Friday, 11 March 2011
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Risk Assessment
In the production and filming of a film, be it home-made or a large budget hit, safety is of the upmost concern. Therefore, it is crucial that a risk assessment is drawn up and filled out before any filming can take place. This is my groups set of precautions and possible risks for our media project.
One of the main themes of our film is suspence. Therefore, we will be doing most of the filming in a forest or similar woodland environment. One of the main problems with filming in such an environment is that there are random hazards, such as fallen trees and tangled branches, among other things. As theses obsticles can be tripped over and at the possibility of breaking equipment or injuring actors/crew, they must be treated with prejudice. As such, we must be careful of where we look and set up for filming.
Another place where we will be filming is indoors on staircases for the first initial shots, where the doodler is sitting and ignoring passers by. This can be seen as hazardous as stairs are, of course, usually used quite frequently by other people. This means that due to the presence of filming equipment in this area, there is the potential for not only the damage of equipment, but also possible injury to unaware people. In order to bypass these possibilities, we will have to film these segments during a time perios where there will be little to no flow of people, meaning that this will have to occur during lesson time.
One of the main themes of our film is suspence. Therefore, we will be doing most of the filming in a forest or similar woodland environment. One of the main problems with filming in such an environment is that there are random hazards, such as fallen trees and tangled branches, among other things. As theses obsticles can be tripped over and at the possibility of breaking equipment or injuring actors/crew, they must be treated with prejudice. As such, we must be careful of where we look and set up for filming.
Another place where we will be filming is indoors on staircases for the first initial shots, where the doodler is sitting and ignoring passers by. This can be seen as hazardous as stairs are, of course, usually used quite frequently by other people. This means that due to the presence of filming equipment in this area, there is the potential for not only the damage of equipment, but also possible injury to unaware people. In order to bypass these possibilities, we will have to film these segments during a time perios where there will be little to no flow of people, meaning that this will have to occur during lesson time.
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Differences between teaser trailer and theatrical trailer
In the initial process of advertising, it is important for the developer to build up as much hype as possible. Indeed, to "tease" the viewer about the film, leaving them wanting more. As a result, a teaser trailer is very commonplace to carry out the aforementioned tasks. Later on in the development stages of the film, a more in-depth trailer will be released. This is referred to as the theatrical trailer. There are similarities, such as the requirement to build up hype, but also important differences, such as length and other additional purposes. I will be going more in-depth into these differences to further emphasise these variations.
The most obvious difference between these two forms of trailer is their duration. Usually, a teaser trailer lasts for about a minute to a minute and a half. This is largely due to the fact that at this point, the film is in the planning stages, prior to production. This means that they have insufficiant highlights to show at this stage, and as such they must work with what little footage they have at such a time. I also feel that another reson for this is that if they release too much of the footage too early on, the fans will lose interest in the film, as they may become aware of the film's plot before it is even released. By contrast, a theatrical trailer is generally a minute longer, at two and a half minutes. This is partly due to the fact that the film is in its final days of editing, and thus they have vastly greater material to work with. However, there is also the fact that they can tease the audience with a much greater amount of footage than they could show prior to this point. The release date will now be imminant, and therefore they can risk letting more of the film loose.
The duration of each shot can also be seen as differing from both trailers. Generally speaking, when the teaser trailer is distributed, the shots are for the most part, very rapid and in quick succession. A good example of this is the teaser trailer for the remake of "Friday the 13th", as while initially there are a montage of slow shots, they are quickly replaced with the faster paced shots for the remainder. There is one exception to this rule, seen at the end, where Jason runs up to a girl and, apparantly decapitates her. I feel that the reasoning behind this is so that the audience cannot fully make out what is happening, thus leaving them in a state of intrigue and bewilderment. This also leads them to the assumption that if they want to understamd the synopsis, they will have to watch the film. On the other side of things, the theatrical release follows a chronological sequence, as it initially with slower shots, showing a care-free group of teenagers going places they shouldn't go. Then they see, as well as the viewers, a sinister figure of questional humanity, and they decide to investigate. This leads to them all meeting an inevitably horrific and gruesome death, synced with quick and sudden cuts. Initially, this sounds similar to the teaser, but the difference is seen in the smaller details. The main variation is that during the length of the trailer, there are several long shots, which help to break up the sudden cuts and build tension in the viewer. This means that it breaks free of the potentially repetitive style of a teaser trailer, which is the main development in the evolution of a teaser to a theatrical trailer.
Fan service, especially for a specific franchise, also plays a significant role in the appeal of a trailer, as the inclusion of a well-established character is pivitol to success. Again, this can be seen in both teaser and theatrical trailers for Friday the 13th. For the teaser trailer,. he is a crucial factor for the fans, as otherwise it would not be Friday the 13th, rather just another cliche horror film. As a result, even though his screen time in the teaser is very minimal, it is enough to show that this is a film in the Friday the 13th franchise. In the theatrical trailer, however, Jason has a lot more screen time, which helps to signify that he is the main focus point of the film, as well as showing that there is less fan service in this trailer, and more of a focus on the story of the film.
