Production Company animated Logo

A production company logo is a very important feature included in a film trailer as it is very likely the first and only image and audience will get of the production company. For this reason, it is important that a strong image representation is portrayed to an audience. Below are two examples of well known film company logos which are featured at the beginning of every film made by their production company, one is text based and the other text and image based. Both represent a different visual image - the UK Film Council logo represents a serious film company due to the bold lettering and use of the world 'council' being associated with politics and the government and the Walt Disney logo represents children's films and innocence due to the use of a fantasy castle and swirly fun writing.

Some film production company’s logos are specifically designed to connote a specific genre of film which they specialise in. An example of this is the film production company Twisted Pictures which produced the Saw films series as seen below. This is an animated logo played at the beginning of Twisted Pictures films. This production company specifies in creating films in the horror genre and therefore, their logo portrays this to an audience immediately with the use of barbed wire which goes around the letters of the logo as well as the name of the production company itself.

For my own film, I am choosing to create an animated logo as I feel that it would be the most conventional to be included in a film as well as it standing out to an audience when played as opposed to a still image logo. However, I will design a logo which can be drawn as a still image logo to be included on a DVD case, poster, etc but that can also be animated into a moving logo to be included in the opening sequence of the film trailer. Below is a very rough first draft of what I plan my still logo and animated logo to look like. The image is what I plan the logo to look like as a still image. When it is animated and played at the begining of the film trailer, I plan on making it so that it is animated to show the knife stabbing into the letters and blood then slowly pouring out and spilling onto the below letters.

Film Trailer Voice over

I have decided that the main sound included in my film trailer will be a non diegetic voice over which will be added over the film trailer when it is finished so that the speech fits in with certain sequences of the film trailer (match on action) and the timings of the film trailer as a whole. However, I will still included diegetic sound from certain seqeunces of the film which are included in the film trailer such as dialouge and non diegetic music as a sound track. I have written a mock up of the voice over speech I plan to use however, it is a rough draft and therefore, will be edited and altered as my film trailer progresses. Additionally, I will be writing up the speech for the character to read as an English Language transcript for the reason that this will include when the character is to pause, say specific words with emphatic stress, etc. I feel that this will make it easier for the character to read as well as making it easier for them to read the script in a way that they can act with their voice.

[Voice-over film trailer]

Female Scientist: I got my first bunch of subjects today, 5 girls and 5 boys ranging in age from 12-16…they always said the children of this generation would lead to great success, I hope more than ever this is true. Being part of the Green Cross Co-operation has succeeded to bring so many medical break throughs, even if the experimentation has seemed…inhumane. If the public ever knew what we were doing they would, they would run riot! I wonder sometimes if they would be able to look past the negative exterior of the experimentation and see the effect they have had on the greater good. But what they don’t know can’t hurt them.

I got the idea for this voice over speech specifically from the film 'V for Vendetta', directed by James McTeigue and released in 2005, from the scene where the scientest Delia Surridge is having her diary read by a police officer and she is voicing over the text written in the diary over the visual film image.

Insperation for Film Trailer

 Resident Evil, directed by Paul W.S Anderson, released 2002

The Resident Evil film trailers feature the scientifical theme as well as the government conspiracy which are included in the film. The trailers both include careful editing including technical editing software to give the trailers then professional scientifical theme to them. After watching both of these trailers, the themes and issues portrayed in the trailer is something I want to also include in my film trailer as I think they are very important aspects/themes of the film and should be included in the trailer so that the audience are aware of this.

Dead Island, Game

The emotional reaction of an audience is what drew me to inspire part of my film trailer on this trailer, even though it is for a video game. The game trailer is based on the horror zombie genre, however goes in depth with use of sound and editing to target the audience's emotions and tells a story. I would like to include this emotional aspect in my film trailer as I think it would make the film stand out contrasting with other zombie horror film trailers which usually focusing on the action/thriller aspect of the film (gun fights, zombie fights, etc).

Fonts for Title

Parent Consent Form and Release Form

One section of my film trailer will include children zombies between the age of 12 and 16. I have decided, because of the age of these characters, to write a parent consent form for the children's parents to sign to give permission for their child to be; involved in my project, for their photos to be put onto my blog (as well as the final video and the videos showing the development), for makeup to be put onto their child as well as letting the parent know how much commitment the project will take from their child.

