Sound in trailer

We needed a variety of different sounds in our trailer this would create a sense of realism. This includes music and dialogue.

To find the music we wanted to include in our trailer we used the website www.freeplaymusic.com and searched through various tags such as 'horror', 'thriller' and 'eerie'. This allowed us to listen to a range of songs that are not copyrighted. This is important as due to the copyright laws we are unable to use songs by well known artists or other films, and as we did not really have a budget to make this trailer we could not afford the rights. Also, we ourselves, do not know any aspiring bands who produce music that would fit into our trailer to request permission to use.

It took many hours and was one of the longest tasks in the whole production of our trailer, however, eventually we found a few different tracks that we all liked and agreed fit in with the action on screen in our trailer. The support of the sound, made the trailer. This will help to create the desired reaction from our audience, which in this case is fear and suspense.

The sounds we needed all together were:

• A dark eerie slow music to support slower scenes but start to create a tense atmosphere, this then needed to progressively build and become more powerful for the big up beat scene. If we could not find a track like this we could use two different tracks that mix well together.
• Doorbell
• Phone ringing
• Diegetic sound in scene
• Voiceovers - 3 in total, a police call operator, a phone call to the police, and the news on the radio.

The track we decided to use fit really well with our trailer, one of the things we liked the most about this was that as the antagonist walked up the stairs there was a strong beat with every step which amplified the fear Katie would be feeling. The music was also only around 1 minute 30 seconds which meant that we did not need to cut it down which would ruin the pace we created as it abruptly stops.

Filming and Equipment

We used a range of equipment to shoot our film. Firstly we used a HD digital video recorder to film all scenes and footage. This was easy to transport as it was small and easy to carry. It also connected easily to the computer which allowed us to import it easily into the editing software.  We also used a tripod that this attached to, which allowed us to steady all shots so therefore the camera was not shaky. We also used a voice recorder to record all voiceovers.

Filming was a lot of fun for us all, however we found it a great challenge considering the amount of time we had to do it in. We made this easier for ourselves by creating schedules. However, it we had to constantly remind ourselves that we were filming a whole trailer and therefore needed to include the whole narrative. This meant we had to try to keep continuity throughout the filming which lasted a couple of weeks.

A way we overcame this was by checking our footage at the end of each filming session and re-watching it the next day. This allowed us time to be critical of our work and pick up on any mistakes we felt we needed to re-film.

One of the important lessons we learned during filming was that we needed to remember to charge the camera regularly, as we did not do this at first and it ended up running out of battery halfway through filming which meant we then had to leave it wait until it had charged to then film that scene again.

character changes

Alice is now playing Katie, our main character, in our film. This was an easy change for us to make, as Alice was only filmed in one scene as Katies friend so all we had to do was take a small part of our spare time to refilm this scene with Katie having just one friend, me.

This scene had to be reshot anyway as we had to film it again with Alice instead of Alissa.

Changes to trailer

As we began to film our trailer we came across some issues that we had to find a way around.

The first issue was that Zoe's parents, who were playing Katie's parents in our film, had busy work schedules and we struggled to find a time that they were free to film at the same time as Alissa, who was playing Katie and us, the crew who were needed to film. We had planned the whole film at Zoe's house, which is why we had chosen to use her parents as it made it much easier than trying to get one of our parents to Zoe's house.

Zoe then got considerably ill and was unable to come into school or to have us round to her house to film. We used this opportunity to film anything that could be filmed in any house, as not much background was seen, or shots that were outside and a house was not seen. We filmed these at Alice's house.

Over the Christmas break period we found out that Alissa was going away for nearly two weeks. This made everything very difficult as if we wanted to get our film finished before going back to school then we would have to rush all our filming, which we did not want to do. We also would not have time for re-filiming anything that we found to be wrong when we were editing.

We knew we had some serious decisions to make.

Alice, who was in our group and was meant to be playing one of Katie's friends volunteered to become our main character. This seemed like the best idea to us as we only had to rely on Alice, who was in our group and therefore would be likely to be free when we were. As we had already filmed some footage at Alice's house it seemed ideal to finish filming at her house so that more shots could be filmed in similar places.

