TRAILER : draft

 The media technology I used to construct my trailer is called iMovie, an editing programme for Mac computers. This technology enabled me to edit clip lengths, add filters, add sound, create titles and much more for my trailer. 

To create the titles I used other editing software, called After Effects (pictured below) on the Mac computer. This is more professional and advanced software, however I didn't really understand how to use it when I first started using it. I therefore used a YouTube tutorial video on how to create a static effect for the beginning of my title. This media technology therefore was very useful to me as it gave me an idea of how to use more professional software, and I successfully was able to create a title sequence that I am very very happy with.

These are some print screens of the Youtube video and the effect for the title sequence that I created:

This is my first draft of my trailer. I posted it on YouTube so that other people can easily search my video and can give me feedback on it by either liking/disliking the video or leaving written feedback in the comment box. I was also able to add tags to my video description, so there is a more likely chance of more people seeing it if they search for the same tags.

Some feedback on some shots

Some feedback of my storyboard

Forgot to post this a while ago...oops...

After creating my storyboard and showing my peers and media classmates, I have found that part of my storyboard is not suitable for my trailer.
In the shots where a female character is seen getting hit by a car (as shown in the pictures below), people have made comments about how this is not appropriate for my chosen genre and theme for my trailer/film.

SOME OF THE FEEDBACK GIVEN:

"I like the idea but I think it is more action like"

"Getting hit by a car in this way wouldn't really be used in a psychological horror.."

"It would look really cool but it isn't really something you would see in a horror film, because the way that she is being killed would not look very gorey or like a slasher"

"I think that it would be really hard to edit it if you are going to film it in reverse, and I don't think it's suitable for the psychological/slasher genre"


CONCLUSION:

After gathering this feedback it has also made me think that this isn't really appropriate for my trailer, and wouldn't follow the conventions of a psychologically based horror film. It also probably wouldn't be shown in teaser trailer anyway because the deaths/killings are never normally revealed in such an early advertising campaign for the film. I therefore have decided to remove this from my storyline and not film it, and will continue to brainstorm ideas and think of things that I could use instead of this. 

Film plan 6 : RE-SHOOT OF SHOOT 1

Brief about what happens in the shots:

The end shots of the trailer. Slender is standing at the end of the abandoned room and 2 of the characters are shining a torch on him. The characters then look down at their video camera and when they look back up, Slender is closer. The torch then fades and when it comes back on, Slender jumps in front of the camera.

Shots:

- POV / eye line long shot of room and Slender
- POV / high angle close-up of video camera
- Eye line Long / medium shot of Slender in room
- Close up with shallow focus of Slender jumping in front of camera

Date:
Thursday 3rd January

Time:

5pm (relatively dark outside)

Location:Abandoned mushroom farm rooms

Equipment:Lighting = Torch X 3 (1 Yellow light torch, 2 white light torch)  
Filming = iPhone 4s, tall adjustable tripod
Power = Phone battery, batteries in torches
Other = Assistant Ryan to hold 2 of the torches for lighting 

Actors & costumes:

- Nick Wilson (playing Slender) – black suit, white shirt, face paint (white face and black eyes)

Props:
None

Risk assessment:
Will be filming in an abandoned place, so rubble and other rotten materials are trip hazards. I will have to also ensure that in the room I film in, there is no risk of anything falling down whilst filming.
It is also very cold, so I will make sure that my actor has a thick coat/suitable clothing to wear in-between shots/to and from the location.

Film shoot 5 : how did it go ?

In my 5th film shoot I filmed the shots that I was unable to get in Film shoot 4. This included the shots of all 3 actors at the abandoned mushroom farm location and a shot of Scott getting out of the car.

What went well

The close up shots of Scott getting out of the car worked really well, and the quality turned out brilliant. I also think that the high angle shot of the actors walking into one of the buildings worked well, as it made the shot look POV (from Slender's point of view) to make them look like they are being watched and are vulnerable. 


What didn't go so well

I filmed late afternoon, however it was still quite light. The car headlights therefore didn't show up much in the building which the actors walk into. This will mean that when I edit, I will have to adjust the brightness and colours of the shots, as otherwise it will not look like the actors are in the headlights (and therefore they won't look as vulnerable). 

Film plan 5

Brief about what happens in the shots:

Due to Scott's illness and inability to attend Film shoot 4, I am planning to film these shots on another date in the Christmas Holidays. In this film shoot I will be filming the shots of the 3 main characters at the main location (abandoned mushroom farm), and will film them arriving at the location and exploring the location (what I was unable to film last time). 