Dear Parent/Guardian

As part of my Media Studies coursework, I am making a film trailer which I could like your son/daughter to be involved in. This would include your son/daughter:

·         Being recorded by camera and having their photograph taken and the videos/photos being put onto the internet, as well as being sent off to an exam board

·         Being involved in having make-up/face paint put onto them

·         Giving up some of their own personal time

This will be done over a period of 5 months and therefore, your son/daughter may be needed for a number of days one after another or needed for a variety of short periods of times over these 5 months. Being involved in this project needs commitment and therefore, your son/daughter must be willing to put in the time and dedication to this project.

I hope that you will be accepting in giving your son/daughter permission to be involved in this project as it will be a lot of fun for your child as well as educating if your child wants to learn about Media/Film Studies. Please tear off the bottom permission slip and hand back to me as soon as possible.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter, respectfully yours,

Hannah Baxter, Wyke 6^th Form College Student

&

I wish to give consent for my son/daughter to be involved in Hannah’s A2 Media Coursework horror film trailer.                                                                                                                                                                                       I am aware of the commitment my child will need to put into this.

BLOCK CAPITALS PLEASE

Childs Name: __________________________________________

ADDRESS: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian’s Signature: __________________________________________________________

EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION

Emergency contact name:  __________________________________

Emergency contact telephone:  ______________________________________




Additonally, I have decided to create a release form to be signed by students from my college taking part. This will act like a contract which means that when a student decides to be involved, they will not be able to back out or decide they do not want to take part in the project as this is a problem I have faced in previous coursework breifs.

Dear Student,

You have been asked personally to be included in my Media A2 Coursework project, a film trailer. If you decide to accept being included in this project, you will be expected to put in the dedication as if it was your own work. This includes; learning your character’s scripted lines and turning up to all scheduled recording sessions. Failure to do so will result in your tutor teacher being informed and disciplinary actions being taken.

It must also be understood by the participants involved that all photos, recordings etc. will be put on the internet as well as being shown to various students, teachers and the exam board. Therefore, signing this permission slip means you are agreeing to having your photos taken and being recording as well as these pieces of evidence being put onto the internet.

Please do take time and read this carefully before agreeing to be involved in this project, I hope that you will agree as you will be a great addition to my cast/crew.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter, respectfully yours,

Hannah Baxter, Wyke 6^th Form College Student

&

BLOCK CAPITALS PLEASE

I _______________________________ wish to be included in Hannah Baxter’s Media A2 Coursework project. By signing this permission slip, I am aware of the dedication included and accept full responsibility for discipline I may receive in result of failing to meet the project requirements

I wish to also give my consent to having my photos taken, being recorded and these pieces of work also being put onto the internet.

Signed: ___________________________________________      Date: _________________________

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Mobile Phone: _____________________________________________________________________

House Phone: ______________________________________________________________________

Email:    ___________________________________________________________________________

DVD Case Research

I have a few initial ideas for my DVD case after completing my film synopsis. I have decided to research more the one idea for my DVD case due to my coursework being at an early stage and the synopsis and plot of the film having the possibility of changing through time, especially through the time of writing my story board for the trailer.

Idea #1: My first initial idea is to create a DVD case which includes a young female child zombie including the tag line 'our future generation'. The reason I think this would be so effective is because young female children are often connoted to the horror genre as they are seen as scary and creepy if used in the correct way (the model having the correct make-up, facial expression, etc.). Additionally, the tag line would relate to the visual image as well as relating to a phrase used by a general audience and therefore, they could recognise this. Some famous young female children actress I will use for inspiration for this style are: Isabelle Fuhrman (The Orphan directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, released 2009), Jodelle Ferland (Silent Hill, directed by Christopher Gans, released in 2006), Linda Blair (The Exorcist, directed by William Friedking, released in 1973).

Idea #2: My second idea is to focus on an extreme close up of a character's face with blood shot red eyes; this commutating evil and the mutation from human to zombie which relates to my film. The reason I think this would be so effective is because close up visual images of a characters face for a film poster (especially young women's faces) is a well-known and well used film poster image, especially films in the horror and thriller genre and therefore, is stereotypically associated with the genre of my film. Additionally, the massive use of this idea would mean that my target audience could relate to this film poster and know instantly what the genre of the film is because of their previous experience with this image.

