Feedback

With the feedback throughout this project we have understood that with putting our clip onto social networking sites such as Facebook, this may have resulted in inaccurate and/or bias comments towards the product. This may also occur in peer feedback. 

To avoid this and gain feedback in other means, we asked for feedback from a random selection of students and teachers to view our product to label what they liked and disliked about the product so the group were able to improve on this. Not only this but we used other networking sites such as Youtube, Twitter, Tumblr, which all have a broad range of people in culture, location and age which allows a larger amount of feedback to be taken into account.

Film poster

From the feedback we received from our last film poster we thought it was best to compare with a different image.

Not only this but we changed the text displayed at the top of the page and move the title below the image. 

I really like how the colours work in this image as it is kept to a simple black and white which appears across as quite menacing. There is also a small hint of red on the hands created by heightening the saturation of the image. This gives off the affect that he has blood on his hands which can be seen as quite threatening.

I still feel that the picture needs to be edited furthermore so that the appearance stands out even more so. Ideas such as enhancing the redness of the hands to appear more bloody will be a good affect. Or to retake the image with fake blood used to show the literal threat. Possibly a blood smear across the mask would look enticing to watch. The group agree that more needs to be done.

Feedback for magazine

My group found 20 students from years 7-13 from the Thomas Deacon Academy and presented the image for the magazine so far. 

We asked from their thoughts towards the image we have chosen as our first question and 18 people responded saying they really like it (90%).  Some made a comment about the positioning and how this helps the man stand out. The other 10% were not as keen as they could not see the final outcome in being a success. 

We wanted to know what they thought of the colours used. 16 people (80%) were drawn to the face as it stood out. They agreed with our thought keeping the colours minimal so that eyes are drawn to the white mask. The other 20% thought that another colour could be added perhaps around the mask to highlight the focal point.

Film Magazine

This is the group's final product for the film magazine. Feedback has concluded that it is very affective and advertises everything needed in a aesthetically pleasing manner.

Film poster inspiration from reseach

From the research completed previously, the group have looked at what makes them as effective as they are. For a starting point, the quality of the photograph is to a high standard. With using the facilities we have as a group, we will try our hardest to get good quality photographs.

Aspects from existing posters that stand out to me are that they use the rule of thirds. Good examples of this are The Woman In Black and The Conjuring.

Another aspect that stands out to me is the use of colours. For example, The Woman in Black uses pale, pastel grey and skin colours which contrast with the bold, back background. The only colour that is enhanced is the blue in the man's eyes. This is effective as it could demonstrate that he see's a lot more and that onlookers will have to watch the film to find out what exactly.

The amount of text included on an existing poster is controlled and tends to usually contain short, snappy quotes or phrases that give onlookers a short insight that can entice them to watch the film.

The purpose of the poster is important as it can either introduce a character or place. This can be emphasised by affects and added detail to enhance visual quality and aspects.

First draft for our trailer

Today the group decided our input into the film trailer so far is good but to carry on, we need feedback and ideas from our target audience. We published the current trailer onto Youtube and Facebook in hoping we will receive good cirticism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HF9Ml-AisE

First steps of editing the magazine

The group have got together and taken images of 'the man in the mask' in different poses. We used different models to get a variety of body structure. Also their natural approach into looking threatening to each model we used was different so to have and be able to choose was useful.

The most effective we chose by collecting audience feedback which we have started to edit as shown below.

We think that this pose turned out to be the best due to the fact that the identity can be teasing for the onlookers as the person is visible but the character of them is not. The hands positioned like they are about to take the mask off is even more so teasing to make onlookers want to find out even more so. 

The first stage of editing we have carried out is blackening the background and any unnecessary light areas that may distract from the hands and mask eg. the zip and hood ties. We have also blurred the outline of the jumper and hands to fade ever so slightly into the background to create the effect that he is coming out of the darkness.

Filming

Today Chelsea and I filmed some build up shots for the trailer. These entailed more of the knife plunging and being dropped as the lighting was not up to standard the last time we attempted this. Also moving silhouettes through door frames and a first person shot of the girl peeking through the door crack as the 'man in the mask' turns around quickly.

