Final Film Trailer

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1

Finished Website

Found at this URL: http://wokmedia15.wix.com/lensproductionmovies

Final Animatic With Final Trailer

Storyboard Alterations

Final Animatic Storyboard

As we have progressed in the course we have updated our storyboard to show the changes we have made from our original ideas. Below you can see the final draft of our Storyboard shown in an animatic accompanied by our soundtrack and voice-over. 

Final Film Poster Design

We overlayed a profile photo of Esther, taken over a black background during one of the filming days, over a screenshot of one of the park clips we filmed. The represented her as a ghostly figure, symbolising her death, and places her as the main focus of the film. We used the same font as we have for all our titles. Having done poster research we knew to include our social media contact, the main actors names, our website URL, and production company logos.

Website Designing

Another element needed for our film/ trailer is a website. We are creating a website for Azure on wix.com. This website allows us to customise the look and feel of our website in almost any way we want, including adding photos, contact information, links and our final trailer, when completed.

Having researched into other movie websites, as a group we decided the 6 main elements of a movie website are:

• Home
• Synopsis
• Characters
• Gallery
• Contact
• About

We filtered through our photos and filming pictures, for a 'background image' for each page. 

This is the final link for our photo:

http://wokmedia15.wix.com/lensproductionmovies

Poster Development

Designing the film poster:

Having analysed multiple different film posters, we realised there are 5 main elements to any professional film poster:

• Film Title
• Fox Logo 
• Website 
• Copyright statement
• Actor Names 

From here we started playing around with different designs for our poster. Initially we used the photo of the drama studio (where the ransom scene took place) as a background, with a mugshot of Esther faded over to the side:

Positive feedback showed this poster was very effective, with great a great composition of light. However, breaking this down the colour theme of this poster was a golden yellow, not relating to our blue colour motif for Azure. Another problem with this poster was that the ransom scene had been taken out of our trailer, and having compared other posters to their trailers, the main picture of the poster is somewhere in the trailer. Because of these problems we decided to try another poster design.

We started this time with a picture from the trailer. This had a great blue theme to it too, linking strongly to our blue colour motif. We also thought the shot was a great shot, showing the swing that relates to the child, but an empty swing, that hits the idea of her being taken/gone. Again we added the social media URLs, production company information and actors names.

This poster now included an element of the trailer (the swing shot) as well as strongly showing our blue colour motif. However we decided the shot was not such a main part of the trailer, so the connection between trailer and poster is not strong enough. More links are needed.

From here we kept with the same background picture of the swing, but to improve we overlayed the mugshot of Esther, and darkened the over all colour of the poster.

This created a much stronger link to our trailer as Esther was included, however the faded title and position of texts could be inproved.

This is the final poster, with an improved layout of the now not faded texts. We also added our production company logo and the 20th Century Fox logo, shaped to match our oval shaped logo.

Website deconstructions

Poster genre research

          Looking into other thriller movie posters, I noticed a large proportion use a profile shot/close up of the main protagonists face. We think maybe a profile shot of Esther for our poster could be effective in the same way. There is also an obvious representation of theme colour in all the other thriller movie posters, so for ours this would be blue. Having multiple pictures merged into the one poster looks effective (e.g. for Safe House and Shutter Island). This is something we have taken inspiration from.

Poster Deconstructions

Reaction Videos

We wanted other people's opinions on our trailer so got a selection of people to watch it whilst we recorded their reactions. Following the viewing we asked them questions about the genre, things they liked, and things they would improve. 

Since this review we have edited our trailer to add more slow motion, particularly with the mother to add more emotion. 

Certificate Rating of Film

Our Title Design

Having decided our films name "Azure" and where to place it in our trailer, we had to decide what it would look like, the title font, text size, color and background. We decided, that just like shots, having still texts without any movement was not very effective. We therefore decided we would greenscreen the actual title "Azure" using the same font as with the acrors names throughout the trailer. Over the green screened title, we placed a moving photo of the forest where Esthers shrine is, and had the shot pan, looking up to the sky. This symbolised her murder in a very subtle way. It also meant that the blue sky was present in the title, our main color motif, as well as placing the color blue, in a title meaning a shade of blue.

