Recce & Shooting Schedule

Recce from DomMalina

Shooting schedule from DomMalina

Call Sheets

Poster

Final Product

Photoshop Process

Process from DomMalina


Previous Versions:

 Originally, I wanted this image as my poster, closely following my sketch idea. Once I have finished with it, I've decided to redo it because it didn't seem to fit with the story, people assumed that it was more about drama rather than psychological thriller/ horror related. Therefore, I've kept the main image in the center and changed the surrounding faces to different photographs I used for a short trailer shot.

Right before finishing the poster, the tag line was in red because the colour red relates to danger, blood and passion which is quite fitting for the sentence. I've changed my mind at the last second and changed the font colour from red to blue to match completely with the whole poser making it look more professional overall as it fit's with the overall theme.

Shooting day 1: VLOG

We decided to organize a car ride to the destination RAF North Witham for my Psychological Thriller "The Mortal Harrowing". Originally, we planned to go to RAF Upwood, but we decided last minute that we might have a better chance of getting in without permission issues at North Witham. I intended to film half of my trailer in this destination (abandoned building) but it didn't go as planned as we ran into various challenges of film-making and property issues.

Risk assessment from DomMalina

Animatic

This is my idea for the trailer in animation, it features no sound because the complete product will be likely longer than this animatic. I have used Photoshop CS6 and a Wacom tablet to draw these sketches and moving the object/ figures using layers. The girl with black hair is the protagonist, however, in the completed piece, the actress will have lighter hair as I only made it black to make this character recognisable in the cartoon. As seen in the video, the main character mostly wears a dress, she will most likely wear warmer clothes during the actual shooting. 

As seen in the video, (the thumbnail image of the video) I was inspired by the scene below which was in an "Antichrist" trailer. There are other scenes within my story board that were taken from other sources such as the talk with a therapist scene inspired by "Mr. Robot" and the stop motion head twitching effect was inspired by a musical YouTube video called "My OCD" by Rhett & Link.

Flat Planning

Magazine

This is the plan for my magazine cover. It has well known magazine conventions, like the masthead, skyline, puffs and taglines. I have stuck to my original idea, with the model standing on her side and looking mysterious.  The Masthead will have a bold and big font, being the largest text in the magazine with the rest of the text being a lot slimmer in style. The background will be black in contrast of text which will be light in colour, therefore I will photograph the model with a dark background.  The bottom section of the magazine will most likely have photographs of ;other movies' to attract more audience.

Poster

This is the plan for my movie poster. It features the main character in different perspectives achieved by flash exposure photography. I want the theme to be quite mysterious here, to create lots of intriguing enigmas which is the reason the background will be dark blue or black. I've decided to make the text mostly white, blue and red so it stands out in contrast and matches with my chosen genre. This type of poster is a portrait, which is quite popular in the film industry. 

Story Board

Locations

RAF Upwood














This is my primary choice of location for the scene that involves psychotic hallucinations. It is my first choice because it is closer than my secondary choice and features a large variety of small and abandoned houses, and most likely requires permission from the gate in order to get in. Getting my cast member and equipment to this location would be a lot easier. The filming can easily take place outside of the abandoned buildings as well as inside because it looks slightly unpleasing from the outside as well, featuring an abandoned tank which could easily link to the destructive emotions. This location is mostly used for paintball games and airsoft practices which isn't threatening as the site is quite large and spaced out. However, since this place has a lot of open space, there are no forests available for some scenes that I want to shoot. Therefore, I will have to improvise and shoot a forest scene near school premises.

This place would be best case scenario, as it has nice interior and even a tank outside of the buildings (as seen on the image above). However, this place might have a lot of extremely colourful graffiti drawings. Since I don't want to have a 'colourful' happy mood in my trailer, I will turn the saturation down during editing. Additionally, this is a great place to plan out some cinematographic shots using compositional techniques I've learnt and adapted




RAF North Witham 

If somehow, I am unable to get to the first location RAF North Witham  is a back-up place to shoot the scene with an abandoned building. The building looks suitable but there are difficulties getting there because it is further away than the first location meaning that there would be more difficulties transporting equipment and cast members since I cannot drive yet. However, if I do get to shoot in this location, I would use this opportunity to shoot the "woods" scene because there are a lot more trees here rather than the first location because the first location has too much open space. 

