Typography Ideas

We looked into a variety of fonts, epsecially what would fit best to our film idea and the title.
We chose six of our favourites:

The first font we picked was the most simple of them all, we liked this font as it was easily readable and had reference to our idea when creating our teaser trailer.

The second font was another typewriter style font, we liked this one slightly more than the first because the text appeared to be breaking away, with the idea that part of the young boy would be broken due to being kidnapped.

The next font was again, typewiter, giving more of a worn, old style effect. We think that this font would be too much for a kidnap type film, although the loss of colour implies loss of childhood from the main character.

This font shows an implication of blood above and below the 'T'. It gives the impression of horror which does not suit our film genre. However we like the font style if it were to be more simple.

The fifth font we looked at looks as if it is created with a paintbrush, this can symbolise the idea of blood and death. We think that this is too much for our film idea and would give the wrong impression to the audience.

The last font we chose was a simple text with blood falling from the individual letters. This was clearly too much, possibly giving the impression of violence and a slasher film.

We decided that our favourite typography was the second, this is because of the simplicity that it brings and does not create any other ideas to the audience.

Links

http://www.thephoenixfoundation.co.uk/
http://www.madeleinefoundation.org.uk/
http://raceforjames.co.uk/news/james-bulger-memorial-trust/
http://www.pollyklaas.org/
http://missingchild.wordpress.com/missing-child-resources/foundations/
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RSWS3C9
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/15-2/

Storyboard

Initial Make Up Shots

After deciding our main character, we wanted to try some shots where he looked possessed.

To create this look we used talcom powder as we though this may create a nice effect but it did not apply evenly so we will look into using facepaints instead.

This was only brief as we were unsure as to what we were going to do. We have decided we need to do more research into both make up and costuming.

Character Ideas

From our questionnaire we have determined who our main character should be and what they are like.

Most popular was it should be a young boy under the age of 5.

We took a variety of front on shots of Harvey, who is 3 years old, playing the part of the kidnapped child.

Initial Tree Location Shots

We had rough ideas as to what our locations would have been like. We imagined the main location to be a wooded area with a suitable tree for a swing with an aesthetically pleasing background.

Our main inspiration for location was the 2006 version of The Omen.

We then found two trees near each other that have the potential to work well, especially with the time of day that we wish to film at.

We have decided that this is our favourite location shot so far, and with the right lighting and time of day this should give the correct effect that we need.

Questionnaire Results

We created a questionnaire on the website SurveyMonkey.com to find out how popular the genre of possession and kidnap were and what the ideal character for our film idea would be. The questions were:

Questionnaire

Please answer our questionnaire on kidnap/possession films...

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RSWS3C9

thank you

Inspirational Young Child Actors

We were most inspired by the omen films from 1974 and 2006, this is due to the young actor playing the possessed part, they have an innocent look about them yet are very different throughout the films.

Omen - Teaser Trailer Deconstruction

In the first clip there is quiet non-diagetic and diagetic sound. A soft high pitch drone in the background adds to the eerie feel that the dark lighting and drooping trees create. There is also the diagetic sound of a squeaking swing which can be seen as a dark shadow to the right of the long shot, as it is lit from behind. The audience can see a rocking horse lit slightly better to the left of the shot, and this connotes that there will be something to do with child in the film or trailer.

As the camera pans forward, this next shot is a mid-shot of the child’s back. His red blazer is clearly visible and stands out from the grey tone of the trailer, connoting danger or blood, and therefore evil. The diagetic creaking swing is still heard, along with the very soft drone in the background, which builds tension.

The camera continues to pan round to the front of the child, as it zooms into his face to create a close-up shot. The non-diagetic drone and the diagetic swinging sounds are still present, however the squeaking of the swing becomes more pronounced as the camera moves closer to the boy. His red hat is revealed against the murky grey backdrop and this creates a contrast between the innocence of a child’s hat and the connotations of red, danger, blood and evil.

