1. 1. Post Production Movie trailer
2. 2. Editing Software It took me a while to find software that was suitable for putting together and editing my movie trailer as many either did not work or were too complex. The first software that I attempted to use was Adobe Elements on the computers at school. However while this was nice software to navigate around, it was very slow and did not play the video clips very smoothly, so I decided to search for a different programme to use to edit my trailer.
3. 3. After effects After deciding to change from Adobe Elements I went home and did some research into other video editing software, where I found Adobe After Effects. I tried to use this for a while finding it quite similar to elements. However as time went on I found it to be incredibly complex and watched several YouTube tutorials to try and figure it out. This did not get me very far and just made things even more complicated for me so, once again, I decided to search for a different video editing software.
4. 4. Movie Maker After doing extensive searching around, downloading various software onto my computer, I eventually decided on using Windows Movie Maker. Movie Maker was very simple and effective to use on my home computer
5. 5. First Draft So after I had gathered all of the footage that I needed for my trailer I began to edit it using movie maker. I began by inserting the green audience card I sourced this by just screen shooting it from an existing film trailer, pasting it into a PowerPoint document, cropping it and saving it as a picture I then just inserted it into movie maker as an image To know how long I should display the card for in my own trailer I did a bit of research and found that most trailers usually display it for 3-4 seconds So I decided to display mine for 3 seconds
6. 6. I then had to go about selecting the transition from the card to the next shot After playing around with the various effects I selected a simple fade
7. 7. Long Shot My next step was to insert the long shot of the house that I had filmed. I watched all of the footage that I had taken, including all of the different shots and angles I then selected the footage that I thought was most suitable for my trailer I inserted it into movie maker and edited it down so that it was also an appropriate length for the trailer I also went for a subtle fade transition for this clip to the next clip
8. 8. The long shot of the house then fades out into the institution identification Illuminite Pictures that I have already produced This ties in very nicely with the clip after it which is the clip of the intruder entering the house, as we already know the house he/she is entering from the establishing shot The transition between the two is also a fading effect One decision I had when constructing/editing the trailer is how long each transition should last; slow, medium or fast I decided to go for a slow effect as I did not want tension to build too quickly within the trailer
9. 9. Intruder For the clip with the intruder I had gathered a range of footage with my dad opening the door at various speeds I selected the one that I though was most appropriate and then inserted it into movie maker I had to crop the clip down as it was too long and so that only footage that was necessary for the viewer was included However after this clip I added some variety to the type of transition used, as I did not want to use the same fading technique throughout
10. 10. Transition For this transition I used a sort of a film burning effect, I feel that this effect adds to the horror genre and fits with typical codes and conventions The clip of the intruder disappears into a clip of the text that reads this fall I tired to insert the image of the text straight into movie maker, however it was not central and did not fit to the screen To overcome this issue I inserted the image of the text into a PowerPoint document and placed it over a black square I then saved the red text and the black box as a single image together I then inserted this new image into movie maker and it worked perfectly
11. 11. This then cuts straight into the scene with the girls singing and dancing For this clip I watched all of the footage that I had gathered when filming this scene and selected the one which I felt would be most appropriate for the trailer and fit my horror genre In addition to this I also had to bear in mind which looked the most professional, with no sudden jumps/slips of the camera and where all of the girls looked natural i.e. not fazed by the presence of the camera Once I has selected the clip for the trailer I then inserted that into movie maker too Once this clip was in I wanted to insert, at two different intervals, footage of the girls tied up
12. 12. I decided to let the footage of the girls singing and dancing play for several seconds before displaying the footage of them tied up, so that the audience becomes comfortable with the scene and so will be more shocked when they do see the girls tied up To insert this footage in-between the footage of the singing and dancing I had to split the clip I then inserted footage of the girls toed up and gagged between the newly split clip After messing around for a while I decided that instead of using moving footage of the kidnapped girls it would be more effective to use still images This is because I wanted it to be shocking for the viewer and make them scared In addition I only wanted the scene to displayed for a very short period of time to add to the viewers intrigue
13. 13. As a result instead of using the footage of the girls tied up and gagged that I had gathered I decided to use the still images of them that I had also gathered instead Once I had made this decision I had to decide which two images to use as I had a number to choose from, including the number of girls in the given image So, as a result, for the first image I selected one where all 5 girls were present as it demonstrated that all 5 had been kidnapped and were all still alive-to begin with I then had to make the decision of how long I wanted the image to be displayed for I only wanted it to be displayed for a very short period of time and to shock the audience For this reason I decided to display it for half a second
14. 14. From the image of the girls tied up this then cuts straight back to the girls singing and dancing in the bedroom The next place I wanted to include an image of the girls kidnapped was when all 5 girls had been shown in the circle singing and dancing, so that we have gone full circle This slot would fall 5 seconds after the last The first image was shown half way around the circle, giving us 9 seconds of footage of the girls singing and dancing The timing of the pictures of the kidnapped girls, I feel, was essential in building tension as cuts become closer together
15. 15. The next image of the kidnapped girls to be shown would have to have fewer girls included in it to show that they are been taken away However the decision that I was faced with was how many to include in this image To have 4 of them in it to show that one of them had been taken away or go for fewer than 4 to show that more of them had been taken away I decided to go with showing 3 of the kidnapped girls with this image as it was in-between the original 5 and the final girl left at the end, who would be on her own and I felt that it would give the same effect of someone taking the girls away one at a time The reason for me not including images of the girls decreasing in numbers one by one is that I did not feel that it would be appropriate as the audience would become bored and it would loos the shock factor for them
16. 16. To insert the image into movie maker I did a similar thing to the previous one I split the clip that I wanted to sandwich it in-between and just placed the image where the split was This also then cuts straight back to the footage of the girls singing and dancing
