Final Evaluation

Nina and I had already come up with an idea to film about something that is currently quite a large issue early on in the planning. As we were using people our age as actors/actresses, it made sense to come up with a storyline that affects this age group (late teens to mid 20’s) and so we decided to focus on domestic violence. In the trailer this is something that only features once in a flashback, but the repercussions of escaping the violence (or so it would seem) become apparent.

Thriller was the genre we chose to aim it at as it is so popular around our age group, so we tried to use as many common thriller conventions as we could where possible. These included details such as: low key lighting in some parts and eerie yet somewhat dramatic music, especially the further into the trailer it gets. Research into films that follow the conventions such as ‘Gothika’ and ‘Taken’ helped us decipher what was needed and from there we had a better understanding of how to create a particular atmosphere for the genre. An example of how our research gave us insight was the idea of a hand help camera. When studying the film ‘Creep,’ which is about a woman who gets locked in a tube station and hunted down, we noticed that the beginning uses a hand held camera to let the audience know that there is someone else there. Because there is little action or drama in it, it comes across as spooky, however we wanted to use it in a dramatic context and therefore had more upbeat music as well as moving the camera more violently to signify running, or in this case chasing.

As both my ancillary (AS film) and main trailer revolve around stalking. The main difference is that the genre of my primary film is social-realism and highlights homosexuality as it is a boy stalking another boy he likes however, whilst this storyline revolves around stalking-it is meant in an entirely different context as this is a different genre and is far more physically harmful. When comparing both texts, it is apparent how much I have improved over the course of a year. There is far more confidence with the camera work and more techniques have been used such as hand held camera (although this was used on a small extent in the ancillary text) and zoom. As well as this, there were far more problems to overcome such as trying to get access to certain areas and working out time schedules to suit everyone so there was a greater sense of achievement after we completed it.

In the feedback we received back at the beginning of the project after presenting a powerpoint of our ideas, we got told that it would be a challenge trying to get actors and actresses to perform at a high potential to gain the correct atmosphere needed to pull off a thriller. As well as this, they would need a timetable that would adhere to both of our, already difficult, timetable restrictions. As neither Nina or myself had very many frees together, our actors needed to be available around the times that we were. Our first idea was to use someone from the drama department but this became a challenge when nobody was able to do it. Finally our friend Chloe came forward and agreed to do it, which was useful as-although not perfect-we had enough time off together necessary to complete the trailer, although it involved sacrificing a number of evenings in order to do it. As well as this, we were advised about possible limitations when it came to shooting in different locations due to Nina's disability. Although we had given this some thought, we had not considered how much of a challenge it would be and we made sure we constantly took it into consideration before deciding to film somewhere. The feedback from the presentation helped bring to light some of the important snags we would hit during the filming process and helped us take precautions to prevent them or make it easier to overcome them.

Once we had posted the trailer online, we asked our friends to leave comments about what they liked and what could be improved. One helpful comment was given by Nina's sister, a fan of horror and thriller films. She stated:

"The trailer has good use of angles and different views. I understood the storyline and the music added a uneasy theme to the trailer, which was effective. I think that the font used could've been different as the font is commonly used and is well-recognised as something used in Windows editing software. Overall, the trailer got across the main plot and included much needed suspense to achieve a horror-type trailer"

It is true that we tried to incorporate as many angles and different camera techniques as possible, however I disagree somewhat that the plot is easy to follow. Problems we encountered were that we thought people might get confused with the character Ella having a different boyfriend later on in the trailer, but luckily nobody seemed to pick up on it. I do agree, however, that the font 'Chiller' is used very commonly and is associated with Microsoft Windows, but it was difficult trying to find an appropriate font that was right for the film and none of the other ones fit the bill in quite the same way.The comments above came from youtube and have been put on there from class mates and friends. As I have had some concerns with the trailer noticing small imperfections, it is nice to hear some positive light shed on it, particularly hearing that it gave one person in particular goosebumps!

Other comments to come from friends included:

"It follows the genre conventions"
"Good effect on the ending title"
"Good use of font and title-it fits in well with the genre”
"Capturing music"

and on a more negative note

"The name seems a bit 'corny'-could have been improved"

Whilst this is something that I once again agree with, we had difficulty coming up with a good name that could be associated with the film and therefore 'No Escape' seemed like the best option from the few that we came up with.

