Psychological Thriller Posters

These are two examples of psychological thriller posters. Both of these posters display close ups of what the audience can assume are the main characters of the films. The 'Before I Go To Sleep' poster is of three different faces which creates a split meaning connoting that the characters are not completely stable. Linking to the psychological thriller genre as they are portrayed as broken. The female character in the middle has a middle parting in her hair which makes the image appear structured. Also, it allows the audience to focus on her eyes which are contrasting to the male characters darker eyes. 

Similarly, within the 'Black Swan' poster her eyes are emphasised due to how she is wearing fake eyelashes and dark eye makeup. In addition, from both posters we can see that the characters mouths are straight connoting that they are focussed and serious characters. This links to psychological thriller conventions as the main roles within films of this genre are seen as determined. The crack shown on the woman's face in the 'Black Swan' poster connotes that she feels broken, and the fact her neck is exposed expresses that she is a vulnerable character within this film. This vulnerability links in with typical psychological thriller conventions.

The black and white font used on both posters contrast against the main image so the viewer can obviously read the film titles. Also, the titles are all in capital letters which makes them stand out and appear bold to the viewer. The skinny font used on both posters is a key genre convention as it looks creepy, so links to the thrilling aspect of the genre. Included on the posters are reviews, which show the viewer how popular and highly rated the film is. Actor names, which advertise the film as a blockbuster whilst giving it star power so the viewer will be intrigued by what the famous actors roles are. Billing block gives a lot of institutional information that is required for the advertisement of mass films. Also, both include 'coming soon' at the bottom so the viewer is enticed to when the release date actually is.

This poster is showing the viewer a direct clip from the film/trailer, and it is not of a close up of the main character. I have included this poster within m reasearch as it is more like what I want to achieve. Also, it is landscape so is different to a majority of film posters. In addition, it is different to conventional psychological thriller posters due to how bright and blank the main image is. Furthermore, the viewers focal point is on the male character, but the blood in the corner is very vibrant so it's obvious. The photo is a still from the film which helps audiences identify what film it is from, thus increasing revenue. 

Audience Feedback from Draft One of Left Behind

Things to add...

-sound effects for impact
-suspense building music that continues throughout
-quicker shots which give glimpse of narrative

What went well...

-good shots
-use of non continuity editing
-dialogue
-dramatic hand at the end
-title style
-audience were intrigued
-acting from all cast members

To ensure that Zoe and I include all of this feedback within our second draft of Left Behind we will make a 'to do list' of the various things we need to include/tweak. Within our second draft we will make sure to include; intertitles, and a billing block 'coming soon...'. Also, to avoid not hearing a key part to the trailer we will increase the volume of our news report.

Draft One of Left Behind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=QnpEVW2uX0Y

Overview of Main Characters

To enhance the realism of Jenny's breakdown we had her look through photos of her and Sophie on her phone. We made Frankie and Millie take selfies together on Snapchat where they looked happy and were acting silly. This was to make their close friendship look realistic. The photos show their friendship and how happy they make each other. In addition, this adds an emotional response to the trailer as it makes us feel sympathy for Jenny's character. Using this element can also have more impact on the audience as they will all have a best friend and they may apply these events to their own lives.   

Characters in Left Behind

 News Reporter

We chose to use an older teenager (nineteen years old) to make the news report look professional and to increase the verisimilitude as the news report isn't presented by a young teenager. If we used someone who looked young and still in school, the news report would look fake and unprofessional. Also, we got the actor Jack Warner to wear smart clothes because a real news reporter would.

Girl Who Goes Missing (Sophie)

This character wore black leggings  and a black baggy jumper, connoting that it is a normal day for her as she is dressed casual. These clothes are also typical for a teenager to wear as acceptable pyjamas. She wears this as the audience see her get into bed wearing these clothes. Sophie wears a similar outfit when we see her in the flashbacks. Millie Todd plays the character Sophie.

Sophie's Mum

Sophie's mum wears a dark purple jumper dress over some black leggings. Again, we chose to have the characters in comfy clothes to tell our audience that the events are unexpected and out of nowhere. The casual clothes also increase the impact to the audience as they represent everyday people in society, making the audience think that these events could happen to them. The characters where plain clothes so that the audience are not distracted from the quick pace drama. Estelle Todd plays this mother role.

Girl Who Goes Psycho (Jenny)

This character wears a black Longsands leavers hoodie with black jeans. The hoodie connotes that she is still in school which was vital to portray as she is the same age as Sophie within our film. Yet in reality the actor who plays Jenny (Frankie Smith) is nineteen so she's just over a year older than Sophie (Millie). Frankie wore minimal makeup so she appeared younger than she is. Also, she wore flat sole shoes so that she was closer in height to Millie. This makes their friendship look more believable and increases verisimilitude.


Friendship

These two characters are close friends within our film trailer so when Sophie goes missing, Jenny starts to go insane. We see this through the footage of her scrolling through photos of them together as she takes pills and consumes alcohol. Also, the audience can see that Sophie's mum and Jenny are comfortable with each other through the scene where they are stood in Sophie's house together, when Sophie's mum says 'She's gone'.   

