We start the trailer with a hose-piping point of view shot of someone running fast, down a hill, away from a castle. This may not be the typical establishing shot for setting the scene, but it does just that in a different way. This 7 second long shot tells us a lot already; there is a castle in the setting, something has happened at this castle which is the reason that this person is running away from it and this person sounds very exhausted and scared. They want to get out of there as soon as possible. The reason that I went with this shot for the opening of the trailer is, it brings some excitement to the start. Many trailers do start with a boring, conventional establishing shot. We have certainly challenged a real media convention here. Also, throughout this shot there is a building audio sequence. It is eerie and gathers amplitude and pitch until it climaxes into a title.
This is the first title of this trailer, our GOODWINGILL PRODUCTIONS title. It is white on a black background. The font is ‘Terminator. There is a deep bass rumble as the title cuts onto the screen. I felt that this was an appropriate introduction to our production company and gives it an epic feel.
The next shot re-establishes the castle setting as the first one was very exciting and quick. Also, this is now before the first shot we saw. Essentially we have gone back in time. This shot fades to black and the next title fades in. This is the EAI PICTURES title, again white on black and I used a unique font for the ‘EAI’ to create a logo look. The audio track at this point contains some ambient sound. This means that there isn’t a true beat to the sound. The reason that this was done is to keep the tempo and pace of the trailer slow at the start, which makes the faster parts seem much faster, later on. Therefore there is a greater contrast between them.
The colouring on all the shots is very important and something that I have taken a lot of time and care over. Each shot has a different RGB curve set up. Generally, I reduced the red curve making the shots look colder and brought the green up to bring out the leaves and shrubbery etc. The master was lowered which darkens the shot.
Now we bring in a voiceover. Many film trailers use voiceovers to tell the audience more about the film and what is going on. We start with ‘This summer..’, the voice is edited to make it sound like an old, creepy gentleman.
‘The most terrifying film of 2012’ This is the next voiceover. We also used this quote in title form and I kept it part of the theme through the ancillary tasks. Each word was chosen carefully as we are trying to market this film effectively. The word ‘most’ is always a good marketing word as it means the maximum, best and there is nothing that can be more or better. The word ‘terrifying’ is a good word to include, as it’s a horror film. It means to be absolutely scared and on edge. At this point, the video is a sequence of short shots of 2 characters walking towards the camera. I edited the shots into a jump-cut sequence. This introduces 2 characters and tells us already that they are likely to be together as they are linking arms. At this point we could start with actors/actresses names but when the actors aren’t big names with the media, then displaying them for small-time actors has no marketing benefit to the film.
The next shot fades in and is a shaky shot of a ‘PRIVATE PROPERTY KEEP OUT’ sign. This sign was nearby and not restricting our filming. I wanted to include this shot as it just added the extra convention of a horror movie, the ‘I shouldn’t be here’ feeling.
This shot wasn’t as simple as it looked. In editing I actually changed the speed and duration of this shot. It was on 60% speed meaning that it was slowed down, whilst still retaining the majority of the quality. This helps vary the shots as much as possible.
We then move onto the next title, and final title from the start of this trailer. ‘KPB Entertainment’ was set up with an abnormal font to make it look like a logo again. This is in keeping with the previous title to offer an element of consistency throughout the start of the trailer.
After this title it’s back to the couple that appeared earlier. I shot this one from behind a turret so I panned right to see the couple walking through the woods. The idea here is to make the audience feel like someone is watching the couple. Looking at the technical side of this shot, I couldn’t rely on the camera’s autofocus feature for this change in shot focus distance. So, as I was changing from a close up to a long shot, I used the manual focus. This meant that I had to focus the lens on the close up rock, then upon panning the camera, re-focus the lens but onto the new subject, the couple. This is a skill I learnt at GCSE level Media Studies from my production teacher.
At this point we have set up an equilibrium. In the planning stage I spent time looking into Todorov’s Theory. I can certainly relate my trailer to this. This equilibrium that we have set up is about to be disturbed.
The next shot is of Danny and Lucy walking into shot and there is a bellowing scream from the distance. This catches Danny out and he is clearly startled. Lucy on the other hand isn’t. This is a very important part of the trailer in the grand scheme of the plot of the film. Firstly, it is certainly the disequilibrium point where the equilibrium is upset; this means that the rest of the film is used to set a new equilibrium. Also, this point is where we see a hint of something else in Lucy. The audience ask themselves the question ‘why would she smirk?’ when Danny is clearly scared. This shows that the story isn’t as straightforward as once thought and is the beginning of the enigma.
We then fade to black, the ambient sounds then fade out and there is a heavy breathing. This is stock audio from a copyright free source.
There is then an out of focus shot of someone taking a pitchfork from a cabin area. This shot then focuses and the person is wearing dark clothing and boots. They look like they are up to no good.
At 0:49 we are shown a close up shot of the lower part of the body walking away from the camera. I particularly like the colouring on this shot. The music now picks up and has a beat to it. There is a title which I animated in After Effects. It is a magazine quote ‘Best Horror of 2012’ from ‘Pure Gore mag’.
Now the pace is building faster and faster. There is a shot of ‘the keeper’ knelt down in the woods, as if he is waiting and watching. Then a cut back to him walking away from the camera, and back to the previous shot again as Danny runs past. He is oblivious to the Keeper’s presence.
Next is a close up of Lucy’s face as she walks past the camera, she slightly smiles, again, hinting at the enigma.
We now start with a sequence of shots. It is made up with a primary shot of the keeper walking towards the camera. I set the camera on the floor for this one and built the leaves around it. In between him walking forwards, there are other shots of Danny. There are 4 of him running, he clearly doesn’t know where he’s going. He’s scarpering away but doesn’t know where to.
After cutting back to the ever-closer keeper, the next shot is a point of view shot. Again running. The audience make the connection of this being Danny, trying to get away from the keeper.
Now into the next title, ‘Terrifying’. This rating is from the Sun and it has a 5 star feedback. Again, this is one of my animated titles.
There is then more POV shot and a cut to a medium shot of Danny running in, exhausted. The audio climaxes here and slows briefly. I cut the edit to black and then showed a glimpse of the keeper, right in front of the camera, very close. There is then a shot from the side of the keeper, again looking down on his feet. I tried to keep the amount of him that we show to the audience at a minimum as otherwise everything is given away.
The audio builds again and there is then a smiling close up of Lucy. Again, another hint at the enigma, something doesn’t quite add up, and this is what we want the audience to be thinking.
Approaching the climax, Danny is getting desperate and there is a high-energy medium close up shot of him screaming for Lucy. The Keeper is now even closer, about to reach the camera.
It is now onto the final sequence of the trailer. When filming, I circled George in a rotating motion with the camera, getting closer to his face for a close up. I then cut up this in the edit and used the animated titles ‘Do’ ‘You’ ‘Dare’ in it to make it exciting and to engage the audience. I also added in the voiceover at this point, getting it to time perfectly with the arrival of each title.
The audio ends and cuts to black. There is then a drum roll as the keeper slams down his pitchfork. This cuts out and we go to the film title, which hasn’t been shown at all yet. I placed it at the end as this then helps the audience remember the trailer and hopefully pay to go see the film. I used a recorded sound of a gate closing for this part and timed the arrival and exit of the titles with the sound. ‘JUNE 13’ is the final title, in the ‘underworld’ font used for the keeper.
To summarise, I am very pleased with the outcome of the trailer, it has surpassed my expectations. I will now move onto audience feedback to see if any changes need making to it.
