Emma Upton

Emma Charlotte Upton - Final Major Project

For my final major project I chose to create a horror film trailer. In this I will be reviewing my work on the following points; Technical Quality, production skills, how close my final major project matches my original intentions, time management and problem solving and reaching my target audience.

Technical quality of final product (images, footage, use of sound, editing, layout, composition)

When filming my final major project I used a Canon DSLR camera on the settings 1080p and on 24 frames per second, so the clips we shot were of the highest quality available on the camera. We filmed all the clips in one session, overall I’m pleased with the overall quality of the clips however I think that the colouring and lighting could definitely be improved. Because we filmed everything in one day, we didn’t have to go back and re film any clips, however I think if we had spread out the filming over a few days instead of compiling it into one day the clips would definitely have come out better as they would have been less rushed. The lighting was a bit of an issue because the majority of the footage had to be shot with unnatural lighting, so the colour of the footage isn’t as clear as they would have been with natural lighting. The two clips that were filmed outside for the opening of the trailer, the clips of the panning shots of the house I think have great colour and look much more natural than the clips filmed inside.

For the sound used with the footage I used a sound recorder along with the sound recorder already in the DSLR camera. When I was editing the clips I found that both the sound recorder sound clips and the camera sound recordings sounded very similar and the sound recorder didn’t really improve on the overall sound quality, so I decided to use the sound recordings from the footage on the camera instead. I think the sound is very clear and understandable with little to no background sounds included, so I am very pleased with the overall quality of the sounds used. When editing I decided I wanted to use some sound FX and added some music. I found the clips I wanted and made sure they were copyright free. I think the music definitely fits the trailer and gives it a more creepy/horror feel to it. I added sound FX for where loud bangs should be in the trailer, and I think the ones I chose fit perfectly. So again, I definitely overall I’m very pleased with the sound quality for the non-diegetic sound that was added in in post-production.

When I had all my footage and sounds ready, I started to edit my sequence together. I used the programmes Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premier Pro to edit my trailer together. I used After Effects to create my title cards, I made the text with the font that I wanted and used a royalty and copyright free video clip from the internet for the background of the text to make them more interesting and eye catching instead of just text in the frame. I used Adobe Premier Pro for the rest of the post production for the trailer. I imported all my footage and sound and put them in order, I then cut each individual clip to the size that I

Emma Upton

wanted. I then started to create the title cards, once they had been completed I imported them into the Once all the clips were cut and edited in sequence, I then found the royalty free video clips, sound FX and music from the internet. Once I had downloaded all the extras I needed I imported them into the sequence and put them into place, I did this first with my title cards I had made, then the sound FX and finally the music. I think all of the sounds used are of quite good quality and I am definitely happy with the overall sound quality.

When I was first researching previous trailers I paid close attention to the way they were laid out and the layout of the sequence. I tried to follow the typical codes and conventions for a trailer by having all the calm and peaceful clips and the beginning and all the suspenseful clips at the end, in order to entice the audience to watch the final film. I’m definitely happy with the sequence because I think it flows like a typical horror film trailer and gets scarier towards the end like the majority of other trailers do.

Production skills you have newly acquired and existing skills you have further developed

When I first started my final major project I had previous experience in each of the areas I would be covering for example I’ve shot footage before, used premier pro and after effects before and also edited sequences together before. However I definitely think this task has helped me develop each of those skills. I felt very confident when shooting footage as I had done it many times before, however because we were on a tight time scale this helped me condense my filming time as much as possible. Then when editing, I hadn’t used the programmes in a while so it definitely took me some time to get used to the software again but picked it up quite quickly after a bit. With premier pro, I knew what to do however with this task went more in depth with editing the clips. I definitely think my skills with after effects improved a lot while working on this task. I had barely used the software prior to this task so I had to learn as I worked. Even though I only used after effects for my title cards, I had to make sure the opacity of the text was correct and I used key points to do this. Over all I think I feel far more confident with these programmes now and my skills at post-production has developed more than I expected.

How closely your final product matches your original intentions

I think my final product has both changed and matches my original intentions. From the storyboards a lot of the shots were changed, however with the script a lot of it stayed the same. The overall idea has definitely stayed the same throughout the task for example, the paranormal theme was present throughout, the characters and the location all stayed the same since the beginning. The only things that were definitely different from our original intentions are the shots used. This was due to the fact we were very strict with time keeping and wanted to get all the footage filmed in one day. Also, the scene we had planned that took place in a loft just wasn’t viable, there were worries about health and safety with people being up there and the flooring not being as stable as we first thought. The editing techniques I planned to use stayed the same, however changed towards the end. I originally

Emma Upton

wanted the edit to become fast paced towards the end however with the footage we got it just wasn’t possible. I think overall our final product does match our original intentions, but we made changes where necessary.

