Evaluation

At the start of the process Beth and I were very excited as we could be creative and independent when creating our three products. We decided to focus on the horror/thriller genre because in AS level we analysed this genre well and knew some of the basic editing, camera movements and sound/music for thrillers and also for drama products. Once we had decided the genre, we used http://www.youtube.com/ to find some trailers for which you could use as research. The trailers we chose (Gothika, Creep and Taken) are all partially related to the ‘stalker’ theme and gave us ideas on how to present our storyline for example with the music and camera movements. For the research we looked at the techniques and representation the trailers used and applied to our own trailer for example at the beginning of the ‘Creep’ trailer used a handheld camera and we also did this when Chloe was running giving the feeling as if someone is chasing her. Throughout the trailer, magazine cover and poster Chloe looks afraid, weak and innocent and this had to be consistent especially with the magazine cover and poster as this was Chloe’s character ‘Ella' Also in all three of the products the font of the title 'No Escape' is the same, this creates a brand and will become well known to the audience if the have seen the products and also with the magazine and poster we used the same background. However when we printed out a hard copy of the poster the background didn't show very well.


The filming process was definitely a learning experience and challenged my organisation skills, we not only had to organise ourselves but also the actors, equipment and the setting in which we want to film. It was incredibly stressful trying to find accessible destinations to film also however we overcame this by using places which were close to college. Also when directing (as the actors are inexperienced) it was difficult to explain what we needed the actors to do and as we were challenging this we overlooked little things for example when Chloe was sitting at the table talking to Caroline she had her hand underneath the table, but in the next shot she lift her hands to her face as if her hands were on the table. This continuity error shows that when you are filming it can be so easy to overlook the small things.

Beth and I have used the equipment before last year except for the mic which we used indoors to make sure that the audio is clear as the mic in the camera may not have been very good quality. We did have problems with the tapes as we were given a cleaner tape, this delayed us quite badly which was disappointing as we had to rush filming in order to get it ready for editing. Other than that problem we worked well with the camera and tripod and found positioning them wasn't too difficult. This was probably because we filmed in quite open spaces as it is easier for me to access. Using the program Photoshop for the magazine cover and poster was reasonably straight forward once we had taken the photographs. As we could see clearly where text could go and which effects we could apply. While we were going through the editing process team work and discussion was very important. Beth an I had our own individual ideas and we incorporated both and compromised.
Using Premiere Pro at first was a bit daunting as there are so many tools and the set up was completely different to what we were used to, lucky we did have experience so it was just an issue of refreshing our memory of what does what. Throughout this whole process I used http://www.blogger.com/ to document what Beth and I have achieved over these past months and the blog shows the development of our own media products, all the way through planning to editing. After we had finished the trailer we posted it on to YouTube so we could receive feedback from our target audience (enjoy horror/thriller films, in adolescence, and possibly female)

"good atmosphere created with fonts and music to fit genre well. Tension is built up well throughout the scenes. well done :) - Mia"
"Loved the sound effects and music, really added to the atmosphere! I got goosebumps. :3"

Above shows the comments on our video on YouTube from the other Media Studies students. This is want we wanted to achieve with our trailer and I am quite proud to have received this positive feedback as I haven't got that much confidence in the trailer itself. This may be due the fact I have looked at it over and over so I pick out the imperfections easily. I also got some feedback from my sister who is a fan of thriller movies and this was her response after watching the trailer:

"The trailer has good use of angles and different views. I understood the storyline and the music added a uneasy theme to the trailer, which was effective. I think that the font used could have been different as the font is commonly used and is well-recognised as something used in Windows editing software. Overall, the trailer got across the main plot and included much needed suspense to achieve a horror-type trailer"

This was one of the issues that we thought of when picking the font for the trailer as 'Chiller' is well recognisable is makes the trailer have a less professional feel. However other than this the trailer did deliver its purpose, to explain the storyline easily, create an uneasy and suspenseful feel which is what horror/thriller trailers do. And here is some feedback from a couple of my friends who fit the audience criteria:

"I understood the storyline and it follows the genre, however the name seemed a bit 'corny' and could have been improved. The music fits well and the effect at the end was really good"

Beth and I really struggled to find a suitable name for the trailer at first we thought of 'Stalker' but this would have been too predictable, so we looked through many other thriller/horror titles of films to get some ideas and we then chose "No Escape"

"Good use of font and titles, they fit well to the genre and the music is capturing"

The font may be well-recognised however as feedback says above, it does fit the genre.

