Font for subtitles of trailer

During my Interim feedback, a few people said that the font did not match the genre of my film.

Looking at the popular website DaFont.com, I could find fonts to download to use within my trailer.

Looking through the horror category, as the fonts fitted with my genre and theme more, I found five that I think would work best in my trailer and analysed them.

http://www.dafont.com/face-your-fears.font

http://www.dafont.com/csnpwdt.font

http://www.dafont.com/eurohorror.font

http://www.dafont.com/last-man-on-earth.font

http://www.dafont.com/head-injuries.font

My trailer has a small focus on the colour red and blood, during the scene where the little girl is painting with blood, the blood on the knife and the change to red in my subtitle. So because of this, I'm warming towards the fonts with a drip effect, so I could use the font in red to make it look more like blood. These fonts are Children Should Not Play With Dead Things, Euro Horror and Head Injuries.

However, I still think that Face Your Fears would work good in red, as it would look like blood or at least red paint, has been smeared over a wall which is something a child would do.

The Last Man On Earth font could also work, as it's bold but is uneven and a little wombly, but not enough that it can't be read easily. 

Also, at the end of film trailers (and in poster's for my ancillary task), there is a small print font which contains all the extra information about a film for copyright purposes. For this, I will be using the following font:

Interim feedback 2

Here is a video of a few people giving me Interim Feedback about my trailer so far.

• A few people mentioned that my font doesn't quite fit the genre. One person said that the font looks too 'cutesy' while another said it looks too 'nice'. I need to further research into fonts appropiate for my trailer.
• A few more people suggested doing something extra with the little girl and older girl screaming, such as prolonging the scream throughout a few more scenes or echoing it throughout the entire montage scene.
• My teacher, who I did not record, suggested re-filming the small montage clip of a knife with some blood over it, to suggest that it was involved in the murder and to continue the theme of red throughout the trailer.

Editing

When re-editing my trailer, I found a much easier way to crop two pieces of film together to make one image. This way, my final image on film looks much neater and more like one film instead of two put together.

I wanted to create a bleak colouring for my trailer, to give it an eery and cold atmosphere and edge to it as it is a psychological thriller. I used a Colour Corrector to achieve this.

Interim feedback part 2

After re-filming a few scenes and putting them together in place, I asked my teacher if my product fitted the requirement and made better sense.

Here is the feedback:

Point 1 - 'It is unclear that the first scene is a dream sequence. If it was in a different colour to signify the past or signify it was a dream, this would make it more clear for audiences.'

Point 2 - 'It's also unclear that the little girl at the beginning is the older girl as they don't look similar. In the beginning scene, if the little girl looks into the camera this might make it clearer.'

Point 3- 'The girl walking down the alley doesn't really add much or do much for the story. Improve on it.'

For point 3, I need to try and edit the 3 short clips of the girl being followed down the alley so that they create tension as mid points between the long montage scene. I like the idea of the girl  being followed closely, because it is a convention of psychological thrillers, but I need to find a way to incorporate it into the trailer better.

I asked my teacher if the short time of 50 seconds is enough for a teaser trailer for the coursework, she said that an aim of 1minute - 1 minute 30 seconds is more of a reasonable teaser trailer time.

My own feedback of my trailer so far is that I am not happy with it. To improve this, I need to re-edit specific dissolves and transitions, as they do not fit in with the trailer.

Other improvements I thought would be suitable would be to change the colour of footage which is meant to be from the past to colours such as black and white or sepia as it would be clear for the audience to understand that these scenes are to do with the girl's past.

My trailer is still unfinished though, as I need to look at my research into fonts and text for my subtitles as well as create a title for my project overall.

I also need to look at production companies to create my own, as well as finish the soundtrack for the end of the trailer.

Filming schedule for new scenes

New intro scene of young protagonist painting and singing


Friday 19th October
1600 Set up camera on tripod, facing down onto floor
1605 Film newspaper falling from up above and landing on the floor. Making sure that the camera can clearly see the headline and image.


Saturday 20th October
1000 Arrive at cousin's house to film.
1015 Set up room with barely any furniture and props on floor
1030 Practise run through of filming with young actress as she sings and paints picture of mask
1045 Film scene a few times with different angles
1100 Filming little girl screaming into the camera
1115 Finish filming with little girl

Afternoon
1400 Film protagonist switching on lights
1415 Film POV of protagonist seeing masked person in corner and switching light on again to reveal them gone


During this piece of filming, I will be filming close-ups of the little girl singing and then looking into the camera. I will also film a long shot of her painting and then pan round to reveal the image that she is painting.

Extra scenes to film and new story

Interim feedback: Teacher

After collating all of my research, I showed my media teacher what I have created so far to see if I'm on track and if my product is fitting into the right genre.

So far, my shots don't quite make sense because my teacher thought that the man in the mask was stalking the young girl.

Another big improvement that I noticed was that a lot of my shots are far too long for a trailer. I need to cut these down.