Idea #3: My third idea is to focus on the actual zombie horror element of the film and include this on the front cover, doing so by including a scary creepy looking mutated zombie hand. The reason I think this would be so effective is because it gives the audience a slight insight into what to expect from the film, if the hand is editing to look scary enough like these DVD cases above, as it gives the audience the knowledge of how in depth the mutation in this film actually is. As well as the body language just a hand can send across to the audience, the grabbing motion relating to other zombie films and what codes and conventions the audience can expect to see from a zombie film which they would want to see.

Idea #4: My fourth idea is to focus the audience's attention on the military theme included in the film as well as the zombie horror element and use characters dressed in military army wear, holding military weapons like guns and grenades as well as a group of characters dressed as zombies in ratting torn clothes and pale bloody covered faces. I think this would be so effective because this bring the thriller and action sub genres into the horror genre and therefore, would attract a larger audience. Additionally, the use of a female character on the DVD case ranges again the audience of this film as this goes against gender stereotypes and therefore, attracts a larger female audience.

Synopsis of my Film

I have decided to write a synopsis for my film trailer for two reasons. One, because it will help me in creating my story board if I know the plot of my film is and will help me think of exact parts within the film I can refer to in my trailer. Two, I can edit this formal version of the synopsis, cut it down and feature it on the back of my DVD case for my film.

The Synopsis - Medical breakthroughs are what keep people healthy and happy... keeps people's hopes up in those dark times... keeps people alive? It's 2010 and in the public's eye, Green Cross Cooperation is the largest known pharmaceutical entity in the world. The company is happily known for its amazing scientifical breakthroughs in medical science and health care but unknown to even it's employees, it's massive profit margins come from human experimentation, terrorist and military weaponry. That is until a break out of a genetic mutation drug used as a military weapon is leaked out of a secret lab base. What follows is the breakdown of society, rapid human mutation, people turning against each other and all the while, the members of Green Cross Cooperation are hidden in a safe haven. It is up to a small group of survivors including an ex-military solider to try and save humanity and bring those guilty to justice.

The Story Type - My film is not categorised into just one story type as I feel that a film can never be defined as just one story type, especially a zombie film as there are a lot of codes and conventions included which must be considered (e.g. the horror and fear element, the heroism/cowardliness of a specific character(s), romance between two character even if it is only brief or a possibility throughout the film, etc.).

The Quest - This story type relates to the protagonist of my film accepting the challenge of saving humanity and bringing those guilty to justice.

The Wanderer - This story type relates to the female lead character of my film, leaving one place and arriving at a new place however there being a problem there, this obviously being the zombie Apocalypse.

Punitive Plot - This story type relates to the antagonist of the film, who starts off with a false cover of a protagonist to get in with the group of survivors.

The Characters -

• Ex-Military Solider (Philip, protagonist) - Being the dominant male military figure, Philip takes lead of the group, not in favour of everyone (Maria), however this later in the film turns into deep feelings between the two characters. He is tall with dark stubble and throughout the film trailer, wears military trousers and a black t-shirt, this being because the military pattern connotes his dominant authority as well as creating realism because there are no costume changes as this would be the last of the character's worries in a zombie Apocalypse.
• Green Cross Cooperation Worker (Andrew, antagonist) - Andrew is a Green Cross Cooperation Worker however, this is unknown to his fellow survivors until nearer the end of the film and therefore, he is seen as a protagonist just because he is a survivor helping the rest of the group take down the Green Cross Cooperation. However, he is actually trying to reach the safe haven where he will be safe and turn on his fellow survivors. He will wear a casual business suit as this will create the realism of him being at work when the zombie Apocalypse broke out.
• The Stranger (Maria) - Maria is a feisty female character who does not agree with the dominant role that Philip takes upon the group however, later in the film this resentment turns into deep feelings for the character. She is a tough female figure and saves Andrew from nearly being killed from a mutated human, breaking all gender stereotypes. Through the film, she will wear light jeans a vest top, with a hoodie/coat tied around her waist.