Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Monday, 14 March 2011
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Editing The Trailer.
Originally assuming we could do all of our editing in Windows Movie Maker, we eventually found Movie Maker as very limited in its capabilities; the range of transitions was minimal, the trimming was not precise enough, and there was not enough control over the audio. What it came down to was that we needed to mute some clips and have sound on others, and Movie Maker couldn't do this.After spending a while searching for a programme that would meet our needs. We eventually settled on Corel VideoStudio. This gave us a lot more flexibility with our editing.
Construction of the trailer was a lengthy and complex process. After shooting all of the shots planned for in the storyboard, we put them in order. It was at this point that we realised the trailer seemed to have too much dialogue and not enough action. The actual filming process was also difficult due to conflicting time schedules. Casting my stepdad meant that filming had to be fitted around his weekend work shifts. This meant that we didn’t finish filming until late in the project; where everyone was free and the weather was good enough.We eventually planned the action shots we wished to use, as well as deciding to film some more while on location. Then it was simply a case of choosing where to place these action shots within the trailer. In the final version, some scenes of dialogue were cut out and we had plenty of shots later.
The general rule we stuck to in construction was to break up shots of the protagonists with shots of the antagonists and try and keep to a maximum of three shots per scene, so the trailer didn’t feel like a film. We also tried to ensure we used a variety of shots to keep the trailer engaging and interesting. This lead to re filming a few shots on occasion as we felt some shots were over-used. There are quite a few shots that we are particularly proud of, for example the low-angle shot chosen to give the effect that the antagonist has killed someone. A convention we noticed in trailers is audio from scene overlapping into another. This is in evidence in our trailer for certain scenes. The other convention we noticed was just how many fades to black trailers use to transition between shots. It’s more than you think!
After getting to this stage, and editing the audio to cut out wind noise as much as possible, the only thing left was to choose some suitable music.
Wishing to emulate a "Western" feel without resorting to the cliched Sergio Leone spaghetti western music, we turned the soundtrack of a video game called "Red Dead Redemption". The game is set in 1911, towards the decline of the American Old West, and it's soundtrack is designed to match the times, featuring all the usual whistling and harmonica one might expect.
After experimenting to see what works and what doesn't, we chose the songs "The Shootist" and "The Outlaw's Return"."The Shootist" begins the trailer with atmospheric and droning sounds, perfect for use during the opening establishing shots. After that the music picks up with "The Outlaw's Return"; a more modern sounding track, with drums being introduced. This we feel suits the change of pace after the first gun shot. Finally, towards the end of the trailer, the music moves up a final notch, all the way to the end crescendo.
After the final scene past the film's title, a small musical motif plays to remind the audience of the beginning; again this is from "The Shootist". This is intended to provide the audience with something to remember the film by.
Construction of the trailer was a lengthy and complex process. After shooting all of the shots planned for in the storyboard, we put them in order. It was at this point that we realised the trailer seemed to have too much dialogue and not enough action. The actual filming process was also difficult due to conflicting time schedules. Casting my stepdad meant that filming had to be fitted around his weekend work shifts. This meant that we didn’t finish filming until late in the project; where everyone was free and the weather was good enough.We eventually planned the action shots we wished to use, as well as deciding to film some more while on location. Then it was simply a case of choosing where to place these action shots within the trailer. In the final version, some scenes of dialogue were cut out and we had plenty of shots later.
The general rule we stuck to in construction was to break up shots of the protagonists with shots of the antagonists and try and keep to a maximum of three shots per scene, so the trailer didn’t feel like a film. We also tried to ensure we used a variety of shots to keep the trailer engaging and interesting. This lead to re filming a few shots on occasion as we felt some shots were over-used. There are quite a few shots that we are particularly proud of, for example the low-angle shot chosen to give the effect that the antagonist has killed someone. A convention we noticed in trailers is audio from scene overlapping into another. This is in evidence in our trailer for certain scenes. The other convention we noticed was just how many fades to black trailers use to transition between shots. It’s more than you think!
After getting to this stage, and editing the audio to cut out wind noise as much as possible, the only thing left was to choose some suitable music.
Wishing to emulate a "Western" feel without resorting to the cliched Sergio Leone spaghetti western music, we turned the soundtrack of a video game called "Red Dead Redemption". The game is set in 1911, towards the decline of the American Old West, and it's soundtrack is designed to match the times, featuring all the usual whistling and harmonica one might expect.
After experimenting to see what works and what doesn't, we chose the songs "The Shootist" and "The Outlaw's Return"."The Shootist" begins the trailer with atmospheric and droning sounds, perfect for use during the opening establishing shots. After that the music picks up with "The Outlaw's Return"; a more modern sounding track, with drums being introduced. This we feel suits the change of pace after the first gun shot. Finally, towards the end of the trailer, the music moves up a final notch, all the way to the end crescendo.
After the final scene past the film's title, a small musical motif plays to remind the audience of the beginning; again this is from "The Shootist". This is intended to provide the audience with something to remember the film by.
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Shooting The Trailer
Our chosen filming location was Canford Heath, an area we knew had all the landscape features we were looking for: heath land, sandy areas and paths, and forest.
This is an example of one of the areas in Canford Heath we used. You can see the sandy path which we used for some walking scenes, and further down is a sandy area which would stand in for "desert", seen in the next photo.
In this particular shot the weather is clear, and the sun is out, but the weather wasn't as fine as this throughout the day.
In this scene, the director is filming over another actor's shoulder.
From a different angle.
Setting the camera up for a scene behind this fallen tree.
The two leads by a tree.
This was a possible area for a tracking shot.
Greatly underestimating how long everything would take to film, we unrealistically assumed we could get it all done in a day! The actual filming ended up taking about six days, with many breaks in between thanks to people not being available, the weather not holding up etc.
In this particular shot the weather is clear, and the sun is out, but the weather wasn't as fine as this throughout the day.
Filming one of the first scenes in the trailer, a mid-shot.
From a different angle, you can see the actors' positions.
In this scene, the director is filming over another actor's shoulder.
Greatly underestimating how long everything would take to film, we unrealistically assumed we could get it all done in a day! The actual filming ended up taking about six days, with many breaks in between thanks to people not being available, the weather not holding up etc.
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