evaluation task 4

This coat was used by our main character/antagonist, we thought that with the antagonist mis-en-scene was very important. By dressing in all black, it connotes darkness and mystery. Also the character had his hood up the whole time to hide his identity which then creates an enigma.

This TV was used in two of the scenes in the trailer, we used the TV to put the news report from one of our actors onto the screen for the two girls to watch. This is shown in our last scene where the 'Stalker' comes in as the report ends. We put the report on the TV by uploading it to YouTube then going on YouTube on the TV.

This knife was a significant prop in our film, It was used in multiple scenes by our antagonist, the knife is first shown in the scene of the first murder, it is the weapon that is used to kill the first victim. Antagonists usually have a weapon that they use on their victims and in our trailer the knife is ours.

 

This camera is a Go Pro Hero 3+, compared to AS level, this camera is a lot better than what we used last year. The quality of our shots improved massively, and also the Go Pro enabled us to have a wider shot, this was used in the scene where the girls were watching the TV.

Evaluation task 3

Strengths that were pointed out to us in the response were varies different camera angles we used throughout the trailer, especially the CCTV camera we used were effective in showing various different perspectives. We were also told that all the small diegetic sounds that we used were effective in making the trailer seem realistic which drew the audience in. The tense music we used was also believed to be a strength because it kept the audience on edge throughout the trailer, the static we also used was able to effectively break up the shots in between the CCTV shots. Another strength was the fact that the antagonist was wearing all black, which helps him conform to what an audience would expect him to wear. The setting was also another strength as the house setting allowed the audience to relate to the events in the film, which makes it appear more scary to the audience, our titles were also used effectively as it links into the increasing strength of the storm. The faded transitions we used between most shots helped create tension, and the link between the scenes and the music was effective. 

The Weaknesses from our trailer were also pointed out to us, such as the fact that the camera was at times wobbling gently in the trailer this degraded the quality of the trailer. When it came to sound we were told the static transition was way too loud and there was some interference from the background in our news report. We filmed this shot a number of times, but due to us having no tripod it made it hard for us to film the shot perfectly still, also that day the wind was fairly strong so it made it difficult for us to film without some disruptions to the sound.

directors commentary Stalker evaluation task 2

Evaluation task 1

These are some screenshots from our trailer which I think are worthy of evaluation as they show some conventions an audience should expect from a trailer.

Screenshot 1: The first screenshot introduces the only character we see speak in this trailer, this character provides the basic story and background, but not enough to tell the audience everything,giving rise to an enigma code as we aren't told everything like the antagonists name but we are told he's dangerous. This screenshot is also located on scene and would appear more believable as we were going for a realistic news report, as the costume we used were smart clothing that an audience would expect to see from a news reporter. The camera was set up at a low angle to give the reporter a dominant view of the audience giving him the power.  

Screenshot 2: This second screenshot introduces a couple of other characters and at this point we are not shown the antagonist, leaving his appearance an enigma, the setting seems rather normal which could suggest the trailer is conventional as it starts of with a normal setting and then something disturbs the equilibrium. The camera angle is a long shot, which gives the setting and location to the audience it also enables us to see all the actresses on screen,also with female protagonists we are being conventional to horror films as normally in modern horror films we have seen an increase in female protagonists as it appeals more to the female audience, it can also appeal to a male audience as the 'Male Gaze' theory suggests.

Screenshot 3: This shot is a part of our story set up, as we want to make the audience believe that this film is based on a true story. The font we are using is orator it is a very basic font, but this is because we want people to be able to read the font, The background is black to make the text stand out, and black can also represent death and mystery, we also made the text white which can represent safety and innocence, which can represent the victims the audience see's in the trailer.

Screenshot 4: This high angle long shot, gives the audience the power, as unlike the victim on screen, we are able to see the antagonist behind him, this shot also introduces us to the third victim in the trailer. The audience at this point should feel a sense of fear as they should know what is about to happen. The victim is wearing just casual clothing suggesting he is not important, it also suggests the film could be a horror/thriller because a lot of this genre will take the normal and change it, we have taken a normal walk and made it slightly more spine-chilling. We also leave an enigma by not showing what actually happens. It is the first time we see the antagonist and it appears very threatening in all black which could represent evil, he also has a mask on which means the audience don't know who he is and it leaves the audience thinking what happens.

Screenshot 5: This screenshot is a low angle long shot, unlike the high angle we use to show the victim, we use low angle for the antagonist to walk past as he holds the power and looks imposing on the audience, this adds tension to the trailer. The location of this part of the trailer is in broad daylight and in a remote part of a town, this means very few people are likely to see the murder happen.

Screenshot 6: This image is a high angle shot, we have placed this scene in black and white, this is suggests the image is from a CCTV camera, which is what we wanted it to look like, this image also surprisingly gives the audience the power over the antagonist which is something we wouldn't expect, however it could suggest that there is a vulnerability in the antagonist, as we are able to view him from the high angle. 

Screenshot 7: This shows a birds eye view of the antagonist, it is one of our most effective shots because it is very menacing to the audience, because we can see the antagonist enter and exit the scene, we are also left with an enigma because we don't know how he got into the house. The music at this point has built up a lot of tension and the audience would believe a climax is coming.

Screenshot 8: Is a threatening close up, tracking shot, this shows the antagonists intent to murder and gives the audience some clues to what he is going to do, it is also menacing to the audience as the camera is only tracking slowly and we can't really see what's in front of him, leaving an enigma as to where is he going.

