Final products

The Trailer

The Film Magazine Front Cover

The Poster

Evaluation question 4

Question 4: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? Research:
1. Google – Google is a search engine which was founded in 1998. You are able to search anything you wish and get the results in less than a second. I used Google to research practically everything; genre, teaser trailers, images, posters and film magazines. If I needed to search anything I used Google because it is the best and most user friendly search engine around and other ones, like Bing, are confusing to use.

2. YouTube – YouTube is a place you are able to view videos of virtually anything and you are able to upload your own. I used YouTube to search for teaser trailers so I was able to see their conventions, e.g. short clips, fast moving, hardly any dialog, non-linear narrative. I looked at a wide variety of teaser trailers on YouTube and when I had settled on a specific genre I then focused my search on horror teaser trailers. This help me considerably when I was putting my own teaser trailer together because I knew, from the horror teaser trailers I had seen, what was good to do and what was not good to do.

Blog:
3. Blogger – Blogger has allowed me to document all my work on the internet and I have been able to document any changes I have made or any troubles I have encountered. I am able to upload videos and pictures to my work as well. This means I can show examples of my work as I am talking about them. On Blogger you are able to edit your work easily and cut things out that you don’t want. If the work had to be written then this would be a problem as it would mean re-writing all of it again as well as not being able to put videos into my work to show examples. Using Blogger has many benefits, some include; you are able to embed videos from YouTube, edit posts whenever you want, add pictures, add videos.

Equipment:
4. Panasonic SDR-S50 – I used this camera to shoot all the clips that I used in my teaser trailer. The camera has a built in microphone, which wasn’t the best quality but it did the job sufficiently, there was also auto focus for the lens as well as manual focus. I didn’t have to use manual focus as I used auto focus. The digital camera was very user friendly and even if you haven’t used one before it was very easy to get used to. While filming you were able to review that you had filmed via the playback button and select different clips. This meant I was able to look through the clips and see what worked well and what I needed to shoot again. This was a big help because I had already had to film on two separate occasions and I didn’t have to time to film for a third time.

5 & 6. Pentax K-m and Pentax flash – I used a Pentax K-m and a Pentax flash to take all the pictures with. The image of the clown on the poster was taken by the Pentax camera and flash. Harry was in the clown suit and was standing in a mirror and I pointed the flash towards the mirror and took a picture in the reflection, (picture right). The flash in the mirror created a complete over exposure of the picture and therefore created the darkness around the clown and highlighted the clown. The picture on the front cover of the film magazine was also taken by this camera and it was these two pictures that were at the beginning of the teaser trailer where the image of Grant has a cross-fade and it turns into the image of the clown. The use of a digital SLR made the process of taking pictures very simple, it would have been much more difficult if I had to used a film camera and get the pictures developed –this would have take a lot longer to do and the effect would have been different.

7. HP Pavilion dm3 – This is my laptop I use for all my work, apart from the editing of the trailer. I have Adobe PhotoShop on my laptop, which is fairly new technology and not a vast amount of people have the full edition as it is still very expensive. Over the years laptops have been getting smaller and smaller, as well as being able to store more memory and it is because my laptop is small and has over 300GB of memory, I am able to use it virtually anywhere and I am able to store all my work onto it. The editing of the trailer was done at school in the Media department because those were the only computers to have Corel video studio on them. Although I used the school computers to edit my trailer on I backed up everything on several USB sticks and on my laptop as well, just in case something crashed.

8. Tripod – Although using a handheld camera without a tripod has worked in some films, Blair Witch Project and Clover field, it wasn’t the same sort of effect I wanted for my film. The Blair Witch Project is filmed in a documentary style horror film and mine is not in the style of a documentary. The tripod was used to steady the camera and stop there being any camera shake. This was the most effective way of stopping camera shake and I think it helped a lot.

Software:
9. PhotoShop CS4 and CS5– I used PhotoShop to create the poster and the film magazine front cover. I have been using PhotoShop for a number of years so it was very simple for me to use and getting the right effects I wanted. I used the PhotoShop to enhance and improve images using not only brightness and contrast but also by using other effects like colour balance. It was very useful when I had the picture of Grant and the picture of the clown and I had to move Grant to the left so that the clown’s eyes and Grant’s eyes were in line. On PhotoShop there is a ruler tool so I used this to line up the clown’s eyes and then with the exact measurements I put the rulers on Grant’s picture, used the select tool to highlight Grant and moved him to the place he needed to be. PhotoShop was practical and I would not have been able to do this project to the best of my ability if I did not use PhotoShop.

10. Corel video studio Pro X2 – This is the program the Media department has on their computers and it is only in the Media room where my school has it, as it is very expensive. It is on this program I was able to edit my teaser trailer. It was difficult to get used to at first but after having a play with the program for a bit I was able to edit my teaser trailer with ease. I had a mental image of what exactly I wanted my finished teaser trailer to look like and the end product is virtually it. On Corel I was able to cut clip down so they didn’t have my voice saying “action” and “cut” and any talking that was happening while the clips were going on (stage directions or giving some advice to actors) I was able to mute all the sound of the clip on the program by right clicking the clip and selecting mute. A few other things I did on Corel were: the speeding up of clips, the slowing down of clips, the deepening of Harry’s voice (“Freddy, are you alright?”), cross-fades, fade to black, short edits of clips (0.4 seconds long) – the flashing of Grant and then the clown. Corel is a digital program and if this had to be done manually I would have had to get the reel of film and literally cut the bits I wanted and glue them together.

Feedback help:
11. Facebook – I uploaded images onto Facebook of the first filming evening I did. They were mostly pictures of the clown and some people commented on the pictures saying how scary they were. This gave me an indication of which images to use for my poster. It was an easy way of getting feedback from friends, people’s opinions I could trust.

All of these technologies are digital and if they weren’t then the production of this coursework would be very different. For one I would not be posting blogs on the internet, I would be hand writing them and if they needed editing I would have to write it all out again. The digital era has only just touched upon the things we are able to do now and in ten or twenty year’s time we will be able to do a lot more. For example, VCRs were only able to fast forward, rewind, play, pause and record. DVD players can now skip entire scenes, record, some are able to get internet on them, some have USB ports as well as all the conventional things a DVD player does. I am able to put my teaser trailer on my TV via the DVD USB port and watch it in 3D, something which some people would never have thought possible a few years ago.

