Script Alteration 2

After looking at out first rough cut we decided to move the second line of dialogue to the middle of the trailer just before the pace increases. We did this as we felt like there was nothing linking the beginning and end of the trailer. By doing this the audience is kept engaged and the suspense of the story is kept high. It also allows the audience to make more sense of the trailer.

Script Alteration

Tuesday 10 As a group we have decided to add another line of dialogue to the end of our trailer, we feel that by having a line of dialogue at the beginning of the teaser trailer and then again at the end it act as a sort of frame to the trailer. At the beginning of our trailer Katie May is seen saying: "Have you ever loved someone so much you'd do anything to have them?" The line of dialogue we have added is: "...well I did.." Having this line appearing at the end of our trailer concludes what Katie May is saying at the beginning and leave the viewers wanting to know the story behind it.

Target Audience Questionnaire Results - Charts

Target Audience Research Charts This chart shows the various age groups that took part in this questionnaire.

This chart shows the average amount of times each participant visits the cinema on a monthly basis.

The applicants were asked to state their favourite film genre, the below chart shows the results.

This chart is displaying the features of films that the applicants associate most with horror films.

This pie chart is showing the age ranges the participants deem appropriate for most horror films.

Time Schedule

As we don't have time to capture all the footage for our media trailer in one session, we have created a schedule to help us manage our time efficiently.

Session One

- We plan to film all the scenes where the main focus are the props

These include: The missing poster on a tree, photos scattered on the floor, taking drugs, girls reaching for a knife, a character holding a rope/chain, a necklace in someones hand.

Session Two

-We plan to film all the scenes that only include the main character played by Emily.

These include: Emily falling over, turning her head, drinking vodka, a close up of her eye, emily being interviewed, emily smoking, emily holding a necklace and then putting it on, emily spinning with the camera.

Session Three

-We plan to film the rest of the scenes that include all three characters played by Emily, Frankie and James.

These include: James running, James jumping off a platform, a birds eye view of james, Frankie and James around college, James giving Frankie a necklace, Frankie trying to escape from a locked room, Frankie tied to a chair, a close up of Frankies face, close up of James.

As we are filming over a number of days, we have ensured that props, locations and costumes are kept continuous.

Target Audience Questionnaire Results

Target Audience Questionnaire Results

Below are the results collected from the questionnaire. We asked a sample of 20 people and these are these responses we got.

Gender

Female : 8 Male : 12 Age 15 and under : 2 16 – 25 : 10 26 – 35 : 4 36 – 45 : 2 46 and over : 2 Amount of visits to the cinema (per month) Never : 0 1 : 6 2 : 6 3 : 5 4 or more : 3 Film genre most likely to see at the cinema Romance : 2 Horror : 6 Comedy : 3 Action : 3 Animation : 1 Sci-fi : 5 Other : 0 Established characteristics of horror films Soundtrack : 7 Typical story-line : 2 Stereotypical characters : 9 Location : 1 Props : 0 Lighting : 0 Costume : 1 Other : 0 Who they go to the cinema with Family : 2 Friends : 11 Partner : 7 Other : 0 Appropriate age range for horror films 15 and under : 0 16 – 25 : 12 26 – 35 : 7 36 – 45 : 1 46 and above : 0

Target Audience Research - Questionnaire

Target Audience Questionnaire 1. Gender: Male Female 2. Age? (Please state below) _____________ 3. On average how many times a month do you go to the cinema? Never 1 2 3 4 or more 4. Which film genre are you most likely to see at the cinema? Romance Horror Comedy Action Animation Sci-fi Other If other, please state… 5. What is your favourite genre? Romance Horror Comedy Action Animation Sci-fi Other If other, please state… 6. What characteristics do you establish when thinking of a film in the Horror genre? (Please circle all that apply) Soundtrack Typical horror story-line Stereotypical characters Location Props Lighting Costume Other If other, please state… 7. Who are you most likely to go to the cinema with when seeing a horror film? Family Friends Partner Other If other, please state… 8. What age range do you think most horror films should be aimed at? 15 and under 16-25 26-35 36-45 46 and above Thanking you for taking the time to fill out this questionnaire.