Filming Changes

This screenshot displays mine and Zoe's conversation over iMessage. We were messaging each other about enrolling Frankie to play Jenny. Bryony was originally supposed to play the character Jenny but due to having no free time she was unable to act for us. Also, on Tuesday the 12th we did not film anything because of the icy weather making recording dangerous. In addition, filming in icy/snowy weather would ruin the continuity in our trailer.
 

This screenshot is from the chat I had with Estelle asking about whether we could film on Monday 11th December with her and Frankie. We were able to film a lot of short clips that create a montage for our trailer. The clips include various scenes from the overall film so the audience will get an insight into what's to come throughout the film. Unfortunately, due to Frankie being ill, we were unable to film her as well on this date, but we plan to record her scenes of 'drinking' alcohol and 'taking' pills on either the 13th or 14th of December. To ensure she is not harmed, she will not actually consume anything.

Characters Clothing -Zoe Firth

News Report in Left Behind -Zoe Firth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2tQymgLWjI&feature=youtu.be

To make this clip look like a real news report Zoe edited it in iMovie using a news report theme. Zoe placed the clip into the programme and used the pre-made templates in the appropriate places. We made up the names for the news reporter and the broadcaster to make the clip look professional. Zoe downloaded a static effect, pasted it into different places of the footage towards the end to make it look corrupt. This will help convey a post apocalyptic atmosphere in the trailer. This clip will be streamed via Apple TV onto a TV in the main characters living room so it looks as though it is live and real.

Target Audience Analysis

The target audience for our Left Behind trailer is boys and girls between the ages of seventeen to twenty five. Our film is certified as a 15, though our main demographics shown are seventeen/eighteen. This is so that the range of audience is widened and we would receive more revenue. Teenagers aged seventeen will find the psychological thriller genre more intriguing than those younger. Audiences younger than 15 may not understand the content of our film due to the non chronological order of the trailer that promotes it.

The trailer will target younger audiences because they have easy access to the internet (where it will be) and social medias which will be advertising the trailer. The film will appeal to both male and female audiences as we have included vulnerable teenage girls which is a classic convention used to keep male audiences interested. Females who like suspense films will be enticed as they will put themselves inside the shows of the main female lead, bringing more impact to the audiences experience.

Filming for Left Behind

The first clip we will need to film is the news report as this appears within the first 10 seconds of the trailer. We will need to film it before we film Millie and Estelle's parts as they watch the news report on the television. The news report will be filmed on the 6th December with Jack Warner as the reporter. It will be recorded on location as this will be simpler than making a classroom look like a studio/office. In The Girl on the Train there is a scene where news reporters are getting footage in the location where one of the main characters houses are; we took the on location filming idea from our research.

As Bryony is really busy we are struggling to find a date to film her characters parts with her. Consequently, we may need to cast someone new.

We were able to film Millie getting into bed and blowing out a candle. To ensure that the bedroom location wasn't too bright I closed the blind so there was minimal outside light. Also, I used a spotlight which was placed on the desk at the end of the bed. This added enough light to be able to record Millie clearly, but allowed her not to be completely obvious. This is the only part of the trailer that Millie appears in so we chose to film it as soon as we could. On the 6th of December we were able to film Millie Todd's parts and Jack Warner's parts as the news reporter.

We plan to film with Estelle and Bryony on Sunday 10th December.

Enrolling Actors for Left Behind

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r01gVSLnHsU&feature=youtu.be

This link is of Zoe and I discussing who we could enrol to play characters within our Left Behind trailer. Jenna Waterfield was considered to play Sophie, but unfortunately she has no free time. So, luckily we can have Millie Todd to play the character Sophie. Overall, this works well for us as Estelle (Millie's mum) suits being the mother character as she obviously is a mother.
 


Zoe and I texted each other about who we could enrol as actors for our Left Behind trailer. In conclusion, we decided to cast Millie Todd as Sophie and Bryony Whittingham as Jenny. Millie's mum Estelle Todd will act as Sophie's mum within the trailer because she is obviously Millie's mother as they look similar.

Risk Assessment -Zoe Firth

This is the risk assessment table for our film. It identifies problems we may have when filming and includes how we will overcome said problems. We have ranked how high the risks are, as you can see none are highly likely to happen, but it's useful to know what could happen so we are prepared for any possibility. When we film scenes that include dangerous substances, like alcohol, we will ensure that it is water or juice. Also, we will make sure that the pills are not actually consumed. 

Script for Left Behind -Zoe Firth

This is the complete script for our Left Behind trailer. It is in chronological order, typed out in notes on Zoe's iPhone as this is a different way of presenting a piece of text. Sophie does not have any dialogue as she goes missing within seconds of the trailer so we felt that it wasn't necessary for her to talk at all. At the top of this script it lists whole plays which role within our trailer.