Filming at Appuldurcombe

After a long wait, we managed to received clarification and had the opportunity to visit the location of our choice. Bearing mind nor me or my partner had ever visited Appuldurcombe, so the experience was even greater than we could imagine, the manor was so much bigger than anticipated. If we were to restart our process from scratch I would like to have pre planned a small visit before hand to see what environment we're working with, giving potential ideas before even starting.

However upon arriving and receiving the keys to the manor, we turned the camera on for a long length of time and went over multiple shots, and then having the thought process to go back, watch and review the best take, then further cut the shot and add that to our film trailer. This was the easier option as this prevented issues with stopping and starting the camera and keeping everything rolling.

As we arrived we took multiple shots of arriving, with the car registration plate, symbolising the arrival of the explorers. After receiving the keys to the manor we were amazed with the building and genuinely how creepy and spooky the place looked, it was perfect, we then grouped up and thought of ideas together filming multiple shots but inevitably picking a few to work from.

Overall the experience was fun, and personally I really enjoyed it. We emailed the manager of the manor saying thank you for access to the premises and if he wishes to see the work we've created.

Script - Draft

Scene one - Thearte

Mr Nye "And The winner is... JACK MILLWARD!"

Jack - "O M G, I've actually won this award, i can't believe it."
Fade out

Fade in
Jack - ''I'm astonished to have won this exploration award, i'd personally like to thank everyone that believed in me, including my family and friends for coming on this long journey with me... *Take deep breath* Now having said all of this, I've decided i'm going to explore Sir Fletcher Appldurcombes territory'' in the hopes to maintain and be known as the greatest explorer to ever exist''

https://www.disneybaby.com/blog/35-old-fashioned-baby-names-for-little-boys/

*two weeks later*
Shot pans towards the building slowly. with narration
Narrator 1st person Jack - ''This is my hardest challenge yet .... I am unknown to what may lie here, this places hasn't been touched in over 25 years... This is appledurcombe.''

Fade out
Jump cut toward first person view.
Jack*walks toward the building* breathing heavily
''This is it boys... Word has it that this place is on another level of paranormal activity.''

To the camera Jack ''Okay then guys, so we are here at appledurcombes house to see if all this uproar is legit... *breathe out* this place is so creepy''.

Outside, Jack - ''We come peacefully, if you would like us to leave please show us some form of presence now''

Seconds pass, nothing happens.

As we breach the house load noises and slamming of what seems doors occur.
Jack - ''what the **** was that''

Sean (Pat) ''lets get out of ere''

Jack ''Yeah, RUN!!!''         

Equipment.

Camera - Panasonic G7.
This is the Camera that we will be focus on using as much as possible, because it has by far the best shot quality as apposed to our options, also we have managed to familiarise ourselves with this model, which is a bonus.






Rode VideoMicro.
The microphone is a necessity along with the camera as we need to make sure all types of sound is captured accurately and to its bests standard. Also there is a kept record that both the microphone and the G7 partner well with one another and are fairly simple to use.







Joby SLR GorillaPod.

The tripod enables a firm and stable grip, allowing us to be moving around in different motions and being able to easily capture smooth shots. It also makes holding and directioning the camera far easier.






GoPro + GoPro Headstrap
This is our secondary camera that is going to be used to produce point of view shots (POV), this is because partnered with the head strap we can enable POV shots with ease as the Gopro is very light and the strap comfortable. However it's not our first choice camera as the quality falls off in comparison. However still a great option.

Photos of Location

Appledurcombe

I began to take lots of photos of the location which we plan to shoot our trailer at, to identify and analyse the location as well as creating some perspective on what we can plan to shoot for the trailer.
the only issue i have with some of the photos are that they're blury due to flash being needed, because the location was dark making it have an abandoned theme i made sure it was dark to play a part in building a scary vibe.

Appuldurcombe house is a very old building with many holes and and ruined areas creating a very scary/haunted approach, there were lots of worn down/broken staircases that were accessible and i took shots of these to give my audience an incite to the location.

Plot.

Trailer Plot.

