This software research was also used to decide what software to use when doing our AS blog as well as what soft ware to use for our A2 blog. The type of software we use during the editing process is a vital part to achieve a high standard opening two minutes, as we need to understand the whole programme, from the cutting shots to the precise point to knowing how to arrange them. This is important so we can benefit from all the technology provided from the editing software.
Microsoft Movie Maker
This is an example of an editing software which we could use for producing our film. Movie maker is made by microsoft, which, as you know, a very well known company and is very user friendly as it should appeal to all ages interested within media and producing films. This software makes you be the editor, with no complicating buttons and techniques needed. Movie Maker also ensures that photos and videos are imported quickly and at the highest and clearest resolution, so the images are clear, avioding buffering and blurriness. It also enhances your movie by providing ready made themes and audios, which could be used for different genres of film and videos, which give us ideas of what kind of music we need and which would suit with the shots we take. Finally, once our movie is ready, we can share it online on Facebook, YouTube or other social networking and video sharing sites, and if neccessary we can send a link of our movie in an email so we can transfer our production to each other to do some editing and to make all our ideas come alive. There are many aspects of this software which may be ideal for producing our film such as the transitoin elements and havign ready made horror music if we needed it. However this software is fairly ammateur, meaning there isn't as much variety of transitions, sounds, cutting techniques etc, which could be a problem.
Adobe Premiere Elements 10
Another software which we could use for creating our film is a software called 'Adobe Premiere Elements 10', which from the title of it is made by 'Adobe'. Although this software is another editing software like Microsoft Movie Maker, this is software is aimed for making and creating videos and films, which is more of an advantage using this software. This software also gives you a more clearer timeline with audio and soundtracks below so you can line the shots and the music precisely together. It also has much more advance effects such as the stabilizer effect, which keeps shots still if they are shakey when they are not meant to be. This may benefit us as we want to make our opening two minutes as best as we can so a more advanced software would aid us for doing this, right? This may not be true as it makes the process a lot more complicated as there is more techniques you can use, meaning more complication. However this software includes a range of transitions, effects, cutting proceses etc, which would definitely benefit in producing our film.
Avid film editing software This software is a very advance but effective piece of film editing software which is used broadly at universities and lower independent film institutions. This software allows you to explore and exploit your creativity as it provides a range of advanced editing tools and effects, allowing you to produce a high quality production. The software provide power and precision within all work therefore would be ideal for our production. However, the only negative feature to this software is that it is extremely expensive; both for the full package or pay monthly. This therefore would mean it would be very hard to find the availability for this resource, making the other software more beneficial for us. Although we cannot get our hands on this software, in the future I would be looking to invest in software such as this, as it allows you show your creativity.
Software used
In the end we used this software as it was the most suitable
software we could use and excess. To edit our clips together and to make our
movie run smoothly we used the editing software called Adobe Premiere Elements
10. We decided on using this as one of our editing softwares because it is what
many professionals use when they edit movies, this gives us the experience of a
real movie editor and what they have to do to achieve what they achieve.
The effects on this
movie editor are acceptable for our genre of movie because they able you to
control how the lighting and sounds are e.g. the volume; because our movie is a
horror we like to experiment with these things to create tension and fear when
you are watching it, making it beneficial for us as editors. Some of the clips
had unwanted scenery in them so we tried to figure out a way to remove it;
cropping the clip the same way you crop an image was the best way. We explored
the editing software to enable us to find the right tool to crop our clip, we
managed to find one which brought us to realise how advanced this editing
software really is.
Overall this is an ideal application to use to edit our film
as it makes the finished project look professional and neat, it is also easy to
use which is necessary because we are unexperienced movie editiors. The range
of transitions, effects and sounds makes it fun to use. The only bad thing
about this software is that they lack a choice of titles and fonts to create
the theme for your project, because of this we decided to look at different
editing software to create our titles and fonts. We thought that IMovie had a
lot of possibilities for our movie as it lets you decide on many fonts and use
ones your have downloaded from the internet etc.
This is our initial ideas which we have put into an animated
storyboard.We haven't shown much about our choice of camera angles but we have
recognized this and a variation will be used in our actual trailer.At the point
of making the storyboard not all our ideas had been finished or discussed which
means our soundtrack was not added to it however after finding the perfect
piece we will be adding it to our edited trailer. We would also need to add
title including actors name and some dramatic catch lines about the film and
when its coming to the cinemas.Like most people our storyboard will not
identically match our finished piece but we will draw influence from it
whilst we have film. This storyboard also gives us a guideline of what our trailer should look like, so during the filming stages, we would be able to follow it if necessary.
This animated storyboard provides a visual aid during the filming process. This allows us to follow the basic storyline of our trailer. However, due to it only being a storyboard, it does not mean we have to follow it exactly, therefore it is adaptable.
Magazine Font Styles
This 'Scream' magazine has gone with the conventional red colour approach of which the masthead is. This is a conventional colour for horror films as the red connotes to anger, blood, murder and evil, which send subconscious messages to the audience, letting them know that it is a horror magazine.
The masthead of the magazine, 'Scream', has a dripping effect, which creates a illusion that the title is dripping like blood. This conforms to the convention of the horror genre, as gore and blood are the conventions of this genre. It will attract audience who are into gruesome horror films as the masthead suggests this. Although it is a conventional title, it mkaes the magazine appear tacky and childish as compared to other magazine font like 'Entertainment', which are modern and simplistic, which appeals to all ages. This tells me when I do my magazine I would like it to appeal to a broad audience therefore making it modern and non- tacky so it does not attract the wrong audience.
Empire magazine has gone for a similar approach as the magazine 'Scream'. This is due to adding a firey effect to the masthead. The red font associates with the characters colour and connotes to the devil's colour and hell, therefore links to the name of the film. The fire connotes to danger, hell death and anger. These all suggest what could be in the film. Haviong a black background makes the character stand out as well as the text, sell lines because the colours contrast with the black, The black also connotes to death and fear. This tells me if we have a black background it means it would contrast more colours than a white background for example.
