Final Final Trailer

Final Magazine Cover

Final Posters

Rough Cut 2 Magazine Covers

Trailer Rough Cut 2

Soundmix Skills Devolpment

From using garage band for the first time I have learnt how to import sounds easily from iTunes and my documents. I have also learnt to export my soundtrack onto YouTube.

Here is a soundtrack I put together as an experiment in a lesson:

I used downloaded dialogue from the Saw film because I do not yet have any of my own at my disposal. I downloaded eery backing music and added sound effects on garage band like doors opening and church bells sounds that I think will be in the narrative of my film. I also added loud gun loading sounds to shock the audience at climatic moments and more dialogue and sound towards the end where I would speed the editing up.

Other skills I learnt was how to crop and trim tracks as well as splitting a track midway through to use later on in the soundtrack. I also learnt how to lower the volume on individual sounds this is useful if I want a subtle sound or if another is dominating the soundtrack and you can not here the others.

Reflection

All these skills will come in handy when I come to use sounds in my actual trailer. This experiment means I have basic skills when it comes to using garage band. I think I do need more time on garage band because creating a soundtrack has been one of my weaker and it is vitally important I have the right sounds for my trailer to frighten my audience. I like the eery sounds but when I do my trailer I would like to develop them more and have them grow as the tensions grows in the trailer. For my trailer I will heighten the sounds that are happening in the narrative for a dramatic effect. I used electricity sparks and alien and foreign sounds to signify the presence of something supernatural and to make the audience feel uneasy and unsettled.
 

Additional Storyboards

Here a very quick storyboard I put together for re-filming and improving my rough cut

 

 

 

Here a very quick storyboard I put together for re-filming and improving my rough cut

Reflection

This time I chose my shots of the antagonist evolving the story around him instead of the victim like in my Rough cut to make it more exciting and intense plus because this time there will be multiple victims.

I chose to add more of backstory this time of the antagonist cutting up pictures to make the audience think that he's a dodgy character and at what is he doing is he controlling them now or is he planning his next attack or has he got an obsession with these girls leaving it to the audience to interpret without revealing too much.

Inter title Brainstorm

Here I typed notes of inter titles that popped into my head

"Teenage Suicides"
"More than just a coincidence?"
"Hell bent on revenge"
"He Will Possess You"
"He will consume you"
"Manipulating his victims"
"Takes over their mind"
"Rip apart their souls"
"Wronged"
"He is always watching"
"Lurking in the shadows"

Reflection

I am going to use "Teenage Suicides" because that is what is happening and "More than just a coincidence?" to grab audience's attention by placing the question on them. It suggests that something abnormal is happening and makes the audience feel uneasy. In-between the first shot of each characters I will use their real names as an inter title e.g. starring "Tim Oulton". I will use other inter titles such as "Manipulating his victims", "Takes over their mind", "Rip apart their souls" in quick succession to create immense tension towards the end of the trailer.  And "He is always watching" and "Lurking in the shadows" in longer shots prior to that to build the tension.

Moving forward consideration

Need to get shots of rats and the sound of the flute to truly reflect the pied piper theme. If I cannot do this I may have completely rebrand my film the fact at the present there is not enough theme of the fairy-tale may confuse the viewer or decide not to watch because there is no pleasure from spotting those themes. Names I have thought of changing it to are "stalker, "obsession" "hooded man" similar to the tall man I researched. It would be a generic horror film that audiences would recognise but I would lose the originality.

New Profiles, Release Forms and Locations

This is Lauren Robertson she will be appearing in the film trailer, shooting Monday 25th November

Model Release form:

This is Isabel Ineson she will be appearing in the film trailer, shooting Sunday 24th November

Model release form:

Because Isabel is under 16 I got my mum to also consent and sign a model release form

Reflection

To further improve my campaign I would of had these characters appear on the posters to reach a wider audience who are attracted or can relate to the individual character, had I more time.

 

Locations

I am filming at Stonebridge Darlington for Lauren's shots; we will not be filming at abnormal hours because we need lighting for the shots nor are we filming anywhere enclosed. The only hazard is when Lauren is standing on the wall she could fall though it is highly unlikely I will take precautions by checking the surfaces is not slippery and not filming in the rain we will also help Lauren up onto the wall and down again.