The story of our film consists of a man trying to become a famous explorer who visits deadly haunted places around the world and proceeds to capture footage of his finds. During our trailer he investigates new places that have horrifying stories behind the scenes, ending with a cliffhanger giving the audience with a big adrenaline rush and building of tension creation the impact to want to watch more. Our main actor is well known and is associated with drama and therefore proving to be a good actor giving a realistic approach. I like the idea of this because it gives a unique and relate-able approach to the trailer. This film trailer is a good idea as i can see a large gap in the market, only a single actor is needed for these ideas to follow on, this actor is a a friend of mine Jack Millward. The cameraman will be my partner Patrick O'Meara, and i will be helping direct the film and creating the build up of tension. The creates a realistic approach because it is actually happening.

Start: The main actor ''Jack Millward'' receives and award for his key skills and determination when exploring, also being crowned the number one ghost hunter/explorer. He recieves the reward in the school thearte by a teacher playing the host of the ceremony.


Middle: Following scene one, will include lots of jump cuts showing locations that have previously been explored by ''Jack'', this section of the trailer will include fast paced music building lots of suspense/tension.


End: After this has happened we will be going into a haunted/abandoned building and jack will be trying to discover the ins and outs of the place. Until at one point a series of noises begin to occur the surroundings followed by loud noises, and eventually s sense of paranormality.
The ending of the film drops a hint at the story-line followed by a final cliffhanger, to try to influence the target audience to want to watch more.

Props.

Props we used/could have used when filming our trailer.

Trophy.

The trophy will be used to symbolism an award given to Jack, further announcing his adventure to appledurcombe, The award being presented by a teacher ''Mr Nye''. Following this is an explanation of what is happening further down the line.

Go Pro

The go pro is worn on jacks head and is used to show how he is filming from a third persons view, however most of the time the go pro isn't recording anything its just used as a prob to show evidence of what he is doing.

Candles

Candles were used and placed in the manor to show a kind of ritual area, creating a sense of tension and mystery, further questioning things like what is it and why is it there? We had to be careful of any left over mess when dealing with the candles and be sure to keep control over them, we asked permission if it was alright to use them.

Backpack

A backpack was worn to show an explorer like figure for our main charter, carrying all his belongings and explorer necessities.

Chair

A chair was used to show mystery and misunderstanding, the chair was left alone in really strange places like corners of rooms, or in the center of an open room. The chair was slightly broken and crooked giving even more of a scary/ slightly unorthodox approach.

Our Chosen Title.

My partner and i decided on three potential names, this post will explain the reasoning behind each of the three names and why they are possible contenders. the title needs to be appealing and a ''kind of'' appetiser for the audience in order to draw in there attention for the product.


The Explorer.

Millwards Haunted Adventure.

Appuldurcombe 
We chose this name because it is a single word which ultimately could ask the question, what is Appledurcombe. Following this it is a viable option as Appuldurcombe is a place that we wish to visit and hopefully film some footage there, providing we get the rights to. This title is a good choice providing we make use of the location otherwise it could be misleading, which would be seen as a massive negative, alongside the fact that people away from the isle of wight would most likely not know the location and any of prior stories relating to it. This is the most likely title that we will be using, providing we can gain access to the location.

The Explorer
This title was chosen because it is an explanation of what the film is about and the direction of where it heads. It is short and to the point, and doesn't present what happens in the film, only a short amount. However i will most likely not use the title as it doesn't really engage the audience on the specific genre, this being horror.

Millwards Adventure
This film Title was a kind of last resort title, I don't really like it personally, but i would make sense to use, as the character/actor in our film is called ''Jack Millward'' and it simply states whats hes doing in the film, this being ''adventure''. However from a preference i feel like this title doesn't really fit the part of  film, in comparison to a possible cartoon non fiction story/book. Therefore i dislike this title idea.

In conclusion i would rank the three titles, in this order:
-Appuldurcombe
-The explorer
-Millwards adventure
Mostly because Appuldurcombe has a sense of mystery about it, as-well as makes the most sense as we plan to film there. The other two seem more childish and not of any use.