If I was to repeat this exercise I would try and find some more experienced actors/actresses as I feel that this would have improved the trailer overall. Also I would look out for continuity issues and try not to miss anything when in the filming process so editing would be a lot easier and more straight forward. Also using a higher quality video/camera I feel would have improved the trailer considerably as a few clips are quite blurring and not well defined. I am very pleased with the magazine cover and poster and the research really helped inspire us know what we wanted to do and how to present the content and information. For example on the cover we included other features and mentioned other films and for the poster we included the names of the actors/actresses and also the date of when the film will be showing.

Copyright

Any use of music in this trailer complies with 'Fair Dealing' under the 1988 Copyright Designs and Patents Act (UK), Sections 6(i) and 6(ii); Fair dealing is a term used to describe some limited activities that are allowed without infringing copyright. Briefly these are as follows: Section 6i: Research and private study. Copying parts of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or of a typographical arrangement of a published edition for the purpose of research or private study is allowed under the following conditions: The copy is made for the purposes of research or private study; The copy is made for non-commercial purposes; The source of the material is acknowledged; The person making the copy does not make copies of the material available for a number of people.

Trailer

Poster Editing

Like the magazine cover the program we used was Adobe Photoshop to create the poster. We chose to use this photograph as there was enough space to fit in all the information we needed to and Chloe's facial expression is really good and is what we aimed for when taking all the photographs. Also the way she is sitting and the view point makes he look weaker andwith the way she is looking up at the camera will make it clear that she looks wary and afraid. We then edited the photograph by inreasing the contrast to add definition and reduced the saturation to make Chloe look paler. This photograph is the first layer and then for the second layer we used this texture which I found on www.deviantart.com in the research and stock images section. I chose this texture because of the scratches, it gives the feeling of being trapped and also in theme with the horror, thriller genre.We then pasted this on top of the photograph and changed the opacity which let the photograph to be shown through the texture which is shown in the picture. After this we then added the text. Like the Gothika poster we placed Chloe's name at the top, with her name standing out itsuggests that she is a well known actress, we also put 'also featuring Mark Talor' by the title. It is good to mention the main actors/actresses because if they are known to the audience then they are more likely to view the film. 'No Escape' is also in 'Chiller' font as is the trailer and the magazine cover to create a well known brand. We also put in 'She though it was over' as a quote. This was also used in the trailer so it is a well known catchphrase for the film. Like the magazine we also added the glowing effect on the title of the film and also the quote by painting a white line behind the text and then changing the opacity to give a ghost like, faded effect. The picture below shows the completed poster.

Finished poster:

Editing Magazine Cover

For both the magazine cover and the poster first we had to take some photographs of Chloe. I booked the photography studio which I accessed easily as I am also studying photography. The photographs turned out to be good, Beth took the photographs and we used some of our ideas to see what worked and what didn't. For the magazine we chose this photograph to the left becuase it has a simple composition and had plenty of space around her to add titles and headers. Then chose this background. As like the Empire magazine the background is very important and this one I felt represents the theme of the trailer well, with it being dark and having scratches also gives the feeling of being trapped. We then decided to add the title using the typing tool to the left hand side of our and by looking at past Empire magazine we placed the title on the left as shown in the picture to the left. After creating the title we added a glow around both chloe and the title to make them stand out against the bold background. We did this by using the paint tool then painting a white line around Chloe and the title in a new layer. We then changed the opacity which gave a glowing effect this is shown in the picture below. After we had created this effect we started adding the titles. When adding the Empire title we had to cut around Chloe's silohette and the copy to another layer and the make sure the layer with the Empire title on it was below it.

We then added some titles using the typing tool and changed the font on the headers to make them stand out. We also mentioned other films that are out and the special features that are measured in the magazine itself. While adding these we needed to consider the colour theme and we decided to go for red, white and black. Red is the main colour and also as the 'Empire' title is red all the others fit together well. There were also some standard text that we needed to include for example the price of the magazine, the month on which is published and the barcode.

