Filming day 3

Today we planned to film the home invasion from 11 am-late, however Amy, who plays Maddie had work until 2:00 pm so we didn't have time to film it all. We filmed the majority of the shots which involved Delaney and we then filmed 2 members of the cult. We did a range of shots for the home invasion such as high angle shots, point of view shots, long shots, closeups and extreme close ups and added in extra ones as our ideas developed during the day. We also filmed a few different endings and stings we can choose from when editing as some may look better than others. Also, the shots we don't use for the ending, can fit in the montage as this will still make sense to the audience and add to the fear.

This was the first time we had seen the masks on the antagonists faces. I was very happy with what they looked like as they looked creepy which will make the audience feel uneasy.  The top left picture is a screen shot of one of the shots for our trailer. I have considered using a shot similar this for my film poster as it looks disturbing and clearly shows the films genre. As well as this, it is a shot from the film which is often seen on film posters to show the audience what to expect. It will also show the iconic mask to our horror film which will suggest mystery to the audience before they have seen the trailer as they won't know who is behind it.

Unfortunately, as our only available male cult member had to go to work, I had to film his point of view shot myself pretending to be an antagonist cornering Maddie and kicking her to show violence and fear. It may have been more successful if Will, who played one of the male cult members did the point of view shot as he is much taller and it would have really looked like a male was attacking her to suggest male dominance which would appeal to our male audience. However, I wore a pair of males shoes which made it look like a male character and it was successful in the end.

I filmed this shot of Maddie walking into the bath and dropping a towel to show sex appeal which will appeal to the male audience. It will also add enigma for the audience as the shot looks like a point of view shot from behind a gate which suggests someone is watching her.

I also filmed this close up shot of Maddie in the bath. I ensured I created low key lighting using artificial lighting such as the candles and torch to create shadows which are a key convention of horrors. Without filling up the bath which would have washed the blood off her arms, Kayleigh and I created bubbles from bubble bath and put them on her chest, also whilst I was filming, Kayleigh swirled her hand in the sink water to make the shot realistic and sound like Maddie was actually in the bath.

I also filmed this long shot to a closeup shot of a female cult member walking towards the window and slamming their hands against it. This is to make the audience jump to build up suspense. This shot continues from a shot  Kayleigh filmed of the cult member on the swing outside to ensure continuity.

I wanted to create enigma for the audience so I filmed a mid shot of Maddie doing her makeup in the bathroom where Delaney then appears behind her in the mirror when she isn't looking. When Maddie looks up, Delaney is gone. This will make the audience ask questions as to where has she gone, leaving them knowing she is in the house and Maddie doesn't know which will create suspense.

At the end of filming today, I wanted to experiment with a long point of view shot which I was inspired by the film 'Annabelle' when the little girl runs through a door towards the camera and turns into an adult. The shot I filmed consisted of me holding the camera and running towards Maddie when she wasn't looking. I did this without telling her so I could get a real reaction which ensured the shot looked realistic.

Overall, my group and I expected to have finished filming by now, however as it is sometimes difficult for our actors to take their acting seriously in dramatic shots such as being pulled down the stairs and screaming and shouting scenes, it is taking us longer. We have planned to film next week after school, however we are still unsure whether we will finish filming by next week. We will begin to edit in school next week and see if there are any shots which need re-shooting and also do those next week.

Filming day 2

29/10/15

We have split up our filming days into sections to ensure we don't miss out any important shots, so today my group and I filmed the dream part of the trailer. We originally planned to start filming at 10 am but Sam, our actor had family priorities in the morning so we started filming at 12:00 pm.

Interior/ exterior	Camera shots  and description	Characters
Interior	Firstly we filmed a shot of Maddie and Elliot arguing using a 2 shot. It was difficult to film at first as our actors had to be serious when arguing and raising voices so we all kept laughing however when we got it right it looked professional and realistic which is what we want so people can relate to the characters.	Maddie and Elliot
Interior DREAM	This next shot we filmed took a while as we needed our actors to be romantic. We filmed an extreme close up of Elliot whispering into Delaney’s ear. We used low key lighting with artificial light behind the actors to create a silhouette of the characters to make the audience wonder who the girl is.	Elliot and Delaney
Interior and exterior DREAM	We filmed a point of view shot of Elliot and Delaney being romantic in the kitchen from outside the window to suggest someone is watching them. We asked Sam who is the actor for Elliot, to look like he isn’t interested in Delaney anymore in the dream by talking on the phone when she hugs him. This is so the audience are confused and will want to watch the full film. I dressed Delaney in a tight dress to represent her as sexy which will make women aspire to be like her. This will trick the audience as they will then find out she is psychopath and create confusion and shock which is what a psychological horror is all about.	Elliot and Maddie
Interior	I thought it would be a good idea to film a long shot of Elliot shouting Maddie he is leaving for work. I did this by filming a shot of Maddie ‘dodging’ Elliot’s kiss when he leaves after she walks down the stairs. This is effective as we wanted to show the audience that Maddie is angry with Elliot. However, the tripod wouldn’t fit in the room, so I had to improvise and place the camera/iPad on a table to get the right shot.	Elliot and Maddie
Interior DREAM	I next filmed a high angle shot of Elliot looking vulnerable on the floor in danger. This shot will make the audience think he is about to be killed, however they will watch the film to find out what happens to him. I didn’t want to show the antagonists face to make the audience question who it was. It may have been Maddie taking revenge on him for cheating or it could be Delaney as Elliot wasn’t showing interest anymore in the previous shot. For this shot to look realistic, Kayleigh and I did the makeup for Elliot by creating a fake wound on the side of his face. We also smudged blood on his face and on the floor of where he was in danger to make it realistic as well as show horror conventions.	Maddie and Elliot
Interior	Finally, I really liked the shot Kayleigh filmed as part of the dream. This was a birds eye view shot of Maddie being questioned by someone in her home about Elliot’s disappearance. It was effective as it was a unique shot; it showed Maddie’s vulnerability and also her upset and stressed emotion in contrast to the person questioning her who is extremely aggressive and large. This shows binary opposition of power vs weakness which is a convention of psychological horrors.	Maddie

We want our trailer to be interesting for our audience so they don't get bored, therefore we have used a huge variety of shots throughout the trailer so far. We have also made them short and sharp to show fast paced action. Also, from looking at existing trailers, there is a lot of dialogue at the beginning which is what we have used, however there is also some throughout the trailer during action which you can hear over the non diegetic soundtrack. Therefore, we have filmed a lot of shots with dialogue as this is more interesting and it will ensure the trailer make sense to the audience but also creates enigma at the same time such as ''you know what happened last time'', to link with Roland Barthes enigma codes which is a convention of psychological horror trailers.

Filming day 1

27/10/15

Today we filmed the moving in scene and also Maddie finding clues about Elliot's and Delaney's relationship. After Kayleigh had finished makeup, we started filming at about 12:00 pm. We managed to film the whole of the equilibrium and have ensured it isn't too long as we don't want the audience to get bored. However we need to make sure the audience understand what is going on before the disruption begins, therefore we have tried to keep it between 25-30 seconds. 

I filmed a 2 shot to show the audience that the characters are a couple and have just arrived at their new home. We also thought it would be a good idea to use diegetic a soundtrack to sound like a radio which adds to the realism.



I then filmed a trunk shot of Elliot opening the car boot, picking up a TV and passing it to Maddie. We added in dialogue to this shot as we found out from our research that there is usually dialogue at the beginning of a trailer to add to the normality.

I next filmed an over the shoulder shot from behind Maddie in a doorway to show Elliot walking into house with a box. All these shots continue from one another as this is a convention at the beginning of a trailer, especially horror. Dialogue again is used in this shot as Maddie asked Elliot if he needed any help which also shows the male and female role in a relationship.

I also filmed a trunk shot of Maddie opening up a box and picking up a photo album which shows her family. However, this shot will cut to an over the shoulder shot of Maddie looking at photo album which Jamie filmed. This makes the audience aware that the couple have inherited the house and that she misses her mum.

I then filmed a 2 shot of Maddie and Elliot in the kitchen together.This is to build up to the recognition of the equilibrium as we decided to use dialogue in this shot of Elliot saying ‘’Why are you still taking them?, you know what happened last time’’- This makes the audience ask questions as they want to know what happened last time. We won’t show this in the trailer which will make the audience watch the film to find out.

Overall, we did stick to the storyboard, however we filmed a few extra shots as we had more ideas when it came to filming and we can pick and choose when editing to see which ones are the most effective and interesting to watch. We didn't have any issues filming today, expect for that we didn't film as much as we wanted/expected to do in 4 hours, therefore, we have scheduled to film at 10:00 am- late on Thursday. We also need to film a lot of shots in the dark on Thursday so today we filmed the majority of the shots we needed to when it was daylight.

Talent release forms

I put together a talent release form for my actors to fill out to ensure they know what they have to do and are also aware of any potential risks which could take place whilst filming. It also gives me permission to upload any footage of them online.

Filming schedule

After speaking to Kayleigh, Jamie and our actors, we have agreed to film on 3 days in this week holiday as we want to get as much footage filmed as possible before we go back:

Time	Equipment	What we are filming	Actors
Tuesday 27th October- 11am-4pm	·         iPad/iPhone ·         Tripod ·         Storyboard ·         Pills (fake)	Moving in their new home scene and Maddie finding clues about Delaney	Maddie Elliot
Thursday 29th October- 11am-late	·         iPad/iPhone ·         Tripod ·         Storyboard ·         Pills (fake) ·         Masks ·         Fake blood	The dream scene and the start of the home invasion	Maddie Elliot Delaney
Friday 30th October 11am-late	·         iPad/iPhone ·         Tripod ·         Storyboard ·         Pills (fake) ·         Masks ·         Fake blood	Home invasion	Maddie Delaney

Story board

To speed up filming, we have created a storyboard and included the type of camera shots we want to use for each scene. I have taken inspiration from my research and existing product research to see what shots look best in what lighting and setting.

We have included a range of shots such as trunk shots, close ups and high angle shots etc. to make sure the trailer isn't boring for the audience as this will put them off watching the full film.  We have produced the storyboard  in the order of which we will film, not narrative order as it will make sure our actors won't have to keep changing hair, makeup and costume to film. This is practical as it will speed up the filming process. 

In my opinion, one of the most effective shots we have included in our storyboard is the shot I suggested to use which is a long shot of Elliot carrying a box in the house past Maddie when she says ''do you need any help?''. When editing, I want to depth of focus the shot so the audience are concentrating on Elliot to show his masculinity and show the male role in the relationship. Also, when I was researching camera shots, I thought about including a close up of Maddie's facial expressions during the home invasion to show her fear. I suggested my idea to the group and we decided on a close up shot of her screaming during the home invasion to show her fear and vulnerability which will frighten the audience and make them wonder what she is screaming at. Finally, I also like the extreme close up of one of the antagonists at the end of the trailer which will be used as a 'sting'. When I was researching stings I found that they tend to be close ups and extreme closeups so I suggested this to my group as the final shot and they liked the idea as we want to leave the audience remembering the trailer to create word of mouth. 

Statement of final idea- Transfixed

I am evaluating our overall trailer idea to make it clear as to what it is about and what we want to achieve:

The target audience for our film is men and women ages 15-25. This is because the characters we are using fit in with our target audience which means they can relate to them making the film more realistic. Our film also contains the conventions of a BBFC 15 rating as it shows the use of drugs, however we aren't going to encourage the misuse of them.

I found out from research that basing a horror film on a true story makes them more frightening and believable, therefore, our film is based on the Sun Family murder. Our film, Transfixed is about a young couple, Maddie and Elliot, who move into their new home after inheriting it from Maddies mum and dad after their death. Maddie finds out Elliot is cheating on her and begins to get paranoid and starts taking anti depressants to help her cope.  Elliot's new girlfriend Delaney, sends threats to Maddie and this results in a home invasion where Delaney and her cult attack Maddie and attempt to kill Elliot. However, in the trailer, we don't want to give away that Elliot dies, so we will create clues through the use of camera shots and weapons.

The main aim of our trailer is to persuade our audience to watch the full film by giving them clues about what will happen in the film so we have decided to include in our storyboard a montage of fast action shots to leave the audience asking questions. We want to portray a sinister and frightening mood in our trailer by using Roland Barthes semiotic and enigma codes, diegetic and non diegetic sounds but these moods are also going to be created thought the use of low key lighting and location. We have decided to use Kayleigh's house for our location as it fits in with our narrative and from researching I found out that a house is a key convention of the horror genre and it also makes our film more realistic. Also, people will tend to watch films in their home so they will feel uncomfortable when watching our trailer as they may think it is real which achieves a purpose of the trailer.

Character roles in our film will also help portray our desired mood. By having a female antagonist, it makes the film unique as it is challenging horror conventions and people will be surprised as to why a female actor is playing a violent character, therefore will watch the film as they won't know what to expect. My group and I have included a female protagonist (Maddie) as The Final Girl to conform to conventions of the horror genre. We are going to portray Maddie as a damsel in distress and the sex appeal through the use of the Male Gaze theory, camera shots, make-up and costume as this will appeal to a male audience and also a female audience as they will aspire to be like her. 

I also learnt that some horror films have symbolic links in the main product and also in the marketing. Therefore, as our trailer includes a quote which links to the narrative 'Apologies don't mean anything if you keep doing what you're sorry for', I will include it in all 3 products so they look part of a campaign. We decided this is a good quote for our trailer as it doesn't reveal to much for the audience so they will be wondering what it is about. I want to position the quote towards the start of the trailer in the equilibrium to foreshadow disruption as it will become clearer what it is about further on in the trailer.

As this is a psychological horror and not a gore or killer, the trailer will feature weapons such as knives to denote and foreshadow deaths, but gorey murders won't be psychically shown as this will make the film a killer. 

Costume specific to our trailer

Female protagonist/final girl costume

A female protagonists costume usually consists of flattering clothing which shows the curves of her body. I looked at potential clothing for our female protagonist, from films such as 'The Strangers', 'The house of Wax' and 'I Know What You Did Last Summer'. 

From looking at these female characters, I have decided to dress Maddie in tight and revealing clothing like Julie James in 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' and Carly Jones in 'The House of Wax', throughout the trailer to conform to female representations and to appeal to both genders as women will aspire to be like her and men will want to see what more is to come. However, as our trailer will be set over about 5 days, she will have changes of outfits. 

Lighter colours are sometimes used for the protagonist to represent hope and the good in the character, therefore I will use a light coloured top such as light grey to represent Maddie as innocent.

Here are some of the outfits I have in mind for Maddie:

These outfits represent Maddie as innocent, however she also comes across as very feminine and 'sexy' as her clothes are quite tight which conforms to female representations. I was inspired mainly by Julie James from What I did Last Summer as Maddie looks casual but nice like Julie, which enables our audience to relate to her.

Elliot

To show the audience that Elliot is a normal 20 year old, I have dressed him in casual clothing throughout the trailer. One of his outfits consists of a blue top with jeans to show his innocence and that he means no trouble at the beginning to make the audience feel at ease. However, when Elliot is seen cheating on Maddie, he will be wearing a grey jumper to look smart casual. This dark colour will also foreshadow threats to Maddie's and his own life. I have also dressed Elliot in a suit for when he comes home from work in parts of the trailer to make him look mature and professional as most of the boyfriends/husbands in horror films wear suits as they have professional jobs. This will make our trailer look realistic and enable our male audience to relate to him.

Antagonists

Costumes in horror films are usually dark and quite sinister. However white is often used for an antagonist to show the binary opposition of good vs evil between their personalities and costume.

This is the mask I have decided to use for the characters
 involved in the cult. It will hide their identities and make
 them look more horrific. 

However, a lot of costumes become iconic to the film genre, for example the scream mask makes the film recognisable just by looking at a character's costume. This is something my group and I want to achieve, therefore, I have decided to dress our cult in casual outfits with a white mask to clearly show the audience they are dangerous and are the antagonists.

