Update of Progress as of 31/1/14

As of 31/1/14 i have managed to fully shoot my trailer and am in the process of editing it to try and make it the best possible product i can. I am also in the stages of going through the different images that weren't used in my auxiliary tasks and also explaining why there weren't used and also why the images i did choose where chosen to be apart of my final tasks. I have gone through the different locations that my trailer was shot in and discussed why i chose to shoot in those areas, i have also spoken about the music in my trailer and gone through the other considered songs that where almost used in my trailer and why they weren't or where used. Using real life conventions i created a production company for my trailer with the use of Photoshop, i enjoyed the freedom of being able to create whatever i wanted that would be involved in my trailer. My script was also finalised and posted here on my blog and im pretty proud of it and if it comes out as well as i think it is my final trailer should be really good.

Image Choices

The following images are the images that I used in my final 2 auxiliary tasks, I took a lot of photos and finally was decided with these 4 images as I felt like they were the best and had the same characteristics as that of my actual trailer.

The first image was used on my magazine cover and features my actor standing in a position that makes him look very focused and has his mind set on something. I wanted this image because I wanted my advertising for my trailer to reflect the beginning part of my trailer where my main character is still a hired gun that helps take part in robberies and heists instead of the crazy maniac he becomes later on in the trailer.

This next image was used in my movie poster and is one third of my images that are actually in place on my poster, I wanted there to be three main images on my poster each reflecting something different about the character, this image represents the side of my main character who did things just as he was told to do with no questions asked. I love how in this image you can see his eyes through the mask and is staring directly at the camera, it gives it that focused attitude which is what I want  to show in my poster that there was a side to this character where he did bad things for what he thought where good reasons.

The next image is the second image that is on my movie poster, this image reflects the time in the characters life where he realised that what he has previously done was wrong and how he is full of regret and despair for his actions. The image itself is very good in my opinion it shows the character in a very sad/depressing state of mind almost like he doesn’t want to be there. I wanted this image to show that the character had a conscience and actually has feelings and emotions.

The final image that is front and centre of my movie poster is the one you can see to my right it features my main character with a very smug look on his face almost like he is happy about something, I think this image really contrasts well with the other images behind it as the images behind this one are parts of the past and are long gone especially when you compare the image where Joe(my character) is looking down with his eyes closed in comparison to him looking directly into the camera with his head slightly down and smiling. This image represents the final part of my characters personality and that personality is that of a mad man who is obsessed with not letting his past mistakes take a toile on him.

Sell Lines for Magazine

I tried a couple of different sell lines for my actually magazine cover and some of them where really good i thought and others just made it seem really cheesy and didn't go with the actual product, for the actual product i wanted to have a sell line that isn't actually spoken but is reflective on the character and his lifestyle/personality, here are some of the sell lines-

No Rules No Prisoners- I didn't really like this one as it was more suggestive of something that you would see in some sort of prison break or fighting movie.

Theres only Madness- This was a good on the only problem is that it is too short and any text past this doesn't make sense and wouldn't go with the theme I'm trying to put across.

Liar Liar Liar Liar Liar- I wanted to try something different and trying one word on its own but it didn't fit so i tried repeating it and it just looks really stupid and doesn't really go with the poster and makes my product one dimensional.

Time Fades Down Towards the Water- This is very suggestive as it represents two different things time going by which also goes with my theme of my main characters personality changing and down towards the water is suggesting that the character is a killer and throws his victims bodies into the water. This was close to making the final cut but i opted to g for something else as without watching the trailer it doesn't make much sense.

Live By the Sword Die By the Sword- This is very suggestive and represents multiple different layers of my character featured in my poster, it also is reflective and also makes the reader want to know more as it shows that there are consequences for living a certain lifestyle, i said to myself that i wanted something that wasn't said or shown but represented as a sell line which is why i chose this one.

Photo Review

These photos where all taken from my photo-shoot I took about two dozen photographs all were of a good higher quality than you would expect from your regular cameras. Most of these images where really good and some weren’t so good, here is my photographs that I took and my personal opinions on them.

Photo Review

Skill Development

I have now been working with premiere pro for about a week now editing my final product and I have also learned a couple of new things that are very helpful especially when it comes to the overall impact of my trailer.

 I was pretty used to the basics that allowed me to just simply play around with the clips and have them just simply follow up after each other, recently though I have learned how to effectively use different editing techniques such as the ability to Dissolve a shot into another shot which I find very useful as I was stuck as to how I was going to proceed to the next scene in my trailer as it goes from a really fast paced part to a more slower part instantly so with the use of Dissolve I was able to get past it.

 

While adding things such as credit boxes I needed to implement text into my video which before I didn’t know how to do all I knew was how to give the video an opening title and that was it but now I am playing around with a couple of different ideas and am trying to come up with an effective title box with the name of the film that matches the theme of my movie.

Previous Magazine Cover Layout

This previous layout is something that i was trying to implement but it never really worked what i wanted to have is something similar to what you see in the Star Wars posters that feature multiple characters in different spaces of the poster, my film is only about one character so i quickly realised that this is a bad idea so chose not to go with it.

