Music Choice

For the music that is placed over the trailer I used a sound called 'Dramatic Trailer'. 

I chose this as I felt it went with the theme of my trailer and it also creates suspense as the trailer plays. This music clip starts out slow and gradually picks up speed as it goes on. 

This fitted well with my trailer as I feel it slowly builds the audiences suspense until the music gets faster and the trailer gets more dramatic and shows quicker cuts from each clip.

However, i may change this sound track as it is only short and may not cover the whole contents of my trailer.
This image shows how to add sound into iMovie.

Improving Trailer

As the trailer is nearly completed I have watched it through multiple times and decided what parts need improving and adding in. 

For example, I have noticed that as the clip runs through, this section of the trailer skips a part and the stalker disappears. This looks unrealistic and shows a problem caused during the editing as the video shows a dramatic cut of the stalker from the video. I will edit the trailer and take this part out as I feel it is not needed anyway. 
I hope by doing this, it will improve my trailer and give it the realistic effect i have intended. Also, it will keep it looking as professional as possible.

Another part i am going to improve is this part where the stalker is scrolling through the victims Facebook and pictures. I am doing this purely to improve camera work as i have noticed when watching this part of the trailer, the camera is moving about quite a bit which makes it hard to concentrate on what the trailer is trying to show the viewing audience. 


I am also going to be adding new clips into my trailer to improve it and try and get the best grade possible. I am planning on adding in daylight scenes as the trailer contains only clips in the dark. Using daylight scenes will imply to the audience how long the stalking has been going on for and also how extreme it actually is. These clips will be placed in between the clips with the text shown on them.

Clips we are going to add in include:
The stalker watching the victim at her home
The stalker watching the victim walking to places
The victim tied up and trapped after being kidnapped. 

By including these clips i hope to make my trailer as gripping and as interesting as possible so the audience are left wanting to watch the film after seeing the contents of the trailer.

Continuing With Filming

Now that the majority of the trailer is completed, this has gave me a clear view of what clips need re-filming and also what i can add in to improve the quality of my work. I want to leave the audience wanting to see what happens next. 

The additional filming will include shots at day time as the trailer so far takes place in the dark. This will give the audience an idea of how long she has been getting stalked for and how frequently it is happening. 

The new filming will also include improving some camera work I have noticed needs redoing as my work has pieced together.

I have booked a camera with Mr Liddell for Tuesday 13th December.

Costumes

During my trailer their are no special costumes used apart from the stalker wearing a hoody most of the time. As the film is based in winter, the nights are dark and cold, therefore the young girl getting stalked is wearing casual winter clothes. This includes a coat, black jeans and trainers. 

 

However, for the stalkers costume, although it is still casual clothing I have ensured that it was all black and hooded to hide his identity. The black clothing keeps him hidden in the darkness and the hood does not show many features, keeping himself shadowed. This is so that the victim can not identify him if she ever sees him. 

Locations

There are not many different locations featured in my trailer however, here is a list of the locations that do take place in my trailer:

• Central Park

• On the streets near the park

• Visiting local shops

• A friends back garden to film the stalking at home shot

• In the basement of my school, to film the capturing of the victim

More Camera Shots

I have also used the camera for shots impersonating the stalker to give the audience a view of what he's seeing. I have done this purposely and hope it will engage the audience more and make them feel involved in the film as though they are apart of it themselves.

I have also added black, blank screens with white text giving insights to why the stalker may be following his victim. I have done this for many reasons, one of these reasons is to give the audience questions to be asking themselves as the video goes on getting them involved in the trailer and making them want to know what will happen next.

Another reason I have included this is because during our research, we viewed many style models and some have this feature. I felt this was a smart, effective idea and it also makes the trailer more attention grabbing and interesting. Here are a few of them:
 

Camera Shots

A main role in this project was to be in charge of the camera. My duties when using the camera included deciding a wide range of camera shots that would be used to ensure that the trailer looks professional and realistic when being viewed. 

Some of these shots include:
An over the shoulder shot - To show a point of view of the stalker and draw in the audience.

