Film Poster Image Effects

 

Here is a mobile screenshot to show the different image effects that are available on the iPhone 5c. Below are some images of the different effects we tested out to experiment the different styles and to compare which suits our film trailer genre most.

 

Credit Transition and How We Made It

Myself and Ellie created this transition by using the software Microsoft Powerpoint. We created two text boxes, the first one including 'F          E             A            R' and then the other one including 'ORGET   VERYTHING   ND  UN'. We created an animation to combine to two together and have the writing dissolve away and after that have the F E A R  to increase in size to emphasize the key theme of FEAR represented in our trailer. We then set specific start times and duration of the text boxes an animation affects to run automatically. We then used quicktime to create a screen recording to video the animation. We first tried to export the powerpoint as a .MOV file, but this continued to cause error when we imported it onto iMovie. However, using quicktime and a screen recording was very straight forward and easy to use. 

Font Planning to Use for Credits

I have chosen to get the font styles from dafont.com in which I narrowed down the fonts by selecting the horror filter then looked to find which style suited our film trailer the best.

In the image to the left I liked the font 'OCTOBER CROW', however when later researching I came across the 'I STILL KNOW' font which I think works better with our film trailer. I like this font because it represents the thriller genre whilst not being to 'gory' which would suggest that the film trailer is a horror. However as we do not have aspects of blood and slasher. I like the patchy-ness in the writing as it can represent as if it has been scratched which would link together with the female character trying to escape. 

Film Trailer Credits

In our film trailer we have decided to have these credits incorporated into it. We created these credits on powerpoint which were then imported into iMovie as photos but we applied a transition to them to make them zoom in slowly to create an eerie atmosphere, the photos are in the order of which they are on the film trailer. We decided to have a black background with white font as it looks more contrasting whilst representing the type of genre the film trailer is. When creating the final credit image, some of the words were enhanced by making them larger than others to make them stand out more to the audience. We added '#THERUNAROUND' as it allows the target audience to view information about it on twitter and follow any updates if the film was to get produced.

Transition Editing

Within the trailer we have decided to use the Fade to Black, Fade to White, Cross Dissolve and Cross Blur. We have used the fade to black at the beginning of the trailer as the pace is slow and the fade to black enhancing to slow pace as well as the switching between scenes. When the pace begins to increase we have used fade to white transitions as it creates immediate tension whilst providing the element of thriller and would make the audience engage more with the trailer due to the short scenes and jump cuts, the fade to white enhances this.

We have also added a dissolve cut with the shots of the girl on the swing and the award nomination credit. It creates an eerie atmosphere as we have edited the sound of the screetching swing to carry on during the footage of the award nomination credit. The dissolve transition also blends the nomination credit with the empty swing scene as well.

Black and White VS Colour Frames

Within the editing process, we have decided to use the scenes of the female character in black and white to enhance the idea that these scenes are in the past, whereas the present scenes are in colour. We have decided to do this as we feel that is has more of an effect on the audience by enhancing the female characters emotions by setting the theme. The colour scenes of the male kidnapper also enhance his costume as he is wearing all black in order to connote that he is a 'baddie' and to keep his identity hidden.

THE RUNAROUND - Our First Cut

The video above shows our first edit of the film trailer. This trailer edit was used in our Media Screening on the 7th February 2014, which was then evaluated by the other Year 12 and 13 Media Studies group. The Evaluation has been incorporated and analysed in another post.

Once the final film trailer has been produced we would like to compare the first edit to the final edit to see how much we have improved and progressed during the project. This first edit has been completed through the use of free periods and media lessons.

My Own Evaluation of the First Edit:

So far my favourite shot within the trailer is the first scene of the film trailer of the actress in a dark boot with the enhanced sound of her panicking in distress. This is my favourite scene because it quickly sets tension and forces the audience to engage immediately with the trailer.

I also like once the climax has happened, the slow motion shot of the actress's perspective as I feel it works well with the music as the music has an eerie high pitched sound which also causes the audience to experience the tension and also puts the audience in  the actress's point of view.

Evaluation of the first edit: Ellie

I am extremely happy with the progress we have made so far, despite the obstacles we have faced. A lot of our original ideas have been changed, adapted or left out due to either not working as effectively as we would have liked or through us coming up with a better idea or method. 

I'm happy with the way we build up towards the climax at the end, as this is my favourite aspect of the trailer. The fast paced quick cuts really build up tension and excitement, as well as adding confusion for the audience. This reflects the confusion of our main character who has been kidnapped yet doesn't know why by, where she is or why. 

We will add more shots of her trying to escape, long and short, in order to improve the build up at the begin and add more dynamic to the climax sequence. 

Possible Effects

Whilst watching the current television serious 'Hostages', I noticed that during flashback shots there is a soft, blurred edge.

This is really effective in enhancing nostalgia as well as being a device to distinguish between current and past story lines. 

We experimented with this blurred edge on our own footage, and it worked well to contrast the varying emotions we want to portray as well as change the mood. However, due to our footage being shot as if from a handheld camera, or on the kidnappers phone, this effect would not be a realistic editing style. The dream-like look this gives the footage wasn't appropriate for our narrative, yet we will still consider using it on the poster or another aspect of our project. 

Night Vision Effect

In our film trailer we have planned to incorporate a scene where the female victim will be in a dark room panicking/in distress. We would like to use the night vision effect on this specific scene to distort the footage to create suspense and confusion for the audience. 

 Having researched previous kidnapping based narrative film trailers, we would like to incorporate a night vision effect scene in ours. We like the effect as it creates suspense and also helps create and eerie atmosphere. I came across a tutorial on YouTube on how  to create this type of effect on iMovie, however we would like to experiment with the colours instead of 'going green' perhaps try blue like the one shown in the print screen in the left.
Having a blue effect connotes that the victim is isolated whereas having a red effect on the kidnapper could connote that he is the 'baddie' as well as suggesting danger. We will experiment with both colours to see which is best.

Researching Voice Effects - Jigsaw

When researching previous thriller films, Saw gave us inspiration to use a distorted voice effect in our film trailer to portray the kidnapper as the 'baddie' as well as adding more suspense for the audience when watching. As we have decided to keep the identity of the kidnapper hidden, we feel that using a voice distortion would help us achieve this as well as not showing the kidnappers face in any shots. We came across a YouTube tutorial on how to create the jigsaw voice effect on Audacity which we can incorporate into our film trailer.