How did you work together as a group?
As a group, our areas of skills were widened through each member having a skill in each specific type of media technologies. Warren was in charge of the video editing, Muaadh was in charge of the sound, while I was in charge of mainly the print media. Although each member had specific specialties, we still had to work together to get our coursework completed and in the best possible professionalism possible using our specific skills - each helping out on every angle of our work to give ideas.
As Warren was in charge of the video, we have agreed upon him being the director. Our decision upon him being the director wasn't for naught as he also had experience in producing low-budget music videos. What me and Muaadh did to help out in this part was to give ideas - from props to what angle we should include - just to increase the authenticity of our media product through the mise-en-scéne and apply the uses & gratification theory to the audiences and entice them to watch the full film.
Muaadh, being in charge of the sound, created the sound clips for us which we used for the trailer. We came to this conclusion by him having enough time to do the software needed.
What were you responsible for doing?
In the crew, I was responsible for mainly the print media designs and some acting and camera-work. I was also in charge of the storyboard planning and photographic experiment.
In terms of the filming, I was responsible for drawing and planning the storyboard and getting which camera angles we would have to use and taking part in some acting as one of the protagonists. I've also took some shots for the trailer such as the scene of Warren and Muaadh conversing. I feel like I've done my role good enough as our camera angles did vary and merge effectively. In addition, to create the authenticity of this project of ours being a realistic horror film trailer.
In terms of acting, you would've noticed in the film trailer that I was dragged. This scene had at least four takes since it was an important part in the trailer to portray the disruption of the equilibrium. We used Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory because we wanted to convey the typical codes and conventions of a horror trailer as the majority of the trailer I've studies contained a disequilibrium in the middle of the trailer. The feeling of being dragged at least four times was quite intense since the ground's dirt hurt, and I had to try and keep my actions similar - I had to maintain facial expression to fit in the mise-en-scéne of the horror genre to make our film trailer seem realistic and entice the audience to watch the film.
My role in the storyboard planning was drawing and being able to work with my team mates on whatever techniques we agreed upon doing. With some photography experience, I had the main ideas upon which would actually work practically, and not only in theory to make the final trailer seem as professional as possible and add authenticity to our product. With my artistic experience, I was able to draw shots in the storyboard which were later on filmed.
In the print media, I designed the magazine cover and the film poster. My specialism in graphic designing is an advantage, which is why we've agreed for me to be in charge of the print designs. I've used graphic software such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator to create a professional magazine front cover and film poster. In the magazine front cover and film poster, I've used a variety of graphic programmes to suit each job which they specialize in: using the accuracy of Illustrator in terms of vector designing, I created the film strips and other elements; Photoshop, with it's strong photo manipulation qualities, was used for photo manipulation such as cropping and image adjustments; while InDesign has been used, with it's accurate placement, for placing each element in our magazine together to create a professional finish.
What locations did you choose and why?
From the trailers I researched, I've observed that the majority of locations for horror film trailers were set in the woods. Films such as "Wilderness" and "The Hills Have Eyes" are some trailers which inspired us to base our syntagm's codes and conventions.
Since one of our issues would've been the weather and the time of the day, which has different lighting (unpredictable British weather), we thought of using the woods too, so that we can create the illusion of the woods looking the same to add authenticity to our media text.
The other location which we used was the boss' office. We thought of using a teacher's office in our academy to create the business feel to it and support the location's authenticity.
What props did you use in your trailer?
Props we used were quite minimal but specific. To compensate the horror genre, we used a variety of props such as the camping clothes, bags, etc. to portray that the characters are in an outdoor location and is at a different timeline to when they were in the office to support the narrative structure. Another prop which we used was the knife, which we added fake blood onto to symbolize the killer's weapon and signify danger to reinforce our trailer's genre of horror. To add authenticity and establish the narrative structure, we used two sets of props, which varied in the woods scene and the office scene - in the office, we added a map, business suits, a desk, paperwork, etc., these props symbolize a feeling of safety since it is indoors, while in the woods, we used logs and others which the audience would denote to see in the woods. One more prop which we used was the map in the office's white board, which we used to support the fact that the boss really is asking the protagonists to go on a business trip.
How did you create a realistic atmosphere?
To create the realistic atmosphere, we used different sections of the woods such as the river, the bridge, the entrance to the woods and the middle of the woods. We did this to create a realistic structured narrative. We used specific shots to highlight the location of where we were - for example, when Warren was running away from the killer, he jumped over the small river and we used medium and long shots to capture the actions in those particular areas. We dressed the actors in camping clothes for the audience to denote that they are outdoors and to reinforces the narrative structure. Contrasting the office room and the woods, we tried to vary the costumes here to make the atmosphere seem believable enough to be different due to the contrast between the business suits against the camping clothes.
Were there any difficulties you faced whilst creating your products? How did you resolve this issue?
While we were filming the trailer, some people were walking around, which is why we had to redo some shots to avoid an unprofessional film trailer. Another problem which we've faced was the weather and time - due to our tight schedules, we were only able to film on media times and sometimes even had to do some in our own time. This restriction brought up the issue of the us having to wait for the lighting to match or find any other place which has a suitable lighting to reflect our continuity editing.
Another difficulty which we had was that we filmed a torch scene, which was already included in the final product, after gaining feedback from our audience they have suggested that it is not necessary for a torch to be used in daylight. What we did to overcome this difficulty was to re-film the scene, which is the part where Muaadh was looking for Robert (me) in addition, we found that filming this was difficult because it was getting dark early. To resolve this we agreed to film at specific times when it was light in the day to maintain continuity in the time-span of the day.
