On the 1st of november we decided to film our first scene, in order to be able to do so successfully we needed a high quality nikon camera, a tripod, props, actor and an urban location. It took us around 20 minutes to gather it all and start filming. however, it would have taken much longer if we hadn't already planned days ahead where we were going set our location and assigned our actor. we knew which props to supply for the scene and knew where to get out tripod and Nikon camera. This highlight how much preparation and planning is key for our project.
We found that our first scene was too long as it rounded to 20 seconds. The reason why it was essential to cut it down is that the first scene consisted of the actor typing on her laptop and had only 1 line to say near the end. This sort of scene should only last a few seconds as nothing interesting is happening and it may bore the audience which result to them deciding to watch another trailer such as silent hill which creates suspense from the first scene.And so we will have failed our objective of attracting the audience from the trailer to watch the movies in the cinemas. Once we had started to immensely cut parts of the first scene in 'Final cut pro' it rounded up around 6 seconds.
We realised that the actors voice was low and there was background noise too, to fix this we went on a different software called GarageBand. Here we could edit how her voice's pitch and volume; we could also remove and reduce the background noise to make it sound clearer. After we refined her voice on GarageBand we edited into Final cut Pro; so we now had better quality sound. Never the less, it was the only sound in the scene, there was no atmospheric music in the background to create suspense which is a convention of horror/thriller trailers. To find the perfect soundtrack we had to research what sort of soundtracks other horror/thriller trailers had used and which would be perfect for ours. We found out that the soundtrack's pace must align with the pace of the scene, so we needed a slow paced soundtrack for the beginning. This also brought up the fact that the pace of the trailer will change later on and so we need different soundtracks but we must edit it so it flows smoothly from one soundtrack to another without the audience thinking theres just a playlist being played in the background.
-Frouzon
Monday, 26 November 2012
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
The Villain's Costume
One of the main mise en scenes that makes a trailer/Movie verisimilitude is the costumes. Our trailer is set in the modern day so the settings did make contribute to the verisimilitude. However, our genre is horror and thriller which makes it hard to make it realistic and for the audience to believe into it. This is why the paranormal villain in our trailer must look scary and believable. This can be done through the use of editing and customs. We decided on buying a mask and knife for a few of the scenes and experimented it with to see how it looks on camera. The first scene in the trailer that you see the paranormal villain we do not use the mask and its more of a black creature. This creates confusion and enigmas.
However, the mask we decided to use was a copyright of Scream so we could not use it. We realised this after filming scene 3 so we had to change the shooting time table as now we had to reshoot scene 3 without the Scream copyrighted mask. This meant that we now did not have a villain or supernatural creature so we were back at the drawing boards. Other than the 'Scream' mask, all the other masks were very childish and unrealistic. So we could not just simply use another mask, which seems to be the better option as using editing techniques and being original with the creature would help us gain more marks.
It was almost like we had a head start as in the previous scene we had included a creature that had no face and was a black creature. This creature created enigmas on its own as it was simply a black figure and there are hardly no supernatural monsters in movies that are similar. So it was new and the audience want to know what it is and how is it dangerous. Even though such a creature has not been in horro/thriller films, we did get the inspiration from another mythical creature named "Slender man". The reason why he ha similarity to our creature is because he is thought to be mysterious and his actions lead to a trial of questions. He also is faceless like our creature, this in a certain perspective can be seen to go against the scary supernatural convention as it is the face that usually creates horror and terrorises the audience. It is essential fot us to create that mystery and to make sure that the audience cannot predicts its actions and motives as our trailer is thriller as well as horror. Thriller is meant to keep the audience in the dark and create suspense rather than letting them successfully predict what sort of creature it is and what its motives and back story is.
Therefore we decided to use this creature throughout the trailer as it is eligible for both of our genres. It terrifies the audiences yet creates mystery and enigmas that leave the audience at the edge of their seats.