This in our first video diary for our film trailer. This video diary reflects the step by step process of our production from grass roots to final draft.
This is the schedule of the day:
11:30 am= Arriving at Charlotte's house, this is where we discuss our ideas and what shots and scenes we were going to film during the day.
12:00 am= Left for our location, Ashtead Common.
12:25 pm= Arrived at our primary location to begin filming.
1:30 pm= Finished filming, reviewed shots we captured.
Need for Speed (2014)
From the trailer, you can generalise the storyline in whihc would take place. Main character is put into prison for a crime he didn't commit. This crime seems to be linked to a car crash whihc occurred during a street race. The man gets released from prison and obviously has anger he needs to use for the revenge of the man who set him up for the crime. His revenge is achieved through the same way the crime was committed, street racing. This involves action filled stunts and ultimately our main man either succeeds or doesn't. This plot is obviously aimed at more of a male audience due to the use of high speed chasing, sport cars, explosions, stunts and so on. These elements are all stereotypically associated with the male population as these are what stimulates the adreneline buzz and their interests in films. However, using attractive actors, such as Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper and Scott Mescudi, would attract the female audience as their fan base has high percentage who are women; especially Aaron Paul, due to playing the character 'Jesse Pinkman' in the TV franchise, 'Breaking Bad'.
The establishing shot of the trailer is of a prison, which sets a solemn and sombre atmosphere (pathetic fallacy), which people obviously feel when they are caged up like animals. Having this as an establishing shot tells the audience that crime will be involved in this film and but also gives a sense of the character, as being someone who rebels against society. The high gates makes the prison look secure and protective from any escapes, which makes the people inside feel like cage animals. The pathetic fallacy is furthermore used by the dullness of the sky and climate, reflecting the feelings of regret and punishment that the prisoners feel. The non-diegetic music is a low tone bang, similar to a thick book being dropped onto a wooden table, which emphsises the opening shot as being important. The use of the non-diegetic music is in sync with when the shot comes onto screen, which makes the shot seem like a statement, which is reinforced by having the absent of transition, The use of a high angled long shot makes the prison seem less superior as we, the audience, are looking down at them, which could of been used to emphasis that convicts are seen as small and less superior people of society.
The first piece of dialogue used is 'I spent two years thinking about one moment'. As the character is in a prison, which was represented by a long low angled shot, this 'one moment' is referring to the event whihc caused him to be in prison. The audience is forced to think that the moment was a racing event, due to the zoom dissolve transition used, as this transition acts as a flashback. When the character is saying this, it is a close up of his character stretching out his neck, which emphasises the frustration he has. This is the first glimpse of Aaron Paul's character, which acts as a unique selling point (USP) as this would increase the popularity of the film vastly due to his multi-million fan base. Due to the use of mise en scene, through clothing, makes the character seem less threatening but mroe innocent due to the white t-shirt, that connotes this. The use of 'the moment' being referred to as 'the moment' emphasises that this is where the storyline of the film begins. The use of fast racing sport cars follows the conventions of an action film, which most definitely appeal to the male audience, who watches this trailer and film. This shot also allows us to see the different colour of cars, which is important for explaining the reason why he is in the jail. The internal close up shot of Aaron Paul's character shows that he was in the silver car.
Another flashback transition is used to return to the characters face, who is continuing to walk at an angle to the camera. While he is walking, a voice over of his voice says, 'He set me up', which is followed by a close up shot of a man in the red car. Having this placement of shot implies that this person 'who set him up', is this guy in the red car. This tells the audience that the plot of the storyline maybe getting revenge on this guy. This shot is followed by a POV shot of the red car smashing into the white car, causing it to spiralling into the air and explode. This point of view shot makes the audience feel as though this is them in the car, therefore an effective shot. This montage of shots acts like a storyline flashback of what consequentally made Aaron Paul's character be imprisoned as these shots suggests that the guy in the red car framed him for the murder of the man in the white car; perfect example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Having the red car crashing into a white car creates a symbolic message as red connotes danger and evilness whereas the colour white connotes to purity and innocence. This therefore emphasises the antagonist of the film is, through the use of mise en scene of the cars.
The end ofthis montage of shots is a very powerful phrase 'And that is what I can't forgive'. When he is saying this the use of ambient sound of the metal gatess of the prison opening, buildings up the tension and powerfulness fo the dialogue. This dialogue compliments perfectly with the shot as it creates a ery tense atmoshpere, but also makes the audience andreneline build as this is where he will begin his revenge. This opening of the prison gates also creates a symbolic metaphor of a wild animal being released into the wild. the use of the non diegetic music increase in volume and therefore builds tension, within the shot. The black block transition suggests a change in time, which allows the rest of the traielr to continue and therefore keeping the continuity of the trailer. Using the character's voice as narrator/ voice over creates an effect that these are thoughts which are going round and round his head, over and over again, which makes the audience feel sympathetic towards his character.
After this black sudden transition the atmosphere of the trailer changes due to the saturation and brightness of the shots. The brightness of the shot is light and summery creating a happy atmosphere, which suggests the relieve and realism of freedom,like an animal leaving 'his cage'. The medium shot used emphasises how close these characters are, implying they are close friends. The use of the contrasting colours from dark lighting to light lighting, connotes to the realisation of leaving prison. When the dark skin character says 'I'm glad your home', Aaron Paul's character facial expression is very stunned and shocked, which could imply that he hasn't had a reaction of being loved before.This makes the audience feel furthermore sympathetic towards his character.