Again, the camera continues to pan round, as well drawing back slightly to show a mid shot of the child on the swing. The same diagetic and non-diagetic sounds are present as, once again, the swinging sound effect is louder than at the beginning of the trailer. The whole trailer is filmed using one long shot and therefore contains no cuts or edits. This builds the tension perfectly, creating fear amongst the audience. The camera stops panning and holds still for three seconds with the mid-shot of the little boy. His face is pale and his eyes and hair are dark showing him to be evil and making him appeared possessed in some form, taking away any initial thoughts of childlike innocence. After three seconds of holding the camera still, the child suddenly turns to look straight into the camera. At the same time a diagetic sound of a church bell chiming comes in, and this adds to the shock of the boy’s evil look into the camera. The bell continues to chime as the boy stares straight into the camera at the audience. This implies a religious theme to the film, as well drawing the audience into the trailer.

The shot then fades to black and another shocking stab of non-diagetic music is played as the text suddenly appears on the screen. This shocks the audience and shows the film to be of the horror genre. The text is white and written in a religious looking font which contrasts the black background as well as highlighting one of the themes of the film.

Omen - Poster Deconstruction

Trade - Poster Deconstruction

Insidious - Trailer Deconstruction

We have decided to look into the film Insidious as it we were inspired by the idea of a young boy being possessed.



The first shot that we were inspired by in the film was this shot of the rocking horse. You can only see its head whist it is moving so you assume that there is somebody on it, however as the next shot shows there is nobody on it and it was moving on its own. This gives a sense on being haunted.

The diagetic sound of the horse rocking sounds like footsteps which gives the impression that she is being followed. The footsteps then stop when she stops the rocking horse.

This shot shows the young boy standing at the door, it is dark and shadowy showing night time which gives a scary atmosphere, the diagetic sound of the door creaking adds to this effect.

This shot has inspired us by the use of a shadow which gives a sense of the unknown. The music is building up tension at a rapid pace with the intention the worry the audience.

This title shot seems to be the final shot of the film that the audience can focus on and read. The sound over this is the final build up of the tension music which leads to silence which tells the audience the trailer is over. This  however is not the case as the next shot shows.

The final shot of a face coming towards the camera is unexpected to the audience and makes them jump.

Insidious - Webpage Deconstruction

Insidious - Poster Deconstruction

Orphan - Trailer Deconstruction

Although we are looking into teaser trailers, the only available trailer for orphan was a theatrical one. we wanted to look into specific shots that we were inspired by.

The first shot we came across when we were looking at ‘orphan’s’ trailer, was the close up shot of Esther screaming. It gives the impression of her appearing evil, allowing the audience to really see her personality, questioning her innocence seen in other shots. The scream is echoed with the tension being created from, the background music, meaning there is more to Esther than the audience think.

The second shot we were inspired by was the text ‘there’s something wrong with Esther’, while this is on screen, someone’s voice is also saying what’s on screen. The text fades in, onto a white screen with a flash of bright light which could be representing the past and how this may have provoked her evilness. The words become watery and look as if they are running, which could represent tears.

The third shot that we became inspired by is the close up of the chains at the top of the swing. The depth of field used in this shot was particularly good as it changes the focus from the trees to the chain which gives us as the audience an idea of location. The sound is the drone developing from the previous shot, with the squeak of the swing, this creates an eerie atmosphere, most likely worrying the audience.

The next shot was another of the swings, again it is close up, possibly intending on making the audience scared. The depth of field in this shot focuses just on the swing rather than alternating between the backgrounds. The drone in the background of the shot creates the tension about what is happening in the film, giving an insight into what people think of Esther. Again, the swings are squeaking, helping build the tension.

The fifth shot, is only a short shot, showing Esther on a swing watching over another girl, she has the straight face seen on the poster and on the website, with the contrast of evil and innocence, there is the slight squeak of the swing. We were inspired by the idea of a child on a swing to create evilness.

The shot of more text has no dialogue which connotes the idea that Esther does have a secret as nothing is being said to the audience.

Again the text looks watery, representing tears, or even blood.

The non diagetic sound is tension building, almost sounding like a heartbeat, making the audience expect something to happen.

The last of our specific shot of Esther is a high angle shot showing giving a sense of evilness and the power she has over the audience as if she is watching over them, this isn’t usual for this sort of shot, but the close up of her face creates an atmosphere with the plain background.

The contrast of Esther’s innocence and evilness is shown through her pale skin and dark eyes and hair.

The sound is at the end of a tension building sequence, where the trailer proves that there is something wrong with her.