Amir & Pablo Productions: Film Trailer Project

Final Film Trailer

Final Film Magazine Cover

Final Film Poster 

 

 

Evaluation

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Q2. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

We used questionaire and surveys to gather feedback for our trailer, we learnt what we had to change and improve to satisfy our audience. This Director’s Commentary breaks down each indivisual improvement and how to go to our final product.

 

Q3. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

http://prezi.com/hn6tnonb26da/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Q4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Media technology was a big factor in our pre-production stage.

Firstly, we used programs such as Microsoft powerpoint, Word and programs like Prezi to create plans and work for our film, these softwares allowed us to layout our research in a way that was easily viewable and could be shared with my partner, Pablo.

This could also be said for our blog on WordPress, this online platform was used to present all of our research, it included attaching videos and writing summaries. This blog presented our work in chronological order that was easy to navigate and a viewer can easily see our development and how we go to our final trailer. Using an online blog meant me and Pablo could add , edit and access our work efficiently.

After our research we used programs such as Celtx to write the script got the voiceover for the trailer, this program was good to use because it was specifically designed to write scripts, this meant it contained shortcuts to get our ideas in dialogue form quicker, for example in the program pressing enter would skip to a character name instead of just going to the next line. This program allowed us to present our voiceover and little diagloue for scenes in a format our actors could understand.

Using Technology such as the internet, I could easily get templates that helped with the pre-production of the film. For example, I used an online shotlist template to organise the shots I wanted to get, this helped structure my trailer and meant I already had an order to edit my trailer in. Furthermore, this contributed to saving time, instead of focusing on big scenes, we would go to the location and get the shots we need instead of trying to get coverage/options on everything.

In the filming process, Technology played a huge part to capture our shots. We used a cannon C300 and a Sony A58 DSLR, The cannon recorded in 1080p HD but the wide sencor and the fact it was built for video meant overall the sharpness of the clips was really high and the depth was much more, this created a problem when filming with the DSLR as it was not as high quality, however to bring up the projects quality I tried to film in 50mm, This created a more indepth looking picture that was sharp and the background was out of focus. This helped make the footage match the extraordinary capabilities of the c300. Another piece of technology we used was the ZOOM mic, this recorded audio but very high quality, we used this amazing equipment was used to record the voiceover. Comparing this audio the the DSLR, there was a huge difference, this is when I made the creative decision to mute all our clip and have a powerful soundtrack drive the piece, and the clips with crucial dialogue i used the background noise equalizer to make it more clearer, for the next project we must use a zoom mic and then a clapperboard and the beginning of each shot, this means we cab sync up the audio in post and it will be more high quality.

After the filming process, We backed up our Footage onto a 1TB Lacie Hardrive, this meant our footage was safe and also is portable. We used the software Final Cut pro to edit our trailer, I really like this software because the layout is easy to understand and its easy to cut together footage, tools such as “Blade” and “Sync” save loads of time. This software also had colour correction and meant we didn’t have to move the project to another software instead we colour corrected right inside the program as well as editing.

Although putting the project files  and event onto a hardrive is not recommended, I felt this was needed to allow me to edit at home and at school, using this techonogy of a portable hardrive allowed me to focus on details and spend alot of time out of lesson on the trailer. We used the software Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom to edit photos for our promotional poster and magazine cover, the software lightroom was great for editing photos, I brang up the highlights and shadows to create a faded effect on our main image to reflect the timeframe our film was set in. This software also allow the image to be sharper with a higher clarity, these contributed to our final product having a high quality. The software photoshop, not only has endless tools to help with gradients and bringing the whole poster together, but the software allowed us to use layers to put together different images to give the audience hints about themes of our film. For example, the image of the graveyard connotes death. This was also conventional of a thriller trailer.

 

 

 

 

Evaluation

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

A trailer is by definition, an advance. An advance has to be short and intriguing, leaving the audience eager for more. Therefore, we decided to use the conventions of the thriller’ genre that fit better our trailer:

Conventions Used

• Photography with low lighting to increase discomfort.
• An elusive killer.
• Hero trapped.
• The act of violence (Centre of the film).
• Blood.
• Police involvement (The good and the bad cop).
• Weak female role in a distress & sexy look/ Femme Fatale.
• End twist.
• Fade ins and outs to create intrigue as small bits of information, nothing definitive, only suggestions. 

