Early Ideas - Possible Idea for Posters

After experimenting with Photoshop and the photos taking during the test footage, I came up with a possible design idea for the posters that fits in with the colour scheme that is used across each part of the project and really helps show that the characters belong to a vampire style film.

Its not completely neatly edited since its mealy a test of possible effects to use. Yet the black and white for the character and the red background contrast greatly, creating this rather unique fact as all 3 colours are the main ones used in horror media and the use of these colours only enforce what type of film it is. Also the red, which from research, is the most important colour since it connotes blood that is a big element behind every vampire film and the use of it as the background shows how the film revolves around this since the characters need it to survive and Rose's blood is the most important as its hers that Dacrual needs for his ritual. The black and white for the character connotes the moral ambiguity of the character since with him being a vampire and the contrasting characters that are used to highlight this idea of vampirisim being a curse, these colours allude to the fact that while he may be good character, he has done things in his past that has darkened what he has left of soul and corrupted him beyond redemption.

This applies to the other characters as well, representing how each one has been corrupted a different way. Rose has become more jaded and empty from the violent death of her sister which has changed her permanently but there is still some innocence left yet she is consumed with rage of trying to find out what exactly happened to her. While for Dacrual, it shows just how far he has fallen into corrpution and the evil that he can commit with his powers and loves it, there is literally no redemption for this character even though he has basically just embraced the nature of being a vampire so to him, he is simply doing what he meant to do and its perfectly right in his eyes. Again, raising the debate about is he truly a monster by choice or simply following his genetic programming. Yet the Matt character shows how he can go against his destiny, it may not be easy but its possible.

Here are the intial desgin ideas I came up with that illustrate the 3 poster idea and the faded red background that consists of numerous pictures from the film similar to the idea seen in the Dracula poster.

"Tears Wept in Blood" Treatment

Final Project - Branding

Here are some design pieces for my brand like my logo and magazine cover that shows the style of typography I want to use to help convey the feeling of old, traditional Gothic style vampire media to my project.

In my mock up magazine cover, its shows the style of typography I want to use for my project. The font used for the "Tears Wept in Blood" is similar to a journal-like, handwritten which I used to help connote how the film tries to link back to the old horror roots of late vampire films like in "Bram Stoker's Dracula", the title looks like it was written in blood using an old quill with the emphasised curls on the letters. I wanted to recreate this feeling for mine but also give it a modern edge to show while it wants to capture the Gothic feel, its still a modern take that is set in the current time period. The black and white picture is also used in the same way to capture the more horror orientated genre that vampire films used to have instead of teen romance. The colour scheme to is a common feature of vampire and stand alone horror films with the colours black, red and white being the 3 most predominate which can be seen in both my logo and magazine mock up. The other writing style used, the typewriter style creates a rather ghostly effect with the white and instantly connotes it at being a horror film orientated magazine as typewriter style typography has long been associated with Gothic fiction and horror due its faded and shadowed lettering. The quote it is uses to help identify itself to readers as many magazine have their own personal quote to help its readers quickly identify it and also say to spread it on to others so when they next see the magazine, they recognise it and know what its about.

For the poster, it will share the same typography from the magazine since in my magazine research they tend to use the same style from the actual film so its easily identifiable to the audience. It will retain the same colour scheme throughout all design elements and will be composed of 3 separate posters so not one character is overshadowed since all 3 drive the narrative. In terms of design, it will have one of the main characters in the centre with a quote by each character to help represent the character in a way that shows what role they have like Dacrual as the antagonist etc. It will also have the background similar to the border in the Dracula poster, pictures of the characters in various poses and actions but much more faded and edited so its doesn't detract from the main character with the main effect to foreshadow the premise of the film.

The logo fits in with its connotations of the supernatural from the name "Pale Soul Productions" alluding to the Four Horsemen from the Bible, mainly Death which is a heavily connoted subject throughout the project from it being on vampires who are undead and cause death wherever they go. It also matches the colour scheme yet again with the use of black and white and the typography is quite en fitting of the supernatural genre due its somewhat smudged look and elongated letters that is reminiscent of ancient writing styles.

Final Project - My Target Audience

The audience of vampire films has changed over the years with the change in genres that the vampire film has been associated with. From the adult orientated action films like "Blade" to the more teenage audience of the "Twilight" films, it has had quite a wide range of audiences.