There might be difficulties to get into the building, because we would have to climb the tires in order to get inside of the building. Not to mention, there might be problems with the lighting because we do not have necessary equipment such as a generator or a plug socket in order to power up lighting equipment. Additionally, If we did take lighting equipment, there would be problems with transporting them safely and setting them up considering risks and hazards of light equipment. Therefore, it needs to be a light part of the day in order to get the best lighting possible 

Woods (Nearby): Near school there are woods which would be fitting for my trailer at the beginning. Since there will be only few shoots of woods, this location isn't as important. I will be filming woods in RAF North Witham if my initial location fails.


School Hall (piano): 

since I wanted to feature a calm sound track at the beginning of the trailer, I've decided to have a video clip of my protagonist playing on the piano. The school piano looks traditional and has a nice colour palette, it also sounds quite natural and is located in an open space where I could create an interesting mood

Costume and Props

The main costume for my protagonist has to look innocent and 'girly' in order to 'confuse' the viewers. My idea is to get a flow dress as seen in examples below, preferably white because white connotes to intelligence, clenliness and purity. However, any other pastel or light colour would suit my idea.

The minimum length of the dress has to be below the hand, the maximum length of the dress is preferred to be up to the knee. I also prefer the dress to be in a plain colour or have a flowery pattern.  Additionally, I want the dress to look casual and have a 'flowy' bottom rather than a solid and straight bottom. For the upper part, 'spaghetti straps' or sleeves up to the elbow would be fitting. Out of these four examples, I believe that the pink one appears to be the most 'innocent' looking one because it reminds me of the vintage style. Additionally, Pink, a delicate color that means sweet, nice, playful, cute, romantic, charming, feminine, and tenderness. It is associated with bubble gum, flowers, babies, little girls, cotton candy, and sweetness which is the complete opposite of what my protagonist is. 

I've discussed the outfit with my cast member, and we decided to use a white dress which fits perfectly with my idea (as seen on the left hand side). 

The hairstyle of the protagonist can be simple and natural as the hairstyle does not affect the plot. If anything, no hairstyle can add to the 'creepy' scenes by making it similar to the character from a film called "The Ring". 


Any type of comfortable plain shoes would fit well with the outfit and the character. However, boots, slippers, sneakers and high heels are not something I would include in my trailer because it wouldn't fit with my outfit or would not make sense. Slip-ons/ flats would be the best shoes to use for my trailer. The outfit could have black or see through tights. If the actress does not have these types of shoes, white 'vans' could be used with the outfit making the character look more original. 



The only limitation in my planed outfit is that I will be filming in winter, my cast member might get cold so I'll make sure to bring a jacket and a white scarf just in case even though I would prefer the outfit to stay consistent throughout the trailer.  

Make up at the start of the trailer:

at the beginning of the trailer, the main character could have natural make up such as lip gloss, foundation and mascara to highlight the characters natural facial features enhancing her 'pure' appearance. I will be using products like a highlighter, foundation, mascara, lip gloss, bronzer and blush for this look.

Make up at the end of the trailer:

The second part of my trailer will feature the protagonist with a 'tired' look such as these images on each side. I want to show her distress not only mentally but also physically. I will achieve this look using a highlighter, blue, purple and red eye shadows, blush using make up brushes of various sizes. I will mess up the hair but not make it greasy (similarly to the image on the left). 

Additional Costume: For the therapist costume on another cast member, can be anything that looks professional and smart such as a sweater vest or a blazer. The costume a person wearing a mask would wear could be a plain top with sleeves. 