Evaluation question 3

Question 3: What have you learned from you audience feedback?

From my audience feedback I have learned vital things about all my pieces of coursework. It was useful because I knew what didn't quite work and needed to be changed and what worked well and I should maybe use more of. Getting feedback from my class mates really helped me to focus on the things that needed to be changed.

Here are three video interviews that I did with Billy Ford, a former Media Studies student. The first one is about my poster. Below is a picture of the final poster and below that will be the video interview.

The second video interview is about my film magazine. Below you will find the finished film magazine and below that will be the video interview.

Lastly is the video interview about the trailer. Below you will find the finished trailer and then below that will be the video interview.

In a previous post I had selected a number of people to answer a questionnaire about my trailer. This was a very effective way of getting further feedback about my trailer because the questionnaire was anonymous and therefore might feel more at ease and tell the truth. Here are the quesions I asked and the results I got from them.

Questionnaire results

1. The title of the film is “Split”. What are your impressions of the trailer from the title?
 Emotional, to the point
 Horror
 Simple yet good, implies a split personality/mental problem
 Split personality/mental problem
 Split personality
 High energy trailer
 Emotional turmoil
 Something will break down e.g. a friendship, relationship or people might die
 Horror
 Something cutting someone in half
 Short, simple title

2. What are your immediate reactions to the trailer? (Please write down any words that pop into your head, you don’t need to write fully structured sentences).
 Full of emotion
 Scary
 Doesn’t give much away, flashing, dark.
 Fear, makes me want to see it
 Disturbing, chilling
 Scary but alluring!
 Dramatic, emotional
 Interesting, I want to know how a boy turn into a killer
 Kept in suspense from the lighting effects, atmosphere has a gloomy feel to it
 Spooky, mysterious
 Leaves much to the imagination, abrupt nature allows for much more character development

3. Could you rank the following in the order 1-5 which stood out the most and then rate the following five categories out of 10 (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest). I have averaged these results.

Lighting - 3

7/10

Camera shots - 2

8/10

Music - 4

8/10

Acting - 5

7/10

Costumes - 1

9/10

4. On a scale of 1 – 10 (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest) how well did you think the trailer was put together?
I have averaged this result. The average was 8. People also wrote down some comments:
 Jumpy
 Flowed well, music was perfectly timed
 The music complimented the trailer in a way that made it flow well
 The editing was smoothly done
 The shortness of the trailer added to the tension
 Very good
 Interesting nature of the film
 Important scenes were focused on without giving too much away

5. Did the music fit the genre of the trailer? (Tick the box below and add comments if you so wish)
Yes – 11
No – 0
Comments:
 Children singing was scary
 It fit very well
 Chilling
 Dramatic
 Did fit the scary nature of the film but could be a little better
 The heartbeats and child singing complimented the genre, very frightening
 I liked the music when the scenes changed
 Dark, sing-song beginning belies innocence, abrupt noises were good

6. Do you think the actors played their parts well?
Yes - 11
No – 0
Comments:
 Madness definitely portrayed
 The clown was scary!
 The clown part was played well, very disturbing
 Little opportunity for stage time
 They didn’t say much, however, I am not complaining!!
 Altogether they played their roles well
 They expressed their emotions and motives well
 Grant (who played Freddy) played his part really well, partly because he looked the part

7. What was your favourite part in the trailer?
 Flashy clown bit in the doorway, excellently done and with appropriate sound effects
 When Joey (played by Harry) walked into the house and Freddy (played by Grant) was behind him
 Flashing Freddy and the clown
 Flashing, very effective and scary
 The shot with Freddy changing into the clown in the doorway, where the shot shows the boy becoming his alter ego. It was chokingly disturbing!
 The boy turning into the clown repeatedly with the scary music
 The beginning where Freddy turns into the clown with the scary child singing in the background
 The flashing of the torchlight with the clown behind the girl

8. Is there anything else you would like to add?
 I would definitely watch this film, pretty much professional
 Really scary
 Very exciting
 Fantastic job
 Good
 Change the font at the beginning if possible

Evaluation question 2

Question 2: How effective is the combination of your media product and ancillary texts?

As you are able to see from the picture, I have colour coded all the screen grabs and drawn lines to show the link between them. I will now explain how and why I have linked them together.

Blue line: Images of the clown. The general plot of the trailer is an average teenage boy developing a mental illness, more specifically a split personality. This split personality makes him believe he turns into a clown. He starts to now trust anyone and becomes obsessed with the clown and eventually the situation become more serious when he turns to a more violent approach. On the poster I have tried to keep the plot hidden by only having the clown on the poster. This, I believe, is more terrifying than having Grant on the poster as well. This is because it is more mysterious and you can’t tell what the plot will be; the only information you have is that the film is called split and there is a clown involved. The clown appears in the trailer and on the magazine and this is one of the main reasons all three are linked together. Throughout the trailer we see Freddy in disturbing situations (watching Abby through the window) and when Joey comes into the house we see Freddy is standing behind him. We then see the ‘split personality’ come through by a few seconds of short, hard cuts of Freddy and then the clown. This is what I have tried to do for the magazine, show the split. I have done this by cutting the clown’s face in half and putting it over Grant’s face. This constant image of the clown in all three products links them together.

Yellow line: This is the credits and appears at the end of the trailer and at the bottom of the poster. This is a convention of film trailers and film posters. This effectively links the trailer and the poster by giving more information about the film.

Pink line: This is the title of the film. The title in all the components is the same font – therefore linking them together, keeping the same feel for all the texts. On the poster and in the film the text is exactly the same. This is because I made the title in the poster a separate image and uploaded it into my trailer. For the magazine, I did try to do this but it was very difficult to see and therefore I just had to use the same font and change it slightly so you’d be able to see it on the magazine.

Green line: The quote on the poster is the same on the magazine. I did this to link the poster and magazine together further. It is a convention of a poster and a magazine to do because they want to advertise the film as much as possible by using the same quote and using it as a “selling line”. It brings in people from other horror films by saying “So terrifying it sends Pennywise back to clown college”. For horror film fans they will know that Pennywise is from Stephen King’s film IT, a horror film from 1990 about a clown called Pennywise that only children can see.

