STORYBOARD

Before filming it was essential to create a storyboard in order to clearly plan out what we had to film. Although it is important to follow the storyboard as much as we can, we may want to add extra shots in the future. When watching back our footage, we may feel some shots didn't work or won't be suitable for our trailer. On the other hand, when filming, we may want to try out some new shots and find they turn out well regardless whether it was on the storyboard or not.

It is important to open our trailer with the production company as this is a typical code and convention of a trailer. It also establishes who is responsible of creating this film and if people are familiar with it already, this may encourage them to watch the film further if they had previously had good experience with it. We want our production company logo to resemble the tower which is a main focus in our trailer which straight away refrences the horror genre.

The first shot is of the victim coming out of work. We want to shoot this at a time when people will be coming in and out of the building in the background in order to portray surface realism as the audience will recognise the fact that it may be the end of a working day. The actress will walk towards the camera on her mobile phone. The camera will be stationary and it will go from a long shot to being out of view. We will set filming on a bright but perhaps overcast day in order to get the desired effect. We need the brightness in order to make sure the shots we are filming are clear but for our genre of film we wouldn't want a bright sunny day as these would go against pathetic fallacy and also the codes and conventions of the horror genre.

This is a point of view shot from the villain's perspective. We want it to appear that he is looking through the bushes and watching the victim on her way home from work. We will have her walking past with the camera stationary. When editing this shot we have ideas of slowing down the shot in order to emphasise her impending doom and how the villain is focusing on just her and she has no escape. The lighting in this shot will be the same as the previous as we want to reflect how it is still the same time of day.

This will be a long shot of the villain holding a candle looking up at the tower. The audience will instantly recognise that this character is dark and as this is their first time encoutering him, the clothing and setting alone will allow them to identify the theme of worship/sacrifice which is our main storyline. We want this shot to be considerably darker than the previous ones to represent the first meeting with the villain himself and to reiterate the fact that he is a dark character.

We now have a mid shot of the villain looking at the camera with a direct mode of address. This allows the audience to feel like the victim which will be a chilling experience for them. Also, this is the first time the audience see the villain's face and they can see his clothing and props as well.

Another mid shot will follow after a quick, cut edit. This will, again, be of the villain with a direct mode of address. Although this is challenging codes and conventions of a trailer, we feel as this is a horror trailer we want to provide the audience with new experiences and keep them guessing and ultimately keep their interest. In this shot the villain will blow out his candle which will represent the fact that he is about to end someone's life. His worship is over and now he is ready to sacrifice.

In this shot we go back to the victim, still on her way from work but now she is in a more isolated wooded area. The audience have an advantage over the victim as they know what waiting for her at the end of this path; this is dramatic irony. This will make the audience tenser and more eager to see what is going to happen and this will be the start to the climax of the trailer.

This is the point when we want our music to hit its climax to compliment what is happening on screen. We will use quick shots and edits in order to create this effect. This is a mid shot of the victim coming towards the camera and behind her we see the villain running past. The victim will turn around to see no one there. This will build anticipation within the audience.

 

This is a follow on from the previous shot. The victim has just spun around to see who is behind her but no one is there until the villain appears behind her. When carrying out our research we found that horror films often play on vulnerablility so in order to follow this genre convention the actress playing the villain will have an anxious look on her face to show she is helpless in this situation. We want to speed up the villain coming towards her and then slow it down considerably to put emphasise on the fact that she may now suffer a slow and painful death and her life is coming to an end.

This last shot is the result of what has happened between the two characters. The victim is now laying lifeless in the villains arms while he is looking towards the sky with the tower in the background. His sacrifice is now complete.