Production, Evaluation: Final Teaser Trailer: Changes Made from previous trailer

In response to previous audience feedback i redid the trailer, it is now about 50 seconds longer. The first thing I changed was adding a title sequence at the beginning in response to 'rellikdestroyer'. To remind you, his problem was that he did not fully understand the story and was not sure who these men were, and why they were killing. Therefore, I thought if I put in 'guns for hire' it explains to things. Firstly that they know how to fight using weapons, i.e. assassins, and secondly that they do this for money, i.e. mercenaries. The clip after this title sequence also increases the understanding of this trailer as the audience can see maybe a hitlist being passed over as he is being hired once more for a job. The next change which is also noticeable instantly is the heartbeat. 'TheMyfilms4u' said that he thought I should start the soundtrack earlier as it was too quiet, but as shall be explained later in my next post "Final Teaser Trailer Evaluation", I felt that where it was at the moment worked well, so instead I decided on adding a sound effect. A heartbeat seemed like the right option which is clear from the audience feedback below. By bringing it in at the beginning, it instantly builds up some tension and implies that whatever is happening is dangerous and will contain a lot of energy. By increasing the rate of the heartbeat throughout it sets the pace for the film and denotes to the audience how tiring this mission is for the actor. Also this heartbeat does not contrast much with the soundtrack as they are both a deep low pitched beat. Lastly the heartbeat increases the effect of the shot at the end where he tilts his head up as the heartbeat has got faster throughout and then after the gunshot, it as just gone, complete silence, but as it starts up again, it implies to the audience that this actor may be some sort of 'super' soldier. The next differences are from 0:47s onwards. Firstly, there is another title over black included. It says 'have they ever thought of anything else'. The first reason for this was that even though after audience feedback that people wanted my trailer longer, I felt the snow scene needed to be split up otherwise it would just be a guy running in the snow which may get slightly monotonous. Secondly, the impact that you receive from his answer lately ensures the audience that he really is only after one thing, to kill. Everything onwards from this point is new footage not been seen before by the audience. I have placed all of the snow scenes together to make it seem like that is one mission and then all footage in the woods is another mission. Again to split up the new footage in the snow I have included two clips of my actor Tom Springall answering the previous title sequence, and the first clip of him, questions it: 'Other than killing?'. This is also the first time you hear my actor speak, and as can be seen his voice is deep and rather hoarse which gives the audience another opinion on this actor, that he is someone to steer clear of, someone that is not to be messed with. The next setting is the forest, implying to the audience that it is in a new location most likely due to it being a different person/mission. After the second clip we have a final new title slide that says "Born to Kill". Once again this was used to break up the scene as to not make it too boring for the audience, but to also to show the audience that this is all they do, they don't want to be doing anything else.

NB: I would once again like to apologise for video size on this post. For a full view of it, go to the link placed below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-gjCO9tpn8&feature=related

Production, Evaluation: Teaser Trailer Shorter Version

Above is the first teaser that I made. As can be seen it is only one minute long, so fairly short, but this leaves more to the imagination. But as i explain below, here are some problems my target audience had with it.



The first comment from 'chunkynessrass' although very short and simple gives a clear idea of his opinion. He feels it is too short, I am not given any reasons as to why, but the other two comments may provide me with some of these reasons.
'overgrowthalex' feels that having it so short detracts from the feeling of an action genre film. He says that making it short connotes to the audience that it is not action packed. He goes on to say that all in all, he does not fully understand what the film is about and the audience cannot get a sense of what they would be watching.
Next is 'rellikdestroyer' who is confused by the 'jumpyness' of the film, at one point my actors are inside and next it is snowing. It is clear that i need to make it more obvious that these "agents" travel the world, hence the change in scenery.
Lastly we have 'TheMyfilms4u' whose main concern is the sound. He says that the silence before the soundtrack begins is amateur and that it does not make the trailer work very well. He recommends moving the soundtrack to the beginning so that it begins straight away.

After reading through the audience feedback that I have gained, I have worked out some solutions to what they have said. Firstly, it is clear I need to make it longer and use more of the clips that I h have filmed over the past few months. Secondly, I feel I should probably include a few more title sequences to make it easier for the viewer to understand a change in setting. Lastly, sound wise, I'm not certain about bringing forward the soundtrack as I feel it works well as it is, but I'm thinking about using some sort of sound effect, maybe a heartbeat to add effect and to help build up suspense.

NB. I apologise for my video, for some reason, it keep missing off the last quarter of the screen, to get the full picture, visit youtube by using the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sE3fg3wg0g

Production: Film Poster 1

Here is my first poster for the coursework. I have used my two main actors as the centre piece for the poster so that the audience know who are the main people in the film. I have used a rather catchy slogan, '2 rules. kill. survive' which is seen in the trailer and once again has the impact of no limitation. There rules still break the law in one sense or another. Lastly the bullet holes let the audience know that it shall be an action genre film and that it will contain gun especially as both actors are holding one. Below is what my target audience thought.