For Issy's shots I am going to film in our because it is our house I don't believe I need to take any additional precautions to the ones mentioned about my house in the Reece. Other than when she is pretending to take pills I will give her tic tacs or vitamin tablets just in case she accidently swallows them

Plan

Here is the feedback off my teacher for the research and planning, currently I'm between a level 2 and 3 and I want to be between a level 3 and 4 so here is my plan for the next 2 weeks to tackle all the pink and yellow highlighted spots before the deadline on the 2nd December.

 

Reflection

A lot of them I have just done the basic amount and not reflected on them which needs doing. I will go through my blog complete them one by one and cross them off. The most important ones that need completing are probably the sound mix, animatic and advance planning which are vital for these crucial 2 weeks to go forward with my product

Poster and Magazine Rough Cut Feedback

I put my Rough cuts on my Facebook and Twitter to get a range of feedback off people in my target audience. I managed to obtain a number of detailed responses on Facebook following my questions.

Magazine Cover Responses 

Reflection 

My feedback was very useful as I found my audience really liked the colours they said it represented the horror genre well which I am very pleased with and the they appreciated the continuity of the colour scheme across both prints.

I got some good suggestions some I will defiantly apply these include the suggestion of adding a third article to the right of the page to tackle the dead space. Other suggestions included adding a skyline and altering the position of the barcode to look more discrete on the page.

I got some positive feedback on the shadows of the image creating a dark and scary feel and the blood splatted across the masthead was a popular feature. Another element I will look to change is making the sell lines and the descriptions stand apart a bit more so they grab the reader more, by either making the sell line bolder or bigger.

Poster Responses 

Reflection 

The general feel I got from this feedback and a lot of the response said this, was that the bottom text is difficult to read, I did not notice this as much because I know what it says. I will look for a new font which may mean I have to change the pied piper font as well to compensate and so it remains professional in it's continuity.

The light face contrasting the black background has drawn my audience into the products so that choice seems to have paid off. It has been said to remind them of "psycho" which I very pleased with as this means my audience thinks my product can be comparable with a professional one.

The poster has been said to be clearly identifiable as horror because of the fonts. For the poster after the feedback I feel it is the barest of the two products therefore what I will do is add my production logos which I had not made at this point but now have and possibly add a rating from a film magazine or a newspaper.

Following one of the feedbacks I received that the image on the poster in particular, the victim does not look truly scared it looks more like she is joking. And the poster looks like one of a "spoof" horror like scary movie. This prompted me to try tackle this by seeing what the poster would of looked like using different images from the photo shoot and see if it would be an improvement

Poster Image Experiment 

1

 

 

2

 

 

3

 

Reflection 

I picked in my opinion the best photos following my photo shoot to fit the magazines structure.

Image 1. I don't believe this photo would improve the product at all, the expression is one that is gormless and not truly frightened, the lighting is almost with the image being too bright as well as her eye line too high up in the frame to represent the vulnerability of a victim.

Image 2. Again her eye line is too high in the frame and like 1 the badge on her clothing make the text difficult to read and is too distracting.

Image 3 is the best out of the 3 and could be used as an additional poster although she does not really looked scared but a bit depressed.

I decided to stick with the image in rough it is exaggerated but you would if you were truly terrified and a expression less victim will not have the same effect at grabbing the audience's attention I believe the expressions of the RC cut stand off the page more than the comparable.

Questionnaire Responses 

Here are some of the questionnaires responses  I handed out in college and at home

Reflection

From this form of gathering feedback I found that the audiences saw consistency between the prints predominately from the colour scheme. The red blood was the main attraction to the poster so using the brushes on Photoshop seems to have paid off.

From this form of research the reason for the audiences identification of the poster as a horror was because of the victims expressions so this image is effective in grabbing audiences of horrors attention. From the majority of my audiences said they felt the amount of text is sufficient however because the feedback on Facebook I am still likely to add more sell lines.

I handed out a questionnaire to my mum and to my younger sister to see if there response would differ not being in the prime target age group of the film. This response could mean that the film could be relevant to a wider audience despite being blood and murders still an interest.