The next montage of shot consisting of a high angled long shot, showing the audience the place where we assume Aaron Paul's character is mainly based within the film. It reveals a retro styled car garage, that links to the genre and storyline of the film. The use of mise en scene of props, for example the sport cars, reinforces the genre of the film and also follows the convention of an action trailer. Having used a selection of close up shots one after another, revealing different characters faces, provides an insight for the audience of who the main characters of the film will be. These close up may be in a certain order of the least important character to the most as this quick cut editing builds up to Aaron Paul's characters face. These close up also show the happiness the characters are feeling, which is shown through the smiling facial expressions. Using fast cut editing here, while this group of friends are laughing suggests that little happiness and laughter will be happening as a sudden black transition is used after this. The juxtaposition of having a happy shots to a stormy rainy shot, shows the emotions this film will explore. This also shows the audience this is where the climax of the film will start, where his 'revenge will begin'. The use of pathetic phallancy, creates a cold and unwelcoming atmosphere, which builds tension, ideal for what action fans. The use of the low key lighting creates casting shadows of their faces and reveals minimal information of what they are doing and where they are. This makes the audience become intrigued therefore wanting to watch the trailer again and then the film. this shot is followed by a close up of the black man and Aaron Paul's character breaking into a locker, which due to medium shots after, reveals they got in. Having used these shots gives an insight of what these characters are like, they rebel against the rules. This would attract the female audience as it gives the characters the 'bad boy' vibe, in which many women like. Having the low key lighting makes the location an unwelcoming one, which is reinforced by the use of props, torch, (mise en scene), as these suggests that they are looking in places they shouldn't be looking.
The dialogue is again used as a sort of narrative, of what Aaron Paul's character thinking as he says, 'Its time to make him pay'. This automatically builds tension and reveals that the storyline which will be revenge to the man who killed his friend, (from the establishing shots of the trailer). This dialogue makes him be seen as the ring leader of this plan, which he's been thinking about ever since he went to prison for something he didn't do. This dialogue continues when he says '... but first we need a car'. This shows a girl smiling, which due to her being a close up shot and also the first women to be the focus pull, she will be important within the film, even the love affair. It followed by high and low angled and medium shots of sports cars of all colours zooming around, with the ambient noise of the humming engines. This makes use of ambient sound emphasises the force and power of these cars, which could be a metaphor for the power Aaron Paul character has to gain revenge to his nemesis.
The use of the behind the shoulder shot shows the relationship between the characters, which as you can see, that they are very close. This shot reflects that they are working together, but due to the casting dark shadows we do not know which friends are working with Aaron. The lighting could suggest evil is turning good due to the lighting being dark and then going to a soft lighting.
The background music (non-diegetic) is of a man singing, which perfectly suits the trailer due to it being about 'getting revenge'. At the beginning of the song the mans' voice is getting progressively louder and more powerful which could connote to Aaron Paul's character, as even through this trailer you can see that he has change and developed, which follows the 'Tessa Perkins Theory' that states that character can change. The instrumental section to the music allows you to see and feeling the adrenaline of the car racing.
The there are three short phrases 'For honour', 'For Love' and 'For redemption'. These are basically the principles which will occur within the trailer. After each phrase there are a few shots which demonstrate the words within the phrase. This use of juxtaposition provides a visual guidance of what the phrases means, therefore helping the audience to create the picture. After the love phrase there is a close up over the shoulder shot of the Aaron Paul kissing a blonde hair woman. This shows that there will definitelty be a romance which follows the conventions of a action film. Due to the blonde hair we assume it is the woman we saw previously, however, the over the shoulder shot provides minimal identity therefore we are unable to tell who it is, enigma.
The last of shots of the trailer involves a vast majority of fast cut editing, which builds up the tension and makes the audience adrenaline explode. Using fast cut editing portrays and reflects how the characters are feeling,which is an effective way to make the audience intrigued and stay concentrated on the trailer. The editing jumps from long shots to close up shots, removing all focal points, enhancing the chaos and the danger the characters are in. The use of gun and high speed vehicles (mise en scene) also reinforces the genre of the film as these are convention of an action film. Using a female actor within these shot would attract both audiences as the woman can associate with the love romance which presume is going on but also how dominant her character is. The male audience would be attracted to this as she is an attractive woman who also has the bad cheeky side to her character, which a lot of males like. Having used the film shots of the main character speeding off a mountain top, provides the ultimate tension of the trailer due the diegetic sound of a high racing engine. When the car powers of the mountain the diegetic noise of the engine stop and a black fade out transition is used. This creates suspense and makes the audience hold their breaths to see if they actually made it. Another fade in transition is used to reveal the car dangling by its back wheels of the helicopter, which relieves the audience from anxiety and suspense. The extreme long shot of the car dangling in the air emphasies how easy it was for the characters to die due to the abnormally humongous canyon devunging the background of the shot. Having used such an life threatening stunt at the finale of the trailer, makes the audience, especially the action fans, want to see the film as it makes them think there will be a lot more adrenaline packed stunts like this one. These stunts for action fans will be the tipping point on if they want to see the film or not, this could therefore be seen as a unique selling point, for this target audience.
The italic style to the typeface makes emphasises the word 'speed', which is very effective. The title is also in block capital letters, which makes the title seem as though it is a statement, that you need speed. The title automatically tells the audience that the film is going to involve fast moving vehicles, therefore appealing to all action fans, who are the clear target audience for this film. Having used a varnished like effect on the letters associates with the paint job which cars consist of, therefore keep reinforcing the films identity of cars.
Our main inspiration for our film poster is this photo that we found online, its very simple however we think it makes a massive impact for our film and for the audience. The black and white filter is very simplistic but also effective, it makes the location seem more secluded and creepy but also sad at the same time. The use of the medium shot allows us to the character in the foreground, while being able to see the location of the film. The character is clearly wearing dark clothing therefore matches well with the grey backdrop. The black and white filter connotes sadness , anger and portrayal also reflecting the mood of the film. The misty gloomy background gives the impression that something could be hiding behind it and emphasises the seclusion in which the forest has, suggesting that there's no way back when you go in. The tall thin trees tower over our antagonist making him look less powerful, dominant and significant, however portraying him like this could symbolise him being able to hide around any corner.