-Frouzon
Mood board from FrouzonAhmad
We decided to do a mood board on different villains /supernatural creatures from horror/thriller movies to help us create one of our own. The mood board consisted of villains such as the Grudge, Chucky, Freddy Vs Jason etc. what we realised was that all the creatures either had a scary face or a mask. this was how the audience recognised them as the villain. A typical horror/thriller convention is to have a scary villain whom has scary physical features that will scare the audience without them even doing anything gruesome. realistically speaking, it would be really difficult to create a very horrific creature without a big budget. It also can be difficult to be original when creating one as it will have similarities to other monsters from other movies, mainly because supernatural creatures were introduced all the way in the 1890s Le Manoir du diable (The haunted Castle 1896) was screened and credited as being the first horror film. Ever since theres been many thousands of the supernatural creatures in movies and somehow our one will have similarities with a few. On the bright side, it is acceptable to have similarities with another movies' villain as long as they're not exactly the same like it was when we use the scream mask.
It was almost like we had a head start as in the previous scene we had included a creature that had no face and was a black creature. This creature created enigmas on its own as it was simply a black figure and there are hardly no supernatural monsters in movies that are similar. So it was new and the audience want to know what it is and how is it dangerous. Even though such a creature has not been in horro/thriller films, we did get the inspiration from another mythical creature named "Slender man". The reason why he ha similarity to our creature is because he is thought to be mysterious and his actions lead to a trial of questions. He also is faceless like our creature, this in a certain perspective can be seen to go against the scary supernatural convention as it is the face that usually creates horror and terrorises the audience. It is essential fot us to create that mystery and to make sure that the audience cannot predicts its actions and motives as our trailer is thriller as well as horror. Thriller is meant to keep the audience in the dark and create suspense rather than letting them successfully predict what sort of creature it is and what its motives and back story is.
Therefore we decided to use this creature throughout the trailer as it is eligible for both of our genres. It terrifies the audiences yet creates mystery and enigmas that leave the audience at the edge of their seats.
-Frouzon
Monday, 19 November 2012
Friday, 19 October 2012
Technique Test - Mirror
Another effect that I have tested out was the mirror effect. This is when the reflection does a complete different thing than the actual moving object. I and Frouzon decided that we want to include this scene in our trailer seeing as many successful films has adapted this into their films which they received positive feedback on and that it managed to create a sense of terror towards the audience.
To ensure that I knew what I was doing, I researched different examples of how people set their camera position and what they did to edit and achieve the mirror effect. After that, I have asked the same classmate that acted out for the Demon face to act in this scene, which was set at the bathroom to create an eerie sense towards the audience. I positioned the camera on a tripod so that the shots do not appear to be shaky and that the whole scene would be consistent and realistic. I also put the camera at an angle which would show my classmate's back and her reflection clearly; this would also help me at the same time because it would be easier for me to identify the intersecting lines in which I can edit to achieve the horror mirror scene. At first, my classmate acted as if she was just washing her hands and glancing quickly towards the mirror. Me and Frouzon asked her to repeat the same thing, however, she must look into the mirror and act as if she is looking into herself whilst smiling and that she must not wash her hands.
After the shooting, I used After Effects to edit and acquire the mirror effect. The first thing that I have done is place both shots on top of each other, starting with scene 2 on the top. After that, I created a path around the scene 2, which had my classmate acting as if she was staring at her self in the mirror, and hidden everything apart from the mirror itself. Scene 1 revealed itself from below apart from the mirror in which it had scene 2. I tested it out and found out that my classmate had crossed the intersecting line which differentiates the mirror reflection and the object, so I had to key-frame and change the path around scene 2 so that scene 1 does not look like it has been cut from several areas. Having the whole scene put together, I decided to change the tone and grading of the whole scenes so that it can create an atmosphere and ambiance towards the audience.
Seeing as this is my second time using After Effects, I think that I am getting a grasp on how to tone and grade the scenes. Also, it was my first time creating this kind of effect on this software and I think that it has been successful in terms of testing out the ways in which I can use this technique in the trailer that me and Frouzon will be creating. What I could evaluate on this scene is the timing seeing as my classmate's reflection appeared earlier than her actual body which decreases the verisimilitude and makes it less more believable. Also, I have noticed that there was a slight shake on scene 1 which has ruined the consistence of the whole scene and that it appeared to have been edited. If I was to include this scene in our trailer, I would have changed more mise-en-scene such as the costume, the lighting and actions. I would also make the reflection somewhat different than the actual person by having it dressed up as a zombie, etc... During the process of editing, I have learned how to deal with a problem such as the intersecting line and still manage to achieve a realistic mirror scene.
