Testing Out Potential Fonts

I decided to test out some fonts by editing them and placing them on my actual magazine. This would give me an idea on which one I should choose to actually use for my final cover. The presentation below goes through steps that I took to edit actual fonts to make them look more appealing on a magazine cover.  

Possible fonts for Insanity

More PowerPoint presentations from afreen

Editing: Main Image For Magazine

Here are some steps of progression that I featured on photo snack showing how I edited my main image. By looking at different horror film magazines, I have noticed that a main image is important in order to attract readers in actually reading other headlines. I realised this and decided to make my main image stand out by editing its brightness and contrast and editing the background to make it look more vibrant. It also emphasised some colours for instance the red which symbolises blood and this reinforces the fact that the magazine is based on the genre horror.

Slogans & Taglines: In Our Production

This week, my group has been working on the trailer and creating a flat plan for our poster. Thinking about catchy and snappy slogans were important to feature in all of our production and this included our magazine, poster and trailer. 

Here are a few ideas that could possibly be used for the poster or even magazine for instance the quote "Run because she's coming" also links to the trailer as we have a running scene in which the camera acts like Flora who is running after her sister. Moreover by mixing some elements of the narrative within the text, it will make our poster look more effective as the slogan/tagline will be memorable for our audience. We also considering other slogans to be featured in our magazine for instance "Flora's dying to meet you." This will also work out as the front cover on our magazine is a medium shot of Flora who also has an angle of gaze. This will also make the readers feel like Flora is interacting with them as she is directly looking at the readers whilst the tagline is there. 

In order for the text to stand out, it had to be cut down as the slogans/tag lines were too long to be featured in our trailer. We made sure that we mixed text and some scenes together and this would make our trailer even more effective as it would keep our audience even more interested in our actual narrative. By watching other horror trailers, I have learnt that text in a trailer is vital in order to create more fear for the audience for instance it makes a trailer more exciting with the use of different texts and at a fast pace. 

Influence from real media texts

Whilst making the magazine, I decided to look at other real life examples that I could then use in my own magazine. I made a powerpoint in order to show the influence that real media texts have on my own magazines and how I have followed typical conventions of a horror film magazine. 

Influence from real media texts from afreens10

Overall by following and forming conventions that are seen in mostly every film magazine, it has made my magazine stand out more. This will also make it look more realistic as I have used real life examples to form my own magazine.

Choosing our main image - Magazine Cover

Empire or Total Film?

I decided to do some research on popular film magazine companies to influence my own magazine as I had to decide what company I would use. I chose to research both 'Empire' and 'Total Film' as I thought they were the most ideal magazine companies that would fit with my own magazine.  

Empire is a British film magazine which is published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. It is known to be the biggest selling film magazine in the United Kingdom however it is also published in other countries such as Australia and Turkey. Empire also reviews both mainstream films and art films. It has many features like reviews, previews and latest film news. Moreover, they also feature a regular top 10 feature list which I will be considering when creating my own magazine. 

Total Film is also a UK-based film magazine which is published monthly as well. It was first published in 1997 and it offers many features like news, reviews, competitions and new releases updates. It is available online and in print and it can also be downloaded as it is an app. There are also features like spotlight interviews with famous actors.

As a group we decided to choose 'Empire' to be our distributer for our magazine. This is because we personally thought 'Empire' would make our magazine more attractive due to their conventional layouts of their magazines and the use of a variety of fonts. Moreover, they also feature freebies and competitions which would make our magazine look and seem more realistic. We also want our film 'Insanity' to be a known mainstream film along with other famous horror films advertised on our cover. 

Magazine Analysis

This week I am starting to create a magazine front cover for our film "Insanity." Beforehand, I decided to look and analyse different magazine covers to help me list out common conventions that are seen in horror film magazine covers. This yet again will benefit me as I can refer back to real life products that are similar to my own magazine to compare and to make sure that I have featured typical conventions and features. Below is a presentation I created in which I picked out two magazine covers that stood out  to me and I decided to analyse and compare the two closely,  analysing types of features and conventions they both use. 