Rough Cut Trailer Feedback

General Audience Feedback

• Good equalanium at the opening of the trailer
• Train station fast paced and interesting
• Completely slows after the train station, slow shots, the trailer drags on to much  
• Slow pointless shots of the piper walking around the park
• Narrative not clear at all 
• Whys is she sat on a swing? 
• No pied piper concept  
• The shots are too dark shots round in the park 
• Need to make the narrative absolutely clear 

Reflection Video

 

My Production Titles

Poster Construction

 

1. Firstly I downloaded and applied the true lies font I chose in my research with the "pied piper "and the phrase "have you paid the piper?" to direct it towards audiences and draw them in
2. Having chose my image I decided to remove the names because they did not fit in especially both of them. I also went for a brighter red to be more striking on the eye and fitted the text around the image 
3. I added the phrase "the highly new acclaimed horror by Sam Ineson" to add more interest and "big the film up"
4. I added colour to the eyes only because the image looked quite plain at that point to catch the audiences attention and to draw more on the victims emotions I did this following a YouTube tutorial I mentioned earlier by going over the eyes in a brown brush tool to revitalise them.
5. I finally added blood to the victim to further signify the horror genre by using a ink splat brush I downloaded at brushezzy.com
6. I rubbed a lot of the blood out with rubber tool because it looked over the top and took up too much attention. I made the blood more subtle so it was more believable



Magazine Construction

 

1. Firstly I downloaded the bebas neus font for my cover because it is bold, strong and easy to read; I added the #piedpiper straight away because I am using social networking sites to get the word of my film around rapidly increasingly my audience through the internet. I added world exclusive to grab readers attention this is a significant film. And used the horror issue as an indication that the magazine is mainstream and the horror theme is reinforced by the font.
2. I then added an image of the type image I wanted for the cover to see what my fonts would look like with an image. I changed some of the fonts to white to draw attention to certain feature and to make the content easier to read and more distinct. I also added a barcode to signify professionalism.
3. Following my photo shoot when I added my chosen image the LCA masthead did not fit so I changed the name to popcorn and chose a more exciting font which also separates itself from the "pied piper" title. I removed the skyline because I felt it was too cartoony and reduced the scare factor. Instead I added "the most terrifying horror for years" to further prompt audiences to the film and get horror audiences excited. I then reinforced "terrified" by underlining it.
4. I began to add sell lines around the image to make the magazine more desirable and re added the barcode as well as a date, issue number and price to reflect the professionalism of a real magazine.
5. I also manipulated the piper's eyes to make him look more darting and dangerous. I did this as previously mentioned by placing the coloured image layer directly underneath and rubbing out the eyes.   
6. For the finishing touches I added a banner offering a free poster to give readers another reason to buy the magazine as well as tying in the poster product creating synergy between the two. I added texture to the banner so it didn't look so amateur by using a circle brush I downloaded off brushezzy.com so the banner looked rough and gritty like a horror film 

Animatic Storyboard

 

Reflection

 

Watching the drawings of my storyboard my initial thoughts are that I it takes a while for the trailer to get going till it gets to the station. I will probably shortens this because I don't want someone to switch it off before they even are introduced to a character.

 

I like the switching back and fourth to the victim on the platform and you see a change in her facial expressions. I am glad this looks good because it is a vital scene in the narrative.  

 

The quick shots around the station are also effective to the building of tension so when filming I will take lots of short shots at the station.   

 

I will need to address my inter titles so that my audience knows what is happening in the trailer but it is fairly obvious that she see this dodgy character and see is trying to get away from him and he is following her just isn't clear yet why but a description in the narrative will patch it up.  

Model Release Forms

My Rough Cut Trailer

Here is my (extremely) rough cut trailer

 

 

Reflection

 

 First of all I need a soundtrack which is overt, I will also add more sound such as the chimes of the bells at the start. I opened the sequences with pans because this what many of the professional trailers have done, I wanted to create a dark mood and show that the locations are isolated, I used the shot of the train rushing past to try make the audience jump. I think the train station sequence is the most effective part of the trailer. We have a concerned mother on the phone although I could do better to illustrate that like 'don't be ridiculous mum' 'of course I'm safe' 'no one is following me!' And then I try to connote danger with the warning signs and a pan to suggest the danger is nearing. She then notices the mysterious man who disappears from the platform when the train rushes past which I aimed to escalate the panic I had been trying to inflict on the audience. However a danger I need to address is that the trailer seems to play more like a sequence at the moment because the first half of the trailer uses the train station and the other half use the park. 

