AS reflection task

Certain technologies we used were the iPhone camera, we also used adobe premier elements to bring our film clips together to we also had to use YouTube to find our music for our trailer and also to upload it. The pros of the iPhone camera is that it films in 1080p and is easy to convert the files into playable on adobe and also to change those files into 720p, another advantage is that it was easily accessible and wasn’t hard to use therefore we could use it in any part of London to capture footage, but this shows we learnt from our AS film project where instead of using the first footage we tried again till we got best picture and quality for our trailer. One drawback to using the iPhone is the filming process isn’t as professional as a normal camera and shaking hands were sometimes a problem causing re-shoots of scenes, we didn’t have this problem as we used a tripod for the iPhone and it didn’t become shaky. The software we used were adobe premiere elements which was good as it was easy to use and it helped the trailer seem more professional and add effects we wouldn’t be able to add. With adobe premiere elements the sound can sometimes be lost, and in our AS project nothing that was said was able to hear and then we were able to overcome this in A2 as we re-recorded the narration needed and then it was able to hear and also using a different voice created a different element. The other bit of software we used is YouTube we used this to share our film as it can show films in 720p, with our AS we put it on to YouTube but because the software was trying to adapt all the editing features we had like different fades and different credits this caused problems as YouTube couldn’t format all the edits in, in our A2 we were able to fix this as we added less fades and credits so that YouTube didn’t have as much animation it didn’t recognize to edit. In AS we filmed an opening to horror as we knew the types of conventions of the genre, but we realised that without the right lighting we couldn’t create the right setting and mood and so in our A2 we changed the genre so that lighting didn’t have as much of a key role in our film. We also changed other things from our AS like the location of our filming, in our AS production we filmed in a woody area to add to a spooky element to the opening of our film, and this added a true spooky side to our opening, however when we changed the genre we would be focusing changed we decided that with a thriller we couldn’t use this same effect and we also thought that using a recognisable background like the London city centre created dramatic element. Using Adobe Premier Elements we were able to add the zooms in on certain elements therefore adding drama and this is a key convention of thriller as it emphasises the importance of that character and the drama that character could bring also. In AS when researching for a horror we could see that certain conventions needed to be used these in our opening, the main research we used was analysing the opening of horror films and we fund things we could use, another form of research we used was looking at critic responses of horror films and how they could avoid the things which were seen as bad in the criticised films. We made sure we kept all this research on our blog pages so that we could come back to it when filming. Both these forms of research helped the production as we stayed away from recurring things in horror which were seen as bad or cliché and therefore trying to stand out. However we also used an audience questionnaire in the research to see what people liked about horror films and also give us examples and a template for what we should use, in the research we had a script we were going to use but then there were acting problems so it didn’t get used and also the story board was good but included scenes we initially thought were good but then when filming them left them out completely. In A2 we developed on these by again reading reviews of trailers for our chosen genre which changed therefore it became a lot easier to create a storyline to the genre, we also analysed a whole film and its trailer to then see what types of scenes were used in the trailer and what would have had a bigger effect if they had used them in the trailer. The research helped the production as we could see what was used and wasn’t really liked and therefore were able to add and take away things which we thought either should or should not add. We again used an audience questionnaire to find out which things they liked about our genre of film and who were their favourite actor and director to see if we draw anything from their performances.  In our A2 we used a storyboard to completely plan out what scenes we used and then filmed them we used a shot list to see what would be effective, and we made a script for our narrator as it added something different to the film.  From the audience feedback we got one main point we got back from our AS production was that we needed to use sound to amplify the tension in the opening of the horror film, we also could have re-recorded the dialogue just to make it clearer, this improved our whole production as we were able to make these changes. In our A2 we improved on these by using a narrator for dialogue and adding music to add tension and action to the trailer and therefore it was more like a action thriller and adhered to the common convention of the thriller genre to have music that builds up and then leaves you on a cliff hanger.  In most horror film openings we saw that one convention was for a young woman to die in the opening and therefore set up the rest of the film we decided to experiment with this convention and have a young man die in the beginning therefore challenging the stereotype that women are the victims in the film and that men are superior but we also used it as a way to show the strength of the young man as it was a harder kill therefore conforming to the convention in horrors that men are harder to kill and therefore take more effort from the killer. In our A2 production we conformed to many stereotypes as we believed experimenting could make the actual genre of the film vague and untenable when asked about one convention we stuck top was keeping the antagonist faceless and shrouded in mystery overall this worked well as it created an enigma code which would help with attracting audiences. In our AS we didn’t watch any specific directors’ horror work as we studied codes and conventions and thought we could do a good job without it. However in our A2 we looked at Martin Scorsese’s work and tried to emulate that with quick fast paced trailer with a hint of tension  to add to the thriller element.