Orange line: To further extend the relationship of the poster and the magazine by putting the title of the magazine as if it was one of the magazines that gave a rating and it was that magazine that commented on the film saying its “So terrifying it sends Pennywise back to clown college”. This links the two well by promoting the film magazine on the poster.

Evaluation question 1

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Frame 1: This is the first shot of the trailer. The shot, along with the music that goes with it, establishes what the trailer is about. In this shot, the character playing Freddy transforms into a clown. First of all I took two pictures, a picture of Grant (who plays Freddy) and a picture of the clown but the subjects in both of these images were at different heights and therefore their eyes were not in line with one another. I went into PhotoShop and selected the two pictures I wanted and firstly I cropped both of the images to the size I was using for the videos (which is 16:9). I then used rulers on PhotoShop to mark out where the eyes on the clown started, finished and where the pupil is. I then put those measurements onto Grant’s picture and saw I had to move them over to the left by two centimetres. I then used the quick select tool to select Grant and I moved him over to where he was supposed to be. This left me with a white background where Grant used to be so I went to select and then inverse so the background was now selected. This meant I could fill in the background using the clown stamp tool without getting the original background colour on Grant. For this opening scene I decided to use images rather than video because images are easy to manipulate on PhotoShop as there is no movement to interfere with the desired effect. This is done with the editing software, Corel Video Studio 12, where I have chosen a cross-fade effect which is spread over a few seconds. This creates the illusion that the Freddy character is literally turning into the clown in front of you. The music in the background is a child singing a rhyme, “One, two, Freddy’s coming for you”. This clearly tells the audience that there is something wrong and something terrible is about to happen. It also makes the audience raises a lot of questions, e.g. why Freddy is turning into a clown? I have noticed that in some trailers the first shot is not of the location, therefore not an establishing shot, but of one of the characters who is either saying something or waiting for something to happen - (“Insidious” trailer). This, I believe, is establishing the horror element instead of the location and this is what I have tried to do with this first shot. I have tried to portray the genre of the trailer in this first shot by using the common fear of a clown. Clowns, or masks, are used in quite a number of films. The most famous film being Stephen King’s IT, other films include: The Strangers and even in Batman Begins. This first shot is the first shot we see Freddy and therefore introduces him as the main character.

Frame 2: This shot is of Harry who plays the part of Joey. This helps to set the scene because it shows Joey walking into a house. This also helps set the uncomfortable nature of the trailer as Joey walks from the light, symbolising safety here, into the dark and possibly the danger that is yet to come. It is a low angled shot which suggests that he is still in control of himself and as the trailer goes on we see that when Joey walks into the house Freddy is standing behind him, the camera angle is slightly high angled, which suggests that Joey now has no control over what happens to him as he walks into the dark. The moving from light into dark is a convention of horror films because it emphasises the fact that the character is moving from safety into the unknown.

Frame 3: This shot shows Freddy with his drawing and the words “kill her” written in blood. This continues the story well because now we know not to trust Freddy for a number of reasons: where did the writing come from? And will he obey what it is tell him to do? We also do not know who she is yet which highlights the trailer’s mysterious narrative. This is, to an extent, a convention in horror films, the writing of important messages in blood, which shows the audience the danger of what is to come.

Frame 4: This shot introduces Abby into the trailer and it is clearly the person that was being referred to in the previous shot, “kill her”. It is typical to have a male character as the villain and a female character as innocent person that the male character is trying to kill examples: The Shining, Silence of the Lambs and Psycho. Some films do not follow this convention and set their own convention, some using Satan as the villain and some just killing people who ‘deserve’ to die. Some of the most famous ones are: Saw, Blair Witch Project, The Omen and The Exorcist. This is a long shot of Freddy and Abby in low key lighting. The main source of light is a desk lamp, one of the props I used, which highlights Abby and shows her to be innocent but surrounded by darkness and furthermore the danger she shall soon be in. This is further emphasised by her relaxed position and the fact that she is oblivious to Freddy standing over her as she reads. The light in effect framing Abby contrasts her with Freddy further as he is framed by the darkness. His position allows him to look down upon her giving him the power in the shot.

Frame 5 and 6: These two frames are linked; the split is shown visually and clearly for the first time by a series of hard cuts between identical shots except for the costume. This emphasises the split personality in Freddy and show him turning into what he believes is his true form. The flashing stresses how unsettling the trailer is and puts emphasis on the genre, horror – the flashing image of the clown, and fear that the audience have at this point.

Frame 7: This shot shows us the title of the film “Split”. It is an exact replica from the poster and therefore the poster and the trailer are linked by the title’s font and appearance. The red grain in the background symbolises blood and danger so this also adds to the story line and terror.

Frame 8: This shot is one of the last ones in the trailer. It shows the clown standing behind Abby. To get the lighting effect I used a strobe light. I got a friend to plug it in, turn it on and move their hand in front of the light to create the illusion that the light is flashing. This flashing reminds you of the previous scene when the images of Freddy and the clown were flashing and it also heights the suspense because you don’t know if Freddy (the clown) kills Abby. It also adds to the story line by creating a loophole because you don’t know if Abby is killed or not so it might escape.

Frame 9: This is the last shot in the trailer. It provides the audience with the important information about the film, for example: who directed it and who the actor where. The website is there so that the audience can get more information on the film if they want to. The white ghost like shadow behind the website is there to repeat the sense of a split personality.

Film magazine

For the design for my magazine I decided to follow a conventional approach. The target market for my film magazine is for horror/action film lovers from fifteen upwards. The age limit from fifteen is a reflection of the genre because the majority of horror and action films are rated at fifteen+. The design of the magazine is aimed at target audience as the cover is a reflection of the advertisement of the film is general. This basic layout involves a large picture for the background and text framing it. I chose to follow the conventions because they have proven to be effective in the media and I also thought this conventional design would be the best way to portray my media film.

