Evaluation Activity 1 - Narrative

I felt as if the research and planning stage was the reason why our story made a lot of sense. Thanks to the detailed storyboard that I had prepared, we had a clear idea and thus we believed our understanding would also give the audience a clear idea of how we wanted the trailer to look and what sort of a storyline it was trying to portray. 

We wanted to convey our horror genre as much as possible and this is why we added so many dark and scary scenes. We also made it fairly conventional as we followed Todorov's narrative structure to an extent. The only bit that couldn't be identified was the initial equilibrium and we done this on purpose to make it less conventional thus different but also I felt that having an initial equilibrium will negatively affect what we are trying to tell the audience as we wanted to show that he is on a mission from the beginning and thus there is no equilibrium that he is happy with. Despite this we follow the middle steps of Todorov's narrative structure but we don't have an ending as it's only a trailer and we are also seen as conventional in that sense.

We aim to be conventional as we understand that these conventions are what the audience expects from genres and thus we must follow them in order for them to be successful and meet the needs of our audience. We decided the way in which we would differentiate ourselves to any other horror movie is by becoming slightly less conventional to surprise the audience and not just make our trailer a typical horror/drama movie. During my research, I noticed that the majority of trailers follow Todorov's narrative structure and so we knew the relevance of this. It also helped us save a bit more time as it gave us an initial idea of how we were going to set up our trailer.

The Narrative of the story is very simple, two students filmmakers, wanted to find out the truth about the haunted cemetery, taking a few torches and cameras with them to capture the evidence. Later finding out the rumours about the cemetery are real, ending up losing each other and disappearing. I believe we got that across quite well, as we have titles in the trailer stating the situations.

Screenshot shows the title from the trailer where we are giving information to the audience about the narrative, this could potentially attract students and young adults as the story is involving people their age and their position (e.g. at school)

Evaluation Activity 1 - Title Fonts and Style

The use of titles and text is vital to the success of a trailer. Not only can it act as a piece of non verbal dialogue but also helps dictate the pace. This is why we spread our text around. I felt we had done this well and we needed to because of the horror genre our film is associated with. I noticed there are constant changes in the pace of the genres and this is why we included so much text.
One problem with putting so much text in a trailer is that the audience may not identify the most important pieces of text. We managed to get over this by putting the title at the end of the trailer. We learnt that people tend to remember the start and end of any piece of information the most and thus this was how we gave it the most prevalence.

Here is an example of some of the text that we included and the purposes of these pieces of texts are to dictate the pace of the trailer which is also accompanied by the sound as well. These titles were used to show a change in location as well. I felt as if these titles were a vital part to the success of the trailer and made it seem much longer than it actually was. This is because the constant changes in pace in such a short period of time makes it feel much longer.

Evaluation Activity 1 - Camerawork and Editing

We understood how important camera work and the editing process would be to the success of our trailer. All conventional movies have smooth editing and use a wide range of camera movements for many different reasons. I believe that different types of camera work along with the editing helps achieve the audiences need of leisure whilst watching a movie as different types of editing keeps the trailer flowing. This could be identified in our scary pace build up where James and me were using the same fear combinations throughout the trailer but the use of fades and cuts and length of shots made it feel different. The use of camera work could really be identified by the different angles in which we used. These different angles added to the intensity of the trailer as it was very fast paced.

I feel our trailer is to an extent conventional in regards to the editing and camera work. We use a number of quick snappy shots along with fades which can be identified in many horror genres but the way in which we constantly changed the camera angles made it less conventional to the genre yet added a lot of effect as shown by the screenshot below.

Here is a screenshot to show the use of our camera work. We closed up on my face and thought of this shot very carefully as there is no movement in the background. It is a Point Of View shot, just in formation with the genre of the film. Furthermore, the camera is at a very low angle which shows hints of the unconventional style.

Evaluation Activity 1 - Costumes & Props

We used a limited amount of costumes and props even though we understood how someone's appearance can offer assumptions to the audience by the nature of our genre, using many costumes would question the suitability of the scenes. We also knew that costume can add to the realism of the trailer as well as complementing the locations. We done this as we used a small range of costumes to show that the movie is filmed over one night. This is something I noticed in the Grave Encounters Movies where it tries to show the film shot over night as the project takes places people gathering in one night and this is something I believe we done well.

We also used other conventional props that may not be noticeable but just adds to the realness and feeling of the movie. One of these props was James’ torch which would be used in dark conditions.