MacGuffin Plot Device

“A MacGuffin is a plot device in the form of a goal, desired object, or other motivator that the protagonist pursues, often with little or no narrative explanation as to why it is considered so important or needed. The specific nature of a MacGuffin is typically unimportant to the overall plot. The most common type of MacGuffin is an object, place or person. However a MacGuffin can sometimes take a more abstract form, such as money, victory, glory, survival, power, love, or even something that is entirely unexplained, as long as it strongly motivates key characters within the structure of the plot.”

My work completely is centred around this plot device and is something that I considered ever since I saw Pulp Fiction for the first time and the significance of the brief case where its contents is never shown, in my product I convey the fact that my protagonist/antagonist is in this for glory and the recognition that he feels he deserves, why he believes this is exactly like the plot device it never is truly explained instead it is implied briefly as the main attraction to the film is him being violent in his current state. My main characters conscience is what drives the narrative that asks him why he’s doing what he is doing which can be hard to explain like MacGuffin’s plot device.

Male Gaze Theory

“In 1975, Laura Mulvey created the Male Gaze theory, the theory is believed that in film the audience have to see the various characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. She then later argued that women are relegated to the status of objects and that the female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily by identification with the male.”

My work re-creates the various themes that are looked at in this theory, my work features a lead heterosexual male who goes around showing his alpha male like dominance which re-establishes the many different parts of this theory. My project doesn’t contain woman at all, in fact woman aren’t even mentioned as I feel like it would just end up coming across incredibly cliché and lacklustre as everyone has seen it before where the strong male lead is trying to fight for the attention and love of a female and knowing my target audience who are mostly students they would piece together my work to like that of those films if I just had a glimpse of a female in it. It might be a really sexist thing to say but I don’t think my target audience would be as in touch with my work if it was a female as my lead role as the way they are portrayed in other forms of media that is similar to mine show them as really frail and more in touch of their emotions more than anything else, whereas my character reacts more to his instinct and reacts in the moment without thinking and without feeling which is something I would find to be really hard to display had a female been involved.

My Magazine Cover Influences

When i was considering the various different ways in which i can portray my movie magazine straight away all i could think of was Empire and how they present themselves in such a professional way that makes it if not the best form of magazine when you are looking for a movie magazine you react instantaneously whenever it is mentioned as it is a household name that has a signature font and its masthead/logo is easily recognisable as it is big bold and stands out. Empire was my inspiration for my magazine as i sometimes flick through it and  have a clear indication of their content  and how they go about portraying it so i knew how to structure my work around Empire, it was almost like i was using it as a template to help construct ideas and see what i can come up with.

When doing my initial research i already knew at this point  that Empire was my main goal however i still wanted to play around with a couple of thins which is here i came across GQ magazine which features a very bold and professional look to it that you could only find in certain magazines, almost everyone on the cover for those magazines are well groomed strong males that  are wearing suits, which is where i had an idea to do a different spin on my idea and to have my man actor pose a certain way that allowed him to look incredibly professional and for him to hold certain props that give you a different idea that he isn't as good as he looks.

Final Script

All of the script is narrated by the main character of my trailer and will be said through the entirety of the trailer.

Just a hired gun

For awhile a hired gun is all that i was but with a difference

I had a conscience

I would work for possibly the worst people in the world who have no remorse for their actions, I would never question what they asked me to do.

I'm out of the business now though i have a new profession and that's being the most violent man in England.

 

You see no one can touch me no matter who you are or whatever you do for a living there is no middle ground i aint scared of no one.

 

You may ask why i do what i do and the simple answer is this, you see in order to keep my conscience from putting negative thoughts in my head and overall putting a real downer on my day i have to cause physical violence i don't know how it works something to do with the adrenaline pumping i think.

 

I cant remember the last time my conscience started spewing nonsense into my head about how the man i used to be actually had remorse for what he did, sometimes i can hear the voice in my head reminding me questioning me about what i do but still its just that a voice and im the one who gets an overall say in it all.

 

(end in laughter)



Contacting Actors

I have texted my friends pretty much every Sunday for the past couple of weeks to get my filming for my trailer finished, these are screen shots of some of the texts that i sent to my friends to sort

out filming and to see if they are available.

Filming Progress

As of 15/1/14 i am about half way through my filming, so far i have collected a los of shots that will be used at the beginning of my trailer which will be used in black and white. Most of the shots are going to be used for quick cuts mostly as i don't really want to spend a long time on what are basically flash backs that will be used within the first 30 seconds of my trailer.

I should have everything all filmed and sorted within 2 weeks depending on the weather if it happens to rain it will ruin my continuity so fingers crossed i will have clear weather to film the rest of my trailer.

Editing Choices Update 2

Once i started to experiment with different editing techniques i realised i could follow similar codes and conventions of other films that share the same genre as my film trailer, in my previous update i started to use such functions as Dip to Black and Black and White to display my beginning of my trailer to show the audience that it is in the past, now that i have sorted everything in order i need to add a couple more techniques in order to make my trailer look a lot more like a trailer. The following are new techniques that i have incorporated into my work.