The use of web 2.0, and other media technologies in the process of planning, researching, contructing and documentating our project has been imperative. Almost all of our research was carried out online using youtube which allowed us to find the ideal trailers to draw ideas and understanding from. As well as that, every bit of planning we have done has been documented online using google docs. Email has also been vital to send work back and forth to each other from home and to share ideas over and has in turn allowed us to come to reach agreements about who was playing the bigger parts in different areas of the project and who was dealing with different paperwork. As well as this, Photoshop was fundamental when it came to creating our poster and magazine cover. Although other software could have been used. We would not have had the advantages and all the different tools that Photoshop encompassed.
Modern technology was also used to create our trailers. Filming involved a film camera from which the film was then uploaded onto a computer with a cable and stored in an external hard drive to keep it safe, and easily transportable.

Whilst it has been considered a very demanding project-facing many challenges and limitations, we have overcome each hurdle and there has been a great sense of achievement with it. Nina and I used great teamwork and developed skills in partnership. Both of us knew where our strengths and weaknesses lay, so we used this to our best advantage to achieve the best results possible. The most enjoyable part of the experience was seeing our completed trailer and watching the result of months of hard work.

Overall, I am happy with the completed products. I am pleased with the magazine cover and particularly the poster as they are both very effective, like others who saw them also coveyed. Whilst I can notice some small imperfections in the trailer, I am pleased with the overall outcome and think it captures the genre well-especially towards the end, where low key lighting is used more frequently.

Copyright information

Any use of music in this trailer complies with 'Fair Dealing' under the 1988 Copyright Designs and Patents Act (UK), Sections 6(i) and 6(ii); Fair dealing is a term used to describe some limited activities that are allowed without infringing copyright. Briefly these are as follows: Section 6i: Research and private study. Copying parts of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or of a typographical arrangement of a published edition for the purpose of research or private study is allowed under the following conditions: The copy is made for the purposes of research or private study; The copy is made for non-commercial purposes; The source of the material is acknowledged; The person making the copy does not make copies of the material available for a number of people.

Finished Trailer

Finished Poster

Finished Poster

The poster was considerably simpler than creating the magazine cover as there was far less content involved. In fact, we tried to make it as simple as possible to make it more effective and create a spookier persona. In my opinion this worked and as you can see above, there are few layers.

Here we can see the photograph we decided to use for the poster. Like the magazine cover, it was taken in the photo studio against a black backdrop. This photograph stood out to us as the best one for the poster as, similar to a high angled shot in filming, it makes her look very vulnerable.

Not only this but, her facial expression shows fear and she is looking up as if there is someone there she is afraid of or trying to get away from. From here we moved the photograph into Photoshop and played around with the levels to make it brighter as well as increase the contrast to make it stand out more and catch the eyes of viewers. We also cropped it so that she was centred within the image and there was not too much negative space around the image.

From here we added the same backdrop we used in the magazine cover. This helped to create a common theme within the two so that people could relate it to the trailer. We used an image we took from the internet and copied and pasted it into the background. Next we switched around the layers so that it remained behind everything else such as the photograph and the text.

The next step was to add the text. We decided to take a line from within the trailer 'she thought it was over', and used it as a tagline in the poster and put it in the same font 'chiller' as the main title so that both were associated. It also helped keep the common theme running of using similar backgrounds and fonts. We created the details of cast and crew in a very thin font that could be read far easier than if it were in a big bold font, as it had to be shrunk to a small size so as not to take up too much of the bottom of the screen. Underneath we came up with a release date for the trailer and made it big so that people could easily notice it. We also decided to use write Chloe Alder at the top in big letters to make it seem more authentic and make it seem more exciting.

Finally we finished off in the same way we started the magazine cover. We once again decided to give a glow to the main title and the tagline so that they stood out and looked eerie, deciding not too highlight anything else as it might draw attention away from the title of the film. It was also important to keep it dark so that it looked as frightening as possible.

I am very pleased with the outcome of the poster. It took less time to create than the magazine cover as there is a lot less content yet its simplicity is very effective. It gives the basic information without going overboard and gives good insight into the genre.

Finished Magazine cover

Finished Magazine Cover

The photograph above shows our finished product. In the end we decided to go with Empire as it seemed more of a challenge and we could do more with it. We used Photoshop to create it as it allowed us to do layers which meant we could decide on the order in which things were placed on the magazine, as well as having more options with what we could do.