This is an example on of the mirror effect, including the demon face warp.
Here is our test of using the mirror effect technique.
To ensure that I knew what I was doing, I researched different examples of how people set their camera position and what they did to edit and achieve the mirror effect. After that, I have asked the same classmate that acted out for the Demon face to act in this scene, which was set at the bathroom to create an eerie sense towards the audience. I positioned the camera on a tripod so that the shots do not appear to be shaky and that the whole scene would be consistent and realistic. I also put the camera at an angle which would show my classmate's back and her reflection clearly; this would also help me at the same time because it would be easier for me to identify the intersecting lines in which I can edit to achieve the horror mirror scene. At first, my classmate acted as if she was just washing her hands and glancing quickly towards the mirror. Me and Frouzon asked her to repeat the same thing, however, she must look into the mirror and act as if she is looking into herself whilst smiling and that she must not wash her hands.
After the shooting, I used After Effects to edit and acquire the mirror effect. The first thing that I have done is place both shots on top of each other, starting with scene 2 on the top. After that, I created a path around the scene 2, which had my classmate acting as if she was staring at her self in the mirror, and hidden everything apart from the mirror itself. Scene 1 revealed itself from below apart from the mirror in which it had scene 2. I tested it out and found out that my classmate had crossed the intersecting line which differentiates the mirror reflection and the object, so I had to key-frame and change the path around scene 2 so that scene 1 does not look like it has been cut from several areas. Having the whole scene put together, I decided to change the tone and grading of the whole scenes so that it can create an atmosphere and ambiance towards the audience.
Seeing as this is my second time using After Effects, I think that I am getting a grasp on how to tone and grade the scenes. Also, it was my first time creating this kind of effect on this software and I think that it has been successful in terms of testing out the ways in which I can use this technique in the trailer that me and Frouzon will be creating. What I could evaluate on this scene is the timing seeing as my classmate's reflection appeared earlier than her actual body which decreases the verisimilitude and makes it less more believable. Also, I have noticed that there was a slight shake on scene 1 which has ruined the consistence of the whole scene and that it appeared to have been edited. If I was to include this scene in our trailer, I would have changed more mise-en-scene such as the costume, the lighting and actions. I would also make the reflection somewhat different than the actual person by having it dressed up as a zombie, etc... During the process of editing, I have learned how to deal with a problem such as the intersecting line and still manage to achieve a realistic mirror scene.
This is an example on of the mirror effect, including the demon face warp.
Here is our test of using the mirror effect technique.
Technique Test - Demon Face
Here, I have taken several video shots of a classmate in which I have asked her to act out in several ways so that I can edit it.
The first one is called the 'Demon Face'. Me and Frouzon have decided to include part of this in our trailer as it is a conventional technique that is relative to our chosen genres. We started off by doing a small amount of research on how different people used this technique in their scenes. We both found out that the most average convention that they use is mostly big eyes, wide mouth and offset colors to the face which is supposed to resemble a demon. After that, I asked my classmate to look into the camera and act out as if she is screaming. I have also done a close up of her face so that I can focus more in the transformation of the face and that the audience can see better. Seeing as this is only a test, I did not think about the mise-en-scene or sounds because I wanted to see how well I can adapt the demon face into my classmate.
I have used Adobe After Effects to create this adaptation on my classmate. Because I did not know how to stabilize and motion track, I used an online tutorial on how I can achieve the demon face to help me learn more about after effects. During the process, I have morphed my classmates face whilst motion tracking so that the morph does not move away from the target area. I have also applied contrasts and coloration so that the demon effect could look more realistic. To test out the color grading I decreased the brightness, added contrast and added a tint of color on the whole of the scene so that the effect will add verisimilitude towards the way the audience would address to whole scene.
Overall, I think that this has been a successful try, especially since this is my first time working on motion tracking and morphing faces at the same time. What I could improve about it is the timing seeing as my classmate had her mouth open for more than 2 seconds, which gives the audience more time to focus around the face and even if there was a small misplaced detail, they would be able to see it. Also, one way I could distract them from seeing the small mistakes is by adding more props or change the costume or even the background so that the audience would look around the scene and not notice the small details which can change their point of view towards this scene. I think that this technique would be very applicable to include within our actual trailer seeing as it is quite advanced and that we've overlooked through other ways of creating a horror scene. Also, by using After Effects, we can create a variety of demon faces and add many other effects that can help us with creating a conventional horror/thriller trailer.