In the trailers, it is more attractive what is suggested that what is shown.

At the same time, our equipment was conventional for a student film, experimenting with cameras, angles, lights and the acting. Amir and I discussed and elaborated two different points of views, with different kind of shoots and uses of the equipment. At least I think the creative process was enriched by these two different angles, and the mix of them offered a very good final product.

Now, as an example, I want to talk about 2-3 conventions we used in the trailer:

Firstly, the tones of the light are well used and developed as they create a state of discomfort on the audience. Also, in our trailer we used the shadows to create that same suspense and mystery thriller films have. This can also be considered as another convention of a thrillers.

For example, there’s a particular shot (swimming pool flashback) where we wanted to create the effect of a shadow going past the camera. When editing, Amir used a mask in the scene, using Final Cut Pro, to track quickly across the screen, creating that shadowy effect.

Another convention appears where the spectator can see the female actress, Alena, lying in the floor, dead. The convention shows how female portray weak role as sees clearly dead, but at the same is showing that women are also shown as sexy & beautiful even if she died in the hands of the murderer.

Finally, in the trailer, you can find out how we followed Todorov’s Narrative Theory.

For example, after the shots set to grab the audience’s attention, quick action shots fading to black, the trailer starts with an “equilibrium” point: Famous actress Alena is at her home with her husband. Everything is normal and calm at this point, but all of sudden, the audience can see a “disruption” occurring: The murderer has appeared, ready to kill Alena. Then, later one, you can see how the detectives are being called to the scene, in order to investigate the murder. Finally, this leads to the detectives trying to capture the killer and solve the mystery around Alena’s murder (Resolution and getting back to the Equilibrium).

Obviously, we don’t show the resolution of the film in the trailer, as we want people to go see the actual movie and find out by themselves how this story ends.

Q2. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

“Director’s Commentary” (Video Format)

(To see it without interruptions, quality needs to be in 360)

“Director’s Commentary” (Text Format)

Director’s Commentary: ALENA

by Pablo Gutierrez de Lario

—

When we started to prepare ALENA, we wanted to make a trailer about a film star murdered by a serial killer. Also, we decided to shoot the trailer with amateur actors. Besides, the locations seemed to be limited to school and Ravenscourt Park.

With these two elements in mind, we started to work on the different shots.

I soon realized that they were some shots we wouldn’t able to use due to the complication getting the permissions, as per example the initial scene where some kids would be around a bonfire.

Then, I just started to work on the material we had, thinking how to get the best results with what we had. As we had amateur actors, the best course of action was to have short takes of them, so they were still part of the script, but they didn’t have time to do proper acting, which could have been a bad idea.

Also, I found more locations in the park, and I decide to film at my house, as it gave more reality to the takes. As we were working on a thriller, I thought a fast succession of shots could make a good impact on the audience, suggesting tension and danger, instead of long shots, which could be not so strong.

Then, we made the first shooting for ALENA along the weekend. Two of the friends didn’t show up, so I have to act as one of the policemen, and I called a friend who is studying acting for the role of Alena’s husband.

(First Draft) (1:30)

On the first draft, we included some takes of the supposed bonfire with some friends of the school. Also, we included some takes already shot of a murder in a swimming pool. We also filmed the kidnapping and murder of the girl called Lucy.

Then, in my house, we filmed some interactions with Alena and her husband and the murder of the famous film star. As the actor who had to play the killer didn’t show up either, we decided to play again with the suggestions and the shadows to make more impact on the audience.

Next day, we filmed the police work in the park. And finally, we included a shot of my role as Detective Murray, committing suicide.

—

I wasn’t happy at all with that last shot. For me, it didn’t make any sense that the policeman was shooting at himself. Besides, on the trailer, you could see how he was effectively shooting the gun as you could hear the trigger, which wouldn’t make any sense as any consequence seemed to happen afterwards: no brains blowing, no blood, nothing.

Also, the take of the bonfire could be good to be used as a voiceover, but it looked too basic and didn’t give realism to the trailer.

From my point of view, the shots taken with the actors needed to be slightly shorter, especially the swimming pool ones.

