Editing session 5

30/11/15

In today's editing session we continued to cut down shots and re ordered some to create the montage.

The second shot in this clip has been colour matched to the shot after it so it doesn't look out of place, even though it is a different location as this isn't relevant at this point in the trailer.  The lighting of the shot was also too high key to look like it belongs in a horror trailer and it wouldn't make the audience feel tense. The new colour of the image exaggerates the colour of her eyes which makes her look mesmerizing for a male audience, but it also clearly shows her distraught emotion which looks effective.

In future editing sessions, I want to think about speeding up these shots to create a really fast paced and dramatic montage to create a rush of adrenaline for the audience. This will intrigue them to want to watch the film therefore making it more popular.

We also experimented with the speed of of the shot below to make the montage of shots quicker and sharper to make it more intense for the audience. We increased the speed by x2 and we put jump cuts in this shot, however after watching it, I felt like this sort of effect is more suited to a comedy film and it didn't look sinister as most sinister shots are slow paced. Therefore, we decided to  remove the speed effect and cut this shot down using the blade tool so it wasn't too long and boring for the audience. Now the shot is much slower than the rest of the shots in the montage, I suggested to place it in the build up to the montage as I felt it wouldn't have looked right in the fast montage, and the trailer wouldn't make sense if it wasn't in narrative order as this would have confused the audience and the shot would have looked out of place.

                           

For a few of the shots in today's editing session, we had to crop as we had filmed these shots portrait, as well as others in past editing sessions. However, cropping this shot worked to our advantage, because again, it focuses on the emotion of the character which is a convention of a psychological horror.

Cropping shots on Final Cut Pro X doesn't affect the quality of the shot either which is good as it means we can use all our shots and still create a professional looking trailer

Editing session 4

27/11/15

In today's editing session, my group and I finished ordering the shots and we began to cut them down. We listened to each others suggestions for the order of the montage, continuity and colour matching as this was a big issue for us whilst editing today. A lot of the shots in the montage were different colours because of the lighting and location, so we colour matched some of the shots, for example the last shot of the montage and the shot of a masked antagonist coming towards the audience before the film title appears. We haven't yet added any text or our film title into our trailer as this will be the last thing we add.


In the bath scene, we had a shot of a light switching on and off to create an eerie atmosphere, however, I suggested that we cut the shot of Maddie in the bath in half and have the light shot in the middle as the second half of the shot looks as though Maddie is looking up at the light. This shot of Maddie acknowledging the light lasts for about 1.5 seconds so it helps with the lead up to the fast past montage rather than it just suddenly starting as this would look out of place. It also creates suspense for the audience as they want to know what is going to happen to her. The lighting of these shots also matches the tense mood as it very low key due to the natural light of the candles.

Editing sessions 2 and 3

Over the past 2 editing sessions, my group and I have continued to order the shots and we should hopefully finish ordering them by tomorrows editing session. It is taking longer than expected as we didn't realise how many shots we had actually taken because we did extra ones than that on the storyboard as we thought of more ideas during filming. Therefore, this is making it difficult to order as we can't remember exactly where we wanted to place them in the trailer. We have ordered them in what we think looks best for now, but no doubt during cutting down and colour matching shots, we will re order as our ideas will develop.

We have had sound ideas during editing and we want to bridge the sound throughout shots to add the suspense and show continuity in some shots in the trailer. Kayleigh also showed me and Jamie the opening scene to American Horror Story season 1 and the sound in this is creepy and sounds like a tape recorder. We all liked the eerie mood this created and we want to consider this type of non- diegetic soundtrack.

We have also had brief ideas about putting transitions in the montage to make the shots link in a sinister way, for example a dissolve and fade transition. My group and I also said that for the shot of Maddie screaming, we want to the shot to go black from the action in the shot so the antagonist blocks out the screen which will allow us to put text on the shot in a unique and interesting way. We tried this but thought it didn't look professional so we decided to add a dissolve transition after to make the shot flow into the next one better and more professionally.