Additional Props: 

Blood - I've bought blood props during the Halloween season, a blood spray can and blood droplets so they can be splattered on the character or around the scene. 

Latex Monster Mask - I've bought the mask using the budget that I've been provided with before Halloween so the prices would be lower, around that time scary decorations and props have sales. The mask will be used in few scenes at the end of the trailer to create suspense and make it more interesting.  The mask needs to be worn by a man that is tall and has a 'big' body because the head is over sized making it look weird anatomically if it is worn by someone small and skinny. 

Pills:  There will be a scene where the protagonist will get prescribed drugs. I am going to use medicine tablets and remove the label of it to avoid copyright and confusion.


 Transparent Peel-Off Mask: This will be used for a skin picking scene, the transparency of this mask looks like dry skin when it is peeled so it will add an interesting hallucinatory effect. 

Textual Analysis

I will be analyzing two trailers in detail following the factors:

1. Cinematography (Camera distance/movement)
2. Mise-En-Scene (Colour, costume, props, lighting, location)
3. Sound (Diegetic, Non Diegetic)
4. Editing (pace, fade, straight cuts, flash cuts)
5. Performance (dialogue tone, facial expression, body language)

Gothica (2010) 

At the start of the trailer the camera has a "pan" effect to different sides to make the scene look a bit more 'intense'. At 0:09 there is an extreme closeup of a characters face, her eye in particular which merges into a company logo "Dark Castle Entertainment", which is a smooth transition. The shot right after the logo is a shot of a woman walking from in front of the camera whilst the camera is following the character which makes the background move. This makes the audience feel more involved in the trailer, making them feel as if they are in that video walking behind the character. In the video, there are a lot of close up shots scattered around the video to feel more personal towards the protagonist and understand her facial expressions In my opinion, the most prominent close up shot is at 1:44 which shows the protagonist crying, the lighting of the face is well lit in order to see that. Besides having various "pans" throughout the trailer, there are a lot of half second shots to create suspense and make the audience question the plot. Questioning the plot increases the chances of having this film bought and consumed by the audience.

The photograph above is a scene at 0:23 which is a likely a wide angle shot which is poorly lit, the main light is coming from a single source which is the lamp on a desk illuminating the characters face and the room around it. During this shot, the rain is falling heavily outside of the window giving some motion to the shot. The colour palette of this scene is dull giving this scene a mysterious and depressing mood making the audience question things. Additionally this scene gives the audience clues about the plot, there are a lot of 'strange' drawings on the wall, some of them even repeat in certain parts of the room.

The colours of the trailer are extremely depressing because there are a lot of blacks and blues which connote to various things. For example, black is a mysterious colour, it usually used to create a depressing mood and make the viewers feel slightly frightened. Blue is also a 'sad' colour and relates well with the theme of the trailer and the plot. These are the main  colours that are seen throughout the trailer. At the start of the trailer, the protagonist wore serious and professional clothing for business or a simple black jumper, the colours of the costume at the beginning of the trailer is grey and blue which is quite fitting. Additionally, during the second part, when the protagonist ends up in a mental hospital she is seen wearing a uniform which is also blue matching the theme and the overall colour palette of the film. Moreover, the lighting of the film is mostly seen in the shots and it is white rather than 'yellow'. White light makes the skin look a lot 'colder' which is why it is constantly used except in some cases such as the cinematography shot at 0:23. 

For example, a shot at 1:11 features a close up over the shoulder shot (as seen in the image on the left). The lighting is clearly white illuminating only one side of the face. The white cold light reminds the viewers of hospitals or serious settings which are not pleasant to be around. If this scene would have yellow lighting, the mood would be completely different.

