17/03/12 - Revised storyboard/transitions for final cut

These are the scanned images of our storyboard and our planning of some of the transitions. Our trailer's storyboard has changed significantly from our original one, as filming has meant that we faced many problems that we had to address. This resulted in a lot of our film being changed. We also felt as though our trailer seemed like it was telling a short story instead of it being a thriller film trailer, and so we decided to change many of the shots so we could solve this issue.

15/03/12 - Lighting for the trailer

Since we first began filming, lighting has always been an issue. When filming outside in the fields to complete the first part of our trailer, we found it difficult to ensure that our actress could actually be seen in the dark. As a result of learning from our mistakes, we tried to make sure that we could provide enough lighting for the closet scene. Here you can see us lighting the closet using a fairly powerful torch to focus the light on mainly her face and upper body.

When using only one torch didn't provide us with enough light, we decided to use the schools lighting equipment so that the light would be more powerful, as well as focused on her entire body. The lights were also kept upright and steady because of the poles they were attached to, which meant that the light on our actress did not move around on the clips, like it did when we only used the torch. The result was a clearer image of our actress and her surroundings, which we did not have before. With a clearer image, the audience can see more of the scene, helping to add to the suspense and tension created as they recognise the dangerous situation our actress is in.

Here is a picture of the lighting equipment we used!

27/02/12 - Adding sound to trailer

When we first began using Serif MoviePlus3 we encountered many problems when adding clips and editing the video as we were unfamiliar with the programme, but now we can use it quite condifentally. We had to convert some files so that they would be compatible with the programme, and after doing so, we realised that we needed to add sound to our trailer. This would help us with knowing when to cut the music and clips, as well as helping us realise whether the music actually complimented the trailer or if it didn't fit at all.

We added the sound in a similar way to the video clips, by uploading via "Add Media", which moved the clips to the sidebar where we could access them. After transferring all of the sound clips we needed into the programme, we were able to drag and drop the audio clips that we wanted to use, and cut and edit it easily.

Here you can see how when we had managed to figure out how to add sound to the programme, we also began to add several different sounds, including the foley sounds we had recorded before (of leaves crunching/footsteps etc) as well as the music. Adding more sounds to the trailer meant that the music could help build suspense and tension along with the dialogue and the natural sounds that helped to emphasise the quiet and eery settings in which the trailer takes place.

We decided to use Krzysztof Penderecki- Concerto Grosso No. 1 in C Minor, and so in order to actually get the audio we used a website called ZAMZAR. This allowed us to paste the url of the Youtube video and convert it into an mp3 that we could email to ourselves. After downloading the mp3 that was sent through, we had a copy on our computers of the audio, which made editing easier.

09/12/11 - Adding text/images to our trailer

Text in a trailer helps to break up video clips so that it can maintain the audiences attention. After watching several trailers, we noticed that many of them include text that show the star ratings from various magazines and newspapers, as well as short sentences or phrases that are related to the movie. "A MODERN CAT AND MOUSE GAME" and a star rating were two things we wanted to include in our own trailer, and so we decided to play around with the programme so that we could understand how to achieve this. The text referring to the chase in the film trailer being like "a modern cat and mouse game" was used to break up two different clips. One showed our main character 'Lily' alone, looking slightly intoxicated as she stumbled along in a field. The second clip was of her picking up speed and starting to run in the field, as it is made clear that she is being chased. If these clips were just placed next to each other, then it would be harder for the audience to understand that she now feels like she's being watched, and we wanted to use something apart from a quick cut to black to break apart certain clips.

A common feature on film trailers, is to include the star rating a certain publication gave the film, which is why we thought it would be appropriate to include this on our own trailer. Unfortunately, after searching for a while, we discovered that the symbol we were looking for could not be copied over into the programme. In an attempt to overcome this small issue, we decided to find an image of stars on a plain black background and crop it down, but again we realised that we could not copy the image over into the programme.

After our attempts proved unsuccessful, we decided to just use the "*" symbol on the keyboard instead, and discovered that it still looked fairly professional.
We also added in the name of our thriller film, choosing to make the text big and bold, as well as adding an effect that made the word glow white, providing an eery feel.

