Evaluation

1.For our A2 media coursework project, we decided to produce a short film trailer. Firstly, we searched for other film trailers using 'Youtube' to see what other film trailers were like and which ones we liked. Although we liked a lot of the film trailers from the action films and sci-fi genre we also realised that we had to choose a genre of film that we could actually easily pull off and make look authentic. We soon decided we wouldn't be able to create a good enough trailer for a action or sci-fi film and instead opted for a horror film genre. Although we chose the genre we also recognised how common the genre was and therefore tried to create a horror film that had something slightly different to the rest of the horror films out there at the moment. We searched through the site, looking at a variety of different horror film trailers. After looking at a whole different variety of horror films and the ways in which they were filmed and presented we decided to go for a handheld filmed approach. We saw that it wasn't a very common approach to horror films but most of the films that had used this approach had been very successful whilst not using too much expensive technology to film them.

2.After doing this we decided to really focus on this type of horror film and watch through the trailers making notes about the type of music, the types of shots used, the plot of the film as well as the horror films conventions that were used. We found that a lot of the trailers had the same sort of style of music which was simple yet recognisable as a soundtrack to a horror film which meant that creating a soundtrack wouldn't be too hard as it was easy to get examples. We also noted that although some films showed the "monsters" or "creatures" that were disrupting everything and everyone in the trailers, the ones we felt were more successful and created more tension were the ones that showed either very small and quick glimpses of the "creatures" or no glimpses at all. This created a sense of unknowing and made us feel more at edge that we weren't very sure what the creature was.

3.The conventions of the horror films were straight away easily recognisable even though these films were filmed differently there were still a lot of recognisable shots that made the main character/s look vulnerable and in danger at all times. The scenery for the films was mostly the same being a major city being attacked and put into complete darkness and chaos. Although trailers such as the blair witch project showed us an insight into what effect and atmosphere a quiet and unknown territory can create on it's own.

4.Although our project sticks to most of these conventions we decided we wanted to go for some of the more uncommon conventions which we saw in a few of the film trailers. We decided that as we wanted to make it different and we kept seeing all of these small differences creeping into other films that always created something successful, that we would put together all of these small differences and create a different, yet successful horror film trailer. Although we would include some obvious conventions of a horror film which would help the audience to understand what type of film it is and what sort of atmosphere is trying to be created.

5. After doing this research we found that we now had a much clearer plan and idea of what we were going to try and achieve with this film trailer and what we needed to do to make it recognisable as a horror yet different to the hundreds of other horror films out there. We then started to discuss the story and the plot and started to piece it together. We first of all wrote down what would be shown in the sequences and what would types of shots and scenes would be needed. To do this properly we created some storyboards that we drew out showing the different shots and scenes that would take place. We were also stuck between what to do for a couple of scenes so we decided to draw them both out, film them both and see which ones looked better once we had put the rest of the film together. After creating a drawn out storyboard we went out to the location and took photos of the shots and scenes we wanted to create a photo storyboard and get a better feel of what the shots and scenes would look like.

6.After the planning stage we were almost ready to start filming but due to the location of our film and the video cameras we were using we weren't sure how well the look we wanted to create would come out so we went to the location and gathered some test footage trying different types of lighting and angles of lighting as well as different length shots. Once we had got the test footage we took it back to school as tried different effects on the footage to see if we could create the look we wanted to and luckily enough we were successful. We were now ready to start filming but had to create a schedule of when we would film due to one member of our team living in another town to us other two along with work commitments and other lessons and coursework. Our most appropriate times were either in our free periods at school or afterschool a couple of nights a week. We first started filming the first sequences in our free periods but soon after we realised that at night the place we were filming had a whole different look and effect than when we were filming in the day. We were also finding it hard to get actors and other friends to help film due to the fact that we were always filming in complete darkness and a lot of people felt uncomfortable because of it. In the end it became a case of two of us getting as much footage as we could in our spare time as we lived closer than the other member and filming the more complicated shots and shots that required all 3 of us to been filmed in whenever all 3 of us could be together. We also had a big job of editing coming up as we had run out of time to re-shoot some shots which were important to the film, after we had been let down by other people, and had different people all acting as the same character so we had to edit the footage to seem like the character didn't change.

7.After we had got all of our footage filmed and any extra bits and re-shoots that we felt that we may need we had to go through the long stage of editing the film together. We cut and chopped all of the scenes and sequences down to size and mixed bits of footage together to create the look and feel to the film that we wanted. I feel that I felt a lot more confident at this stage than last year as we hadn't made the same mistake and we had captured so much more footage this year we were struggling to cut the trailer down to a more suitable length rather than trying to drag scenes and sequences out to make it longer. We first of all created a draft of the trailer which didn't have any sound to it and although we received positive feedback the film just didn't feel right to watch without any sound to it and didn't create the feeling or atmosphere we wanted it to. So we started straight away on creating the soundtrack to the trailer and after our initial research into the soundtracks to films we felt confident that we knew what sort of soundtrack we needed and would successfully work alongside our film. After creating the soundtrack and making sure the music turned and created the right sort of atmosphere when the trailer needed it to we felt that film was a much bigger success and now created the atmosphere we wanted and we received even better feedback this time round.

8.After we had put the film together and created the soundtrack we now had a film that we were all very pleased with and felt was successful so we now had to complete the ancillary tasks. Considering all 3 of the members of our team were also studying art and design and technology we felt that the ancillary tasks would be our strong point as we were all very familiar with the programs we were using and the techniques and effects that were accessible. We used programs such as GIMP which allowed us to manipulate the images we had previously taken for our storyboard and we then also created animated buttons for the website as well making the website a very attractive piece of work than linked to the film well. We also created a poster which again we used GIMP to create and also created a logo for the bottom hand corner.

9. After we had everything completed and were happy with out completed tasks we had to present them to the rest of the class and receive feedback. The feedback we received was almost completely positive especially about our ancillary tasks which our classmates said were very professional. The only negative feedback we received was about continuity with characters which they just about noticed and that we had already known was an issue but had done a good job to edit and hide, and the other issue was some of the characters acting at times which we also knew as none of us were very good actors at all.

10. Overall I think our classmates backed us up in thinking that we had created a very successful project and all of our hard work and extra time that we put in had come off and had shown in our work. Although there were a few issues in the final piece i feel that overall it was definitely a success creating a different approach to a horror film yet keeping the conventions and atmosphere of one.