Screenshot 9: This shot was important because it really should have an impact on the audience as they have just seen the lights go out and the scream, the lightning suggests something bad has just happened and we thought it would be a good background cover to show our title, the title is also white, however this is primarily to make it stand out on the black background.

character interviews

This is our actor interviews, in this we asked three of the main cast members a series of questions, which are based on movie production and there role in our trailer. From Left to Right we have Jack Nunn,who plays one of the victims, Alex Morgan who plays the main antagonist and Chloe Young, who plays another victim/protagonist.

Todorovs theory

Tzvetan Todorov suggested there were 5 stages to a narrative:

1. Equilibrium – A happy start
2. A disruption of this equilibrium by an event – A problem occurs
3. A realisation that a disruption has happened
4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption – the problem is solved
5. A restoration of the eqilibrium – A happy ending 

In our trailer some stages of Todorov's theory are shown. Stage 1,2 and 3 are shown in our trailer. The equilibrium is where the news report is shown, then there is a disruption of the equilibrium when the first murder occurs. The realisation of the disruption occurs when the girls are watching the news report on TV and where the lights go off.  

STALKER movie trailer

Magazine cover

This is the magazine cover, we designed it on paper, then using Photoshop we used several of the unique effects available to add a menacing effect to the front cover, the audience would feel threatened by a faceless antagonist, this doesn't allow the audience to feel for the antagonist they don't get to relate to him and in this way we feel frightened by his presence, the red colour in the title links to blood which in our trailer is threatened but not shown. The faceless antagonist anchors the text title stalker and is the main selling point of this issue of Empire. The bright colours used in the other articles helps show the audience what else is in the article as well as advertising other films. The text used is big and bold with certain words emboldened to make certain words standout. The barcode and price are both located in areas where they can be seen and are commonly found.

The skyline and main magazine title are both big and bold at the top of the page the 'exclusive preview' suggests to the audience the magazine will have articles and information that no other magazine will have and this would attract more readers, as the audience we are constantly looking for something that gives us more information especially if its about something we really enjoy like films. The main title 'Empire' is a major magazine company with a large readership of about 800000 people, this means films featured on the magazine are likely to be popular, the magazine is also well respected making film reviews important. The puffs shown on the front cover are shown big, they offer free things, this attracts a younger audience, and its bright colours draws the eye especially on a dark background. The smaller articles along the right-hand side of the cover are from recent films Nightcrawler and Gone Girl these films are both psychological thrillers which links to our film as we kind of wanted this feel to our trailer, there is a clear thriller film genre in this months issue of Empire. The 'exclusive interview' at the bottom of the magazine draws the audience to read further into the magazine as two of the movies stars are being asked questions, the audience would want to know more about these actors, so they can get to know them better and it humanizes the otherwise big actors.

Pictures for the poster/magazine

These are the two photos we used in our posters and magazine front cover, to make these photos we used the cupboards at our school, these were dark enough do that when we used the flash on the camera, and when we cut the image out using Photoshop the images were very effective to use.

Film Poster

This is our movie poster we created to go with our trailer. The poster follows the dark, threatening theme from the trailer and magazine cover, the dark them also helps set the genre for the audience and this helps draw people to watch the film. The main images in the trailer are from the trailer or from other productions that we have produced and shows the main actors as well as the main antagonist in the main image, this suggests the film will mostly be set around him. The main title to the film is set in a large font at the top of the page this gives it prominence in the poster and because it is in a white font the word stands out far better than most of the imagery. The tagline "Wherever you go, He"ll be watching" is threatening and directed at the audience, this makes it more personal and draws the reader in. The poster also has the main credits for the film which can tell the audience who produced it and who is starring in the film, this information is vital as a reader might want to know who is in the film as some people only see films if they have a certain actor or actress. As well as this the poster contains the release month and year which gives an idea of when the film will be released. We have also positioned the 'company' logo in the bottom corner this is to tell the audience who the production company is and this can inform the reader what the film budget is.

animatic storyboard

Finished Titles

These are the titles we are planning to use in our film trailer, this title is very dramatic and fits in with the tone we want in our trailer, the audience watching the titles might become frightened by the effects, the lightning storm also really adds to the effect of the lights going out in the final scene in the trailer.

Questionnaire Analysis

These results show that the majority of people we asked were between the ages of 16-20; also it shows the most of the people we asked were male. We decided to set our age certificate to 15, so the questionnaire results are still helpful to us as only 5% of the people we asked were under 15.    

When deciding our location the questionnaire results helped us massively, as we were unsure on where the film would be located. With 40% of the people saying to use a house, we decided to use that. Also we agreed with 20% of the people as we chose to film some of our shots outside near a park.

The questions on the Antagonist also helped us a lot. Our group was unsure whether to make the antagonist visible or non-visible. The results of the question swayed us in favour of visible, with 65% of people saying so. Also the results of the question on antagonist characteristics helped us show what the character will be like in the trailer. In the trailer the antagonist is seen to be creepy, mentally unstable and intimidating.

When asked what their favourite horror sub-genre was the majority of people said thriller, so we decided to make our film a Thriller. Before we recorded this questionnaire, we were unsure whether to do a thriller or a psychological horror.

When we asked what people's favourite film was the most popular answer was Taken. Taken's genre is a thriller, which is going to be the genre of our film, so with it being people's favourite film it shows the thriller genre is fairly popular.

The question that asked what you expect to see in a horror film helped us a lot. The main answers were Murders, suspense and jump scares. In our trailer we will try to use all of these things throughout. We will try to create suspense by using creepy music; the creepy music will also link with jump scares. In the trailer the main antagonist is a serial killer so there will definitely be murder shown in our trailer.

So overall the questionnaire results were very helpful and they helped us decide many things that we were unsure about beforehand. The questionnaire helped decide the characters, the genre, the location and what happens in the film. So, carrying out this questionnaire proved to be very worthwhile.