This picture to the left shows our magazine cover almost finished, we have included clips from the trailer at the bottom of the cover which makes the cover look more clustered and interesting which is what Empire usually does. After we had done all this we realised that the titles of the film should also be in the font 'Chiller' as it is in both the trailer and the poster. So we changed that for our final product.

Finished Magazine Cover:

Editing Trailer

For the editing process we used the program Adobe Premiere Pro. I have had some experience in using this program before for AS level when I created an opening sequence with a group. I was given the role as editor so I know the basics of using Premiere Pro, for example cutting and adding audio on top of the video clips. When we had finished filming and had all the clips we needed we needed to import them on to the computer, this was quite a long process as we had to choose which clips we needed to import and which clips we could discard and would not be in the final trailer. Going through this process made it easier in the long run as we had seperate clips for each scene and this made it easier when arrangingthem in order by referring to the story boards. There were a few problems with some of the clips, one of them had people in the frame who were not meant to be there (the scene where Ella and her friends are walking by the beach) so we had to clip out the long shot and go straight into the shot where Ella is looking around her. After we had arranged the clips in order we had to find some suitable music to overlay on to the trailer. We are lucky to have the resources in the library and used these two CDs 'Mystery, Horror, Suspense' and 'Directors Cuts: Suspense' (shown below, click to expand). For our trailer we used track 13 from 'DC: Suspense' this track gave a bold and challenging feel to the trailer which is what we wanted to represent the danger that Ella was in. And we used track 42 from 'Mystery, Horror, Suspense' for the running scene which gives a really eerie feel to the scene. We also had to download sound effects for example the phoneringing which we found from http://www.freesfx.co.uk

When adding the tracks we had to import them using Windows Media Player, ripped them in to the music library and then imported them in to Adobe Premiere Pro. Once they were in Premiere

Pro we could drag the track to whereever we wanted and there are also different audio slots available which made it possible to add more tracks and sound effects when we needed to do so. After we had dragged these tracks on to the timeline we could adjust the length and also the volume at specific parts of the trailerThe picture above shows us changing the volume level by clicking on the yellow line holding Alt to create a small white diamond and this allowed us to adjust the level. Increasing the volume when Caroline speaks (as she has a quite voice) and then decreasing the volume afterwards. With this clip we also had issues with noise, as we were filming by the beach and the wind was strong which affected the mic. However to overcome this we used the effects 'DeCrackler' and 'DeNoiser' in the audio effects provided by Premiere Pro. The picture below shows us adding titles in to our trailer we went to Title, New Title, Default Still and then we could edit and create titles to insert into the trailer. With this tool we added a glowing effect which is in theme with the genre and we used the colour red to give the feel of danger. Throughout the trailer we used the font 'Chiller' which we also used for our magazine cover and poster. This is creating a brand for the trailer and the keeping

the font the same will make it recognisable to the audience.

For some of the transitions with used 'Cross Dissolve', 'Dip to Black' and 'Dip to White.' We used 'Cross Dissolve' for our flashback scene, this gave a soft transition which is almost dream like. For the 'Dip to Black' and 'Dip to White' we used for some of the other tr

ansistion in the trailer to creat an edgy and unstable feel. For example the running scene shown below we used 'Dip to White' to represent a change in time. Also the bright sunlight really helped with the continuity when using the 'Dip to White'

The editing process for the trailer I found was quite a bit different from last year when working on the opening sequence, it was very much time consuming and sometimes hard to get around how to do things, for example I have now learnt how to use the different effects that are provided by Premiere pro. Discussion was also very important when editing and Beth and I had to compromise on many things as well as put across our own individual ideas. After we had edited all the basics me and Beth went over the trailer a number of times to make sure everything was edited to how we wanted, this took quite a long time as we kept finding small things that could be improved.