We also knew we should try to change the narrative as much as possible to try to remove Zoe's parents from the story. This would mean that we were able to film more of our film as we were now only relying on people that are in our group to be free to film.

We were able to stick to the idea of a girl being held hostage in her own home while her parents were away. However, we were able to really simplify this. The story-line became less original but our ideas continued to flow which allowed us to put our own personal twist on the film to make it more personal.

This is our new narrative:

Katie, who would now definitely be played by Alice, is left home alone as her parents go away for their anniversary. - However, in the trailer the parents would not be shown they would only be waved at in a car as it drove off.
The trailer would open up with a '999' emergency phone call being heard.
This then changes to Katie listening to the radio which explains how another girl had been killed by a killer who had not been found.
Katie is then shown talking to her friend - we cut this down to just one person, me, so that Alice could play Katie - she is telling her friend how she was excited as her parents are going away.
The trailer would then develop and the pace would increase as the killer gets into her house and holds her hostage.


This storyline links back to our research as the 999 call links to the call, and the stranger breaking into her home links to when a stranger calls.

Planning - characters and Actors

This is Alissa, she plays Katie our main character in the film. We choose to use Alissa as she is a young attractive girl with long blonde hair. This fits the stereotype for girls in thriller films, as the long blonde hair connotes femininity and innocence. She also looks like 17 years old, which is the age we wanted our main character to be. She also comes across as a normal British everyday teenager, this is important as the female audience members will be able to relate to this.

Alissa is part of drama groups outside of school, studies A-level drama and is often in theatre shows. This allowed us to be sure that she would be professional and believable when in our production and also would be understanding to how long it may take to film the whole trailer, and do as many retakes as needed.

These are Katies two best friends who are also shown in the trailer. Having these two in the trailer shows that Katie is sociable and popular, this highlights how she has a social life inside and outside of school which helps the audience get to know her more. If the audience feel like they know her well then they are more likely to feel sympathy for her when she is attacker.



The antagonist in our film is not shown, however is played by Peter, who is in our group.  We tried to keep him hidden and completely out of shot as our USP is that  our film comes from the attackers point of view. In the shots that he is shown we tried to keep him hidden in the shadows or in the background so it can not be seen who he is. This creates mystery in our film which will scare the audience more.

Risk assessment

Planning - settings

Some of the settings in our trailer are inside a school. This is because our main character, Katie, attends sixth form. Having settings inside a school allows her friends to be introduced, as well as the audience getting to know her. This will therefore make them feel more sympathy towards her when she is held hostage. When filming in the school we tried to ensure the images truly reflected the setting, this is why the lunch tables are shown here and we also used iconic lockers, as they are one of the first things thought of when people think of schools.

 The garage used within the film is designed to look like the kidnappers safe house. This is because he is seen finding his murder weapons in here, and the way it is cluttered, yet he finds everything shows that he has been there before and uses this place often

  This is the house where Katie lives with her parents. This is a safe and secure place for everyone, including the audience. When Katie is met by an intruder in her own home it makes the scene more scary and sinister. Our trailer also contains a shot from the attackers point of view of him watching the house, and Katie, from this angle.

This is the dining room in Katie's house. She is seen here listening to the radio when she first hears
about the attacker. This is a sign of foreshadowing the events to come, making it more sinister when it happens. Katie is seen here doing her school work, this shows realism which helps the audience get to know her and feel more sympathy when she is attacked.

 This is the living room in Katie's house. This is again a familiar setting for the audience making them feel safe and unlikely for anything to go wrong here. However, this is where the hostage scenes take place in a chair in the middle of the living room. Before these scenes happen various scenes are shown in this room such as her sitting watching television. This makes the audience feel more sympathy for her as realism has been shown.






This is the conservatory in Katie's house. The large, open spaced window is where Katie looks outside to see someone watching her. This is where the action starts as this is when Katie realises what has been going on and the kidnapper attacks.We thought this setting was one of the most important because of this reason.

The hallway and stairs in Katie's house. These appear many times during the film and trailer. We filmed footage of Katie being pulled down the stairs and also the attacker running up the stairs to try and find her.

