Editing session 2

Last Week we started editing our footage for the second time, we had about 4 minutes of footage that we filmed. we watched all the footage through and we had quite a lot of usable footage that could work well together with the footage we filmed before. the footage we filmed the second time is during the day which means that it will give our trailer a day to night feel, following what the 3 friends in our trailer went through throughout the day. We cut down our footage to 51seconds with only adding a few transitions between some scenes next editing session we will add logos and text clips into our trailer to get our first draft trailer.

Second filming session

On Wednesday the 24th november kate, katie and myself went out to the woods that is next to our college to continue  filming footage for our trailer, it was in the middle of the day so it was brighter than the first time we filmed when it was really dark and our footage was'nt as clear as we wanted. As we filmed in the daylight we will now be able to change the effects of the footage into black and white or an effect that would make our trailer look more like a horror. We managed to get all the footage we need and we now have to cut it down and edit it which will be done before christmas.
We filmed location shots of the woods along with clips of katie, kate and i acting within the trailer, we filmed the scenes in a way that we can cut back and forth to the footage we had shot first of all to make it not look too different when watching the trailer.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

for the next filming session

We still have to film some more footage for our trailer which we are going to film on wednesday 24th november. the footage we still have to get is:

• shot of the cast hearing noises 
• a long shot of the woods to show where they are and what they are seeing
• a close up of one of the actors face, worried 
• shot of the camera on the floors showing feet walking away 

imovie session

(image of the amount of footage we kept)

Today we uploaded our footage that we filmed to a portable hard drive and saved it to the mac. We then used imovie, uploaded our footage and watched it through. We then went on to imovie help where we watched some video tutorials so we can find out how we use imovie we watched clips to show us how to edit and cut, use transitions and add music all the features that we would need to have in our trailer.
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/movies/#intro
We found that we had quite a bit of footage that couldn't be used as the picture wasn't that good, we cut our footage down and we ended up with about 20 seconds of footage, we did not edit this anymore as we need to film some more footage.
Shots we need are:

• Scenes of panic by the Characters
• location shots of the woods
• chasing/running shot
• screams 
• End shot (Camera on ground showing someone else there)

We are going to carry on filming on 10th of november.

Fonts

Today i looked at some fonts that i would think would work well for the title of our trailer. I wanted each of the fonts to be effective without being to much and these three fonts are quite effective and bold, they all would work well within our trailer or on our poster.

we will choose one of these fonts to use in our trailer if we can to show the title of our film. this will be shown for 5 seconds before the last clip of the trailer is played. 

Filming trailer

(image of the footage we shot)

On wednesday october 27th our group went out to Foxes forest to start filming our trailer, when we arrived at the location we scouted out which parts of the forrest and the surrounding area would be most affectivtive to shoot in. We filmed some long shots of our actors walking in the woods at the strat bt we had some trouble with the camera we was using. The camera was not picking up the picture in the dark, even with our torches shined on them, it was only when we were in well lit places that the picture was clear. We did manage to film some footage but we dont no how effective it will be, one day after college in the coming week we are going to film some more footage ready for our lesson.

Possible Movie names

We had a production meeting today to discuss possible title for our movie.

• The Woods
• Alone
• Haunted
• nowhere to hide
• The unknown 
• Hidden

We put together a questionnaire listing these possible movie titles and asked to get feedback from people in our class to see which one they would work best and be the most effective.

The results of the questionnaire showed that the movie title: The Unknown, came out as the most popular choice. This is what we also thought would work the best for our trailer as it is the one which sounds most like a title that people would want to watch.

Here is a copy of our questionnaire showing the results.

Synopsis

There are three friends that decide they want to go on a camping trip to a forrest that from others they heard is haunted, and that anyone who goes there has strange things happen to them. The  friends dont believe in this story that they have heard but decide to go there anyway and not take what they have heard from others seriously. They decide to go exploring after they have found where they are going to camp and take there video camera with them to prove to others nothing strange is going to happen. However as they are walking through the forrest and filming they start to hear strange noises and think they see things in the woods, they each act brave and show they are not scared, but really they are all worrying. As it gets further and further into the night even more starnge things start to occur and they are left trapped and scared. The film ends with them seeing whats been haunting them and them dropping the camera to run away. The end shot is of their feet running away and screaming.

indication of narrative in the trailer.

These are a few scenes that i grabbed from the Devil movie Trailer to show how the narrative comes across to the viewers.



















This is the first scene that i think shows indication of the narrative of the movie as its first main focus is on the doors opening of the elevator, This tells the viewer that the movie is based around the elevator, and that the plot s based around what happens in there.

