To begin my project, the main technology I used for the research and planning stages was the Internet. I used it too look up the definitions of trailers, watch different trailers, record my progress, upload pictures, create slideshows, downloading fonts and much more.
The main websites I used were; Blogger, to record my findings and keep track of my progress; Youtube, to watch trailers and upload my own work; Dafont, to find fonts that were appropriate for my style and to download them and Google; for research and definitions. I also used slideshare, magazine websites (e.g. Empire) and others.
The main technologies I used to create my products were the Mac’s and a HD camera. The camera I used to actually film the clips for my trailer, but also for market research; I interviewed people in my peer group for feedback of my ideas. I used a tripod to help with my filming as well. The Mac was the most important tool in the production, without I wouldn’t have been able to create half as good products. I used it to upload all of my footage and photo’s, use the internet and create my products. The programs I used on it especially were Final Cut Express, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Indesign, Soundtrack Pro, and Live Type. Final Cut Express was the most important. This program allowed me to upload and edit my film clips and produce the motion of my film. I created my soundtrack on Soundtrack Pro and the inter-titles and titles in my trailer, I used Live Type. I used Photoshop to edit the images for my poster and magazine and used a mixture of that and Indesign to create the finished products.
The website I used during the evaluation stages was the social networking site Facebook. I used this to collect audience feedback from my peer group.
Sunday, 1 May 2011
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
To get Feedback for my work I decided to use the social Networking site, Facebook. My Target audience is around 18 and above and that is the average age of the people I am connected to on the site.
I posted my Poster, Magazine and Trailer on the page and waited for people to leave their comments.
My Poster got quite good reviews I think. Here are some of the comments written which i Print screened:
From this feedback, I learnt that my poster was overall a success, people were impressed by it. The main thing that came up from their comments was that they thought the red of 'Jake wood' was too bright and I should have toned it down a bit. Another comment made was that the photo was slightly blurry which I had already identified and couldn’t do a lot to change.
Here is the feedback from my Magazine:
The main thing that my audience didn’t like/didn’t think should be as it was on my magazine was the box on the right with the bar code in it. They suggested that it should have been moved down the page maybe the bottom right as it covers my models head slightly. I took this view into account however it is the standard layout of Sight & Sound, which is the reason I put it there so I don’t think I would do it any differently unless I used the other layout I saw of having the name across the top as a banner beneath the image. This I think would have looked odd on my magazine so I’m glad I didn’t use it.
Another comment that was made was that I should have some text stretched across the bottom of the page as a few people thought it looked a bit empty. Again however, that doesn’t fit the conventions of a sight & Sound magazine, which is why I kept the text to the left hand side of the page. A couple other things that were said was that the image could have looked better in black and white to match my poster, the curve of the yellow box wasn’t as smooth as it could be and there were a few grammar mistakes (which I later changed). Overall the feedback was good and the audience seemed impressed with the finished product.
Here is the feedback for my trailer:
There wasn’t as much response to my trailer as there was on my ancillary products; I think this was because people were more comfortable commenting on them as they are what my audience see’s on a day to day basis; Teaser Trailers aren’t as often seen. However the comments I did get were positive, one person stated ‘the actual footage is brilliant, well thought through and composed’ which I am pleased with. One comment suggested that I brought the soundtrack in a bit too soon which I agree with and would improve if I could. They also mentioned that they thought the font on my inter-titles could have been thought through better. This I also agreed with as the font I used was quite plain and unadorned; I could have been more creative in my choice.
I posted my Poster, Magazine and Trailer on the page and waited for people to leave their comments.
My Poster got quite good reviews I think. Here are some of the comments written which i Print screened:
From this feedback, I learnt that my poster was overall a success, people were impressed by it. The main thing that came up from their comments was that they thought the red of 'Jake wood' was too bright and I should have toned it down a bit. Another comment made was that the photo was slightly blurry which I had already identified and couldn’t do a lot to change.
Here is the feedback from my Magazine:
The main thing that my audience didn’t like/didn’t think should be as it was on my magazine was the box on the right with the bar code in it. They suggested that it should have been moved down the page maybe the bottom right as it covers my models head slightly. I took this view into account however it is the standard layout of Sight & Sound, which is the reason I put it there so I don’t think I would do it any differently unless I used the other layout I saw of having the name across the top as a banner beneath the image. This I think would have looked odd on my magazine so I’m glad I didn’t use it.