In our 3rd editing session, we colour matched some shots to ensure continuity was shown, and to ensure the shot looks like it is the same time and location so it looks in order where it needs to and the audience understand the trailer. I also cropped a shot of Delaney as we filmed it portrait so it wouldn't fit in the frame on Final Cut Pro X. However this worked to our advantage as it meant the shot became a close up and made it more sinister as her face came out of nowhere in the shot and this will make the audience jump. The close up also shows detail of Delaney's wound which connotes danger which conforms to horror conventions.

 

Poster draft 1 and 2

Today I drafted 2 posters for my ancillary task. I used an image of the masked antagonist which was popular with my target audience, and this looks effective on both these posters as it clearly shows the films genre. Both drafts are similar due to the same dominant image, however draft 1 is a zoomed up image with the film name in the centre rather than at the top like draft 2. I learnt from my existing product and film poster mood board research that film titles can appear and catch the audiences anywhere on the poster as long as it is big enough to catch the audiences eye and be the dominant text on the page, therefore this is what I have tried to achieve with both film posters. I have included our films institution at the bottom corner of both film posters as this isn't a major convention audiences look at, however if they do see the name Lions Gate, they will associate other popular films with this institution as it is world known. Also on draft 2, I ensured I included '#Transfixed' so word of mouth is created on social media and the film becomes even more popular as this was used on 'The Purge' film poster and this film was a major success. Furthermore, I have stuck with a red, white and black colour scheme to link with the magazine cover colour scheme and to also follow horror conventions. Finally, as it is important all 3 products look like they are part of a campaign, I included my symbolic link on both drafts which is the quote and this also creates enigma for the audience intriguing them to watch the film.  Overall I have followed all the conventions of a film poster for it to look effective.

Draft 1

Draft 2

I want to experiment with photo editing, so when Photoshop is installed on the school Apple Macs, I will do some editing practice with these photos to see how they would look best. For example, I want to experiment with a distortion effect or a blur edit on this image I have used as it will cover the characters identity even more, look more interesting and creative, but as well as this, it will give clues to the use of drugs and danger in the film which will create enigma for the audience and make them ask questions. The text that I am considering for the quote will also link with these image effects as it looks disorted.

Editing session 1

16/11/15

Today my group I uploaded the footage from the iPad and the iPhone onto the Apple Macs and then Final Cut Pro X. I was worried about the quality of the shots beforehand not being clear as from looking at the uploaded footage on YouTube, it is very 'pixelated', however the shot quality on Final Cut Pro is very clear and looks professional. We next went through each shot to see which were the correct ones we filmed and this took about half an hour because we had done so many retakes. We then took turns in placing the shots in the correct order of our trailer with everyone's input.

I was confident in using the features on the Apple Macs as the editing practice recapped my knowledge. I bladed the shot of the argument between Maddie and Elliot as this was extremely long on the timeline.

Next editing session, we will continue to order the shots and maybe get the chance to begin cutting them down using the blade tool.

Our Distributor

After some discussion with Jamie and Kayleigh, we have agreed on using Lions Gate Entertainment as our distributor because it is an independent film company and as our film is also independent due to being produced my group and I, we thought this would be a good institution to use. As well as it is a popular distribution company, our film will still become popular. Lions Gate Entertainment also produce some horror films such as 'You're Next' which is a psychological horror we took inspiration from and others such as 'The Last Exorcism' and 'American Psycho' therefore we think Lions Gate Entertainment is an appropriate distributor for our film.

Poster- font idea for quote

This is the sort of font I want to use for the symbolic quote ('Apologies don't mean anything if you keep doing what you're sorry for') on my film poster. I think it will create discomfort and confusion for the audience and this will intrigue them to watch the film. This is also the mood my group and I want to portray with the quote across all the media products. When I have access to Photoshop on the school Apple Macs, I will do some practice on it so I am more familiar with it's features and I will try to edit my text similar to this on Photoshop.

Distribution companies for our film

After thinking about which institution will distribute our film, I looked into some distribution companies that distribute horror films as this will be more realistic and acceptable when their logo appears on our trailer, film poster and magazine covers.

