Not too late

Had another idea for my film poster after looking at the posters for the top ten stalker films.
I would like to have the couple walking happily along, smiling at each other and in the background we see a blurred figure (the stalker) about 50 yards behind so it is still unknown whether the stalker is male or female.

If not many people liked that idea, thien i want to use one of the girl walking alone in the dark under a strret lamp. The background would be a bigger picture of the stalker, face obsured by the hoodie, with the title inbetween the 2 images.

Although i have already taken some test shots which are yet to be addeed, i wanted to see how an audience would resopond to some close up's for a poster.

Poster?

Took the photo's yesterday during the day but am tempted to go back at night to get the real effect. Will work on them in photoshop back at college and mark out where the people would stand becuase at the moment they are just long shots.
I took a variety of shots, in my favourite 3 places; one from a distance so we would see the back of the stalker and one as if to look over the stalkers shoulder which would be in the corner.

There are 3 positions i decided on;

• One looking at a bench where i imagine the couple would be sat, with a tree to the side to show why the stalker can't be seen. I liked this as the frame tightened around the couple on the bench becuase of the trees and branches closing it in.
• Another shot was from upon a hill which is called the red mount, the stalker watches from further away, hidden by the wall. What i liked about this shot is it could be taken in reverse; either from behind the stalker of infront of the couple looking up so the audience could see the stalker lurking in ths shadows which would be ver creepy.
• I took some pictures facing towards the arch, the couple would be walking underneath the light post in the middle of the park while the stalker is partically hidden behind a tree. This would have to be taken at night time though because i wanted to connotate good an bad by showing the couple in the light and the stalker in the dark.

I have also put a shout out on Facebook and Twitter, asking friends to give me their opinions and complete the polls.

Ideas

Was walking home the other day in the evening and went though a place called the walks. It triggered some ideas i had floating around my head for where the second part of the trailer could be shot as well as the film poster or where the magazine cover could be shot.
It is really closed in with trees and looks creepy in the dark but i think i could edit the picture to create that effect if i was to take the pictures in light.
In the dark however, it would work very well with the heightened atmosphere which would be the second part of the trailer, the turning point.
From one angle i looked at, i thought of a really great idea for the film poster and a shot for the trailer. The stalker could be stood behind the tree with a hoodie or something on as to not identify them, watching the girl walk hand in hand with her boyfriend. I would do a long shot, from behing the stalker behind the tree. They could hear something and turn around but the stalker would not be there.
 As the brief states, all photgraphs must be original and be taken by yourselves for authenticity and copyright reasons.
I have thought about continuetity and weather due to it being a public place which is why i would aim to shoot it in around 2 days, keeping a list of positions, clothing, time ect.. incase any scences need to be re-shot.
The upside to my idea though is that the shots would be taken as if the stalker had been grooming their prey for a while and the most recen shots had been taken over a month so there would be costume changes between takes.

Blurred

I think that the outside background does ruin the effect i was going for but when i applied shadowing, i lost the people in to the background but im still trying.
I think now that it has a tighter frame, viewers can see what i mean about looking out of the glass and feeling isolated while searching with their eyes.

WatchOut...

This image was inspired by aclip from the trailer for 'Single White Female' where the actress is looking out of the window in her apartment. I wanted my actors to be blurred and the main focus on the background as it would be anfter they have found out they are being stalked. This would mean the focus is on the outside world and where he (or she) could be.

I want to edit this to remove the window frame on each side so it becomes a tighter frame with the main focus lookingout.
I would have liked for the outside to be a little darker which i tried to do in editing but didn't work out as i planned so i focused on blurring the people a little more.

Shadows

I experiment with shadows on this image, i mentioned before how i wanted a darker background but this was difficult becuase then i would lose her face and altering contrast just made her look like an orange with hair. I found middle ground here but would rather there be no shadow on her face as it makes it diffiult to see the expression on it but the eyes still shine through which was my main concern.

Its very differnt to the original idea of DiCaprio looking in to a mirror but i tailored it round to what i would use in my actual trailer.

The original image is very light and in a tighter frame whereas here its wider frame and dark shadows.

Action...

Original photo;

I really liked this photo without editing, just the pure expression on her face (it took around 20 takes to get the correct expression to match Leo DiCaprio expression as he looks in to a mirror for the trailer for Shutter Island.
The light has caught her face at the right angle which makes her expression clearer and her eyes look watery which is ideal for a scared face.

edited...

In this, i changed my mind alot as people commented on each effect i tried saying that they didn't understand what i was trying to convey until i tried this.
I wanted two lovers in a clip walking happily then for it to stop on an image like this and change to black and white (more white balance than normal) so then next screen would be a white one with a flash montage of clips of the dead body of the guy on the floor. I think, and peers agree, that this would be chilling and unexpected as when this effect is used, it means a change of scenery or end of a scene.

First Picture...

I found some lovely friends to act as a couple for me which i think is great as they already have chemistry which can be seen in this image.
So far, i have altered the lighting, i want them to be light to show the goodness of their relationship. It's not like the clip from the hole when keira knightley is over her boyfriend inviting him to a party but i wanted a 'happy go lucky' romantic image.