There are quite a few locations seen in the video. From 0:00 to 0:10 the protagonist seems to be located in a questioning room, judging by her uniform she is located in a mental hospital as a patient. However, right after the shot she is seen walking freely that appears to be jail or a police station at first but that might no be the case. The trailer shows the audience where the main character could be working during 0:27 by showing the protagonist outside of the building where a full sigh is carved out on a stone stating that this is "Woodward Penitentiary Psychiatric And Correctional Facility For Women". This suggests that she initially stared working in this place and ended up being the patient afterwards. Right after this shot, the protagonist is driving in a car which is a smooth method to show transitions of locations. The protagonist ends up next to a tunnel with a new character introduced to the plot. After that, the protagonist ends up in the initial location. This film only features few locations which is good for their budget and communicate the plot quite clearly.

The soundtrack does not start until 0:10 because the characters are having a serious conversation. It makes the scene look a lot more dramatic with no sound effects making the viewers more focused making it less likely for them not to pay attention. Moreover, once the soundtrack starts (during the logo scene) it isn't as generic as other soundtracks as it doesn't use "BRAAAM" sound effects or any other mainstream techniques to enhance a 'thrilling' emotion. After 0:10 the music has a mysterious sound which is overlapping with narrative and text on the screen, generally keeping the same tone and repetition until 0:29, the music keeps on going but it doesn't have a 'bass' effect to it because once again, its a scene that requires more attention on the characters interacting. The music stops when the trailer shows a car crash and another mysterious character at 0:38 mostly focusing on sound effects such as thunder and rain. Another type of music (a more thrilling rather than mysterious) starts to accelerate from 1:07 gradually, from quiet to loud. After that, there is no more music, but instead thrilling sound effects which is fitting with the action and the pace of the trailer.

The editing of this trailer is also simple, at the start of the video, there are a lot of "fade to black" effects from 0:00 until 0:06. Right after 0:06, there is a straight cut which is a moment where the protagonist makes a statement to another character in the story. Another simple effect is the smooth  transition from an extreme closeup of the eye to the company logo. During 0:16, the transition of themes change from "fade to black" to "fade to white" whilst they are in slow motion showcasing the protagonist moving and featuring text over the scene at the same time. The "fade to black" and "fade to white" effects vary until 0:32 which shows a lot of fast cut shots in a small period of time. This is the part of the trailer that supposed gets 'interesting' and 'thrilling'. When a new character is introduced to the plot 0:40, the editing moves back to "fade to black" effects which are most commonly used in this video. When the new character 'scares' the protagonist during 0:52, the transition is fast but right after the 'scare' the "fade to black" effect takes lasts for a longer period of time to stimulate a sleeping state of the protagonist and change of topic/ location. The black screen lasts for 4 seconds. After that, the trailer features a mixture of fast cuts, "fade to white" and "fade to black" and shows text on screen to give the audience more information about the film.


The protagonist is mostly frightened, judging by her facial expressions at the beginning of the trailer. For example, at 0:08 the character's nose is slightly red indicating that she might have cried, the face is poorly lit making us feel more uncertain about the character. The fact that she is leaning in makes her appear more focused and eager to find out answers to her questions which makes the situation a lot more intense and dramatic. There isn't any scenes where the character is seen smiling throughout the trailer making it appear depressive and it fits well with the theme the producers are going for. However, the facial expressions at the beginning of the trailer are not as extreme as they are during the end of the video. For example, during 1:44 the acting and the expressions of the face are extremely clear to see as the lens is focused mostly on her most prominent features such as eyes. The body language is shaky when she tries to speak showing clear signs of stress. Additionally, her eyes are undouptedly watery because they have very bright highlights and there is a tear dripping down her left cheek. The camera shot is extremely close to her face which makes it hard to determine her posture or exact location in the scene.

Donnie Darko (2001)

I've used https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/donnie_darko/ to analyse the trailer because the school system blocks trailers on YouTube. 

