Evaluation - Narration of Trailer

The directors narration was helpful in letting us analyse the product post production and after audience feedback. This lets us have a much more detailed overview of the final product and helps us to reflect more when looking over the project. It is important to remember that this analysis can help someone who has never seen the film understand it a bit more. As far as marketing and distributing goes it can also help sell the product to hear the directors opinion on what is really happening therefore helping expand on ideas which may be implanted into the audiences head and settling a few debatable points if any surface.

Evaluation - Titles Used

During our AS production we found that the titles were generally of lower quality as they were rushed to an extent and so we wanted to focus on making them seem professional in comparison. We decided that we needed to allocate specific time to the creation of the titles as this would allow the trailer to be more immersing to the audience.

The titles we incorporated were all in the same font as we wanted to emphasise the action qualities within our trailer. The previous film credits were placed towards the start of the trailer to engage the audience straight away and the font stands out against the dark background and is eye catching to the audience viewing the trailer. The final title also stands out as it is a similar shiny grey but we ensured that they were animated to add greater effect overall. We animated the titles to include bullet holes to suit the genre of our trailer.

Evaluation - Characters Used

Protagonist: The protagonist generally conforms  to the expectations of our chosen genre. His attire is shown as smart throughout the trailer which highlights his supposed role within the film (a spy for an anti-terrorist organisation). He is shown constantly with a pistol as his main weapon choice which is shown through the action genre e.g. James Bond. The shirt he wears is light in colour as he represents the good side in our trailer. His smart clothing connotes power to the audience but his lack of a proper suit may suggest that he is not the leader of the organisation but rather just an agent. This is stereotypical of this sort of character as he is normally shown to have to stop the 'evil' in the movie at any means necessary.

Antagonist: The antagonist is generally shown in dark casual attire to emphasise the evil style of his character as he acts as the rogue agent working for the terrorist organisation in our trailer. He is constantly shown with a weapon which highlights his violent nature and possible danger to the protagonist. The main role of the antagonist is to mirror the protagonist in any way possible. He acts to contrast the good nature of the protagonist throughout the trailer and is evident on the poster and magazine cover. This is conventional of the character as he is shown as the 'evil' which needs to be defeated by the protagonist and so is usually shown as the darker character.

Protagonists Boss: The boss serves to inform the audience of the plot of the story as he is the one who originally sets the protagonist on his mission. The boss is incorporated in the narration as it continues into dialogue between him and the protagonist, which suggests some sort of working relation. His smart attire helps connote power to the audience as he is constantly shown to be high up in terms of power status. This is conventional in the genre within action thrillers and spy thrillers in particular as there is normally a boss of the organisation whom sets the story to the audience.

Evaluation - Production Credits Used

to make the production credits we used Adobe Photoshop to enhance the images we had selected. We were able to roughly animate them so that they would run smoothly with the pace of our trailer though the use of a fade and flash. We decided on Photoshop as we had some knowledge on how it worked already in term of enhancing the colour or quality of the image and animating it. The software was relatively easy to use and we used relevant tutorials t help if we didn't know exactly what to do.

For our A2 production we decided on creating two production credits as we generally saw that there were two in the films we had researched of the genre. We decided on making both simple as that best represented the genre in our opinion. Triptic Films was designed to suit the locations we were using. with the picture of London being the main feature, this would serve to inform the audience of the companies location and the font helps emphasise the genre of the film.

IFM Studios (Independent Film Making Studios) was created to make it seem professional to the audience as we incorporated a fade and slight flash between the two to make it more engaging to the audience. The use of a wolf connoted danger to us and so we thought that it would be a good logo to highlight the action genre

Evaluation - Settings Used

London - We decided that we needed to include London as it was relatively local at around 40 minutes away by train so we wanted to ensure that we included a setting which is recognisable to the audience. This is conventional in an action movie as it makes it seem high budget and professional. We decided that London could be the major location within the trailer as it is a stereotypical location for spy agencies as shown in the James Bond series for example. We ensured that the scenes involving London were largely used at the beginning of the trailer to signpost to the audience of what genre film it it.

