Planning for Production: Celtx

In class we have been using the industry standard software Celtx to write up our screenplays. The programme also allows the user to organise the entire production by creating a database of actors, characters, locations, sound effects, text, props and makeup. Finally, it can create a Production Schedule tailored to the times of day specified in the scene headings (e.g. 'EXT. SCHOOL GATE, ACLAND BURGHLEY SCHOOL. DAY').

Poster flat plan and tagline ideas

In my idea I have chosen to follow conventions of horror movie posters by using an image of one of the characters and bold text at the bottom of the page. Immediately as someone looks at it they can tell it is a horror as the text at the top makes reference to Halloween, also hinting about the release date. The colours used would ideally be black, red, some white for contrast. Originally I thought dark blue would give it an eerie look but dark blue and green have connotations of the supernatural which does not relate to our film's plot.

Taglines could possibly be: along the lines of: "Avoid the VOID", "Nothing can save you in the VOID"

Typography

This selection of typefaces shows the type of font we want to use for the title or the tagline displayed on the poster and at the end of the trailer. These all follow horror conventions which I think is important as it immediately signifies the genre to the audience whereas use of variation in the typography could mislead the consumer. Layer styles such as shadows and glows have been used in Photoshop to emphasise the chilling look of the fonts. 

Personally I would like to use the second or fourth as I think the first is quite blocky and reminiscent of monster movies which doesn't represent the threat exposed in our trailer of misuse of power. The kerning of the third is quite close making it a bit hard to read.

Target audience and demographics & psychographics

Who is our primary target market?

How will our trailer satisfy uses and gratifications?

Music

In my post analysing the 'Grave Encounters' trailer, I made a note of the sound effects and music used which highlight the themes of alienation while giving it a creepy atmosphere. We hadn't considered the music in our trailer much until the Film's Cool session with Awate which helped us think about the atmosphere we were trying to create and how his music would allow us to do that. We decided on the track 'Firm' because it has some typical horror movie stings in it, but the hip-hop genre adds to the contemporary feel of the trailer.

Planning for Production

These rec drawings have helped us think about how ,on a practical level, we are going to shoot the trailer. They show where in the classroom location the camera will be placed, the movements the camera operator will make as well as the actors' movements. Additionally we have updated the storyboard to reflect the new plot and change of the film's name.

Plot, characters and USP

We have been discussing and finalising our plot and characters while the usp and themes have largely stayed the same. The name of the movie has been changed from 'Detention' to 'Void' after we talked about avoiding similarity to existing films and a desire to have a short, punchy name that would have a lot of impact. 'Void' refers to the underground void in which we will shoot part of the trailer in.

Synopsis: 5 students at a school in London are forced to have extra detention  by a cruel, unpopular maths teacher. While he leaves the classroom, the kids plot their revenge on him and play a prank that seemingly goes wrong as they then see teacher laying outside on the floor. Thinking he is dead or severely injured they try to escape the building and find that the gates are all locked. The only way out is through the school's underground void. But will they all manage to escape as the teacher seeks his own revenge on them?

Characters:

• The evil teacher
• The protagonist, the surving girl (although not implied in the trailer)
• The wanderer, a boy who is depicted as stupid (could be a slightly comic character) who leaves the group and gets killed first
• Another teen who is the first to get in the void but gets killed there, shown/implied in the trailer
• Another teen in the group whose death is shown in the trailer
• Another teen whose death is not shown in the trailer

These characters will fit in with the established stereotypes (e.g. the Wanderer, the Final Girl) and we will employ variation by ascribing them characteristics of  stereotypical youth subcultures in London.

USP and themes: