Planning: Screen play of Red Dead Retribution

SCREENPLAY OF RED DEAD RETRIBUTION

[1:1] OUTSIDE/ COURTYARD
Establishing shot of the college from a rear view (PAN SHOT)

[1:2] STAIRS OUTSIDE
Zoom shot showing the scaffolding

[1:3] STAIRS INSIDE
Zooming shot going up the stairs with the lights flickering

[1:4] HALLWAY 1
Camera zooming and lights still flickering

[1:5] CHAPEL
The camera zooms onto a picture with a crucifix above this correlates with the music and the camera zooms closer to the picture until...

FADE...

[1:6] INSIDE BULLY 1s ROOM (Jackson Lee)
Boy looks at his phone and see a picture of the same boy in the chapel. He reacts by backing away from his phone in disbelief

[1.7] BATHROOM
(BULLY 2 Curtis Johnson) Boy preps himself in the bathroom by combing his hair, he drops his comb and when he creeps down to pick it up a masked figure is behind him.

[1.8] OUTSIDE FOYER
(BULLY 1 Jackson Lee) Boy is running away and when the camera looks up a figure is at the window looking outside

[1.9] HALLWAY 2
(BULLY 3 Ryan Barlett falls over because he is being chased by someone/thing

[2.0] INSIDE BULLY 1s ROOM (Jackson Lee)
Boy is being strangled by a person with blood on his hands

[2.1] HALLWAY 3
Antagonist (Jonathan Edwards) walks out of bathroom leaving footsteps of blood

[2.2] BULLY 4 IN ROOM
Ryan Barlett has sellotape around his mouth in a dark room with a torch shining in his face

[2.3] ROOM/ HALLWAY 2
Anthonia Stevens opens the door to see the Antagonist (Johnathan Edwards) waiting for her

[2.4] HALLWAY 3
Door opens mysteriously

[2.5] DARK ROOM
Ryan Barlett wakes up with torch in his eyes


[2.6] HALLWAY 2
Antagonist is walking towards camera

[2.7] TITLE
Red Dead Retribution

[2.8/2.9] CREDITS... RELEASE DATE
Credits and Coming Soon... & Website

[3.0] HALLWAY 3
Anthonia Stevens is getting dragged by a mysterious figure (Antagonist

Planning: Story Board for our Teaser Trailer

After a extensive amount of research into horror trailers and our audiences of the horror genre, we finally started creating the story board of our film. The basic idea of our trailer is that it's 1 day before the anniversary of a dead college student,  who was killed mysteriously. On the day of his anniversary, a group of college students find that they are being specifically targeted by a mysterious figure dressed in a black hooded cloak, who is (for unknown reasons) trying to murder each student.     

The first scene is a establishing camera shot of our college from the front, showing to audience's the location of the film. By showing the college, it will hopefully give hints to audiences straight away about the narrative of the film such as characters being college students, etc.  

 

 

The second scene is of a Chaplin (a place of prayer within the college), where they'll be a long camera shot panning slowly towards a photo in the distance. This form of camera shot will hopefully create a dark sense of atmosphere in the scene, helping build up tension at the beginning of the trailer. 

The third scene is a close up camera shot of the picture in the Chaplin, showcasing the face of a student who use to attend the college, but was sadly found dead mysteriously.  His photograph is in the Chaplin because it's 1 day before the anniversary of his death, though audience's won't know that information yet, due to how we don't want to reveal too much of the narrative of the film. We only want to hint to audiences that this boy will have some kind of relation with the following events to come within the trailer.  

This character is also the antagonist/villain of the film and will later on be seen in a black hooded cloak, though audience's won't be able to tell if it's truly him. This is also information that audience's won't know yet but they'll be hinted that he maybe the villain, due to his mysterious death.

 The fourth scene is a jump cut, moving further on in the narrative. The scene will start off with a over the shoulder camera shot of a person receiving a text message, standing in their bedroom. This person is meant to be a student of the college, where our antagonist comes from. His relation to the plot of the film is that he use to bully the antagonist and was involved in his mysterious death. Audience's won't know this information, but they'll know that this character has some kind of relation to the antagonist.  

The fifth scene is a close up shot of the (now) bully's phone, where he opens the text message to find a exact image of the photograph in the Chaplin, showing the face of the antagonist.  This scene is meant to hint to audiences that the bully is some how connected to the antagonist, hopefully building up more tension and suspense in the trailer.

 

The Sixth scene is a medium reaction camera shot of the bully, now fully showing his identity to the audience. He will have a shocked reaction due to his surprise of receiving the image, due to the person being dead.

The seventh scene is a jump cut further in the narrative, back to the college. The scene starts with a long camera shot of a student who is a bully of the antagonist, walking into the college's changing rooms after coming back from sports.

 

 

The eighth scene is a medium camera shot of the bully now washing his face in the changing room. This scene will create a sense of normality in the atmosphere, only to hint to the audience that something is about to happen in the next scene.

 

The ninth scene is a medium reaction camera shot, where the camera will pan around as the bully turns to face a mysterious figure dressed in a black hooded cloak, who is meant to be the antagonist. This scene will be the first time in the trailer to showcase the villain to audiences, though they'll have no clue of his identity. Overall, this scene will hopefully leave audiences in a state of shock and scared.

 

The tenth scene is a medium camera shot of the changing room door, where blood is pouring out. Now, audiences won't know if the bully is actually dead due to how they won't actually see him die but the blood will apply that the bully has been killed by the mysterious figure. Audiences will be left to decide for themselves and how might of the bully died, creating a dark and suspenseful atmosphere in this section of the trailer. 

After scene ten, the pace of the trailer will start to quicken, creating a fast pace montage to increase the tension and suspense in the atmosphere.

The eleventh scene is a jump cut further in the narrative, where the location is now outside on the college's walk paths. The scene starts with a long camera shot of the first bully (who received the picture of the antagonist) running away desperately from something. Audience's won't know what the bully is running away from yet, creating more suspense and building up tension in the trailer.

 

The twelfth scene is a long camera shot panning up to the college's bridge walk way, showcasing the mysterious figure dressed in a black hooded cloak. This scene will link back to the previous one where the first bully was running away, due to him seeing the mysterious figure. 

 

 

The thirteenth scene jump cuts further into the narrative again. There's now a high angle medium camera shot, showing all the bullies of the antagonist, performing a ritual to try and send the villain back to the afterlife. This scene will give hints to the audience to how might the protagonists try to vanquish the villain.

 

 

The fourteenth scene is another jump cut, where there's a long camera shot of a flash light showing the antagonist strangling one of the bullies. The audience won't know who's being strangled, creating more suspense in the trailer for  the audience.

The fifteenth scene is a jump cut, where it's a medium camera shot showing the first bully crying and hiding behind a wall from the antagonist.   

 

This is the sixteenth scene (which is the final clip in the trailer), that will be shot in a close up camera angle, showing a bully getting dragged across the floor by an unknown force, screaming for help desperately. This last scene will be placed after the film title and credits, to shock and scare audiences for the final and last time, being the final climax of the whole trailer.

Research: Pearl and Dean Statistics for Drag Me to Hell

Pearl and Dean had analyzed the audience that had gone and watched Drag Me to Hell from their observation the average age of people that had gone to see it was 15-24 years old this would be due to the fact that advertising was aimed more at that age group. There were also observations the sex of people that went to watch the film from their observation they saw that 59% of the people who watched where males and 41% where female this was a bit of a surprise seeing as the main character was a female it is also not surprising because it is a horror film so it would also appeal more to the male audience.

How this compares to the questionnaires

The pearl and dean surveys show that 59% of the people that went to watch the film were male and 41% of people went to watch the film were female. Although the film is centered on a female it mostly attracted males than females. From this information, we will know that horror films attract mainly male audiences so our film is most likely to attract the male audience. This would also mean that all advertising would also have to appeal to the male audience. Compared to the questionnaires that we handed out the gender of the people that we asked where even amount of male and female which slightly contradicts the surveys carried out by pearl and dean but it still gives us a good idea as to what gender we should mostly target.

From the drag me to hell analysis from pearl and dean the research show that the film appealed more to people between the ages of 15-24 and 25-34 in relation to our trailer this should be the age range we should be aiming for seeing as it is of the same genre and our film contains similar themes. From this information we are able to look at the age range of our market audience. Compared to our questionnaire the majority of people we asked where 21 to 24 which is similar to the results from surveys from pearl and dean, which helps us as we now know the target audience that we should attract.

Research: Pearl and Dean Statistics for SAW and SAW 3D

   

 

As shown above, I decided to get research on two movies and compare them together to see the reasons why and how these movies are different from each other. The reason why I chose Saw 1 and Saw 3-D is because I wanted to see if there is any difference between the beginning of the famous saga and the final film. Also, since these two film are very similar with each other as they have the common plot and convention, I wanted to discover the reasons why Saw 3-D became a bigger success then the first Saw and what changes was made. 

For both movie, the majority of viewers who watch these film are aged 15 - 24 which is reasonable as both films are rated 18. The reason why this film is not aimed at below 15 is because of the violence involved in the films that the younger audience may find disturbing and offensive. since our film will also contain gory and disturbing scene, we will be rating our film 18 attracting the young adults on onwards as they will have a impressionable mind on our film. 

The target gender for both  films is aimed at males because they are more attractive to the conventions of a horror film. We are also aiming for our film to attract more males than females so we will be using the similar convention in the SAW films such as the brutal killings and disturbing images. We will gain more sales as we aim our film for men and also make our film more popular, allowing us to make this film successful. 