First I decided to concentrate on the background image. I use these two pictures:

These are the same picture that I used in the start of my trailer. I decided to use these because I thought it would link the trailer and the magazine nicely and shows continuity between the two media texts, the trailer and the magazine. I combined the images using PhotoShop. I chose to combine these two pictures for a number of reasons. Firstly and most obviously, it was to show the “split” within the character. I used PhotoShop to further emphasis the split. I used the ‘quick select tool’ and selected Grant. I then dragged the image onto a new blank white page. Following that I used the ‘quick select tool’ option on the image of the clown and selected it and then dragged it onto the page that had Grant’s picture on it. Still keeping the clown selected, I lowered the opacity so I could see Grant’s picture in the background. I lined up the picture of the clown so you were able to see Grant’s eyes through the clown’s eye holes. I selected the clown’s eyes and deleted them so you were able to see Grant’s more sinister eyes. To emphasis this further I selected Grant’s eyes and brightened them and gave them a slightly red highlight. I selected the clown again and this time using the ‘lasso tool’ I cut the clown’s face from the top left virtually down the middle. I then put the opacity of the clown’s picture up again to 100%. Using the blending options I selected Grant’s picture and made the following changes:

Satin

Structure: blending mode – colour burn, black

- Opacity, 27% - Angle, -15°

- Distance, 3px - Size, 0px

Colour overlay Blending mode – red

- Opacity 0%

Stroke

Structure: size 250px

- Position: outside

- Blend mode: darken

- Opacity: 100%

Fill type

- Colour, black.

I made these changes because, as mentioned, it emphasises the split and makes the images more sinister which links in with the narrative of the film trailer. I positioned the images in the bottom right to start with however, after consideration and some feedback from my teacher and some peers, I repositioned it more towards the top right so that the clown’s teeth were properly visible. I positioned it here so that the blank spaces are to the left of the image so that the text was not interfering with the striking image. Another reason why I decided to move the image is because of the eyes. The eyes are now closer to the top of the magazine because the eyes would be visible on the magazine shelf and is arguably one of the most striking parts of the image.

All of my text is conventionally positioned and excluding the masthead it is all the same font, Palatino Linotype. The masthead is in Footlight MT Light, I thought it was important to have a different font because it distinguishes the title of the film magazine. I chose this font because it reflects the horror genre of this magazine well because of the white colour of the font and the red framing of the font. I called it “Film Verdict” because it clearly identifies the contents of magazine to the audience and it also suggests you will get a professional judgement and opinion about films. This is valuable to the audience because it helps them to decide which films are worth spending their money on, especially for students. The details of the masthead are as follows:

Blending options:

Inner shadow: blend mode

– black, darken

- Opacity – 100%

- Angle – global light, -151°

- Distance – 7px

- Choke – 34%

- Size – 0px

Outer glow – Structure

- Blend mode – hard light

- Opacity – 59%

- Noise – 0%

- Red

Elements

- Technique – softer

- Spread – 100%

- Size – 10px

Quality

- Range – 32%

Bevel and emboss – structure

- Style – outer bevel

- Technique – smooth

- Depth – 100%

- Direction – down

- Size – 24px

- Soften – 16px

Shading

- Angle – global light, -151°

- Altitude - 30°

- Highlight mode – screen

- Opacity – 50%

- Shadow mode – multiply, black

- Opacity 70%

This helps the masthead to stand out from the rest of the text as well as giving its on connotations. The bevel and shadowing also adds to this effect by helping it stand out further.

The Date Line and Barcode are also found within conventional places on the magazine. I placed the Barcode in the bottom right hand corner, so as not to interfere with the main image, or the magazine front cover as a whole. The Date line is found underneath the masthead, to the left hand side. It includes the full date of the issue release and the issue number. I have included these details in this format because it allows the readers to easily follow the new issues of the magazine whilst it does not interfere with the cover as a whole. I positioned the Date Line and the Barcode using the ruler tool. This allowed me to line up the Barcode and Dateline with the masthead and all the other text so it was all proportional and easier on the eyes.

The Selling line and the Cover line are, again, positioned using the ruler tool so they are in line with the masthead. They are positioned in the conventional places because this is what people are used to and has been proven to be effective and it is another way of grabbing people’s attention to the magazine. This is why they are at the top of the cover as when they are on a magazine shelf, only the top of the magazine is visible to the audience. They are there simply to attract the reader and to make them choose this magazine over others. The yellow text is coloured so it grabs the reader’s attention as it is an unusual and vivid colour.

The Cover lines are, again, positioned to the left hand side in line with the masthead as not to interfere with the main image. These are again to attract the main audience to show other top stories to be found in this issue e.g. new films coming soon and other reviews. The font from them is white with a black rim to help them stand out in their own way but to not be the focus of your attention.

The Main cover line, “Split” is the largest font on the page. This is so it is clear that this is the film is the focus of the magazine. It is, again, positioned using the ruler tool. It is at the bottom of the page but it is not interfering with the main image which is the most striking part. The font is Palatino Linotype and this directly links with the poster because it is the same font. The quote under the Main cover line “So terrifying it sends Pennywise back to clown college” – this is the same quote as the quote on the poster. This links the two together again and shows continuity so that the target audience can easily see the links between the magazine, the trailer and the poster.

Questionnaire results about teaser trailer

When I finished my trailer, I selected approx. 11 people, who had never seen the trailer before, to help me evaluate it and give me their opinion. Here are the quesions I asked and te results.

Questionnaire results

1. The title of the film is “Split”. What are your impressions of the trailer from the title?
 Emotional, to the point
 Horror
 Simple yet good, implies a split personality/mental problem
 Split personality/mental problem
 Split personality
 High energy trailer
 Emotional turmoil
 Something will break down e.g. a friendship, relationship or people might die
 Horror
 Something cutting someone in half
 Short, simple title

2. What are your immediate reactions to the trailer? (Please write down any words that pop into your head, you don’t need to write fully structured sentences).
 Full of emotion
 Scary
 Doesn’t give much away, flashing, dark.
 Fear, makes me want to see it
 Disturbing, chilling
 Scary but alluring!
 Dramatic, emotional
 Interesting, I want to know how a boy turn into a killer
 Kept in suspense from the lighting effects, atmosphere has a gloomy feel to it
 Spooky, mysterious
 Leaves much to the imagination, abrupt nature allows for much more character development

3. Could you rank the following in the order 1-5 which stood out the most and then rate the following five categories out of 10 (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest). I have averaged these results.