Trailer Music

Unfortunately due to copyright laws we cannot use the song 'Dreams' by Imagine Dragons like we did in our Second Draft. If it wasn't for the laws we would use that music, however we have searched for copyright free music for the bulk of the trailer. 

We have found some music on sound cloud that has a build of tension that our trailer needs... 




We edited it to help it fit to our trailer's builds and shot changes. 

Trailer Endings

The three titles that we have at the end of our trailer are: 

1. Coming Soon + Date 
2. Film company and Actors 
3. Written By, Produced By and Directed By

We have decided to insert a clip of the Step-Dad in between the titles to add intrigue, suspense, and to break up the repetitive titles. 

Character Profiles

Second Draft Audience Feedback

Following our Second Draft we asked classmates and our teachers to give us comments and advice on what to improve, what they like and for any more ideas. 

Below is a video showing the comments they gave. 

Title Order In Trailers

Second Trailer Draft

This is the second version of or trailer. Still with improvements to be added, through further analysis and feedback.

Re Filming The Ransom Scene

Using the drama studio again, we re filmed the ransom scene in the drama studio again, utilising the feedback we had received from our last filming session.

We used 4 cameras to film this scene, one filming Esther, the second filming the camera that is filming Esther. The other 2 were put at a low angle either side of Esther as we then had the extra footage should we decide we didn't just want the one shot through the entire kidnapping.

Radio Broadcast

For the shots of the car driving, our narrative idea was to have the car radio on, broadcasting the news of the missing girl. For this we decided to use the iPhone voice recording software, as, having used it before, we knew the quality was really good, and it was easily transferrable to iMovie on the Apple Macs we are editing our trailer on. Annie (actor of Esthers Mother) was excellent at speaking with different voices, and was up for giving a radio broadcasters voice a go. We then came up with this script for her to read:

"News just in a 10 year old girl has gone missing from her home in the South of England. Officers responded to a call from her mother yesterday, and are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding her disappearance. A spokesperson for the police said that the case was being treated as suspicious."

This is the outcome of Annie reading our radio broadcast script:

Audience Expectations of Genre

First Draft Audience Feedback

Voiceover and Dialogue

For the ransom scene filmed in the drama studio we have decided on a ransom script for the child to read:

 

'Mum, It's me,

Don't worry, It's fine,

I'm okay.

I've been taken by these men,

Please help, help me.'

After feedback, we changed the script to increase tension, removing "don't worry I'm fine", and putting in "I'm scared", and making her beg for help:

'Mum, It's me,

Please help, I've been taken. 

I'm scared,

They want your money,

Please help, help me.'

The other dialogue we have in our trailer is a radio broadcast, reporting the kidnapping of Esther:

First Trailer Draft

This is the very first draft of our A2 trailer:

Filming Session Plan

This is our schedule for the third filming session for our trailer. This is the most important filming session so far as Annie (actor for the mother) has come all the way down from london, and this is the only date we have where all the actors and our team are free for the whole day together. We need to keep by this schedule to make sure we get the most out of every minute of our time together.

11.00-11.20: Arrive at the location and get set up
                         Ensure camera's are charged
                         Check locations are set up how we want them
                         Discuss our plans for the day

11.20-12.00: Shots with Esther on her own - Filmed with Go-Pro
                         Sounds of Esther being taken 
                         The beginning shots with Esther's hands 
                         Shots of her around the house 
                                      Playing on trampoline
                                      Reading 
                                      Doing crafts that are in her room

12.00-12.20: Annie Arrives 
                          Greet Annie and explain the plans for the day 
                          Take photos of the family, and individual actors for the blog 

12.20-13.00: The shots of the whole family 
                          Esther playing as the parents look happy 
                          The parents arguing without Esther 
                          Record sound of parents arguing

13.00-13.30: Contingency Time 
                          Re-film anything we don't like
                          Catch up on time
                          Esther can leave
                          Group break

13.30-14.00: Shots of Mum
                          Filming from behind her, typing and working
                          Take photo's of location for Blog

14.00-15.00: Shots of Parents 
                          Scene with Hot Drink, Step-Dad taking it into Mum, shaking and nervous

15.00-15.30: Final shot of parents
                           Walking into the bedroom of the child
                           Tracking shot

15.30-16.00: Contingency Time 

Trailer Inspiration 2 (Broadchurch Series 2)

This is the trailer for the second series of the TV Series Broadchurch:

Like with the first series of Broadchurch, we saw many links in both the trailer and the storyline between Broadchurch series 2 and our film/trailer.