The first scene has an interesting camera angle, the camera is being turned 90° making the characters rotate clock wise. After the first scene ends at 0:04, the location changes and the camera is completely still (likely placed on a tripod) whilst the speed of the shot is increased because the people in this particular scene are walking faster, this fastened scene lasts from 0:04 to 0:07. After that, the the camera is more focused on showing the characters, starting with the teacher and a "pan shot" of the students including the main character Donnie Darko.  The length of the shorts decrease right after the pan shot at 0:10, showing a fast, yet violent shot of a character and an axe, which then transitioned onto a statue and some 'graffiti' text on the ground. At 0:16 a text appears on a black blank screen "New Market" which is an American film production and distribution company followed by two additional text on the screen of "Pandora" and "Flower Films". During 0:18, the camera shows people exercising outside from the point of view of a person that is riding in the car and filming the surroundings because the camera is slightly shaky, the camera is located in the middle of the road and the background is moving like it would when you are located inside of a vehicle, during this shot there is another 'harsh' "Pan" effect moving to the right showing a person riding on a bike. At 0:22 the camera is located above the subjects showing the trampoline, the shot is a slow motion of children jumping. At 0:25, there is a medium close up shot of two characters (including the main character) walking, the background is moving with them. Similarly to the first trailer analysed, at 1:14, there is an "over the shoulder" shot of a character in the film including the main character that is communications to the other person. These types of shots (shot reverse shot) is commonly used in films for dialogue, it gets the point across more clearly to the viewers. 

There was another shot that caught my eyes in terms of cinematography. The shot of a female character relaxing on a leather chair, in soft lighting next to a window whilst a man is approaching her peacefully. This shot appears in the middle of a distressing and an emotional part of the trailer between hallucinations and emotional break drowns at 0:54. This scene only appears for a short period of time which is two seconds. The most visible part in this shot is the characters face as it is most lit up, not to mention she is located in the middle on the frame whilst the camera moves slowly from back to front (following the walking figure). There are minor details that can be seen in this shot such as the pattern on the curtains and the toys on the right hand side. One of those toys is a rabbit which fits well with the theme and context of this film as the protagonist hallucinates this 'rabbit' creature to commit crime.

The colours of this trailer are also mostly desaturated, dark and and depressing featuring a lot of blacks, browns and greys. However, at the beginning of the trailer, the colours were slightly more vibrant especially in the shots where neighbors were showcased, for example the grass was extremely vibrant to suggest that the day was nice and warm. Throughout the trailer, the lighting was rather sharp, especially lighting that illuminates edges of the protagonist, this might be due to the style a producer is going for or it makes the characters a lot more noticeable and eye catching. Additionally, during 'dangerous' parts of the trailer such as 1:33 when the main character pulls out a kitchen knife or during the burning house, the colours and shades are red which connotes to blood, death, passion and lust, these words match well with the protagonist as he got a significant other and has a violent, strange behavior. Not to mention, the text on screen is blue, also fitting with the trailer overall as it is depressing and mysterious.

At the beginning of the trailer, the video shows a fast forward shot of people entering and leaving a building, which is an interesting effect. The building happens to be a school where Donnie Darko is studying at (0:10) as it shows a teacher and the character in a school classroom. A second later (0:11) it shows a fast clip of a strange and dark building of the character performing a violent action with an axe which then transfers back to the school location showcasing a dog statue with the same kind of weapon. This type of transition gives clues to the audience about the story of the film. The scene changes again at 0:20 which is a bright neighborhood which only transitions to another scene at 0:36 which seems to be a house. Right after that transition, there is another location which seems to be a stage due to red curtains behind a character standing with a microphone and transitions back and forth (stage and home environment) until 0:46 which is the home environment. The main character mostly stays at a home environment until 1:40. Moreover, The scene changes again at 1:41 which is a natural open environment showcasing a lot of vegetation and the view of mountains. In summary, this trailer features a lot of shoot locations which might intrigue some viewers into watching the film as it might be one of the strong points of the overall story telling.