Lighting - 3

7/10
Camera shots - 2

8/10
Music - 4

8/10
Acting - 5

7/10
Costumes - 1

9/10

4. On a scale of 1 – 10 (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest) how well did you think the trailer was put together?
I have averaged this result. The average was 8. People also wrote down some comments:
 Jumpy
 Flowed well, music was perfectly timed
 The music complimented the trailer in a way that made it flow well
 The editing was smoothly done
 The shortness of the trailer added to the tension
 Very good
 Interesting nature of the film
 Important scenes were focused on without giving too much away

5. Did the music fit the genre of the trailer? (Tick the box below and add comments if you so wish)
Yes – 11
No – 0
Comments:
 Children singing was scary
 It fit very well
 Chilling
 Dramatic
 Did fit the scary nature of the film but could be a little better
 The heartbeats and child singing complimented the genre, very frightening
 I liked the music when the scenes changed
 Dark, sing-song beginning belies innocence, abrupt noises were good

6. Do you think the actors played their parts well?
Yes - 11
No – 0
Comments:
 Madness definitely portrayed
 The clown was scary!
 The clown part was played well, very disturbing
 Little opportunity for stage time
 They didn’t say much, however, I am not complaining!!
 Altogether they played their roles well
 They expressed their emotions and motives well
 Grant (who played Freddy) played his part really well, partly because he looked the part

7. What was your favourite part in the trailer?
 Flashy clown bit in the doorway, excellently done and with appropriate sound effects
 When Joey (played by Harry) walked into the house and Freddy (played by Grant) was behind him
 Flashing Freddy and the clown
 Flashing, very effective and scary
 The shot with Freddy changing into the clown in the doorway, where the shot shows the boy becoming his alter ego. It was chokingly disturbing!
 The boy turning into the clown repeatedly with the scary music
 The beginning where Freddy turns into the clown with the scary child singing in the background
 The flashing of the torchlight with the clown behind the girl

8. Is there anything else you would like to add?
 I would definitely watch this film, pretty much professional
 Really scary
 Very exciting
 Fantastic job
 Good
 Change the font at the beginning if possible

Why I didn't use the scream in my trailer

Here is the video clip of Grant standing behind Abby in a dark room. When the lights go off she is supposed to scream. The scream sounds very grainy because of the poor quality of the microphone on the camera (and I wasn't allowed to use an exterior microphone becuase we don't have any in our media department).

Script:

[Dark room] Camera angle, head shot - medium close up

Abby: [holding torch which is starting to flicker, Grant is behind her as the clown. the torch turns off and she screams]

However, I did start to use the scream. I thought if I took the clip, extracted the audio, cut the audio down so it was only the scream and went onto audio filter I could get rid of the grainy audio that was caused by the bad quailty microphone on the camera. But how ever many times I tampered with the sound it either made it worse or didn't change the grainy sound.

I was going to put the audio clip of the scream after the flashing clip of Grant and the clown when there is a fade to black before the title comes up. I was going to put the audio so it would scream as the title came up.

After trying and failing to get the scream audio to work I didn't use it. I then continued editting my trailer and found that the trailer is more effective without the scream. This is because you don't need to add a scream to imply fear or horror.

Below is a trailer to a new horror film that is coming out soon, if it isn't out already. It is called "Insidious". There are no screams in this trailer and yet I believe it is quite terrifying.

Completed teaser trailer!

At the start of my trailer are two shots from ‘Lionsgate’ and the Motion Picture Filming Association rating images, which I have used for effect in my trailer and I do not take any credit for them as my own work as I have downloaded them.

The text “How can normal boy, turn into a Killer” is the first part of the trailer the audience sees. The text itself sets the tone and genre as well as possible plot lines. I also put it over two shots to both split the question and also to make it easier to read. The font is red and the background is black so that the font is able to stand out whilst maintain its dark tone. It also gives the audience the idea of danger in darkness because of reds association with blood and danger and its position in the black background. This automatically sets the scene without even seeing a shot from the film.

The opening clip, which is when Grant turns into the Clown, was done by using two images but the subjects in both of these images were at different heights and therefore their eyes were not in line with one another. I went into PhotoShop (a new media technology) and selected the two pictures I wanted and firstly I cropped both of the images to the size I was using for the videos (which is 16:9). I then used rulers on PhotoShop to mark out where the eyes on the clown started, finished and where the pupil is. I then put those measurements onto Grant’s picture and saw I had to move them over to the left by two centimetres. I then used the quick select tool to select Grant and I moved him over to where he was supposed to be. This left me with a white background where Grant used to be so I went to select and then inverse so the background was now selected. This meant I could fill in the background using the clown stamp tool without getting the original background colour on Grant. For this opening scene I decided to use images rather than video because images are easy to manipulate on PhotoShop as there is no movement to interfere with the desired effect. To give the effect that Freddy was transforming into the Clown I used a cross-fading effect on Coral Video Editor 12.

Following a hard cut the next shot shows Freddy drawing what seems to be the face of the clown. This shows his descent into the split personality, which is helped by the costume which I have already discussed. The camera is a slight high-angle shot which suggests looking down on his fall, encouraging pity. His expression however promotes fear. The lighting is normal lighting, showing he is to an extent still in control but it is slightly dimmed to give the feeling that he is losing that control. The chair next Freddy is pulled out, though this is subtle it suggests that there are two minds at work here, the helpless Freddy and the more sinister Clown. More noticeably the large windows in the background shows the dark night sky, contrasting to the white walls, again symbolising good and bad. The reflection of Freddy in the window also shows the split again. This is achieved as only half of his body can be seen in the reflection and suggests to the audience that he is not all himself and is losing that grip on reality. In terms of editing, when Freddy raises his head I increased the speed of the frames by 10% so that the audience can see his eyes. Then when he lowers his head I decreased the speed of the frames by 20% for effect.

There is then a cross fade into the next scene which shows the passing of time. The shot is slightly low angled because it shows that Harry’s character, Joey, is in full control of himself. The opaque windows also shows that he is unaware of what is happening to Freddy inside. They also provide a physical marker of him leaving the light into the darkness. There is no light in the corridor where the camera is, the only light source is from the porch. His lines then show his innocence and obliviousness in the situation. I used audio editing software on Corel Video Editor 12 to make his voice deeper by 10%, so that it is more powerful.
There is then a fade to black which shows an over the shoulder shot which shows Freddy’s perspective. This reveals the words “Kill Her” which are written in blood on the bottom half of his paper. This is, to an extent, a convention in horror films, the writing of important messages in blood, which shows the audience the danger of what is to come. The lighting is the same as the previous shot of Freddy in the same room.