Another comment that was made was that I should have some text stretched across the bottom of the page as a few people thought it looked a bit empty. Again however, that doesn’t fit the conventions of a sight & Sound magazine, which is why I kept the text to the left hand side of the page. A couple other things that were said was that the image could have looked better in black and white to match my poster, the curve of the yellow box wasn’t as smooth as it could be and there were a few grammar mistakes (which I later changed). Overall the feedback was good and the audience seemed impressed with the finished product.
Here is the feedback for my trailer:
There wasn’t as much response to my trailer as there was on my ancillary products; I think this was because people were more comfortable commenting on them as they are what my audience see’s on a day to day basis; Teaser Trailers aren’t as often seen. However the comments I did get were positive, one person stated ‘the actual footage is brilliant, well thought through and composed’ which I am pleased with. One comment suggested that I brought the soundtrack in a bit too soon which I agree with and would improve if I could. They also mentioned that they thought the font on my inter-titles could have been thought through better. This I also agreed with as the font I used was quite plain and unadorned; I could have been more creative in my choice.
o How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
The images I used for my ancillary products were the biggest link between them and my trailer. They were both taken in the woods where I filmed a lot of my clips and my model was wearing the same top he wore in the end scene of my trailer – in the cornfield. My model looked serious and nervous which matched the mood of the trailer and you can almost guess a match to when the photos were taken as to where about in the trailer it was.
In terms of font, my magazine and poster link more than to the trailer. I used different fonts between the two products but I used the same colour which connected them. The title in my trailer is different, with the main colour being white and the shadow of it red. I should have swapped the colours around so that it was predominantly red so as to link the products together more.
My Poster and trailer are linked through the catchphrase I used. ‘You’re next’ is the only text in the actual footage of my trailer and it stands out to viewers as a creepy moment. Having ‘Watch out You’re next’ on my poster links them both together effectively.
I think my poster and magazine would look more as if they are advertising the same thing if I had either the magazine in black and white or the poster in colour so that they were the same. That would link them together effectively.
Another thing that links the magazine and poster together is the actor’s name. they both emphasise the fame of the actor – the poster standing it out in red and the magazine only mentioning his name.
Overall I think my trailer and ancillary tasks like well enough together for viewers to understand they are advertising the same thing.
In terms of font, my magazine and poster link more than to the trailer. I used different fonts between the two products but I used the same colour which connected them. The title in my trailer is different, with the main colour being white and the shadow of it red. I should have swapped the colours around so that it was predominantly red so as to link the products together more.
My Poster and trailer are linked through the catchphrase I used. ‘You’re next’ is the only text in the actual footage of my trailer and it stands out to viewers as a creepy moment. Having ‘Watch out You’re next’ on my poster links them both together effectively.
I think my poster and magazine would look more as if they are advertising the same thing if I had either the magazine in black and white or the poster in colour so that they were the same. That would link them together effectively.
Another thing that links the magazine and poster together is the actor’s name. they both emphasise the fame of the actor – the poster standing it out in red and the magazine only mentioning his name.
Overall I think my trailer and ancillary tasks like well enough together for viewers to understand they are advertising the same thing.
o In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My trailer starts off by telling viewers a famous director was directing my film. A lot of trailers do this because it builds on the reputation of that director and if viewers have seen his previous big film and liked it, they will want to come and watch his new one as they expect a good standard.
I used inter titles in my trailer which is a common convention of trailers and teaser trailers. Psychological thrillers tend to talk to the viewers and get them questioning themselves. This is what I did, I asked viewers how they would react to a certain situation; it intrigues viewers and makes them want to come and see how other people reacted.
The title itself is also an important aspect of a trailer. Conventionally titles in this genre of film like to shock viewers by appearing fast or alternatively, slowly for more effect; or making noises when they appear. I used this convention by making my title appear fairly quickly and with a sound effect. They also tend to be in quite dark colours for more of an ominous effect. My title used white with a dark red shadow on black so I think I developed the conventions, because white is a bright colour and it doesn’t immediately shout thriller until you see the red behind it.
Quite a few trailers have voice over’s on them where mine doesn’t. I originally planned to stick to this convention but then I decided it would work better without voices; it would have a creepier feel to it- in this way I challenged the forms and conventions of a trailer. I did however have whispering laid over the top of my soundtrack. Conventionally psychological thriller teaser trailers have some sort of intimidating effect laid over there soundtrack whether it is whispering or banging so in that respect I again used the forms and conventions of a teaser.
In terms of my actor, I wanted to challenge the conventions; I wanted to have quite a tall bulky lad as my lead character as it is stereotypically a girl who is the victim, the one who gets stalked. The location of the first scene in my trailer is quite stereotypical of a film in my genre as well; walking in a dark wood alone. I thought I would use this convention as I wanted to have the most ominous effect for that scene as I could.