Camera Techniques

Shot 1

- Medium shot of Katie

Shot 2

- Medium shot of Callum, POV of Katie, handheld camera effect

Shot 3

- Long shot of Callum and Sophie, POV of Katie, handheld camera effect

Shot 4

- Medium shot of Sophie and Callum, POV of Katie, handheld camera effect

Shot 5

- Long shot of missing poster

Shot 6

- Close up of Sophie

Shot 7

- Medium shot of Callum, Sophie and Katie

Shot 8

- Medium shot of photos, camera pans across them

Shot 9

- Medium shot of drugs, camera tracks the movement along the table

Shot 10

- Medium shot of Katie

Shot 11

- Close up of Katie

Shot 12

- Close up of Katie, camera spins with her

Shot 13

- Long shot of Sophie

Shot 14

- Long shot of Callum, camera tracks him running

Shot 15

- Medium shot of Callum and Sophie

Shot 16

- Close up of Katie

Shot 17

-Medium shot of Katie

Shot 18

- Long shot of Sophie

Shot 19

- Close up of Katie and Sophie

Shot 20

- Medium shot of Katie

Shot 21

- Long shot of Callum

Shot 22

- Extreme close up of Katie

Shot 23

- Medium shot of Katie

Shot 24

- Medium shot of Sophie

Shot 25

- Birds eye view shot of Callum

Shot 26

- Long shot of Katie

Shot 27

- Title

Shot 28

- Close up of Katie

Prop, setting, location and characters

Props

Missing poster

Photos of couple

Flour/sherbet £10 note

Bottle of vodka

Cigarette

Chair

Necklace

Knife

Rope

Fake blood e.g. ketchup

Torch

Characters

Katie –

Callum –

Sophie –

Costume –

Katie – dark/black clothes

Callum – casual e.g. jeans and a t-shirt

Sophie – pretty girly clothes

Locations

Dark room

Outside. On college grounds.

Outside – tree

Inside college e.g. corridor

Shot 1

Props – Spotlight (Torch)

Character – Katie (looking rough)

Location – Dark room

Shot 2

Props – n/a

Character – Callum

Location – Outside on college grounds

Shot 3

Props – n/a

Character – Callum and Sophie

Location – Outisde on college grounds

Shot 4

Props – n/a

Character – Callum and Sophie

Location – Outside on college grounds

Shot 5

Props – Missing poster

Character – n/a

Location – Outisde - tree

Shot 6

Props – n/a

Character – Katie

Location – Dark room

Shot 7

Props – n/a

Character – Katie, Sophie, Callum

Location – Outside college grounds

Shot 8

Props – Photos

Character – n/a

Location – Dark room

Shot 9

Props – Flour/sherbet and £10 note

Character – Katie

Location – Outside

Shot 10

Props – Vodka bottle

Character – Katie

Location – Outside

Shot 11

Props – Cigarette

Character – Katie

Location – Outside – smoking area

Shot 12

Props – n/a

Character – Katie

Location – Outside college grounds

Shot 13

Props – Chair

Character – Sophie

Location – Dark room

Shot 14

Props – n/a

Character – Callum

Location – Outside

Shot 15

Props – necklace

Character – Callum and Sophie

Location – Outside

Shot 16

Props – Necklace

Character – Katie

Location – Dark room

Shot 17

Props – Necklace

Character – Katie

Location – Dark room

Shot 18

Props – n/a

Character – Sophie

Location – Dark room

Shot 19

Props – Knife

Character – Sophie Katie

Location – Dark room

Shot 20

Props – Vodka bottle

Character – Katie

Location – Outside

Shot 21

Props – n/a

Character – Callum

Location – Outside – high ground

Shot 22

Props – n/a

Character – Katie

Location – Dark room

Shot 23

Props – Rope

Character – Katie

Location – Dark room

Shot 24

Props – n/a

Character – Sophie

Location – Corridor

Shot 25

Props – n/a

Character – Callum

Location – Corridor

Shot 26

Props – n/a

Character – Katie

Location – Dark room

Shot 27 – TITLE

Shot 28

Props – Neckalce

Character – Katie

Location – Dark room

Individual Film Marketing Campaign

Shrooms – Individual Marketing Campaign Research - Rachel Bonnar

Directed by: Paddy Breathnach Produced by: Paddy McDonald and Rob Walpole Written by: Pearse Elliot Starring: Lindsey Haun, Jack Huston, Max Kasch, Maya Hazen, Alice Greczyn, Don Wycherley, Sean McGinley, Robert Hoffman Music by: Dario Marianelli Cinematography: Nanu Segal Editing by: Dermot Diskin Distributed by: Vertigo Films (UK) Release date(s): November 23, 2007 Running time: 86 min Country: Ireland

Press Content

This poster campaign would advertise the film from bus stops, phone boxes, public transport etc. Within this poster the genre of the film is established to attract the target audience by the dark colours used. Another thing within the poster is the image of a skull which has connotations of death and horror, but because it is not just a simple skull it is made up of the moon and mushrooms it shows that things in the film may not be as they seem, this could suggest a twist in the film.