Magazine and Poster Ideas

After researching a few magazine covers and a poster Beth and I have come up with a few ideas of our poster and magazine. Magazine Cover Looking at both Empire and Total Film covers the background seem to be quite plain and simple and this brings the actor/actress to the main attention of the audience. So when we photograph Chloe for our own cover we will use the photography studio at college and possible use a black background to keep the theme of these tow magazines. however we could use a white background and then edit the colour in Adobe Photoshop after the photographs have been taken. the photograph of Chloe really needs to give an insight to the character of Ella, by making her look weak and vulnerable so it shows her as the victim. To do this we can have her look into the camera so her eyes can connect with the audience and show her emotion really well. Like the Total Film cover the actor is close up to the camera and we could do this with Chloe to show her facial expressions better. We could also reduce the saturation or hue in Photoshop to make her look pale and this would give an over all frightening feel to the cover. Poster Posters often give indications to the storyline so we will do this in our own. One idea we had was to have Mark (playing as Ross) to be behind Chloe looking over her shoulder. The lighting would be minimalistic just lighting there faces. Their facial expressions would be a vital feature in creating the genre. Like in the Gothika poster the actress' eyes and facial expression was showing fear and when this was combined with the layout, editing and colour theme this gave the poster a chilling and frightening feel which is what we would like to achieve. Another idea is the we could have Chloe running away from the camera and looking over her shoulder so that it looks like she is running away from the stalker and also having her look back will give a connection to the audience as she is showing her facial expressions also have her face showing is vital for well known actress' as this is a promoting the film further for example you are more likely to watch a film if you recognise the actress and even more so if the are famous and well known. Another idea is to have Chloe hold a phone up to her ear, like in the trailer we have produced when Ella picks up the phone showing a close up of her face. We could do this in the studio easily and with the lighting we can create dramatic shadows and contrast. Again her facial expression will be very important to indicate the genre of the film.

Poster Research

Along with a magazine cover we also need to create a poster for our film. First we needed to do some research on posters so we can have a better ideas when creating our own and also have the knowledge on specific features in any poster. For research I focused on the film Gothika which we also researched for our trailer (click on the picture to expand). The film genre is similar to our own so this is a great film poster to research as the poster would have features to fit a thriller for example, font and colour themes. The photography and editing are specifically important in a poster as these will be at the main attention of the audience. Also along with all the editing and colour themes the audience automatically knows the genre of the film. This is important to know when creating our own poster as this is its purpose; to draw the audience in and promote the film in order for the film to be seen. In a poster unlike the magazine cover where there is a larger amount of detail the poster is simplistic and direct, only having a few key words for example the title, quotes which are drawing the audience, the date of release and the main featuring actress. These are the most important pieces of information to the audience to they are presented simply and easily. This is what we will acknowledge when creating our own trailer and this research has given us ideas on how to present our poster.

Magazine Research

As well as creating a trailer we also have to create a magazine cover for our created film. I have decided to look at both Empire magazine and Total Film magazine covers, these are both well known and show the big upcoming new films and advertise them to the best. The editing and layouts are designed around the main image and the film genre so when creating our own we will need to keep this in mind. Here are some annotated covers looking at layout, text, editing and photography that makes these covers successful.

This is my Empire magazine annotated research (click picture to expand.) Empire shows a variety of information about many films, including reviews, interviews, previews and news. All of these we will have to mention on our own cover to keep the 'Empire' theme. For my research I looked at things such as background and editing techniques and also the specific features which are involved in any magazine cover. Acknowledging these will help us when creating our own cover.

This my Total Film cover research (click picture to expand.) Again like my Empire cover researched I analysed the different features such as the background, photography and editing. It was good to use another magazine to research as I can now see the differences such as the colour themes and fonts which are created to relate to a different film. There are still the specific features such as the bar code and the title of the cover which are vital in any cover which I have acknowledged.

Progress Report

We have had many troubles when organising and planning our shooting sessions, due to actors being unavailable, distance and access issues. However we are moving around these issues and slowly getting all our filming done. Another issue which delayed our filming was when we were given the equipment we were given a head cleaner tape by accident, we were unknown of this problem til we had arranged another filming session and then when we tried to record our scenes we were unable to, so we had to re-arrange our filming and get another tape. We have completed all of the scenes however we will need to re-film some parts due to continuity issues for example the rule of thirds being out of line and also having some objects in the frame that shouldn't be there. We filmed at various destinations one being in Bridport where we used a friends house to film over an evening and in Weymouth where we used Chloe's (actress playing Ella) house however Chloe's house is inaccessible for me so this was an issue we had to overcome. I was able to attend a few scenes where we filmed the running scene outside and the scene where Ella picks up the phone, however for the rest of the scenes we needed to film I could not get in to her house, therefore Beth had to film these scenes independently with Chloe.