Planning - communication within the group

Having the ability to have a group conversation running on social media, was so helpful for our group. This allowed us to communication outside of school, especially during the Christmas half term break when we needed to get as much filming as possible done, so we were able to keep in regular contact with each other to determine when to film.

Planning - communication with main actress

As our main actress does not study media with us, we do not see her often. Because of this, we had to ensure that we keep her up to date with everything we are doing and also so she knew when we wanted to film certain parts.

These are some screenshots of communication between Alissa, our actress, and Alice, a member of the group. Social media was very beneficial to us as it was an easy way to all keep in contact with each other.

Planning - prop list

I made this first prop list very similarly to the way I made the costume list.

This was by writing down the list of all the props that would be needed and then nect to them write down the day on the schedule they would be used for, usong the same colour coordination.

The color coordination matching on all sheets was important as it made everything easier to see and group when reading quickly.

Planning - costume list

 

After planning the shot list and a schedule we needed to find out what costumes we  would need and when. It is important that this is planned ready for filming as it ensures that continuity is shown througout the whole trailer. 

When making this list, I firstly wrote the name of the actor/actress and then wrote down a list of  the differnt costumes they would be wearing in the trailer. Next to each costume I then used the same colour coordination used in the shot list and schedule to write down the setting this would be used in and therefore which day.

Planning - schedule

After creating the shotlist, it was time to decide what to film on each day. I used the same colour coordination I had used in the shot list to create this schedule to make it easier read.

I used the initials i had put at the end and wrote down all the different combinations of actors needed. Then i used these as headings and wrote all the shots that could be filmed while all the actors were together. I then split this into settings and I was then able to divide it up into days. Therefore as soon as we found a time different actors were free we could easily see everything that could be filmed with them people there, which allowed us to tick one more day off of our completion list.

Planning - shot list

This is the shot list I created and copied for the whole group.

I produced this by using a different colour for each different location that we would be shooting footage in, plus an extra section for things that would be added in editing. I then went through the storyboard and added each shot, or group of shots to the setting they fit into. I then created a key at the side and used each initial of the name of the actor and wrote the actors initials next to the shots they would be needed to film. The '+2' in next to one of them is me and alice, who would be playing Alissa's friends, however at the time we were still deciding if we wanted to use ourselves or other actors.

By producing this shot list it helped our group to be much more organised as we knew what needed filming where, which meant we could work out how long filming would take.

Planning - script

Once we had our idea sorted out and our storyboard planned we tried to plan a basic script.

This is our first copy of the script. It was handwritten as it is still in the drafting process so therefore we were still working out which parts should be added.

We used the storyboard to create this script so we could see which shots needed dialogue adding. However, the script is very shot as we thought adding too much diegetic dialogue would break up our trailer and ruin any tension and suspense built.

Planning - storyboard

Planning the storyboard was very difficult for us. This is because knowing it was a trailer, we knew there was no set order it should go in. This meant there would be a lot of picking, choosing and swapping between which shots we wanted in the trailer. This is where the idea to use post-it notes in our storyboard was formed. We thought this idea was perfect as the post-it notes are square, which is the right shape for our shots, and all the same size which makes it easier. But we could also move them around as much as necessary until we found an order we liked.

This was our original storyboard. We showed this storyboard during our pitch. We researched other trailers more and found out that trailers usually show about 90 shots in 1 minute 30 seconds roughly. We had nowhere near that many shots so we choose to add more, which made our storyboard much bigger.

Planning - Roles within the group

Within the group we assigned roles for each activity we had to face. These roles were not definite and we all helped each other out, but each person was 'in charge' of different things to ensure they were completely finished and to a high quality standard.

All four of us wanted to take turns filming different bits and using the camera so we all shared that job equally. We thought this would be really beneficial for us as it would allow everyone to film things from the angle they thought would work best, therefore we would have a range of footage, with a variety of shots.

Zoe was the main person editing.
Alice was the main person sorting mise-en-scene when filming, this included her doing the make up.
I was in charge of props, and I also made all the scheduling lists and sheets we needed. I was also an extra actress.
Peter was the main antagonist actor, as well as producing the storyboard.

