Catton park - location

These are the location shots that will feature in my Teaser Trailer, I will also be filming briefly in a graveyard, which I will upload in due course.

Camera Techniques

These are some images that I have found which reflect the type of camera angles/mis-en-scene I will be using in my trailer. When filming I will also take pictures of the scenes to compare with what look I was trying to achieve. I really like the camera technique used in the image from 'Antichrist' (left+up), I might try to mimic the positioning of the camera. The way the camera is positioned allows the audience to look in on the scene from a hidden place, it gives the feeling that someone is watching or preying on the woman. This will be good to create a sense of paranoia with my character.

Exhibition Methods

There are many ways of exhibiting different kinds of trailers, these are often shown on places such as...
Feature film websites
Youtube
Social networking
Teaser websites
Teasers before films at the cinema

Here is a link to the psychological horror The Blair Witch Project's website, here some scenes from the film are shown aswell as information about the film itself. When entering the website you are shown a video straight away, this takes away the user control and creates intrigue about the move. http://www.blairwitch.com/

Usually the the more popular social networking websites feature blockbuster type films, this is shown here on http://www.myspace.com/, it displays ads for music and film (Sherlock Holmes 2). It would be more expensive to advertise on popular sights, this is similar to how high budget films try to get themselves spots between shows on Tv such as the Superbowl.

Youtube actually has it's own movie channel, this is where you can find information about films and watch trailers. It is also possible to rent films here, making youtube the ultimate video sharing site. There is quite a mix of films featured here, although on the main page it is often blockbuster films shown.

IMDB has more of a selection of films/trailers that are exhibited, this may be because the site itself is mostly popular with regular cinema-goers or film watchers, rather than the casual consumer. It is quite an interactive site where users are encourages to ask questions and comment, therefore it may have more a niche user market. This would be a place for me to consider exhibiting my trailer, as it would more more readily accepted here rather than on the more mainstream video sharing websites.

Rotten Tomatoes features a wide range of films in its database yet on the homescreen mainly shows blockbusters, conforming to more popular film audiences.

I have found it quite difficult to find a well known website that primarily feature low budget or arthouse films, unless it is the actual film website or a cinema page. The only place that I have managed to find out about new arthouse films is in actual arthouse cinema's and sometimes in larger cinemas before a low budget or arty film is shown. This is more rare as arthouse films have irregular times in large cinema's such as Odeon or Vue, and are often only shown for a week or two at a time. Arthouse cinema's such as Cinema City provide their own small magazines which give information about upcoming films and features being shown, this is useful for the arthouse audience as it gives them information that is often difficult to find.

Props

The Dress - The dress my main character will be wearing in the second scene is significant to her mindset at that point in the 'film', it will be a white strappy dress. I wanted my character to wear something that bares a lot of skin without being indecent, this is to show her vulnerability in that stage of her story. The white colour represents her innocence and purity before her mind is tainted.

Tape Recorder (if i can find one) - This will be used in the first scene to show that my character is being held in some kind of institution, it normally signifies that the subject is being watched and listened to, analysed perhaps. The type of institution is left for the audience to decide.

Red Balloon - This will be released by my main character in the field we are filming in, I wanted to use a red balloon in particular as it is often a sign of danger. She will be letting the balloon go to show that she is loosing grip of herself and reality, making the warning sign of red significant.

Red Clothing - Red clothing will be worn by the child figure in my piece, she acts as a guide for my main character, yet the audience does not know whether this is for good or bad. I wanted her to stand out amoungst the dark and natural surroundings, red will feature throughout the piece.

Broken Mirror - I will be scattering pieces of broken mirror on the floor of the forest we are filming in, showing the cracks in my characters personality and reality. She does not recognise her own reflection, and I want her to see the child reflected in one of the pieces. This is used similarly in the film Black Swan as Nina unknowingly stabs herself with a shard of mirror as she fights with her own personality.

Music Box - I want to have a shot of a music box inbetween some of the flashing scenes towards the end of my trailer, the serenity of this will contrast to the scream that will feature in the background. The music box is significant as it is something usually related to childhood, refering to the child guiding the main character and her move away from innocence. I want to stop the classical music here and have the sound of the box playing, the eery music leading the audience to the end screen of the trailer.

Locations

I have been studying locations in different psychological horrors to see if my area ideas for filming will be suitable, I have found that both my ideas and the pictures I have found mix quite well. Many locations in this genre will feature run down buildings, dark forests and generally dismal or negative areas. This is shown in the following...

 

Here we find a closed range of locations, desolate houses, misty woods, run down buildings and a churchyard. These are all common settings for this genre, places that leave the audience feeling uneasy or create a sense of mystery and isolation.

My own locations will focus mainly on forest areas, this is the focus for the psychological mindset of the main character. I will be filming in a graveyard and field also, places which show the different stages of my characters journey.

I will be uploading pictures of my filming locations shortly.

Storyboards

Costume

This is an interesting article that I found when researching effective costume design in film, it discusses the meaning and messages behind certain articles of clothing and their relation to the character wearing them. This will be useful when it comes to dressing my own characters.

http://clothesonfilm.com/how-to-read-costume-on-film/20146/

When thinking about how I would dress my characters in the teaser trailer I looked at films which have characters similiar to my own main character, as well as films with the same psychological theme.

I have looked at the attire of both male and female characters that are portrayed in film with a psychological disorder, the images I have found all have a similiar theme in clothing, which helps me greatly with how to dress my character.

The character of Nina in Black Swan is clearly portrayed as having a mental disorder, which has been viewed as a Dissociative disorder. This involves disruptions or breakdowns of memory, awareness, identity and/or perception. This will be similiar to my own main character in the teaser trailer, as she is going through circumstances which portray the disorder. In the film Nina's main colour themes are pink and grey, she often wheres clothes which cover all of her skin and cosume her, this could act as a protection against the world she does not know outside of ballet. The layers of clothes she wears could portray the layers of her personality, she becomes lost in herself and does recognise reality.

 

The character of Susanna in Girl, Interrupted suffers from a borderline personality disorder. She often defeminises herself through wearing quite masculine attire, involving jumpers and jeans. I have found that in quite a lot of the characters studied, dark clothes, mostly layered shirts and jumpers are worn. This may reflect their dark personality, wanting not to be noticed, or as a protection.

 

This wintery/layered attire is again shown in these two mentally unstable characters, I have found that the more sinister mentally ill characters such as Jack Torrence in The Shining wear colours such as red as a sign of danger or evil. As my character intends no harm on others I will dress her in these dark layered clothes, although the child that features in my piece will be dressed in red, to portray her as a warning or sinister character. In the beginning of the piece I want my character to be dressed almost entirely in white, to portray that she is being held in some kind of institution, this will change to a summery dress in the second scene. That scene will show the moments when the character leaves their previous sane self behind and takes her journey into darkness. I have chosen for her to wear a dress as she will have a lot of skin on show, showing her vulnerability and weakness. As the scenes progress the attire will become dark and layered, showing the character going into herself and letting go of reality.