Shots:

- Long and wide shot of location with actors standing in shot (slow zoom out)
- High angle shot of actors walking into one of the buildings (filmed from high up platform)
- Close up shot of car door and actor (Scott) 's feet getting out of the car
- Long shot of actors walking in the abandoned location with Slender standing behind them

Date:

Friday 28th December 2012

Time:

3.15pm

Location:

South Heath Mushroom Farm (abandoned buildings and land)

Equipment:
Lighting = Car headlights (part of shot aswell) and daylight
Filming = iPhone 4s 
Power = Phone battery
Other = Tripod

Actors:

Anna Gilbert (playing Rebecca - main girl character)
Scott Claridge (playing one of the main boy characters)
Stu Wilson (playing the other main boy character)
Nick Wilson (playing Slender)

Props:
Car

Risk assessment:

The location that I will be using is abandoned and there is debris about. I therefore need to make sure that I do not go into places that look too dangerous or are not well lit, in case of injury. 

Film shoot 4 : how did it go ?

In my 4th film shoot I planned to film the shots of the characters at the abandoned mushroom farm, where they arrive, explore, and first see Slender. I also planned to film a few location/scenery shots (for which no actors were needed).

HOWEVER, Scott (one of the actors for the main boy characters) was ill and was unfortunately  not well enough to come to the film shoot, so I had to rearrange what I was filming.

What I did instead 

I was still able to film the shots of Anna in the woods, and was also able to still film the scenery shots of the abandoned mushroom farm. 

Because I was not able to film a lot of the shots (the ones that Scott would have been in), I decided to film the shots of Stu (where in the shot he screams 'Because I've seen him' in a panicked manor  in my house (another location used) instead. This originally wasn't in my storyboard, however after filming the other shots, I realised that I did not have any shots that would remotely explain the relevance of Slender to the storyline, so i decided to film this.  

How did it go?

The shots of Anna in the woods turned out brilliant, with the lighting being perfect to give high quality shots. Anna also acted in a serious way and played her scarred and panicked character well. 

The scenery shots of the abandoned mushroom farm also turned out great, although some of the shots were quite shaky as I was unable to use a tripod as some of the places were more difficult to get to (e.g. close up of a vine/leaves). However, I shot long length shots of these, which meant that I had enough footage that was not as shaky to work with when editing.

The shots of Stu inside turned out great. I used some professional white lights to make the room bright, which worked very well as this gives me more flexibility to edit the shot to look how I want it to. The low angle at which I filmed at also worked well, and the tripod really helped in achieving this shot. The picture below shows the set where I filmed, and the tripod and light positioning when I filmed. (when I was filming, Stu was standing half way up the first set of stairs).

So, although I was not able to get all of the shots I wished to due to an actor being ill, I was still able to get a lot of the shots I needed, along with some additional ones too. 

Film plan 4

Brief about what happens in the shots:

In this film shoot I will be filming the shots of the 3 main characters at the main location (abandoned mushroom farm), and will film them arriving at the location, exploring the location, and some scenery shots here also. I also will then film the shots of Anna (the main girl character) walking around in the woods and then running from Slender.                 

Shots:

- Long and wide shot of location with actors standing in shot (slow zoom out)
- Close up shot of down one side of the row of building
- High angle shot of actors walking into one of the buildings (filmed from high up platform)
- Close up shot of car door and actor (Scott) 's feet getting out of the car
- Long shot of actor Anna running in woods
- POV shot of Anna running in the woods
- Close up POV shot of Slender's feet (on the woods ground)
- Long shot of actors walking in the abandoned location with Slender standing behind them

Date:

Friday 21st December 2012

Time:

2pm

Location:

South Heath Mushroom Farm (abandoned buildings and land)

Equipment:
Lighting = Car headlights (part of shot aswell) and daylight
Filming = iPhone 4s 
Power = Phone battery
Other = Tripod

Actors & costumes:

Anna Gilbert (playing Rebecca - main girl character) - casual costume to look more real and teenage like (jeans, dark coloured jumper and dark coloured coat)

Scott Claridge (playing one of the main boy characters) - casual costume to look more real and teenage like (jeans, trainers, dark coloured hoodie)

Stu Wilson (playing the other main boy character) - casual costume to look more real and teenage like (jeans, trainers, white tshirt and black leather jacket)

Nick Wilson (playing Slender) - Black suit, white shirt, white and black painted face

Props:
None needed

Risk assessment:

The location that I will be using is abandoned and there is debris about. I therefore need to make sure that I do not go into places that look too dangerous or are not well lit, in case of injury. 