I used inter titles in my trailer which is a common convention of trailers and teaser trailers. Psychological thrillers tend to talk to the viewers and get them questioning themselves. This is what I did, I asked viewers how they would react to a certain situation; it intrigues viewers and makes them want to come and see how other people reacted.
The title itself is also an important aspect of a trailer. Conventionally titles in this genre of film like to shock viewers by appearing fast or alternatively, slowly for more effect; or making noises when they appear. I used this convention by making my title appear fairly quickly and with a sound effect. They also tend to be in quite dark colours for more of an ominous effect. My title used white with a dark red shadow on black so I think I developed the conventions, because white is a bright colour and it doesn’t immediately shout thriller until you see the red behind it.
Quite a few trailers have voice over’s on them where mine doesn’t. I originally planned to stick to this convention but then I decided it would work better without voices; it would have a creepier feel to it- in this way I challenged the forms and conventions of a trailer. I did however have whispering laid over the top of my soundtrack. Conventionally psychological thriller teaser trailers have some sort of intimidating effect laid over there soundtrack whether it is whispering or banging so in that respect I again used the forms and conventions of a teaser.
In terms of my actor, I wanted to challenge the conventions; I wanted to have quite a tall bulky lad as my lead character as it is stereotypically a girl who is the victim, the one who gets stalked. The location of the first scene in my trailer is quite stereotypical of a film in my genre as well; walking in a dark wood alone. I thought I would use this convention as I wanted to have the most ominous effect for that scene as I could.
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Friday, 29 April 2011
Sight and Sound Magazine - Paranoia
This is the final version of my Magazine 'Sight and Sound' advertising my film 'Paranoia'
Thursday, 7 April 2011
First Version of Magazine
After all my planning this is what I came up with for my Magazine:
I wasn't pleased with this however, so i decided to add more to the text on the magazine and make it sound more official. Here is the next version of my magazine:
I wasn't pleased with this however, so i decided to add more to the text on the magazine and make it sound more official. Here is the next version of my magazine:
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Choosing Fonts - Magazine
Looking at the magazines previous issues and assessing their style I knew i shouldn't use any of the strange 'wacky' fonts that can be found in 'dafont.com'. Instead I needed some that were quite plain and unadorned that just get the message across. Looking through dafont.com I came across the font 'Headline One' which I thought would be perfect for my title. I downloaded that and applied it on my magazine in a size 72pt.
The Magazine name was a more difficult one to find as it has to look the same if not similar to the magazines own style. I couldn't find one that looked exactly the same so I experimented with a few and discovered that 'Cooper Std' fitted the style and was fairly similar to the original font so I decided on that. To fit the box I have already created in accordance to 'Sight and Sound's' style, i out it again at 72pt (The font used makes it larger than my title).
The words 'The international Film Magazine' needed to be in a thin font so i chose 'Consolas' at a size 18pt which I think looked the part. This text I made red in correspondence to Sight and Sounds style
For the text that I am putting beneath my title, I decided to use the same font 'Headline One' to match and keep it simple like the magazine is. I used a 24pt size.
The text in the circle normally found beneath the main articles on sight and sound needed to be in a long slim font that is still easy to read. I couldn't find again an exact match but i thought the font 'Haettenschweiler' fitted the part. The word 'Film' needed to be bigger than the rest of the text so i put that at a size 46pt with the other words 'every new' and 'reviewed' at 18pt.
In the smaller box opposite the name, I needed to have the date, volume and price read. I used the font 'Optima' for the date at a size 18pt and 'Cooper Black' at 14pt for the Volume and price. From looking at Sight and Sound I knew that the month it came out in (April) is shown in a red font so I made sure to do the same. In the same way I knew that the '&' in Sight & Sound magazine needed to be red too with the rest black. I put 'Paranoia' in red and the text beneath in white. 'Every New Film Reviewed' is in white with the circle its in, red.
The Magazine name was a more difficult one to find as it has to look the same if not similar to the magazines own style. I couldn't find one that looked exactly the same so I experimented with a few and discovered that 'Cooper Std' fitted the style and was fairly similar to the original font so I decided on that. To fit the box I have already created in accordance to 'Sight and Sound's' style, i out it again at 72pt (The font used makes it larger than my title).
The words 'The international Film Magazine' needed to be in a thin font so i chose 'Consolas' at a size 18pt which I think looked the part. This text I made red in correspondence to Sight and Sounds style
For the text that I am putting beneath my title, I decided to use the same font 'Headline One' to match and keep it simple like the magazine is. I used a 24pt size.
