Planning - Film poster, first draft

Above is the mock film poster that I have created for the first stage of my digipack. I decided to keep the poster simple and go with the theme of the name, 'Pop goes the weasel', so a Jack in the Box (renown for playing pop goes the weasel) was used as the center piece for the poster.

I have asked for some peer feedback on the poster, and I have summed it up below.

"The entirity of the poster looks too 'cheesy' and 'cheerful', and the simplistic fonts lead us to believe that the film is more childish then what you intend it to be."

Planning - Equipment/Props/Clothing

To ensure that my trailer can be filmed without any issues, I have outlined a list below of the equipment, props and clothing that will be required during my shooting schedule.

Equipment
-Camera
-Tripod
-Film-tape
-Spare tape
-Spare battery

Props
None, other then small location props such as white board pens etc for the Police station. These props however are already on scene and will not need to be located.

Clothing
Main victim
-Hoody
-Jeans
-Boots
These items of clothing have been selected to show that the victim is wearing casual items, with absolutely no further meaning put into them. This is because I intend my trailer to be realistic, rather then looking like everything has been 'put on' or spent large amounts of money getting Hugo Boss labels or whatever.

'The Stalker'
-Dark hoody, with the hood put up
-Dark jeans
-Trainers
Like the main vicitm, these items have been selected to portray him as a 'real world' stalker. Unlike high-budget movies, a real stalker wouldn't care about his appearance other then perhaps being able to blend in with the darkness and shadows, thus the choice of the darkened hoody.

Police officers
-Shirts, unbuttoned at the collar
-Suit trousers
-Suit shoes
These clothes have been shown to represent authority, your typical white shirt and black trousers. However, I have opted to lose the ties as it shows the stress the police officers are going through, trying to find evidence to incriminate the stalker. It's the subtle things that count.


Failure to get any of these could lead to discrepancies in my filming schedule, but I believe that all of them should be obtainable before the first day of filming.

Planning - Script

From my storyboard, I have deduced that my trailer actually contains very little dialogue, ergo it would be a waste of time, effort and resources to produce any sort of official script.

For the little bit of dialogue that is in the trailer, we will improvise the lines when it comes to shooting.

Planning - Storyboard

Storyboard

Planning - Soundtrack

For the soundtrack, I have found an ideal piece of music that suits the drama I want in my trailer. The track is "Pop goes the weasel" by Kevin MacLeod. The artist is well known for making royalty free music (no strings attached, no copyright), and as such, the track I have selected is free to use.

Below is a link to the track in question:



The track also sustains a nice beat/rhythm, meaning I can easily edit my trailer to match the beat of the track.

Planning - Actors

Actors are a key component to any film. Due to the fact that I have next to no budget (so everything I do effectively has to be free to use), I have no way to hire any form of professorial actors. Ergo, I have asked a few of my close friends if they will act in my film trailer. They agreed.

Using my storyboard, I've outlined that I need four actors, all listed below:
'The Victim'
'The Stalker'
'Police officer 1'
'Police officer 2'

I have managed to fill all of these positions with my friends, so I expect shooting to take place on schedule. Two of them have previous acting experience, with the others none. Ergo, I have prioritised that the positions with talking go to the actors with experience, that way the trailers integrity/seriousness doesn't get compromised.

Planning - Locations

Location, location, location!

For my trailer I need to use several different filming locations to represent several different locations in the film, ranging from a forest, to a local landmark and even a police station.

One of the locations I have chosen for my filming is the local country park, called the 'Grange country park'. This location provides a thick forest with easy access that I can use for many aspects of my trailer, and it is quiet so there won't be much interference. The location also provides a stream, waterfall and a large lake that can be used for background effects. In this forest there is a path which I can use to ensure my actors are safe, but also allows for easy shooting, as obviously shooting on rough terrain would be rather difficult.

What my landmark looks like

The second location I need is for a police station type location, so I am going to use my school to act as a sort of 'holding cell' for the criminally insane. This is because the building is large and very brightly coloured, but also available to shoot within my schedule.

Other then these key places, I may use a few simple/stock footage shots of sunsets or local buildings/streets just to help build suspense/tension or to fill the trailers gaps. The sunset footage could also be used to help represent the time of day.