Update - Editing: Day 4

I have now completed my editing and am pleased with my final piece. There were many problems that I face; however, I feel I managed to successfully overcome them. Music and sound effects was the main problem that I faced.

The pieces of music that I originally chose for my trailer didn’t blend well with the previous tracks and didn’t quite match what was going on on the screen. Once I had found the right piece of music, I then needed a sound effect to help the transition between the two. This took the longest time as I needed it to be the right length and right sound. Sound effects were so difficult for me to find that on some parts of my script, I had to leave out some of them such as the glitching noises, girls laughter and a loud metal bang. However, I managed to work around this and use a fast paced music track instead.

Once I had put all the clips into order, I then started putting the narration over the top. There weren’t any major problems in this area other than the quality of the sound itself. Although the length of the narration suited to length and order of my clips, there was a faint buzzing sound mixed in with the voices. It wasn’t to noticeable but it made it clear when the clip cuts out. I tried to space them out a bit and hide it under the music but it was one problem I couldn’t completely avoid.

As far as following my script is concerned, it was very much different to what I had originally planned my trailer to be like. I did use the basic order though, and some sequences were very precise to what I had it my script. The reason I changed it was based on the way it was filmed, whether it blended well with the music and just generally the appearance of it. I wanted a rhythm to the way the shots were cut, so it changed drastically to suit the music. The way I had filmed it affected it as some shots were to dark, some were filmed different because of problems on the filming day. So although I didn’t quite follow my script, I made sure this was all for the right reasons and that I did follow the basic outline I planned.

There were no other major problems I face finishing my piece. Overall, it went quite smoothly and very pleased with my final piece.

Update - Poster: Planning

I decided on using screen shots for my film poster would be the best way to do this. I think it worked well in the poster Quarantine so feel it will be just as effective for my own. Although I am using a screen shot, I still want a similar image to that from [REC] so have chosen the screen shot where the ghost is standing alone in the tunnel. I am going to use Photoshop to get rid of the background completely, so the focus will be entirely on her face. I made sure I got the s creen shot when the torch is shining in her face to add to that focus. I don’t want to use Photoshop too much on my poster as I want to give that impression that the image has been taken from the movie itself. I may use it to brighten the face slightly and remove that background but will do nothing else to alter the image. I think the font that I chose will look good with my poster although I will try out the others I created in case one looks more appropriate with the colour and image I chose. I am also pleased with my chosen quote line and will probably go for a simpler font or the font of my title depending on whether this will look too messy

Film Poster - Planning

Planning poster ideas - Page 3
Planning chosen poster idea - Page 4
Planning font - Page 7
Planning quote line - Page 5

Film Poster - Quarantine analysis

Quarantine is the American remake of [REC]. It has a very similar story line and in some ways, a very similar poster. However, quarantine gives a lot more away about the story. In fact, the audience is left very little to work out as there are 7 lines explaining what to expect in the film. However, there is still some mystery into why there are no details, witnesses or evidence so still has a way of drawing the audience in with these questions.

Although, I do think that these lines on the poster are effective, I thought that the level of information given away in [REC] was much better. Having more questions about the film to answer seems a much better way of advertising as people may keep researching into themselves, for instance finding he film trailer. Because of this I think I won’t use this method in my poster.

The genre, again, is given away in similar ways to [REC], the colours are very dark except for the title to make this stand out to people looking at the poster, as well as the title appearing to be a font you could associate with a quarantine. However, one big change is the main colour of green. This adds to the idea of quarantine. The picture is also a huge give away to the genre because of the expression on the woman’s face. An obviously horrific, terrified look creating that questions of why?

The colour also helps with showing the audience the sub genre which is the same as [REC], a hand held camera horror. The colour is this way as the camera is on night vision. Adding to the horror as well as this would meant that she is in darkness but also gives a big clue to how the whole film is filmed with one character holding the only camera. This sub genre is also presented to us with the more subtly shown [REC] sign in the corner. This is where this sign would normally be when playing tapes back. As I want to show the sub genre, I may choose to use this in my piece.

I think comparing this to the previous poster; I don’t think it gives as much of a creepy mysterious feel to it which is what I would like my poster to be like. However, I will take on the dark colours use throughout and may decide to use the [REC] icon or something similar depending on what main image I choose. I also like the idea of just using one persons face on my poster.

Film Poster - Diary Of The Dead analysis

Diary of the dead is a film about a film student recording everything that goes on around him as the dead start coming back to like. The poster does nothing to keep any mystery like in the first two posters. In fact, it’s pretty self explanatory to what you would expect in the film. Instead of the genres given away a bit more subtly, everything we need to know is shown straight in front of you.