Another form of advertising the film used was online advertisement. The film has its own website:

http://www.shroomsthemovie.com/

This website tells viewers of the plot of the film without giving away too much. It also informs the site’s viewers of the cast of the film, the distributors, director, producers etc and gets them interested and curious about the film by providing entertainment such as online games. It offers a link to a site selling tickets for the film in an attempt to persuade viewers to see the film.

Below is an article taken from the Pearl and Dean website: http://www.pearlanddean.com/?node_id=1.2.1&id=8275) Shrooms release date 23/11/2007 Abandoning the quirky black comedies which have become his trademark, Irish director Paddy Breathnach tries his hand - with mixed fortunes - at a modern day horror with a strong anti-drugs message. In between hallucinations of a talking cow and a rather messy bout of anonymous sex through a car window, screenwriter Pearse Elliott despatches his two-dimensional characters at regular intervals, resisting the urge to drown the Emerald Isle in gallons of blood and gore. The hills are alive with the sound of screaming, but the modest budget rules out elaborate make-up or computer generated special effects. Instead, Breathnach attempts to conjure a mood of foreboding with a mosaic of nightmare sequences that blur the boundary between reality and fantasy. Only at the very end, when Elliott steals blatantly from Alexandre Aja's delicious and infinitely superior thriller Switchblade Romance (Haute Tension), does the hack and slash begin to make sense. Sort of. Self-confessed mushroom expert and hedonist Jake (Jack Huston) invites five of his American college buddies to Ireland to sample some of the most potent fungi known to man. Inexplicably, the motley crew of stereotypes answers his call. Thus, sports jock Bluto (Rob Hoffman) and his bitchy girlfriend Lisa (Maya Hazen), martial arts fanatic Troy (Max Kasch) and his hippie chick Holly (Alice Greczyn), and goody-two-shoes Tara (Lindsey Haun) who fancies Jake, jump into a minibus and head to the woods for a spot of camping. En route, the tourists collide with a deer, which arouses the interest of two inbred yokels (Sean McGinley, Don Wycherley), slavering at the prospect of fresh road kill. With the alarm bells already tinkling, the youngsters agree to lock their mobile 'phones in the minibus. "What if there's an emergency?" wisely notes one of the group. Jake promises the gang "the trip of a lifetime" by foraging for Liberty Caps, aka magic mushrooms, which have been known to give boundless energy, visual hallucinations, uncontrollable laughter and profound wisdom. He warns against picking the distinctive Deathshead Fungi, which, as ancient druid legend would have it, give the ability to commune with the dead, uncontrollable ferocity, foresight and finally premonition. Jake is shocked by Tara's newfound willingness to experiment. "I've never seen you take an aspirin before!" he remarks. "Things change," she smiles, trying to cultivate the alluring image of the bad girl. Inevitably, she is the first member of the group to accidentally ingest one of the poisonous mushrooms. In her chemically induced daze, Tara glimpses murder most horrid at the hands of a demonic monk. When the grim premonition comes true, paranoia sweeps through the camp, heightened by the effects of the mushrooms, and the friends turn on one another, while something nasty lurks in the forest. .. Shrooms is starved of originality, hawking ideas from The Evil Dead, Friday The 13th, The Blair Witch Project, The Ring and yesteryear's Severance amongst others. Characters are thinly sketched and deeply unlikeable, therefore completely dispensable at the hands of the shadowy figure, which prowls the forest and even the surrounding waters. Only Haun's spirited performance registers above the cries for help and the eerie drone of composer Dario Marianelli's original music. "What is this? The island of Dr Moreau?" debates one of the thrill-seekers, surveying their surroundings. Thankfully not - that film was far worse. Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2006, All Rights Reserved.

