Website Design

As part of one of our components for our coursework, we have to create a website. Below is the design for our website.

1) Background Image 

The picture used for our website will be our time lapse. The video to the right shows the time lapse but on the website this will be shown slower than on the video. The time lapse links to one of the parts shown within the trailer.

2) Links to other pages in the website 

On the Klinger building, the links to other pages in the website will be shown. They will be in the same font and colour as shown within the trailer to show continuity throughout the trailer, poster & website.

3) Title

The title used for the website will be similar to the title shown below which was done for the trailer. The background of the typography will disappear as and only the typography itself would show. Yet this is going to be difficult as the colour scheme with the clash of colours used (blue, white and brown) so somehow we may need to change the colour of the typography to coincide with the colours in the website.

4) Trailer
Underneath the title, the trailer is shown there. We will also have a pop-up screen of the trailer automatically as the audience enter the website which will play the trailer with a "skip to website" link in the corner. Once the main website is shown, the trailer will be available to play underneath the title.

5) Reviews, social networking links and production companies
The reviews will be shown below the trailer to persuade the audience to watch the film within the cinemas. Normally if other people think the film is good then that is more likely to persuade other audiences to watch the film. At the bottom of the screen will be the social networking links (Facebook, Twitter) so the audience would be able to share the film straight away at the click of a button. Finally on the sides of the social networking links will show the production companies used for the film (the same as shown within the trailer).

Final Green Screen Product

Here is the final green screen product for our news report. The background shows the BBC news logo and the picture of the Klinger factory when the factory was open.

For the green screen, our inspiration was the BBC news reports over the years. This was the picture for our inspiration. This was a news report within the 1980s and was a simple design used for their news report. This was perfect for us due to the simple design and we were able to edit this onto photoshop before merging it with the green screen footage.

Website Comparisons

Alongside our trailer, we need to create a website that needs to be user friendly and attractive towards the audience so they may buy the film on DVD/watch it in the cinema. So here I have researched a few films that are similar to ours and compared the websites to each other to create an ideal website for our trailer.

Chernobyl Diaries

 In chernobyl diaries we see the image of the poster as the background. We see the nuclear symbol which was the symbol of the film and the trailer is placed next to this symbol. This is not the main website but the trailer plays automatically which means the audience does not need to find the trailer. Also the links to buy the DVD is right below the trailer which means that the audience can buy the DVD straight after watching the trailer if they're interested.

Here is the main website to the film where it has more images from the film with the menu of the links within the corner again linking to the nuclear scenario.

The Hills Have Eyes

Here we see the "Hills have eyes" website which first shows the trailer before going straight to the website. Again this is effective as it means the audience would automatically see the trailer without having to find it and is very user friendly. We go onto the main website which shows a different photo to the poster but still a significant picture from the film. Yet this website does not have social networking links as when the film was released (2006), social networks were not as popular as they are now.

Grave Encounters

This is the homepage to Grave Encounters. Unlike the other two websites, the trailer does not start automatically on either a start page or on the home page. Yet the link towards the trailer is found easily within the top right-hand side. The picture background used in the website is also used in the poster and so the film is more recognisable because the same image is used for both the website and the poster. The social networking links are at the top which makes it really easy to share the film within a click of a button. Also, if you click on "Available on VOD nationwide", you get a link to buy the film on DVD which again is easy for the audience as they can buy the DVD straight away. Yet this is not as user friendly as at first glance, the link does not look like a link.

Typeface Ideas 2

We chose 'Seedy Motel' as the font to use on our trailer, website and poster. It was an eroded looking font which is a convention of horror fonts and the stripes that run across it reminded me of the blinds found inside the Factory or bars which could signify being 'trapped'. 


After deciding on using the font 'Seedy Motel', I designed different ways in which the text would sit on the screen.

These 'Text Screens' will be shown inbetween certain clips. Shots like this can be seen in many films such as in 'Chernobyl Dairies for example:

I added blood splats to the title screen to add a more 'gore' to the appearance. This style is meant to appear as if the writing has been printed on one of the 'scratched' and 'damaged' walls inside the factory. The blood therefore shows that 'danger' is inside.