According to the demographics on pearl and Dean, Saw 1 attracts the class AB with (30%) followed by C1 (29%), whereas Saw 3-D attracts the majority of C1 (42%), followed by DE (30%). This may be because of the different synopsis with each film, Saw 1 was more intellectual which may have attracted the higher class. Since our film synopsis is easy to follow rather than being complex, we will be aiming our demographics at DE, the lowest. However, we will be wanting to aim our film between AB to C2 as they will have a higher disposable income and in that sense they will be more able in watching the film in cinemas. 

Research: Trailer Analysis of Paranormal Activity

At what point in the trailer are we told the name of the film? Why is this?

The title of the film is only introduced at the end, due to how the trailer is trying to first create an intense atmosphere through using Todorov's theory to create a sense of equilibrium and then disequilibrium in the atmosphere. This is done to hopefully catch the audiences’ attention so that when the trailer comes to the end; the title of the film can be shown, hopefully making audiences remember the name of the film, due their focus being on the trailer. 

Why are we told who is starring in the film?

The trailer doesn't reveal who’s starring in the film probably due to the cast being minor actors because of the low budget of the film. Instead, the trailer mainly focuses on trying to create an atmosphere full of tension to attract audiences into wanting to watch the actual film when it's released in cinemas.  

What type of action from the film do we see?

Action in the film starts of slow to create equilibrium in the atmosphere to put viewers in a calm sense of state like most horror genre film trailers do (showing the trailer to conform to conventional ideas). This is done to mainly help create realism due to how viewers can relate to what's happening in the trailer as an everyday experience, where everything is normal and calm. The trailer then quickly starts to build up tension through more dramatic sequences and effects such as split second flash effects to create a sense of surprise and shock. This quickly leads to disequilibrium in the atmosphere due to how the trailer now counters the beginning of it. The action in the trailer then comes to a final climax where there are split second camera shots and flashing effects, ending the trailer with an atmosphere of disequilibrium, to make audiences want to watch the film when it’s released, to find out how the situation is resolved. 

What clues does the music give us as to what type of film the trailer is advertising?

There's no non-digetic music soundtrack used in the trailer to establish it in a movie genre but only non-digetic ambient sound effects which are used throughout most of the credit titles and high tension fuelled moments. This non-diegetic music could be said to signify the trailer as being apart of the horror genre, due to how it’s the type of conventional sound effect heard in horror trailers.  

Does the trailer come with a voice over and if so, what can you tell about the voice being used?

The trailer doesn’t use a voice over, maybe to help yet again direct the audience’s attention onto the high atmospheric tension being created in the trailer through the scenes they’re being shown. The trailer does use sub titles, which can be another reason why there is no use of a voice over, due to the use of sub titles showing information which would probably have been said in the voice over.

How does the speed of what we see compare to watching a clip from a film? Why is this?

The speed of the trailer on a whole is faster and more rapid to create a higher sense of tension, suspense and fear in the atmosphere to hopefully catch audience’s attention for a few minutes in the hopes that they’ll be enticed to watch the film, when it’s released. If I were to compare the speed of the trailer to a clip from the film, the speed would be a lot slower due to how the clip from the film would build up tension slowly, while revealing a large amount of information which may not be necessary and exciting in grabbing the attention of audiences. 

Does the speed alter throughout the trailer or does it stay the same?

The speed of the trailer starts off at a slow rate to create a calm state of atmosphere, only speeding up near to the middle of the trailer, establishing a rapid build of tension. It’s only till the end of the trailer does the speed of clips start to be come 1 second camera shots, creating a more intense and adrenaline fuelled atmosphere in a last attempt to catch audiences’ attention. This pattern in build of speed shows the trailer to conform to the conventional ideas of a horror trailer, due to how they tend to start off slow, speed up a little and then speed up rapidly.

What information are we given about the film?

The trailer of the film doesn't give a lot away due to how it's trying to stick to the conventional ideas of the horror genre by making the atmosphere full of mystery and confusion to emphasize the horror of the film. All that's known about the film is that there seems to be a couple (main characters) living in a house, which seems to be haunted by an invisible force which is violent and erratic and seems to be tormenting the couple. Already, the villain can be established as the conventional villain from the horror genre as this scary, powerful and unpredictable character.

At what point in the trailer are we given about the film?

Throughout the entire trailer, information on the narrative of the film is given out. I can only analyse the amount of information on the narrative of the film being given out at certain points, for example. At the beginning of the trailer there’s only a small amount of information being given out through sub titles, probably to not overwhelm audiences with the narrative of the film but to create a slow build of tension through the slow revealing of information. It’s only 20 seconds into the trailer, does information on the narrative start to be shown through footage from the film. It’s then at the end of the trailer, that a large amount of information becomes accessible to viewers but only to the amount where there is still a lot of questions left to debate.

What type of audience is the trailer aimed at? How can you tell?

The trailer is aimed at males and females aged 18 to 30 year olds. This is due to how the trailer has been filmed from a live showing of paranormal activity at a cinema, where the group of viewers watching it are females and males, who look like 18 to 30 year olds. This shows the type of audiences who would watch the film, showing this group to be conventional audiences of films in the horror genre.