Broadchurch used lots of long distance and establishing shots showing vast countryside/sea and a character. We took inspiration from this, and used a long distance shot of the kidnapper in a field near the house we are using to film in:

             Broadchurch trailer:                           Our trailer:

These 3 fast cuts we thought were very powerful. They showed how Alec was always thinking of the murdered girl.

We took inspiration from this, and used a similar idea after the title credit in our trailer. Ours shows the constant thought of Esther in her Step-fathers mind:

We also recreated this shot of a punch towards the camera. We developed the shot from the Broadchurch trailer, and used the black of the fist over the camera as a time to cut to the next shot, the chase scene. This way violence/action was used to introduce another scene of violence/action.

Broadchurch:

Our trailer:

Tester Ransom Shots

Before filming the real ransom scene, we decided to do a test run, as young children can be very hard to work with, especially when acting out a child in fear.

For the ransom location, we went with the drama studio, as it has great lighting we can experiment with, to help create an effective mood with low lighting. The studio also has black curtain, that fades into a black background which was really useful as it made the scene look like it could be happening in a room anywhere.

Feedback after showing people this footage suggested that the scene wasn't scary enough, so for the second filming we are planning on using lower lighting, and having one of the hooded kidnappers come out of the darkness either towards the camera or behind the girl, then cut to black before he quite reaches either the camera or the girl, to leave the audience in suspense.

Chase Scene Location Scouting

For the scene where the kidnappers chase the step - father, we wanted an urban outside scene, large enough for a fast chase. For this I knew of a bridge going across the storage rails for Tonbridge Station.

On the way to the bridge I had in mind we went past this bridge, with lots of graffiti on it that looked very effective for proving the location to be urban, however this bridge is very short, which would limit the chase.  

We ended up using this bridge, the one I had originally in plan, which had a great location, as it was a long bridge, with grating on the side, showing the carrier trains, coal storage, and old carriages.

Childs Room Location Scouting

We decided to use a spare room in my house, which we are able to design and rearrange to match the theme and style we want for our film. The fact the rooms walls are blue works very well with our blue theme relating to innocence. We brought in props such as a dolls house, board games and books, and spread them around the rooms to make it look just like a young girls room. These are shots of the room:

Risk Assessment

For each location we had to assess the possible dangers to the group, all the main risks for each location has been placed in these tables:

Kidnappers Costume

Having researched from other films codes and conventions of good vs evil costumes, we found black to be a very prominent theme for the bad/evil characters. For example the Death Eaters in Harry Potter.













We used this same black theme for our kidnapper, with a
black jacket, trousers, hood and balaclava. It contrasted
very well with the light blue innocent theme of the child,
making a good representation of good vs evil in our trailer.

Kidnapping and Family Scene Filming Plan

Filming Plan

                   In order to make filming the house scene go as smoothly as possible in hopefully just one attempt, we created a filming schedule for the day. This is very important as we have got all the actors (Annie, Mick and Esther) together for the first time, and finding a date when they are all free again will be challenging.