Film Trailer filming plan

We gained some useful information from our teachers in saying that some of the footage is too long and needs to be cut back. In doing so the trailer appeared too short so will need to add more footage in to take up time and add suspense. We had some ideas through this week on what we could add which are as follows:

The female detective looking at the camera saying 'There wasn't one'.

The male detective looking at the camera saying 'What was the outcome?'

The female detective saying 'Who knows when he'll strike again!'

Shot of the bottom half of my face pulling down the mask - To make the audience question who the stalker really is.

A knife dropping for the trailer end build up

Extreme close up of Jodi and Chelsea tied up

Mid shot of Chelsea in the boot

Close up of Chelsea talking into the phone whispering 'I'm scared' multiple times.

Shot of stalker looking up with the mask, black to the mask.

Phone call between female detective and stalker.

The stalker saying 'You have until midnight'.

Silhouette of stalker walking towards/away from camera.

Extreme close up of stalker with/without mask.

Chelsea saying 'watch it!' or 'what the hell?!' when the car pulls out.

Concealed Poster

Below is the final version of the group's poster that we have created using Photoshop. 

This has turned out well as many factors have been thought out in the making of this. The colours used are kept minimal so that they stand out. Black and white contrast well, making the text stand out. Also the masked person is framed by darkness building his representation of a negative atmosphere. The red also stands out as striking, also framing the person.

Last Minute Filming

Over the past few weeks the group have managed to put forward a greater deal of our time to make sure the completion for the footage we need is available for us to edit and finalise this coming week for our deadline date.

We have filmed many shots in which we may not use in our product but at least we have the option to use them if need be. These will go towards the big build up nearing the end of the trailer. The shots included: the shadow of a knife being forced downward in a stabbing motion, a hand grabbing a door handle, an extreme closeup of the kidnapper blowing out a candle and many more. The last shot mentioned ere of the kidnapper blowing out the candle was put forward to symbolise life and that he has the power to 'blow' this away. The flash back shown previously in the trailer demonstrates the girl blowing out the candle. This is promoting the fact that she let the kidnapper, unkowningly into her home, therefore it is her that blows the candle out.

Uploading problems

Today we have spent the lesson trying to upload the footage ready to edit in with the rest of the trailer. Unfortunately there was a confusion as we could not find the footage on the Mac to upload to it yet it was displayed on the camera.
After questioning this for some time we tried using a sim card reader which worked. This still took a while to upload the amount in which we had filmed.

First draft for our magazine

Shown below is our first approach into creating a magazine to promote the film we based our film trailer on. 

I think the simplicity of the image is effective in not only the colours used but the straight lines and curves shapes created by the mask and door. The writing is kept simple too by keeping the fonts the same and minimal use of colours. 

Although the theme is simple I do not think it is eye-catching because of this. The image of the 'man in the mask' behind the door may also suggest that he is a coward which is not what we want to portray. 

The text is presented nicely on the page, however it is not evenly spread which we will need to change. Also the contrast of colours of text and image do not promote the text much which will change when the image is changed. Not only this but the title needs to have other features that make it stand out more such as adding shadows or adding dimensions. 

Film poster

This is our first approach into creating our film poster. We took many photographs of the victims in distress to try and relate onlookers to entice people to want to know why they are emotional. 

We chose and edited this image (using Photoshop) to try and come across as torturous and outrageous to viewers. The black and white effect shows that it could have already happened and casts a dull atmosphere over the poster.

The red title 'Concealed' stands out in contrast to the black and white in the rest of the page. 

Practice poster images

 Before the weekend, the group discussed what sort of images we need to take for the film poster. We thought up many ideas such as 'the man in the mask' coming through a door or cupboard to show movement in the picture like he is coming towards onlookers.

Photographs were taken and today we were able to experiment with editing (using Photoshop on an Apple Mac) a few to see what sort of outcome we may have.

