Final Project - Potential Music

After looking around the internet for royalty free music since none of the bands I emailed replied back, I eventually found some by Kevin MacLoed. They are mainly instrumental pieces so better suited to my trailer as it won't mask the dialogue and also add the atmosphere of the trailer to help improve the horror feel to it. It can be used as long as credit is given to the original artist.

*Music will be uploaded when possible*

Final Project - Video Editing (Black Effect Trail)

Here is a video of my first attempt of generating the black eye effect that is common in many vampire films. Apologies for the video as I am not used to using Adobe After Effects so the effect will likely look a little off and also the conversion as didn't know how to export properly. I had planned to use this effect since the beginning of my project but lacked the skills or knowledge to attempt such an effect but after finding a tutorial at Videocopilot.com for eye replacement, I attempted my first go at trying it out. I used a piece of footage where I filmed for such an occasion and followed the instructions with it turning out, reasonable okay. The were changed black and stayed mostly in place. However, it seemed my motion track was a little off as towards the end you can see a slight flicker of the eye matte. I also lacked the accuracy of using the pen tool to draw around the eye hence the slightly different shape even though one eye was more clear then the other due to the line of sight from the actor. The texture used for the eye could be better to give it the slightly reflective look seen on other vampire films or shows (e.g. Being Human).

Now that I have tried Adobe After Effects and got to grips with some of the features, I have started to experiment with other features that I have learned to do like day to night conversion which would help greatly with my footage as since its a vampire film and since I had to film during the day to ensure decent quality footage, it will allow me to change scenes to how they were intended and achieve more diverse footage. It also allows me to salvage more footage as it can be used to fix shaky footage with the use of motion tracking if done correctly and with me achieving a working version of After Effects at home is allowing me to improve my skill with the programme so when my work is satisfactory, I'll post it to my blog.

Reflection of Project

In today's lesson, we refreshed ourselves with the criteria of achieving a level 4 and then looked at our products to see what level we would give ourselves for the print and the video products. I gave myself a level 2 for the video mainly due to the missing footage and the incomplete editing. I have most of the footage needed but missing some major narrative shots which greatly effects the overall quality and prevents completion of the product. Other areas of it like audio, effects and basic editing is good as I spent many lessons cleaning up my audio since it is a vital part of the trailer. I leaned how to apply a black eye effect to my actor to show that the trailer is a vampire themed trailer and also effects to change the lighting to create a more realistic mood, tone and improve the mise en scene whilst also fixing some of the shots that have some bad lighting problems. So to help pull up my level, it will be basically film the rest if the footage I need and finish the editing since the border is there, its just filling in the pieces.

The print however, was more positive since it looks good. The colour and typography suit the product very well with the red, white and blacks  and the slightly clawed writing which all enforce the more horror side I'm aiming for with this project. The tag lines as well help bring the initial message across about vampirism being a gift/curse idea since one enjoys it but the other has trouble dealing with it as its basically took everything from him. The only thing really wrong with it the actors photos as they aren't posed the best way since left over from the original idea so retaking a few photos would help along witha  few tweaks to the colours and positions of certain elements in the print based products.

Print Based Products - Completed Versions

Action Plan for Current Term

This half term ends on the 10th February and each part of my project must be finished before then so I have devised an action plan for the coming weeks:

Week starting on the 9th Jan:

• Psychology test on 10th so little work can be done early in the week.
• May be able to get some quick scenes done near end of the week (e.g. turning scene).
• Lessons will be on completing extra and needed research to ensure high marks for blog and will put the time to good use. Will mainly be structure of vampire trailers

Week starting on the 16th Jan:

• Will work towards getting most of the footage shot as no exams and just revision to do so best time to shoot it.
• Scenes that are needed are Matt and Gabriel when they are both evil and enjoying their immortality, Matt meeting the girl that lessens his evil qualities, Gabriel killing the girl and Matt's desecention into vengeance.
• Some action scenes also needed like standard claws and bites from the vampires which some can be recycled from earlier footage but others will be needed.
• Also may put in one scene which was shown in my test where vampire is behind a victim, victim runs but vampire appears in front. This is a classic simple of what vampires do to taunt with victims so may film a similar scene to match this as its an important staple in this type of film.

Week starting on the 23rd Jan:

• Test week for sciences so will be unable to do much filming, hence why previous week will for filming.
• Will go over obtained footage in lessons to see if quality is satisfactory and can do log sheets, also allow me to see if anything is missing or needs re-shooting depending on quality of footage.
• Good safety net in case filming goes wrong (which is likely) as still have sufficient time to re-shoot if needed and editing will be main focus of lessons.

Final Project Update - Christmas Holidays

Over the course of the holidays, I have been doing various tasks involving my project. I have been looking over my design elements to see if any possible improvements or tweaks could be done and apart from new pictures, there is little I can do as I have justified my use of colour scheme, typography and other elements to create this sense of "branding" within the project from the regular colours of black, red and white used to connote it's more horror orientated and also the image of the two main characters silhouetted and the title across them which is used as a symbol of the whole project. Yet my trail for Photoshop ran out so not all tweaks could be done but as soon as I have the available tools are available they will be. Film part wise, nothing could be done at all since most actors and crew were obviously busy with Christmas plans but with my design parts basically complete, all attention will be focused on the filming part with new pictures being taken also to replace the posters since new poses will likely enhance them and make it closer to actual film poster quality. The holidays have also given me a chance to look over my plans for the trailer and think about it more clearly to see if it will actually work and fit with the conventions of a vampire style film. I have also looked over my research to see what is missing and I'll be doing more on what makes a vampire trailer exactly and the typical things that make it up.

So that is basically the plan for when I return to school. Checking over the design elements for last tweaks, research into needed areas of the project but mostly towards the actual filming as a lot of work is needed for this area.