Film shoot 3 : how did it go?

In my third film shoot I filmed the master shot and some panning shots at the main location. One of the shots is a long shot of the buildings, that when edited, will zoom in slightly. The other shots are long shots of the side of the buildings and a panning shot from the side of the building around the corner to the main row of buildings/rooms. These are the shots to set the theme, nature and location of my trailer/film.

What went well

- Filming equipment :
To film the main long shot of the row of rooms/buildings I used a large adjustable tripod. This was very useful as I was able to adjust the height at which I filmed, and to what angle I needed the shots. I filmed some shots at differant heights to see what worked best, and I found that the shots at eye level worked well. 

I also used a Steadicam to film some shots ( a camera stabilizing mount for motion picture cameras that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement - Wikipedia). I used this equipment by attaching the tripod head/holder for my iPhone 4s, then setting the weights of the steadicam in a position that balanced the camera on the top (as shown in the picture below). This worked very well as it meant that the panning shots were smoother than if I filmed them by holding the camera, therefore making the shots look more visually appealing and professional. 

- Lighting / weather :
I filmed at 3.30pm because it begins to get dark at around 4.00pm. This worked well because it was still light when I filmed, meaning that when it comes to editing, it will easier to turn down the brightness of the shots rather than having darker filmed shots and then adding brightness to them. The weather was also overcast, meaning that the daylight was not too bright. Shadows and contrasts were therefore created, which adds to the spooky/unpleasant nature of the trailer/film/genre.

Because the weather / lighting was good, this mean that the quality of the shots were good. Editing therefore will be easier.



This is a Steadicam similar to the one I used. The camera screws on the top and the weights are adjusted on the pendulum like arm on the bottom to balance it. 










What didn't go so well

On the day that I filmed, it was quite windy, which made it difficult to film some of the shots using the Steadicam as it knocked it off balance. I therefore had to wait a bit so that the wind was not as strong. Whilst waiting for the wind to slow down I filmed the other shots as these shots required filming on the tripod, which was unaffected by the wind as it is standing from the ground and I could hold the frame so that it didn't fall over. Apart from this, everything went good.

Film plan 3

Brief about what happens in the shots:

These shots are used as my shots to show location, to set the scene and theme of my trailer/film. They are filmed towards the end of daylight hours so that contrasts & shadows are stronger and it fits the genre of horror.                 

Shots:

- Long and wide shot of location (the row of buildings/rooms)
- Long shot of down one side of the building
- Panning shot of side of building, and then pans round the corner to the main row of buildings/rooms (same place as the first long/wide shot)

Date:

Friday 14th December 2012

Time:

3.30pm

Location:

South Heath Mushroom Farm (abandoned buildings and land)

Equipment:
Lighting = None (filmed outside in daylight)  
Filming = iPhone 4s 
Power = Phone battery
Other = Steadicam, tripod

Actors:

None needed

Props:
None needed
Risk assessment:

The location that I will be using is abandoned and there is debris about. I therefore need to make sure that I do not go into places that look too dangerous or are not well lit, in case of injury. For this shoot I will be filming outside of the buildings, so this shouldn't be too much of an issue, however I will need to wear robust footwear to avoid tripping/injury.

Filming plan 2.5

Due to the fact that I wasn't able to get all of the shots I needed in film shoot 2, I will shoot the remaining shots on another day (film shoot 2.5). Mr Taylor, the owner of the property / Anderson Shelter said that I was welcome to film the remaining shots when ever I wish to, so will create a new plan for this shoot.

Brief about what happens in the shots:

The shots are POV, and will be of the outside of the Anderson Shelter and of the character POV of walking down the steps into the shelter.

Shots:

- High angle shot of steps into shelter
- Tracking shot of walking down the steps

Date:

Saturday 22nd December 2012

Time:

4.00pm

Location:

Anderson shelter in Mr Taylor's garden

Equipment:
Lighting = Light from torches (props)
Filming = iPhone 4s, steadicam, DSLR camera 
Power = Phone battery, batteries in torches
Other = 3 hand held torches which are used in the other shots of inside the shelter (from film shoot 2)

Actors:

None needed

Props:
3 torches (as used in film shoots 1 and 2)

Risk assessment:

The steps into the shelter will probably be slippery as the temperature now is so low that surfaces are beginning to ice over. I therefore will have another person on the side of the shelter (on the grass) to catch anyone if they slip/fall. There should not be too much of an issue with unclear ground surfaces and ice as I will be filming in the after noon so it shouldn't be dark or too cold.