As a group, our areas of skills were widened through each member having a skill in each specific type of media technologies. Warren was in charge of the video editing, Muaadh was in charge of the sound, while I was in charge of mainly the print media. Although each member had specific specialties, we still had to work together to get our coursework completed and in the best possible professionalism possible using our specific skills - each helping out on every angle of our work to give ideas.
As Warren was in charge of the video, we have agreed upon him being the director. Our decision upon him being the director wasn't for naught as he also had experience in producing low-budget music videos. What me and Muaadh did to help out in this part was to give ideas - from props to what angle we should include - just to increase the authenticity of our media product through the mise-en-scéne and apply the uses & gratification theory to the audiences and entice them to watch the full film.
Muaadh, being in charge of the sound, created the sound clips for us which we used for the trailer. We came to this conclusion by him having enough time to do the software needed.
What were you responsible for doing?
In the crew, I was responsible for mainly the print media designs and some acting and camera-work. I was also in charge of the storyboard planning and photographic experiment.
In terms of the filming, I was responsible for drawing and planning the storyboard and getting which camera angles we would have to use and taking part in some acting as one of the protagonists. I've also took some shots for the trailer such as the scene of Warren and Muaadh conversing. I feel like I've done my role good enough as our camera angles did vary and merge effectively. In addition, to create the authenticity of this project of ours being a realistic horror film trailer.
In terms of acting, you would've noticed in the film trailer that I was dragged. This scene had at least four takes since it was an important part in the trailer to portray the disruption of the equilibrium. We used Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory because we wanted to convey the typical codes and conventions of a horror trailer as the majority of the trailer I've studies contained a disequilibrium in the middle of the trailer. The feeling of being dragged at least four times was quite intense since the ground's dirt hurt, and I had to try and keep my actions similar - I had to maintain facial expression to fit in the mise-en-scéne of the horror genre to make our film trailer seem realistic and entice the audience to watch the film.
My role in the storyboard planning was drawing and being able to work with my team mates on whatever techniques we agreed upon doing. With some photography experience, I had the main ideas upon which would actually work practically, and not only in theory to make the final trailer seem as professional as possible and add authenticity to our product. With my artistic experience, I was able to draw shots in the storyboard which were later on filmed.
In the print media, I designed the magazine cover and the film poster. My specialism in graphic designing is an advantage, which is why we've agreed for me to be in charge of the print designs. I've used graphic software such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator to create a professional magazine front cover and film poster. In the magazine front cover and film poster, I've used a variety of graphic programmes to suit each job which they specialize in: using the accuracy of Illustrator in terms of vector designing, I created the film strips and other elements; Photoshop, with it's strong photo manipulation qualities, was used for photo manipulation such as cropping and image adjustments; while InDesign has been used, with it's accurate placement, for placing each element in our magazine together to create a professional finish.
What locations did you choose and why?
From the trailers I researched, I've observed that the majority of locations for horror film trailers were set in the woods. Films such as "Wilderness" and "The Hills Have Eyes" are some trailers which inspired us to base our syntagm's codes and conventions.
Since one of our issues would've been the weather and the time of the day, which has different lighting (unpredictable British weather), we thought of using the woods too, so that we can create the illusion of the woods looking the same to add authenticity to our media text.
The other location which we used was the boss' office. We thought of using a teacher's office in our academy to create the business feel to it and support the location's authenticity.
What props did you use in your trailer?
Props we used were quite minimal but specific. To compensate the horror genre, we used a variety of props such as the camping clothes, bags, etc. to portray that the characters are in an outdoor location and is at a different timeline to when they were in the office to support the narrative structure. Another prop which we used was the knife, which we added fake blood onto to symbolize the killer's weapon and signify danger to reinforce our trailer's genre of horror. To add authenticity and establish the narrative structure, we used two sets of props, which varied in the woods scene and the office scene - in the office, we added a map, business suits, a desk, paperwork, etc., these props symbolize a feeling of safety since it is indoors, while in the woods, we used logs and others which the audience would denote to see in the woods. One more prop which we used was the map in the office's white board, which we used to support the fact that the boss really is asking the protagonists to go on a business trip.
How did you create a realistic atmosphere?
To create the realistic atmosphere, we used different sections of the woods such as the river, the bridge, the entrance to the woods and the middle of the woods. We did this to create a realistic structured narrative. We used specific shots to highlight the location of where we were - for example, when Warren was running away from the killer, he jumped over the small river and we used medium and long shots to capture the actions in those particular areas. We dressed the actors in camping clothes for the audience to denote that they are outdoors and to reinforces the narrative structure. Contrasting the office room and the woods, we tried to vary the costumes here to make the atmosphere seem believable enough to be different due to the contrast between the business suits against the camping clothes.
Were there any difficulties you faced whilst creating your products? How did you resolve this issue?
While we were filming the trailer, some people were walking around, which is why we had to redo some shots to avoid an unprofessional film trailer. Another problem which we've faced was the weather and time - due to our tight schedules, we were only able to film on media times and sometimes even had to do some in our own time. This restriction brought up the issue of the us having to wait for the lighting to match or find any other place which has a suitable lighting to reflect our continuity editing.
Another difficulty which we had was that we filmed a torch scene, which was already included in the final product, after gaining feedback from our audience they have suggested that it is not necessary for a torch to be used in daylight. What we did to overcome this difficulty was to re-film the scene, which is the part where Muaadh was looking for Robert (me) in addition, we found that filming this was difficult because it was getting dark early. To resolve this we agreed to film at specific times when it was light in the day to maintain continuity in the time-span of the day.
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