11.00-11.20: Arrive at the location and get set up
                         Ensure camera's are charged
                         Check locations are set up how we want them
                         Discuss our plans for the day

11.20-12.00: Shots with Esther on her own - Filmed with Go-Pro
                         Sounds of Esther being taken 
                         The beginning shots with Esther's hands 
                         Shots of her around the house 
                                      Playing on trampoline
                                      Reading 
                                      Doing crafts that are in her room

12.00-12.20: Annie Arrives 
                          Greet Annie and explain the plans for the day 
                          Take photos of the family, and individual actors for the blog 

12.20-13.00: The shots of the whole family 
                          Esther playing as the parents look happy 
                          The parents arguing without Esther 
                          Record sound of parents arguing

13.00-13.30: Contingency Time 
                          Re-film anything we don't like
                          Catch up on time
                          Esther can leave
                          Group break

13.30-14.00: Shots of Mum
                          Filming from behind her, typing and working
                          Take photo's of location for Blog

14.00-15.00: Shots of Parents 
                          Scene with Hot Drink, Step-Dad taking it into Mum, shaking and nervous

15.00-15.30: Final shot of parents
                           Walking into the bedroom of the child
                           Tracking shot

15.30-16.00: Contingency Time 

Audience Expectations Of Genre

Thriller Moodboard

Directors of these thriller movies include:
2Guns = Baltasar Kormákur
Unstoppable = Tony Scott
Fast and Furious 5 = Justin Lin
Broadchurch = Chris Chibnall
Better call Saul = Vince Gilligan
Mission Impossible 2 = John Woo
The girl with the dragon tattoo = David Fincher
Gone baby gone = Ben Affleck
Takers = John Luessenhop
Premium rush = David Koepp
Seven = David Fincher
Freedomland = Joe Roth
Taken = Pierre Morel

Location - Room Shots

These are shots of the layout of the room we are planning to film in, as Esther's bedroom.

Filming Dates

Our deadline for the editing is the beginning of march, however we are planning on finishing before then to be well on schedule, so we have planned to finish filming by the end of January, leaving us a month to edit.

16th January - We want to complete all of the shots of the Step-Dad on his own and with the kidnappers. This includes the ones where he is running through the ally way, being chased by the kidnappers, and the one where he is driving. 

18th January - We are going as a group to the location being used as the family's house. We want the child's bedroom to be a key aspect of the trailer so are spending some time setting it up with props that we want to use. We will also film all of the shots panning around the room 

19th January - We are filming at school with Esther (the child). This is for the final shot, the ransom video, as we like using the black background as it looks clinical and organised, like the crime they are committing. We will also take the photo for the final shot 

25th January - This is our final day where we are filming everything with both parents and the child at the house. This includes the beginning shot, the shots with the parents arguing at the house, the mum working, when the step-dad brings the drink to the mum, and the shot where the parents are opening the door to the room. 

Talent Sourcing

Our school's Year 12 Drama group presented themselves as possible actors for our years media groups, these are some of the actors.

We have already cast the kidnapped girl, Esther, as shown in our 'Tester Shots' post. We also needed an actor to play the mother, as we were having problems with dates with our planned actress. However sadly none of the year 12s were suitable for this role.

Voiceover Alterations

When filming we recorded what Esther said in a sound clip, as you can hear below. 

 

'Mum, It's me,

Don't worry, It's fine,

I'm okay.

I've been taken by these men,

Please help, help me.'

Originally this script worked very well as we were planning on zooming backwards from the girls face, so the watcher sees more and more of her kidnapped state, so tension builds, as the tension builds in the script.

However as we changed our idea to just a change of focus we have altered the script to this:

Mum, It's me,

Please help, I've been taken. 

I'm scared,

They want your money,

Please help, help me.

POV Tester Shots

For the kidnapping scene, we have decided to use a POV shot from the child, having her playing with dolls in her hand on the floor of her bedroom, then have the kidnapper burst in through the door and take her. In order to make this more of a sudden shock, we decided the kidnapper could come round behind her, so she doesn't see him until she turns back from the door to her dolls, where he will be standing.

Social Media

Our Social Media:

For various production photos, we have Instagaram: @officiallensproductions

Pictures of the filming and editing process will be posted here.

We also have a Tumblr account. - 

This is used for both reaching out to the audience, and for gaining audience feedback. There is also a lot of professional influence over Tumblr, so we use other studios and production companies on Tumblr for inspiration.

Tumblr

We also have a facebook page where we post questionnaires and allow comments and feedback on production, as well as more photos promoting our film, and several behind the scenes pictures.