Music And Editing

Blogged by Group

After making a rough cut of our trailer, we set about looking for music to use as the soundtrack. We wanted a piece that built up and that would fit with the cuts and running clips but that wasn't too busy as to disturb the dialogue.

We listened to existing movie soundtracks on YouTube, such as the 28 Days Later music (John Murphy) and the Saw theme (Charlie Clouser). We found that these soundtracks were too recognisable and that they didn't fit the feel of our trailer.

After looking for quite a while, we found this piece of music:



We played it behind our trailer and found that it fit well with our cuts and gave the trailer the right atmosphere.
We then downloaded the music and imported it to iMovie. We added it to our trailer after the party scene and blank screen that our protagonist breathes over.



The music is shown by the purple background.

We now do not have much left to do with our trailer before we can concentrate solely on the ancillary tasks. We just have to find some music for the party clip at the beginning and a 'creaking door' sound for the end and fine tune the footage.

Editing Our Footage

Blogged by Group

We spent the lesson uploading our footage to iMovie and cutting and editing this footage to create the basics of our trailer. Like the footage we had edited before, we used a 'Day into Night' filter to create a setting commonly used in successful horror films.
We played with the arrangement of the clips to create a fast pace that builds tension and suspense, for example breaking up the dialogue with short running scenes. We also altered the speed of a couple of clips as some of the running scenes were more effective at different speeds. One in particular was very effective in slow motion, which we placed towards the end of the trailer to intensify the feeling of suspense.

In order for our trailer to come together we also added in some transitions such as fades and dissolves to add continuity, although some of the straight cuts from scene to scene were quite effective and so we left them in. We also added the title, date and tagline in two separate shots, separated by a quick shot of the protagonist cowering back into the corner in terror. We felt this would work as it would hopefully leave a lasting impression on the viewer as when the title flashes up it could signal the end of the trailer, which is then cut to this dramatic scene which again leaves the viewer with unanswered questions.

Filming

Blogged by Naomi

Fortunately over the weekend we were able to film the rest of our footage, and so we have put our ancillary tasks on hold for the time being. Due to a lack of actors who were available at the same time we were unable to film the party scene we had originally planned, but we feel that we now have enough footage that we can cut the scene and still have an effective horror trailer at the end. We decided that we will hint towards a party at the very beginning of our trailer when the protagonist is drinking, we will put loud music and voices over the top to imply there are more people out of shot.

Full Poster Analysis: Hatchet

Blogged by Anya

As we have mentioned earlier, we want the advertisement for our film to be focused on the content rather than the actor(s). Because of this we have decided that the actor's name is unnecessary on the full poster we are designing.

The majority of film posters include actors names but there are some that have reviews included in the poster instead. We have chosen to do this.

A poster we looked at that did this was the poster for 'Buried' which used an image of the film surrounded by reviews. This is not how we want our poster to look but it was useful in looking at the type of reviews we should use and the way the comments are worded.



This is a poster for 'Hatchet'; it is very similar to how we envisage our final poster design. It has a large image from the film, and a large title. There is a review at the top of the poster and a tagline below the title. The poster also includes a website address. We will be using a similar layout for our own poster.

Full Poster Analysis: Vanishing On 7th Street

Blogged by Naomi



In a similar manner to 'Red State', Brad Anderson's 'Vanishing on 7th Street' was publicised through a string of posters distributed in the run up to the film's release date. However 'Red State' was advertised using a number of teaser posters, whereas 'Vanishing on 7th Street' was advertised using three full posters. Each poster consists of a gripping main image and an accompanying tag line which gives the audience a slight indication of the storyline. Together they tell the audience the basis of the storyline without giving the plot away.

The poster above is one of the three posters distributed for 'Vanishing on 7th Street'. Based on the colour scheme alone there is suspense created as the colour black can symbolise night-time, the time in which many horror films are set. This is contrasted with the off-white text and white/teal effect of the main image. This effect is similar to that of video recording at night, shown in the night scenes of 'Paranormal Activity'. It can also be linked with the posters of 'White Noise'. This effect helps to generate suspense and fear as the light really highlights the static shot of the girl's screams.

The tag line 'Fear lives in the dark' is written in a darker font at the top of the screen, directly linking to being physically in the dark. The tag line itself can easily create fear as it is a relation to the common fear of darkness and again probes the audience to ask questions.

The full poster is complete with the names of the actors appearing in the film, the film website and the film credits.

Teaser Poster: Final Draft

Blogged by Naomi



Above is the final draft of our teaser poster. I believe this is a successful teaser poster as like the teaser poster for Red State it creates questions in the audience's mind which are left unanswered until the release of the trailer or film itself:

- Who is caged?
- Why is she caged?
- Who caged her?
- Where is she?
- What will happen to her?
- Will she escape?

Again, like the teaser poster for Red State the text is coloured red. However in our poster it is a deeper red which can symbolize blood and could perhaps be a subtle hint towards the storyline. Also, as we said before, the colour highlights the red of her hand and contrasts with the cold, blue tone of the main image. The direct eye contact with the audience also helps to draw the audience in and connect them with the main character.

Date Font

Blogged by Group

The font that we used for the title on our poster is not programmed for numbers. This gave us a problem when trying to put the date onto our teaser poster.