17. 17. Once the camera has gone full circle and back to Sarah, it was then time to put in the next piece of text, 5 girls
18. 18. This was a similar process to inserting the previous text I created a new image with a black background on a PowerPoint document so that it was central and fit to screen when I inserted it into my trailer on movie maker For the transition between the previous clip of the girls dancing and the text I decided to use the burning film transition that I used for the first piece of text I feel that this adds an element of consistency to the trailer and does not make it appear random and though it has just been thrown together This was a similar process to inserting the previous text I created a new image with a black background on a PowerPoint document so that it was central and fit to screen when I inserted it into my trailer on movie maker For the transition between the previous clip of the girls dancing and the text I decided to use the burning film transition that I used for the first piece of text I feel that this adds an element of consistency to the trailer and does not make it appear random and though it has just been thrown together
19. 19. I used the same effect for the transition between the 5 girls text and the return to the girls singing in the room The clip then continues with the girls singing and it cuts out when the verse comes to an end The time period between this and the previous cut is seven seconds This again is building tension for viewers as the cuts are getting shorter and closer together all the while This cuts to the text mysteriously, again using the burning film effect for the transitions The text has so far read this fall 5 girls mysteriously leaving the audience hanging each time and the mysteriously part leaves the audience hanging for the ultimate climax as they want to know what mysteriously happened
20. 20. This then cuts to the clip of Ellie saying did you shut the front door? However this clip is very short and the word did is not very clear in her speech In addition to this there is a strange background noise towards the end of the clip I used various software to try to get rid of this noise from the clip, but unfortunately had little success To try to overcome this I tried to cut the clip down to as short as possible without loosing any of the dialogue However I still dont think that this is perfect so I will go to peer assessment and see what feedback I get regarding it
21. 21. The shot of Ellie then moves into the final piece of text of the trailer-the title of the film I decided to use a new effect for this transition as I felt that the title of the film was the most important feature of it The effect that I decided to use for this transition was a sort of swiping effect as sown in the image below I feel that this effect adds emphasis to the word VANISH and to the title as a whole Another tool that I have used for emphasis of the title is the time that it is displayed for-5 seconds, which is a considerable amount of time after the previously used fast cuts which were building tension I also added an effect to the text while it was on screen, whereby the text appears to enlarge or get closer to the audience This adds more interest to the title so that the audience does not become bored
22. 22. Just like the rest of the text throughout the trailer I also had to put the title onto a black background in a PowerPoint document before putting it into movie maker so that it was central to the screen
23. 23. Before producing my trailer my teacher gave me the suggestion of listing the name of the actors at the end of my trailer in order to seal the deal for the audience and make them want to go and see the film I decided to take up this suggestion and so thought that the best way to do it was to take individual screen shots of the girls from the footage that I had recorded Once I had one image for each of the girls I then pasted them, one by one into a PowerPoint document Next I inserted each of their surnames over their images using word art I thought that it would be more effective to just use their surnames as oppose to using their full names as they are all supposed to be well established actresses that the audience will recognise
24. 24. The pictures of the girls were only displayed for a second each For the transitions between the pictures I used the same effect used for the title, the swiping effect By doing this the viewer can establish the five central characters of the film and by putting AND Pocock at the end can assume that she will be the overall main character I purposefully didnt include the actor who plays the kidnapper as it would ruin the mystery of the film I am unsure about the text and the font of the text that I have used for the actors names, so this can be another thing that I can evaluate after my feedback from peers
25. 25. The final image of and Pocock fades out into the final clip For the final clip I selected the most appropriate clip out of all the footage that I had gather during filming and inserted it into my movie maker document The start was okay, however, it went on a little longer than necessary, so all I had to was to trim the end down
26. 26. Background For the background music for my trailer I wanted something slightly chilling and that would build tension at the same time For this music I decided to search the internet for copyright free material that would be suitable for me to use By this I found a website called copyright free music and sound the link to which is given below http://copyrightfriendly.wikispaces.com/Copyright-friendly+music+and+sound This website gave a number of links to other websites where copyright free music is available After exploring a few of these website I found one that I liked called free sound And decided to use this website to source all of my music from Again a link to this website is given below http://www.freesound.org/
27. 27. I found the website really nice to navigate around and also found it to have an extensive range of copyright free music available to use I found the track that I wanted to use for my background music pretty much straight away, so downloaded it While searching for the backing music I also found a sound effect that would go really well with the instances where the images of the girls kidnapped pop up as I felt that it would enhance the shock factor for the viewer straight away. I then downloaded that effect too My next task was to insert these to audio files into the movie maker document where I was producing the trailer
28. 28. I put the background music into movie maker first and the concentrated on how to introduce it and when it was going to start I thought that the most effective way to do this was to introduce it, fading in slowly, with the first clip-the long shot of the house I also had to decide what volume I wanted the background music to be as I did not want it to be too loud so that it would detract attention away from other elements of the trailer-for example when the girls start singing I feel that the slight fade-in and the volume of the music, along with its construction effectively begin to (slowly) build tension within the trailer
29. 29. The background music plays throughout the trailer building tension and adding intrigue and mystery for the viewer especially when it is playing in the background of the girls singing It makes the audience want to know what is going to happen next as they can physically hear and feel that tension building up It was quite difficult to put this music in throughout as it ended half way through so I had to make sure that there were no sudden jumps in the sound
30. 30. I next had to put in the sound effect that I wanted to go over the images of the girls tied up and gagged Because these clips only last half a second the sound effect needed to be very hard hitting so I turned the volume up to maximum so that it adds emphasis to the clips and shock the viewer
31. 31. Completed Trailer VANISH