Posters & Magazine Cover Planning

In preparation for making our posters and magazine covers, we came together as a group and decided on the type of shots that we wanted for each ancillary task, and the colour schemes and layouts that we wanted.

We then realised that we would be needing various other shots of our characters for the backgrounds and smaller images, and so we arranged another photoshoot with Chloe as she was our main character. We brought in all of the props that we would be needing, as well as her costume, and Emily photographed her on the location of our shoot.

We could then sort through these collected images as a group, and decide on the best shots for the different products. We found that we could also use these images on the DVD cover, and on our website to create a strong cohesion between all of our products.

Completed Teaser Trailer

We have now finished the filming and editing of our teaser trailer and it is ready to be burned to disc and uploaded to our blog. After we have created our ancillary products, we will then upload them and our teaser trailer so that they can be easily viewed.

Editing Log

Throughout the process of editing our footage into our teaser trailer I have kept track of the hours spent editing by each individual in the group. The log below shows each date, the number of hours, and the group members present at the time. This system will help us divide the work more fairly and total the amount of time spent editing.

Finishing Touches

Aside from our main titles, we decided that we would add finishing touches to our teaser trailer such as the small-printed institutional 'Coming Soon' screen at the end of various other trailers. We hoped that this would give a real authenticity to our own production, and demonstrate the detail that we were focusing on.




Whilst some minor editing was being completed, I created this screen that we could then import to our footage and edit again with iMovie titles and transitions:





I studied other film trailer carefully to understand the type of information that I would need to include in the small print, and also to recognise the logos that were commonly used. I could then meet the conventions of a industry standard teaser trailer by adding our own information to the basic template.

iMovie

After the results from our audience feedback, we imported our footage onto the Mac's to use the iMovie programme. This would help us with our titles and transitions, as well as offering a wider range of fonts and better graphics as we finished editing the teaser trailer as a group.

After uploading our footage and naming our production, we could begin to split the clips in certain places to add in title screens where appropriate using the 'T' button on the right hand side of the panel. For the majority of our titles, we chose to use the same title style, and the same font - American Typewriter - to create cohesions. This particular font helped create the image of a traditional typed police report.

We could also strectch out our audio and change the fade duration in/out to control the rising tempo of our soundtrack during the institutional shots, as well as how quickly the music fades out at the end of our teaser trailer. Similarly, we could lengthen and shorten the black titled shots appropriately so that audiences would have enough time to read what was presented.

iMovie helped us to finish our production to a much higher standard, creating a cohesive and professional-looking teaser trailer. As well as being simple to use, it offered us a wide range of tools that we could experiment with to make the most of our final product.

Audience Feedback Changes

After looking at the main issues highlighted in our audience feedback, we began editing our production further to help it reach its potential as a teaser trailer.


The first issue that we dealt with was one of continuity. We made sure that the clip of Chloe on the swing did not appear after the one of the empty swing as it had before. This was fairly easy to change.


Next we had to deal with the issue of a rough outline being visible on a black screen. When we transported our trailer to the Mac, we did actually remove all of the black screens and replace them with title screens that we could adapt. This then solved the issue of the persons outline and made it look much more professional.

After we had added in the titles at the length that we wanted, we could then add in the text and graphics/animation that we wanted on them. This solved the problem of having little information in our teaser trailer. This also extended the length of our trailer, and we also added in some extra footage that we had not used to meet the conventions of a trailer (length-wise).

Once we had the full lenght of our trailer in place, we could then sort out any pacing and audio problems that we had found. We made the trailers pace gradually increase to create more enigma, and matched the audio more precisely to the action.

Lastly, we considered that our institutions may be too bright. We managed to put an effect over them to 'Cartoonise' them further. This actually blurred them slightly and made them seem less bright and happy than previously, which was much more effective.

We feel that we have considered all of our audience feedback and made the appropriate changes, along with several others, to make our teaser trailer meet the necessary conventions and be as effective as possible.

Audience Feedback Results

Before we transported our production onto the Mac for further editing, we presented our First Cut to many of our peers (media students and also those whose media knowledge is not as advanced as our own), as well as many staff from our sixth form, and family members. This meant that we were covering a wide range of audiences.

We told them to analyse our production closely and tell us what was effective and what was not so effective about it. We could them take these suggestions and improve our teaser trailer, based on what our audience wanted.

Here are several of the issues found within our teaser trailers' First Cut by our Audience Feedback:

• Continuity issues - There is an image of the empty swing, then later we go back to the swing with the girl present.
• Black screen issues - At one point you can roughly see someones outline on a supposedly blank screen.
• Pacing issues - There are a few issues with the increasing pace of the trailer, and it could become slightly faster towards the end for added enigma.
• Titles & Text issues - Our First Cut currently has no titles or added text.
• Institution issues - The institutional logos appear brighter than may be suitable considering the genre and tone of our teaser trailer.
• Currently too short, even for a teaser trailer.

After considering all of these constructive criticisms we will begin work on our final production. We will then post updates of the changes that we have made due to this feedback from our audiences so that our progress can be seen clearly.

Audience Feedback

During the process of our editing we created a First Cut of our teaser trailer. This was the initial outline of our trailer to give an idea of what the final outcome would be. We presented this rough cut to our media class, members of staff, family members and our friends to get a real idea of peoples' responses to our work. This means that we would get feedback from a wide audience of different ages and both genders.

Results from our audience feedback process will be posted shortly.