Evaluation Task One - Title fonts and Styles

Titles and text is a vital part to the success our film trailer. Not only can text act as a piece of nonverbal dialogue but it also helps dictate the pace and also helps increase intensity in the trailer. This is why we decided to spread out the text, this is to have a bigger impact on the audience and also to increase the tension in the trailer, conforming to the horror conventions. I felt like that in our trailer, we did this well, this is because we used the right stereotypical conventions of a horror genre and what we needed to associate our film with. Through our research and planning, there was a noticeable change in the pace of the text in the genre, this is why we decided to include a lot of text to help increase the pace and also the intensity/fear it would have on the audience. One disadvantage to adding a lot of text is that the audience may not identify most of the importance piece of text that we used. We managed to get over this disadvantage by adding the title of the film “More Than Human” at the end of our trailer. This is because we learnt that people recognise and identify the titles as important text and that they also remember the start and the end of the trailers, this is why we gave this more prevalence.

Here is an example of some of the text that we included and the purposes of these pieces of texts are to dictate the pace of the trailer which is also accompanied by the sound as well. These titles were used to show a change in location as well. I felt as if these titles were a vital part to the success of the trailer and made it seem much longer than it actually was. This is because the constant changes in pace in such a short period of time makes it feel much longer

Evaluation One Task - Camerawork and Editing

We understood the importance of the use of editing and camerawork in our trailer, and also how it can help make us succeed. All conventional trailers have smooth editing and also use a wide range of different editing techniques but also camera shots to enhance the intensity and enjoyment of the trailer. I believe that the different types of camera work along with the different types of editing techniques used in our trailer enabled us to allow the footage run smoothly and kept it flowing. This could be identified in our scary place build up, where Dan and I were using the same type of scary/fear combinations throughout the trailer but the different uses of fades/cuts which contrasted the length of the shots made it feel different and more effective. The use of the camera work that Dan and I used could really be identified by the use of different camera angles in which we used. These different camera angles added to the intensity feel of the trailer and the fast pace of the sound/music/dialect.

I feel like that in our trailer is to an extent conventional in regards to the editing and camerawork. We used a range of different quick nappy shots that got the audience interested and to increase the intensity of our trailer, along with the use of fades which can be conformed to other different horror genre trailers, but we also consistently changed the camera angles and made it less conventional to the genre, but also added a lot of effects as shown by the screenshot below.

Here is a screenshot to show the use of our camera work. We closed up on Dan's face and thought of this shot very carefully as there is no movement in the background. It is a POV (Point of View) shot, just in formation with the genre of the film. Furthermore, the camera is at a very low angle which shows hints of the unconventional style.

Evaluation Task One - Costumes/Props

In our trailer, we decided to limit the amount of props and costumes used, even though we understood how someone’s appearance can offer assumptions to the audience by the nature of the genre, using many costumes would question the suitability of the scenes. Also, we also knew that the costumes could also add to the realism of the trailer and contrast to the locations and settings we had used. We used small amount of different costumes to make it feel real that this is happening in or around a day or a couple days, so the audience can relate to the story line. 

This is something that was picked up in our research and planning, through the use of the found footage horror film, Grave Encounters 1 and Grave encounters 2, where the characters were in an area for a couple of days and still wore the same clothes, signifying that they were trapped/lost, in our film trailer, this is something that I believe we did well and had an impact on the audience.

In our trailer, we also used other conventional props that may or may not been as noticeable, but this can also add the realism to the trailer and also the feel of realness to the trailer. One of these props that were used was the torch that I held when I was giving the realism that I was lost in the dark.

One thing that I felt that could’ve been done better in this area would be that a more formal dress code could’ve been used to obtain a better back story but also that may not conform the conventional stereotypes of a found footage horror film, where they would normal wear non formal clothing as it is felt like their only going out for a night or a couple of hours

Here is a screenshot of the torch light being used, in the dark. The light I am using is a very important prop that is required to tell the audience the basic idea of the movie and makes the trailer much more understandable. As you can see, the light is the only prop in some shots. This gives it most prevalence and catches the audience's eye in the shot which again helps the audience identify the genre in the movie.

Here is a screenshot of Dan, again. As you can see here, as he is being filmed, he is also using a camera; this would a prop used to make it seem as if we were filming each other whilst following the narrative. Moreover, it also compliments the genre as it looks very realistic.

