Pitch Mark 2; The Pitch Strikes Back

Horror film trailer pitch mk2 from dgseager

Trailer Ideas part two

After much discussion, my group and I have come closer to an idea. Planning around what we have available to us, we have the use of a house, which contains both old styled rooms, which could be easily modified to look as though they are from the 1920s, along with completely modern and stylized rooms which can be used for scenes relating to the modern day. Due to the stark contrast in the settings we can make use of, we are currently finalizing ideas for a horror film trailer based around the aspect of time travel, and reality not being what it appears.

The main plot thus far, which keeps to the conventions of a horror film trailer by having small plot details revealed, yet having a lot kept from the audience involves the protagonist finding that they have died, or have a date they are to die. From this point onward, they are unable to leave, being trapped in the house by themselves, and thus try to find out the circumstances which surround their unusual death. They also have visions of the past, and begin to turn insane, causing the audience to question their sanity to a great degree.

We will make heavy use of props from both the 1920s, along with modern day, such as mobile phones, a gramophone, pocket watches, a typewriter and so on. A big point will be made of identity, so masquerade masks and similar identity obscuring props will be utilized. A number of scenes have already been planned, including a small scene in a private poker game with all the players being the same person, a 1920s party, and a shot whereby the mirror shows a more beaten version of the protagonist. Alternatively, the mirror could potentially showcase the protagonist's appearance from the opposite time.

Below are some planning sheets used when working out what we had available to us to use for our trailer;

It's a Plan Stan! (Take 2)

After a discussion with our assessor, about our newly revised plan for our trailer, we came across an idea which seemed to spark up a debate. We have, at our disposal, a house with both incredibly modern sections, such as a kitchen, bathroom and bed room, and old, 1920-40s looking rooms, including the living room, the hall and the dining room. This sparked an idea in our minds about time travel, or visions from another time. This lead from one idea to another, and we ended up using a scene from The Shining for inspiration. The idea we have is that the protagonist sees visions of himself in the past, committing heinous acts, yet he is unable to leave, or stop them. The lines between these visions and reality become increasingly blurred until the two cannot be told apart.

An alternative idea which branched off this would be if one version of the protagonist was stuck inside this house, moving between the past and the present, with another version of the protagonist attempting to get in to either free them, or kill them due to a discovery made by the person on the outside. A great deal of illusion- based imagery would be utilized, as well as old style objects and possessions, which we have access to. These potential props include;

• An old style telephone
• A Gramophone
• Pocket Watches
• Old porcelain-like dolls
• A Typewriter
• Old Records
• Masquerade masks

We could also make newspapers if the trailer warranted such objects. Aside from this, we also have a wide range of suits and similar costumes which fit in with our chosen time period.

Furthermore, we have also had a few thoughts about potential music that could be utilized if we were able to use such a theme and a setting; 

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPiTrnPVvTM

After You've gone (1912)- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA6ulKFXiTA

Midnight with the stars and you- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQmOvngHQk4

From the above we now have a number of new ideas to consider, which we will now take into consideration when working on our idea.

Horror movie: Mood board

Horror Movie Pitch feedback

From our pitch, we received a great deal of feedback regarding our initial idea, our plot and our locations.

During our pitch, we covered the following areas;

• Our choice of film Genre and why.
• The overall story of our trailer.
• Potential actors to star in our trailer.
• Potential locations where we could film our trailer.
• Possible props for our trailer.

Below are photographs of the group giving our Pitch.



From the feedback, we were told the following about our presentation;

• The fact we had chosen to do a horror film trailer about a supernatural creature was an interesting idea, and would probably be possible for us to do with out level of editing and acting practice
• The idea we had of the protagonist witnessing their own death was a good and unique one, which could be used to put a great deal of tension in the audience. This would further unnerve the audience when the protagonist's reaction could be seen.
• The use of the mirror, and similar shots were different, and would be unexpected which would help to scare/shock the audience.

 This raised ideas from our assessor and which we shall act upon for our action plan;

• Firstly, our assessor stated that a clone, or idea which links to this would be far better than the idea we initially had, and that this would allow us to unnerve our audience far more effectively.
• This idea surround the clones shouldn't be introduced in the trailer, or shouldn't be addressed until the end of the trailer if at all.
• This would allow us to show the protagonist's gradual descent into madness, as those around him do not believe him, and his paranoia and fear gradually grow. 
• This would also allow us to show the doubt in the protagonist's mind as to if he is actually committing the crimes without noticing.
• The clone/clones could be differentiated from the protagonist by varying clothes, and that could be it- they are otherwise indistinguishable from each other.
• The protagonist could also begin to act far more like the clones, helping to show their decent into madness, as they begin to doubt even their own actions.

In response to this, we shall look more into horror films about the topic of dual identity, and the idea of clones, such as Godsend or cloned. We shall also look into film trailers where the protagonist isn't trusted by anyone, and so has to act alone, so that we are able to work out how to convey this effectively in our trailer/. 

Horror Movie Pitch

Working title; The Dark Door

Pitch from 07mccarthyarchie

Horror movie trailer planned storyboard

Above is our proposed story board for our second pitch of our horror movie trailer, as our first one wasn't what our assessor was looking for. The first scene would feature the protagonist being home alone, discovering that a murder has happened recently in his general area. He ignores the murder, though finding it's proximity to him a little unusual. The second scene features one of his friends, whom is angry with him for ignoring him/her, despite the fact he has only just met them. Confused, the protagonist carries on into town. In the third scene, he witnesses what he believes to be himself leave a shop he has just entered. Becoming paranoid, he returns home. The fourth scene takes place when it is dark. Washing his face to try and forget the day, he looks up to the mirror, yet what he sees isn't his own reflection. Instead, he sees a twisted version of himself, cut and bruised to the point he is nearly unrecognizable. The next scene involves him trying to call for help, but being unable to get assistance from either his friends or from the police, who think him mad when he describes what he has seen. The final scene, and the point of the trailer will feature the protagonist going into their garden to stop a moving swing, but their hand is stopped at the last second by another hand. The camera then pans back to reveal it is another version of himself who stopped him. These shots and scenes are all linked via fast paced shots of unexplained and mysterious events happening around him.

Audience expectations of the trailer

To work out what to put in our horror film trailer, we decided to ask a number of people what they expected when we said the phrase 'Horror Film.' Below is the result of those questions.