There is another fade to black, which again shows the passing of time and into darkness. It reveals a long shot of Freddy and Abby in low key lighting. The main source of light is a desk lamp which highlights Abby and shows her to be innocent but surrounded by darkness and furthermore the danger she shall soon be in. This is further emphasised by the her relaxed position and the fact that she is oblivious to Freddy standing over her as she reads. The light in effect framing Abby contrasts her with Freddy further as he is framed by the darkness. His position allows him to look down upon her giving him the power in the shot.

There is another fade to black which goes back to the shot of Joey entering the house, but from the other side which gives a two shot. In the previous shot you will notice that Freddy was not there, and this is another convention of horror films e.g. The Strangers which unsettles the audience. Freddy is again positioned in front of the black background whilst Joey is now walking into the darkness, and away from the light. This symbolises his movement away from safety and towards what is hiding in the dark.

Once Joey has left the shot Freddy still remains and the split is shown visually and clearly for the first time by a series of hard cuts between identical shots except for the costume. The flashing images between the two split personalities shows that Freddy is not sane as the flashing is unsettling. It ultimately finishes upon Freddy which shows the monster is within but because it finishes on Freddy it shows there is a slight chance of hope.

There is a fade to black following the previous scene which then fades in to the title of the film. This title is the same as what appears on my poster and on the film magazine front cover. This links the three media texts together. I have already explained the connotations and how I made this title in the analysis of my poster.

A fade to black then occurs to show a low key lighted room and a two shot, mid shot of Abby and the Clown. This shows audience what is to come in the film, and Abby’s scared expression heightens the danger of her situation. I used strobe light to create this lighting effect, and it highlights the two faces, contrasting Abby’s freighted face with the demonic features of the clown. The lighting also means you still do not fully or clearly see the clown, which gives the audience the fear of the unknown hiding in the darkness.

There is then a sequence of three shots, which contain quick hard cuts, and cross fades. The speed makes it unnerving and is again a convention of the horror genre as it shows a lot without showing much and allowing for the audiences imagination to take over and want to fill in the gaps and see the film. Two of the shots have already been used, the two shot of Joey entering the house with Freddy over his shoulder and Freddy drawing at the kitchen table. These two shots frame the centre shot, which has very little lighting outside. It is an extreme low angle shot, giving Freddy all of the power, as he forces the shovel into the ground. The darkness does not allow the audience to see his features, which means they cannot identify or sympathise with him as a human.

The trailer then finishes with a fade to black into black background with red text (which connotations have previously been discusses) saying “Coming Soon”. This is a convention of teaser trailers as they are released before the release date is known and they are merely to attract audience’s attention and speculation about the film. This is then followed by the credits of the film, also seen on the poster, and the website which audiences can find more out about the film, as another part of an all rounded advertising package.

Teaser drafts

The problem with trying to produce a teaser trailer in our media lessons is we only have 2 hours of media twice a week and the only computers that have the software we used are in the media department. Below are 2 of the drafts that I have picked out that I believe show my work progressing (I do have around about 7 drafts of this trailer but some are just slightly different).

This is the first 28seconds of my teaser trailer. It has very little sound added because I was more concerned about putting the clips together and then I could worry about music.

Below is another draft of my teaser trail. I have added a bit of music to it and the scenes are virtually in the same order as the final and complete draft.

In the next post I will upload my complete version of my teaser trailer and I will analyse each clip of there connotations and how I put them together.

Filming 2

As the first filming evening I had didn't really go according to plan I had another night set aside for filming (November 12th). I redid almost every scene and I was able to do the scene outside this time (I wasn't able to do it last time because it was raining and I didn't want to damage the camera). This filming evening went really well and we were able to finish filming within 4 hours! In this blog post I will upload the original film clips that were taken from that night and I will explain them as I go along.

November 12th: We met up at Harry's house where we had previously filmed. I didn't change the location because I was happy with it, it was how the characters acted that needed to be changed and some of the scenes. I went through the script one last time with the actors and told them about specific things that I wanted to happen.

We started with the shovel scene first because it looked like it was going to rain outside and it was rather cold so I thought we'd do it first to get it out of the way. This sceen was quite difficult to get right because there was virtually no where to do this shot that had the right sort of lighting. We tried it first on the grass area. I was lying on a plank of wood holding the camera up (low camera angle) looking at Grant who was standing over the camera holding a shovel. There was little light from the house even when we turned on the outside lighting. Grant had brought his strobe light for another scene so we decided to plug that in (in the outside plug) and use that as a light sorce. The strobe light was quite small and only really gave us a spotlight effect but we took a few clips using that and then decided to re-think this idea.
(A clip of this is to the left). I walked around the garden to see if there was a better place to do the shot. There was a brick wall which stood at half a metre with an outside light near that area. I laid on the brick wall whilte Grant stood over me with the shovel. (pictured left). I decided that the clip where I am lying on a small brick wall was a better clip than the other one that was taken of the grass. This was because the lighting was better and you could actually see Grant instead of just seeing his arm. (clip linked below).


The next scene I filmed was when Grant is in the clown costume and is standing behind Abby in a dark room. This scene was done by all the lights being off, we used the strobe light for this scene. Step by step: all lights off, strobe light is turned on, you see Abby and the clown, the person controlling the strobe light then moved their hand over the light slowly and then gradually getting faster so it looked like the 'torch' is flickering, the light is then turned off at the plug so there is no complete darkness and Abby then screams. (clip linked below)


The next scene I film was down in the living room where Abby is sitting on the sofa reading and Grant appears outside the window. I had to do this fairly early on in the evening because it still looked like it was going to rain. (clip linked below)

The next two scenes follow on from each other. The first one is Joey (played by Harry) walking into the house from outside saying, "Freddy, are you alright?" and the second clip is where Joey walks into the house looking for Freddy and Freddy appears behind him. (Both clips are below)




That drew my filming night to a close and I was really pleased with the work we had all done. It was a really good night and all of us enjoyed filming it. In my next post I will start explaining how I edited the clips and I will also upload some of the drafts of my actual teaser trailer and talk through them.