 

The narrative once she enters of the park goes absent, there is no reason I need to retake shots with a lot more thought into them and how it will shape the narrative. I am really disappointed I couldn't get shots of rats, an important cue to the pied piper at the moment my trailer doesn't have any elements of the pied piper so this is something I defiantly need to address or alternatively change my idea.

 The shot of the piper walking through the park is too long it was meant to be mysterious as I edited so he would disappear and reappear but the audience may get bored at this point switch off and miss the climax therefore I should shorten it or use a different shot. 

 

I used shots the swings swinging and the roundabout moving on it's on accord to signify a dark force present. We found a dolls head in the park so we decided to use it as a shot with the piper stamping on it to connote his dominance, ruthlessness, death and signify the pipers evil.

I sped up the editing towards the end to create tension as the piper appears to going in for the kill and it is the most exciting part of the trailer so I wanted to get the audiences hearts racing as they sense the victim vulnerability and hopefully the shock as he grabs her will have the audience going away wanting to know what will happen next, did she die or not because she is the main character.

Photoshop Skills Devolpment

Here I have used the curve colour tool to experiment the effects of different colours, Eventually I opted for the black and white look because I felt it look more darker and dingy.

I tried two different methods from watching YouTube tutorials to aggregate the characters eyes and got two very different outcomes

Method 1
This is the first technique I used, here I took the photo layer before turning the photo black and white, and the black and white photo layer on top of it.

Then I used the rubber tool on the eyes so that I could choose what part of the colour came through, here is the result:

Method 2 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVuJ50cYujg

I discovered a more subtle but effective effect of adding a fresh colour to the eyes 

Reflection 

I opted for the 2nd option for my rough cut despite not standing off the page as much as the 1st. This is because initially when I did the 1st method Emily looked evil and sinister not the look I want for a victim. However the first method did come in handy on the antagonist though this is more difficult to see because his identity/eyes are more hidden by his hood and the lighting.

Anyway I believe that was the case because I didn't line up the layers properly, the unbalance of the layers created the freaky look. For my final product I tried the 1st method again because I wanted the eyes to be more eye-catching and I rectified that mistake by starting again and duplicating the layers this time and not doing it manually, the result is above.

Photo Shoot Results

Here are the test shots before we began the shots here we were shinning a light on the background because I chose to take my shots in the dark because of the horror genre and using lights created shadows connoting mystery and uneasiness of what's lurking in the shots and trying to hook the photography equipment so that when I take the shot the lights flash. At first we had trouble trying to create enough lights and the characters were not showing up properly so we had to try a bit of trial and error in order to get the best lightening for the shots.

Here are my favourite images which I may use for my products

Magazine Cover Rough Cut

Poster Rough Cut

 

Gaining Permission

The park is a public place so there is no need to gain permission. However I have been told you must ask for permission to film at train stations despite them being public places. Therefore I will have to contact Hambleton, our local council or ask staff on the day.

Filming For The First Time

I was quite nervous filming for the first time as I never did moving image last year or previously. But as soon as I sorted the equipment out I became more confident. I was very happy with the first footage.

My cast was vey co-operative and throwing in their own ideas and coping well with the miserable english weather. Emily drove me and Tim straight from college and we filmed for about an hour and half continuously by that time it had got dark.

I was disappointed I couldn't film in the dark as it would not of shown up on the camera without strong light anyway as well as safety aspects. Although the cold the weather worked in our favour the grey skies created a dark atmosphere whilst maintaining a strong picture.

We first filmed at the train station but there were no staff around or on the platform and it was relatively quiet which was also important for my trailer so we assumed they would of consented to us filming.

We listened out for announcements and looked at the timetable to plan our shots. At one point we had tim on the other side of the platform and shouted directions to him to disappear after a train had past whist filming over the shoulder of Emily.

We filmed for about an hour in the park pushing swings to create the sense the park is possessed and we finished of by running about to keep warm creating handheld shots of chases.