We made a version with Roman numerals but we do not think that it looks right and believe it will look better with numbers. Also, the audience may be unfamiliar with roman numerals and so this information would be meaningless to them. Another problem that could be encountered is that because it doesn't state the date in numbers, the audience will not know the release date if they do not know roman numerals.



We have looked through different fonts on Microsoft Word to find one that will work well on our poster:



Another font we liked the look of was 'Times and Times Again'. We fount it on Word but unfortunately it would not work in the document so when we tested the fonts with our poster we looked at it on Photoshop instead.

The font we liked best was 'Times and Times Again'. It looked best with our title as it is not too fussy but also not too plain like 'Times New Roman' might have been. It also has a slight horror look and fits in with the font of the title really well.

Running Sequence

Blogged by Anya

After watching our trailer so far, we noticed that the 'running sequence' is not as effective as we had hoped. We feel that we could reshoot it a different way to add more tension and pace to the trailer.

In order to get this right, I watched running sequences from a selection of different films.
One film we found that included an successful running section was in McFly's film Nowhere Left to Run (Julian Gibbs,2010). The short film is not a typical horror film but the way the running sequence was filmed created a suspense effectively.

You can see small clips of this running sequence in the trailer:


I saw that pace and tension were created through tracking shots, close ups and fast cuts. The tracking shots shake a little as if filmed on a hand held camera and this helps to add suspense and the close ups and fast cuts help to add pace to the section. The pace seems very fast although the footage has been slowed done because the trees and other obstructions as in between the camera and actors. This makes the footage look slightly disjointed although cuts have not been used and this helps to add tension.

We hope to use similar techniques when we re shoot our running sequence.

Teaser Poster Analysis: Red State

Blogged by Naomi

We have decided to create two versions of our poster - one being a teaser poster to be distributed before the release date and the other containing more information to be published after the release date. A teaser poster is simply what it says: a poster which teases its audience with a lack of information which leaves them curious and anticipating more.

Many horror films that have been released have had a teaser poster, such as Scream, The Final Destination and Saw VI. I think teaser posters work particularly well with horror films as it builds a sense of tension much like the tension conveyed in the film itself.

A successful teaser poster we came across was for 'Red State':



The first thing I was drawn to was the image - what appears to be a figure draped in white material standing in front of a cross. In the background is a number of windows and the image itself is fairly blurred and almost misty, giving an uneasy tone to the poster. There is also a number of visible scratches and marks across the image which further adds to the atmosphere.

However the main attraction is the text. Consisting of just six words, the poster leaves the audience with a number of questions:

-Why should I fear God?
-When in 2011 is the film being released?
-What/Where is Red State?

The text is written in red, making it stand out against the dull coloured image and so the audience is drawn to this. Again red is a colour which connotes death/blood and danger and also creates a sense of urgency within the poster - all regular features in a typical horror film.

Also the concept of the poster is intriguing. Without researching the film and just merely looking at the poster, I feel that the concept itself can definitely create and build upon the feelings the audience generally feel when watching a horror movie. The topic of religion is a fairly serious idea in everyday life, with Christians believing in God being a somewhat hero, a person to look up to and who will protect them. So with the tag line being simply 'Fear God' it will provoke a reaction from the audience and have them wanting to find out why the person who is seen as a 'saint' may not, according to the film, be who we think.

However producer Kevin Smith was unique in publicising his film as he released not one teaser poster, but seven. With the first being distributed on Halloween 2010, each poster that followed had the same lack of text and the scratches and marks are uniform throughout. Each poster cleverly boasts just a small detail about the character shown on each poster.

Group Discussion: Filming

Blogged by Anya

Unfortunately, due to conflicting schedules with our actor, we were unable to finish our filming this weekend.
The heavy rain has also made it difficult to get to our location.

Today we plan to finish our teaser poster and start creating the other version of our poster.
Before we finalize our teaser poster we will do a little more research to make sure that we get it right.

Poster: 1st Draft

Blogged by Group

This is the first draft of our poster. We opened the photo on Photoshop, added the title of the film and adjusted the transparency from 100% to 70% because we felt it looked better. We chose a dark red for the text as it stands out against the blue tone of the photo, but also helped to highlight the red on the girl's hand.

We have chosen to create two versions of our poster. One will be a teaser poster with just the title and the release date. The second will have a website and pull quotes. Below is the first draft of our teaser poster:

Poster Photo Survey

Blogged by Anya

This is the survey that we sent around the class:



The results are as follows:


1- 0
2- 0
3- 1
4- 8
5- 1

The results show that photo number 4 is most effective:



After the survey had been round the class, we gave it to our lecturer and discussed with him which photo he thought was most effective.
He told us that his two favourite were number 4 and 5. He said that number 4 would work well for a movie set in the autumn/winter because the blue tone makes it look cold and dark and that number 5 would look good for a summer film. He also liked that fact that the red on the character's hands is highlighted in both photos.
Because we have filmed the trailer in winter and plan to set it as a halloween release, we have chosen photo 4:

Group Discussion: Filming

Blogged by Anya

Today was our first day back after the Christmas break.
We had hoped to get all our footage by Christmas but unfortunately our actor was unavailable.
We plan to finish our filming in the next couple weeks so that we can create the first complete, rough cut of our trailer.

Today we plan to start making our poster.
We have chosen the photo that we want to use and have already played around with editing.
We are going to take a small poll around the class, including our lecturer, to choose the most effective edit of the photo we wish to use and then we will start putting together the poster.