One thing I felt we could have done better was introduce a costume that is completely different to what I was wearing. This is because my costume connoted casual whereas if we had me in jeans or something a bit more formal, it would add to the back story.

Here is a screenshot of the torch light being used, in the dark. The light James’ using is a very important prop that is required to tell the audience the basic idea of the movie and makes the trailer much more understandable. As you can see, the light is the only prop in some shots. This gives it most prevalence and catches the audience's eye in the shot which again helps the audience identify the genre in the movie.

Here is a screenshot of me, again. As you can see here, as I am being filmed, I am also using a camera; this would a prop used to make it seem as if we were filming each other whilst following the narrative. Moreover, it also compliments the genre as it looks very realistic.

Evaluation Activity 1 - Setting/Location

We understood that a trailer requires a number of locations and this was the hardest part in terms of showing a wide range of locations in a manner that will still make the trailer seem not over complicated and should complement the pace as opposed to disrupting it. We introduced different locations throughout the trailer not really giving any prevalence to a specific location but it's rather spread out. We used a number of shots to show these locations which I believe can be seen by the choice of screenshots that I have taken below.

I believe that one thing we had done well was use a wide range of shots to show the audience the different locations that we have and also tells them a bit more about the storyline. One example of how we used a wide range of shots was when we took the establishing shot of cemetery. I felt that this establishing shot was unique in comparison to the other shots we used to introduce the locations. Furthermore, we knew we were going to use this establishing shot, not only shows the importance of research and planning but also tells us that we had planned for this trailer properly.
I also feel as if our choice of locations were perfect in conjunction with the horror genre. These locations consisted of the various graveyards, woods/forest and a drive next to a river. All these also showed off the storyline, plus told the audience that both James and I were from a middle class background which would appeal to out C1, C2 ad D target audience. The working class background could be seen by the clothes being worn as well as James and me using everyday language amongst the public which is what's expected from a typical teenager nowadays. 

Here is the screenshot of the shot of the cemetery. The camera stays onto me but we still continue to see the background. We see almost all of the cemetery which shows that this was a perfect position to take this shot from as it can clearly be identified as an establishing shot.

Here is a screenshot of one of the way we established a location setting in our trailer. We tried doing so by using woods, as it’s associated with running away and scariness. 

Evaluation Activity 1 - Title of the Film

Here are a number of screenshots taken from our trailer. All of these screenshots have some important input to our trailer whether it is setting a location or introducing a new character. This part of the evaluation reinforces why we had put some shots in the trailer.

The title of the film:

We chose our title to be called More Than Human. There was a lot of deliberation of where we should place the title as we were putting it in different positions during the draft process. We noticed that other trailers try to give it as much prevalence as possible and we also followed this convention as we finally decided to put the title at the end of our trailer. 

One reason why I felt this was a good decision for our specific trailer is because we had a lot of dialect in the form of text on the screen and so we had to make this piece of text more important than the rest and thus we put it at the end as it will be the last thing the audience remembers. People tend remember the start and end of any piece of information and that was the reason why we put it right at the end.   

We also knew that we must differentiate the title from the rest of the text dialogue within the trailer. We kept the font the same as all trailers have a conventional "One Font" system to not over complicate it and we also followed this.

The title above, is one of the fonts we used to try and use to help fit our genre, but we felt like that this was a bit too much as we researched many different found footage horror films and they have a plain, computerized, font which has an effect on the audience.

Here is a screenshot of the title right at the end of the trailer. The title above is on a black background and in a plain, computerized font called "Mathematics" which gave the trailer a more of a found footage horror effect. We decided on this as we both felt it would increase the tension and also due to the white writing contrasting the black background, we were going back to the traditional horror conventions.

Progress of Movie Magazine

Recently, we have started to work on my magazine front cover for our trailer "More Than Human", this has taken a couple of lessons and various trial and error things using Photoshop as it is not a program that we are not used to using.
In the next pictures below, it will show the progress of the magazine front cover and some of the things that need to be added to the magazine for it to be complete.

This picture (Above) was the start of the movie poster but only slightly progressed. We used the red Empire magazine title, as it is a well known film magazine, plus the used of red gives the horror effect of blood and contrasts with the black background of darkness, fear and death. I used a well known horror film "You're next" and the picture of the masked antagonist from the film to help draw in the audience and make it feel scarier. The use of the title above the Empire Magazine title, in capitals, "Our Best Horror Issue Ever", gives the effect that there is more inside that will surprise the audience reading this magazine. I have also added in the prices and date of the magazine, to make the magazine feel more realistic.

