical horror trailer as you can not clearly see the killer, and therefore scares us more because we can not identify him properly. Also how the title sequence keeps reappearing, they may have done this so you won't forget it and it stays in your head more than if it appeared only the once. The use of the voice over is effective as it sets the scene and also one of the characters talking about the killer, the use of background information draws you in as sometimes it informs the audience how it started, or why he does it.

Sleepy Hollow trailer analysis

Tim Burton's style consist of the use of very dark setting containing no bright colours at all. The trailer is very gripping at first as the music is quiet yet it's a gradual high-pitching noise increases speed. It's very gripping as the clip at the same time is the murderer about to kill his victim, the shots start off slow as it shows the scenery of the town, then the jump cuts increase rapidly showing the pace of the victim and suggesting how fast his heart is racing and the speed of the murderer. Also the lightning sounds commences just as the weapon comes in contact with the victim, this is effective because the audience would probably jump as the music before hand wasn't very shocking yet it was quiet and building slowly. So already in the trailer the audience knows how effectively scary the movie will be and the genre. The shots are slow once more showing us the main character, the audience is also informed by the voice-over of what he does and where he comes from, which is effective as we know what his part is in the movie and what to expect of him. As each clip shows us the characters and the setting, the use of the voice-over gives the impression of telling us a story and informing us of why the main character is there but not giving away too much. Also the music becomes gradually becomes high-pitched before it goes quieter again and to a shot of the murderer, this onces again builds tension and gives the impression of you never know when something is going to happen. The use of always variety the music and also keeping tension gives the idea of that you are never safe and you must always be weary of the murderer, this suggests we are feeling what the characters feel and is effective and we are linked with their emotions as well as ours.
This is a very effective trailer, always changing the pace, the music's pitch or tempo and the lighting as well, it always keeps the audience of their seat. I would like to use the idea of changing from one tempo to the next and back again, giving the idea you can't escape.

Group discussion 2

Another idea which we may choose for our film trailer would be about teenagers having nightmares/dreams which eventually come true. We have come up with a mind map considering the scenery, angels and the characters and what dream may happen to a particular age group, such as a child's nightmare may be being chased by their favourite toy.

The angels we could use may be extreme close-ups to emphasis the terror in the victims eyes and also making it scarier as you do not know what has killed each victim, giving the idea that it's the same monster/person and not thinking that it could be something different each time. A high angel of the person sleeping to identify what the person is doing and also sets the scene and possibly time depending on the lighting within the shot. The scenery wouldn't be the same as such, we may have a victim in hospital, this emphasises how vulnerable they are as a hospital is the sign of injured. We suggested we could have a street scene where someone falls asleep after drinking too much and their nightmare happens then.