Focus Groups

Here are some video's showing some audience reaction to my trailer and some questions afterwards.

                                                                     Focus Group 1

Focus Group 2

Focus Group 3

4TH DRAFT w/review

This is the 4th draft of my film trailer and in this draft I have corrected some key issues from my 3rd draft. Firstly I have finally sorted the issue with the voice over! It can now be heard equally from the left and right. I have also re-filmed the news reader scene on green screen sop that now it looks like a proper news report. I edited some of the sound and changed some shot lengths in order to try and make it flow better, however there is still a gap in the middle between sequences which needs to be fixed.

Filming the green screen
I filmed the newsreader scene on green screen to make it more realistic and so I could add a background. However, I did not notice until I had already filmed that the camera hand been set to SD instead of HD, meaning that the resolution of this clip was lower than all of the other clips. Unfortunately my actress was not available to re-film so I just had to do my best with what I had filmed. This did result in a green glow around my actress that I could not get rid of, but I don't think that it is that noticeable, especially as the clip is not that long.

Once I got rid of the green background I added in my own background which I had made in PhotoShop. I decided on a pink background as it is a subtle colour so it does not distract the audience from the character, however it is not as plain as white. I also added a basic news channel logo.

After this I added the moving banner seen at the bottom of the screen.

 I saved the text as an image then used the motion tool to make it move across the bottom of the screen. I went into effect controls and clicked the clock next to the word "position". This then added in some key frames and I simply adjusted the position on the X axis until it travelled at an appropriate speed so that it could be read clearly.


I then finished off the clip by adding an image of a no entry sign, re-enforcing the message of the closed off underpass.

Fixing audio issues
In order to fix my audio problems I came to the conclusion that as my audio was panned to the left, If I opened up a new audio channel and selected "mono" then it would play the audio equally through both the left and right. This is because mono (meaning one) only receives one signal and plays it back in both the left and right side equally. The issue before is that it was in stereo meaning that it was playing different things in the left and right side, and the audio was not playing equally.

In my next draft I will add the rest of my titles at the end of the trailer and fix the gap in the middle by using sound so that the sections of the trailer flow from one to another without any gaps or breaks. I may also add a clip of my main character packing a bag so that it makes more sense that in the second part of the trailer she is running away, making a bridge between the underpass scene and the second half of the trailer.

Distribution Company Logo

All films are distributed by a company separate from the production company. This company is usually a major company, even if the production company is independent. This is because major distribution companies have the power to distribute their films globally. For my distribution company logo I decided to take inspiration from the major production company "Universal". As seen in my research most horror films have a black background for their titles, and there fore the logo is in white to fit in with a black and white theme. So I have taken inspiration from the Universal logo and created my own black and white company logo. Having these colours will make it easy to invert so that it will stand out from a black background. I decided on the name "World Wide Movies" as this shows that the company is specific to the distribution of films. I decided that it should be world wide as a successful distribution company should be able to show their films globally in order to reach a mass audience. 

End Titles

At the end of each cinematic trailer there are titles showing the names of the production crew such as the name of the director, writer and producer as well as any disclaimers, company logos and web addresses.

Here are some examples:

Annabelle (2014)
This trailer's titles shows the names of the executive producers, writer, producers and director. It also includes the logos of the distribution and production companies and a hash tag so that the audience can find the film on social media.

As Above, So Below (2014)
This trailer keeps its end titles very simple with a memorable quote and a YouTube search suggestion. It also includes the production and distribution company logos and a copyright disclaimer at the bottom.

Evil Dead (2013)
The titles of this trailer include the release date, social media links and production and distribution company logos. It also has a copyright disclaimer in the small print.

This research shows me that in my trailer titles I need to include A release date, social media links, copyright disclaimers, company logos and the names of my production crew. In order to fit all of this onto my trailer I think that I will use two separate shots, one with the release date, social media and logos, and one with names. This will help keep within the more simple layout seen in my examples, and ensure that I don't have to squeeze a lot of information into a small space as this would be unappealing to the audience, especially if there is a lot to read in a small space of time, as the titles are typically not on screen for longer than 5 seconds.

Production Company Logo

Here are some ideas for the logo of the production company of my film. In order to stay with the theme of my trailer my logo should be red with a black background. This will also conform to my genre. After much deliberation I decided on the name "fear fest" (short for festival) for my production company. This is fitting with my genre but also appeals to my younger target audience as festivals are most popular amongst the 18-30 year old demographic. I started my logo by choosing a blood splatter effect on Google images. I decided on a blood splatter as blood and death are the most common themes associated with the horror genre. I had to choose one that was a suitable shape to fit my text on and is a similar resolution to the rest of my video so that it did not show up all pixelated.