The text in the circle normally found beneath the main articles on sight and sound needed to be in a long slim font that is still easy to read. I couldn't find again an exact match but i thought the font 'Haettenschweiler' fitted the part. The word 'Film' needed to be bigger than the rest of the text so i put that at a size 46pt with the other words 'every new' and 'reviewed' at 18pt.
In the smaller box opposite the name, I needed to have the date, volume and price read. I used the font 'Optima' for the date at a size 18pt and 'Cooper Black' at 14pt for the Volume and price. From looking at Sight and Sound I knew that the month it came out in (April) is shown in a red font so I made sure to do the same. In the same way I knew that the '&' in Sight & Sound magazine needed to be red too with the rest black. I put 'Paranoia' in red and the text beneath in white. 'Every New Film Reviewed' is in white with the circle its in, red.
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Things to include on Magazine
Since I am using Sight and Sound for my Magazine, I need to makes it look like their normal style. The main thing is the yellow box's on the left and right hand side of the page. They are simple enough to create, I just need to use the rectangle tool on Photoshop to create the box then fill it with a yellow that matches the norm. I need to do that twice in different sizes.
I also need to find the BFI logo and paste that onto the second box as well as a bar code. To do that, I simple went on to google, typed in what I wanted and saved them onto my page.
Sight and Sound also has a circle with 'Every New Film Reviewed' written in it. For this I can do exactly the same as I do with the rectangle - create a circle and fill it with red.
One thing I need to work out is what I want to write on my magazine. I obviously need to advertise my film but I need to include other films and things as well.
I thought about what films were out recently as well as what Sight and Sound would advertise in the magazine. I decided on 'The Other Woman' by Natalie Portman and a new horror coming out called 'The Roommate'.
I'm going to write:
NATALIE PORTMAN INTERVIEWED ON NEW ROLE IN ‘THE OTHER WOMAN’
THE ROOMMATE REVIEW
I also need to find the BFI logo and paste that onto the second box as well as a bar code. To do that, I simple went on to google, typed in what I wanted and saved them onto my page.
Sight and Sound also has a circle with 'Every New Film Reviewed' written in it. For this I can do exactly the same as I do with the rectangle - create a circle and fill it with red.
One thing I need to work out is what I want to write on my magazine. I obviously need to advertise my film but I need to include other films and things as well.
I thought about what films were out recently as well as what Sight and Sound would advertise in the magazine. I decided on 'The Other Woman' by Natalie Portman and a new horror coming out called 'The Roommate'.
I'm going to write:
NATALIE PORTMAN INTERVIEWED ON NEW ROLE IN ‘THE OTHER WOMAN’
THE ROOMMATE REVIEW
Magazine Photo
Before:
To edit this image so that it is presentable for a magazine I first got rid of the blemishes on my actors face. Using the 'Patch Tool' and 'Spot Healing Brush' I got rid of any marks or spots on the face. I then used adjustment layers to change the tone of the image. I first used a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to put more colour into the scene. I then applied an Exposure adjustment layer which brightened the image. I then used a Levels adjustment layer which made it darker with more contrast. I used a curves adjustment layer next and that again brighten the image keeping the contrast. Colour Balance is what i then used so that it again brought out more colour in the face and tree's. Finally I put a selective colour adjustment layer on my image which made my actors face look more life like and not as pale. This is the Result:
After:
To edit this image so that it is presentable for a magazine I first got rid of the blemishes on my actors face. Using the 'Patch Tool' and 'Spot Healing Brush' I got rid of any marks or spots on the face. I then used adjustment layers to change the tone of the image. I first used a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to put more colour into the scene. I then applied an Exposure adjustment layer which brightened the image. I then used a Levels adjustment layer which made it darker with more contrast. I used a curves adjustment layer next and that again brighten the image keeping the contrast. Colour Balance is what i then used so that it again brought out more colour in the face and tree's. Finally I put a selective colour adjustment layer on my image which made my actors face look more life like and not as pale. This is the Result:
After:
Monday, 4 April 2011
Decision on Magazine
I chose to use Sight and Sound magazine to publicise my film trailer.
I decided this because Sight & Sound magazine don't do massive blockbuster films but they do still do quite big things. I'm advertsing my film on the director and the actor's fame so it would be quite a big film. Sight and Sound recently published a magazine focused on 'The Black Swan' with Natalie Portman which is also a physchological thriller; this was another reason why i chose it, it advertsises my genre of film.
I like the layout of sight and sound magazine as well, it is simple and individual which is what I think my film is like.