We have decided to change the font we used, as the one we originally used was quite rounded, and we felt something that looked slightly jagged may be better suited to a thriller trailer. The font Weathered SF is the new font we have chosen to use, which we have applied the same glowing effect on.

At the beginning of film trailers, there is usually a green screen that shows the copyright information, showing who the movie is suitable for, while also displaying the companies that had a role in completing the film. On the left, is an image of the information that would be shown at the beginning at the beginning of a film. We have recreated a similar image that we placed at the beginning of our own trailer.

This is the one we created for our very own trailer.

02/12/11 - Film title

Until now, creating a film title has not been at the forefront of our minds, and so we thought that it would be smart to think about possible names. As our film trailer is for a thriller trailer that features a girl being kidnapped as her friends search for her, we incorporated this idea into all of the possible names. Below is a mindmap that we drew, featuring the names we have to choose from:

When thinking of possible names, we thought about basic words like 'taken' and 'missing' to get our thought process going, using an online thesaurus to find other words.

Each of us chose two possible titles that we preferred, and these are the six names that we considered using from the mind map. We asked some of our friends who fit the target audience for our film which name they preferred, and created a tally chart to show the results.

I made this results table after entering the data from the tally chart into Microsoft Excel, as I felt displaying it in a bar graph would show the information in a clear and easily understandable way. Contained and The Blame Game were two names that we eliminated after we decided they didn't really fit our movie, and were two of our least favourites. After looking at the results, we decided that we all agreed, along with the participants, that Seized was the name that best suited our thriller film trailer.

30/09/11 - Timeline

Before filming more clips for our trailer, we decided that it would be beneficial to create a timeline of events. This would help us greatly, as when we continue with our filming, we will have a clearer idea of what shots and events we will use, and how long they will be. Below I have placed the different sheets of paper that we scanned into the computer, showing our timeline. During filming, we may choose to change certain elements, but drawing it now helps us to bring all of our ideas together, and give us a clearer idea of how we want to film our trailer.

These three parts show our completed rough outline of the timeline, which shows the different shots and ideas that we thought could go into our film trailer. What we have planned so far would roughly translate into 2 minutes 30, which would be the maximum length we could have, as we have to follow the official time limit for film trailers set by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) which is 2 minutes 30. Following our timeline will allow us to clearly think about what clips we need to film, and the direction we want to take with our film trailer. Having our ideas planned out clearly means that we will have a clear idea of what will happen next.

26/09/11 - Characters

The first character that we decided on was one of the main characters. We chose our friend Georgi to play the role of the girl that goes missing (Lily), as we felt she could easily play a vulnerable, quiet person.

Below are some photographs of her during filming, and her costume. We decided that as in the film she's coming home from a party, that she should be wearing an outfit that suggested that. That is why she's wearing a girly dress with a small denim jacket, and heels. We mainly used pastel and pale colours, which would compliment her small figure and blonde hair, adding to her 'innocent' and 'fragile' image. Even if we do not continue to film her in this costume, we may still use the same colour scheme. Using my research into costumes will help me to think about what else she could possibly wear.




Our other characters include:


Shannon: She is the character that becomes obsessed with finding her missing friend, and so her behaviour and costume should reflect this in some way. An idea we had was that her outfit could either be quite plain, and we will use colours like white to highlight the simplicity, and the fact that she isn't too bothered about her clothing because she's searching for her friend. We might try and incorporate the colours of Lily's clothing into Shannon's, so that there is a link that shows their closeness and how much they may mean to each other.


Chelsea: Her appearance will affect her attitude towards Lily's disappearance. As she does not appear worried for her friend, her appearance would show that she has put some effort into looking nice. She will probably have her hair up in a nice ponytail, and will wear casual clothes with nice shoes to show how she can continue her everyday tasks despite losing her friend. We will probably use colours like dark green, blue and brown, as earth tone colours tend to suggest a more relaxed nature, which reflects her personality.