Dubai - We were able to acquire some shots in Dubai as a couple of us were able to get out there for familial reasons and this was hugely important in our trailer as it contrasted London with somewhere which is considered exotic to fit in with our idea of a global terrorist organisation. We mainly used shots of Dubai towards the end of the trailer as we didn't have an extensive amount of footage available. We had the chase scene in the desert involving cars and we thought that that was best within our montage at the end.

Iceland - We were also able to get shots from Iceland which helps contrast the hot climate of Dubai and once again showcased the idea of the movie being high budget. We used the shots of Iceland in the middle of the trailer as they were generally slower in pace and so built up tension before the music intensified. The shots were largely used to showcase the idea of the organisation going all round the world.

Scouthut - We got many shots in the Scouthut as it was the most accessible location to us when needed be. It was also away from any public interference (a problem in our AS production) which enabled us to have an extensive shots involving guns. This was prevalent with both the protagonist and antagonist. The shots were used throughout as it reminded the audience of the genre they were watching and added effect to the action qualities of our trailer.

Esher Common - We also got many shots in Esher common as it was local to us as well. It was much like the scouthut as it didn't have much interference and so we also acquired shots involving the props here. It was also used to contrast the indoor styling of the scouthut so it emphasises the plot of the story more to the audience.

Conor's House - We got some shots in Conor's house as it allowed us to have shots involving gun fights. This included the attack on a character and the break in which add to the action qualities of the film. The shots were used in the middle and in the montage as they were dynamic and so brought a sense of urgency to the trailer which accompanies the increasing pace of the music nicely.

Evaluation - Trailer with Annotations

Evaluation - How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

 Equipment Used:

Canon EOS 500D - This was the main item we used when filming our trailer. It was very high in terms of video and audio quality which made the film more fluid to view. We used the camera in the majority of shots in the trailer, with Dubai, London and the suburbs area being the main areas we used the camera in and this led to these shots being the most professional. The camera was also relatively easy to use in terms of changing lighting or zooming in to add effect onto particular elements of the trailer. This ease of access was integral when we went filming in Dubai and London as we could set it up in a short amount of time to get the required shots.

Tripod - We used the tripod accordingly with the Canon as it allowed us to make the shots a lot less shaky (a problem in our AS production) which made it seem more high budget and professional. The tripod wasn't used when we had to resort to a phone as it was deemed not practical as the phone couldn't be fastened to the tripod.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge - We mainly used the phone when we needed shots in Iceland as the camera we had used in the previous shots was unavailable for when we got out there so we had to make do with what we had. However the footage was still high quality compared to our AS production as the phone was of much better quality overall.

Editing Software:

Cyberlink Power Director - We selected this software as it was easier to access and manipulate the shots we had compared with Adobe Premier Elements 10 which we used for our AS production. The interface of the software allows for clips to be easily cut and merged together to make the scene more professional, which with the control over the audio also makes the film seem higher budget. We learnt the basics around the editing system as a whole which allowed us to cut and edit the footage we had collected together to make the trailer engaging and more free flowing.

Adobe Photoshop - We used this software mainly in the creation of the production credits and the title  sequence as we wanted them to look proper. We learnt how to animate them in the end as we incorporated a fade into the production credits whilst the final title sequence integrated gun shots to add effect into immersing the audience.

Online Sources:

YouTube -  We used YouTube extensively in our production as it allowed us to research relevant trailers at the beginning of our course as to allow us to understand what people would normally see in the action genre. We also acquired tutorials to help us with the editing side of things as it focused on particular elements which we struggled on (incorporation of the narration over the top of the music and sound effects). We were also able to add annotations to our trailer exploring certain aspects which suited the genre and conformed to what was expected. We also uploaded the trailer along with the audience feedback as to allow us to properly reflect on the production.

Blogger - We used Blogger throughout the research and planning stage as it allowed us to acquire sufficient information on our chosen genre and ultimately shaped what we decided to add into our trailer as a whole. This allowed us to be able to easily access relevant information if needed be to ensure we stuck to the conventions in our chosen genre but also allowing us to make it unique in some aspects.