Delaney's costume

As we are challenging stereotypes by having a female antagonist, I have decided to dress Delaney in a tight and flattering dress at the beginning and when she is sending threats to Maddie to mislead the audience into thinking she is a sex appeal when she is really a psycho. This costume inspiration is taken from the character May in 'May'when I was looking at challenging stereotypes as she tricks the audience into thinking she is innocent and we want to do the same at the beginning of our trailer.

These 2 costumes are what Delaney will wear throughout the rest of the trailer. I have decided to dress her in a white top which we won't mind getting dirty or damaged as this is conventional to a psychological horror trailer and it is seen in a few horrors, such as 'The Purge'. The dramatic change of her personality from a sex appeal to a psycho will be clearly shown through her costume and therefore won't confuse the audience. The other top is a flattering as it is low cut which will appeal to the male audience. It will be covered in blood and mud throughout
the trailer however it is still flattering at the same time to show her
sex appeal which ensures the audience doesn't forget what she meant
to Elliot.

Editing Practice

22/10/15

Following on from my editing research, I fed back my ideas to the rest of my group and we decided to practice some of the editing techniques using a video from Kayleigh's phone to see how to do them and how effective they look. We looked at a range of transitions on Final Cut Pro which we thought would be effective in our trailer, here is the overall editing:

The transition would be effective to use to show Delaney's psychotic personality. We could do this by showing a close up shot of Delaney and then after the transition, an extreme close up show of her eye like I practised on my brother. This transition could be used at the end as 'a sting' like in 'The Conjuring' to frighten the audience and leave them remembering the trailer.

 My group and I have had an idea in the trailer to do a shot of Maddie watching TV and the TV suddenly goes fuzzy and shows a clip of Delaney outside the house on the screen. We thought this particular transition is effective as it looks like the electricity has cut off in the house after Delaney is shown on the TV which could suggest at the beginning that she is out to get Maddie. This will also shock the audience and make them wonder what has happened to Maddie now...

This dissolve transition would be good for shots at the beginning to show calmness in the equilibrium. I want to use slow non-diegetic music with this transition as it will put the audience at ease and create a build up to the horror.

My group and I have considered using this colour effect for shots of the dream to clearly make the audience aware that the certain shots are part of her dream. However, as we are making a trailer, we need to ensure that when we make our storyboard, we place shots in narrative order but don't give too much away, for example we will only show a few shots of the dream. Furthermore, this colour effect will also create an eerie atmosphere as it is a cold blue colour which creates fear for the audience.

We want to use the slow motion effect to show our female protagonists sex appeal in the trailer. My group and I have considered this in the home invasion by having a shot where Maddie turns around to see Delaney in her home. However when she turns around, we want to use the slow motion effect to show her frightened facial expressions but to also show her hair flicking and curves which will appeal both our audiences as women will aspire to look like her and men will want to see what more is to come.

This distorted/ flashing effect would be good to use in a shot of Maddie being pulled down the stairs in the home invasion to suggest she is in pain, fear and feels like she is trapped in her own home with no escape.

'A Sting'

'The Conjuring' trailer is a good example of 'a sting' at the end to leave the audience in fear of what is to come from the full film. I want to consider using 'a sting' at the end to leave the audience remembering the trailer as now I have watched this trailer, I want to show other people to see their reaction and if my group and I included this as a 'sting' at the end, this may make our audience want to do the same therefore making it more popular. However, it isn't just the shot which makes the audience jump, it is the sound which is in sync with the shot. In this trailer, it is the diegetic sound of the scream. Therefore, I want to consider using a close up image of Delaney covered in blood and mud in sync with a loud burst of non diegetic sound such as a bang or screech. I also want to consider using diegetic sound of Maddie screaming to leave the audience remembering the trailer and wanting to find out if Maddie is alive which will also meet the purpose of persuading our target audience to watch the full film 

Magazine factsheets

I read though a Magazine and Advertising fact sheet to gain more knowledge of what is expected from a magazine cover. I found out that a lot of magazine covers have a Unique Selling Point (USP). Therefore, I will need to consider whether this I include hints of exclusive interviews and photographs from the film such as exclusive photos of the set and costume to build up hype which will make people buy the magazine and also watch the film. I also need to make sure I make the magazine cover look like it is advertising a film and not a game or TV show as this will confuse the audience. I could do this by including strap lines to do with film and magazine such as 'The UK's best film magazine' or including reviews of the film on the front with a star rating. 