Shots like this will be shown in a montage in-between the clips to briefly divert the audience's attention otherwise too longer edit of clips may become repetitive. It also gives extra info on the film.

All of these images were edited in the same way before using photo software to create the 'old' and 'scratched' effect on the wall:

                                   

I also tried experimenting with different textures. Instead of having the font appearing as if its on a wall, I used an image of chequered steel plating to make it appear as if its on 'cold', 'sharp' metal. The 'sharp' and 'harsh' look of the metal conveys 'pain' and 'discomfort' to the audience:

These were also editied using the same software but instead of using plain colours for the background, an image of steel plating was used in its place:

Typeface Ideas 1

I created a basic image of the possible typefaces that we could use in our trailer, poster etc. I applied different effects and used conventions from other films (eroded colours and lettering) and applied them to the fonts.

'Plane Crash'

'MasterPlan'

'Old Press'

'Skyfall'

'Scorched Earth'

'Seedy Motel'

The Typeoface will appear on the Website, poster and trailer and therefore needs to relate to the conventions of a horror film and/or any conventions that are specific to our film.

To gain a perspective on how the typography will sit on the poster or in the trailer, I created a basic image of the word 'Klinger' in a variety of different fonts:

e.g:

I then inserted each of the images into a photo editor (Great PhotoPro; Everimaging Ltd.) and applied a number of different effects to create an 'eroded' and 'weathered' texture to make it appear it was printed on the side of one of the walls inside the factory:

By gradually applying the effects, I am rendering the image and adding tone to it. 

I can change the order of the effects or the effects themselves to create different colour variations and different depths of weathering and erosion.

Poster Ideas.

Initial ideas for the movie poster.

 

As a requirement for the course we need to do a movie poster. Looking at films similar to ours such as Grave Encounters, Rec and Paranormal Activity. The main convention for a poster for these types of hand held films is to have one of the protagonists, in the shot with a camera or camera effect also to represent the type of film it is. Also the main supernatural being will be in the shot reflecting Strausse's binary opposition with the representation of good vs evil.

Many of our ideas comprise of all three of these factors and use our excellent location to represent the isolation of our characters.
Some of our ideas.

Rough idea #1

Rough idea #2 inspired by TFL adverts

 

Shooting Script.

Shooting Script



Once we had edited some of our footage we realised that our footage didn't reach a high point in tension, so we needed to film some more scenes that would either create a jump or that will fill a scary montage. Our next shooting day is the 28th of Januaryso we made a script so our day could be as efficent as possible...

Ideas for scenes we need  to film-

• Film the predator crawling down the stairs backwards, then when editing reverse it so they are crawling towards the camera in jaggedy way looking haunted.
• Film someone speaking to the camera, with a predator in the background slowly rising up behind them.
• Film a pan of a room, look at one wall, Stop filming write something on the wall, then film again so it looks like it's just appeared.
• Shot of someone filming themselves talking to the camera about how scared they are, then hand over mouth as they hear the predator come nearer them.
• Shot of someone holding the camera themsleves talking into it, they don't how where the others are etc. Person pauses, looks to the side as though they have heard something, camera drops hears screaming, camera goes blank.

Whilst there we are going to take pictures for our poster, this saves us time and allows us if necessary to go back.

Editing

For the introduction of the trailer, we have decided to show the background of the scenario (i.e. what happened during the explosion of the Klinger factory in the 1980s). We found a video of factory workers working in an oil factory in the 1980s which although wasn't exact to the Klinger factory but was perfect for the beginning as it shows workers working in a factory in the 1980s.

 In the trailer, we have decided to edit out a number of shots inside the factory to show the scenes of the factory.

We also have shots of the workers in the factory again to show the scenario what the Klinger factory was like when it was open. This did not take a while as we only needed to edit clips of the video we found from Youtube. We also used the effect of bad TV onto the clips as continuity to the clip below.

