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.

Final Project Design Element - Poster Designs (Final)

These are the final designs for my posters which make up the design task. They are likely the final desgins but may be tweaked a little if new photos are taken etc. but I am happy with these designs overall. They convey the side of the vampire film I want to portray with the much darker and violent style compared to the modern day vampire films like "Twilight" which use more desatured blues and golds to connote it more teen orientated and romance focused. Mine has gone back to the original horror colour scheme of black, red and white immediatly giving it the sense it is certainly not like modern vampires in terms of chosen genre by focused more to the horror side like it originated, yet still modern so it doesn't completely alienate itself from today's audience with setting and certain elements of it being based on more modern vampire lores so people can still follow and understand the project. It could be described as an alternate to "Twilight" as this focuses on the horror and supernatural elements rather then the romance so if people didn't like that, they could see this and watch something more back in line with the original vampire films.

When you look at the posters, they are quite heavly based of the "Blade" one in my research with the colour scheme, the central actor in the middle of the single posters and the typography being key in helping connote the style and genre of the film. With mine, it has hints at gothic elements and looks more scratchy and jagged which gives it a much more horror style feel as if the text has been slashed by claws, each helping connoting the monstrous nature of the characters. Mainly as it looks like the text is wasting away with its broken and drained appearance from the effect that has been put in it, contrasting the nature of the characters as well as since they are vampires, they never age or die while everything else around them keeps aging and wasting away, just like the text used which connotes just how unnatural they are and helps enforce that while they look human there are actually monsters.

The tagline shares the same typography for the same reasons and to fit in with the  overall scheme and aim of the poster (to connote it as a vampire film going back to its horror roots) but the actual wording helps explain and shed a little light on to the character in the poster. For example, in Matt's his says "Sometimes forever is too long...". This gives us the immediate impression that he is sick of the immortality he possesses, finding eternity "too long" like he realises what he has become and just wants this curse he has to end after being tempted by the other character, Gabriel. As the beginning part of the tagline shows about how if you become a vampire you get the gift of living forever but the contrast between the two characters tries to show it can be a gift or a curse under different circumstances like in Gabriel's, we see how his says "Sometimes forever is not enough" instantly connoting how he embraces the gift he has and to him, it's not enough to enjoy his immortality.

Final Project - Reflection so far...

Here are all my current designs for my print based products, the film poster and magazine cover. For my particular project, I have done 3 film posters instead of one as my film trailer revolves around two characters and both are equally important so rather then create only one poster where it detracts the attention from one, I created two separate ones with one for either character and one with both in it together. It allows for the personality of the characters to be expressed briefly with the tagline giving a clue to their role in the trailer like in Matt's, this tagline is "Sometimes forever is too long..." which immediately gives the audience the impression that he does not want to be a vampire and is more the protagonist role within the trailer even though he is a monster so albeit the more anti-hero role like in "Blade". From the look of them, they are heavily based off the  "Blade" film poster with the character being almost central in the poster and the faded image in the background which is seen better in the double poster. The colour scheme is also similar with the main use of reds and blacks for the text, backgrounds etc as I want to show how the film will be of a similar tone to the"Blade" films, more darker, violent and grown up compared to recent vampire films like "Twilight" which uses more desaturated blues, blacks and golds as that is more teenage romance then the horror action of "Blade".

The magazine cover on the other hand tries to capture the more retro feel of horror styled media to connote it as a horror film orientated magazine by using the black, white and red colour scheme which is the common colour scheme connected to most horror based media (Blade, 30 Days of Night etc.) so I tried to include that into the magazine so it's easily identifiable with the audience to what genre the magazine focuses on. The Dracula poster in my research was my biggest source of inspiration as I really wanted to do something of a similar style with the more Gothic typography as it would make my magazine more unique then other current magazines which tend to be more general like Empire etc. so that fans of the genre can easily find a magazine that just caters for that type of film rather then pick Empire and have to trawl through it just to find the one article on it while this would focus entirely on it. It still needs tweaking though in terms of the colour scheme as, while the red, black and white are common horror style colours, after discussing with peers it feels like something is missing so we experimented with adding more colour and effects to try and get the true magazine feel as none of the design parts are perfect, all need tweaks to ensure they are the best they can be. I intend to retake some more photo's, one that are suited to the posters and magazine as the current ones were more suited for my original idea so some new ones would be a good way to improve my project as I have also learned some new ways to edit photos on Photoshop to make it look more like if it was taken for that particular design element. (Examples will be posted soon when files are converted to jpegs)

In terms of my film trailer, I am disappointed with its progress. Fair enough it was plagued by people cancelling on me when I intended to film but wish I had some more footage or changed my project earlier to lessen the hit I have took on the filming schedule. Currently I have about one full scene, the spine part which holds it together (may need to re-shoot it due to a few issues) and some old footage which can be used for the later part of the trailer, the action part where many scenes are spliced together. Apart from this, I don't have much other footage but all my scenes storyboarded so I know what needs to be shot and how it will be shot so at least its planned out so the filming can be done effectively and efficiently.