We selected the actors who we thought would best suit the characters personality's and portray believable teenagers. We decided to try and film the majority of the trailer in one weekend to ensure we had enough time to edit it. We wanted to follow the storyboard accurately to make sure we didn't miss out any details. Our first shot of the trailer was the painting the number 5. This was harder to produce that originally thought as we couldn't get the whole number in shot without showing unwanted details such as the wall paper. we used the tripod for many shots to ensure a smooth professional finish. When filming the murder shots, we experimented with high angle and low angle shots to see which was the most effective, the finished shot was shot half a story of stairs above the scene. Similarly, when filming Hannah's death, we were not sure how to make it realistic without ruining or slipping on the blood. The burning of the photo scene had to be done well for the first shot as we did not have an endless supply of photos. I experimented with shots such as standing on benches to get a high angle, or lying on our back for a low angle. The wind also caused some problems as the flame kept getting blown out and the flame was not big enough to capture the emotion for the shot.Whilst filming Eleanor locked in the school gym, I had inspiration from Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" to film it how they filmed one shot of Jack. This meant i lay on my back and shot Eleanor from upside down. It worked very well and was happy with the finished shot. On our storyboard, we decided to shoot an invitation scene which would display how lonely and unpopular Eleanor was. However, when we needed to shoot this in school, the weather was a major issue as there was snow everywhere. This would ruin the continuity as earlier in the trailer was sunny and clear. We decided to shoot it anyway, nevertheless when we watched it back we decided it was amateur and not necessarily needed as much as the other footage.
When we picked the music for the trailer we had difficulty finding music to increase the pace of the trailer whilst being eerie and fitting to the horror genre. We spent a lot of time searching 'Youtube' and other music sites to find the perfect soundtrack. We found the slow mysterious track early on, however we couldn't find a track which fitted in with the previous track and increased the speed and horror of the trailer. Eventually I found a remix to the Madonna song "Frozen". This worked well as the main instrument of the violin was continuous from the previous track and it increased the tempo and horror for the trailer.
I feel our trailer, magazine and poster uses the forms and conventions of a real media product in many ways. The trailer fits in with the typical horror trailer due to the fast pace and quick cuts between shots. Similarly, the music starts slow and gains speed which is also common in horror trailers. One example of this is the trailer for the film we watched "Eden lake."
One way our poster uses the forms and conventions of a real poster is by the simplicity of the design. When researching horror posters I found they tend to have one main image which presents the horror genre in a powerful way. I wanted to continue this theme when designing the poster, so i got one ordinary picture of Eleanor's face and edited it using 'Photo shop' to create a dramatic and eye catching front cover whilst also fitting in with the horror theme.
I feel we developed the forms and conventions of a real media trailer through the captions written throughout the trailer. When researching horror trailers, i found many trailers use text to describe the film, however they also use voice over to fully emphasis the plot. We decided not to use any voice over as we felt it made the trailer slightly less realistic and more amateur. We decided to use detailed yet suspenseful text to create a mysterious impact on the trailer for the audience, whilst not wanting to give too much of the plot away.
I feel the combination of our main media product (the trailer) and our ancillary texts (magazine and poster) are very effective. we ensured there was continuity between all 3 pieces such as the main character Eleanor was also the main focus on both the poster and the magazine. It is clear on all three products what the film is called and you can instantly identify the poster is supporting the trailer due to the same font being used and the expression on Eleanor.
During the making of the trailer i consistently showed the audience the developments of the trailer too see their reaction and listen to any feedback they may have. We experimented with different positions to put the screaming shot and asked different people their opinion. We all decided that by putting the screams at the beginning rather than the end, it was more of a shock to the viewer and fully grasped their attention for the rest of the trailer. After the trailer was over, I showed many people the finished product, some had never seen it before whilst other had seen the developments. Many screamed and were shocked by the screams at the beginning which suggests it was the right place to put it. Many agreed the music worked well and kept their attention. There was no negative feedback for the trailer which suggests all the decisions we made and shots we used were done correctly.
Before we filmed our official trailer, we did a preliminary task of filming a chase sequence. This gave us practice with the cameras as we got used to using them effectively and the different techniques we could use them with.
After filming that, we practiced using Imovie to edit and put the shots together. This allowed us to practice with transitions,music and general editing techniques. Then when it came to filming our horror trailer, I felt much more confident with the camera and also knowing that I could use Imovie to develop any slight issue we had such as lighting. When we edited the footage, we used the "fade to black transition" frequently. We wanted to effect to be similar to blinking to help create voyeurism, however when we watched it back this effect was not created. Nevertheless it helped speed the pace and make the trailer as a whole more dramatic. Also,after the first shot of Eleanor walking down the stairs, we used a fade to white transition. This helps introduce the trailer to the audience and starts the story for the viewer. Another frequent use of editing was with the credits. We experimented with different presentations, such as fall from the top of the screen, or just still in the middle. However, we chose the style that we used as it helped the plot flow and kept the audiences attention without drifting to long away from the footage. When we created the storyboard, I was very conscious of ensuring we used a wider enough variety of shot types. We used many over-the-shoulder shots, high and low angle shots and mid shots, however when we shot Eleanor locked in the gym i had inspiration from Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" to film it with the camera upside down on the floor. This worked well and created a different effect to the other more typical shots. In order to create a professional poster and magazine cover, we used photo shop to edit the pictures in which we took.By changing the background colour and adding a higher contrast to the original poster, we were able to create a more realistic poster whilst fitting in with the horror genre.
Overall, I am happy with all three of the finished products. If I was to change anything I think I would try and make the trailer slightly more horrific by possibly adding more violent and dark scenes, however I feel with the time we had and we created an original plot whilst fitting with the forms and conventions of a typical horror trailer.
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