This is the second scene that lets us know who are going to be the main cast in the movie, and that maybe that person who caught the lift just in time really wished he didn't, or that he has something to do with what goes on.

The Third scene that i thought indicated the narrative, as it shows that the lift has stopped on level 6, this relates back to the Devil number 666 and this is where the movie starts developing as the viewer now knows where what and who the movie involves.

Which trailer does not have a good narrative?

All three trailers that we have looked at have a good narrative as you know what the story is about after you watched each of them, paranormal activity is probaly the most effective trailer as it using hand held footage throughout the trailer, showing real reactions from the audience that has gone and seen it. The trailer also shows staright away that it is about paranormal activity as it is being recorded by real people in their own homes.
I would think Devil also had a strong narrative as straight away the focus is on the main characters and the slow motion when the elevator opens shows us that the movie is going to be about these five people and what goes on inside the elevator. All the way through the trailer it shows bits of progressing scenes which effectivley outlines the narrative well without giving to much away.

Devil Movie poster

This is a movie poster for the Devil film, Devil is about five strangers that get trapped in an elevator and strange things start to happen to them. one of them is hurting others in the elevator but knowone knows who that is. 

The first thing that i notice is that the poster is very dark, this would be to give the poster a haunting feel to it. With the elevator on the front of the poster the audience automatically knows that the film would be based around, And with the elevator having the red cross running through the gaps it creates that link to the devil as it resembles to the devils pitchfork.

 The use of the red devil symbol is really affective as it draws the view in then at the bottom of the elevator it links on to the title of the film.

The coverline at the top of the poster ' Five strangers trapped. one of  them is not what they seem.' is a really eye catching sentence as it makes you want to know why are they not what they seem? the general public would relate to this could happen to anyone.

The elevator also has a 6 as the number floor it was on this is also there to relate to the devil as the devils number is 666, all these little details make the poster even more effective.

Movie poster

I could not find a Devil magazine cover, but if there was one i would think it would be set out like this. The   colours on this magazine work well as it relates the genre of thriller. The dark background would be ideal for Devil but i would think where there is blue it would work better as red. Red would then link it to the Devil and give people a sense of blood and horror.
where Batmans face is on this the picture, for Devil this could be the reflection that we see in the trailer when the security guard lights the match, this would really attract readers to this magazine and then hopefully too watch the film.
At the bottom of the magazine it would state that the producer M Night Shylamalan, and the other films he has been apart of such as the sixth sense and the happening, this would then attract readers that liked these films to watch Devil.

Production meeting

Our group come together for a meeting with our lecturer  to discuss some ideas for our trailer. We went over a range of elements so that our trailer will some together as planned, we discussed writing a synopsis which would basically outline the plot for our film, we talked about the characters, which there will be 3 female actors then we discussed whether we are going to have the characters within our trailer be scripted or improvised. We have decided that there will be a small scripted bit in it but that most of the audio would be improvised or with a backing track.
The location we decided on is Foxes Forest in Portsmouth which has some great features that would really make our trailer effective. As i did not know this area i used google street maps to have a look where it was and what it was like, which i then thought it would be an ideal place to shoot our trailer.
We will begin shooting our trailer in the october half term, ready for our first week back at college.
this is just a brief plan of what is going to happen, we will plan it in more detail when all he ideas have been confirmed.

Events within the trailer?

1. Upside down NY city/ Ordinary day.

Questions the event raises? - Is there a reason for this to be upside down ? is this the start of a day that is going to be different for some? why does it say on any ordinary day but the picture is the wrong way up?

2.Cast heading into work.

Questions this event raises?
Are these the cast that the film is going to be based around?
Is this where the Devil strikes?
Is one of these actors the main focus of the film?

3.The opening of the elevator in slow motion.

Questions this event raises?
Why is this scene shot in slow motion?
Is this the lift where the movie takes place?
is the older women looking at him first because she knows something is going to happen?
why do they both seem cautious to get into the lift?

4.Cast in the lift through the security cameras screen.

Questions this event raises?
Why did the director use this editing technique for this scene?
What is it the woman is showing the other cast?
Is someone in the lift responsible for what happened to the women?

5.Reflection in the mirror/window

Who is this person in the mask?
Why is it there?
Is it one of the cast members from the lift?
Is it targeting the security man in particular?
Is this the devil?
what happens after this end shot?

These 5 events i believe are the key elements/scenes throughout the trailer as they tell the story without even watching the actual trailer. All the questions that will arise in these scenes would make the viewer want to keep watching to find out more and at the end of the trailer they will have been most likely persuaded and enticed to go and view the film in the cinema.