For instance, in the other two posters, the sub genre is given away with lighting, titles and recording symbols, where this poster shows the camera in the middle and seems to try to make in the main focus. I particularly like the way the camera shows the man’s head on the screen showing more obviously that it will be that point of view you will be seeing. However, I think this is effective in the same way as it still lets the audience know that the film is using a hand held camera so would attract their target audience. Zombies are the main horror focus in all posters films; however, this is the only one that actually shows this. I think this is for the same reason as the camera being on the poster as it allows the target audience to see straight away what the film is about.

We also see a small line given to us on this poster, much like the one on [REC] which is ‘shoot the dead’. It very obvious and to the point as well as being quite a clever play on words as it could mean using a gun or a camera to shoot. I prefer this line much more as it’s much more likely to stay in someone’s head long after they’ve seen the poster so will try to use this technique in my own piece.

The font used for the title, is a very bold one. This makes is stand out well on the page as well as appearing quite dirty because of the browned edges on some letters. It gives it quite a scary look. Ive also noticed that the font seem quite similar to the one used in ‘Dawn Of The Dead’ maybe to attract the same audience who liked this film.

I think that the only thing that lets this poster down is the colour, in my opinion. Being such a light, ‘pretty’ blue, it seems far too of a delicate colour to be associated with this type of horror film. I suppose it could be associated with night time but I thought that the darker colours in [REC] and Quarantine seemed much more effective in giving a creepy feel to it.

Film Poster - [REC] Analysis

[REC] is a Spanish film based on a reporter who films the events of a house filled with infected people whilst trapped inside. The film poster gives very little of this away. We don’t see anything that could give away the storyline. All that is presented to us is a picture, the title and ‘experimenta al miedo’ meaning ‘experience the fear’. The simplicity to this poster is something that I feel I am seeing quite a lot with film posters. Not giving much of the film itself gives a sense of mystery to the story. It makes you wonder why the woman in this picture looks like this and makes you use your own imagination to do this.

In my own poster, I hope to do the same to make my film seem very mysterious with its story. This would mean that people would have to watch a trailer to get a bigger picture of the story so would inevitably gain me more advertisement.

But although little of the story is given away, what is presented to us is enough to grab the attention of the target audience. The genre of horror is certainly shown in the poster. The colours used are very dark with the majority of it being completely black. The only part where there is lighter colour is the title and the small line above. This makes it much more noticeable and draws your attention straight to this. The picture also shows its genre through the shadows of the girls face. Because of this shadow, we see little of the girl’s face which as a result, could lead the target audience to make this up on their own. It doesn’t give away whether this character is good or bad so adds more mystery to the film especially because you cannot see her eyes at all as they are such a huge give away to our expression. Finally, the line ‘experience the fear’ is another sign of the genre. It also makes the films look more appealing to horror fans as I think its implying that because of the use of the hand held camera, you would feel closer to what is happening and feel that you are experiencing it yourself.

Not only does the poster give away the genre of horror, it also allows us to see it sub genre of hand held camera horror. The obvious give away is the title [REC] with the big red circle in front, known to most people as the icon that shows whilst the camera is recording. However, the lighting seems to be another clue as the light on the girl appears very much like its coming from one source in front of her. Personally, I think that this looks like a camera spotlight.

I think showing my audience the same sub genre would be very effective for my advertisement as these films are becoming very popular. However, because my title is much more subtle than [REC] I will have to use another technique to make this more obvious in my own poster. Another thing that I shall consider using in my own piece is something similar to the line that is used in the poster, ‘experience the fear’. I think that this is very effective for getting the audience’s attention. The small line is almost a teaser to the story.

Update - Editing: Day 3

Editing, this week, has been the most successful I think. I am now much more comfortable with using Adobe Premiere Pro and can use all the tools I need very well. There were no problems with the software at all and the only issues that came up were more to do with music, however, I feel I have overcome this problem.

So far I have edited about a minute into my trailer and have also included some music into it. The first track worked very well with my video. I may need to figure out how to play around with the volume so you can hear the narration over the top. The only problem that came with this track is the transitioning into the next one. As it’s not the end of the track I will need to find a way to transition them together so it flows smoothly. I have tried to add the transition affect where the track decreases volume until its silent and then starting the next one but feel a loud noise in between may help with the atmosphere I want to give. The choice I had originally chosen to my next track will probably change. I don't feel it worked too well with the video. Although it does have a creepy feel, I think it may be to over the top.

I have decided that I will begin to follow the script more precisely in the second half of my trailer. I felt that, will all the extra shots I did, I could edit something much better than my script. As my second half is more diagetic dialogue, following my script would be better.

To overcome the problem of adding in the narration at the end of editing my video, I made sure that most of the shots within the first half of my trailer are able to get longer or shorter to suit to length of the audio clip. This would mean that I don’t have to worry too much about the timing as I’m editing and just get the order I think works best.