Decisions over Music...

Our research into horror trailer scores led to us finding out that American director John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing etc) wrote his own synth based soundtracks as did Italian horror/slasher director Dario Argento (with his prog rock band the Goblins). We had previously decided to create our own music using Garageband and had been using "Funki Porcini - This Ain't The Way To Live" but it lacked the pace we needed to match our slasher trailer since music is key, after analysing various 70's horror trailers it became clear that a good score was essential.

Trying out Time Lapse 2

Our group decided upon using Time lapse in our project because we observed, in prior research into Paranormal Activity that it was very effective. The time-lapsed camera sequences were brilliant for creating an atmosphere of unease and fear. They also filmed on the balcony, getting footage of the street below and the clouds for about 6 minutes for each. After shooting, they loaded the footage onto iMovie where they sped up the footage to make it look like time was passing faster by. After editing, we saved our project on disk.

Trying out Time Lapse

Today, we discussed different techniques we could use in the short clips. Today, we tried out time lapse. Our group decided upon using Time lapse in our project because we observed, in prior research into Paranormal Activity that it was very effective. The time-lapsed camera sequences were brilliant for creating an atmosphere of unease and fear. Shaquille and Charles went around the school to try this out. They filmed on the balcony and the front entrance to the school. Charles stood still in different places in the front entrance within sight of the camera standing in the same position, getting closer to the camera within each different shot. When we played back this footage, we decided that it would be the most ideal to use when filming the killer, perhaps to introduce the character.

 

Shot Sequences...

We came up with a another great idea to include in our project and decided to try it out. The idea was to basically have a chase scene with one of the cast and see him cornered. We had several ideas on how to make the scene more tense during editing and shot discussion.Filming for this scene took place outside towards the early hours of the evening. We chose to film it around this time because there would be darker natural light the later we filmed. This is a critical theme in our production as it fits the atmosphere and gives the sense that time is running out contrasting to the beginning of the trailer where it was still light outside.

Ade Balogun was available to film with. We chose the back of the playground since there was more space to run in for the actor. After we cleared the area of any children, we started filming. We took different angles, making sure to consider the 180 degree angle rule.

Here are a few of the shots we used.

Planning - Location

After running through our ideas with our teacher we had to make a few adjustments to the setting, as we didn't really think of what factors would ruin the look of our trailer. This was mainly the surrounding architecture and technology which didn't fit our time frame (70's). So we decided to try and shoot the trailer in Chiselhurst woods as it would allow us to only worry about the look of the characters clothing rather than the entire area contained within the shot. The new location also allowed us to change the plot as a 'campfire horror' would fit the 70's cheesy era.

Cast - Rene Teslica (Killer)

Rene Teslica

He has agreed to feature in our media project as the killer. Since he attends the school, he will be easy to contact and we can work a schedule with him although we expect his scenes should be filmed over a short period of time.

Key elements of project

Due to the nature of our planned piece (A 70's slasher horror) there are key elements that we must include to fit the era, these include ; A memorable haunting score, a trailer that essentially tells the entire back story, an all teen cast that will clearly be brutally murdered during the course of the film and only a slight glimpse of the killer throughout the trailer.
All of these factors are shown in the trailer for 'Halloween' which we will have to study in order to perfect the style we are aiming for.

Cast - Emmanuel Falade (Student)

Emmanuel Falade

He has agreed to feature in our media project as one of the victims of the killer. Since he attends the school, he will be easy to contact and we can work a schedule with him although we expect his scenes should be filmed over a short period of time. We also wanted to include diversity in the trailer as many mainstream horror films feature an mixed cast such as Schemata and Survival of the Dead

Cast - Ayman Aziz (Student)

Ayman Aziz

He has agreed to feature in our media project as one of the victims of the killer. Since he attends the school, he will be easy to contact and we can work a schedule with him although we expect his scenes should be filmed over a short period of time. We also wanted to include diversity in the trailer as many mainstream horror films feature an mixed cast such as Schemata and Survival of the Dead.

Cast - Ade Balogun (Victim)

Ade Balogun

He has agreed to feature in our media project as one of the victims of the killer. Since he attends the school, he will be easy to contact and we can work a schedule with him although we expect his scenes should be filmed over a short period of time. We also wanted to include diversity in the trailer as many mainstream horror films feature an mixed cast such as Schemata and Survival of the Dead.

Cast - Wilson Weaver (Victim)

Wilson Weaver

He has agreed to feature in our media project as one of the victims of the killer. Since he attends the school, he will be easy to contact and we can work a schedule with him although we expect his scenes should be filmed over a short period of time. We also wanted to include diversity in the trailer as many mainstream horror films feature an mixed cast such as Schemata and Survival of the Dead