Photoshop

For a task, we had to re-create 3 clips from trailers that we would possibly use and like. I have choosen three which i think i would use in my storyboard. One of boyfriend and girlfriend walking holding hands, which i have changed from the hole so instead of seeing the couple in the shower/changing room/dancing, they would just be walking. The next would be a close up or the girl, taken from Shutter Island when DiCaprio looks up in to the mirror, look of horror and fear that i want to recreate. Also one of the girl peering out the window like on of the opening clips in Single White Female.

Trailer research

Beofre researching film magazine and posters, i wanted to have a look at some films mentioned in my Vox Pop and the top ten stalker films to give me some ideas.

The top ten stalker film list is as follows;
1. Fatal Attraction (1987)
2. Scream (1996)
3. Taxi Driver (1976)
4. Cape Fear (1991)
5. The Fan (1996)
6. Fear (1996)
7. One Hour Photo (2002)
8. The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (1992)
9. Single White Female (1992)
10. Sleeping With The Enemy (1991)

Looking at the list i noticed that recent stalker films such as Hard Candy, have not made it on to the list, leaving an 8 year gap since One Hour Photo. This is ideally the best circumstance for releasing a film like this as there are no current films like this in the cinema at the moment. It has also been a few years since the last one meaning there is level for it to match up with current film releases.

I also looked at some pschological thrillers mentioned in my Vox Pop, here are the trailers and my comments or ideas i got from each trailer.



This Film is more of a horror film i think from looking at the trailer, however, i did find some aspects that i think can be used in a trailer involving stalkers.
There is no real music accompaning the trailer which i think helps effect the audience to captivate them and listen to sounds in the trailer, part of drawing them in.
They use text throughout (I said previously that i wouldn't want to do this but looking at the trailer for the hole, i found it very captivating and helps the audience keep up with the action)
Jumpy cut shots explain a bigger picture without focusing on one part of the film.
The main thing i noticed about this trailer was their use of a negative shot towrds the biegining of the Volta of the trailer. I loved how it left the audience in suspence but guessing if that person was the antogonist.




Single White Female is 9th on the top stalker list. Its very different to the typical thing to expect of a man or woman stalking the opposite sex but this film revolves around one woman stalking another.
I thought too much of the plot was given away in the trailer and not much was left to the imagination which is how i want my audience to be left.
But, i did like the clip added at the end of the trailer after the credits as i wasn't expecting it and it made me jump, i can imagine it had the same effect on many others.



Althought this isn't a film involving stalkers, it falls in to the pschological thriller section perfectly and had some aspects of the trailer i really liked.
The close up of expressions on Leonardo DiCaprio's face gave me an idea for an ending of my film, i want a close up of the girl sat in the corner hearing a knock on the door, so the end shot would be a close up of her scared face.
I also liked the faded transitions used in the trailer instead of jump cuts or fast cuts.

Music

I have asked around my music friends and have found that one of my guitar playing friends knows some of snow patrols songs and could play what i needed, they can also play piano in case 'ways and means' doesn't turn out right.

Have also started looking at magazines and posters for films, as well as looking at some of the psychological thrillers that was mentioned in my VoxPops. To be posted at a later date...

Music

I heard a song on my IPOD this morning that i think would work really well with what i want to accompany my trailer.
It is a song by Snow Patrol called "ways and means", I just want the music without the singing though to play quietly in the back ground so i can still have heavy breathing and camera shots heard in the trailer.




I would use the first 2 minutes of the song as that is how long I intend for my film trailer to be. I'm trying to find a way of getting just the music at the moment to see how it fits with the image of the trailer idea I have in my head.
I really liked this song because of the tranquilising effect it has yet it has a mysterious vibe to it which would work very well with a film trailer about stalkers. I need to write to snow patrol and ask their permission to use this song, if they don't allow me to, I want to find somebody to replicate this music so I can use it.
I will be loading my story board on soon.

VoxPop's

I have had a lot of difficulty uploading these clips to this blog so I have put them on YouTube and linked them. This could work out better in the long run so that people can comment on YouTube as well as on here. This will enhance Web 2.0 that i want to use as much as possible with designing my film trailer, poster and magazine cover.

1.What is your biggest fear and why?



2.What would you like to see in a film trailer involving stalkers?



3.What is your favourite psychological thriller?



I have mentioned in my previous post what i would change and do differently next time but this was my first go at filming with a camera so next time i will know to set the white balance ect.. before filming.

Mac work

After doing my vox pop mi am now trying to edit the clips together on a mac for the first time, its going surprisingly well just takes a long while to upload- main reason they aren't on the blog yet but will be soon.
Looking back over the footage i've noted some things i will need to work on in future with camera's;
Need to set a white balance before filming- the lighting on the camera makes the people look very yellow and bright which i will remeber next time. Also, would not work for my trailer, i need dark and mysterious.

I need to remeber to turn the microphone on, i had to do a few re-takes as i forgot to turn the sound on.
I also switched from hand held to a tripod half way through, i would have prefered to use a tripod for all the clips but was testing a few quick hand held moves before th vox-pop.

In the back ground, i should have used tighter frames or cleared the surroundings because of all the bags in the shot, it doen't look very proffessional which is dissappointing.

I have booked a mac to continue editing next week so the vox pops will be uploaded soon.