Magazine Names

The following names are in the running for the magazine title:
 - Taped
 - Studio
 - Negative

Thoughts on the Trailer Title

The group have come up with many ideas through the weeks filming of the names for the film we are making the trailer for.
We wanted something that relates to the film and will give the public a small insight as to what the film will be about.
Our ideas evolved around names such as the following:

 - Unmasked - This is good but I think it tells too much of the story before it is shown, eg. shows people that the criminal will be revealed.
 - Masked - This gives a clear insight for the public to presume the criminal will use a mask to hide his identity.
 - Concealed - The group like this name a lot as it is short and does not give away too much as it is vague.
 - Under the mask - The idea of this name is literal to try and relate people to the 'man under the mask'.
 - From the shadows - This is mysterious and can make onlookers want to find out what is 'from the shadows'
 - Out of the shadows - This is like 'From the shadows' as it is mysterious but could show that something is coming out of the darkness after so long.

The group decided to use 'Concealed' as the title as it demonstrates that someone is concealed under a mask. It may also represent that the story is concealed until you watch. It is a short and snappy title which will be easy to read quickly and remember from a viewers point of view.

Additional Development

In conclusion to filming the different shots of the police to provide a stronger connection between them and the kidnapper, we now need to gain some footage of the kidnapper to show an interaction between them. The group have decided that if the kidnapped could talk on the phone to her then viewers would be able to hear his voice. In editing we will try to change this so it's deep and harsh sounding which has formed on the stereotype that males are usually thought to be the stronger gender. Also the voice forms a foundation the viewers have of the man's face. The scarier the voice, the scarier the image of face the viewers have. This can create the imagination to only think the worst of what he looks like, making them intrigued to then want to watch the film.

Developing our ideas

After a session of filming, uploading and editing our new footage we are now able to see what areas we need to film again and anything critical that we could add to make the horror trailer scarier than it is now.

More shots from the police scene need to be filmed which is planned to be taken place in a few days. We will have different angles of the same shot filmed so that we can choose the best when it comes the editing. These shots include: the police woman picking up phone, worried close ups of her(showing her stereotype of a worried female), police woman getting out the car, car door slamming, chase between police and kidnapper. This is so we can build a stronger connection between the kidnapper and police woman as the link is very vage currently. Once this has been edited in we will be able to visualise what needs to be done to help make the kidnapper build more tension. 

Inspiration from existing trailers

As filming and planning has been confused with filming, we have decided to look back at our research and analyse further as to what makes these existing trailers affective and scary. We started looking at 'The Call' and '30 Days of Night' and noted that in both of these trailers, a girl or woman is introduced in distress whether it is emotional or controlled, a build up is created followed by them being dragged away. Jodi, Chelsea and myself really took to this idea so decided to build a plan around this.

We liked the idea from the majority of our research into existing trailers that it is filmed at either dusk or night time. We had previously experimented with filming at night for the last plan, this did not turn out well as it was unclear and very hard to see the footage on the screen when it came to editing. We tried to ammend this by carrying out these shots in day, this took the eerie atmosphere away so have decided to take the idea of filming at dusk into action next time we film.

When things go wrong - 6/11/13

Unfortunately the group have came to the conclusion that the footage that we have is not very effective for a horror film so have needed to come back to basics and think through our ideas again. 

We have not started planning from scratch however, as we are still keen of idea of the mysterious man in a mask but have decided that we need to approach this in a different manner.

This upcoming weekend we have planned to carry out a few sessions of filming where we can hopefully in-cooperate our previous shots to make the new ones better.

Jodi Lee - Film Inception - Film Magazine

Jodi Lee - Entertainment - Film Magazine

Chelsea Neil - The Uninvited - Film Poster

The first steps of filming - 22/10/2013

The group and I have been able to start filming in the past weekend. In using our storyboard as a guideline to which shots we need we added different shots and ideas all the while so that we can have a selection of shots to choose from when it comes to editing. This allows us to get the best shots to be able to have a well thought out product at the end.
We have managed to film many shots at dusk to in-cooperate an eerie atmosphere and some in the day time too for contrasting aspects to see which works best. In using day time shots, the character we used puts in earphones. Our thinking behind the victim wearing earphones is because, it is stereotyped for darkness to be scary as one of your senses is useless, so taking away hearing is hopefully going to have the same effect.
We have managed to use a variety of shots such as: tracking, panning, over the shoulder, first person, two shots and close ups. These will be edited and be added to at a later date when we can visually see the footage recently captured.