 

Draft Of Flat Plans - Magazine & Poster

Here are the draft flat plans for our magazine and poster. We all decided to draw a draft of our flat plans for both the magazine and poster so we could edit and put in text when we all agree on all the ideas for example the colours used. Moreover, by drawing a draft of our flat plans, it made it easier for me to visualise our magazine and poster as I have a better understanding on how to create both of them. I will be posting a more adapted and better flat plan covering what topics the magazine cover will include and other conventional features. 

Magazine Front Cover - Photoshoot

This week we have finished taking possible photos for our magazine front cover. Me and my group decided to pick out the ones that were the most effective out of all in order to finalise which photo would feature on our magazine cover. We faced many difficulties whilst taking these photos but we overcame then for example in some photos, the lighting would be too dark or too light. In order to overcome this situation, we adjusted the lighting by having one side of her face light whilst the other more darker (looking like a shadow). This overall proved to be effective and it linked with the title of our film "Insanity" due to Flora having two sides to her behaviour. The light could connote her innocence whilst the dark portraying her evilness in which we see in the trailer. Below is a slideshow which features the most effective photos we took today.

Shot Lists

In order to realise what shots were the most effective and what least worked well, we decided to create shot lists to help guide us when creating the trailer. The brief description made it easily recognisable as it shows the specific shot and what angle and movement it was. Moreover, we also started editing and we have found it very useful as we are often referring back to it when finding scenes that are going to be featured in our trailer. This overall shows that time is saved and we are more prepared whilst making our trailer. 

Filming - Flora's park/house scene

After school me and my group decided to film Flora at two different locations and this was important due to Flora being our main character, so the audience has to see more of her in our trailer. I noted down what scenes had to be recorded at my house and in the park. This was an easy check list as we aimed to complete all the scenes on that day.

Here are some pictures I captured on the camera whilst we were filming scenes. The first scene we recorded was when Flora is seen to be happy and innocent playing with her doll in the park. This scene will be shown near to the start of the trailer as this is when the family is seen to be normal. 

We also decided to follow media language in terms of using connotations for example we decided that Flora should wear white to highlight innocence and purity. We also experimented with a range of camera angles for example we filmed a point of view shot of the doll from Flora's eyes whilst she is playing with it. 

Another scene we managed to record is when Flora is strangling her doll with her hair ribbon. This portrays her changed behaviour from being good to slowly turning evil which the audience can witness from her actions. Moreover, we also changed her appearance to match her actions for example in the picture on the right, she is wearing a black jumper and her hair is more wild compared to the picture on the left where it is neat. This concept alerts the audience that Flora has changed and she is not an innocent child like before. 

In this scene, we aimed to portray more strange behaviour from Flora whilst talking to a psychiatrist and we decided to use a close up on Fora's face whilst she is breaking a crayon. This will make the audience really uncomfortable as she is purposely directly looking at the camera.

In this scene, we used fake blood to make the scene look more realistic and horrific. We also recorded from a high angle as the audience are aware that it is Flora's hands covered in blood due to killing her father. The bin bag scene also highlights that Flora is attempting to hide the murder as she bins all the evidence. These scenes came out really well as we had extra lighting from spot lights in the bathroom and the mise-en-scene all linked perfectly to the concept of the scene. The message of the narrative is also easy to understand as the scenes are very clear. 

Filming - Megan's chase scene

This week, me and my group successfully filmed the scenes that needed improving and the outcome was really good due to good planning. On the day of filming, I took the opportunity to quickly note down the scenes we had to do on the day so we can constantly refer back to it and not forget to record any important scenes.

We printed both these sheets off so we could tick off the scenes we had completed. We also remembered to film in many different possible angles so we basically had to film a scene around two times again. This was a good backup to have as it enabled us to have a variety of footage of one scene when it comes to editing.

Below are pictures that me and my group captured whilst we were recording scenes that consisted of only Megan. The location we picked was perfect as it looks really isolated and creepy which a common convention in most horror trailers.