I decided this because Sight & Sound magazine don't do massive blockbuster films but they do still do quite big things. I'm advertsing my film on the director and the actor's fame so it would be quite a big film. Sight and Sound recently published a magazine focused on 'The Black Swan' with Natalie Portman which is also a physchological thriller; this was another reason why i chose it, it advertsises my genre of film.
I like the layout of sight and sound magazine as well, it is simple and individual which is what I think my film is like.
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Final Poster - Paranoia
I got a bit of feedback from my peers on the last version of my poster and from their commented I gauged that my title and especially the phrase weren't that clear to work out. So Using Photoshop again, I chose a grey colour and painted on the origanal layer, beneath the text in what looks like a smudge. Doing this made the text much easier to read and I think it also added to the mysterious feel of my poster; made it seem scarier. This is the FINAL version of my Poster:
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Final Decisions on Poster
After choosing my fonts, I literally just had to place them on my poster according to my plan. I stretched the steel tongs with my chosen names along the bottom of the image in 20pt. I placed the title at a size 60pt above that on the left of the page with 'Coming Soon' slightly beneath it at the end of the title. I couldn't decide where to place my stars names along the top. I experimented with placement, colour and size for ages before settling on having them staggered on the head of my actor so that they stood out.
I chose to have my lead actor 'Jake Wood' in size 18 with the other two names a shade smaller at 14pt. I also had the lead name in red matching the title 'Paranoia'. I had my 'Watch out...' phrase in black placed above the title with more of a space between them than the 'coming soon' gap. This way it stands out more. I added a slight drop shadow onto my title to make the red colour clearer and more defined.
This is the Result, my poster:
I chose to have my lead actor 'Jake Wood' in size 18 with the other two names a shade smaller at 14pt. I also had the lead name in red matching the title 'Paranoia'. I had my 'Watch out...' phrase in black placed above the title with more of a space between them than the 'coming soon' gap. This way it stands out more. I added a slight drop shadow onto my title to make the red colour clearer and more defined.
This is the Result, my poster:
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Choosing Fonts
Poster:
When trying to find a font to use for the name on my poster I went onto a website called www.dafont.com. I searched in the 'Horror' section as that was the closest theme they had to my genre of film. After looking through them, I choose 'Nyctophobia' to be my title font.
I downloaded it and tried it out on my poster and I was pleased with the effect.
For the steel tongs that I needed on my poster I simply typed 'Steeltongs' into www.dafont.com and it came up with what i needed. I downloaded that font and added names to it.
For my actors names I was really unsure of what type of font to use and experimented with the ones found in Photoshop. After finding that none of them were suitable, I tried Dafont.com again. Searching through the 'Horror' section I wanted something not to decorated but still fitting with my genre. I found and downloaded 'Dead Secretary' which I thought was perfect for it.
Finally I decided on having a phrase on my poster as well to make it more interesting. I want it to relate to my trailer and the only thing that came to mind was the 'You're Next' text my actor gets. Playing around with this, I decided to have 'Watch out; You're Next' on my poster. I decided to use the same font as my title 'Nyctophobia' for this, as it as well is quite a creepy font so matches the phrase.
When trying to find a font to use for the name on my poster I went onto a website called www.dafont.com. I searched in the 'Horror' section as that was the closest theme they had to my genre of film. After looking through them, I choose 'Nyctophobia' to be my title font.
I downloaded it and tried it out on my poster and I was pleased with the effect.
For the steel tongs that I needed on my poster I simply typed 'Steeltongs' into www.dafont.com and it came up with what i needed. I downloaded that font and added names to it.
For my actors names I was really unsure of what type of font to use and experimented with the ones found in Photoshop. After finding that none of them were suitable, I tried Dafont.com again. Searching through the 'Horror' section I wanted something not to decorated but still fitting with my genre. I found and downloaded 'Dead Secretary' which I thought was perfect for it.
Finally I decided on having a phrase on my poster as well to make it more interesting. I want it to relate to my trailer and the only thing that came to mind was the 'You're Next' text my actor gets. Playing around with this, I decided to have 'Watch out; You're Next' on my poster. I decided to use the same font as my title 'Nyctophobia' for this, as it as well is quite a creepy font so matches the phrase.
Trailer With Sound
This is what my trailer looks like with my finished soundtrack on top:
After watching it myself and asking my peers opinions, I think I'm going to change a few things within my trailer. I'm happy with the soundtrack on it, I think it fits pretty well. However I'm going to get rid of the green page at the begining as I'm not technically allowed to use it, it's copyright. I also want to change the first slide 'From the Director of' and make it more interesting.