Tag Line Ideas

Tag Lines

When considering ideas for our poster, we also noted we needed to come up with a tag line that would suit our genre and specifically our niche area in that genre. Some of the ideas we brainstormed were:

Possible Taglines-
-Something Never left
-It Will Find You
-They Will Find You
-Dont Go In
-They Can Smell Your Blood
-Something Wants To Say Hello
-They Will Trap You In
-They Wont Let You Leave
-Your Time Is Up
-If Your Lucky They Will Only Kill You
-They said it was an accident, they said everyone was evacuated, they lied....
-Would you go in?
- For the toughest explorers
- You don't know what you're getting into
-Klinging on for life
-They thought it was abandoned...it wasn't.        Our chosen tagline.

All of the tag lines we came up with create an enigma. We wanted to have a tag line that creates mystery so we chose to use words such as 'they' and 'it' so the villian is not identified. Some of the taglines relate directly to our horror genre by using words such as 'trap', 'blood' and "kill".

Tag Lines Research

Tag Lines

Most movie posters have a tag line which is used to create a memorable phrase which people can relate to the film. A really good tagline will be become embedded in modern popular culture like "Be afraid. Be very afraid" from The Fly and also "A long time ago, in a galaxy, far, far away..." from Star Wars.
We are researching horror movie tag lines to see what the most effective one are and also what makes them effective.

"Heads will roll..." Sleepy Hollow. This is a good tag line as it is simple and direct. It sums up the type of the movie it is, and give some definitive detail in what to expect from Sleepy Hollow e.g decapitation.

"Who will survive and what will be left of them?" Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This is an effective tagline as it uses a rhetorical question, which poses a question the viewer has to answer...by watching the film.

“On March 11, 2008 the government sealed off an apartment complex in Los Angeles. The residents were never seen again. No details. No witnesses. No evidence. Until now.” Quarantine. Quarantine is a similar film to ours with victims recording their story. Therefore looking at their poster and tagline will enable us to look at conventions of these types of films. This tagline is unusaly long and very detailed but this is to go with the theme it is a real life story. The short snappy sentences add tension to the tag line also adding drama.

"The rules are simple you break them, you die..." Carriers. This film tag line is simple and effective with a good use of ellipsis to let the viewers mind wander and ponder the film. Although it doesn't give an idea of the film plot so could belong to another film.

"Ten years again, the Ukrainian government let tourists visit the area surrounding Chernobyl. They said it was safe... it wasn't." Chernobyl Diaries. Like Quarantine this tagline plays on the idea the film is based in true events. It's very long so doesn't capture the audiences imagination although it does reinforce the "true story" idea. Again this film is similar to the genre of which we are filming and is a great tag line to take inspiration from.

"Fear is just a word. Reality is much worse." Grave Encounters 2. This tag line is effective due to the short snappy sentences which people can quote. The film is similar to ours in the way that it's based on a group of people filming themselves. However the tagline doesnt give much of the plot away and is quite vague.

In summary, we will have to create a short, snappy tagline which is relatable to our plot and genre of film.

Poster Ideas

 

After looking through various posters, we have concluded that the majority of the posters share certain features. One being that they show where the film is set or a setting from within the film, but they all focus on the victim and/or the villain.



The Grave Encounters posters shows one of the victims sitting in a corridor of the psychiatric hospital. The camera next to him shows that he is part of a film crew, therefore showing the audience why they have gone inside the hospital.
An outline of the villain can be seen in the background and the victim is looking away from it. The audience can see the villain but the victim cannot.












In the Paranormal Activity poster, it shows one of the bedrooms, where the majority of the film is set.
The Paranormal Activity 3 poster uses the same principal as Grave Encounters. It shows 2 of the victims and a faint shadow/outline of the villain. 
Again, the victim cannot see the villain but the audience can.












Our Poster will include a shot from either inside or outside the factory with the main focus being on one of the explorers/victims. They will be holding a camera to represent the cameraman to show why they have gone inside. 
A shot of a villain, either a shadow or a hand etc. will also be in the shot but the main aspect will be that the victim cannot see the villain.