Planning - production company logo

This is our production company logo. The name 'maximum productions' written inside a film strip suggests how our production company is the best, the word 'maximum' does this. The five stars round the top reiterate this as they suggest we produce high quality, five star, films.

The iconic images of Big Ben and the London eye seen highlight how we are an independent British company.

Planning - Pitch and feedback

This is our groups original pitch we showed to our class. This is where we explained all of our ideas and got as much feedback as we could. We gave information on narrative, music, characters, settings, generic conventions of thrillers and generic conventions of trailers.

This was really helpful to us as firstly it helped that we were able to speak through our ideas to people that did not know them. This meant we were able to really understand if it all made sense together.

We also gained feedback that was important to us as it greatly helped us to plan our trailer even further. One of the main ideas we got was to mix our storyboard up to make it seem more chaotic, which is stereotypical of thrillers.

We were also able to eliminate some of our title ideas down to

• Hostage
• Vendetta
• Housebound

However, we were also given some new title ideas, such as 'The intruder' aand 'raw deal'.

Watching pitches from other groups in our class was incredibly beneficial as it gave our group more inspiration concerning music and the thriller theme.


The slides from our presentation are:

We divided the slides up between us all and all worked on our own slides individually to produce them with the groups ideas and then present them.

Planning - Target audience

The important thing we had to consider during the planning of our film was the nature of the content we included. This would help to determine which age rating the film would get if it was to undergo classification. As we wanted to make our trailer as realistic as possible we knew the rating would be high, as if not it would not include stereotypical thriller conventions.

There is a list posted by the British board of classification (BBFC) which states what is allowed in a 15 film:

• Strong violence
• Frequent strong language
• portrayals of sexual activity
• Strong verbal references to sex
• Sexual nudity
• Brief scenes of sexual violence
• Verbal references to sexual violence
• Discriminatory language or behaviour
• Drug taking

There is also a published list by the BBFC which states what is expected to be seen in an 18 rated film:

• Very strong violence
• Frequent, very strong language
• Strong portrayals of sexual activity
• Strong horror
• Strong blood and gore
• Real sex - in some circumstances
• Discriminatory language and behaviour

The BBFC can also ban films that they think show anything worse than this and should not be seen by the public. Or they can make them R18 films, which means that they are kept hidden from the public audience and can only be shown in licensed cinemas.


Looking at these lists, we knew we wanted to make sure everything in our film was suitable to be viewed by 15 year olds, as this was an audience we wanted to target. This meant that our film could include horror themes but nothing too extremist. It also means we are targeting a larger audience, so our film is likely to be a bigger success.

Planning - USP

After deciding on an idea and creating a basic plot we wanted to find a unique selling point (USP) of our film before planning it all and realising it is very similar to many films and therefore would not be an ideal film to make.

We tried to think how we could make our film individual and original and came up with the idea of setting the majority of the film up from the attackers point of view, and therefore rarely seeing him. If he was seen on camera then it was in the shadows or from a very long distance so his face was not visible.

This idea would also create a sense of mystery which creates fear and suspense within an audience.

Planning - business deal - Idea 3

After discussing the second idea further, we were trying to work out a way to produce this idea. Knowing we already had one actress in mind to play a lead female role, we tried to base a more detailed plotline including this character. We really struggled to find a plot line that we had the ability and equipment to film, and make look realistic. We found this really difficult as these sorts of storylines, involve blood, and gore, such as people cutting limps off, or drowning eachother. These types of scenes need an incredible amount of special effects and involve a very large risk assessment, and therefore we would not be able to film this, in a way that looks realistic enough to be believed by an audience.

Because of this we began drafting ideas again to adapt them as much as possible to make them realistic, and as high quality as possible.

We tried to look beyond the Halloween idea as we realised that although this seemed like a good idea as it is a frightening night, there is a limit to what can be related to this due to the supernatural being the main association.

We looked at the idea of a hostage situation again, therefore we would be able to use the female actress we had in mind. Whilst brainstorming ideas we thought we finally came up with one.



Firstly, a business deal occurs between two men, one does very well off of this deal and the other does very badly and looses everything, including his house, his business and his family. This man wants revenge on the other man as he blames him. He begins stalking his daughter, as he think this is the best way to get to him.