Print Comparisons

I am going to compare my rough cut print products against professional print products to see if my products would be effective in the industry

Finding rats

My sister's friend at school kindly agreed to let me film the rats and mice that live on her farm after my sister asked her at school. I was very pleased because was a key part in my storyboards and a key convention in the Pied Piper being a que for audience to expect and gain pleasure from my film after the familiarities with fairy-tale.

My sister's friend has become unavailable so I rang my aunty who lives out in the country, she didn't know of any rats. But she suggested I ring the council and ask them if there any infestations anyway as they will know best or even a rat infestation team

Trying to find rats had proved more difficult than I thought. The problem as soon as rats are discovered people don't tend to keep them; the rats are eliminated immediently. I may have to give up my search of finding rats.

More Filming

The morning after I completed my filming with my cast,  I missed the bus so as I still had the camera so I thought I would make the most the time having the camera and out I went to Applegarth graveyard before getting the train to college. I took some shots of the church tower and pans of tomb stones as well as stone statues which my peers said were 'creepy' so I was happy with the footage I had captured. The graveyards connote death and I will use quick shots of the statues to spook the audience; the church tower was in my storyboard and I still plan to use it as an introduction with the sfx of church bells in sychronous sound

Print Rough Cut Questions

I will do qualitative questionnaires, photo booths and post my rough cuts on social networking site like Facebook of which my friends/followers are predominately in my target audience of ....  This is in order to get feedback from the target audience to be of the film to improve my rough cut. This will help me see if my products truly represents the horror genre, what my audience dislikes and likes to maximise the professionalism and effectiveness of my final products.


Magazine Questions

1. What attracts you to this magazine cover and why?
2. What genre do you believe this film magazine is focusing on and what are your reasons for your beliefs?
3. What is your initial response to the layout of the cover?
4. Is this cover engaging do you think the text/content amount is sufficient or would you prefer more or less text/content on the cover?
5. Do you think the fonts and colour are appropriate for the genre of the featuring film and why?
6. How would you improve this magazine cover?

Poster Questions

1. If you walked past this poster in the street or a billboard for example, would it catch your eye and why?
2. Is the genre of the film clear? Please explain?
3. What are your opinions of the fonts and colours used on this poster?
4. How would you improve this poster?
5. Are there signs of consistency/continuity between the magazine and the poster please explain? 

Shots to Redo & Add

The shot of my victim and antagonist walking/running down the alley because by the time we started filming handheld shots it had gone dark and the feet of the characters are unclear. I would need to filming earlier

May need to redo the shots of the phone conversation because the police sirens which where were going off naturally out our control are too loud in the recording. Also forgot to take the close ups of the film when answering and ending the call. I would need to take the shot with no interfering sounds like train announcements.

I might redo the shot where the antagonist walks behind the fence behind the victim because it appears she would she the antagonist because of the angles she is looking I would need her to look around the camera rather than over her shoulder and behind.

I am going to add shots of rats scurrying around at a later date

Photoshoot plan

To plan for my photo shoot I made a montage of existing images on publisher as inspiration.

The products below are the type of poses I wish my models to create for the shoot. The photos I collected are close up of victims and protagonists faces I chose this pose as I think it is effective, professional and very achievable.

 

I did not chose to have fire burning or ghosts circling the victim because it would not be possible to create these shots in the studio in college.I believe the simplicity of these posters are more effective and revealing emotions through close ups is more powerful. I will show these photos to my models to guide to creating similar poses.

 

I believe it is quite important I have plan of the shots I want before going into the studio. Therefore I know exactly what I am doing and I can get plenty of effective and relevant shots, so hopefully the thought into the shoot will be reflected in my final products as the image is the most important element of the poster and magazine cover.

Trailer Script

Trailer Script

 

Train accelerates across the screen

Cut to:

Int. Train Station. Late Evening

Emily a college student is stood on the platform after leaving her train when she receives a phone call from her concerned mother   

Emily

Hey Mum

I’m at the station; I’ve just got off the train

Panning of the location asynchronous conversation

Emily

No you don’t have to come pick me up; I’ll walk

It’ll only take me five minuets

Cut to:

 

Emily

No I’m Fine

Don’t worry I’m Fine!