Lionsgate Films

• The Last Exorcism
• American Psycho 

Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is an American entertainment company and was formed in Vancouver, Columbia, on July 3rd 1997. Lionsgate Film's head quarters are in Santa Monica, California and they produce a range of film genres including horror. It is the largest and most successful mini major film studio in North America and it mainly focuses on foreign and independent films but has distributed a range of film serious including Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Hunger Games. This would be a good institution to consider as our distributor as our film is independent due to being produced by ourselves, outside a major film studio system. Also, as it is still a big company, our film will be well known and popular as Lionsgate has distributed popular films so therefore audiences will have high expectations for ours and we will make a lot of profit.

Warner Bros.

• The Exorcist
• House of Wax
• Friday The 13th

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. is an American entertainment company that produces film, television and music entertainment. As one of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank, California. This institution has distributed a range of film genres, including a few of the psychological horror films I have taken inspiration from during my research such as The The House of Wax and Friday
The 13th, therefore this would be a good institution to
consider as it has a similar target audience and films.


Hammer Film Production

• Woman in Black
• The Resident

Hammer Pictures is a British film production company based in London. It was founded by William Hills in 1934. This institution is best known for their production and distribution of horror films including their most famous Frankenstein. They have also produced a range of science fiction films, thrillers and comedies but  during its most successful years, Hammer dominated the horror film market and had worldwide distribution and financial success. However, as they aren't as financially big as companies such as the the Big 6, they usually work in synergy with distribution companies such as Warner Bros. and this leads to their films success.  I will speak to the other members of my group, however I don't think this is a suitable institution to consider as our distributor as it isn't as well known as Lionsgate Films and Warner Bros. and it needs to work in synergy for the film to become well known, therefore it may be difficult for our film to become popular and make a lot of profit from our target audience as not a lot of people will have heard of this institution or have visited their website. 

Promotion of magazine and poster

The features I will include on my magazine to promote it as something my audience need to buy and something they need to read are:

• The dominant image- this will be an image my audience can relate to and is from the film to also show the genre
• A catchy name such as something which will stand out on the shelf. As magazines are stacked. it needs to be big and bold and at the top of the page so it is seen first on the shelf
• Exclusive information like interviews and photos- these will be presented as stickers or bold fonts that stand out and catch their eye
• A reasonable price of £2.00- this fits in with my films target audience as they will be middle class people with not much disposable income as they are young so most of them will be in university or just starting a job. 
• Actors names and exclusive fold out posters to intrigue the audience to buy it
• Website- so my audience can visit the website for the magazine and see what more is offered, for example on-line quizzes and prizes
• A # for my featured film or magazine name so the audience can interact and find out more
• Institutional information of the film and magazine so the audience can have good expectations for the film and magazine based on the institution

The features I will include on my poster to promote my film as something my audience need to watch are:

• The dominant image- this will be an image my audience can relate to and is from the film to also show the genre
• Actors names intrigue the audience to watch it as they might be a fan of these actors
• Institutional information of the film so the audience can have good expectations for the film based on the institution
• Ensure it looks like a horror film genre by using red black and white colours to connote death and danger to create a thrill before they have watched the film
• Use a symbolic link to show that all 3 products are part of the same promotional package. 
• A # for the films name so the audience can interact and find out more
• Release date

Results from audience research

Audience feedback

This is the audience feedback from my survey; I asked members of my target audience to fill out one survey each to find out which pictures they liked and thought were best for me to use for my poster and magazine cover to ensure my results are fair and reliable. Overall, the feedback was constructive and it has given me a clearer idea as to what types images I want to consider using and developing for my magazine cover and film poster:

What have I learnt and how will I use this research?