The basic choices of clothes connotes that the character could be a teenager therefore very naïve, also giving the audience a hint to what type of character are film is going to include. The clothes also reflects the normality of the character, suggesting that the antagonist could be anyone. The gas mask is quite a new form of disguise in horror/thriller films but is also suitable because its very accessible. The mask is also very good as it doesn't show any emotion or give a hint as to what gender the person behind it could be therefore creating tension. The tilt to the antagonists head is very subtle but effective it gives the audience the impression that they are confident and arrogant therefore intimidating.
Although we love the way the photo looks at the moment we also want to add our own twist, therefore experimenting. Of course we will take a completely new photo ,but one that is very similar, but add faded layers of similar photos on top of the original photo. We were thinking of adding photos that were the exact same photo but zoomed in , giving the illusion that the antagonist is walking towards the audience but also disappearing too. You will be able to see this through the developing stages of our poster manufacturing.
Slogan
We have decided that we want a short snappy slogan that will consist of a 3-4 word sentence or just 3-4 relatable words. Les miserable's film poster has become an influence of ours. Their slogan is short ,snappy but doesn't take centre stage on the poster. Although Les Miserable is romance musical it still has given us ideas which could come across as creepy on our poster. The use of the full stops after every word makes each of them distinct and powerful. The simplistic texts works well against the dominant picture which would also work well with our choice of photo that's all simplistic. Even though the slogan isn't in the centre of the poster the idea of having it above the film title means that people can get an idea of what the film is about before they know the name. The slogan is also in capital letters making it seem significant. Title
Due to our inspiration for our background picture, we have
decided to have the name of the film at the top of the poster. The picture we
have been inspired by has a lot of bare space which could be easily filled by
the title. Even though the background is black and white we still want to go
with either black or white writing, both stand out well against the light grey
background and both have different meanings. With black connoting Death, power
and mystery and white being associated with purity and innocence,
they both go with the themes of our film. The bold, simple font from this movie
poster, The Echo, means that it doesn't take notice away from the poster
and means that the title speaks for its self rather than it being obvious to
the audience what the film could be about. Having a detailed font can give a
lot away about a movie for example if the font looked like dripping blood, then
you know people will be killed.
Insidious Soundtrack
This is the soundtrack for the horror film, 'Insidious'. At the beginning of this soundtrack there is a constant low whirling noise, acting as though it a ghastly wind. Complimenting this is a quiet low tone violin tune, like the bumble bee effect. Due to these, it automatically creates an unwelcoming atmosphere, in which is ideal for a horror film. As you continue to listen, the violin increases in volume, and the rhythm is increasingly getting faster. Due to the frantic noise created it makes the audience feel tense and full of adrenaline. Combining this with a horror scene, it would create an effective and terrifying shot which would most indefinitely woudl scare the target audience. The shrill tone of what I assume is a violin, pierces the audience ears, ensuring constant concentration but overwhelming them too due to the sharpness of the sound. After listen to this soundtrack, I believe we should have sections of our soundtrack in this sharp high pitch tone, as it goes straight through you, suggesting the fear will too. Also I like the use of the violin instrument, as you can create an erratic tune which is off putting and scary, which would be ideal for when our antagonists are revealed during our trailer.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
This is from the film, 'A Nightmare on Elm Street',. As you can hear, this is soundtrack goes for a different approach as they use someone's voice for the music. Using a woman's high toned voice singing, could imply the innocence of the protagonists which would appear in the film. However, in my opinion it create a more supernatural atmosphere, implying that it involves aliens, which would confuse the audience when hearing but also ruin the affect of the shot and continuity of the film. In comparison to the 'Insidious' soundtrack, there is a similarity, which the sharp high pitch tone, which is in the background of this soundtrack. Due to the repetition of this sound effect, it tells me that it is very much associated with horror films, which may be ideal to use for our trailer. Within this soundtrack, there are the sound of metal chimes, which could be a metaphor for the sharp blades of the antagonist's murder weapon within the film. However, this sound, to me, again applies that alien event could occur, which can create confusion over the genre of the film.
Dead Silence
This soundtrack is from the horror film called 'Dead Silence'. At the start of the soundtrack, a nursery like tune is used, which creates an innocent but unnerving atmosphere as there is no other music combined with it, creating a silent but chilling effect. This can remind audience's of childhood, suggesting the film links with childhood fears. This nursery rhyme then increases in tempo, and a lower tone is added furthers the unnerving atmosphere which is effective, especially for a horror film. Continuing on during the soundtrack, the nursery tune gradually fades out, introducing a low droning tune, with a few choir like people singing. This could suggest the that evil is consuming the innocence. The nursery rhyme is re-introduced which keeps the continuity of the film. If my trailer involved a haunted, abandoned house or had ghostly little children, I would follow the approach, of this film soundtrack. Unfortunately, I am not, so this soundtrack may not be ideal for our trailer.
It
This is the soundtrack from the film 'It', which involves a killer clown, which targets its prey mainly at children. This soundtrack doesn't really need to much analyse due to the simplistic element to the music. The soundtrack is obviously a circus like theme tune which is constantly played at circuses and fun fairs which is ideal for the antagonist of the film, a clown. Having such a jolly happy song for a murderous clown, automatically contradicts with each other which creates a fear factor, as it suggests that things aren't as they seem...
For our theatrical trailer we need music, diegetic and non-diegetic music which compliments what we capture within our shots. This means we have to research into the soundtrack in lots of depth as we don't want music which takes the audience away from the trailer, we want them to lose themselves when wathcing this. This blog is about finding the right scream for our trailer, so we have an idea of what scream we can produce when making our own music.