Camera shots specific to our trailer

I have listed some shot types I think will be effective to include in our trailer to portray the desired mood for our audience. I have also practiced them to make sure we know what they are which will speed up the filming process:

Camera Shots

Low angle shot to show dominance and power-
This shot could be used at the end to show the back of the person about to kill Elliot to show they are in complete control. The audience will fear for Elliot's life and watch the film to find out what happens.

High angle shot to show vulnerability-
We could use this shot type when filming Maddie taking pills to show she is becoming weak and paranoid. This will make the audience feel emotional towards Maddie which will make them want to find out if she survives.

Dutch Tilt-
My group and I could use this shot to show distortion when Maddie is dreaming or in a situation when we want the audience to think someone is watching Maddie to show what danger she is in. However, we could also use this shot for when or after Maddie is being attacked and is on the floor during the home invasion. This is so the audience can see what she is seeing which shows her helplessness to add to the horror.

Point of View (POV)-
I want to use this shot after Maddie has taken the pills when her eyes are closing. This will be effective as it will be clear to the audience than she has passed out and it won't confuse the audience when they watch the forthcoming shots of parts of her dream as it will make sense as to what is going on.

                               

Close up/ extreme close up shot-
I think a close up or extreme close up shot would be effective to show Maddie's facial expressions during the home invasion to show her fear and emotions to make the audience fear for her life. Also, I think we should use these shots to show Delaney's face at the beginning when she looks like a sex appeal and then a few towards the end when she is shown as a psycho. For example, we could film Delaney at the window covered in blood at the end when Maddie has woken up after her dream to suggest that the blood Delaney is covered in is Elliot's.

Establishing shot-
We will use this shot at the beginning to show the iconic location of the trailer which will automatically create a sense of reality for the audience.

Camera Movements

Pan/ tracking shot
This shot is effective in horror films as it gives the audience a sense that someone is watching or following a particular character. This shot could be used in our trailer, for example we could film Delaney using a pan shot when her and the other antagonist are walking towards the house for the home invasion to show how many antagonists there actually are. This shot moves the suspense for the audience as they don't know what will be shown on the shot next.

Zoom-
This shot creates an element of suspense. My group and I have briefly discussed that throughout the trailer towards the build up of the home invasion, we want to include shots of Delaney discreetly in the background of the main shot. Therefore, we could use it when she is shown the background of the shot and zoom in to her. This will portray her as creepy and psychopathic which will also foreshadow danger taking place.

                              

Character Profile- Elliot

My group and I have decided to use my boyfriend Sam to play Elliot in our trailer. We thought this because even though he is 17, he looks older so  may be able to pass for a character which is aged 19/20. He is confident so this will show in front of the camera and he is also reliable and flexible so he will be able to film when necessary. As well as this, he is also a media student at Loreto College so has an interest in the subject which could also be beneficial when filming, therefore I asked him and he agreed to play Elliot.

Character role

Name: Elliot
Age- 20
Gender- Male
ABC- B
Nationality- British
Occupation- Accountant
Marital status- In a relationship
Religion- No religion



Psychographics
Elliot is outgoing and likes to play football. He goes to watch and support his favourite team, Manchester United with his friends when they are playing a match. He also likes to drive up each month with his girlfriend and visit his sister who lives in Nottingham. The 3 of them go to the cinema, walk his sisters dogs and go out for tea whilst they are there to spend quality time with each other and catch up. He likes to keep up with the latest technology by getting the new Apple iPhone when it comes out and when he has some spare money, he likes to go shopping with his girlfriend to buy her and also himself clothes and shoes to make sure he stays on trend. His typical everyday, smart- casual outfit consists of jeans, a plain white t-shit and smart shoes.