Initially we opened up a blank canvas in Photoshop and put in a photograph of Chloe we took in a photo studio against a black backdrop. We had difficulty in choosing a photograph as there were a number that we wanted to use but we eventually settled on this one as it covered enough of the screen without having the potential to get in the way of all the titles that were going to be put there, and it also made her look vulnerable and isolated. We didn't bother to change her attire as it wasn't needed and her white outfit meant that she would stand out more against the dark backdrop. We decided on a black background as it made her look more alone and vulnerable. As well as this, darkness is seen as highlighting fear so the audience will perceive it as frightening and isolated.

This print screen shows us starting off our magazine cover. Here you can see we've put in a background that looks like scratched glass or material under the photograph of Chloe. Initially we were toying with the idea of using just a plain background but we decided to stick with the same background as we used in the poster so that the film could be associated with a common theme that people would remember it by. On the left hand side, you can see that we have opened up the type tool which is what we used too insert all the text and here we used the title as a starting point. We had some trouble deciding on fonts, but eventually decided to use the Chiller one for the main title as it helps the audience determine the genre.

The next thing we decided to do was to add a glow around the outside of Chloe's photograph and the main title, so that not only did they stand out, but it also made them appear eerie and spooky. We did this by going to the paint tool and creating a white outline around them, then reducing the opacity to make it look like a glow.

From here, we added all the rest of the titles. From studying previous Empire magazines, we noticed that the main 'Empire' title tends to go behind the persons head and decided to follow in this tradition.
As well as this we realised the price, issue and date usually went in between the top triangle of the 'M' and so we also did this.
We once again used the text tool to put all the text in, as shown on the left hand side. We went to the odeon website to see what is currently being shown in cinema's so that we had some ideas as to what to include on the cover, and most of this can be seen on the right hand side in the section titled 'Plus'. Most of the other text is focused around our trailer as that is the main focus of the cover and helps advertise 'No Escape' to its best potential. We decided to go for a red and white theme with a black backdrop adding a black theme as well.

Finally we added any other pictures we needed such as the big film strip down the bottom with frames from the film as we thought it was a good way to make the trailer stand out on the cover. We also tried to fill up the cover with as much content as possible to make it look more clustered rather than empty. This made it look as though there is a large content inside the magazine, and also made it appear more exciting and interesting, which is how Empire usually layout their magazine covers.

Creating the magazine cover was not as difficult as I had first assumed. Having prior experience with it, I knew what I was doing and understood the concepts of layers as well as knowing the various tools on offer, which made it a fairly easy and enjoyable process.

Magazine and Poster Planning

Analysed Poster

The image above shows the Gothika poster analysed to give me an insight into what is needed to create an effective poster that advertises a film to its full potential. whilst most posters appear very simple so that at a glance it is obvious what it is about, and gives away the genre-I have found out that facial expression, typography, colouring and in some cases-attire, is very important to giving away the main insight into the film. Gothika does this very well and manages to give out a cold isolated atmosphere which instantly helps you understand the main overall feel of the film.

Analysed Magazine Cover

As Empire was the decided upon magazine cover to base our one on, I decided to analyse the front cover of one of the magazines that stood out the most to me. This one featuring the Joker from Batman has very vivid colours that draws in the audiences attention. The typography stands out above the photograph (which is also very eye-catching) so that readers will see the content straight away which will encourage them too buy it.

The Editing Process

To do the editing, we used a program called Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, a program more advanced than Windows Movie Maker, which was the program we were expected to use last year.
Using it last year anyway though, I knew what I was doing so it wasn't very difficult, however we faced some challengeswhen it came to cutting. Understanding that cutting at the precise fraction of a second is vital for continuity and we had to make sure we did just that. It was troublesome trying to make the cuts appear continuous and there was some argument as to how long to keep each shot as well as the exact point in which to cut. We got through it by working together, and by talking in some depth about it more time and effort was put in which gave us a better overall result.
The most challenging part of using Premiere Pro was remembering every single tool and part of the program that existed. As well as this, it wasimportant to make sure we rendered it regularly so that the quality of the trailer didn't deteriorate as we edited it.

One important part of the editing process was finding the

best music for the trailer. Music is imperative to give the atmosphere you are trying to achieve and in our case we didn't necessarily want fast up tempo music all the time, as there is only some action. Because of this we wanted slightly up beat but yet creepy and eerie music which portrayed the the thriller genre.

After analysing many music pieces from a wide number of albums, these CD's were the four that stuck out as being the best for what we needed. From here we narrowed it down even more to just the single pieces we wanted to use due to their effective mixture of suspense and drama.