Clearly, from the feedback, the main problem is the plain white background. people think it looks too amateur and detracts attention away from the main picture as it just seems blank. The other problem is the size of the tagline at the top. They feel it needs to be bolder or just a larger size so that it stands out better when walking past it.

Production, Evaluation: Magazine Final Cover

Above is my final poster. As can be seen, the purple line was eventually taken out after feedback from my target audience. It was also suggested to me that i should place a shadow on the magazine title to emphasise the name further which has clearly worked well. I have put in the back shadow behind the title so that it is bolder and stands out a bit more. I have not changed it much, but made the Tom Springall a tad darker so it is not hidden as much. The Z-rule is used effectively in this final piece as your eyes naturally follow across the title, down his body and to his name. The Rule of thirds is also good as a third of his body is each segment diagonally. There are no boxes left empty. Lastly I made Tom Springall's name darker to help it differ from the background and not fade in with it and made 'working his way up' and 'capturing' the best in film larger as my target audience had a problem with that.

Production: Magazine Cover 3

I have now taken out the purple line, It does look OK, but now I feel the smaller pictures of L.A. and some friends do not have a "template" to follow as before they seemed to be following the line which I think added and certain effect to it.














It is clear that taking out the purple line through the middle was a good idea and now clears up the front cover slightly drawing more attention to Tom. Once again, the main title should be changed slightly so it can be seen easily from afar, maybe some sort of shading behind it would be a good idea. Gurmaher says that it looks like Tom is looking at the boxes but I cannot help this too much as that is what the image is. And I need to continue following the rule of thirds and Z-pattern. Once again my sub-headings need to be made bigger as they are hard to see.

Production: Magazine Cover 2

This is the second one and the difference is pretty obvious and it is that there is now a background. I took the whole image and this time kept in the seaside background. This clearly shows where he is and now the poster does not look so plain. Also the colours still compliment each other. I am not sure about the purple diagonal line though.












From the first comment, the title does not work with the background and once again a major problem for both Nik and Gurmaher is the purple line that goes across the middle. It makes it look too amateur like. Also the colours of subheadings are hidden slightly due to the background.

Production: Magazine Cover 1

This is the first out of 3. This one has a white background and then a large image in the middle which draws all attention to him. The way in which he is sitting helps to abide by the "z" rule. The colours all compliment each other a work well, but I have concerns with the white background.









Below is some of my feedback. Alex's problem is that the font of Tom Springall does not stand out enough and make the audience want to buy the product. They would not notice it on the shelf. Next Gurmaher mentions the purple line and how it contrasts too much with the whole magazine cover. He also says that it is not just the font type, but the colour that does not work well as it is lost slightly over the picture of Tom. Lastly Nik feels that the image is a bit too rough and a lot of the sub-headings are too small. I think in the final piece I shall be adding a background image, maybe the original picture of him on a beach.

Planning: Filming and shot lists

Tomorrow after looking at a weather report and seeing it is raining we have thought it best to film the scenes with Charlie in them. The fact that it is cold will be useful as I can film the warm air freezing in the air as he breathes. We are prepared, have all the rain Macs and umbrellas to protect the camera and to keep warm. Obviously stocking up and hot drinks and food, so our actor is not starving. Below are all the shots that I would like to get. This includes tomorrow and future filming:

-Tilting the head up into the camera (half of head filmed) Facial expression-angered.
-Turning body round quickly and then dropping to the ground
-Turning the whole body around quickly with the weapon adn taking a shot
-Shots of both Charlie and Tom getting shot in the leg or arm
-Tom dropping out of a tree onto someone running past, breaks his neck.
-Hand to hand combat, disarming Charlie of his firearm
-Rain dropping down the face
-Washing face in the rain
-Collecting rain in water bottle (army issue)
-Tom on the ground, beginning to give up
-Patrolling through the rain (long and close up)
-Running through the woods, water splashing up, close up of feet
-Gun to the back of Tom's head
-Throwing a knife into a tree
-Heavy Breathing
-Walking through Croydon in a big crowd
-Pitch Black, light flashes on, just see Tom's eyes
-Camera underneath Charlie, he walks over it as he patrols
-Running out of ammon with the MP5 and reloading
-Running out of ammo andgetting the deagle out to finsh off the job
-Clouds moving over the sun
-Shaking Hands close-up
-Passing over hitlist, maybe in briefcase, has money
-Shaking hands over the desk, with the big boss
-Patrolling a jumping from tree to tree, taking cover

AS Horror Coursework Film.

Above is my Horror Coursework that was completed for my AS course last year.