Here is the setting we decided to choose to film Megan's chase scene. In this scene, we included a lot of different shots for example a birds eye view of the trees and this made the scene look more scarier.  However we did face some difficulties whilst filming for example there was sometimes too much sun and this ruined our footage as you couldn't see Megan's face clearly. We did fix the problem by filming at different angles and at different trees where there was a lot of shade. 

Throughout the filming, Francesca that was playing the character Megan seemed really focused and she  was easy to direct. This also made our filming process quicker which was good as we ended up completing the scenes that we had to do for the day. As a group, we were well prepared and we used our time wisely in order to finish our filming. 

Knowing that we had to involve more tense and scarier scenes in our trailer, we decided to record a scene outside this house. It involved Megan banging on the door, trying to find safety as Flora is after her. I thought this scene was overall effective as it would make our potential audience uncomfortable as they would wander why Megan is so scared.

Making use of call sheets

Before the day of filming, I created a variety of different call sheets which would help me and my group when we record in a specific location. Below is an example of one we used on the day of shooting in Streatham park. It really helped us as it made us more prepared in what to bring and what to actually film. We also completed all the scenes that had to be done by using this call sheet and we also gave this call sheet to our actress, this made her well equipped as she knew what to wear on the day of filming.

Preparing the script for psychiatrist scene

As a group we all planned what potentially could be said in a new scene we wanted to add in our trailer. This scene only had two characters in it which was Flora and the Psychiatrist. Here is the original script we came up with:

By looking this script, we realised that some words sounded too staged and did not seem realistic. We changed the psychiatrist saying "Sunday evening at 9.30 your fathers body was found. He had been stabbed through his heart 9 times." We realised this was far too long and decided to cut it down short to simply just "Flora, what happened to your father?." This still successfully added tension as straight after we see Flora turning sinister by snapping her crayon and throwing it away. This also hints that she has something to do with her father's death and this may intrigue the audience even more. 

Feedback - Improving our scenes!

From last week, we received feedback from our teacher on how to improve the scenes we filmed. The two main things that needed to be improved was the lighting and mise-en-scene in each scene for example in some of the scenes, you can see background items that make the scene look unrealistic. We also thought that our footage lacked the message of fear, so as a group we decided that this week we would film scenes that are more scarier. We decided to come up with more scarier scenes that we could put in our trailer and heres the ideas we formed.

On the day of filming, we had a discussion based on which ideas we would do and we also improved some ideas for example we thought that a unexpected close up of Francesca screaming would be more effective as it would make the audience jump. By discussing and finalising our ideas together, it made us more prepared on the day of filming as we included film terminology in our ideas so it would make it easier to record on the day.

Planned Shooting Schedule

Me and my group prepared a schedule that we were going to constantly refer back to during the week as we aimed to complete most of the filming by the end of this week. It also helps us to be more organised on the day of shooting as we knew what props had to be brought in and what location we were shooting at.

Film Schedule from afreens10

Preparation For Our Production - Buying Props

This week we are aiming to get our filming complete as the week after that will be focusing on only editing our recorded material. For us to film, me and my group had to buy props that are going to be used in our trailer due to their importance as they hold connotations.We listed out the things that we needed which were candles, fake blood, a creepy doll and a mirror. The fake blood was the only item that was hard to find due to the season which led us to travel to different locations from Croydon to Streatham. However, we successfully ended up buying all the props on time for filming which was the next day.

Here are the items that are going to be featured in our trailer.

Inspiration: Poster & Magazine

Here is a Prezi I created based on the potential ideas we have for our magazine and poster. We will be using some of these ideas in our production as we will refer back to them when we are creating our magazine and poster for inspiration. 