Film Poster

In between the first filming night and the second filming night I was able to complete my film poster on paper and then on the computer. My ideas have been attached below.

First draft of Film Poster

I liked the second idea more than the first. On my filming night I took some pictures and I chose to use this picture (pictured left) for the poster. I took the photo of the reflection of the clown in a mirror with my DSLR camera and a Pentax slave flash. This created over exposure in the photo and the shadow and background was black and half the clown was also covered by the darkness, which gave the effect that the clown was appearing out of the darkness, the light from the flash also further highlighted the clown and its menacing features. I decided to use this picture because of the natural effect and unease feeling it gave off. This is my original concept design of my film poster. I chose a black background because it symbolised the film being mysterious, dark and unsettling which are connotations of the film. It is also allows the target audience to identify that this is a horror film based on just a few factors which are conventional in the genre. I chose title Split because the protagonist in the trailer has a split personality, and that is the main narrative of the film. This is also both appealing and daunting to an audience because it is both an exaggeration and an extreme case of a mental disorder which can anyone. The title then sums this up, and its simplicity grabs the attention of the audience. I chose the font Myriad Pro (regular, size 250pt, sharp) in a deep red. The red most noticeably refers to danger and blood, and its darker tone reflects the narrative of the film. The red and the black are also the only colours which really stand out in the poster, which due its simplicity of the two colours is more effective than overwhelming the target audience. The size and position of the title is important because it stands out and because it is slightly off centre and to the left again unsettles the audience. To really make the font stand out I used several effects in Adobe PhotoShop such as general blending and outer glow:

General Blending: Opacity – 78%

Advanced Blending – Fill Opacity 62% Channels – R Blend Chipped Layers as Group Transparency Shapes Layers

Outer Glow: Structure – Opacity 72% - Noise 27% - Red

Quality: Range – 51%

Colour Overlay: Blending mode – Normal, Black Opacity – 26%

The rating stars are conventional to show the audience how good the film is. I made the stars myself by going on Google images and finding a picture of one star. I then coloured it red to match the colour scheme I’ve already discussed. I thought, however, this was slightly dull and to make it more striking and slightly unconventional to stand out and I put in stripes. This also further reflects the title as it emphasises the word Spilt as the main narrative of the film.

Second draft of Film Poster

From my original concept I made this poster (pictured left). I kept the design and the main focus of the picture and background the same but I changed the font of the title and added some more text (titles of the film magazines and a caption). The title has changed from red font to a red pixel distortion highlighting the black font of the title. This was done by: Font: Palatino Linotype Size 270pt Colour Red (H-0%, S-96%, B-89%, R-227, G-9, B-9)

Effects: Blending Mode – normal

Opacity 100% Fill Opacity 0 Channels R Blend, Red

Outer Glow: Blend Mode – Screen Opacity – 72% Noise – 27% Colour – Red

Elements: Softer Spread – 0% Size – 250px

Quality: Range – 51%

Colour Overload: Blend Mode - Normal Opacity 26% I chose do this as it has darker connotations as the title is almost lost in the darkness and highlighted by the red which symbolises blood and danger. Apart from the colour I kept the positioning the same because it connects with the clown figure. The caption underneath the title is another convention of the film industry as it further gets the audience’s attention as it makes them question the plot. I chose the quote “So terrifying it sends Pennywise back to clown college”, this shows intertextuality. This also will attract, not only horror fans but, the follower of Stephen King’s IT. It also, like with the star ratings, demonstrates the power of the film.

Third draft of Film Poster (finished copy)

Though I was satisfied with my poster, I thought I could improve it. I spoke to my target audience and they agreed with me and gave me some possible ideas and positive feedback. My target audience liked the back ground, the fonts, the star rating and the quotations. However they thought it was slightly cluttered and the image of the clown, however striking it was, wasn’t as scary as it could be.

The image of the clown I believe wasn’t frightening enough because the detail was lost. To solve this I thought, using the same image, to crop the image as an extreme close up would be more intimidating and terrifying. I used the lasso tool in Adobe PhotoShop on the image to cut around half the face to emphasise the split in his nature. The reason I have put it on the left is because the lighting created a strong contrast emphasising his features. This then further draws the audience’s attention to the title as the eye is lined up with the title allowing an easy natural flow. The title is the same as discussed already though with one change. My target audience did not comment on the title but I felt it could be improved. To do this I split it (again referring to the title) with an almost transparent identical font, which is slightly down and to the right of the original. This was done by:

Font: Palatino Linotype Size 270pt Colour Red (H-0%, S-96%, B-89%, R-227, G-9, B-9)

Effects: Blending Mode – normal

Opacity 100% Fill Opacity 3% Channels R,G,B Blend, Red

Outer Glow: Blend Mode – Screen

Opacity – 72% Noise – 27% Colour – Red

Elements: Softer Spread – 0% Size – 250px

Quality: Range – 51%

Colour Overload: Blend Mode Normal

Opacity 26%

Bevel & Emboss: Style – Inner Bevel Technique – Smooth Depth – 100% Size – 5pt

Shading: Angle - 60°

Altitude - 30° Shadow & Highlighting Mode – Screen Opacity 75%

Contour – Elements, range 77% In response to the feedback that the poster was cluttered, I decided to remove one of the star ratings, as I did not think that three identical ratings added to the poster. Then to balance the poster I added the conventional credits of those involved in the production of the film at the bottom of the poster. I both wrote the credits and developed their style to match that of the poster myself. I put them in white to make them stand out, contrasting the dark black and red whilst still matching the colour scheme, as they match that of the clowns face.

When I started doing the film magazine front cover I was then thinking of how it could be related to the poster. I decided it would be better to have one of the ratings as if it was from my magazine, so I've changed Total Film to Film Verdict. I have also changed the source where the description, "So terrifying it sends Pennywise back to clown college" is from. It is now from Film Verdict and not Empire. Below is the up to date poster, it is now completely finished.

