Filming Day Three- Outdoor shots!

We filmed again this evening and are really pleased with our progress. After today we will only need one or two more filming sessions which is great because then we'll be able to focus all of our time on editing which is even more important in creating an effective and professional looking trailer. Today we filmed the opening scene to our teaser trailer. We wanted it to begin with an everyday scene because when we were watching and researching other horror trailers, we noticed a pattern that they all began with a perfect and idealistic life then suddenly something disturbing or terrifying happens. We think the juxtaposition is an effective way to scare the audience. We also noticed that many horror teaser trailers started quite slow, then the editing got quicker and quicker, leading up to a dramatic climax. Also the fast editing matches the beating of the heartbeat, making it speed up to make the audience feel anxious. Our trailer opens with a couple preparing dinner, with the knife block in view in the background, with one knife missing. We didn't want to make it really obvious and in your face, but it subtly sets up the story and drama to come.

Another shot we filmed today was a running scene in the garden. We had to experiment with light and camera shots to find the best one. We had many discussions over lighting because our trailer is set at night, we wanted the mise en scene to be very dark and eerie, a classic horror convention, however we needed a dim light so that the camera would pick it up, therefore we used a flood light from a distance to give a natural looking light that could have been coming from the house. Also we experimented with camera shots for the running scene; we tried hand held camera, long shots and point of view shots and during the editing process we will decide on our favourite.

Finally, we began filming the ending scenes of our trailer. We wanted to film Alex with blood on her face, however we had a limited time schedule and wanted to film all the blood scenes in one day because it will be difficult to reapply the blood exactly the same. We did however film one scene with Alex outside with blood on her hands running from the villain and finding a safe place to hide- a shed at the bottom of the garden.

Stills from footage we filmed today.