This print screen shows how

we created the titles for the trailer.

The bottom of the screen shows how we chose the fonts and colouring we wanted for the titles which we chose from the long list. From here we went on to add our own effects. Most we kept simple, but for the title giving the name of the film at the end of the trailer we chose to use an effect called ‘roll’ which caused the title to flicker on and off and move around a little. We toyed with the idea of doing this for every title, but the others seemed more effective kept simple, especially as it made the film title ‘No Escape’ stand out more.

This is the list of effects we used too create fades in between scenes. We used the cross-dissolve tool as it created a slower dissolving effect, which made it look as though one scene faded into the next and gave for a smoother transition. To make a quicker transition we used the ‘dip to white’ tool, which made it appear more like a white flash and gave it a moderately eerie effect that helped create the atmosphere we were looking for.

This photograph shows the fade tool in action. This is a cross fade and is slowly dissolving into the scene. We did this to open up the scene and show the transition between this scene and the previous one, especially as this scene is more of an action scene and uses a hand held camera whilst the last one has a far slower tempo. As there was bright sunshine that day also, which shows in the scene, it helps to break the audience into it more.

We used a colour matte as we wanted a longer transition between scenes such as when Chloe or ‘Ella’ as her character is called, is having a flashback. When we tried to create a longer transition using the dissolve tools, there was no way to extend them, or add them in between scenes without a lot of extra fuss, so when we discovered colour matte, it allowed us too leave as much space as we wanted between scenes. This became increasingly useful and we found ourselves using it quite often throughout the trailer.

As we filmed our trailer in a number of different places, we discovered we had trouble with the difference in sound volumes. For example, in filming outside-despite using the wind filter on the video camera-the background noise was a lot louder than when filming inside. As well as this, the vocals varied from place to place so we decided to adjust the volume levels. To do this, we pressed the control key and clicked on a certain point within the frame. Then we moved the lines around up and down accordingly to create the best sound effects. From here we found we had trouble matching the noise to the next scenes so we had to adjust the volume levels minutely at the end as well so that the scenes merged well.

After adjusting the noise volumes, we still found we had troubles primarily with wind and background noises. To try and reduce the noise as much as possible we used the ‘DeCrackler’ tool and the ‘DeNoiser’ tools both circled in the above print screen. These did a good job in getting rid of the vast amount of background noise and allowed us to hear speech as opposed to lots of wind.

Overall, editing was a lot different to the preliminary exercise we did last year. Whilst that was tough, there were not nearly as many changes and touches we had to do to it in comparison to this year. Part of the reason it was so difficult was because it was filmed on two different tapes, so working out how to put them both into Premiere Pro together was quite challenging and not an easy way to start. From there, we spent hours on end going through and picking out tiny details within frames and doing the best job possible with them.

Final Filming

The filming process has been a long tedious one, with many difficulties faced. I did not realise just how much it would challenge me but much dedication and hard work finally paid off. Initially there was the problem of finding areas to film as my partner is in a wheelchair. This only got harder as, when it came to filming in houses, she was unable to get in and meant most of the filming was down to me. This was made harder due to the distance back and forth. As my partner couldn't carry the equipment (A tripod and a big case with the camera, microphone and batteries in it) I had to carry it daily between college and home which became hard work on top of my other books and bags. One of the biggest problems, though, was that around half way through filming the tape stopped working. Being half term, it put us a week behind in the time that we should have finished our film. Eventually it turned out that we had been given a head cleaner to film on as opposed to an actual tape and most of the recording had been on either the head cleaner or the camera, but luckily everything we recorded was there, it was just a case of using two tapes.

On the other hand, our actors and actresses were better than expected. Initially it was difficult as they were unsure of what to do, where to stand and position themselves and how to say things but thankfully for us, our main actress Chloe who plays Ella, is currently studying A2 film studies and therefore has some knowledge in filming. As well as this, they devoted a lot of their time to helping as in some cases it meant bus journeys that took around an hour each way, and thankfully they were willing to do this.

By far the hardest scene we did was the one at Greenhill Gardens in Weymouth. Because Nina is in a wheelchair, I took sole charge of the camera but in this instance it was a long distance shot, and the cast had to be in the distance below the hill with the director, who had to be me, as Nina couldn't get down the hill. For Nina to operate the camera, she had to have someone with her who she could do it for her with her direction and due to strong wind that day, it meant I had to run up and down the hill to try and talk to her which became increasingly tiring and difficult, especially when it came to cueing.