Chelsea Neil - Film Poster - Sinister

Chelsea Neil - Entertainment Magazine - The Hobbit

Chelsea Neil - The Ward

The Ward

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

The Ward - 2010

Horror/Thriller

A thriller centered on an institutionalized young woman who becomes terrorized by a ghost.

Analysis

1. The first shot begins with a very detailed and graphic introduction of the company that created this film, not only is there 3D text but there is also a soundtrack in the background which makes it seem like the text is 'landing' on the ground. This gives the company the chance to show who made this film and also gives them plenty more advertisement.

2. The very first shot of the film trailer is a quick close up of a clock ticking which zooms in very fast, the fact that the whole background is blurred out gives the audience the impression that time is going to be of an important essence of the whole movie. It also gives the impression that the movie may be based on some sort of timer ~ just the first shot makes the audience ask questions. From this point, a man in the background begins to talking, it seems as if he is talking to the girl throughout the shots: "What's the first thing you remember.."

3. It then quickly jumps into a tracking shot of the front of the girl running with a dress on, bruises and cuts covering her face. The camera then swings to the trees and makes everything blurred, then we see the back of the girl running away.

4. It then jumps to a extreme close up of the girls hand that is now holding a match and a matchbox and very quickly jumps to a mid shot of the girl standing at the window with the soundtrack of what sounds like the wind blowing as it quickly fades out.

5. After the following shot sequence, it is then followed by a blackout which makes the whole sequence before seem like a distant memory or a nightmare.

6. We are then quickly introduced to this shot by a girl whispering "Fire" in response to the man that asked a question in the previous shots. There is a mid shot of the front of a girl that almost doesn't seem quite with it, we can see some of the fire flames reflect from her. The environment she is surrounded by gives us the impression that she is in the middle of no where, but she doesn't seem to be lost as she knew that she definitely wanted to set that particular house on fire. We can see a car coming towards her, from the sirens it is obvious that this is a police car, this makes the audience realise that whatever she has just set on fire, she is now in trouble for it.

7. We then get an establishing and bright shot of the house burning down and moves to a close up of the burning roof and the smoke in the sky, it is accompanied by a spooky and mysterious sound and a loud thumping sound which softens down as the shot fades to black.

8. There is then another introduction of the company, again advertising who created the film etc. At this point a creepy sound track of a woman singing starts and keeps going, giving the feeling that whatever is next is haunted.  

9. This is then followed by an establishing shot of a type of old building and follows what seems like a similar car from a previous shot. The car appears from the right and the camera follows the car as it drives towards the house.

10. We then see a close up of the girls face, she is on what seems like a trolley and is being taken somewhere as we can see the floor moving.   

  

11. There is a variety of multiple quick paced shots of the main character having photos taken, the lighting is chosen very specifically so that the girl is lit up and you can tell is the main character. After this there is an over the shoulder shot of one of the nurses, it appears that she is talking to the girl, but the girl is confused and only answers with 'Kristen', at this point we are now introduced to the name of the main character.

13. This then shows a long shot of the back of the same girl being made to walk down the long corridor, the soundtrack of a spooky choir continues as the man says 'Welcome to the Ward', we are now introduced to the environment she is in. It is then followed by a similar shot, however this time we see the front of them.

 14. Just as the man continues to say 'Your new home.', we then see a panning shot of the environment including close ups of other girls looking around and stopping from what they are doing, the girl that is new then becomes the vulnerable one.

15. There is a shot reverse shot of the girl talking to the man who appears to be in charge, the girl says 'Why am I here' ~ The mise en scene tells different stories, whilst the girl is in dirty looking clothes with messy wet hair, the man is sitting on a office chair with smart clothes and tidy hair, this suggests that he is of high power and has authority over the girl. The first over the shoulder shot is tilting downwards slightly, this also gives the impression that the man has a lot of power and makes the girl seem very small and fragile as she is further away with a dull background behind her which makes her blend into the distance. 

16. There is an establishing shot of the hallway, the camera seems to be nearer to the floor, this makes the hallway look a lot more spooky and larger than it really is.

17. A two shot of people looking down towards her makes her seem small and vulnerable as if she is the prime target because of the way the two people are talking whilst looking down at her making them seem very important.

