SVS

*Today was our 3rd filming day. We planned to do the shots where two of the main characters are seen doing things like laughing/ killing/screaming etc. here.


*We had to be mindful of the time we were there for, as daylight doesn't last past 4 in the afternoon.

* After walking a bit into Oxleas Wood, we found our desired location.

*Took a long-shot of this camp site, will revisit and colour match to the rest of the teaser trailer.


*More handheld shots were done today. Did a handheld shot, with the camera acting as a character running alongside V and S.


*Attempted 360 handheld spin around V and S whilst they spin around camera. After 3 Takes, this looks quite good, however will only use a couple of seconds from it.








* Also attempted another 360 spin from the outside going around the characters. This wasn't as successful as the first 360 spin so we decided to take that out



* Also attempted quick  180 pans from side to side. This was less successful with the tripod, so we decided to do this handheld. This ultimately looked better.







* Again, we had the camera act as a character. We took several shots of V and S coming quickly towards the camera and (fakingly) slapping the camera down to the ground.
Doing this with a long shot at first felt less personal, so we increased the zoom to change the framing into a 2 shot which makes its way into an extreme close-up. It was also important that the characters stayed central at all times to mimic a hunter trying to catch prey.


* Had two close-ups of V and S facing away from each other. Senem's hair is half down, half in a space-bun which symbolises both identities in her character. The fact that her space-bun is very loose symbolises her character's loose grip on reality. As well as this, the make-up (red veins, black contour, eyeshadow  etc.) is quite faint in full sunlight. This is meant to show that






* Its also good to notice that the main two characters are dressed in black and white against a natural green/yellow background. It makes the two characters stand out against the background, which is ironic, since the character's they are portraying are trying to fade into normal society. Its also ironic that the colours used here for their costume reflect the boundary between the persona and the shadow, as Jung explains. The character's boundaries are rather blurred into a grey space, which is why it was important to have both characters facing away from each other.

*Today was our 4th filming day, Today we were going to shoot all the shots where all 4 members of the group are shown.
 *Because we were a little later than expected, most of the shots are now at night time. Luckily the light in the tunnel allowed us to get the necessary shots that we needed.
* Took several hand held shots in a figure-of-8 of secondary characters in the tunnel location. This was good, apart from the shot on the left; it was much harder to get low enough for Olivia to crawl towards the camera.

*Took more hand held shots of V and S outside.
This was quite difficult, as there were no streetlights where we were standing, so we had to rely on adjacent lights from other streets. As a result, we decided to take this out
*Took a panning shot of above the motorway, a 5 min walk from the tunnel


*Also took spare shots, in case the 1st ones were not a smooth enough panning shot.
*Took a close-up of Prelate in his alternate persona or shadow (Jung). We only had to do this once, as the shot was pretty good the first time around.
* Took some photographs and straight cut shots of all 4 characters in the tunnel. what we noticed here is that everyone except Olivia's character fits in together. The problem was Olivia's mask, so we'll need another filming day to fix this .

We found from watching teasers like Split (2017) and The Monster(2017), that there are usually 3 institutions attached to the film, a "Big 3" company and 2 subsidiaries. Based on our previous research on movie institutions, we've decided to pick:

Warner Brothers

Warner Bros. will be our main movie institution, as it is one of the "Big 3" aside from Universal and Sony. As well as this, Warner Bros. have produced so many variations of their opening titles (according to what movie it is), so we can choose from a big variety to suit our teaser trailer. Although it will be seen for only a fraction of a second, it's important to pick the right one, as it will set the tone for the rest of the trailer. Warner Bros. have also produced one of the biggest horror/thriller movies, such as the Conjuring, and tend to do well with bigger audiences, which is what we would want to replicate.

Dark Castle Entertainment

Dark Castle Entertainment will be our second institution, as it is originally known for its horror films, like The Orphan. The company has recently gone into thriller films too, so this will be an appropriate institution to attach to our teaser trailer.

