INTRODUCTION

 

·       What was the project task?

 

To make a 60-90 second teaser trailer for any film genre all made by yourself.

 

·       What did you plan to produce for the project?

 

A horror genre teaser trailer that follows the story of a rogue orchestra conductor and his puppet he has captured and killed. I planned for the trailer to be about 1 minute long and mid/fast paced with lots of cutting to the beat of the music I picked (nurses office) as I really like the way this looks in a finished project.

 

RESEARCH

 

·       What research did you conduct?

 

I did both primary and secondary research looking at 5 horror teasers to get a feel for what my teaser should look like then 4 mixed genre teasers to see what else I like the look of and to see if there is anything else in other genres that I feel I could bring to my horror teaser. Next I looked at the typical codes and conventions of different genres so I could see what I liked the most and what I should aim at doing for my teaser. Next I looked at target audiences and what people feel is a good target age and type of person for particular films this helped me decide what I should target my film at and how other filmmakers do it. Next I did some surveys around the classroom, using google questionnaires, of what people want and think I should do, which gave me a clear way of seeing that people wanted a horror and it also helped me with the  pacing of the teaser and locations I could use as these were all questions in it. Finally there was my experimental research where I edited a short clip to see the looks and effects of my trailer. Finally I filmed a short scene with some people in my class to improve my camera skills and techniques.

 

·       How useful was your research for the development of the project?  

 

I researched to see how others made a teaser and what a typical horror teaser should look like. I compared mine to those I researched and made adjustments to make my trailer individual and unique. 

 

For example the teaser trailers for horror and the codes and conventions were really good at showing me what to aim towards and how a good trailer should look so I planned, filmed and edited towards this.

 

·       In what way could you improve the research that you carried out and what impact do you think this may have had on the project?

 

I think I could have actually watched a few horror films before making the trailer as I could have done with help when planning out the plot and script. If I had watched more horror movies prior to this it would have been a good way of me seeing a lot of codes and conventions in a visual way and I could have tried to use what the big directors do in their films in mine.

 

FINISHED PRODUCT

 

·       Who was your teaser trailer designed for?

 

A 12+ audience who like the horror genre. It would appeal to both boys and girls.

 

·       How well received was your trailer following the screening?

 

Overall my teaser was very well received with lots of feedback  both positive and negative. People seemed to like it overall. 

 

What feedback did you receive? Do you agree?

 

I received lots of feedback both positive and negative. For example people liked my drone shot, the way I synced most of my shots with the music, the camera shots I got and the music everyone seemed to love. There was still some negative feedback for example people weren’t a fan of my title cards and people also think I need to work on the colour grading more. Lastly someone said to use better costuming next time. Overall, I do agree with the feedback I received especially the one about costuming and my title cards as I do still think this could be improved for any future projects and if I improved it would make my teaser look a lot more professional.

·       How could you make improvements based on the feedback received?

 

I would not be able to change the costuming with the time I have left as this would require re filming 3 scenes which I don’t have the time to do. However if I could have done it I think this would have had a huge impact on the teaser and making it look professional. I think I could spend some time working on colour grading and title cards as this will help cover up the costuming issue so I will try and spend some time improving this and making it look more dull, dingey and messy which is the look I’m going for with my footage.

 

·       What impact would these improvements have on the audience?

 

I think if I did these improvements it would have a very big impact on making the teaser more professional. This in turn will help keep the audience engaged and make them enjoy the trailer more as it will look better and it will mean any other little mistakes will be harder to spot as the audience will be focussed on all the good material.

 

 

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

 

·       What areas have you improved on throughout this project -  carrying out research, analysing research findings, using research to develop your ideas, planning, organisation and time management, filming, editing, writing, directing, Wix website building, writing production diaries, etc?

 

I think I have improved on everything. Before the start of this project I had not done a lot of video production before. I feel I have improved the most in editing as before this project started I found editing boring and I didn’t like it but I feel this was due to me not having the knowledge I needed to edit properly but with the help of all the teachers and YouTube I have really come a long way from before I started the teaser. In addition I feel I have also improved on my planning and directing as before I had never had to do any off this to the extent you need to, to plan properly so didn’t have much knowledge of story boards, shot lists etc. However now I have had to do plenty of this for my teaser I have improved greatly. 

 

.      What programmes, tools and processes have you learned to use?

 

I have learnt to use adobe premier pro effectively to edit my footage in a more professional way. I have learnt this with the help of my teachers and YouTube tutorials. I have also learnt to do storyboards, shot lists and a production schedule to help when out filming to get across to everyone my ideas and to help me stick to a plan and get the shots I need in the time I have available.

 

·       What challenges did you have and how did you overcome them?

 

My biggest challenge I faced was the time I had to shoot as a last minute change in transport meant that two scenes I needed to shoot had to be rushed so we could get them done in time. However I feel they still came out good enough to use and with some editing you wouldn’t even be able to tell how rushed the shooting for some scenes were. Lastly the weather we had on the day of shooting meant that one location I planned on using was way too wet and muddy to use so to overcome this we changed location to a dryer spot about 5 minutes away from the original location which worked out fine in the end and you wouldn’t even know that it wasn’t supposed to be filmed in the location we did in the end teaser.

 

·       Which skills do you feel you need to develop further?

 

I feel I need to keep working on my editing skills to help make my projects more professional. I also need to work on my filming skills, for example how to optimise lighting properly and also work more on keeping my camera steady when filming so my footage looks as cinematic as possible. Finally, I need to work on directing and making sure my ideas are put across effectively to my actors and crew in order to get the footage at the level I want. Furthermore, I would really like to work on after effects and how to use it to make cool title cards with special effects. In addition I would also like to learn how to properly colour grade on adobe premiere pro to help enhance my fopoatge even more ands show a certain look in my fooatge for the project.

 

·       How could the new skills and knowledge developed throughout this project help you with your future education and career.

 

I feel that all the planning techniques I have learnt in this project will help me be more professional in my work outside of college and a future career in producing/directing that I want to aim towards. Furthermore my new editing skills will help me make any future projects I do look better and put together a lot more professionally. 

·       Discuss your overall project - what went well and how would you improve it if you had more time or an opportunity to start it again?

 

I think overall filming went well and followed the plan I had set up in pre-production. Furthermore I think that all my planning and research was very in-depth and to as high standard as possible which meant it was very useful to look at and helped me when planning my trailer and producing it how I had envisioned so my actors could see what my idea was on paper. I also feel post-production went well which meant my end teaser looked how I had planned in pre-production I could have spent more time on colour grading and title cards to help it look even more professional but what I did I feel was good for a first project. If I could do the project again I would make sure I have enough time to film everything so nothing would look rushed and I would spend more time when setting up lighting and making sure my camera is steady so my footage looks more cinematic and I should work on always filming more then I actually need so if any footage doesn’t look as good as the rest or isn’t what I had envisioned I can use other footage I recorded. Finally I would make sure to think more about costuming for my actors for my next project as I feel the fact I hadn’t used any costumes for my teaser made it look a lot less professional and it would have been  better if I had set costumes for my actors.