Research into film posters

I decided to research into film posters of similar films to ours so I could get a better idea of how our film poster should look. This is hopefully going to give me an insight into the typical thriller poster and the other individual factors each film puts on it, to make them unique, and to aim it at their own individual audience.

From my research, I can conclude that most thriller films have a large amount of dark colours, however they have a main part of the poster (usually central) showing colour to give an insight into the film. Also, they tend to have the main character on the poster and represents them on the poster to give an insight into the type of character they are in the film. The title tends to be quite bold and stands out in its own specific way for its film. Therefore, we should take a lot of thought into how our title will look and how it will be used to represent our film. Another thing is noticed, is that all the film poster's billing block's font tended to be "steel tong" font, this tends to be the norm for all films, no matter what the genre is. I found that most thrillers tend to use every aspect of their poster to give as many hints as possible as to what happens in the film, however these hints are done carefully so they don't create any spoilers for the audience. This allows the audience to get a feel for the film, before they've even seen it, and decided if it's a film they would like. For our poster, we should take a lot of consideration into the colours and picture we use (for the character) and how it will represent our film as this is what our target audience may use, along with other marketing, to decide whether or not they'll see our film.

Research into similar film posters

I decided to do some research into posters of films that are similar to ours, in order to get a clearer understanding of what our film poster should include. A film poster should intregue the audience and make them want to view the film.

• Title of the film
• Image promoting our film
• Names of the lead actors
• A tagline
• Director's name
• Release date 
• BBFC certificate

I researched into the 'Insidious' film poster as it has similar film conventions to ours and should give me a guideline on creating my own.

This film poster features the main character at the centre, establishing that he will be the protagonist. We also get a sense of the setting by the house being place in the background, giving us a hint of what the film might be about. The tagline; 'It's not the house that's haunted' connotes that the film will most probably have paranormal elements throughout, portraying the film genre-horror. We also get a list of the lead actors, persuading the audience to see it if they recognise the names. 

Social Media Accounts

In order to promote our film, we created a Facebook page and a Twitter page. Using social media can be a good, free way to reach more potential audiences and get people hyped and talking about the film. On social media, pages can be created for upcoming films in order to give a variety of different information to the audience, such as potential release date, insight into plot, and behind the scenes material. After the film has aired in the cinema, the page could also be used to promote the release of the film on DVD/Blu Ray and the soundtrack on CD. Here are some examples of blockbuster films on social media:

Here is the Facebook page for the book to movie film, Me Before You.

Here is an example of the way that Facebook has been used in order to promote a screening event to see the film before general release at the cinemas. The post includes links to the event, and the film poster, which also includes the date for the general release of the film.

Another example of the use of social media to promote an upcoming film is T2 Trainspotting:

Here it can be seen that there is a variety of different information available on the page, including release date, tag lines and plot details, video trailers and links on how people can purchase tickets to see the film when it is released in the cinema.

Therefore, we have created Facebook and Twitter pages for our upcoming short film, Haunted.

 

Here is the Facebook page in order to promote the film, which includes a general plot line overview, a release date estimation of 2017, and links to other social media for the film.

In order to draw the audience in into potentially seeing our film when it released, we upload sneak peaks of the production to the Facebook page, in order to create hype. Here is a recent entry of behind the scenes photos.

We also created a Twitter page for the film too, which includes links to our blog, brief information about the production company and the film, and additional behind the scenes photos, in order to allow the audience a sneak peak.

Here is a tweet on the Twitter account showing a peak into the editing process of our film to potential audiences.

Character Profile: Burglar

The burglar is wearing a mask and so his identity is unknown, this means we don't know his age or occupation and his identity remains a mystery.
The appearance of the burglar is very mysterious as we don't actually see his face. He is wearing a ski mask, all dark clothing and carries a knife. The dark colours are to convey his dark side, portraying him as the antagonist. The mask is the conceal his identity which creates fear of the unknown amongst the audience characters.
The burglar is very significant in the story line of our film as his burglary going wrong is what causes Chloe to be killed. This overall creates the entire plot of our film as Chloe believes her cousin, Amy, was the one who was killed.

 



Location Photos

Location Photos
Barnsley College

We have chosen to have scenes of our film set in Barnsley College, as it is apart of a very vibrant and busy Town Centre. It will serve us as a professional place to shoot our film. Whilst we are filming in other locations, Barnsley College will help to show variety in our locations and create contrasting mood reflected by the different environments. The change in setting will also be key in progressing the story forward and allowing for development in order to be successful.

House

For our film, we will also need to film inside a house, as this is where the location of the murder of the main character, Chloe, will take place. In the house, two locations will be used for scenes within the film. When Chloe is stabbed, this happens in the kitchen, as the burglar breaks into the house from the back door. The opening scene of the film takes place in a bedroom, when Chloe wakes up to see Amy staring at her. We chose this location as it looks normal and average which is what we want to convey in Chloe. Chloe is just a normal teenage girl who believes her best friend/cousin has died and so we don't want to convey her home as being abnormal.

Bedroom where Chloe sees Amy in the door way

Kitchen where Chloe is killed by an intruder

Cemetery

Our final location is at a cemetery, which is the location of where Chloe believes Amy is buried. Chloe visits her grave one day after a bad day at college, however, a twist happens when it is revealed that Chloe is dead, and she didn't realise it. We chose this location because grave yards are often associated with bad emotions and being quite creepy and so this is an ideal location to create an eerie atmosphere in our thriller film.

Analysis of 'The Silence of the Lambs' Film Poster

Shooting Pack 04/01/2017

Filming locations: Leah's house
The characters that will appear in these scenes are Chloe, Amy and the burglar.
Storyboard for this filming day:

Location photos for filming today:

Here is the script inserts for the scenes that we will be filming today:

Shot list for filming:

There are a variety of different props that we will need for shooting, including a ski mask, a knife, and fake blood:

Risk assessment includes using a knife during the scene where Chloe gets stabbed by the burglar, as we need to be careful no one is hurt during the production. Additionally, we will be filming in general public locations, so we need to make sure other people's activities are not disrupted, and be respectful to other people around us. In case of bad weather, we need to make sure the equipment is protected.