Typography & Questionnaire

Research into Horror film typography

After deciding a title for our production we now had to research different typography. This was crucial as it showed how the typical conventions were displayed. We looked at Cadaver, a Korean horror to see how other countries conventions were similar to our own.

We then compared this to a recent horror film Orphan.

Creating our own Title

After research into other Film titles, we used a website called http://www.dafont.com/ to create our own typography we thought would suit the title Mr Lynch. We were unsure on a few of them and so narrowed it down to four and decided to implement them into our questionnaire to see what our audience would prefer.




Questionnaire Completed

Thinking about what would attract our target audience we had to devise a questionnaire that would inform us on what sub-genres of horror they preferred, what font they thought was the most attractive and what would influence them to go and see a horror film.

Results from the questionnaire

After looking at the collected results we had a good idea of what type of characteristics lured our audiences in to our film. The most popular font was 'aggressive angry baby killer'. Which is also what we thought looked the most appealing. It also conveyed a school like image which was perfect for our film production. Furthermore we discovered that our female audience’s favourite sub-genre was teen horror and the plot would entice them the most to go and watch a horror film. However, we found different results from the males we asked that preferred slasher horror as a sub-genre and the trailer influenced them the most.

To ensure our trailer would appeal to our target audience we would use the chosen font throughout our campaign as a recognisable style. To appeal more to our male audience we need to interpret slightly a more violent/ slasher aspect as so far our ideas have been more about tension than gore. As the plot and the trailer were the most influenctial factors when considering to watch a horror film we had to focus our attention on sustaining a captivating plotline and remarkable trailer.

Choosing a film certificate

After looking at the BBFC (British board of film classification) we decided on rating our film a 15. Our film contains only allowed to show strong threat of menace, as long as it isn’t sadistic or sexualised. Since our production would use only slight references to, and not actual acts of sexual violence. Violence may be strong but not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. I felt it would be appropriate to aim our production at the audience of teenagers from 15 years and above.

Flat plans & storyboards

Magazine and Poster flat plan

Film poster flat plan:




Rough outline for what our film poster will look like, using typical forms and conventions.

We based our film poster in a similar way to that of a studied trailer we looked at earier, Obsessed. This poster shows all the main characters in the film, which also will happen with ours.

There will be lighting especially on Evee's face to highlight the terror in her eyes. Lurking in the background will be Mr Lynch, with only half of his face showing, implying to the audience he is a shifty character and you may never know when he may turn up.

Magazine Cover flat plan:



This Flatplan is based using one of our original images we took earlier. I belive the picture really captures the feel of the film indicating to the audience a slight insight to the plotline and characters.


With my completed flat plans, it was time to think of what the storyboard would look like. We knew what locations we were going to use and types of angle shots, it just had to be incorporated into a storyboard. We would have a serious of short clips with captions in between instead of using a voiceover. We thought a voiceover would ruin the tense atmosphere. These would have a black background and our font giving details on the film in between each shot.

STORYBOARD

The storyboard was a massive help in producing our film trailer. Without this simple step by step we would not know which order or what scenes we were going to shoot at what time. This storyboard shows a series of images that when we create our trailer will only last a few seconds. There will be little dialogue within this to keep the audience in suspense. In between these shots will come a caption which will give the audience a basic idea of the story rather than a voiceover.

We felt the voiceover would ruin the tension and using dramatic sound effects while the captions are playing would give it a more striking effect. This would leave the audience to create their own voiceover in their heads. We ended up sticking to the storyboard in almost every step and also kept the order in which the scenes would follow.

CAPTIONS

These captions are meant to come in between each short clip we show. They are influenced by the captions used in 'Notes on a scandal'. Our group thought that this was more effective and conveyed more tension rather than using a voiceover. The black background creates a mysterious feel to it.

Locations & original images

Location

We found a location in our school which appeared very abandoned and creepy. We decided this was a perfect spot to take some pictures. The white brick walls and old chipped doors gave a scary aspect to the photo as if no one is around to help the victim. These images could later be used to promote our campaign or to be used for our poster or Magazine cover.

Original images

Since deciding the actors and setting for our film, we took some still images which would later help us in our production work. We really wanted to convey the tension and each characters personality. We intended our audience to pity Evee and look upon Mr Lynch as a threatening, vicious character.

My group disliked the look of this picture. We though my facial expression looked unrealistic and the camera had a blurry look to it. We decided to redo it and were a lot happier with the results.


This image came out sharper in quiality, i looked more frightened and joel looked very sinister behind me.