In addition to locations, sound also plays a big role in this trailer. The trailer consists mostly of sound effects, barely any music. For example, at the beginning there is a sound effect that closely resembles a machine sound or an electrical wire room. This particular sound  makes the viewers feel as if something is mysterious because the dialogue is overlapping the sound effect giving off this mood. The sound effect changes tone varying in pitch until 0:11 which is when a slight 'jump-scare' appears. Accompanied with the 'jump scare', there is a harsh and sound sound effect, after the 'jump scare' the initial sound effect continues for a few seconds. Finally, the music starts during the text on screen at 0:16. The text on screen changes simultaneously to the tempo. The music is 'dramatic' and slightly traditional because it has an instrument resembling a violin. Moreover, the music isn't loud because the dialogue is mostly overlapping it making the viewers more focused on the conversation rather than the music itself. On the other hand, the music ads a sense of action to the scenes, even though they seem quite ordinary (such as people walking in a nice neighborhood). The music goes silent in 0:25 and goes back to a thrilling sound effect which resembles a microphone that is turned on but isn't used. During 0:25 the characters interact more seriously, which is why the music is not necessary. Gradually, the sound effect transitions back into music in a span of five seconds. This time, the rhythm of the music is being a lot more repetitive and lasts longer than previously. Every time the characters stop speaking, the music is louder. At 1;26 the music stops again leading back to 'thrilling' sound effects focusing more on the narrative voice and the visuals which in this case, is fire. After that, the trailer consists of windy sound effects.

There is also, a further point to be considered. Which is editing. It plays a big role in this low budget trailer showcasing few special effects to help with the 'abstract' story of the main character. Initially, the scene starts off from a 'fade to white' effect but it's more consistent with 'fade to black' and straight 'cuts' from 0:01 to 0:09. At 0:10 it shows a quick action scene which transitions using a fast, fade to white effect. At 0:17 the text on screen shows up which are organizations, they are shown as if it is a slideshow and then it transitions back to the video with a straight cut at 0:20. After that, the trailer proceeds to mostly show 'fade to black' transitions. However, at 0:50 there is a special 'ripple' effect when the character is looking at himself in the mirror. This shot is important because it tells the audience that they can see the hallucinations from the point of view of the protagonist making them question whether the things in the trailer are real or not. Right after this scene, there are more scenes (text on the screen) to tell the context of the trailer in more detail following my more 'fade to black' and 'fade to white' transitions. Eventually the pacing of the shots are getting faster because it's a lot more thrilling as there is a lot more information to 'take in' in a shorter period of time.  Right after that, the trailer is mostly fade to black.

Donnie Darko, the main character is mostly seen in the trailer interacting with various different characters. Even at the beginning of the trailer, the video gives the viewers some clues about Donnie's personality. For example, at 0:10 his expression seems dead, he is emotionless and seems quite disconnected compared to the other students that clearly pay attention to the teacher. Other students are looking in the opposite direction compared to the protagonist, who seems to be staring into the distance with his eyes half shut. This lack of motivation in school gives us some insights about him as a person and what he might me thinking about as the next scene shows a violent act.

 However, his face seems to light up with joy when he talks to a girl about mental illness. The dialogue between them consists of:

Girl: He has emotional problems.
Donnie: Oh! I have those too! What kind of emotional problems does your dad have?

In the following scene, Donnie talks to his therapist. The dialogue is:

Donnie: I've made a new friend
Therapist: Real or imaginary?


Donnie replies with "imaginary" to the therapist reveling to the audience that he isn't an average young adult as he seems to be from the outside. The trailer clearly pin-points that he has a mental illness such as Schizophrenia and he is clearly aware of that - showing his lack of emotions towards the therapist.

His emotions begin to look a lot more disturbing at 0:59. because this is the part of the trailer showing his 'darker' side including hallucinations and his tendencies to crimes such as argon. The facial expression seen on the right hand side is disturbing because his head is tilted but his eyes stare right into the camera. It isn't a 'normal' or friendly facial expression a person would make. This interaction with the audience (by looking into the camera lens) is a lot more disturbing because the audience feel  more involved personally, with the main character.