STX Entertainment

STX Entertainment is an American entertainment company founded on March 10, 2014 by Robert Simonds and Bill McGlashan. They specialize in film and television production, as well as digital media. They are a young company which produces movies with a medium budget ($20- $60million) and so far have produced films like the Gift, a thriller starring Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall and Joel Edgerton, and written and directed by Edgerton; Secret in Their Eyes, a remake of the 2009 Argentine film, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts, and written and directed by Billy Ray; The Boy, a psychological horror thriller directed by William Brent Bell and starring Lauren Cohan. This institution is quite good as it has had reasonable success with a relatively low budget (based on Hollywood standards today)
Looking at the choices we made on these 3, the best ones are STX entertainment and Warner Bros.

SENEM'S OUTFITS

For our 'normal' selves, our group decided to simply portray this by wearing clothes we would wear in our ordinary day to day lives, to make the persona realistic. Thus, I decided to wear a pair of jeans, top, jacket and scarf.

The most important part was our alter ego outfits- this is there the stark change will be evident for the audience. Simply by looking at the difference at the two pictures, our personalities and characteristics have changed also. More detail on the outfit choice can be found on our moodboard blogs. But to summarise, I decided to rip up an old black t-shirt using tools such as blades and scissors. This rough look fits perfectly with my character's persona. To fit in with the black theme, I paired the top with a black skirt, tights, jacket and boots. Little details like the untied shoelaces all contribute to achieve the perfect look for my character. For hair, I decided to choose to do messy space buns- simple but stylish. 

Above, you can see closer into my makeup/hairstyles. To go further into the 'crazy' and unpredictable side of my character, the makeup represented this by having using black and reds. I put black eyeshadow around the perimeter of my face to give more dimension and also a gritty feel, to infer that we have been out for a long time doing acts in nature to make my face that 'dirty'. The red was watercolour paint, and was painted as a mix of veins/blood/bloody teardrops. Adding this across my forehead and under my eyes finished the entire look for me as it added a sense of danger and violence that my character represents. 

*Today was our 1st filming day. We were planning to do individual shot of our two main characters, Senem and Virginia, as they were easier to organise.

*Filming at Graffiti Location in Greenwich, took about 1 1/2 hrs to complete.

*Most shots that we had done on this day were simple Mid-shots showing the character's in their "normal" personas

* Although no colour editing has been done yet, the significance of choosing this location  displays how colourful their minds and personalities can be, in contrast to their  other selves or "shadow" as Carl Jung demonstrates in his theories about Psychological Horror/Thriller.

*Had several versions of the same shot using different angles to see which one will be better to use.

* We also experimented with panning shots, particularly with ones of the characters looking out away from the camera, as if to emphasise the character's want to "find themselves"

*Also did a shot where both characters walk towards the camera, then pass on either side. On another day, we will try to do a graphic match of the same shot, but with their other selves.

* At the beginning of filming, we also took some shots of Canary Wharf as some footage for establishing shots.

*No colour editing has been done yet, but may adjust it to reflect either side of character's psyche, once all footage has been collected.

Institutional Research

Film production companies are found in every trailer and teaser trailer, usually at the beginning of the clip. The length of their name seems to depend on the overall pace of the trailer and how the first shot/opening music sounds. For example, if the trailer starts immediately with fast paced music, it is most likely going to feature their production company for a short amount of time, so that the music syncs with the clips being shown. When thinking in terms of our own trailer, I had to research what company would be the best to include at the beginning, since certain production companies link to films within a certain genre, and it's important to make our own creation as realistic as possible. 

Blumhouse Productions

This particular company has been linked to some of the most recent and popular horror films including Paranormal Activity and Ouija. Thus, it could be seen to be the right option as it is so fitting with the genre we are looking for. 

Dark Castle Entertainment 

Originally known for its horror films e.g. Orphan and The Reaping but has recently branched out to thriller too- the mix being a perfect combination that fits with our own genre. The eerie vibe of the clip also fits with the tone of our genre also. 

Ghost House Pictures

Known for its horror films such as The Grudge and Drag me To Hell. This particular company works with all types of categories within the horror genre- perhaps fitting into ours. 

