Special FX Research

I just thought that it would be a good idea to research into the possible special effects that I could use in my film opening in order for it to suit the conventions of a horror film. However, after looking at the YouTube clip above, I decided that that was not the direction that I wanted my film opening to go. Although, I will be using fake blood in my opening which can be created by gradually heating up some golden syrup and adding a lot of red food-colouring in order to make it a crimson coloured liquid.

This was my first attempt at using the fake blood and pouring it over the title to spell out the words:

As this was only a first attempt and was fairly bad if I’m honest because of the lighting and you can actually see the spoon that I used to pour over the fake blood. I will do another test of this in order to make sure whether the idea will work or not and I will ensure that the lighting is just right in order for the audience to clearly see the film’s title.

Red Riding Hood - Promotional Trailer

I saw this film trailer when exhibiting another film at the cinema and thought that it would be a good idea to look at the plotline because the film is based on Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf (being the werewolf). I also think that this film would appeal to my targeted audience and so is a good idea to include in my research.

Supernatural - TV Promotion Trailer

Although this is a TV programme and not a film promotional trailer, one of the episodes are based on The Brothers Grimm tales and has a horror twist to it. One of these tales are based on Hansel and Gretel and has a good representation of both the siblings and the grandma personas.

Research into Planning - Storyboard

I have found a really good website that includes many different storyboards and concept art by a man called Josh Sheppard. One of the storyboards that he has completed is called ‘Horror 2’. The site was really inspirational and I have used some of his conventions when storyboarding as I know what some of the symbols mean; in order to help the cinematographer.

Josh Sheppard - Film Storyboards

Research into Planning - Call Sheet

After looking into many different planning methods, I have found a call sheet that the Director George Lucas used in his film Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999). This call sheet included all of the necessary information that the cast and crew needed for the first day of filming:

(The source of this call sheet was from the book called The Making of Star Wars, Episode I, The Phantom Menace.)

From viewing an example of a call sheet, I have thought about constructing one similar in order for myself to be more organised for when the filming date is set. This will also allow my cast to know exactly what is required and so hopefully will minimise delays on the day.

Storyboarding

I know that this storyboard is rough, but it shows nearly all of the information that I will need when shooting and editing. I will of course improvise some shots on the day, and when editing will add the sound effects as appropriate, but this storyboard has given me a visual idea of how my film opening will look.

Intertextuality Research

I wanted to use intertextuality in my film introduction so that the audience were clear that my film will be based on The Brothers Grimm tales. Before deciding on which stories I would link to, I firstly picked out some of the well-known tales and mind-mapped the keywords associated with each folktale:

After mind-mapping the tales, I now have decided that I want to include intertextuality linking to Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood as well as the overall narrative based on Hansel and Gretel.