Locations/Prop List

Location list:

• Local Church – This church is right near Pollards Park which is ideal as this would make filming easier as we don’t have to travel very far to film our scenes. Moreover, the scenes that are going to be set in this location is the scene of Flora biting Megan’s hand and when she tries to help Flora by taking her to church. This allows the audience to see the change in Megan’s behaviour to becoming more abnormal.
•  Pollards Park – This is where Flora pushes Daisy of the swing. This yet again highlights her darker side.
• Near Pollards Park/Pathway – This location is very ideal for our chase scene of Megan running away from Flora as the pathway is very narrow with trees surrounding it. The mise-en-scene is also effective and we are able to record the back of Megan which leaves the audience suspicious as they don’t know who is chasing her.
• Norbury Court Road – Establishing shot of the family house. This shot sets the trailer as it will be featured near to the start when we see the family in their everyday normal life.
• Afreen’s House – In this location, we are going to film a variety of scenes including a scene where Flora is rapidly washing her bloody hands and hides stained clothes which implies that she is trying to cover up her father’s death. Moreover, another scene that would be recorded at my house is the psychiatrist scene, as the audience we soon discover that Flora is not as innocent as she seems. We also planned to film Flora strangling her doll with a ribbon.
• Drama studio – This is in our school and it will feature Flora’s mum Jean. The scene will show her ill in a mental institute and there is a close up of her saying “You have the wrong person; please let me go... Let me go, you will regret it if you don’t..” This location is very effective as it is dark which adds to the gloomy atmosphere and it will also look realistic in terms of being in a mental asylum.

Prop list:

In order for our trailer to stand out and be more effective, we needed props that made our narrative more recognisable and realistic for example we had to think about buying fake blood to make our scenes even scarier and jumpier. Additionally, some of these props also hold important connotations for the audience for example the creepy doll is seen to be clean and girly at the start but at the end we see the doll as battered and dirty. This symbolises Flora’s itself as the audience witnesses her turn from innocent to sinister in the trailer.

• Creepy doll – Flora is always seen with this doll in her hand and this has been given to her by her father.
• Makeup for Jeans mental asylum scene – This makeup will highlight the bruises that her husband did to her.
•  Candles – This relates to the church scene and when Flora is seen praying.
• Fake blood – For a variety of scenes including the window scene where we see James hand covered in blood symbolising his death and his last moment.
• Ribbons for Flora – These coloured ribbons (red, black, white) will be seen on Flora and also in one scene she strangles her doll with a red ribbon.
• Dresses for Flora – There will be two coloured dresses that Flora will be seen in. At the start she will be seen in white and near to the end when the audience can witness her abnormal behaviour, she will be wearing black.
• Red lipstick – When Flora turns sinister, we see her trying her mum’s makeup and we see red lipstick smeared on her face.
• Crayons and paper – When Flora is talking to the psychiatrist, she is scribbling away and ends up breaking a crayon on purpose.
•  Bible – When Flora is seen praying she reads the bible.
• Old clothes – This is for the blood scene where she bins the stained clothes to try to cover up her dad’s murder.
• Round mirror – This will be used when Megan is getting changed and we see Flora watching her through the mirror.
• Knife – Moreover, in the trailer we will see quick shots of Flora with a knife attempting to stab someone. This is effective as it will make the audience jump as it is not expected.
• Photograph & photo frame – This will be used when we use an over the shoulder shot to show Flora scratching out a family portrait.

Reasoning behind narrative

After creating our narrative, we decided to represent Flora as having a illness that is common in our society. We decided to show the signs of having schizophrenia and this was going to be represented by Flora. As Flora is a child, we were careful and decided to research the illness in more depth.

Here are some interesting facts that I found about schizophrenia revolving around children

The following symptoms and behaviors can occur in children or adolescents with schizophrenia:

•    seeing things and hearing voices which are not real (hallucinations)

•    odd and eccentric behavior and/or speech

•    unusual or bizarre thoughts and ideas

•    confusing television and dreams from reality

•    confused thinking

•    extreme moodiness

•    ideas that people are out to get them or talking about them (paranoia)

•    severe anxiety and fearfulness

•    difficulty relating to peers, and keeping friends

•    withdrawn and increased isolation

We decided to show some of these symptoms in the trailer for example the thought of being “fearfulness” is recognised with Flora and there is “difficulty” with maintaining her relationship with her family and friends. However, we decided to not to overly show her schizophrenia as it will affect the audience negatively and they won’t feel comfortable with the whole trailer. We decided to highlight the issue but not with a lot of emphasis. Overall, we thought this would make our trailer stand out more as we highlight the problems that occur in today’s society and our audience can be more aware of the consequences that may happen.