Ideas for improvement:

Historial background to the story.

I will be filming a few extra scenes of a little girl painting a picture of the masked villian. This is so the little girl at the beginning can be linked as the future young lady all grown up.

Newspaper shot
Using a newspaper will alert audiences as to what the story is about. This will show that the little girl was involved in a murder case for which she was found not guilty, the masked man was. This will hint as to why the woman can see the masked man everywhere.

Parrells to little girl and older girl
In a shot where the older girl is seen screaming, I could use another shot of the little girl screaming too but only use audio from the older girl screaming. This can show the importance of the little girl with the current story.

More montage shots
Light turn on and off and when on show little girl or masked villian in the corner. (or bother)

Newspaper shot to be used in montage

Last day filming

Montage scenes:


1300 Film Protagonist running [Park tree area]

(Walk to street)

1315 Film Protagonist walking down street CU

 (Walk to kitchen in house)

1330 Film Protagonist turning around to view camera [In kitchen]

(Walk to bedroom scene)

1340 Film Protagonist screaming [In bedroom]

1350  Film Protagonist looking through a book [In bedroom]

(Take prop outside)

1400 Film close up of weapon [Outside on green]

(Walk to car and get actor who can drive prepared)

1415 Film demon driving car [Down close]

Montage scene

Realising I need a few more clips for my montage, I decided to list small scenes that would work for a psychological thriller.

Looking at the montage scenes in Black Swan, Donnie Darko and The Machinst, I was able to notice what type of creepy, psychological shots I would need.


-Protagonist screaming (CU or zoom from a medium shot into a CU)
-Protaginist running (Camera close behind, following)
-Close up of a weapon (either knife, gun, etc...)


Other ideas I have:

-A car drives past with the driver wearing one of the demon masks (Zoom into mask face)
-Protagonist looks through a book fast (as if searching for answers. Camera would look at book)
-Protagonist walking somewhere with a close up following the back of the head (making audience feel uncomfortable)
-(Different shot) Protagonist turning around quick as if camera is person behind.

Editing day 1

Once I had nearly all of my footage together, it was time to begin putting the footage together.

Once all of my scenes were cut and in the right order, it was time to start fiddling around with perfecting the Mirror Reflection scene I was so passionate about doing. Using the 'crop' tool, I was able to use half of a screen from two different pieces of footage to match them together.

When cutting my montage scene together, I realised that I need a few more clips for my montage to be effective. Therefore, I need an extra day for filming before all of my footage is together.

Edit Decision List

After filming the majority of my trailer and looking at my shot list, I created an edit decision list to follow my shot list.

This will help me when editing my trailer together on Final Cut Pro.

Shot number	Shot description (other notes)	Type of edit
1	Medium shot with a movement from eye level to high angle, handheld of little girl painting. Camera is behind girl.	Cut. Black and white.
2	Medium shot, eye level, capturing face of little girl. Handheld	Cut. Black and white.
3	Very high, medium shot of little girl, capturing image of painting. Camera moves down to focus on the painting still at a very high angle.	Cut. Black and white.
4	Medium shot, eye level, of bed as woman wakes up. Still	Fade out. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
5	Extreme close up of eye and then lips. Eye Level. Still	Cut. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
6	Close up, eye level of woman’s face. Still	Fade out. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
7	Over the shoulder, eye level medium close up of woman. Woman is on left hand of shot as mirror reflection is captured on the right of the shot. Still	Fade in. Cut out. Blur effect in on right hand side but keep left hand side still. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
8	Long, high angle, shot of newspaper. Zoom into headline of newspaper.	Cut. Slow speed. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
9	Medium, eye level shot of woman opening door. Still	Cut. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
10	Long, eye level, shot of masked man in bushes. Still	Cut. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
11	Medium, high angle shot of woman looking through book. Still	Cut. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
12	Close up; pan out, of knife on floor.	Cut. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
13	Long shot, pan down from eye level, of masked man in car.	Cut. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
14	Medium, eye level shot of little girl screaming. Still	Cut. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
15	Close up, eye level of woman screaming. Still	Cut. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
16	Long, eye level shot of woman running through trees.	Cut. Slow speed. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
17	Medium shot, eye level, handheld shot of woman walking. (Camera is behind woman)	Cut. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
18	Close up, eye level, handheld shot of woman walking. (Camera is behind woman)	Cut. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
19	Extreme close up, eye level, handheld shot of woman walking and then turning. (Camera is behind woman)	Cut. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)
20	Close up, eye level shot of woman asleep. In background, masked man can be seen. Blurred shot at first but then zoom puts two characters in focus.	Cut. Zoom focus. Colour corrector- bleak, non-vibrant edit)

Titles in trailers

Filming day 2

Schedul for Sunday 30th September 2012.



15.00 Film scene of girl running.
15.15 Film POV shot of running and falling over
15.30 Film scene of POV and masked demon
15.45 Film scene of mask in bushes
15.50 Film scene of demon in bushes