Evaluation Task One - Location/Setting

Though out our trailer, we had to understand that there had to be a whole range of different locations and settings for different shots, this was because Dan and I, in our trailer are split up and trying to find each other, which resulted in the use of different places to shoot out trailer. We introduced different locations throughout the trailer not really giving any prevalence to a specific location but it's rather spread out. We used a number of shots to show these locations which I believe can be seen by the choice of screenshots that I have taken below. 

There was a whole range of ideas that went well in our film trailer, one of them was the range of different shots used, this was to show the audience all of the different locations, but it also tells the audience the story line. An example of the wide range shots was when we did an establishing shot of the cemetery. Personally, the establishing shot was a unique shot in comparison to some of the other shots that were used in our trailer. Furthermore, the establishing shot was going to be one of the main shots that we were going to use in our trailer, which does not only just show the importance and in depth of our research and planning but also tells us that we have prepared and planned properly for our trailer.

Personally, I feel that the choice of locations used for our trailer were the ideal settings for the horror genre. These different types of locations that were used consisted of going to various different graveyards (Ewell/Highgate Cemetery), various woodlands/fields and a drive in the countryside at night. All of these different locations showed off our story line, plus it also showed the audience that Dan and I are from a middle class background, which would appeal to out C1, C2 and D target audiences. Also, the working class background can be seen through some of the clothes that were worn by Dan and I, but also the dialect used in our film that both of us used, can also be used by the public in everyday use by a typical teenage audience in the present era.

Here is a location with Dan being filmed in Ewell Cemetery. The camera stays onto Dan but we still continue to see the background. We see almost all of the cemetery which shows that this was a perfect position to take this shot from as it can clearly be identified as an establishing shot.

Here we have an establishing shot of the wooded area location, where we can see Dan running away. This is to give the audience the feel that Dan is running away from something or someone.

Evaluation Task One - Title of the Film

Here are a number of screenshots taken from our trailer. All of these screenshots have some important input to our trailer whether it is setting a location or introducing a new character. This part of the evaluation reinforces why we had put some shots in the trailer.

Title of our film:

Over time, it took a lot of thought for producing a film title, we both (Dan and I) decided to go for the film title 'More Than Human'. This took a lot of thinking time to try and come up with the title, this is due to us going through different situations and positions and trying to apply a number of names to try and fit the genre of our film, which is a found footage horror film. We got the idea from many different found footage films, which helped increase a more effective horror title. Below is the names of some found footage films that helped in the process of deciding a film title.

• Grave Encounters 1 + 2
• The Blair Witch Project
• The Paranormal Activity 
• As above, so below
• The Devil Inside
• Cloverfield
• A Night in the Woods
• Diary of the Dead
• The Collingswood Story
• Unaware

The title above, is one of the fonts we used to try and use to help fit our genre, but we felt like that this was a bit to much as we researched many different found footage horror films and they have a plain, computerized, font which has an effect on the audience.

The title above is on a black background and in a plain, computerized font called "Mathematics" which gave the trailer a more of a found footage horror effect. We decided on this as we both felt it would increase the tension and also due to the white writing contrasting the black background, we were going back to the traditional horror conventions.

One reason why I felt this was a good decision for our specific trailer is because we had a lot of dialect in the form of text on the screen and so we had to make this piece of text more important than the rest and thus we put it at the end as it will be the last thing the audience remembers. People tend remember the start and end of any piece of information and that was the reason why we put it right at the end.   

We also knew that we must differentiate the title from the rest of the text dialogue within the trailer. We kept the font the same as all trailers have a conventional "One Font" system to not over complicate it and we also followed this

More Than Human - How we felt after the film

After countless changes earlier in the year, an example, the change from Action/Comedy, where we thought that it would not succeed as Comedy is a hard genre to pull off, if the jokes within the trailer were not funny, then the trailer would've not succeed and we would've got a lower mark. We changed the genre to Horror, and personally, it couldn't of gone any better. We both have had trouble to find time to film as we both have commitments such as work, but we both took the time to go out and film.

Personally, the trailer was a success and we got good reviews from our peers, even though there were a few things that could of been changed. But throughout the course, both Dan and I's skills in editing, producing, directing and technical skills with software's such as Photoshop, has increased and worked well for the production of our film.

Overall, I am happy with what has occurred in the year and what we have produced as Dan and I have worked hard to produce and pull off our production.

More Than Human Trailer

Here is the finished product of Dan and I's horror trailer called More Than Human. I hope you enjoy this trailer.