A close up shot - Of just the stalkers eyes to create a mysterious, dangerous impression on the audience.














A long shot - Of the stalkers silhouette, the darkness implies danger and leaves the audience not knowing what is going to happen next. 

Transactions

I decided that i did not want to use to many transactions during the trailer as i feel it is more effective with jump cuts to keep the audience intrigued and interested in what is going to happen next.

However, the transaction 'Cross Dissolve' was placed in the trailer when two shots play one after another instead of fading onto a black screen with writing on. I felt this looked more professional, also it allowed the video to run smoothly and gave it continuity throughout.

Changes in the Storyline of My Trailer

As i started my filming, i came up with ideas that i have decided to include in my trailer instead of my original thoughts of the storyline. The film will still focus on a young girl being stalked by a man, however, it will show more on how he is constantly watching her then build up to when he captures her rather than following her home from her work place.

He will watch her on dark nights, visiting the shop and walking home etc. It will also show him watching her at her home. 

Alot of ideas will remain the same for example, the natural darkness and light only coming from street lights during the trailer. Also costumes and props will remain the same as my original plan of the storyline of my trailer.

Location and Filming

Firstly, i arranged to meet with Kate and Ethan who will be actors in my trailer video. Before meeting we had discussed what locations that i was going to use when filming. I filmed each clip of my trailer in my spare time as i wanted it to mostly take place late at night so it needed to be dark outside. Another reason i used my spare time was to meet deadlines set.

I decided i was not going to use the 
stereotypical graveyard location that appears in alot of horror movies, instead i decided to film mostly in my local park, Central Park. We met at around 6:30pm which was perfect as it started to get dark. The majority of my trailer will be set in the dark as i feel it will give it more of a scary, eerie effect which will keep the audience involved and excited as the trailer plays.

Music

I will search the internet for an appropriate sound track that i can place over my trailer video to give it the suspense it needs for it to be effective to the watching audience. 

I will chose a dramatic, loud, thrilling sound track that will fit in nicely with my trailer and the cuts of the clips i place together to make it as gripping as possible.

 

I will test many different sound tracks i found and see which one fits best as possible with my finished trailer video.

Story Board Plan

I have started a quick draft on the application iMovie, including transactions and animatics showing how i would like my trailer to pan out. I did this to get a brief idea of what clips and camera shots i would like to include, ensuring that my trailer is completed to the best of my ability.

I used transactions such as 'Cross Dissolve' and 'Fade to Black' and i also included a black screen which will contain text. I got this idea from style models i have researched and viewed in my spare time.

Trailer Name

When deciding the trailer name, i wanted to keep it simple but effective. As my film is about a man stalking and capturing a young woman, i decided to name the trailer plain and simply 'STALKER' giving the audience an instant insight of what it is about. 
I have done this intentionally to get the audience intrigued and wanting to know what happens in the film as they already know it is about a stalking incident.

Trailer Plan

I have decided on the genre horror/thriller for my movie trailer as i think it could work out nicely.

• The film will focus on a young girl that is being stalked by a unknown man. 
• He is watching her at her workplace and will also follow her home. 
• It will be on a cold, winter night and we have decided to film in the natural darkness with only street lights as a light source on some parts of the clip. We are hoping this will create a gloomy, eerie effect on the audience adding to the suspense the clip will show. 
• For the mise en scene the young girl will be wearing work clothes, but will also be wrapped up as it is a icy winter night. 
• The stalking man will be wearing all black to make it easier for him to be unnoticed when lurking in the darkness. 
• We have decided to keep the props to a minimum and not use the usual guns and knives, instead we want to create a realistic but affective effect by using the camera in many different ways.
• A friend of mine, Kate, will be the young girl in the clip and i will be filming and focusing on different camera shots that can be used to make the trailer effective.

Lip Syncing Task - Editing and Transactions

As well as editing the sound, I also decided to add a black and white effect over the whole clip so that it emphasised the love story that was intended. I feel this effect was successful as the main colours were also black and white when including costumes and location so I felt this worked very effectively. 

