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.