From this research, I have decided that I want to draft ideas for my posters using these 3 photos as they were all popular with my target audience, it's just a case of which one will look best after I have edited them. One member said they liked them as they liked the use of lighting as it makes the characters look creepy. Therefore, I will have to ensure I keep or exaggerate the eerie low key lighting on the images when I come to edit it. Some members said they like the use of the dark backgrounds on the images therefore this is something I will need to consider keeping because as well as my target audience liking this, black is a convention of the horror genre and suggests mystery which will link my poster to the film trailer due to the enigma created. Also, one member said that they like the fact the characters on these pictures look like they are staring at you in the eye (a gaze-  I found out that this is a convention of the horror genre) which conveys fear.

Furthermore, I have decided that I want to consider using the image of Maddie screaming in the corner for my magazine cover like my second draft. This was the most popular picture with my target audience as they said they like how she is looking distressed and they are shown her situation which adds to the horror of the film and gives them clues as to what to expect from the film. They also said they liked how she looks frustrated as it intrigues them to find out why.

Magazine and poster audience research survey

From the photos I have taken, I have chosen the 3 I think are best for each ancillary task and as it is down to the audience whether or not my 3 products are popular, I have created a survey to get my target audiences opinions on which dominant image they think is the most effective and why, and which ones I should use for my magazine cover and poster:

I chose these photos for the magazine cover as from previous research, I found out that it tends to be action shots or shots taken from the film on the front cover to intrigue the audience. This is because most people will have seen the film poster before the magazine cover, therefore will have already seen the characters and the magazine will introduce the them to role of the characters. I decided to use shots of characters which weren't taken from the film for the poster as posters tend to introduce the characters to the audience and that is what I wanted to achieve, as well as build suspense, especially with the masked characters. I also found out from previous research that posters usually use close up shots and shots with 'a gaze' to attract and involve the audience so I considered this when deciding on the photos as this will appeal to my target audience.

Photoshoot

Today, after filming, I took some pictures for my film poster and magazine cover. I took ones which represented our characters roles and emotions in the film to portray a frighting mood and clearly show the horror genre on the film poster and magazine cover. I am going to create a survey and ask my target audience which images they think are best for me to use for my final products:

I like these shots as they show the main antagonists and cult members. However, it will leave the audience asking who the woman in the middle is without a mask as she looks sinister which could suggest she has been captured or she is an antagonist which will intrigue the audience to watch the trailer and film to find out. If I was to use one of these images, I would experiment with editing and change the lighting so the main focus was on Delaney as this would show she is a main character but not specify her exact role.

These shots are what I was trying to achieve with my first draft . They are effective as they shows action in the photo which suggests suspense and dramatic action in the film. It also gives clues to what the film is about as the audience will be able to see that it is a cult member at the window of a home which does gives clues to a home invasion. If I was to use one of these images, I would need to make it more focused so it looks more professional. 

I like this shot as it shows the home owner is in danger and it clearly shows the genre of the film. It is a high angle shot to show the dominance and power of the antagonist to suggest the victim doesn't stand a chance of survival. 

These shots clearly show the films genre as they have an iconic horror convention which is the mask. This makes the film look and feel mysterious making the audience wonder who is behind the mask. I decided to take a lot of close-ups of a cult member as a lot of the time it isn't a main character on the front, for example on the 'Insidious' poster and magazine cover, the characters used aren't main characters, they just come across as the most frighting which is what I wanted to do with mine to ensure the audience are scared from the beginning.

These are high angle shots of Maddie to make her look vulnerable. The audience will want to watch the trailer and film to find out if she survives as she looks helpless in these shots. However, they will be surprised when they find out that she is the final girl.

I took these shots as it was a shot I wanted to consider when I put together my second draft. These shots also show Maddie's vulnerability and suggest she is distressed. It is also a shot taken from the film which I found out if often seen on horror magazines and posters to add to the realism l to appeal to the audience. I will consider using the shot on the left as it looks more frightening and realistic. 

Filming day 4

Today my group and I finished all of our filming. My group and our actors went to Kayleigh's house straight from school and began filming at 4 pm and finished at about half 5. We finished filming the remainder of our home invasion with 4 cult members taking part in this filming session, this means that our overall trailer will show the 6 cult members including Delaney, our antagonist.