This is an example of a film review that would be covered in film specialist magazines etc such as Empire and Total Film; this would create a word of mouth publicity effect for the film, even if, especially in this case, it is not good publicity.

Shrooms was previewed at the London film festival – “Fright Fest” in order to generate a “buzz” about the film for when it was officially released.

Analysis of trailer

A trailer was also used to advertise the film. This was played on television and cinemas during programmes and films that would attract a similar target audience.

Follow this link for the official Shrooms teaser trailer:

http://www.shroomsthemovie.com/

The opening shot of the trailer introduces the setting of the film. The audience can see a van in the foreground of the screen and woods in the background so we get an idea that the film will be set outdoors. The next shot introduces the characters of the film. It establishes the authoritative character as the male with long brown hair, it seems he is in charge of the trip and has more knowledge about what they will be doing over the course of the film.

The first line of the film will also entice the viewers into wanting to see the film – “I promise you… the trip of a lifetime”. This creates anticipation and a sense of the unknown making the viewers curious and keen to discover more.

After the setting and characters have been initiated the trailer then goes on to express a key topic within the film, this being abusing substances, in this case magic mushrooms. The shot shows them picking the mushrooms from a forest which shows they’re intent on using the substance, the trailer then goes on to show various shots of them consuming the drugs. The dialogue in this part of the trailer is also related to experimenting with magic mushrooms; along with the shots in the trailer this makes it very clear for the audience that drugs are a big part of the film.

The next few shots show scenes that contain typical “stoner movie” entertainment that would attract the target audience. These things include a short, blonde haired male running around the forest in his underwear – talking to a cow. The next shot shows a male with long blonde hair with his arm around the women with shoulder length brown hair, the both of them are laughing to each other with the other characters, after this shot the trailer takes a sinister turn as it introduces the thing that will cause the creepy atmosphere of the horror film. This being a type of mushroom that is believed to have terrible consequences when taken, they state it holds “the ability to commune with the dead” and “foresight – the gift of premonition”. We then see a shot of the main female (long blonde hair) taken the mushroom they’ve been warned off, this shows the source of the trouble.

This shot begins the chilling tone of the trailer, the non-diagetic music heard over the dialogue becomes more threatening as it uses low, droning notes.

Next in the trailer is a sequence of “trippy” shots that explore the use of different effects to continue the creepy, drug fuelled atmosphere the mention and use of drugs had already set. It uses a blur over the shot to reflect how the characters would perceive what was going on through the hallucinogenic filter they would be looking through.

During this sequence we have diagetic dialogue that runs over the top of it, the scene this dialogue is taken from also appears in the sequence. This scene is a generic horror film scene, it shows the authoritative male telling a “ghost story” which is apparently true that happened years ago in that very area. The use of the words “mutilated” and “bodies” persuades the viewers to expect murder, these suspensions are then confirmed when shots containing images of knives flash up introducing the murder weapon.

Scenes containing the characters panicking as there fun camping trip goes completely wrong are then shown this adds to the curiosity of the viewers – they want to find out where the missing character has gone ad what has happened to them, this is one of the question marks the trailer introduces that the viewers have to watch the film to answer.

The next thing we see is shots of the killer. We know this figure on the screen is a killer because of the knife in its hand, the costume it is wearing – a hooded cloak showing it has something to hide and the creepy way it moves suggesting something unnatural about the killer, it may not be human.

The main female then says the line “I don’t know what’s going on in my head… what’s real… what’s not.” This line is a key suggestion to the twist at the end of the film; it hints to the audience that there is a twist but refrains from giving away too much that they can know for sure what it is. They either are desperate to find out or want to confirm their suspicions. The next sequence of shots contains images of murder, screaming and characters experiencing immense fear. As the trailer goes on the pace of the shot transaction gets faster and faster building up tension making the audience anticipate something big on its way, however all it is leading up to is the final shot – a black screen with the film title “SHROOMS” in white bold capital letters. This is an anticlimax however it leaves the audience wanting more which is exactly what the trailer is trying to achieve; it wants to lure them into going to see the film. Bibliography www.shroomsthemovie.com ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrooms_(film) http://www.vertigofilms.com/home.php http://www.pearlanddean.com/?node_id=1.2.1&id=8275 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_FrightFest_Film_Festival http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertigo_Films