Shot Explained:Shot of the Villain

For the final shot of my trailer, i decided to have a build up in tension to a eventual reveal of the villain, used to create drama and therefore continued interest from a viewer. When composing this shot i felt that it was important for it to be a low angle camera angle, and this is in order to show the power that the villain has to the audience. The dark fraem sets the scene and the rain enhances the scene, as usually in film the rain represents death and mourning. The rain effect also serves to immerse the audience in the film, as the rain hitting the camera and creating the dots on the frame works well for the purpose of immersion.

Actors and Why i chose them

I have chosen Kyle as a actor as he has had previous experience acting in many of school productions, and i decided to make him the main character. Zhongwei Zhao was my choice of villain as he has the general build of a villain, with broad shoulders to be reflective of iconic slasher villain that my own villain takes inspiration from. Also his personality fits in the sense of he is quiet and does not speak much, perfect for the silent but deadly murderer i need in my trailer.

Trailer Name: Tenebris

I have chosen the name of my trailer to be Tenebris. I decided to choose this name for several reasons. Firstly,  wanted a name that would fit well with the tone of the movie, but is not cliche, sounding something like, "revenge" or "murder". To do this i looked at languages like latin and ancient greek, making sure that they were appropriate to the film's tone and easy to remember so the audience can remember the name clearly from the trailer when the movie is released. Tenebris translates to dark from latin, so i thought it was ideal to represent the very essence of the movie, the dark and gloomy tone.

Shot Explained: Moon in the forest

This is my second shot in the trailer, and i chose this shot as it not only works as a establishing shot, it also serves to create a dark atmosphere. Firstly, the trees in the foreground signify the forest location well, as it shows a dense treetop. Additionally, the colours here work to establish the tone, with the trees being bathed in the darkness of night to symbolise the dark and creepy location of the film. The moon light works really well as a source of natural lighting as it is bright enough to stand out in the background, but not enough that it makes the trees look anything other than black. The sky too helps as it is a very dark and murky grey which is ideal for allowing the branches to stand out, as if the sky was pitch black it would diminish the effect of the treetops in the dark.

I-movie trailer draft

When developing my trailer, i decided to create two storyboards, one physical copy, in order to remind myself of shots i needed to do, and a second draft storyboard on I-movie, and the purpose of this one was to for part of a flexible storyboard that can accurately give me timeframes for shots as well as audio effects such as music, making it easier to prepare and even replace shots accurately.

Trailer Style models: The Blair Witch Project

I have taken some inspiration in my trailer form the Blair witch project, mainly in the form of a setting in a forest. A forest works as a setting as it creates a sense of isolation around the characters, especially in a horror movie. I could also use the signature found footage style that the movie made famous, particularly later on in my trailer. The use of the first person found footage style helps with audience immersion, and if done correctly can be used to create effective tension.

Shot Explained: Establishing shot of City

This is the opening shot of my trailer, and i used this as a establishing shot, as the entire purpose of that type of shot are to set the scene for the trailer, letting the audience know exactly where and even when it is set. I chose to use the liver building in my shot due to the instant recognition from people in and around Merseyside, though i could improve this with some text explaining exactly where this is for people across the world who are likely unfamiliar with the building. i also added sound effects to this shot that are traffic based. This is important as in my original shot, i was shooting from over the river, so i could not get the traffic sound from the city, so i had to use the i-movie sound effects instead, which still work and are appropriate for the shot.

1st Draft Trailer: Things i did well

My first draft of my trailer helped give me an idea of the things i did well and i should expand on in the future of my trailer project. I believe that i did well with my establishing shots, although these could be expanded to be more scenic and in the case of the shot of the building, more stable. I also feel i generally used the sound clips well, adding appropriate music and sounds for particular shots.

Trailer characters

the characters featured in my trailer will be as follows:

• Main Protagonist-Kyle Dos santos
• Vilain-Zhongwei Zhao
• Narrator- as of now undecided

The Main protagonist will feature in many of the shots early in the trailer, and this is for the audience to gather that this is the main character the film will be following.

The villain will be featured more towards the end of the trailer, and will be in the many ominous shots where there is a atmosphere of tension, as well as the major action shots as he is the one wielding the prop weapon.

The narrator will be used to create a bleak mood, with dialogue that is very morbid, following the atmosphere i intend to create.

Trailer Style models: Friday the 13th

The film Friday the 13th has provided a heavy inspiration in elements of my film, but i have also avoided certain weaknesses in that film that i feel would not be appropriate enough in a modern horror movie. Firstly, i have taken perhaps the most inspiration from the villain of the film Jason Vorhees. This can be seen especially in my villains outfit, with the use of a face concealing mask, a worn and old jacket, denim jeans and boots. I have also provided a murder weapon to my killer in order to further continue the inspiration.

However, i have avoided the trope in the Slasher genre of making the characters all either dumb and not realistic jocks, or women who are often used only as one dimensional murder victims and for their screams.