Research and Planning: Photoshop Challenge

In making this film poster, I used Photoshop. First I made the background black with the paint bucket tool, and then added a picture of a forest and darkened the edges by making the rubber less opaque and rubbing it out. I then added a photo of a girl, but the photo needed cropping, so I used the crop tool, then added it to the poster. I made the photo more opaque and used the opaque rubber again to fade the edges of the photo so it blends into the background and the trees, and before I rubbed it out, it had hard edges and didn't look smoothly blended in. I moved the photo around a few times as I didn't know where it would look best, but I decided that it looked effective in the place that it's in.
The add the test I chose the text tool, selected the suitable font, size and colour and then places the text where I wanted it to be. Then did the same with the tag line, but changed the colour to red. The information about the film production was done in the same way, although I had to reposition it by just using the move tool.

Research and Planning: Interview Questions

Would you pay to see a fantasy thriller film? Why?
What aspects do you think should be involved in this genre of film?
What is your description of a mythical creature?
What locations would be suitable for a fantasy/thriller?
What do you think is the limit in terms of contents included in a film rated 15?
What do you associate with fantasy films?
What do you associate with thriller films?
What is your favourite fantasy or thriller film?

These are the questions we will ask during interviews with people to find out what will be best for our genre of film.

Research and Planning: Photoshop Challenge

In progress.

Research and Planning: Audience Interviews

After analysing my audience interviews and listening to the answers, I have found out that an audience would pay to see a fantasy thriller film due to the quality of the films and that they are just generally interested, therefore this is a good genre of film to make.

The initial plot idea that we had an idea of is very backed up during the interviews as the people being interviewed had ideas that fit very well with the aspects of the film that we would like to include. For example, the location that we would like include is a popular answer and therefore will definitely be something that we will use as the idea is backed up. The same can be said about the ‘mythical creatures’ that we would like to include. Our perception of the creatures is similar to our audience’s perception, meaning that the appearance of them is something that the audience would like to see and would enjoy watching, so we will use it as it is strongly backed up.

The audience’s perception of the limit within the regulation of the film gave us a very good idea as to what we can and can’t include, for example; we will not include a lot of bad language and the violence will not be too horrific. There will be no sexual scenes or nudity as although the film is a horror so probably wouldn’t include that anyway, we would like the trailer to be a 15 so we need to stick to the limits. As the audience that we asked are aged 17 and 18, this gave a very good understanding as they have seen films with this rating and will know what is and isn’t acceptable, therefore their answers are a very good guide.

The answers given in all questions in all interviews are very helpful and we will definitely refer back to them when actually filming and producing the trailer as we will know what our audience will want to see to be entertained.

Research and Planning: Pitch

Pitch from sammichapman

Research and Planning: Regulation and Cencorship

As the film trailer we are planning to make involves violence and some of the content is quite gory, therefore I think the trailer should be a 12A so it can be shown more on TV and parents get the option of whether they want their children to see it or not. The trailer will be advertised a lot easier if the film has a lower certificate as it can be promoted in more places. The trailer will not involve scenes as graphic as what will be in the actual film, which is why the trailer will be of a lower certificate than the film.

Making the film a 15 certificate will make the film reach quite a wide audience. I think it is necessary to make it a 15 because of the content of the film, as it is quite violent and gory, therefore would not be suitable for anyone under the ago of 15

Research and Planning: The Test

Cinematography:
I think the cinematography in this sequence was considered quite well as there is a variety of different shots to show the different angles, for example, when the main character is walking up the steps, we filmed from behind, and then from the front to show him coming up the steps from two different angles.
I also think it was used well when zoom was used whilst filming, as this showed important information within the sequence and it made certain aspects more dramatic.
Although it was used quite well, there are some weak points within the cinematography as the camera was sometimes shaky, making the quality of the filming not as good.

Sound:
The sound within the sequence isn't very strong, there is very little diegetic sound which makes is less interesting. There is some sound edited into it, like the music playing in the background, or the noise of the map showing the travelling but it doesn't add much to the sequence, so I think this sequence lacks good overall sound.
There is also unwanted background noise in some shots which makes it less dramatic.
Some of the sequence goes on with no sound at all when there is text shown on a black screen, this makes that part of it quite boring, this is something that could have been changed and the effect of the struggle would be better achieved with music in the background.

Editing:
I think some of the editing in this sequence is quite good and adds drama to it as there is a few fades and dissolves to show the struggle that the main character is going through.
Although most shots smoothly go into one another, there is some shots that just jump from one to the other without a proper editing transition, meaning that some might not make much sense.

Mise en Scene:
I don't think the mise en scene within this sequence is very effective or convincing, as it was just filmed within the college, therefore when the main character arrives at Manchester, it is very obvious that he isn't actually as an airport. Also, the sign saying 'Manchester' doesn't look very official.
The costumes weren't thought about at all as it wasn't something we had time for, although the costumes weren't crucial as it was realistic, therefore no dramatic costumes were needed.
The props in the sequence were minimal, being just a computer, which worked quite well as it made it easier to show that the character was travelling.