Scream #1
This scream was the first one I researched. This could be ideal for our horror film trailer as it can be edited in during our fast pace editing as it would reinforce the tension filled horrifying atmosphere we want to create at the end of the trailer. This scream is powerful and emphasises how frightened or in pain she is due to the strain of her voice. This tells me when producing our diegetic music, if we use a scream it should have feeling within it, so it would make the trailer seem realistic, therefore the audience actually believe this could happen to them.
Scream #2
This is scream 2 which is a group of children screaming. This would not be ideal for our trailer as it comes across tacky and more suitable for a comedy. However, it may have been suitable for a demonic horror film as if the pitch and the tones were altered into a higher pitch it would create an unnerving noise, which does not sound human. We could create something similar to this, by using older voices which would provide us a deeper tone, as they are young adults. However, due to the plot we have for our trailer this is not suitable for our trailer, therefore we would not produce something like this.
Scream #3
This scream is very effective due to the scream building up in power and anger. This create many images, such as, him realising the pain he's in or it could come across as if he is going mad. This scream may be good within the fast pace editing at the end of the trailer as when the shots increase in speed, this scream can be editing over, revealing the last shot of him finally screaming. Due to the effectiveness of this scream we may create one similar to include within our production.
Scream #4
This is one of the most effective screams I found during researchign scream sound effects. This is effective because there is an undertone of a squelching of what we presume to be is flesh which would be ideal for our trailer as it is a horror therefore following the conventions of this genre. THis tells me when we are producing sound effects for the diegetic music, we should involve more than one effect.
Who would be the target audience for our media product?
Our trailer is a horror therefore we are aiming to attract teenagers and young adults, from the age of 15 to around 25 years. Having a minimum age of 15 years old allows a broad audience as if we had certificate of 18, it would exclude a large proportion of the audience for our film, which would decrease the popularity of it. This therefore means more profit for the film when our trailer is distributed. This age group stereotypically are obsessed with phones and electronic gadgets, therefore in media terminology they use hard wares with multi-platform devices. This means that the marketing campaign can target them easier as they can post trailers and other types of advertisement of our film, on social networks and websites, such as 'Facebook', 'Twitter' and 'Instagram'. This would make our advertisement and distribution for our film through our trailer easily accessible for our target audience, therefore attracting them to watching the film.
The type of audience we will be attracting will be into a range of things. Stereotypically, they would be interested in shopping; shops such as, Topshop, Topman, River Island, Urban Outfitters, and 'Footlocker'. These are all popular shops within this age group that we are aiming for, this shows that they like to try and follow the general trends and the 'fashionable' clothes. This shows that the people that show here could be considered to conform to the majority influences which would mean that if, their friends see our horror trailer they would tell their other friends that they want to go, therefore spreading the popularity of the film. This is creates a 'Echo chamber effect'.
From research we have found out that our target audience has range of favourite music; rock, pop, R&B. Stereotypically, the 'pop' genre of music is the more favourable within our target audience as this type of music is played non-stop on well known and famous radio stations, such as; 'Capital' and 'Kiss'. Although they do play a range of music, pop, house and occassionally rock music such as kings of Leon, pop is still the favoured genre. As our target audience listens to a range of music gneres it means we have a vast amount of soundtracks and music to choose from, to make our trailer easy to relate to and to attract a wide audience. However, as we are producing a trailer, hip hop, pop and rock music do not really apply; unless we go for the unnerving happy music approach, which the trailer 'You're Next' did, as they use a music track which contrast from the scenes on screen, automatically creating unnerving atmosphere.
The TV programmes that we would expect our target audience to be interested in would be series like; 'Breaking Bad', 'The Walking Dead', 'Friends'. This is because these programmes have amazing storylines, realistic make up, and unexpected cliffhangers and plot twists. Therefore it is a place for our target audience to escape from their everyday lives and to relax, as they allow them to relieve some stress, which they would have as they will be going through either GCSE's, A-levels or even University. Another programme they might watch is 'Ghost Hunters'. This is because it links and reflects into our genre 'horror' due to the supernatural elements as they are hunting down ghosts and visiting abandoned houses. This programme would therefore increase the audience's adrenaline, which hopefully our trailer will achieve as well.
The films our target audience would be interested in would be 'Insideous', 'Sinister', 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' and some may be into the old classics like 'The Shining' and 'The Birds'. This is because, firstly the age rating for these are within our target age; but secondly our target audience would have a love or like the horror genre. Horror genre films are known for the creepy and frightening aspects, which they cause, which would make the audience feel scared and horrifying. Having these features within our trailer, therefore, would appeal to our target audience. Also they would like films such as romance and actions, which have characters which are very relatable to. This tells me that we should make our protagonists relatable as it would make the audience want to watch the film, after seeing our trailer. This would furthermore able them to link into the characters' situation.
After researching numerous settings, we decided we wanted to set out trailer mainly within a rural setting. This is because we though it would create an eerie unnerving atmosphere which is a convention which are vital for horrors. It is very conventional having chosen a rural setting as typically, horror films use these locations, in order to make the audience relate to it. The setting of woods or forests have numerous narrow winding paths, which link to alleyways, which people find very creepy and daunting when in the dark. We decided to not jeopardize our production by going for a non conventional location as we thought that our target audience would find it more terrifying if our trailer is set in an everyday place. We wanted to appeal to a broad audience, therefore within the ages of 15-25/30 or anyone who is deeply passionate about horrors. Through this research, it has told me we need to make our trailer relatable to our audiences' liking, as it would therefore, attract a broad audience, making our production symbolic and outstanding.