Chosen genre. Horror

Devil is a new film out in September 2010.
When watching the trailer as a viewer I can automatically see that there are no huge well known movie stars present in the film, the actors used have usually been a small role in a well known movie or have had a main part in a smaller independent movie or t.v series so they will be recognisable to some but not to others, the film made $12,289,375 on opening weekend in the US which is good for this film. But when watching the trailer the fact that it doesn’t have well known movie stars doesn’t affect whether I want to see the film or not as the plot and storyline grabs your attention.  


The plot of the film is that five strangers get trapped in an elevator and realise that someone among them is the Devil, what is a usual day at work takes a sudden detour into terror when the elevator becomes stuck between floors. it is then when the passengers discover that the Devil does exist, and he's standing right before them. As emergency services work frantically to free them, some secrets are revealed and the passengers realise their only hope for survival is to confront their darkest sins in front of the others.


The first minute of the film the music is just a piano playing a piece of eery music, this music is to let the viewer know that the usual events that are happening while this piece of music is playing is leading up to   something unusual and tense that is about to happen. The music suddenly stops when the last person to get into the elevator nearly misses it. After that sequence of music there is no more music played throughout only sound effects, in the final around 15 seconds the trailer is silent all that you can here is 5 beeps (elevator beeps) where the trailer cuts to different events that happen in the film.


At the start of the trailer their is a view of the city, the city is upside down this could of been edited like that to show that something unusual is going to happen, and its not a normal day when it cuts to the people at work waiting for the elevator the scene is in slow motion as the elevator doors open and they turn to face the elevator, this grabs the audience by focusing on the elevator showing that this is what the film is based around.


The trailer uses a lot of computer graphics such as, when New York City is upside down to begin with, there is also text that appears to let the audience know what the trailer is also about from text and not just the trailer itself. This makes the trailer even more appealing as it has more time taken on it to get it as affective to the audience as possible.

Genre conventions

Each genre of film uses different conventions, but the conventions used in the specific film genre are kept the same/similar this is a base to write/produce their film on.

Horror- Horror films feature a wide range of styles, they use many different conventions, they are designed to cause frighten and panic, dread and alarm, often using plots and characters that are in our worst fears/nightmares, they captivate and entertain an audience at the same time. Suspense is key. The use of a silence provokes the viewer to watch even if they don’t want to as the suspense builds up inside them. Horrors usually conclude with a terrifying finale. 

Romantic Comedy- Romantic comedies are movies with light-hearted, humorous dramatic stories centered on romantic ideals such as a "true love" Romantic comedy films are a sub-genre of comedy films as well as of romance films. The basic conventions of a romantic comedy is that two people, usually a man and a woman, meet and then part ways due to an argument or other contrived obstacles. Initially, these two people do not become romantically involved, because they believe that they do not like each other, because one of them already has a partner, or social pressures. However, the screenwriters leave obvious clues that suggest that the characters are in fact attracted to each other, or that they would be a good love match.

Where a trailer might be seen? How will different formats affect the viewing of a trailer?

Trailers can be viewed in many different ways. They are shown in advert breaks on the television, beginning at the cinema before the movie you paid for is shown, and the start of DVDs before the movie is played. Also on the internet via YouTube, The movies original site, or they can be advertised on any film/popular websites which the production company of the Trailer has paid to have the trailer shown on there.

These different formats will have an effect on the viewing of the trailer.  By viewing the trailer On the internet the viewer can search on YouTube for example, for the type of trailer they wish to watch this means the public make their own choices which trailer to view meaning some trailers would be viewed more than others, Movie trailers have become very popular on the internet with 10 billion videos watched online annually, and ranking 3^rd after News and user created videos.  The internet is also a good way to view trailers as it always has the latest trailers to view, but most trailers would get viewed as much online if televisions didn’t advertise them during their ad breaks, if the TV shows the trailer regularly this would most likely boost the films ratings when its released as a huge majority of the public would have had a chance to see the trailer being advertised.  If the trailer wasn’t show regularly at all on the TV the film would not be getting much publicity meaning the public have to find out about the film for themselves and this may lead to the movie when its release not earning much from the box office. With DVDs and cinema viewings of trailers the public will have to buy the DVD and watch the films to be able to view the trailers. The way the trailer is advertised will have a huge affect on how it will do in the box-office.

what is a trailer

A trailer is an advertisement for a film that will be exhibited in future at a cinema. A trailer can range in the length of time in runs for, a teaser trailer or a full trailer; the idea of the trailer is to show the audience what they will expect from viewing the film.