Risk Assessment.

Risk	Level (1-5)	Solution
Permission of building	2/3	Use another location from research
Actor pulling out	1	Very unlikely but will have to try and get someone else last minute
Weather	1	Doesn't matter too much as if it is poor weather then this will suit horror genre, although will need to film all that day
Other people being there	4	This could heavily affect the filming as it wouldn't be realistic, will have to wait for it to be empty if this happens
Equipment breaking	2	Quite unlikely and I have other cameras to replace
Injuries	1-5 (Depending on extent of injury)	Will have to be ready to get another actor for another day if it that bad
Memory card running out of storage	3	Have other cameras but might have to come out on another day
Lose or forget storyboard	4	This could heavily affect the storyline and will have to make sure I make copies and put them somewhere safe

I now know of the risks that could be encountered when filming our horror film trailer, and how we can prevent them from occuring.

Possible Locations

Possible Locations For Set To Trailer:

Knighton Gorge Manor

Reasons For-

• Follows all key conventions of a horror film
• Convent int to travel to
• Correct lighting
• Is linked with many island ghosts stories

Reasons Against-

• Hard to get rights to film/Privately owned
• Surroundings don't fit the plan
• Not a suitable location

Appuldurcombe House

Reasons For-

• Proven to be haunted
• Easy to get to
• Free
• Building is old/creepy giving a good horror vibe
• 
  

Reason Against-

• Hard to get location as we want it
• A possibility of people visiting as well
• To popular of a destination

Carisbrooke castle

Reasons For-

• Ideal Location
• Easily acessable
• Free access
• Stories linked to the castle

Reasons Against-

• Castle is linked much with the horror genre
• Hard location to film at (needs creativity)
• Would be busy in the day

Questionnaire results.

1. Do film trailers influence the films you watch? 

Yes - 19
No - 11

This could give me information that a trailer needs to be good in order for the final film to be successful and built hype around.

2. What is your favourite horror out of the ones below?

Paranormal Activity - 12
IT - 8
Conjuring - 2
Saw - 3
Scary Movie - 5

From this information i can gather than films based around clowns/thriller horrors and paranormal horrors have the biggest popularity in terms of favourites giving my partner and i and incite to which path/sub genre to partake.

3. What makes a good movie trailer out of options below?

Cliffhanger - 19

A lot is given away - 5

Not much is given away - 6

This tells me that overall the audience wish to see a cliffhanger not revealing too much but giving the audience something to build hype and thrive over.

4. Do you prefer for a movie trailer to be slow or fast paced?

Fast - 24

Slow - 6

This answer tells me that people will need action at a quick pace to stop them from being bored and being able to engage in whats happening in the film.

5. Do you enjoy horror films?

Yes - 27

No - 3

This answer tells me that people really enjoy horror saying that hopefully we will have a good impact on our audience due to the enjoyment of horror films

6. What setting do you prefer?

Abandoned building/area - 9

Dark woods - 14

Big, old house - 7

From this i can understand that people want a dark/open location as opposed to enclosed locations/buildings.

7. Do you like realistic horrors?

Yes - 21

No - 9

This is good because it would be difficult to make ours unrealistic as we wouldn't need to use CGI, Also making it more realistic is good as it is believable to the audience. 

Overall this questionnaire is very useful to me as now i can correctly identify a target audience and change/alter parts of our film trailer accordingly, we will try to include as much of this into the trailer to give it a larger chance of success.

Genre

There are 4 key conventions to main Genre, however there are many sub-genres and hundreds of hybrid genres.

The largest impacts of genre are:

• The character and story
• Location
• Sound
• Technicalities

Sub genre is more commonly used to create a specific approach to a genre. 

Examples of this could be

• Fantasy
• Paranormal
• Romance
• Super Heros

Lastly hybrid genres aim to be even more specific but usually implicate that two genres are added together, for example

• Romance/comedy hybrid
• Horror/comedy hybrid
• Thriller/Horror
• Action/Fantasy

Over 90% of new films in the modern era consist of 2+ hybrid genres.