Time management and problem solving

In the very beginning when starting this task I created a project schedule and a project production diary which I updated weekly. It stated what tasks I needed to do and I checked off each task as I completed them. This definitely helped me with time management because it outlined the deadline and how each task I needed to complete. By keeping the schedule it definitely took up some time however in the end I definitely think It helped by being so clear on what I had left to do each week and plan for what I was going to do in the future. In the future when I’m starting a task I think I will do the same thing as it helped me more than I originally thought it would.

Reaching your target audience

To get some audience feedback I directly targeted my target audience and sent them a survey asking about my trailer for my final major project. Below are the answers they gave and the questions I asked.

For my first question I asked “Do you think this film trailer is up to a professional standard?” From the results I received 100% answered yes. This is a very positive outcome as everyone who did my survey answered yes, that it was up to a professional standard.

Emma Upton

The second question I asked was “Why/Why not?” from the answers I received I found out that they liked my editing, the title cards, it was of good quality and looked similar to the cinema, the music fit well and because of the shots used to create suspense. This is again a very positive result, as I know now the exact features they liked and what I should include again in the future.

I then asked them “Do you think the trailer was suspenseful?” to which the majority of people answered yes and only one person answered ‘a bit’. Again this is another very positive response as it shows that the techniques I used to create suspense worked, however could still improve and maybe have included more clips, faster editing to add more suspense to the trailer.

I then asked the audience “What do you think about the quality of the shots used?” to which 50% of the audience said it was ‘good’ and 50% said it ‘could be better’. I do agree with these responses as I think a lot of my shots are good, however some could definitely be improved.

Emma Upton

The fifth question I asked was “Please explain why.” The audience then said their answer was due to the lighting, more action based camera shots, reminded them of other horror films and could have used a better quality camera for clearer shots. I definitely agree with these answers as I think there is definitely room for improvement and maybe by using a different camera,

including more action and having better/more natural lighting may have made my overall finished project even better.

I then asked “Do you think the story line is clear and fits the horror genre?” The response I got was extremely positive as everyone answered yes, which shows that our storyline was a good choice for our horror trailer. I definitely agree and think it was a very common horror story narrative and I think we portrayed that very clearly in my final major project.

I then asked “Why?” To which my audience responded with suspenseful, the storyline and looked like a typical horror film. I think this is another positive response as I wanted the trailer to be very suspenseful and I think our storyline was really good, so I do agree with these responses.

Emma Upton

I asked “What do you think of the title credits that have been used? (Based on a true story, House of the Unknown etc…) The audience responded with a majority answering ‘good’ and only one person answered ‘could be better’. I definitely agree with this response as I think the title cards fit well with the trailer, however I think they may have some room for improvement if I added some sound FX to them.

Then I asked “Does this trailer make you want to watch the finished film?” and the audience response was 100% of them answering yes, which is extremely positive. The whole point of a trailer is to make people want to watch the finished film, so this is the perfect response and I’m very pleased with the answers I was given as that was my intentions.

Emma Upton

Finally I asked the audience to “Rate this trailer out of 10 (1 being the lowest, 10 being the highest)” Majority answered 7, one person answered 5, 8, 9 and 10. I think this is very typical outcome for this question; however I am very happy that the majority rated it 7 and not really low. Each individual person has their own opinion so I knew this would have a range of answers. I’m very happy with this answer as it shows my trailer got quite a warm, positive response to it.

Summary conclusion

Looking back at my final major project I think if I were to do this again there are a few things I would do differently. The actual footage is the biggest flaw in my project, I think if I chose a different location with a lot more natural lighting would help with the colours in the clips and make it look much clearer or maybe hire some professional lighting equipment to make it clear and the colours look correct. I also think the acting could have been improved so I think if I were to do it again I would give the actors more time to practice and get used to being in front of the camera as the acting was a bit blank and emotionless. I would also maybe manage my time a bit differently and give myself more time to shoot footage instead of trying to shoot everything in a single day, this way I would’ve had more time to re film some clips instead. I think I gave myself enough time to for the post production process, however I think I would try to collect the music and sound FX prior to filming, to know what the sound would be in the background first, as it took me quite a lot of time to search and

Emma Upton

find the perfect clips. Overall I think my project was a success and I’m very happy with the outcome, I’m very happy with my time management. With my audience feedback I think it was very positive and I’m very pleased with that. Overall I’m very happy with my final major project.