I collected the feedback from the audience related to the first draft of the trailer. The audience considered that the argument was too obvious, pointing to the husband as the killer. Also, they considered that we needed it to change some takes, add more shots, make the whole trailer scarier, and refine the editing of it.

So, we did in that way.

On the following days, we filmed more interactions between the policemen, creating a sense of despair and tension in their work, to make the search of the killer look like a personal goal for them.

Also, I entered as many suggesting takes as possible: A spinning gun, the knife of the killer, cleaning the blood, …

We also went to film at Brompton’s cemetery close to my place. We filmed both policemen next to a tombstone, which was supposed to be from Alena. Moreover, as we wouldn’t get permission to dig a tomb with a shovel, I did the take using our hands to dig, giving a dramatic look to it.

Amir brought an axe to make it creepier and found takes of London by night and a forest to create an atmosphere.

So, with all that material, we decided to do the trailer’s final cut.

—

(Final Cut) (2:18)

A good film-maker has the duty of making wonders with the elements he has to work with.

We didn’t have actors. We didn’t have locations. We didn’t have a budget.

Therefore, we worked with the elements we had: We decided to make a trailer formed by as many shots as possible, each one of them, intense, intriguing, and suggestive.

We made them look as smart and fashionable as possible. So, they looked more realistic and professional.

We chose not to create a clear line of events on the trailer’s final cut as we couldn’t use the actor’s acting skills, so the audience is left with a clear message of a serial killer who had killed before, and murdering Alena has created a chain of events escalating on intensity.

In the end, the presentation of the actors and the appearance of the slogan, which was Amir’s idea, closed brilliantly the trailer.

Q3. How effective are the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Video Presentation

Powerpoint Presentation

Q4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

During the process of pre-production & production of the film, I had to use many types of technologies involving the film industry.

First, the most useful tool I used during this project was this website: “WordPress”. Clearly, using the website to create Alena’s project was much easier as it allows me to write, document, and store all the information I need to continue with the making and filming of the trailer.

Secondly, I’ve used CELTX to complete my storyboard & script for the film. Then, during the shooting of the film, I also interact with the acting and camera, which help me to understand better the creative part of the production. By doing this, you can learn more about how an actor/actress feels when performing, which makes it easier to give the right instructions to them.

Thirdly, I used Photoshop to work on the creation of the magazine cover, the newspaper frontline, the film poster, and also the logo of the film company.

I had previously used Photoshop and it was a clear option I had when producing the product of the film (magazine cover and film poster). It’s true that I’m not a pro at Photoshop, meaning that I struggled sometimes. One of my main issues was to set the right layers in their position, but at the end I was able to overcome that main problem.

These struggles that Amir and I had could be seen easily in the first draft we created for the magazine cover and the film poster respectively. It was clear that we weren’t pros, so it was no surprise seeing some kind of weird and unprofessional poster around.

So, I tried to overcame this by asking for help. Some friends helped me out to understand some of the tools I was not that familiarized with, in order to be able to create the magazine cover and the poster. Once I did this, one of the things I learnt was that ‘Cmd+T’ is used to change the size of pictures once they’ve been place. This helped a large amount as it reduced the amount of time spent on deleting the picture and trying again without a template.

Thanks to the help and the feedback of the audience, it was much easier to re-structure the products, trying to make them the best as possible.

After that, more feedback was obtained, which made me decide to completely change the format of the magazine cover to a more unique and unexpected one, focusing much more into the main star. With the poster, it was too dark, too vague. That’s why I decided to play with much brighter colors, to make it appealing to the audience.

At the end, I just needed to fix a few common mistakes, mainly related to the “text”, that helpfully Mr Mackney spotted for me, so I could make the changes quickly.

Final Film Magazine Cover and Film Poster

Overcoming all of these issues has allowed me to understand the software better and to use it to its full potential. Also, I increased my technical abilities and added them to my previous ones. Now, I am able to use it to a high ability and produce high quality content.

Next, I used a filming sound recording application called “CamStudio” to record the voiceover used on the trailer. Even if the voiceover I recorded was not the one making it into the final trailer, I learnt how to use other new and interesting recording tools, as I didn’t have an actual recorder with me at that time.

Finally, I also used ADOBE PRO as my tool for doing a rough first trailer that at the end was changed to Amir’s one.