Here are a few interviews of potential candidates which could be the actors within our film trailer. It's a good idea to interview actors so as directors, producers and cinematographers, we can not only witness their acting skills and ability, but also to see their personality. This would tell us how well they will work with other and myself, as the director of the trailer. As you can see we have only chosen a few interviews to show as we thought we should show the a few difference between actors we interviewed. These actors are all different; some more confident than other, and more innocent looking/approaching then others. This would give us a good idea of what our protagonists could look like and allows us to see if they suit the part (protagonist or antagonist). This means we can create an image of what our characters can be.
We decided to hold auditions for both genders as we believe that the trailer should be mix gender as it would be more realistic, but more relatable. It would be more relatable as it would the females can associates themselves being in the same situation as the female protagonists; therefore the males would associates themselves with the male protagonists. This means that the popularity of our trailer would hopefully be high as it appeals to both genders, a wider and broader audience.
From this process it means we can seek out the perfect actors to suit our characters, therefore making our trailer as high quality as we can.
For our film soundtrack we will be making our own music but
making sure we get the right sound and music so that it reflects and creates
the right portrayal/message on our main target audience. By doing this we need
to research what other horror films use so that we can gain an auditory idea of
what we can produce to suit the shots we used and create a high quality and
effective horror trailer. To gain the music for our trailer we could use
resources such as pianos and guitars to create an eerie atmosphere, which we
can then edit so we can add effects on it; by changing the tones and pitch
digitally. This would allow us to find the correct music we wish to use, which
would therefore build tension and suspense for our film. We will start it off
being slow and quiet and as the piece of music goes on we will make it get
louder and faster to create tension within the audience.
Horror Soundtrack
The sound track that is usually in films is tension building
and scary music to reinforce the jump scares and fear factor event s within the
trailer. It usually starts off quietly emphasising the realism of the day and
expressing how happy the protagonists are. As soon as the antagonist gets
mentioned or an unknown event occurs the music gets increasingly louder and
louder; this excels the audience's adrenaline due to build tension created by
the music. Therefore when the antagonist is revealed it makes a more effective
scare and a lot more jumpy compared to if there was no music as there would be
no build-up of tension or suspense. One good soundtrack which shows the build-up
well however it is the horror/thriller film 'Jaws'. It is a film about sharks
attacking people and as soon as you hear the music you know the shark is
somewhere and that the people who are in/ near the water are in danger. The
soundtrack starts off slowly and as the shark gets closer it gets faster and
louder making the audience tense and therefore jump more when the shark catches
the person. The sound track which shows the tension build well is below.
Action soundtrack
Action sound tracks usually consist of a very fast pace and
sharp music which sometimes are performed by an orchestra, due to the string
instruments creating a sharp, quick tension building tempo. This makes the
audience feel uneasy as they are so desperately want the character to escape
from the event which is occurring. It also makes the audience feel as if there
will be some explosion about to happen as the build-up of music makes it sound
as if there will be a climax sound to end the fast temp beat. As the pace of
the soundtrack is very fast, it suits the camera shots that are used in action
trailers as they need to appeal to their target audience. The target audience
would expect to see stunts, explosions and weapons, which action trailer all
consist of, and are reinforced by this upbeat music. A typical time that
this music would be shown in action films is when there is a car chase scene or
a fight scene as the camera shots and sound track need to fit in well together.
As I will be producing a horror genre this fast pace music may not be needed,
however it gives me an insight of how music affect the audience response and
the genre of the film.
Romance Soundtrack
The type of soundtrack that is played in romantic films
is quite slow however can become fast tempo when a scene is being shown when a
couple are running after each other and so on. The music is always
light-hearted and happy, as though birds are singing throughout the film. This
is because romantic films always end up with a happily ever after and the
couple always end up together, stereotypically. Slow music can also be played
in romantic films if there is a love scene or just a scene where they are
having a deep conversation where they are laughing with each other. This makes
the audience appeal to the characters and encourages them to wanting the couple
to stay together. The type of music can also change when a bad character comes
in, 'the middle man of the love story'. The music can become faster and less
light heartened to show the audience that they are not wanted in the
relationship- the sort of characters that this music is related to can be the
interfering mother, the jealous ex-boyfriend or the jealous sister/brother.
This low toned music can also be used when a break up occurs, which makes the
audience feel sympathy for the character who is affected more badly by the
break up. This tells me that music is vital for a trailer as it reinforces and
transfers across what the audience should feel about what is happening on
screen.
In recent years many horror film trailers have started with
some cheery music such as the film 'You're next'. This film involves happy non
diegetic music while on screen people are being attacked and murder which
contradicts each other. This contradiction creates an eerie unnerving
atmosphere as the music implies that what is happening on screen is positive and
a good thing, which it is not. This upbeat music is sometimes followed by and
leads into creepy, normally slow paced and high pitched, music. In The Cabin in
the Woods the trailer starts with a popular pop song, this mirrors the mood of
the college students, reinforcing the realism of the scene. This has been done
to emphasis the contrast in moods between the beginning and the end of the
film. The rhythm and upbeat of the pop music gradually decreases and develops
into dark slow paced music which has random snippets of a high pitched tones;
this adds an individualistic style to the dull music. This music then
progresses into the sounds of something ticking or counting down complimented
with action music. The music then becomes more intense which contains loud,
quick paced and low pitched sounds thus creating suspense and tension.
The music again changes to a rock/ screamo genre of music, this will attract
an audience who enjoy this genre of music. Therefore through the use of pop and
screamo music they would have attracted a broad audience.