After choosing my background image I then had to choose a suitable font. I went on a free font website and browsed fonts under the category name "horror". There were lots of good fonts to choose from but I thought that one with more ragged edges would suit the genre better. The font I eventually chose  is called "Blood Writing" and I chose this as it looks like the font has been written with a harsh paintbrush to give the harsher edges and give the illusion that it is painted in blood.

This is my final logo. I think the font and background image work well together and the writing stands out well whilst fitting in with my house style. I may change it slightly by adding a second larger background image or getting rid of some of the blood splatter which is blurred, giving my logo a more defined edge. There is a colour version to show during the trailer, and a black and white version to use on the end title page. 

 

THIRD DRAFT w/review

This is my third draft of my film trailer. In this draft I have added more footage and replaced some shots. In my feedback it was mentioned that the classroom scene was obviously a classroom and not a library, so I re-shot the scene in a library. It is only a couple of shots but it helps to add a sense of realism to the trailer. The setting is much more realistic and there are more books that I could use for props. My new shots were added as the next section of my trailer. All of the new shots were put together in a parallel editing style where a part of the story progresses along side another. This faster paced part of the trailer is common of all genres and professional trailers as it helps to build up the tension before the title appears at the end. The shots I got helped to show more of the progression of the story without giving away the important parts of the plot. It also leaves the audience on a cliffhanger, wondering if the protagonist will make it out alive and defeat the antagonist. This will help to sell the film to the audience.

One of the other main changes was the text. My audience feedback made it apparent that the text was not the right font or colour. So, I experimented with some different font styles and colour schemes and asked people in my class which one they thought was best. Here are some of the styles I tried.
                                                                            Style 1:

Style 2:

My final font:

My final font was the most popular as it's harsher edges and older style conforms to my genre more than the others. My final colour scheme for my text was the black inner with the red outline. This colour scheme is more subtle. Although the other colours stand out well from the background making it easier for the audience to see, I think that the subtlety of having just the red outline makes it all the more scarier as it could be seen as blending in more to the background, hiding in the shadows much as the antagonist does throughout the trailer. This makes this colour scheme more fitting to my video. I used red as it is an extremely common convention of the genre, as the red signifies death, danger and blood which are the most common elements of the horror genre.

I also changed the colour of the clock at the beginning of the trailer. I felt that the origional blue colour didn't fit with the style of the trailer very well, so I changed it to red so that it would match the text and conform to the conventions of the genre. To do this I used the video effects tool on Premier Pro and used the colour editor. I then selected the same colour that I used for my font for the red overlay and adjusted the black levels for the background so that no extra light was showing. I then adjusted the brightness until it could be seen clearly.

                                       
                                          Before:

                                         
                                          After:

For my next draft I will have re-filmed the news report scene on green screen with added props and a better costume. This will add yet more realism to my trailer and make it look more professional. One of the main problems to overcome for my next draft is the sound and video transition between the underpass scene and the new set of clips. I need to mold the story together by adding some clips in between the sections and change the audio so that the separate parts of music for each section blend together well helping the whole trailer to flow all the way through smoothly with no gaps or harsh stops and starts. I will also add my production company logo and end titles.

Audience Feedback - Second Draft

From my audience feedback I found that my trailer was coming along well as people told me that they liked it and the scream had the intended reaction of making most people jump. However, my audience told me that improvements need to be made to the effects and more of these need to be added to create the right atmosphere for my trailer. It is also apparent that the newsreader shots need to be filmed again but in a better location and with more preparation to elements such as props and costume.

Second Draft Review

In my second draft I mostly focused on editing the sound. I made sure that the whole trailer had music behind it so that the first part of the trailer wasn't just dialogue. This helps to create tension within the first part of the trailer. I also played with the recorded sound which accompanies the video. I pulled down the levels of any noise I did not need such as at the end of some clips there was a clicking sound where I was pressing the button to stop recording. To get rid of this sound I just brought the sound level of the clip down.

However, on some of the clips I had both dialogue and noise. This meant that I couldn't just bring the levels down as I had to leave it so that the dialogue could be heard. To combat this I went onto the track I wanted to edit, then I inserted some key frames by left clicking on the volume control. I could then manipulate the sound so that the volume would change half way through a shot, meaning that the dialogue could be clearly heard, but then the volume would go right down so that the noise could not be heard.

In my next draft, I will use my feedback and improve on the newsreader and research scenes. For the research scene I will move out of the classroom and re-film the scene in the library as this is a more realistic mise-en-scene. For the newsreader scene I will use the green screen to create a background that looks like a proper news room and use props such as a script or iPad to add verisimilitude. I will also then make sure that this scene goes on the TV in the kitchen scene rather than just showing the blank screen. I will also try and sort out the voice over as it is still panned to the left for some reason. I will try to find out why and fiz it for my next draft.

SECOND DRAFT