1. Evaluation
For this assignment I had to film and edit a movie trailer. As a group we decided to follow
up my idea and create a horror trailer. We assigned each other role’s to make the trailer. I
was the Director because it was my idea, so this would make it easier to decide what
needed to be filmed or if changes had to happen to certain scenes. Our target audience
was people 15 and over because I feel that it would only be understood by people of this
age and it could be too scary for a younger audience.
For my trailer I tried to follow as many conventions as I could, such as I used inter-titles to
help build tension with the trailer and put the viewers on edge. Another I used was
narrative, I felt this was important in my trailer because I wanted people to know what
was going on so i changed some of the script to help explain the story a little better, and
then it was easier to build the narrative further.
Before we could just make a trailer we had to do lots of Pre-Production workto gettera
better understanding in to film trailers. I done lots of research and looked into lots of
different things. To start I analysed horror trailers and reviewed them to help me
understand what makes a good horror trailer and what doesn’t. Because of that research I
learnt that horrors set the equilibrium of the characters almost right away toshow what
they normally do, the getting intothe trailerthe equilibrium gets disturbed and it
normally has a fast paced montage of scenes from the movie which would interest the
audience and nearly every time, a jump scare.
After gaining knowledge of Horror trailers I them made a film proposal where I wrote the
whole story then how the trailer would go, over time lots of changes were made to it but
these choices where necessary to make the trailer better. The next thing I did was
research music and sound of horror trailers. Music and sound is needed in horror trailers
because they can make it seem scarier and also keep the audience interested. I then went
on and done research in to location and costuming for my trailer, my trailer needed a little
bit of costuming but mostly it was normal clothes. The locations where not hard tofind
and I am happy with the choices I made.
We made a filming schedule where we decided where, when and who was filming/acting
on that day. These made it easier to film because it meant we were planning ahead so we
wouldn’t have to spend time organising what we are going to film. The last thing we did
was create a risk assessment, which is just to assess the dangers of filming even if it seems
harmless.
2. When we started to film we filmed the trailer in the order that it was going to be and only
filming some extra scenes later on. I think the production went very well and there wasn’t
many issues and if there were we could solve them easily for example, there was a huge
issue with lighting in scenes inside a park. The park has no lights on and its night so there
is no natural light, we had to provide external light sources to light ourfaces and scenes of
interest. This scene then turned out very well and the lighting didn’t seem too powerful.
That was one of the only issue I had filming the scenes and I think that it went very well. I
think that scenes went well but some of the audio has issues, for example the park scene
had wind blowing on the microphone so it distorted the audioa little but this was fixed a
little using after effects. I think that all of the shits we filmed were done well and there is
no issue with them.
During production of filming forthis trailer we had to fill out production logs, production
logs are sheets of information that say what we did that day, what my role was and what
effect I had on the trailer. I completed the production logs with high detail and said what
did to help this trailer look better. I was the director so I had to write about what scene
and screen changes were made. I also acted in my trailer so being a director and an actor
helped me get a better understanding of the scenes that had to be shot. I think I Wrote
the production logs with a clear view of what I had to do as director for my trailer.
When editing I did not rely on heavy effects but some were used for example, I had to use
motion tracking toadd a glow effect on the antagonists eyes but these effects weren’t
used lots in the trailer as you have to go frame by frame to get it in the clip and this can
take a very long time. I also used a scramble effect in the trailer which I think also was a
very light but effective effect. We also made editing logs that like the production logs
explain what i did with editing for that day. There was a big issue where my file corrupted
so I had to re do most of my editing and this was annoying but I finished it on time. I think
that the editing was well done but there was a few thing I wish I could have put in but
these were either too hard or they would take a very long time when that something I
didn’t have toward the end of the editing process. I stuck with the decisions I made and it
turned out well for it in the end, the only issue that I think brings it down is the music
didn’t go well with the trailer and when I asked some of my target audience they agreed
with this statement.
Once the trailer was finished I then asked some friends to watch it and give their thoughts
on the trailer. There was mixed opinions and they vary between the good and the bad, for
example nearly everyone agreed that the music did not fit with the trailer and that it
should have be more horror related. But most also agreed that the trailer was creepy and
would be very good if the errors were corrected. I asked them if they understood the basic
elements of the story and all of them understood what was going on which was one of my
aims.
3. To conclude, I think that my trailer didn’t change that much from what I intended todo,
but I wanted to add some different things ontothe trailer but these never worked out
how I wanted it too. I think that it did appealto my target audience in the end because
the footage and editing made it a good horror trailer, and it still had the conventions of a
horror trailer such as inter titles, these were a good way to make the audience interact
with the trailer a little more. I also used enigma codes to keep the audience wondering
about what’s going to happen next and this tied in well with the inter titles too. The audio
is still a let down on this trailer and is something I regret not trying tofix sooner, the
trailer would have been much betterif the music and audio was improved to a better
standard. I think it was well edited and the shots were well done, this helps it have a more
professional look and can also make it look more realistic. Something I think worked well
in my trailer was a scene where it switches to first person when a character is being
chased and attacked by an unseen force. I think that this is very effective in making the
audience feel like they are in the trailer and can make it scarier because its as if they are
there and seeing it from their own eyes. I also had a review from my target audience who
had mixed views on my trailer. They felt that it was filmed and edited well but audio let it
down and this is something I would have hoped to fix but I had ran out of time.