Representation of Females and Female Protagonists

I have found out that women in horror films are under represented because they aren't usually associated with action and horror genres unless they are the stereotypical sex appeal. Here I have researched into some of the female representations in horror films to give me inspiration for how I might represent our female characters:

     

Editing specific to our trailer

Editing is one of the main factors which makes a psychological horror trailer successful. This is because with slick and effective editing skills, a trailer can catch audiences attention from the very beginning as it is usually the editing along with the sound which creates a tense and adrenaline rushing atmosphere. It  can be fast editing for example using a montage of shots with quick cuts, or slow editing depending on what mood the director and producers want to create at each point in the trailer for the audience.

Montage of shots
I cut down 'The Purge' trailer as when I was analysing it in previous research, I really liked the idea of including a montage of fast shots in an dis-chronological order to ensure the audience don't take their eyes off the action. I will see what my group think of the ideas but I want to use a montage of shots for when Maddie, our protagonist has a dream and sees her boyfriend missing, interviews with police and then him looking vulnerable and in danger to build suspense. We could use the montage to 'mush up' the shots and also put them in a random order to confuse the audience but to also clearly show that she is having hallucinations because it may be difficult to understand what is going on. When I was watching the montage in 'The Purge' trailer, I was so focused on the action and wanted to find out more before the trailer had finished. This is what I want our audience to feel like as well so this is something we need to heavily consider along with fast paced non diegetic sound as it creates a rush of adrenaline for the audience because of the build up of suspense.

Transitions

• Fade in/out

Fade in- a blank coloured screen, usually black, fades in to the next action shot

Fade out- the action shot fades out to a blank colours screen, usually black before a quick cut is used to show the next action shot.

These transitions create a sense of enigma and insecurity for the audience. This transition is usually used with calming and quiet non diegetic sound or no sound at all to make the audience feel on edge. These transitions are also sometimes used in a psychological horror trailer after an intense scene consisting of montage shots to allow the audience to calm down before they are then faced with more suspense and thrill.  The Strangers trailer uses these transitions throughout the whole equilibrium at the beginning before the disruption starts. This is to make the audience feel calm until they are suddenly shocked with fast cuts and loud music. 

I want to use a fade in and fade out transitions for our equilibrium when Maddie and Elliot are with each other at the beginning as it will enable the audience to see their personalities and it will prepare them for the rest of the trailer. Also they will be good to use at the end of the trailer to show a cliff hanger leaving the audience expecting more.

• Dissolve

This is also another popular transition for a psychological horror film as it is where a shot gradually replaces the next. It is also used in the beginning of 'The Strangers' trailer but I want to use this type of transition at the recognition of the disequilibrium, when Maddie sees Elliot cheating on with Delaney as it could symbolize a passage of time and how she can't handle what is happening so she is taking things slowly. We could also use this transition when she is taking the pills as it could be a build up to her dream or when she is about to pass out because for these shots to be effective, we want a gradual build up from when she begins to pass out to when she wakes up. We could use point of view shots with quick dissolve transitions to make it clear that it is a dream to make it look realistic.

Colour
A lot of horror trailers use a colour effect on particular shots to convey a certain mood for the audience. I want to use a black and white, red or grey style colour over the dream shots to make the audience clear it is a dream.

Composition and continuity

Trailers don't have to consist of match on action shots going through doors etc. all the time as most trailers, especially the ones I have analysed such as The Purge and The Strangers, usually just use lots of shots of events and action in narrative order. For example, in The Purge, there are only 3 match on action shots which shows that a lot of the time, trailers consist on multiple shots of different action one after each other, usually in narrative order

Sound
Even though the James Bond film 'Spectre' isn't a horror, I want to take inspiration for sound editing from this trailer as the sound is in sync with the action and transitions which is effective as it makes the trailer feel more tense as not only is it in sync, but it is fast paced which makes the action feel more dangerous and violent. I particularly like the scene where the helicopter is flying and the non diegetic sound track is matching with the helicopter spinning and falling, this is something  I want my group and I to do when we film Maddie running at some point in the trailer