For my trailer though, I intended to focus on more the late teens to late twenties. I want to create a more "grown up" style vampire film, wanting the people who originally enjoyed the more darker toned vampire media and hate the more romance oriented kind. They didn't mind seeing some blood and a little horror whilst watching it, remembering how vampires used to be presented like in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" as smart and elegant but also monstrous, evil and twisted from what they are. They like to see the conflict the characters have from being a vampire, treating it as a curse or a gift but don't want it to solely focus on angst of not being able to love a human etc. They detest the way the story will focus on how the vampire tries to be human for a girl they love and instead want the film to embrace what vampires should be, a blood thirsty creature. They like to see the darkness that surrounds the topic of vampirism and see how it affects certain people differently, evident by my two characters Matt and Dacrual who each see it differently, one enjoys it and relishes in its benefits while the others hates this curse but in fact afraid to admit that it does help him in trying to protect the people he cares for. My target audience is in essence, people who hated "Twilight" and crave the more violent, darker side to the vampire genre. While I want to pull it away from the romance obsessed teenage audience  I'm not going to alienate the entire teenage audience as teenagers across the world don't all like stuff like "Twilight". It has created a divide between them and others about that it has potentially damaged and changed the genre for the worst and want the old dark, Gothic inspired vampires to re-emerge, bringing it back to its horror routes. My audience are more like "The Vampire Diaries" fans as while its aimed at teenagers and has some of the romance style story lines, its not afraid to get dark, bloody and violent which is what I want and the audience of my project want to see. Something that is open to a wide audience and not afraid to display vampires for what they are, monsters but with a human side that is slowly dwindling under the weight of the dark burden they are forced to carry for eternity. Not some love starved teenager who can't get the girl he wants so gets all depressed and sparkles in the daylight like some glitter covered fairy.

Extra Research - Detailed Codes and Conventions of Vampire Films

In my earlier post of vampire film codes and conventions, I talked about the "lore" which is a major part of the vampire genre due to it determining how the vampires in the actual film behave and act to make it relate back to the old legends of vampires. For example, in the earlier literature of Dracula he wasn't harmed by sunlight, just weakened and he could turn into mist, a bat etc. Now the rules are complete different, depending on the person who is creating the media like in "Blade", vampires burn in sunlight which is a very common feature now, passed on to shows like "The Vampire Diaries". So this post will pick out the key features that contribute to a vampire film whilst giving a much more detailed analysis of them compared to my other post and establish my "lore" for my film.

Common features

• Blood

As mentioned before in previous posts, blood is one, if not the most important, part in a vampire film. Its the substance that all vampires need to survive and the reason that makes them feared by the human characters since they will kill for it. In the various vampire media, the amount of gore associated with this element of "feeding", determines other factors like certificate, potential audience and the tone of the film. If there is a lot of emphasis on mutilation, blood spraying from the victim etc then the certificate will obviously be much higher but if its more subtle and not lingered on like "The Vampire Diaries" it has a lower rating along with gaining a larger audience.

So for my trailer, I don't want to go overboard with the blood during certain scenes like the feeding, the gunshot so its not too gore focused but try to capture the balance "The Vampire Diaries" has as it feels more grown up then "Twilight" but no too far adult orientated. To capture this sense of more teen focused genre, I'll show the start of the feeding for example, the blood trickling down their neck, the vampire pulling up to show the blood stained mouth but no excessive blood and shredded necks.

• Vampire's Appearance

Another key feature is how the vampires themselves are presented within the show. There are a few very basic rules that carry over into almost every vampire related media, one being pale skin. This is used to show them as different to humans and easily identifiable as vampires to the audience but also connotes the horror and supernatural element behind them. The pale skin shows they are undead, having no colour due to them being dead for hundreds of years, making them terrifying to the audience as soon as they see them since all these features instantly connote them to be one of them. Another feature is they predominately wear black, the style of clothing being whatever time period they are in. The black has the obvious connotations of evil, representing their twisted and corrupted nature of them being vampires that relish in death by drinking the blood of their victims, so they usually dress with this colour scheme in mind to blend into the society they inhabit as not to attract unwanted attention.

A more interesting feature though, is how some media shows the transformation of the seemingly human character into a vampire. The best show for this is "The Vampire Diaries" as seen in the photo below, they add much more then the pale skin and fangs. They change their eyes into a dark red/oily black and the subtle veins under the eyes which makes them truly more freighting and horrific to see as it happens suddenly when they feel the curse take over, surprising the viewer with this spilt second change and instantly making them more monstrous. I would love to recreate this effect for my trailer but I can't do something no where near as good or detailed due the limited programmes and my ability to use them but something as changing the eyes solid black is possible through black eye contacts and editing since Sir has told me of a way to due this for a few second close up to gain the effect of portraying them as monstrous.

For my trailer, I will going for this look since it is very easy to recreate as mentioned in my previous posts, my vampire characters both wear black but different styles to represent their different natures and how they view their affliction with the vampire curse. Also the pale skin can easily be done with simple make up but I'll try to make it more subtle then "snow white" pale like in "Twilight" as to me it always felt too obvious when they where shown on screen. A little colour made them seem like more efficient killers if they didn't look like they covered their faces in icing sugar and avoids looking cheap if they are deathly pale which is more suited to vampires who are starved or feral.

• Teeth/Fangs

Now this feature is equally important as the blood element, but in a much more physical and costume aspect. This part is what makes the character a vampire since its the most distinguished feature they have and what they use to drain their victims. Without this, it loses the feel of a true vampire film so it has to be done right otherwise it could break the entire film in terms of verisimilitude and quality. I have acquired some amazingly decent style fangs that look real enough for the camera and blend into wearer's teeth well if fitted properly as the test footage I gained helped show (will be posted soon). So I'm a lot more comfortable with this aspect of my project then I was originally since it was a very crucial part of the project in terms of establishing the genre. Now I don't have to worry since all the actors required to wear them tried them, acted out scenes with them in and they could talk perfectly and they weren't uncomfortable. (Even though the dental gum did taste rather awful).