This is a shot inspired by 'The Purge'. I suggested to have other cult members in the background sharpening knives to suggest violence and fear.

Whilst waiting for Maddie, our protagonist to do her make-up, my group and I began filming the cult members approaching the house. Jamie and Kayleigh filmed a pan shot of them walking up a path behind the house into the driveway and I did a continuity shot to lead on from this which was a mid shot of them walking towards the window and banging on it to create diegetic sound and create an eerie atmosphere. I filmed from inside the house to give the effect that it was a point of view shot of Maddie seeing them thought the window and I had to position the tripod on the couch as it wasn't tall enough on the floor. As these shots are of the characters outside filmed on a different day, the lighting is different. Therefore, for the continuity to look accurate and show the same time frame as previous shots in the montage, I want to colour match them with the previous filmed shots to ensure we create a slick
and professional trailer.



I also filmed a high angle shot of Maddie screaming on the floor in a corner to show her fear, vulnerability and distress. However, it was difficult to film at first as I wanted to create shadows of the cult over her and the space we were filming in was too small. We improvised for lighting and used torches to create the shadows however it was hard to film Maddie without have the actual cult member in the shot which we didn't want. In the end, I moved the camera back and I managed to get a shadow of a hand. This was effective as it represented her as vulnerable at this point so the audience fear for her life and watch the film to see what happens.

Overview 
Overall, I have really enjoyed filming, because as a group we didn't have any major problems when it came to filming, choosing mise en scene, deciding on a narrative or research roles etc. Also, as we used our friends/people we know well to be our actors, it was successful as we all listened to each others ideas during the filming process and that was one thing that made it successful as well as the good location we had. Furthermore, each member of our group and actors were familiar with the narrative and the mood we wanted to achieve in our trailer, therefore it was easy for us to decide on extra shots and ideas during filming. Also, our actors knew how to act in a way which could create an eerie, sinister mood to create our montage of shots for our disruption which is the most dramatic part of our trailer. However, if I was to do anything different next time, I would try to aim for my my group and I to get more shots filmed each time we film and be more professional, as a lot of the time it was hard to take each other seriously when it came to dramatic action scenes such as the screaming and romantic scenes.

Filming schedule

Yesterday, my group and I discussed a time to film which fits the schedules of our actors. We have agreed to film straight after school on Wednesday, 4 pm on-wards as we need to film in the dark and this gives us plenty of time to do this. We will aim to film the remainder of the home invasion and I also want to take some photos for my poster and magazine cover so I can begin my audience research as soon as possible to ensure my results are accurate and reliable.

Magazine cover draft 1 and 2

Draft 1
This is my first draft, I have taken into consideration a colour scheme based on my brief colour ideas for the trailer and my poster as I found out from previous research that the colour schemes between the 3 products should link. I have decided to go for red, black and white for the majority of the magazine cover as these are colour conventions of the horror genre. Also, these colours allow me to be flexible as they all contrast with one another which means all the text and images will stand out and look effective throughout the magazine cover.

I have used an image I have taken from one of my filming sessions which is an extreme close up of one of the female cult members. It is a shot taken from a scene in the trailer as I found out this is often seen on a magazine cover and it gives the audience an idea what to expect from the film before they have watched the trailer. I have decided to use a female cult member as it will make my audience ask questions as to why is she a female and it will make them think it is an interesting film as it is challenging gender conventions. However, this image isn't as accurate as I want it to be so I will recreate this shot to get a more accurate one.

Draft 2
This is my second draft where I have also taken colour into consideration. However, I have decided to use a high angle long shot for this magazine cover idea as it represents Maddie as vulnerable and scared which is a key convention of female representation in the horror genre and this clearly portrays the genre of the magazine. Furthermore, after I have taken this photo in my next filming session, I want to edit it so it is in depth of focus and the focus is on Maddie and her background is blurred as this will ensure she is the dominant image and the text is easy to read over the image. Furthermore, I will experiment and consider fading the background to black so the white and red font stands out and is easy to read. However, I will only do this if this image is popular with my target audience after I have shown them my image ideas and had their feedback when I carry out my research.