Filming

Once I found actors I could find their costumes, and various other equipment which was needed for the shoot. For Harry I told him wear black jeans and a white shirt, the white shirt shows a contrast between Harry and the darkness. I told Abby to wear a navy top, black leggings and to also tie her hair up because it shows her face more and therefore you are able to see her emotion. For Grant I told him to wear a black top and blue jeans for the scenes where he is Freddy and I bought the clown costume which cost £40 for the scenes where Grant had to show the split. The costumes are a very important part of mise-en-scene and contain a lot of connotations. I considered these carefully as Harry was wearing the brightest colour (white) which symbolises his neutral position. This contrasts to the other two characters, especially Grant who is wearing black, which shows the audience that he is less emotionally involved with Grant, and to an extent, Abby. Abby is wearing a navy top which identifies her more with Grant showing that she is emotionally involved with him but its darker tone suggests that she is in more in danger than Harry’s character. Grant is wearing black because it symbolises the danger he is in and the danger he may inflict upon others as well as being to show the darker side to his nature.

To help me with camera work and the changing of scenes I asked George Hopkin, who is also doing A2 Media Studies, to assist me and give me continuous feedback. I used two Panasonic SDR-S26 video cameras, which film in HD for higher quality. I used these new media technologies as it makes the film quality, filming process and editing stages both easier and much more effective than the technologies which were available in the past. I also used tripod for all of my shots to maintain the camera at a level and steady position to reduce camera shake and blurring. I did not use an external microphone because I did not think it was necessary as there is not much speech and the built in HD microphone in the camera was sufficient for this.
To create the trailer I used several camera angles such as medium close-ups, over the shoulder shot and low angle shots. I will talk about the effect of these shots later, but the camera positions and angles were also important in terms of lighting. On the whole I used low-key lighting to emphasise the literal darkness of both the plot and the Freddy character.

I filmed on october 15th at Harry's house, it was the perfect location because for the low-key lighting and large rooms. I filmed all the scenes except for the scene when Grant is outside and forcing a shovel into the ground because it was raining. The evening went well, it could've gone better. I came back to school, uploaded the pictures I had taken and the film clips. While looking through the filming clips I didn't quite think they worked so I decided to film them all again on November 12th.

The first filming night didn't go according to plan but I took some pictures so I could start on my poster and I could do the first scene of the trailer (where there is an image of Grant and am image of the clown with a cross-fade in between).

The opening clip, which is when Grant turns into the Clown, was done by using two images but the subjects in both of these images were at different heights and therefore their eyes were not in line with one another. I went into PhotoShop (a new media technology) and selected the two pictures I wanted and firstly I cropped both of the images to the size I was using for the videos (which is 16:9). I then used rulers on PhotoShop to mark out where the eyes on the clown started, finished and where the pupil is. I then put those measurements onto Grant’s picture and saw I had to move them over to the left by two centimetres. I then used the quick select tool to select Grant and I moved him over to where he was supposed to be. This left me with a white background where Grant used to be so I went to select and then inverse so the background was now selected. This meant I could fill in the background using the clown stamp tool without getting the original background colour on Grant. For this opening scene I decided to use images rather than video because images are easy to manipulate on PhotoShop as there is no movement to interfere with the desired effect. To give the effect that Freddy was transforming into the Clown I used a cross-fading effect on Coral Video Editor 12.

Story board and script

After doing a spider diagram of ideas I focused on the ideas I thought were the strongest. I had decided that it would be interesting to do my teaser trailer about a boy (teenager, around 17 years old) with a split personality. I chose this because it seemed the most interesting to do. I had to research about split personality disorders and how people who had the disorder acted so that the actor that I cast for the character knew how to act. "The development of MPS (multiple personality syndrome) is almost always triggered by severe abuse, including sexual abuse. During the traumatic experience the person becomes dissociated from the experience, becomes 'not there', and an alter personality takes over the pain. For every traumatic experience an alter is created." - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A446393

Once I had planned my trailer I decided to organise the production stages. Firstly I chose my actors, I cast them on how well they performed my script and if their appearances fitted the roles of the characters. For the role of Freddy (the main character) I cast Grant Sterry, who has done GCSE Drama, is doing A Level Drama and has a Grade 8 in his LAMDA (The London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art). The role of Freddy’s friend, Joey, I cast Harry White who is also doing A Level Drama. The role of Freddy’s girlfriend I cast Abby Neal, who is doing GCSE Drama.

Continuing my research I decided to draw a story board of what I would want my trailer to possibly look like. I drew it by hand but then I also drew it on Paint on the computer (pictured left). It would start with an image of Freddy (played by Grant) with a cross-fade to an image of the clown, therefore it would look like Freddy was turning into the clown. It would then go to a scene where Freddy is drawing something on a table and then cut straight to a scene of Freddy standing outside staring at his girlfriend, Abby. Scene 5, Joey (played by Harry) will walk through the door and say, "Freddy, are you alright?". Scene 6 Joey will walk into the house and Freddy will be standing behind him, scene 7 follows quickly behind when Freddy has now turned into the clown. I have an idea for this, which if I get right will work brilliantly, scenes 6 and 7 will be 1/24th secs each and will play alternately so it will look like Freddy then clown, then Freddy again, then clown and this will happen for at least 2 seconds and if done correctly it will look terrifying. Scene 8 will be Freddy (as the clown) standing behind his girlfriend, Abby, with a torch on that Abby will be holding which will flicker.

I have also put together a script.

Characters:

Grant - Freddy

Harry - Joey

Abby - Abby

[Kitchen]

Grant: [slouching at the table drawing]

Camera angle, medium close up

[Grant looks up and then looks back down at his paper - Camera angle, over the shoulder shot - to see "kill her" written in blood.

[Living room]

Abby: [sitting on sofa reading/watching TV]

Camera angle, long shot

Grant: [Standing outside of one of the windows and is looking at Abby menacingly]

[Front door and hall way]

Camera angle, medium close up, low angled shot of Harry walking through the door.

Harry: [walks through the front door] "Freddy, are you alright?"

Camera angle, long shot so you'll be able to see Grant when he comes into the shot

[Grant comes into the house after Harry and stands at the door, REPEAT SCENE IN CLOWN COSTUME.

[Outside]

Camera angle, very low

Grant: [forces shovel into the ground]

[Dark room]

Camera angle, head shot - medium close up

Abby: [holding torch which is starting to flicker, Grant is behind her as the clown. the torch turns off and she screams]