• Settings

In terms of settings for a vampire film, there a few common features between all forms of media. They tend to be night time settings due to the widely accepted part of the lore being vampires burn in sunlight and its adds a much more fearful atmosphere to the film since the vampires are in their element in the darkness. With being supernatural creatures, they hide in the shadows and stalk their pray, letting the fear build up within them which is what makes up the horror element to these films. The audience watch this happen and are powerless to do anything to stop it, making them feel as helpless as the victim in the media. Another common setting is also graveyards due to their links to the supernatural and the connotations of death which the vampires have in common. It allows for some rather terror building scenes with for example a character wandering through the graveyard while the vampire dashes between headstones, increasing the terror, suspense and horror tenfold.

Well for my trailer, due to the quality of the cameras and lack of extra lighting, shooting at night is not ideal since the shots will start to degrade and not be clear. So the best bet is to shoot in the day, being a bonus if its cloudy or bleak so the light is still sufficient but helps recreate the darker tone, as it can be edited to be darker or desaturated to fit in with the typical vampire style setting.

Project Pitch - Tears Wept in Blood

James Corker's Pitch from Chris Earl on Vimeo.

Evaluation of "Tears Wept in Blood" Pitch

Overall, I think my pitch went generally well. I managed to talk about each aspect of my project and how they adhere to the codes and conventions of typical/modern vampire films through the use of colour scheme, voice overs etc. The questions I was asked were answered with confident knowledge on how the trailer would be structured and how it would be easily identifable as vampire genered film. Yet it did bring some problems with my project to light. The main one being with the film poster design task. My original idea was to have one poster with all the characters on it but Sir idenifed that it would detract attention from the characters who wouldn't be at the centre so the idea to make 3 seperate posters fixes this problem as the "Harry Potter" films did this for the last film since each of the characters were as importnant as each other. It also allows the audience to gain a little insight into each characters since they drive the narrative of the story so when we Dacrual's poster, it will come with a quote to make it easily identifible that he is the antagonist and the oppisite for Matt and Rose. On a personal note from the pitch, it made me realise that some extra research couldn't hurt as it would help me later in the production when linking each product tot he source material and each other, whilst also giving me better insight into how a vampire film should be structured and how its aimed at its potential audience. A detailed post on audience is desperatly needed to help ensure my project is much more focused and true to the genre it intends to be. So I will be focusing on digging deeper into the codes and conventions of vampire films, the audience that watch them and my target audience along with poster designs for each character, ready for when filming begins along with the photography.

Update on Project Focus for New School Term

After shooting the test footage during the holidays, it has given me some insight in what to do next with my project. It has shown me what parts can go wrong or simply don't work, highlighting the fact that I need to do some more and exstensive replanning of my project to eliminate these problems and gurantte a much higher quality product. Extra research is also needed to help me link together the design pieces to the trailer and to get a better focus on who my intended audience are exactly so I get the style of each piece right. Some of these flaws were made clear during my pitch to the class about my project like the potential problem with doing a single poster as it will alienate some of the characters when all 3 are essiental to the narrative I'm trying to create. It gave birth to the idea of doing 3 seperate posters for example, one for each character, similer to ones done for the lastest "Harry Potter" films. It helped me flesh out my ideas and to take a step back from jumping head first into the project pieces, making me go back and do any extra or potentially, missing research.

So my blog posts over the coming weeks will focus on any research that is needed like a post on my intended audeince and improved codes and convetions od the vampire style/genre. Also I have done some extensive design work to better prepare myself for the upcoming tasks like potnetial magazine and poster ideas along with an actual script being produced with other neccesary paper work. I will be embedding my pitch on a later blog as well so it can be viewed by others and hopefully commented on to pick out any other problems, potential ideas or any general comments about my intended project. I will be uploading my work once it is completed and scanned in.

Production Company Logo Design

Here are two rough copies of my potential production company logo part of my brand. The main difference between them is the red eye which I'm unsure about if it adds anything constructive to the overall design. The reason for this design and name is so that it fits in with the style of films the company would make, as the "pale soul" title references one of the four horseman from the bible, instantly associating itself with the supernatural/horror elements. I went for quite a simplistic design as it is only the logo which has to be immediately recognisable so when seen, the audience will immediately know the style and tone of what the film will be about. The simple design also doesn't attract too much attention from other material like if used on posters etc. allowing the main image to stand out. The black and white colour scheme used also has an effect as it relates to the tone of the film as my intended project is of the vampire genre which  that has constantly changed over the years, shifting from horror to more teen orientated style films like "Twilight". That is why I went for the more stark, contrasting colours of black and white as my film intends to go back to the more "grown up" form of vampire films, connoting the more dark and violent nature behind the characters instead of  the depressed romantics which has itself been done to death with so many vampire literature following this angle. This also makes it an ambitious genre to choose as I will need to do something different if I want to make my story stand out from the rest.