Warner Bros

One of the 'Big 3' production companies- unlike the above companies, there is a lot less independent films found in their name. However, some of the biggest horror/thriller films have been linked with this particular company, particularly The Exorcist and The Conjuring. 

Many generic sounds commonly used in the Psychological thriller/horror sub-genre can also be found in the wider genre of horror. Usually, real life instruments are used in favour of computer generated SFX, however both together can be used to create iconic sound tracks.

The best known examples include:

Psycho (1960)

The score is divided into three main movements:

1st Movement
The first movement of the score is made up of multiple runs, trills, and short, staccato stabs played agitato ( As if to agitate the audience). While there is no direct melody, the fast-paced runs constantly switch around between the keys of F, F#, C#, and D, with a few sections played in G. A notable feature that Herrmann implemented is the use of alternating eighth-note semitones to create a sense of approaching and imminent danger. John Williams made this technique famous 15 years later in his score for Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975). The movement ends with a high Dbmaj7/Bb chord that crescendoes to an abrupt fermata cutoff.

2nd Movement
The second movement is the most recognizable piece of the score: directly after the first movement's fermata, a lone first violin launches directly into a series of discordant, screechy glissandos before being joined by the rest of the string section. This pattern is repeated twice, albeit the second set of glissandos is notated somewhat differently. The movements ends with another fermata.

3rd Movement

The cello and contrabass start the third movement with long, low, drawn out dotted half-notes that are answered with minute, staccato stabs from the rest of the string section. The half-notes alternate between E and F 3 three times before going down to C.

and Jaws (1975)

John Williams composed the film's score, which earned him an Academy Award, his second win and first for Original Score,and was later ranked the sixth greatest score by the American Film Institute.The main "shark" theme, a simple alternating pattern of two notes—variously identified as "E and F"or "F and F sharp"—became a classic piece of suspense music, synonymous with approaching danger (see leading-tone). Williams described the theme as "grinding away at you, just as a shark would do, instinctual, relentless, unstoppable."The piece was performed by tuba player Tommy Johnson. When asked by Johnson why the melody was written in such a high register and not played by the more appropriate French horn, Williams responded that he wanted it to sound "a little more threatening".When Williams first demonstrated his idea to Spielberg, playing just the two notes on a piano, Spielberg was said to have laughed, thinking that it was a joke. As Williams saw similarities between Jaws and pirate movies, at other points in the score he evoked "pirate music", which he called "primal, but fun and entertaining".The primal opening notes are developed from the opening foreboding tone of Ravel's La Valse. Calling for rapid, percussive string playing, the score contains echoes as well of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.

Last year, with my experience of using programmes like Garageband and Audacity, I shortened a classical piece to suit and contrast our chosen sub genre's film opening. This year, to advance my skills, I've decided to create my own.

example of track in garageband #1

example of tracks in garageband #2

I just used a few familiar notes to create a simple melody from which you can add layers of sound to increase the dramatic effect. Most psychological thriller/horror movies often have recognizable patterns within the soundtrack which reiterates itself throughout the movie. As this is a teaser trailer, it's probably best to create a sound track that audiences will remember and identify quickly

Ultimately, I used another Mac program called Sound Track Pro to add in some percussion. Then in Garageband, I looped these so they can repeat for at least a minute.

Editing sound waves which aren't cut up like my previous AS soundtrack is a lot harder, because everything has to remain in time, as well as sound professional. In order to do this, I took the Master EQ and normalized the whole track, so that the output sounds like it came out from a studio instead of just the Mac.

example of percussion track in Sound Track Pro #1

example of tracks in garageband #3

Subverting typical sounds found in Psychological horrors, I decided to use softer instruments like the crotales and harps to eminate a sense of warmth before being gradually brought to a point of high tension, done best with a fortissimo or several crescendoes to built to silence. The use of silence in music helps to bring the audience to attention, and keep them in suspence until the sequence ends, which is what I've done here. Also reflecting delicate states of mind, according to Jung, the harder more stereotypical sounds come in much later and merge with the softer instruments to create an audial representation of the characters state of mind and psyche.