Evaluation: Technology

Planning and Research

• Throughout the planning and production of our trailer, we have been logging our progress on blogger.com. This website was very useful for organizing each step we took in producing our trailer and progressing in overcoming complications we came across such as schedules for filming. All in in all it was the best way to share are work and finished product.

  
• We gained inspiration from various film trailers on Youtube. The website was helpful as it contains more or less the trailers of all mainstream movies that are released. We researched a range of different trailers on Youtube including the one for Phone Booth

• Before filming we took pictures with a still shot camera of our movie trailer setting The camera we used was the Olympus E-20 SLR. The purpose of the this was to to gain familiarity with the environment we were filming in and come up with ideas of what kind of shots we wanted to film with our shot list. The camera itself was of good use as the pictures we took were able to be of the highest quality.

• We researched other movie synopsises on Wikipedia for plot ideas for our own production. We were able to read synopsises of movies that we saw as big influences on our own production. This gave us a blueprint of how to write up a clear and interesting synopsis for our trailer that would inform audiences of the narrative of our trailer.

Construction

• To film our trailer we used a Sony HD Camcorder. This camera was use as despite being a handheld camera, the HD quality allowed the quality of the camera shots and movements to be of the highest standard. We were able to do this even with a minimum amount of lighting.  

• Adobe Premier Pro is the program we used to edit our movie trailer

It was used to put the trailer sequence in order.

It was used to add the Terminator soundtrack to the trailer which was extracted from a Youtube video.

It was also used to add the titling and credits and to add dramatic sound and visual effects.

• To create the movie poster and magazine cover we used the program, Adobe Photoshop

We used Google images to research movie posters and magazine cover for inspiration and to be refixed in photoshop for the purposes of completing our ancillary tasks. We cut and pasted pictures of our actor that we had taken earlier onto the background of the promotional poster for the movie, The Departed. We then copied and pasted a Google image of Liverpool Street to replace the blank white background. We used the function of turning the entire product to monochrome on Photoshop. Finally we added the text and a gunshot aim drawn with the options on Photoshop. We decided red was the best colour for this as it is attention grabbing and it suited the theme of the movie trailer.






Technology used for Evaluation

• Various Youtube clips were used to show the sources of video and audio that were sampled
• Screenshots were used to illustrate the different websites and programs that were used in the production of our film trailer.

Countdown Teaser Trailer

Filming Schedule

As our filming crew and actors are generally busy during the week, we have decided to pick out two Saturdays in December to film all the scenes.

Day 1) 11 December 2010
Day 2) 18 December 2010

Soundtrack

The soundtrack that we have sampled for use in our film trailer is 'Escape from the Police Station' from the movie, The Terminator. This music helps our trailer follow the conventions of action-thriller genre as it builds suspense by starting slowly and then reaching a climax point after which the music becomes very fast-paced. This fills the audience with a sense of fear but excitement at the same time.

Costumes and Props

Originally we planned for the protagonist, Benjamin to wear a black suit. This was to symbolise his success and wealth but due to severe weather condition it was more appropriate that the main character dressed in smart casual winter clothes. We were able to film Mahfuzur, the antagonist on a warmer evening so we decided he should wear the suit to give him more authorotitive status over the casually dressed hero.








 The Blackberry would seem a suitable choice of phone for the antagonist. This is because the phone itself is more concerned with business than pleasure. Although a stalking sociopath probably wouldn't be concerned with a flash phone, having a top of the range business phone emphasises the status of the villain's character.

 
 The iphone was best suited as the protagonist's ringing phone as it is currently one of the most expensive phones on the market. it symbolises his greedy and carefree lifestyle. This is in contrast to the old payphone he is degraded to use as the trailer goes on

Promotional Magazine Cover

Countdown Movie Poster

Cast

Bejamin Trey as the protagonist, A smug laid back scam artist enjoying his money and life until his life is threatened for the justice of his sins. He is pushed to humility and desperation.

Mahfuzur Rahman as the antagonist, An agrivated sociopath with an aim to terrify and persue the protagonist. What he wants to do if he is to catch him is not revealed but he threatens violence throughout the trailer.

Originally Mahfuzur was meant to play the hero but we found he was better suited to the villain's role and with that we recruited Benjamin for the hero's role.

Inspiring Movies

Our trailer is heavily influnced by the movie, 'Phone Booth'. This psychological thriller also revolves around a sinful businessman who's life is threatened by an anonymous gunman when he picks up a ringing payphone. We want to create a similar effect to this movie in the menacing nature of  the antagonist and desperation and vulnerability of the protagonist. This could be done by having the main character act out gradually going from a calm mind frame to breakdown in a pleading manner. For this close-ups and mid-shots would have to be used to show detailed facial expressions and body movements of the main character.








Another movie that has inspired our trailer is 'No Country For Old Men'. Although this movie has a much more complex narrative than our trailer, it follows the classic conventions of the action-thriller genre. We want to incorporate in our work the aspect of the movie that portrays a man going about his everyday business but then becoming entangled a dangerous situation whereby he is hunted by a vicious sociopath. We could do this by filming the chase scenes of our trailer in a similar way. This means using tracking camera movements to emphasise the speed of the characters as the run and using quick cuts to to the facial expressions of the characters as work against each other.

Location Shots

This long shot pictures a ramp that leads to an upper level pathway in Liverpool Street. We want to use this part of the pathway to film the main protanist running down it towards the camera and past it. This would count as a moving subject shot as well. The effect that the long ramp creates is the idea that the main character has more distance to travel. As the theme of the trailer is that he has a lack of time to get to his destination, any long distance is an obstacle.

This is a long shot of a dark industrial work complex near Liverpool Street Station. We hope to use this shot towards the end of the trailer as we think it could be used to tease the audience as the protagonist could unknowingly be followed through the seen by the antagonist. The darkness and heavy machinery could strike a sense of fear into the audiencs as there seems to be only one escape at the end of the tunnel.

These shots show a staircases that lead to the exits of Liverpool Street Station. We hope to film moving subject and high angle shots on various locations around the station. As the filming will be done at evening peak time, the station will be much more crowded. This will add to the main character's sense of desperation as the crowds of people will create more obstacles. The effect of filming the protagonist from high angles is that he seems small and vulnerable and it also gives the audience the feel that he is being watched.

This is a shot of a payphone in Liverpool Street Station. We want to film a mid-shot of this phone ringing. The effect of this is that the shot shows the important significance that the phone has within the narrative. It could be used as a checkpoint destination for the main character. His actions as he answers and speaks on the phone will add to the feeling that he is in a life or death situation, and the phone itself has significant purpose.

This shot shows shows the schedule board for arriving and departing trains at Liverpool Street Station.We want to use this shot a specific close-up of the digital time on the board. The effect that this creates is drawing attention to the time and as the theme of our trailer is that the protagonist is in physical danger because of a lack of time, we could use a range of different shots that symbolise time around Liverpool Street.

This shot establishes a view of Liverpool Street Station. It shows commutors going about their business and a real city district environment. We will be filming a range of establishing shots around Liverpool Street. This is to give the audience a clear idea of the setting of our trailer. The effect we hope to create for the audience is the sense that the protagonist alone even in the crowds of the city with only the company of a violent follower.