I wanted my magazine cover to look like a magazine cover, therefore from previous research after looking at the magazine fact sheets, I have included the star rating of the film and also a strap line for the magazine which is 'The UK's Number 1 Film Magazine'. I have ensured the conventions of a magazine cover have been met and I have also taken inspiration from existing products I have looked at in previous research, such as the film tape idea at the bottom of the page inspired by Fangora-Insidious. I will put images of popular psychological horror films on this tape to link with my film genre and appeal to my target audience.

Font ideas

I have looked at existing films fonts to see the style and colours they use and to take inspiration from:

From looking at the Insidious logo, I want to consider including 2 colours in my logo, red and black or red or white because these are colour conventions of the horror genre and the red connotates danger.

I like this logo as it is simple and follows conventions of the horror genre as it has shadows behind the text. The white looks like a glow which is something I want to try and create with our logo and it suggests mystery. However even though The Strangers is a psychological horror film, glowing text is usually associated with ghosts and if I was to see this font, I would automatically think of paranormal.

This font is very bold which suggests danger in the film. I think it is effective as it would be dominant on a film poster and magazine cover, however in my opinion, it doesn't clearly show the horror genre.





I want to use the same font for the film name on my trailer, film poster and magazine cover. This will show a direct link of all the media products.  Here are some of the ideas I have thought of for the font of Transfixed taking inspiration from existing psychological horror film logos:

I found these fonts on a website called 'DaFont' which enables you to download and use them. I want to consider using the top font as it is sophisticated and professional but it also portrays the distorted, eerie mood we want to get across to our audience in the film. The second font also does this as it is simple. It has sections of the letters missing like the 'Insidious' logo, which reflects the enigma in the film which will attract our audience.




The third font is effective as I like how it looks like smudged and dripping blood. This will be a suitable font for our film as it has the connotations of violence which is shown in our film. Blood is also a connotation of a psychological horror so it clearly shows the genre of the film. I think it is effective when you can work out the genre of the film just by looking at the font as it creates an identity for the film as it usually suggests the font of the title is memorable, so this is a font I want my group and I to consider.
I have edited the colour of the font to change the dripping blood to red and placed it on a white background. This is because from looking at my font research and horror conventions, white black and red are colours associated with horror films and make fonts stand out.

Furthermore, I have also considered the colour and font of the text in between the shots in the trailer as they need to clear to read, bold and memorable so the audience don't forget what was said in the last piece of text. I have looked at the fonts from 'The Strangers', 'The House of Wax' and 'The Purge' trailer to take inspiration from:

'The Purge'

'The Strangers'

'The House of Wax'

'The Strangers' and 'The Purge' trailers have plain white text and a simple font to ensure the attention isn't taken away from the main trailer and film name. However, 'The House of Wax' uses text which relates to the story line. It looks like wax has been smudged and the text has been engraved into the wax. This is something I want to consider doing with fake blood and then filming it as I want to whole trailer to link and show conventions of a psychological horror and blood is an iconic convention.  My group and I can consider doing the text towards the end in blood when we begin to see blood in the trailer shots themselves, and the text at the beginning in plain colour and font so it is easy to read like in 'The Strangers' and to also ensure the attention is taken away from the most important shots at the beginning which set the narrative.

Magazine cover name

Name of Magazine- Disfigured

I like this font as it is sharp and slick. I want to use this font for the name of my magazine as it isn't too complex so it won't draw attention from the dominant image or film name itself. Also, it is bold enough to catch my audiences eye and it clearly shows the genre of the magazine as the letters look sharp which symbolises weapons and violence. 

It is important that the font shows the genre of the magazine as the specific niche audience who only read horror film magazines, will need to see a horrific font on the shelf to suggest the genre as they are usually stacked to show the magazine name, therefore they will pick it up.

The actual name of the magazine, 'Disfigured' also shows the genre as it is a negative word to represent horror films. It has the connotations of ugliness, damage, wounds, massacre and mayhem which are all conventions in a horror film.