Another effect I used was slowing down parts of the footage we recorded to add more effect and try to engage with the audience.

Another skill I included was transactions as each clip played onto another. I decided to keep the same transaction which was 'cross dissolve' all the way through which worked nicely as each clip moved softly onto one another. This also added a sadness aspect to the video emphasising the clear fall out the actors shown during the video. I also faded out the song at the end of the short video so that it did not just end at a steady stop, this made a big difference when making it seem professional.

Lip Syncing Task - Editing the Sound

After I had placed all of my footage into iMovie, I started editing my video which included adding many different features to make it the finished piece it is. 

First of all, I placed my song choice (La La La by Sam Smith) over the whole clip so that it can expand and shorten to however long the clip would get and also this made it a lot easier to match up the lip syncing we had included.


After my song choice was inserted, I started putting the short video together in order to make it flow how it does today. Part of this process included muting each clip, which worked effectively so that the audience could not hear any ambient sound that took place in the clips as they were recorded. This allowed the video to only have the music heard as the video is played which makes it look and sound professional throughout.

Finished Lip Sync Task

Lip Syncing Task - Editing Video

I have completed all the filming I need to create a short video and i'm now onto the editing process. To edit my video I will be using the application iMovie which allows me to cut clips, insert clips, insert transactions, sounds, effects and more to make my video look as professional as possible. 

I will edit this video to the best of my ability and include a lot of techniques to ensure the message I want to express to the audience is clearly portrayed.

Lip Syncing Task - Location

I have decided on a few locations I think would create a good effect during this music video. One of these locations is just a blank, white background which I think will be effective when doing the lip syncing that will be included. This will draw the attention of the audience and make them focus on the actor as there is nothing else in the picture that will distract them. This is also good for the 'clicks' and 'claps' we will show when beats are used during the song.

Another will be filmed outside, in the streets with natural light to create a casual, realistic view of the story. I decided this purposely as it shows a convincing story to the audience.

Lip Syncing Task - Costume

Both actors in my video will appear in all black, casual clothing. I have decided this because I think the black clothing will contrast nicely against the white background when the lip syncing parts are being filmed. It will also draw the attention to the actor as the black clothing is clear and bold. I have also thought about a black and white effect being placed over the whole image of the video so if I go through with this idea the black clothing will match perfectly.

Lip Syncing Task - Filming

Today, myself and the two actors i want to feature in my music video have discussed dates and times we are all free to film my music video. We have came up with the dates of: Friday 30th September, Monday 3rd October, Tuesday 4th October. This means I will have to book a camera from Mr Liddell as it requires filming in our free time as well as lesson time. This is to ensure the filming is completed as quickly as possible but also to a high standard. Using our free time gives me a good amount of filming time so it is not rushed.

I will be filming the music video and i will do any camera work involved in this particular task. I will use many different camera angles and shots to grab the audiences attention and to also make the music video look as professional as possible on my first attempt of using these particular cameras and applications such as iMovie for editing. 

I have kindly asked two friends of mine to act in this task so that the story of the music video I want to get across to the audience is clearly shown. 

I have changed my original plan of using 3 young ladies to feature in the video and instead decided that i want to show a girl and boy expressing conflict in their relationship, matching the lyrics to the song.

Lip Syncing Task - Song Choice

For this task, i have on decided the song choice 'La La La' by Sam Smith. I have decided on this song choice for many reasons, one being that it has powerful lyrics that create a clear story and I feel I can use that when recreating the music video to give the audience an opportunity to engage and understand what the music video is about, showing a story as it goes along.

It includes many opportunities to show lip syncing and clips of 'claps' and 'clicks' to replace the beats which was also apart of the task given. 

Planning Lip Sync Video

Notes: 

Song - La La La, Sam Smith
Camera Shots - Me, closeups, medium closeups and long shots 
Models - Kate, Abbi, Ellie
Location - Lip syncing: White back ground, Other actions: Streets
Props - Triangle & other instruments
Costumes - All black
Effects - Black&white, fade into different people.