We have started the editing process now and know the basics, for example cutting and re-arranging the scenes. We were also shown how to insert titles which will be useful. I have used Adobe Premiere Pro before last year when editing our opening sequence product as I was given the role of editor. So I do have some background knowledge on editing and having the editing session last week refreshed my memory of how to use the program. As we didn't have all our scenes completed when we started editing we only started the process vaguely by re-arranging the scenes in order and cutting out out-takes and other footage which we don't need. After we have re-filmed our scenes we will be fully ready to edit and will arrange our own editing sessions in the media suite in our free time at college in order to get this completed. Other component we need to consider is the sound and we will need to find recordings; for example a phone ringing and music to overlay on to our trailer when editing. We will organise the sound after we have the basic editing done like the titles and arranging the scenes in order.

This whole process of planning and filming has been quite difficult, time consuming and stressful. I have been very determined to finish filming the trailer however with all these conflicts it has been troubling to keep up with the work and schedule, which has made it very stressful for me. The planning has taken more time than the filming itself and arranging the actors/actresses has been a challenge as they have their own studies and committments which can interfer when arranging filming session with them. However we have completed a lot so far and are close to finishing which is good and we are still very much focussed and determined to complete this product.

Filming Progress

We have now started filming and have completed shots 9-13 and the film is looking at a good standard, we were lucky to get all the actors and had to take time out of lectures to film the scenes. We booked the equipment almost immediately and then went down to the front of Weymouth in a Park, which took around 10 minutes to walk. The sattellite picture from Google maps shows where we filmed. We had picked out our ideal compositions before we started filming so knew it was a great location to use; it was on a hill so we could easily film the long shot from the side of the road and for the other scenes the paths were easy to use and we could achieve the perfect angles for the shots. The setting was great for what we wanted to film.


Carrying the equipment was a problem as Beth and the actors had to carry them as well as their own personal bags. I found it difficult to move around as it was very hilly in places; I'm in a wheelchair, so this was also a problem when carrying equipment myself. It was safer for others to carry them as the equpment could fall of my lap easily. This also meant that after the filming was completed I needed help to get back up the hill, so with the actors carrying the equipments. Beth had to push me. Our main actress Chloe who plays Ella did achieve a good performance however we did have a few outtakes where she was laughing after saying her lines, which did cost us some time as we had to re-film the shot. The other actresses were really good. We were lucky to have them as our other actresses we needed weren't free and they were our back up actresses. They still did a really good job and put up with Beth and I bossing them around which
is a bonus.

Overall the filming went smoothly but we were worried that the high winds may effect the sound and make it difficulty to hear the actresses, but after each scene we played the clips back over and found that the wind didn't effect the sound too much and the actresses voices were clear and easily understood. When we had finished and walked back into college we realised that filming outside with high winds and in the cold was very uncomfortable. As it is still winter the weather can be quite harsh so for our other shots we need to film outside we will be more prepared. The picture above is from Google maps and shows the long shot view from the park.

For our next filming sessions we will be using my house in Wootton Fitzpaine (near Charmouth) for the friend's house in the trailer and one of mine and Beth's friends house in Bridport for Ella's house. We will have to film these in the evening after college which will be quite late, so it is possible that it will be dark by the time we start filming. However these scenes can be done in the dark for example the running in the street scene will be better filmed in the dark to create a pathetic fallacy. The darkness will represent the thriller genre; of fear and the unknown and it will be difficult to see what is happening adding mystery to the scene. We will need Chloe to be able to get down to Bridport and to my house. Bridport will be easier as there is a bus service however there is no bus service straight to my house so Chloe and the other actors will have to be able to get the bus to Charmouth and then get picked up by someone (possibly my parents) to get to my house. This will have to be arranged for us to film the friends house scene and Beth and I will have to be organised to achieve it.