19/09/11 - Equipment

Before we started filming, we were introduced to the equipment that we would be using during the process of filming our 'thriller' film trailer. Using this equipment while filming our trial shots allowed us to become familiar with the different effects, and various features on the camera. I have decided to show the equipment we have used, with some information about them. I feel that researching the equipment could help me to understand how we could use it all to the best of our advantage.

The first piece of equipment that we were shown was the camera we would be using. The Canon Legria FS306 is the lightest, smallest digital camcorder that Canon has ever made. It had a small screen attached to it, where you could watch a preview of your video clips directly after you had shot them. Furthermore, the settings and effects were easy to use, as everything was clear with text that explained what certain features did. Additionally, despite how long we were filming for, the battery's level didn't decrease a significant amount, as you can shoot for a maximum of 3.5 hours on a single charge. The battery displays the remaining charge in minutes, giving you time to finish off shooting, and budget in time for remaining shots. When using the camcorder we made sure to use a standard tripod for the majority of shots, to ensure that the clips were clear, rather than shaky.

Along with the camcorder, we were given a unidirectional microphone along with a dead cat to record sound. A unidirectional microphone is designed to be sensitive to sound from particular directions only. Even though a unidirectional dynamic microphone can pick sound from sides, such sound does not come out too clearly. For this reason, a unidirectional microphone is extremely useful where background noise needs to be eliminated. Although we did not actually use the microphone, I thought it was important to do some research on it to understand what it could do, so that when we use it in the future, we will have a better understanding of its abilities.

15/09/11 - Setting/Location

Before filming our trial shots, I decided that it would be helpful to do some research into our location, as it would allow us to thoroughly plan how we would use our setting. We chose to film in a field nearby Kate's house, which was only around a five minute walk away. It's always avaliable to the public, so we can easily access it, but it also meant that we would have to pause filming a few times, to ensure we did not have people in the background of our shots. The field also has a forest directly next to it, which would also offer another setting to film in. There is also a row of houses at the back of the field, which is perfect for us, as they can be used in our film.

Below I have a gif showing some of the photographs we took while we visited our location:

In two of the photographs you can see the sun setting, which proved to be a slight problem when we were filming. It made many of our shots overly bright, which resulted in a picture that wasn't very clear. As a result, we have decided to try filming at a later time to reduce the effect the sun has on our shots.

06/09/11 - Trial movie



During a lesson we were given a few video clips that we had to transform into a short video that created tension and suspense. Above is a printscreen of my project. We used the programme called 'Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0', which is the same programme that we will use when creating our trailer. When I first opened 'Premiere', I played with the various effects to allow myself to grow comfortable using it. I removed some of the audio, and cropped many of the clips, leaving what I wanted to use. The effects I mainly used were
'dip to black' and 'fast blur'. I feel that this little trial meant that I could begin to understand what I could and couldn't do on the programme. Below I have included my trial movie, which I can use certain elements of when creating the final film trailer. The audio has been left on the video as it was only a practise, which is why dialogue can be heard. I feel that overall, my short video did create a certain amount of tension. The short clips, and the quick cuts which led to a black screen I thought helped to create some suspense, making ordinary clips of a hallway into something that could lead to a dangerous outcome.

18/07/11 - Initial plans

After deciding to create a film trailer, our next task was to choose what genre our trailer would follow. We chose to do a thriller trailer, and began to think of different plots and ideas. When asked to plan, we created a possible synopsis for the trailer, a story board that we could possibly follow, and a list of things concerning mise-en-scene that we would also need to consider. They have been scanned and I have included them here:

When we first began really thinking about what our trailer could centre around, all of our team had several ideas. After acknowledging everyones thoughts, we decided to note them all down. The brief synopsis states what could be a possible plot for our trailer, which will be for a thriller film. The storyboard roughly details what we would hope the trailer would look like. As well as drawing the storyboard with clearer pictures, we would also need to include details on camera angles and shots that we would use. The last scanned piece of paper shows all of the extra things that we would need to take account of when filming. For example, what clothes our actors would be wearing - we decided to have a maximum of three actors to enable us to have an easier chance of getting access to those involved - as well as what our setting would be like.