After watching it myself and asking my peers opinions, I think I'm going to change a few things within my trailer. I'm happy with the soundtrack on it, I think it fits pretty well. However I'm going to get rid of the green page at the begining as I'm not technically allowed to use it, it's copyright. I also want to change the first slide 'From the Director of' and make it more interesting.
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Soundtrack
I used the Program 'Soundtrack Pro' to create the music for my trailer. I found it difficult to use, it being completely unfamiliar to me but i got used to it after being taught the basics and managed to explore the program and learn more about it myself. I didn't use it to its full potential because i didn't know how too but think i managed to come out with a good soundtrack.
I used the cinematic sounds and flicked through them until i found something that i liked. I wanted the sounds to be quite creepy and eerie, not too slow or really fast. I wanted dramatic sounds for the big moments and i wanted to edit in the whispering tracks that i recorded.
I used a violin sound ' to start off the trailer, beginning in the inter title slide and carrying on through. I then discovered a flute tune which i thought was really atmospheric and added that over the second wood scene; its called ''. I wanted a dramatic sound of some sort for when my actor found the body and I thought 'Whoosh' fitted it well; I pushed the sound up so that the moment would shock viewers even more. I wanted something different for the cornfield scene, maybe with more of a beat was my original idea; but then i found '' and tried it out with the trailer to a couple of my peers and they said they found it really effective and creepy so i kept it. I liked the wind sound '' during the phone scene of my trailer as i think it emphasized the creepiness and added something different to my soundtrack.
Trailer without Sound
This is my Teaser Trailer so far:
I haven't added the sound yet, the sound from the clips here are going to be taken out and I need to add a lot of voiceovers and a soundtrack. I still need to edit some of the slips and transitions to make them look right, as well as editing the beginning and end of the trailer; maybe adding the actors names to it.
I haven't added the sound yet, the sound from the clips here are going to be taken out and I need to add a lot of voiceovers and a soundtrack. I still need to edit some of the slips and transitions to make them look right, as well as editing the beginning and end of the trailer; maybe adding the actors names to it.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Inter-titles in Trailer
Screenshot from Livetype.
Inter-titles in Trailer
You don't necessarily need inter titles in teaser trailers but i opted to have them in mine. I think without them, my trailer looks a little lost, it needs the text to tie it all together. I wanted the message to be ambiguous, to leave viewers wondering what it meant and what the film would be like; hopefully making them want to go see it.
I decided to stick to the conventions and have my inter titles talking to viewers; asking them questions. Since my trailer is about feeling stalked and paranoid, i thought i would do it so that viewers are left wondering what they would do in that situation.
I figured out that i would need 4 inter titles to separate the different scenes in my trailer, not including the slide at the beginning advertising the director. I wanted message to basically be; what would viewers do if they were being stalked? but have the last title questioning whether they are or not. After a lot of fiddling around with the wording I settled on having four titles saying:
- When bad things start to happen...
- What do you do...
- When it happens to you?
- Or does it?
I settled on this because it is what i wanted in terms of ambiguity and mystery. It sounds strange when you say it as a sentence but when it is in the trailer, surrounded by the scenes, it seems to make sense.
I now need to decide on how I want to present my message; font, colour, style etc
I decided to stick to the conventions and have my inter titles talking to viewers; asking them questions. Since my trailer is about feeling stalked and paranoid, i thought i would do it so that viewers are left wondering what they would do in that situation.
I figured out that i would need 4 inter titles to separate the different scenes in my trailer, not including the slide at the beginning advertising the director. I wanted message to basically be; what would viewers do if they were being stalked? but have the last title questioning whether they are or not. After a lot of fiddling around with the wording I settled on having four titles saying:
- When bad things start to happen...
- What do you do...
- When it happens to you?
- Or does it?
I settled on this because it is what i wanted in terms of ambiguity and mystery. It sounds strange when you say it as a sentence but when it is in the trailer, surrounded by the scenes, it seems to make sense.
I now need to decide on how I want to present my message; font, colour, style etc
Film Title
I needed to create a design for my Film Title in my Trailer, this is how i did it:
I used the program 'LiveType' to create this title. It is quite easy to use when you know the basics and it didn't take me long to create a title i liked. It was a simple step by step process to get the result i wanted. You start by typing the words you want in the box at the top then go through each tab and change it section by section.