The Purge
Again the purge used the new stereotype of using a piece of actual music,
although classical music a lot of the time it comes across as creepy as the
music they chose was calming and soothing when horrible event are occurring on
screen. Later on in the trailer it becomes a bit darker however throughout the
music it sounded a bit like music used in an action movie trailer due to the
upbeat and heroic tune. This made it seem more sophisticated compared to most
horror films. The use of sirens and digital sounding noises makes it seem more
than a horror film therefore could bring a broader audience due to the mix of
genres. The church choir music which is very slow paced makes the characters
look like heroes due to pureness within the voices of the choir. The ambient
diegetic sounds of screams and weapons contradict the calm non-diegetic music
in the background and mirror the mood of America before the purge and now.
Deliver Us from Evil
for the first half of the trailer there is a very slow paced, quiet and eerie
piece of music played, this builds up tension as the audience will be waiting
for the scare big factor to be reveal. Whilst the slow paced music there are
pauses within the music therefore breaking up the rhythm of the music, creating
suspense due to the jerkiness generated. For some of the second part of the
trailer there is use of a fast paced beating sound which gives the impression
that something is going to happen, this is a contrast from the slow paced music
from before. This use of fast paced music makes reflects the tension and the
fear which would be present within the trailer. Ranging the tempo of the music
keeps the audience on each throughout watching it. This could be ideal and
effective to use for our trailer as it would create the same suspense technique
which is very effective as it would appeal to horror fans, our target audience
Lionsgate was formed in Vancouver by a Canadian Entertainment company.
As of 2007 their headquarters are located in California and is one of the most
commercially successful independent film and television distribution company
the North of America. This institution has distributed and produced productions
from, television programmes, family entertainment to motion picture; providing
us, the audience, with a range of cinematic experiences. Lionsgate has produced
a large majority of film which have been hit box office success, such as the
films, 'Kickass', 'Rambo' and even the most loved franchise 'The Hunger Games'.
From doing some background research on this institution, I have found that a
large proportion of their films are for a similar genre, which are thrillers,
Action, and dramas. However they have produced and distributed a fair share of
horror films, for example, the 'Saw' franchise films, 'My Bloody Valentine' and
even 'The Last Exorcism'. Although they have produced and distributed horror
films, this institution isn't primarily known for them as only a few have had
success. From even further research, I discovered horror isn't their specialty
for forte. This is important to know for my research into my film trailer as I
need a suitable institution to distribute my production. Due to the research I
have found, this institution may not be ideal for me as I believe my film
trailer would need to be distributed from their track record, just for horrors,
it hasn't been up to scratch.
Twisted Pictures
Twisted Pictures was
founded in 2004 by Evolution Entertainment's Mark Burg, Greg Hoffman and Oren
Koules. This institution has grossed more than half a billion dollars from one
of the most well-known horror series and sequels; 'Saw' films. Twisted Pictures
aims and primarily focus on the horror genre, producing such films as 'Saw' and
'Texas Chainsaw 3D'. This American independent film company as many
competitors, including 'Hammer Film' productions. Due to this institution being
a horror specialist it, it shows me that they have a lot of potential with
advertising and producing our film trailer. In comparison with 'Hammer', I
would say this institution follows the conventional horror films, of primarily
using blood and gore to create a disturbing atmosphere; whereas Hammer does not
focus on this element as much, but more of a storyline to their films.
Warner Bros
Warner Bros is another of many American film companies, which
has dominated the film industry during the 20th and 21st
Century, This institution is very successful as they do a range of roles such
as licensing productions, marketing all forms of creative productions
and distributing and producing media. They have been involved in
the 'Harry Potter' franchise, by distributing and producing these films and
also been involved trilogy of 'The Hangover'. Warner Bros are dedicated in
producing a variety of genre, from comedy and action to thriller and horror.
Due to me making a horror trailer I am very interested in the horror element to
this institution. They have been distributors for horror films such as 'One
Missed Call', 'House of Wax', 'Sweeney Todd' and 'The Orphan'. These have all
been successful horror films, which were marketed and distributed at a high
standard through the use of multi-platform device; laptops, phones and
television. When comparing this to 20th Century Fox, I realised that Warner
Bros horror films were more well-known and successful then the ones produced by
20th Century Fox. This is due to 20th Century Fox focussing on specific genre
whereas Warner Bros focus on a range of genres from action to horror. Due to
this institution success for horror films, this may be a good institution to
use for our as it would mean our horror trailer would be marketed correctly as
also being distributed by them would lead to more success for our trailer, due
to their past track records for this genre of film.
20th Century Fox
I have researched 20th Century Fox to see if this institution has the
potential to distribute and produce my film trailer. From my research I have
found out that a large majority of their films were comedy or family genre
films such as 'Night at the Museum' and 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid'. This automatically
tells me that they may not like producing or distributing films that are horror
based. However, I researched a little further, which led me to discover that
they do like to distribute horror films such as 'From Hell', 'Shutter', and
'The Haunting of Molly Hartley'. However, this institution prefers to
distribute horror films rather than produce them, which they do very effective
through using multi-platinum devices etc. As I am producing a horror genre
trailer I need an institution which would distribute and produce my trailer
effectively, so it can gain the success it deserves. As 20th Century only does
distribution it gives me an opportunity to use them for the distribution
aspect, as they could make my film go worldwide.
Hammer films
Hammer institution is UK Film Company in which it is known best for a series
of Gothic Horror Films that were produced during the mid-1950’s until around
the 1970. However this institution has faced many obstacles which has lead them
to becoming more powerful in the film industry. During the 1980's the company
lost funding from America which led to the institution shutting down; however
in 2000 the company announced they will be reopening and produced their first
film in 2007. From analysing and researching other institutions which
distribute and produce horror films, this is the only British one. If I do use
this institution it would let the audience know that my film trailer was made
by an independent company that are British. Comparing them to the other
institutions, Hammer, is a very small company, which suggest they have lot
smaller funding ratio. This could mean that my trailer may not get distributed
as well as it could due to the lack of funding’s. However, due to this institution’s
forte being horrors it would give my film trailer more potential due to this
company knowing how to sell and distribute horrors. This may be a potential candidate
for our institution as they will know what to do to gain the best popularity
and outcome profit for our film.