The most obvious difference between these two forms of trailer is their duration. Usually, a teaser trailer lasts for about a minute to a minute and a half. This is largely due to the fact that at this point, the film is in the planning stages, prior to production. This means that they have insufficiant highlights to show at this stage, and as such they must work with what little footage they have at such a time. I also feel that another reson for this is that if they release too much of the footage too early on, the fans will lose interest in the film, as they may become aware of the film's plot before it is even released. By contrast, a theatrical trailer is generally a minute longer, at two and a half minutes. This is partly due to the fact that the film is in its final days of editing, and thus they have vastly greater material to work with. However, there is also the fact that they can tease the audience with a much greater amount of footage than they could show prior to this point. The release date will now be imminant, and therefore they can risk letting more of the film loose.
The duration of each shot can also be seen as differing from both trailers. Generally speaking, when the teaser trailer is distributed, the shots are for the most part, very rapid and in quick succession. A good example of this is the teaser trailer for the remake of "Friday the 13th", as while initially there are a montage of slow shots, they are quickly replaced with the faster paced shots for the remainder. There is one exception to this rule, seen at the end, where Jason runs up to a girl and, apparantly decapitates her. I feel that the reasoning behind this is so that the audience cannot fully make out what is happening, thus leaving them in a state of intrigue and bewilderment. This also leads them to the assumption that if they want to understamd the synopsis, they will have to watch the film. On the other side of things, the theatrical release follows a chronological sequence, as it initially with slower shots, showing a care-free group of teenagers going places they shouldn't go. Then they see, as well as the viewers, a sinister figure of questional humanity, and they decide to investigate. This leads to them all meeting an inevitably horrific and gruesome death, synced with quick and sudden cuts. Initially, this sounds similar to the teaser, but the difference is seen in the smaller details. The main variation is that during the length of the trailer, there are several long shots, which help to break up the sudden cuts and build tension in the viewer. This means that it breaks free of the potentially repetitive style of a teaser trailer, which is the main development in the evolution of a teaser to a theatrical trailer.
Fan service, especially for a specific franchise, also plays a significant role in the appeal of a trailer, as the inclusion of a well-established character is pivitol to success. Again, this can be seen in both teaser and theatrical trailers for Friday the 13th. For the teaser trailer,. he is a crucial factor for the fans, as otherwise it would not be Friday the 13th, rather just another cliche horror film. As a result, even though his screen time in the teaser is very minimal, it is enough to show that this is a film in the Friday the 13th franchise. In the theatrical trailer, however, Jason has a lot more screen time, which helps to signify that he is the main focus point of the film, as well as showing that there is less fan service in this trailer, and more of a focus on the story of the film.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Friday, 25 February 2011
Evaluation for my magazine cover
Magazines can prove to be an important part of a movie's advertsing campaign, as they are readily availible to the masses through any mainstream distributer, such as WHSmith or Asda or likewise. In particular, magazines that specialise in the area of films, such as Empire and Total Film are very beneficial in a movie's advertisement, as they are run by people who are skilled in the area of movies. As such, i have created this magazine cover for my horror movie using the magazine Empire.
There are several differences between a normal Empire cover and my cover, as well as some similarities which are in keeping with the normal covers. One such is the magazine title. Normally, the title for Empire is very conservative, as it isn't very flashy or in-your-face, just being a simple font in red with all the leeters in uppercase. However, for my cover, I wanted to run with the theme of it being a horror special, and as such, I felt that I should alter the title to fit in with this theme. As such, I used the melt effect in photoshop to give the effect that the title is "bleeding" or "melting". I also removed the colour inside of the title, so the title is now hollow, bar some minor botches inside, which I feel add to the effect that it is falling apart, and as such melting/bleeding.
Another major change that I made was to the text used for the main stories and the columns. Usually, the text on the cover is very formal and conservative, favouring what appears to be the standard font. Presumably, this is done to give the magazine a more authoritarian and instructive feel. However, as my copy of Empire is, as mentioned previously, designed as a halloween special, I decided to alter the font to my preference. I achieved this through the use of a font called skribble for all the main fonts, bar the title and the price and date. This helped to add a creepier and more unique feel to my cover when compared to the normal cover of an Empire magazine.
There are several differences between a normal Empire cover and my cover, as well as some similarities which are in keeping with the normal covers. One such is the magazine title. Normally, the title for Empire is very conservative, as it isn't very flashy or in-your-face, just being a simple font in red with all the leeters in uppercase. However, for my cover, I wanted to run with the theme of it being a horror special, and as such, I felt that I should alter the title to fit in with this theme. As such, I used the melt effect in photoshop to give the effect that the title is "bleeding" or "melting". I also removed the colour inside of the title, so the title is now hollow, bar some minor botches inside, which I feel add to the effect that it is falling apart, and as such melting/bleeding.
Another major change that I made was to the text used for the main stories and the columns. Usually, the text on the cover is very formal and conservative, favouring what appears to be the standard font. Presumably, this is done to give the magazine a more authoritarian and instructive feel. However, as my copy of Empire is, as mentioned previously, designed as a halloween special, I decided to alter the font to my preference. I achieved this through the use of a font called skribble for all the main fonts, bar the title and the price and date. This helped to add a creepier and more unique feel to my cover when compared to the normal cover of an Empire magazine.
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