I used a 'Copperplate' font because i think it has a hard, unforgiving feel to it, it fits the look that i want. I added a shadow onto it with strong opacity so that it is clearly shown but slightly blurry so that it wasn't literally just the name repeated. I set it to under half on the scale bar and about three quarters of the way along the Offset bar. I set the colour to red. i did that because red is a stereotypical colour for scary movies; it makes viewers think of blood and anger and i also think it sets off the bright white in the black background and makes it stand out. I added a slight glow to the text which gives it a more mysterious feel i think and i pushed the letters close together as if they are huddled together. I used the 'Fade Out' effect for my trailer which is simple, but effective i think.
I used the program 'LiveType' to create this title. It is quite easy to use when you know the basics and it didn't take me long to create a title i liked. It was a simple step by step process to get the result i wanted. You start by typing the words you want in the box at the top then go through each tab and change it section by section.
I used a 'Copperplate' font because i think it has a hard, unforgiving feel to it, it fits the look that i want. I added a shadow onto it with strong opacity so that it is clearly shown but slightly blurry so that it wasn't literally just the name repeated. I set it to under half on the scale bar and about three quarters of the way along the Offset bar. I set the colour to red. i did that because red is a stereotypical colour for scary movies; it makes viewers think of blood and anger and i also think it sets off the bright white in the black background and makes it stand out. I added a slight glow to the text which gives it a more mysterious feel i think and i pushed the letters close together as if they are huddled together. I used the 'Fade Out' effect for my trailer which is simple, but effective i think.
Monday, 7 February 2011
New Film Poster Plan
Updated plan for Poster, Scan/Upload
This is my new plan for my changed image:
I want the credits to be along the bottom of the image with my title to be on the left above the credits. I want 'Coming Soon' to be near the title, above or below it, whichever looks best when I do it. I want my actors names to be stretched along the top of the poster and I want some sort of quote or review somewhere in the middle.
This is my new plan for my changed image:
I want the credits to be along the bottom of the image with my title to be on the left above the credits. I want 'Coming Soon' to be near the title, above or below it, whichever looks best when I do it. I want my actors names to be stretched along the top of the poster and I want some sort of quote or review somewhere in the middle.
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Developing Film Poster
After experimenting with my chosen photo and the layout I had planned, I didn't look as good as i hoped, so with advice, I changed my photo to landscape and I'm going to try it that way. This is the photo cropped into landscape:
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Film Poster Editing
Before:
After:
This is how I have edited my photo to start with. I used the 'Spot Healing Brush' and 'Patch Tool' to get rid of any blemishes on my models face. I then added a black and white adjustment layer and changed the level to what I think looked best. After that I added an Exposure adjustment layer to brighten my image and a Curves adjustment layer to add more contrast.
After:
This is how I have edited my photo to start with. I used the 'Spot Healing Brush' and 'Patch Tool' to get rid of any blemishes on my models face. I then added a black and white adjustment layer and changed the level to what I think looked best. After that I added an Exposure adjustment layer to brighten my image and a Curves adjustment layer to add more contrast.
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Film Poster Photo
This is the photo I've chosen for my Film Poster:
This is the photo I've chosen for my Magazine Front Cover:
This is the photo I've chosen for my Magazine Front Cover:
Saturday, 8 January 2011
Friday, 7 January 2011
Photo's from set
This is a photo of my Tripod set up in the woods for the first scene:
Here are some photo's I took on set of my actor and scenes:
Here are some photos of the 'dead body' we made for the first scene:
This is a video showing how we created the dead body. It was a funny experience so we aren't being entirely serious but it shows how we did it and the finished effect:
Here are some photo's I took on set of my actor and scenes:
Here are some photos of the 'dead body' we made for the first scene:
This is a video showing how we created the dead body. It was a funny experience so we aren't being entirely serious but it shows how we did it and the finished effect:
Re-filming Results
I think filming this time was a lot more successful than the previous. I took more care with my shots and the angles I took them at and I was always aware of the times of the day as it effects the lighting in each scene. I had trouble getting my actor to be serious and get into character - I have many video's on the camera of me trying to encourage him to do a shot, sometimes even showing him what i want - I might put one or two of these up to show my directing.
The first time I redid the first scene, it ended up being too dark again, I don't think we started early enough and by the time we were done the lighting had run out. The difficulty being that the scenes look bright enough on the camera - I thought that they looked really good; but when I connected the camera to a TV to see what the shots looked like on that, the shots came out practically black. So the next time we went out to do it, I made sure it was earlier in the day and I tried to make things more serious so that we didn't waste time. It was still difficult to get my actor into character but we managed to do it in the end with only minor issues of not wanting to fall over in the mud. I think the shots came out well.