I’ll call you back.

Seeing a strange man disappear, she puts slowly the phone down

Int. Park. Late evening

Emily is alone in the park, hiding and paranoid that she is being pursued by the mysterious man

Emily

[SCREAMS]

Fade in of film title and release date

 

 

Shot List

 

 

 

 

Call Sheets

My budget is very low and I want to keep my trailer as simple as possible so that it looks professional so I have only cast 2 people the victim (Emily) and the antagonist (The Piper) This creates a sense of isolation for Emily and signifies all the other have been either possessed by the Pied Piper or murdered.

This is Emily she will be playing the victim in my film planned to film on the 12th October and appear on the poster of the movie photo shoot planned to take place on Monday 14th October

This is Tim he will be playing the antagonist in my film planned to film on the 12th October and appear on the magazine cover with the photo shoot planned to take place on Monday 14th October

Here I downloaded an app called doddle pro off the apple app store to create a more professional call sheet. It allowed me to take my friends information which was already stored in my phones contacts which made the process very convenient.  

As well as that by typing in locations Doodle provided a map for them and the weather forecast for the time of the shoot. Doddle pro also gave me the option to email the call sheet to everyone associated with the project.

Using After Effects

When I first used after effects on the Friday I was completely lost. At the weekend I watched tutorials on after effects so I could get the basic jist on how to use the programme. I also sampled examples of after effects on video co-pilot for inspiration for my trailer.

I searched tutorials in YouTube however most of them were far too long. So I watched a video put onto our media of a tutorials by a guy called Parker

So I click on the link to watch it on YouTube, found his channel, subscribed and watched more of his videos because they were much more snappy than the ones I had found previously and was much more easier to watch.

The 3 videos I watched were:

1. on the basics
2. key frames
3. and animating text

On Monday morning I began to use after effects more confidentially I followed videos on video co-pilot to guide me. I first looked at a tutorial called Jumpy text. This showed how me as it says on the tin, make the text jump off and around the page. I wasn't really interested about the text flying all over the lace, what I was interested about the flare flashing which I though created a sense of peril and uneasiness. The flying around of the text didn't really represent the horror genre.

I found creating this effect way more simpler than the others I looked at and producing the effect took me just over half an hour . I made this effective by firstly inserting the text and creating a 3d effect by turning on the 3d effect alternating the layer and duplicating it.

 To make the flare animate I created an adjustment layer and I then brought more life to the flare by using colour correction manipulating the brightness using curves. Next I clicked on the layer and put the opacity to 50 per cent, clicked the stop watch icon and type in wiggle (5,50) in other word the flare will move 5x a second thus bringing it to life.

The first flare animation I made was a blue one and it didn't really look as intimating or creepy as I had hoped so I tried it with a red flare image this looked much better as red signifies danger and the red connotes the Pied piper as he is seen to wear red historical as I found in my research so I wanted to continue that theme into after effects.

THE Glass
This effect was much more demanding and longer than the flare; I had a real hard time tying to ge the text to stick to the icy texture and had to go back through the tutorial multiple times.

I typed in the text and added a animated blurred effect and enabled 3d properties, by adjusting the off set I made sure that one character blurred at a time. I then manipulated other settings such as the timing in which the text blurs in the sequence.

 

Here I am adding 3d layers to give the image more depth I added a black solid background first to the bottom layer to make it really dark then added light blue solids with the circle tool on the layers below ice map and the ice diffuse layer but above the text and adjusted the sizes to create light areas and feathered it out I continued to do this till I was happy with the effect.

 

 

 

Here I am making my final adjustments to the production title and I am very close to finishing; I am here trying to make the text clear again. I did this quite easily by duplicating the text and toning down the settings on the displacement map, scrolling the settings really low and putting the blurriness back to 0. I also lowered the opacity and changed the transfer mode to overlay. I finally went on to change the name to cryogenic productions to make it my own. 

Reflection

I have learnt loads since using after effects and I felt I have created some very cool inter title that will separate my film from others. Although very complicated for amateurs like myself  I find after effects really exciting and I would defiantly use it again. The tutorials on video co-pilot were also really helpful and I would recommend any beginners or pros to it