Whilst watching the daughter he hears her parents are going away for the weekend for their anniversary, and takes this as the perfect time for his plan. We thought we could use some parts of our first idea here, with the doorbell being rung and no one being there and the girl ringing the police.

He finds a way into her house and their is a series of scenes where she is trying to hide from him, before he eventually finds her. This then leads to him catching her and holding her hostage.

Her parents keep ringing her from their weekend away and can't get hold of her so end up leaving their holiday early.


As a group we really liked this idea as a whole, we liked how simple this idea was, which led to the narrative being a lot clearer, however there were still different little plots happening throughout! We also like the idea of using some of our original ideas as they are what we related to a thriller immediately.

Planning - Idea 2 - Trick or treat game

Whilst discussing our idea we realised that we may find the trailer very difficult to make for a variety of reasons, which included that it was no longer Halloween and therefore to get a range of houses for trick or treating that we could decorate well enough to fit the theme of the film would be very difficult, we also realised how difficult it would be to get a large enough range of young children who were able to be in our film. However, as we liked the idea so much we continued with the ideas bur brainstormed how we could develop them so that they would work better.

We loved the Halloween idea so wanted to continue with this, we looked at the films we had researched and tried to look for inspiration from these. Alice, a member of my group had watched a film called would you rather, so we all went away and watched that ourselves, to form our own research. We all thought using the idea of a group of friends playing a game that turns sinister could be interesting. As we were using teenagers and still wanted some individuality we thought the game could be Truth or dare, and there could be a point where one of the friends says a dare that is much worse than the others previously used.

By doing this we were loosing our idea of a stranger being involved, and we liked that idea, so we thought there could be a knock at the door, which is a stranger who somehow gets into the house, even against there denial for him to get in. He could join in the game and make it much more sinister.

We originally thought that the game did not have to take place inside a house and could happen in a public place such as a park. However, when we thought about this idea realistically we knew we do not have the equipment that would benefit this, as it would need to be filmed after it was dark, that way there would be no children in the park and it would be more scary as the darkness sets the scene, so we would need a camera that could pick up clear images even in the dark. But also, if we were filming outside The diegetic sound, such as dialogue may be affected by the wind, which would impact our film massively.

Planning - Initial ideas

When we first tried to plan a film in the thriller genre we had many ideas to brainstorm and try to form together into a film.
These included:

• A girl being kept hostage
• A Halloween based idea
• An emergency call being made to the police
• Trick or treating

Planning - first idea - Trick or treat

Grouping our ideas together seemed to be quite easy at first.

We decided we liked the idea of trick or treating on Halloween as this is known to be a frightening night, which would start to set the scene immediately, however we thought we would start our trailer with young children dressed up trick or treating. This would make the theme seem happy and fun and then frightening themes would be introduced later. The trailer would focus on one 16/17 year old girl and how she was home alone for the weekend as her parents had gone away. Her doorbell ringing at first would be different children knocking, and then would be the a strange man knocking repeatedly  but this would develop into no one being there when it rings again. She would then realise that he has somehow got into her house. This was always an idea of our film as we wanted a hostage storyline to occur. The girl would then make a phone call to the police claiming there is someone inside her house.

Throughout the next part of the film there would be a chase between the strange man and the young girl, before he catches her and keeps her hostage inside her own home.

This idea relates back to my research as the phone call to the police is similar to the call, which I watched the trailer of. It also links to When a stranger calls, as this film plays with the idea that a stranger terrorises a girl with phone calls, before he makes his way into her  house and attacks her. This is similar to our film, however we liked the idea of Halloween as we think this makes our film more original and individual and therefore this could have been our USP.

Planning - Forming a group

Knowing how important this piece of work is I wanted to ensure i was working in a group that I knew would work well together, as well as be able to produce a piece of work that we could be proud of.

Having worked in a group together last year,  I know how Alice and Peter work and how we all work together and I know we can all work well together. Zoe is an easy person to work with and therefore we knew she would fit into the group dynamics straight away.

Before starting anything serious we spoke about all our ideas and any things we knew we wanted to do to ensure there were no major controversial ideas that would cause problems further down the line in the production of our trailer.