Film Language

Whilst creating a film there are various elements to be considered.

Before the film actually goes into production:

• The casting of the characters should be completed , otherwise without any actors hired the filming of scenes involving characters cannot begin.
• Directors will have to have an idea of the cost of production, this is so they can approach the production company to gain a budget.
• The scheudle of filming will need to be predetermind, so any props, costumes etc will be ready and available for the day they need it.
• Health and saftey is a factor which raises concern and will definatley need to be carefully considered before the producion of a film. For example, if the film will involves some stunts, depending on the risk they involve, will they need to get a stunt double for the actor. If there is plans for the character to run down the street, perhaps the actor can perform this  themself, but if the character rides a motorbike and the actor is unexperienced at riding a motorbike for health and safety reasons it may be best to bring in someone who is. Or if explosions and fire are to be involved in the film, the health and safety surround this will have to be assessed in good time.
• The use of certain locations will need to be be granted permission in advance so director will need to seek approval for this

Before we begin to film our project, we understand we need to develop a general concept for our horror  film which will be presented in the trailer. Thus doing so, we will know how many characters need to cast. We are relying on friends to act in the trailer, and are willing to appear in it ourselves. This will also help keep the cost of our production to a minimum as we have a very low budget. By casting friends to play characters, no actors will have to be paid as they understand the project is for a college course. We plan to use locations already available to us and nearby to where we live, so we do not need to hire out facilities or pay huge expenses for travel. Also the locations we use are not sites we would have to gain permission to be on. 

Once the creation of our storyboard is complete, it will set out a rough schedule for filming process of our trailer. The storyboard will turn our idea into a plan and by viewing it, it will become obvious to us any props or specific costumes needed and therefore we can prepare early so we have everything ready for when we start to film.

We feel the health and safety of the filming our our trailer will be reasonable. We don't have a big budget to carry out dangerous stunts such as explosions. Scenes which include the actor running will be filmed with the actual actors running as the action doesn't involve much risk and therefore there is no reason to bring is a more experienced or trained person.

As it is being filmed:

• Usually there are assistants who are responsible for making sure the correct actors involved in the scene they are filming that day, are on set and ready for the right time to shoot that day.
• Weather conditions are important to consider. For example, if a scene is the script is in a park on a hot summers days and there is heavy rainfall that day shooting the scene will need to be reschduled. Also, if a movie is to be filmed on location in a place such as Florida, the time of year would need to be considered as so filming did not occur the same time as hurricane season as this could cause majoy step backs to the schedule.
• Lighting will need to be considered as the natural lighting may create too many shadows so what is in the fame of the camera work may not be clearly seen by the audience.

The trailer is only a small project in comparison to a big budget film. Therefore a considerable less amount of people is involved in the production and i doubt we need any assistants to be responsible for the actors, we think there is the right amount of people for us to be able to control ourselves without the set becoming chaos.

As it is now becoming winter, we do need to consider the weather for the day out filming. We think that any weather condition we could adapt into the film to become an advantage. However our consideration towards the weather stems from for example if it snows heavily, it may have impacts on reaching the filming location or returning home. This is when rescheduling would occur. 

Winter is a generally dark (lighting wise) season. This means we need to plan ahead the time of day we will film. Natural lighting is uncontrollable any way and can often cause shadows in the wrong places, but by filming in winter there is a more specific time slot in the day which the lighting will be what we are aiming for. The mornings drag with darkness and then in the evening it gets dark again quickly. Lighting equipment is not available to us and therefore we need to reach the time slot for filming. If it gets dark too quickly whilst filming, on the trailer it will be obvious to the audience and appear jumpy and not smooth enough. 

After the filming has been completed:

• It is at this point editing will need to be considered. Such as the transition from one shot/scene to another so to the audience it is smooth. 
• As the film is shot, it is normal for sound to be recorded unclear, fuzzy or unaudiable. Therefore once filming is complete, actors will attend sessions at foley studios to rerecord and dub over the sound of the film.

The storyboard will include elements such as transitions. These are just suggestions and at the editing stage we can try different transitions to which we originally considered if we feel it doesn't work as well as we presumed in the beginning.

We think that if the sound we record whilst filming is slightly fuzzy, it will actually be n advantage to us as it will give a more spine chilling effect which is a pro in any horror film. However if the sound is completely unclear, we agree that the best response will to be dub over the sound of the film otherwise the audience may not understand what is happening in the trailer without sound and we will not have achieved the desired effect of our audiences. 

Film making conventions
The film maker may use close ups so the audience can see the character emotions and possibly make a connection between them.
An extreme close up of an item may be to show its significane and importance.
A canted angle show may be used to display a characters state of mind, for example they may be drunk or in the case of our trailer disorientated from fear.
Long shots may be used to shows the isolation of a character, alone in a large amount of space.
A 2 shot is often used to show a conversation between two characters as they are both in the frame at the same time.
High angle shots are often used to illustrate the vunrebility of a particular subject.

These are the main conventions we are going to adapt and use in out trailer as they help to express something. Without including some of these conventions an expression would not be readable such as a  mid shot  instead of long shot of a character to display their isolation, would not present to the audience quite how the character feels or the audience may not even be completely aware that the character has been left alone. By focusing solely on one character during a two way conversation, it remains a mystery to the audience of whom that character is even in a conversation with, which could later turn out to be an important conversation. Hence why it is a convention to use a 2 shot for such an action.

Cultural codes
Colours can connote different things, such as:

• RED may represent love and passion but in a different situation can mean danger
• BLUE often represents loyalty or can present a fresh atmosphere to the audience
• WHITE tends to represent a holiness, or some sort of innocence.
• BLACK connotes death or evil in most cases

Clothing is also a cultral code. If i man was go wear a suit it suggets he is a business man,the audience may even assume he is of an educated background, professional and has high standards. On the other hand if a character was to wear ripped clothing, this scruffed up look may suggest they are homeless and is quite the opposite to the business man, uneducated.

Within our project we are going to use a lot of black for shadows and background because this is the general colour associated with horror films due to what it connotes to the audience. As clothing is a cultural code and our target audience is generally teens, we are going to dress our characters in a relaxed clothing so the audience can connect with them.