This second picture (above) has more added into it, including the title of our trailer and another well known, recent horror movie. The Title "More Than Human" is in the conventional horror colours of red and white, this contrasts the black background. The red writing represents blood and the white text represents light, but the white writing is used to stand out on the black background, with the black colour representing darkness, death and fear, which will attract the audience to the magazine, due to the colours standing out. With another added horror film added onto the magazine and the scary doll/puppet picture added as well, gives the magazine a more conventional horror feel, due to the picture blending into the black background, attracting a wider range of audiences to buy the magazine.

In this picture (above), a lot of changes have been made, including the text/font of the writing, the size of the font and also added in a "New and exclusive interview" with the directors, who are James and Myself. I decided to change the font and the size of the text to give it a more eye catching feel, to attract more people to take a look at the magazine cover, still using the conventional red and white colours, to represent blood and still making the text stand out and contract the black background, giving it the horror feel too. I also changed the positioning on where the movie title should be, as it didn't seem right having the text on the top right of the movie magazine, as it is more effecting nearer to the bottom and more central, also filling up the page. To make it more central, I had to adjust the positioning of the bar code to a more horizontal position, due to when the bar code was vertical, the text had to become more cramped and it didn't look as good. The use of capitals in the title, makes it stand out more, also having the word "Than" in a slightly larger font, make the title stand out even more, allowing the audience to get drawn into the magazine. Also adding the "New and Exclusive interviews with the directors" in the red and white colours still follow the conventions of a horror magazine cover, also keeping it simple and making it fit in with everything else on the page. Also, using this text, this gives the audience to have something to look forward to when reading the magazine.

There is more to be added to the magazine front cover, as there is a large black blank area, this is where our main picture is going to go after the film has been produced. The picture will be the antagonist, which will bland into the background to give the audience the question "who is the killer?”

Now, the picture above is the finished product of our magazine cover and our trailer, More Than Human. The last image to be added was the black and white, faded grave stone that is covered by the tree vines. This picture was the ideal photo for our magazine cover; this is due to the fact that the grave gives the audience a feel of death and fear. The name on the grave gives the audience the question "Is that the killer?", "Is that a ghost?". The grave is in black and white to contrast the black background and the red writing, drawing the audience into the magazine.

Overall, I found this to be a fun project to do and I am happy with the end product. I have been able to apply my skills from editing to try and find out how to use the Photoshop program, also looking at tutorials have helped me with the end product, and overall, I am thrilled that my hard work has paid off as I am very pleased with the magazine cover

More Than Human - Magazine front cover

I feel as if the magazine front cover was much harder to produce in comparison to the film poster, the main reason for this that much more information and extras are required in a magazine front cover. A generic poster has one specific purpose focusing on one movie whereas Magazine front covers tend to include other movies within its front cover although it tends to give one specific movie hype.

More Than Human Trailer

Here is the official finished trailer of More Than Human. We have released it after the deadline but this was due to understanding the importance of the trailer this year and thus spent most of our time on it. It was very much a team effort of James, and I. As I predicted, the editing process was the longest but thankfully, as we planned ahead, and knew what we both needed to do in order to finalise the trailer.

More than Human - Poster

Here is the finished product of my found footage horror movie poster.  This poster was created on Photoshop, and was a bit of a challenge for James and me because we have never used Photoshop before, so this was a fun piece of work to create and it was very enjoyable as well as stressful.

I have kept to the old conventions of horror movies by using the colours, Red, Black and White as I felt like they were the most effective colours and that they are more eye catching that the recent trends of horror movie posters, as it gives it a more older look as the reds, blacks and white colours were used in the 80's for a more scarier feel on the audience. As the colour black represents darkness (as many people are afraid of the dark) and represents fear and it also contrasts with the Red writing used as Red is used to conform blood and it stands out on the black background.

The heading "If on thoughts of deaths we are fed. Thus, a coffin became my bed" is a slogan used to make the film look more frightening and appeal more to the audience as it is used in capitals and in larger writing to try and capture the eye of the audience.

The Title "More Than Human" is used in large, capital writing and in the colours of Red and White. The use of the Red writing here is to stand out against the black background and the white writing, with the word "Than" in a larger font compared to the other words and makes the whole title stand out in the poster and draws the viewer into the poster and making them examine it too.

The faded black and white grave is used to stand out too in the poster, with the writing on the grave being in bold to eye catch the audience. The grave is also used to conform death, supernatural and paranormal activity, linking it with ghosts, zombies etc.