Eventually we had to redo this scene as you could see me in the corner of many of the shots directing which became obvious when we uploaded the trailer to the computer, but this time we used signs to give cues and this made it far easier to do.

Although it has been hard-work and very demanding, I am glad we finished the filming as it tested my skills in patience and motivation, and proved that I have both. As well as this, it measnt hat I am more pleased with the outcome and so much time and effort went into the production.

Reflective Blog on Current Progress

Retrospectively looking back at the SWOT Analysis produced in the early stages of our planning, many of the weaknesses and limitations we knew would face us have actually caused more difficulty than we initially thought they would. By looking to achieve the best film possible, we created the storyboards and any obstacles that would affect us, Nina and I had the 'cross that bridge when we come to it' mind set. Whilst neither of us took it too far knowing there are certain things we can't achieve no matter how hard we try, There have still been inconveniences that have been hard to get around.

The first is the fact that my partner is in a wheelchair making access to certain areas that are too hilly/have steps or the ground is just unconvenient very difficult. Because of this we've had to look harder for areas to film which isn't very easy living in the countryside where a lot of areas contain such anomolies.

The second was the distance. Having to travel an hour and a half to college on the bus each day, the area Nina and myself live in is quite far away and any people we know either live in Weymouth or Lyme Regis where we live. As different scenes in our trailer take place in both these areas, whoever we chose to film would have to make long journeys which made it hard to find people who were willing enough. This became a constant problem as nobody wanted to do it, and times when we found people who did, other obstacles got in the way such as exams, having completely different frees to us, and having other things to do.
The main time all of us are free is lunch time, but unfortunately the cameras can't be booked out over that time.

Finally we are ready to film. We have our actors and actresses and know when everyone is free and after careful planning and time management we will be filming very shortly.

Plot

The film is is a thriller and based around serious issues facing mainly young and sometimes even older men and women around the world-domestic abuse.

It begins with two people-Ella who is 15-16 years old and her boyfriend Ross who is around 20-21.
Ross starts to become possessive and jealous which leads to physical and verbal abuse, something that is seen briefly in a flashback in the trailer, and Ella becomes frightened so she decides with advice from her friends that she needs to get out.
Unfortunately the possessiveness doesn't stop there and Ross starts stalking Ella-watching her out in public, giving threatening telephone calls and so on. During this time, Ella gets a new boyfriend, which only increases his jealousy and possessiveness.
By the end of the film he has broken into her house and tried to attack her-although this is only briefly seen at the end of the trailer where you see the door opening a crack so that some suspense is left for the audience-but in a twist of events, Ella accidentally kills him whilst trying to defend herself and escapes out onto the street injured but safe.

Character Analysis

Our film is about a girl who is abused verbally and physically (although this isn’t shown in the trailer, it is implied), and because of this, we decided to use the most stereotypical representations possible so that the audience would be able to have a better understanding of the characters involved.

Ella
The main character is a girl called Ella who is around 15-16 years old. In the beginning of the trailer she is being abused by her older boyfriend Ross and because of this we wanted to portray her as weak and vulnerable. In contrast to Ross, we want her to appear quite small, and in the first scene, she witnesses a flashback of Ross towering over her whilst she is sat down. This makes her appear defenceless whilst he appears in control.
Even when she finally gets up the courage to break up with her, he still appears in control of her, and at one point a high point of view shot is used as he is high up above her and she is on the ground below walking. As the camera is focused on top of her, she appears very small and weak, which contrasts Ross even more as it is his point of view and you know he is the one looking down on her.
Ella is the one who the audience will relate too as she is the weakest, and being female helps continue this further. People will feel sorry for her and will want her to escape from Ross which will hopefully draw them in and make them want too see it.

Ross
Ross is represented as tough and masculine who appears to have the power and control-something that is brought more to light when it is contrasted against Ella's weak and vulnerable character. He is a few years older than Ella and this is obvious in the way he acts as he appears the stereotype of an insecure powerful male who has the dominance in the relationship shown at the beginning.
The only time you get to see Ross is at the beginning during a flashback Ella is having of him being violent and agressive. This furthers the mysterious elements as, by not seeing him you are tapping into the mindset of Ella who, in some of the trailer is oblivious to the fact that he is there. It makes it appear more mystifying.