By Alison Hoar

Pre-Producti

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LOCATION DETAILS RELEASE

Gathering details of potential places to shoot at was the first paperwork done after producing a shot list as we needed to find appropriate settings for the trailer. Although we had looked at potential churches around the area, St Andrew’s Church was the best choice for us as it had a big graveyard with the backdrop of the church and was very close to college which would make it easier for the actors and our group. We also had to look at potential problems such as traffic and passers by which could effect the filming process and if we could get around the problem.

LOCATION RELEASE

Through having a location release form, this proves that we had permission from the St Andrew’s Church to film Cantata on that specific location before we started. It was very important that we had permission as they knew what was going on and that any excess noise (EG. Screams) were a part of the trailer. If we didn’t have a location release, the church could have refused to let us release the trailer and refused us from doing any further work their.

TALENT AGREEMENT RELEASE

Talent Agreement Releases were used in our production paperwork to prove that everyone who could be filmed or photographed had permission to do so and was happy for the footage/photos to be released which could be seen by the public. Anyone over 18 was given an adult agreement where they had to be the only consenting party whereas under 18’s had to have the permission of a parent/guardian for the release of the work.

PROPS/COSTUME LIST

Making a list of the costumes and props we had to collect before filming was extremely helpful as it meant we was a lot more organised when we started the filming and knew what props to bring on each day of filming. There was limited props in our trailer as we wanted it to be focused on the people and some props, such as the mobile phone didn’t have to be specially brought. As we was filming in a graveyard in January, all of our actors needed to wear warm clothes so we could stay out to shoot for longer but they still needed to look casual so they fitted in with the storyline.

PRODUCTION SCHEDULE

Producing a production schedule was so we could plan any scenes which could be complex to do or had many actors in at one time and could accordingly sort out which scene could be challenging and what personnel and props were needed for the scene. We then discussed how we would avoid any problems and what we could do if the shot wasn’t at a good enough standard.

TRAILER SHOT LISTMaking a shot list of every scene we was going to shoot was one of the most important pieces of pre-production paperwork as it meant we knew what the plot and rough layout of the shots was going to be as well as what camera angles and sound would be included. Although we did change the layout of the trailer when editing, we used almost the same shots in the trailer that were in the shot list.

TRAILER STORYBOARD

Making a storyboard made sure we could be precise and accurate with the shots we was going to include in the trailer as well as helping create a rough image of what the trailer would look like with the different shots. At this point, the group decided what the shot would look like, duration, location, camera direction, the mis-en-scene and any sound which all needed to be thought about carefully so we could create a scary trailer that had all the horror elements.

POSTER/MAGAZINE ROUGH DRAFTS

Drawing rough copies of what a horror poster and magazine could look like was the initial stage of deciding the layout and the positioning of the figure. Even though my final poster and magazine look very different to the copies, there are similarities with

direction of light and the position of the text. This also helped on whether I should have had the final girl or the killer on the poster and maagzine.