This is an example of a previous demon face that somebody has created.
Here is the first test of the 'Demon Face' technique that I have created:
The first one is called the 'Demon Face'. Me and Frouzon have decided to include part of this in our trailer as it is a conventional technique that is relative to our chosen genres. We started off by doing a small amount of research on how different people used this technique in their scenes. We both found out that the most average convention that they use is mostly big eyes, wide mouth and offset colors to the face which is supposed to resemble a demon. After that, I asked my classmate to look into the camera and act out as if she is screaming. I have also done a close up of her face so that I can focus more in the transformation of the face and that the audience can see better. Seeing as this is only a test, I did not think about the mise-en-scene or sounds because I wanted to see how well I can adapt the demon face into my classmate.
I have used Adobe After Effects to create this adaptation on my classmate. Because I did not know how to stabilize and motion track, I used an online tutorial on how I can achieve the demon face to help me learn more about after effects. During the process, I have morphed my classmates face whilst motion tracking so that the morph does not move away from the target area. I have also applied contrasts and coloration so that the demon effect could look more realistic. To test out the color grading I decreased the brightness, added contrast and added a tint of color on the whole of the scene so that the effect will add verisimilitude towards the way the audience would address to whole scene.
Overall, I think that this has been a successful try, especially since this is my first time working on motion tracking and morphing faces at the same time. What I could improve about it is the timing seeing as my classmate had her mouth open for more than 2 seconds, which gives the audience more time to focus around the face and even if there was a small misplaced detail, they would be able to see it. Also, one way I could distract them from seeing the small mistakes is by adding more props or change the costume or even the background so that the audience would look around the scene and not notice the small details which can change their point of view towards this scene. I think that this technique would be very applicable to include within our actual trailer seeing as it is quite advanced and that we've overlooked through other ways of creating a horror scene. Also, by using After Effects, we can create a variety of demon faces and add many other effects that can help us with creating a conventional horror/thriller trailer.
This is an example of a previous demon face that somebody has created.
Here is the first test of the 'Demon Face' technique that I have created:
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Drafting our Questionnaire
Today we agreed to draft our first questionnaire. We were wondering whether to use quantitative or qualitative questionnaires, as both methods have their cons and pros. Eventually, we agreed to use the quantitative questionnaire seeing as we both wanted to have accurate results.
Firstly, we considered adding the age and gender seeing as it will help us categorize the target market for our audience. Then we chose the most known genres so that we can identify what the our target audience likes. We will take the results from the questionnaire under consideration when choosing the genre for our trailer.
Firstly, we considered adding the age and gender seeing as it will help us categorize the target market for our audience. Then we chose the most known genres so that we can identify what the our target audience likes. We will take the results from the questionnaire under consideration when choosing the genre for our trailer.
Starting our secondary research
We decided to look at popular trailers on YouTube. The trailers consisted of genres such as horror, comedy, action and thriller. Wafa then decided that we should both choose a genre and specifically look at trailers with that genre; I decided to look at trailers with horror as their genre.
As you can see, I've been looking at the settings in the trailers and have noticed that they all have a very dark and creepy atmosphere; this is a very big convention in this genre and helps the audience identify the trailers' genre.
Monday, 24 September 2012
the meeting for pre-secondary-research
Myself and Wafa had our first pre-secondary-research; we found out from our questionnaires and interviews that horror and thriller were most popular with our target market. This is why we started research trailers that had horror/thriller as part of their genres.
Tuesday, 11 September 2012
Introduction
Having worked individually last year, and researched into similar products, we decided it would be beneficial for us to get into groups of 2's or 3s so myself and Wafa decided to work together as we had similar ideas and from previous experience so that we work well together. Our course requires us to produce a film trailer within a group, and an ancillary work produced individually .We have started thinking about the different genres that we could bring together such as horror and thriller and do a cross-over. Although it will all depend on the results from our primary and secondary research.
-Frouzon.
-Frouzon.
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