 

18. It shows some fast paced variety of shots of the girl in different locations whilst there is a narrative of her speaking throughout, the things she says are the following: "You can't get them to tell you anything, sometimes they take people away and they don't come back, if I were you I would watch out new girl." There are various close ups of the girls face, an arced tracking shot of a woman that looks like a nurse sitting in the office watching people as they pass by giving the impression that a lot of people try and escape this place and adds to the idea that they do not seem overly busy. 

  19. There is a sound bridge from a two shot between the new girl and a girl giving advice, she says 'If I were you I would watch out new girl.' This ultimately adds to the picture the audience gets, it shows that something bad has happened in the past.

20. At this point we see multiple fast pace close ups of the new girl showering, it starts off with all of the girls showering to show that the girl is not alone. However, after this we see multiple close ups of just the girl. There is no sound to these shots, but the sound of the water represents the fact that she is alone at this point. We then see a shadow of something next to her with the steam surrounding it and a white flash with a swishing noise and a close up of the girl looking around follows.

 21. After this there is then a fast drumming non diegetic soundtrack that is then introduced, this is accompanied by a long shot of the new girl sitting down in her ward cell, this shot gives the audience the impression that someone is watching her. There is white flashes in between as well as flashing noises. It moves onto the next shot with diegetic sound of the girl saying 'There is a ghost in here'.   

 22. There is a establishing shot which pans the outside of 'the ward', there is a diegetic sound which adds to the spookiness of the film trailer 'She's the last one that got out'.

23. There is a continuous use of diegetic sound of different people talking, 'she was one of us but she's gone now', this sound is accompanied by a fuzzy mid shot of what seems like a past memory of a girl in the very same place, it seems like there is a sense of deja vu.

24. There is another mid shot of the girl looking around, the way the light is positioned makes it so that one side of her face is in the shadows and another side is in the light. There is no sound in this shot apart from the girl breathing, this is very effective as it projects the way the characters are feeling. This is also effective because of the way the editing has been done, there is a sound bridge from this shot which then moves onto black flashes which almost seem like the flickering of the lights turning off.

25. The previous shot then turns into very faced paced one second shots of the girl from different angles, the audience then sees a zoom in and glimpse of the main horror monster which is the 'star' of the show. The film trailer is slowly unravelling bits of the main story to make the viewers want to see it. This shot is accompanied by a very high pitched scream from what sounds like a girl. 

26. I really like the way this shot is positioned, the way that the torch is very bright makes it effective as the audience doesn't know who is holding that particular light. I also like how the shot is based in some sort of basement and is very dark in contrast to the clothes that the man is wearing and the light which is beaming and grabs the audience' attention.

27. This film trailer has a lot of close ups and extreme close ups of some of the actress' faces to show their emotions. To the right we have another close up of the 'new girl', the light is very effective, this is because most of the left side of her face is kept in the shadows, however, the right of her face so the viewer can just see her facial expressions is shown. 

28. Just at this shot, the pace of the shots start to pick up dramatically and a loud non diegetic soundtrack of some type of fast violin is then introduced. There is an extreme close up of the girls facial expression of her screaming, not only this but the fact that the shot is in black and white changes about the shots. The second shot is the reoccurring text to make the film trailer that extra bit frightening. The text the film trailer uses encourages the audience to be scared and gives the audience an idea of what to expect when they watch the full movie.

29. At this point we see some type of creature picking up certain surgeon instruments, the music is now very loud fast and has an echo to it. I like how this film trailer is slowly giving small pieces of the film away.

30. This seems to be a POV shot from one of the nurses, the 'new girl' is being held up against the wall. There is still the constant drumming of the music and the girl screaming 'NO!'.

31. The previous shot quickly moves onto a straight edit of the girl now sitting in some sort of dentist or surgeon bed, the audience gets to see the girl looking around scared.

32. The shots are so quickly edited that the audience will find it very hard to pick out certain things, but the end of the trailer is so action packed and ends on something happening that it makes the audience want to see the full movie to find out what happens at the end.  

33. The film trailer ends with a shot of the ward corridors, as the text flashes in and slowly appears the shot disappears and changes into a plain black background.