The first step is to moisturise your hand with vaseline and hand cream, which in this case I used 'Nivea Moisturing Day Cream'. This is vital to do first as it makes it easier to get the make up off as it prevents from the latex sticking to your hairs on your arm. It also makes it easier for the latex to be spread on as it lubricates the skin, as the skin become a little oily and smooth. After applying this, with a paintbrush apply the 'Zombie Skin Latex Solution' on the dedicated area. Using paint brush means you can range the latex to where ever you desire. As you can see, I have applied the latex to the side of my right hand. Once I smeared the solution on my skin, I waited for this first layer to dry slightly, which the main importance of this stage is to not let the latex to completely dry. From this picture the clear sections are the dry locations and the white sections are the wetter, more damper parts.
The second stage is where you add thin strands of tissue paper or tissue, which I used. Adding this tissue will create the rigid texture to our burn. At this stage you will think this will not turn out that well, but don't it works perfectly! I made sure the tissue I used was very thin so the rigid texture would not be too big to make it less realistic and ensuring it will stick to the latex. I placed the tissue randomly, making the final outcome look like I have been burned in numerous places on my hand. Some sections can be overlapping to raise the texture; this would put depth into the burn ensuring the realism of the injury.
After I placed the tissue on my hand, I added another coating of latex over the tissue. This would aid the adhesiveness of the latex holding the tissue to the skin, making sure it does not come unstuck. I also added this second layer as due to the liquid solution it dampens the tissue, which creates further texture to the burn! If the tissue begins to fray or not stick just add another coat over the tissue. To help fasten up the process you can use a hairdryer to dry the latex, however this may move the tissue slightly, therefore disrupting the burn design.
The bottom picture shows when the latex has dried. I didn't use a hairdryer therefore my design of my burn stayed in tacted. The white section on my hand are the dried pieces of tissue. As you can see. these sections are raised and creates the depthness of the burn.
Once dried I added the first of many coats of paint to the dried tissue latex. The first coloured paint I used was my vibrant red, which I sponged on the central part of the burn. I used the lightest colour first so that I can create a gradient of colour from light to dark from middle to out. I used a sponges so I could accurately apply the paint into every crevice therefore putting shade into the burn. I didn't cover all the white as I wanted to apply darker colours here primary to others.
I then started to apply a ruby red coloured paint and different shades of browns. This, as you can see, creates an illusion of the different shades of blood within the burn. I sponged on the browns mainly on the surrounding of the red, so I can reinforce the gradient I wanted to create. I also added other colours, such as; dark browns, maroons and jet black. This gives further depths and increase the grotesque of the burn, therefore enhancing the realism of the injury. This is vital as we do not want out trailer to be seen as tacky, if we do use this make up tutorial for our protagonists.
This is the final outcome of my burn. As you can see I added various dark colours such as black to create an ash like appearance, which reinforces that the injury is a burn. These dark colours also suggests that the blood as congealed due to the sweltering heat from the fire, which caused this injury. This injury could be used in our horror film as it is gory and very realistic. It also could create an enigma on how our protagonist gained this burn. This could just be used to add to the emphasis the realism of our trailer.
I also experimented by cutting the latex by with scissors, to create a deep gash into the skin. This increase the goriness of the injury, which emphasises that the trailer is a horror, therefore following the conventions of this genre. Due to the skin flapping, the paint inside looks wet suggesting the wound is still sore and recent, which would be ideal as we could reveal this after the protagonist has been cut something or someone...
This is an example of an editing software which we could use for producing our film. Movie maker is made by microsoft, which, as you know, a very well known company and is very user friendly as it should appeal to all ages interested within media and producing films. This software makes you be the editor, with no complicating buttons and techniques needed. Movie Maker also ensures that photos and videos are imported quickly and at the highest and clearest resolution, so the images are clear, avioding buffering and blurriness. It also enhances your movie by providing ready made themes and audios, which could be used for different genres of film and videos, which give us ideas of what kind of music we need and which would suit with the shots we take. Finally, once our movie is ready, we can share it online on Facebook, YouTube or other social networking and video sharing sites, and if neccessary we can send a link of our movie in an email so we can transfer our production to each other to do some editing and to make all our ideas come alive. There are many aspects of this software which may be ideal for producing our film such as the transitoin elements and havign ready made horror music if we needed it. However this software is fairly ammateur, meaning there isn't as much variety of transitions, sounds, cutting techniques etc, which could be a problem.
Another software which we could use for creating our film is a software called 'Adobe Premiere Elements 10', which from the title of it is made by 'Adobe'. Although this software is another editing software like Microsoft Movie Maker, this is software is aimed for making and creating videos and films, which is more of an advantage using this software. This software also gives you a more clearer timeline with audio and soundtracks below so you can line the shots and the music precisely together. It also has much more advance effects such as the stabilizer effect, which keeps shots still if they are shakey when they are not meant to be. This may benefit us as we want to make our opening two minutes as best as we can so a more advanced software would aid us for doing this, right? This may not be true as it makes the process a lot more complicated as there is more techniques you can use, meaning more complication. However this software includes a range of transitions, effects, cutting proceses etc, which would definitely benefit in producing our film.
This software is a very advance but effective piece of film editing software which is used broadly at universities and lower independent film institutions. This software allows you to explore and exploit your creativity as it provides a range of advanced editing tools and effects, allowing you to produce a high quality production. The software provide power and precision within all work therefore would be ideal for our production. However, the only negative feature to this software is that it is extremely expensive; both for the full package or pay monthly. This therefore would mean it would be very hard to find the availability for this resource, making the other software more beneficial for us. Although we cannot get our hands on this software, in the future I would be looking to invest in software such as this, as it allows you show your creativity.