The other scene we had to re-redo was the 'you're next' phone scene as that was also two dark. There were no difficulties for this scene as it was relatively short, until afterwards I realized that I hadn't changed the name of the person who text back to 'unknown' it was saved as Unknown with her surname. That was a shot I had to drag my actor back out to do as it was definitely not appropriate to keep in my trailer.
There were a couple scenes that I decided to just cut from my trailer. The first was the scene were my actor walks down the street and feels like people are glaring at him. It was really difficult to organize this as it is illegal to just film people on the street without there consent and I couldn't organize enough of my friends to do it with me as they all had work loads - as well as the fact that i didn't want it to all be teenagers glaring at him as that isn't as effective (people stereotype teenagers as being aggressive anyway) So even though I think it would have looked quite effective in my trailer, i decided to cut it - added to the fact that my teaser trailer would be long enough already, The second scene I cut was the running scene that i originally shot that turned out too dark. I decided that I already had enough running sections in the trailer - in the woods, that i didn't really need another one down the street. I liked the idea of my actor running through a door/gate and slamming it behind them but I literally ran out of time with the camera and lighting to get it so I just left it out - it isn't an essential scene.
One thing I do regret with the filming is that in the first reshoot I had my friend wrapped up in bin bags pretending to be a body in the woods but I didn't get a full shot of her on the film camera and when it came to re-filming that scene, she wasn't available to do it. I did manage to take a few photos of her though and i have a video of us preparing her which i could put on.
When I filmed the body scene in the cornfield I was worried that the difference in lighting would effect the shot but because it was literally just shots looking down on the bodies it didn't which i was really pleased with. I had issues with my actors and had to lie them down on bin bags (which i don't think you can really tell in the shots) because of the mud. If I had been more organized i would have tried to make them look 'deader' and use white face powder and things like that. As it was I had to rely on there body positioning and acting skills. I think the shots worked anyway so it doesn't matter that much.
Overall I am pleased with the footage I got from re-filming and I think it will hopefully look good edited into my trailer.
The first time I redid the first scene, it ended up being too dark again, I don't think we started early enough and by the time we were done the lighting had run out. The difficulty being that the scenes look bright enough on the camera - I thought that they looked really good; but when I connected the camera to a TV to see what the shots looked like on that, the shots came out practically black. So the next time we went out to do it, I made sure it was earlier in the day and I tried to make things more serious so that we didn't waste time. It was still difficult to get my actor into character but we managed to do it in the end with only minor issues of not wanting to fall over in the mud. I think the shots came out well.
The other scene we had to re-redo was the 'you're next' phone scene as that was also two dark. There were no difficulties for this scene as it was relatively short, until afterwards I realized that I hadn't changed the name of the person who text back to 'unknown' it was saved as Unknown with her surname. That was a shot I had to drag my actor back out to do as it was definitely not appropriate to keep in my trailer.
There were a couple scenes that I decided to just cut from my trailer. The first was the scene were my actor walks down the street and feels like people are glaring at him. It was really difficult to organize this as it is illegal to just film people on the street without there consent and I couldn't organize enough of my friends to do it with me as they all had work loads - as well as the fact that i didn't want it to all be teenagers glaring at him as that isn't as effective (people stereotype teenagers as being aggressive anyway) So even though I think it would have looked quite effective in my trailer, i decided to cut it - added to the fact that my teaser trailer would be long enough already, The second scene I cut was the running scene that i originally shot that turned out too dark. I decided that I already had enough running sections in the trailer - in the woods, that i didn't really need another one down the street. I liked the idea of my actor running through a door/gate and slamming it behind them but I literally ran out of time with the camera and lighting to get it so I just left it out - it isn't an essential scene.
One thing I do regret with the filming is that in the first reshoot I had my friend wrapped up in bin bags pretending to be a body in the woods but I didn't get a full shot of her on the film camera and when it came to re-filming that scene, she wasn't available to do it. I did manage to take a few photos of her though and i have a video of us preparing her which i could put on.
When I filmed the body scene in the cornfield I was worried that the difference in lighting would effect the shot but because it was literally just shots looking down on the bodies it didn't which i was really pleased with. I had issues with my actors and had to lie them down on bin bags (which i don't think you can really tell in the shots) because of the mud. If I had been more organized i would have tried to make them look 'deader' and use white face powder and things like that. As it was I had to rely on there body positioning and acting skills. I think the shots worked anyway so it doesn't matter that much.
Overall I am pleased with the footage I got from re-filming and I think it will hopefully look good edited into my trailer.
Thursday, 6 January 2011
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
Monday, 3 January 2011
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