Brightness and Contrast

For some of my scenes that involve my main character looking directly into the camera i have noticed that you can barely see him so with the use of the Brightness and Contrast option i can adjust the lighting of my shot and make it so that my main character is clearly visible, in fact i liked the new form of lighting so much that i added it to all of my shots that aren't used as a flashback as the new lighting makes my film look a lot more real and gritty and really gives it that British feel which is exactly what i want.


Incorporating Text

For the last part of my trailer i need to incorporate text into my trailer such as reviews and comments by news papers and peers, i have tried to keep the text the same as my other tasks so that it gives my film an identity.



Dissolve 

I got to a part in my trailer where i was stuck as to how i could switch in-between scenes without it looking stupid, this is when i experimented around with different editing techniques and i managed to use the dissolve technique to switch between scenes to make it look a lot better.







Adding in images 
I have realised that i need to include things in my trailer such as my production company and the red band trailer certificate. I have simply just dragged an image into my Premiere pro and from there i can edit it into my work and add effects onto the image to make it better and fit in with the trailer.

My Main Product Influences

When considering different ways in which i can make my movie trailer i was mostly set on a certain path because of films or film trailers that i have previously seen or looked at when researching different trailers to try and make mine similar or to follow the same codes and conventions.

My film trailer was heavily based upon the film Bronson and its various trailers. The way that Tom Hardy plays the character of Charlie Bronson was what lead me to create my main character for my trailer and to also share some of his traits and beliefs especially when it comes to causing physical violence without having any regrets from the acts of violence he has caused.

Between scenes of where Bronson causes violence he speaks directly to the audience and discusses how he feels and his beliefs towards certain things, this is an idea that i loved as having my main actor Joe narrate over the entirety of the trailer makes it set the mood for the film itself and to also  give the viewer an idea of what's going on otherwise it would just be a trailer of something that stats in black and white then changes into colour and then has Joe beating up people in various different ways and then laughing about it.

When watching my trailer you can obviously tell that there are multiple different things that are similar  to that of the Bronson trailer such as things like the text based on a true story and then certain shot types like the tracking shot/low angle shot.



Another thing that influenced my character in my trailer was the character of Trevor in the game Grand Theft Auto V. I know that its a video game and that it has nothing to do with films but the character of Trevor is unstable, unpredictable and has no remorse for his actions which is something that i liked a lot as it shows that the character has nothing to lose and will do anything he wants whenever he wants.

My Poster Influences

Seeing as I wanted to go for something incredibly professional for my magazine cover I decided that my poster needs to be something that reflects more of the theme of my actually main product as posters do tend to be the main way that people dictate what the film is like depending on the actual poster, it needs to be eye catching and it needs to display the certain themes of the actual thing that its promoting. With that being said I looked at a various set of posters going through pages and pages of images trying to find a poster that looked similar to the idea that I had in my head which is when I came across the first Star Trek film poster which I was immediately interested by. The poster features the three main characters all staring forward with different facial expressions which made me think about how to structure my work so that it resembles this. I want to keep a certain correlation between my work but whenever I can I like to play around with the already contrived conventions which is where I came up with the idea to feature just one character but to play with the idea of multiple personalities or different times id feature him three times with different facial expressions. This idea is incredibly eye catching as at first glance you consider them to be different people but after closer inspection you realise that they are the same person which I find to be an incredible idea and an opportunity to really highlight some of the themes of my actual product and it’s all thanks to the Star Trek poster.

Main Title Font

I want my main finished products to have some continuity between them that allows me to maybe try something a little different with one of my auxiliary tasks, I’m thinking about doing something that resembles a professional magazine cover. I want a font that clearly tells you straight away what sort of genre is being portrayed and exactly what is the font tied in with, a better way of explaining this would be to say that if you were to see a certain film and it has a specific unique font you associate that font with that film so when you see it elsewhere you recognise the film that used the font which makes it very memorable and adds to the value of the actual product as you will always remember it for its sense of style used in its font.

1. Heist- Adobe Fan Heiti Std B
2. Heist- Adobe Gothic Std B
3. Heist- Britannic Bold
4. Heist- Bernard MT Condensed
5. Heist- Castellar
6. Heist- Gloucester MT Extra Condensed

 

1. The very first font I looked at was the Adobe Heiti Std B font which at first looked very good and professional but I didn’t feel like it was edgy enough it was a little too plain.

2. This font was pretty much the same as the one I looked at before only bolder which I thought gave it a little more edge, unfortunately it didn’t and it just made it look too dark and without refined edges which is something I want for the final font.

3. This font was a lot more in touch with what I want the only problem is that it was far too dark, which actually is a good thing just it looks too fat and I want it to be thinner.

4. I was quite happy with this font as it was pretty close to what I wanted however I felt like it was too tall and it needed to have something special about it to make it stand out and this font is pretty generic.

5. I went completely off the wall with this one I wanted to see if something more ancient Rome would help give my work an identity unfortunately it didn’t really work so I decided not to have it.

6. This final font is everything I want, it has a very simplistic style, it has a very good way of catching someone’s attention, the H and the smaller letters that follow could give people the idea that it is significant and finally it fits perfectly with the various things I want to do when it comes to doing my final products.

A good example of where the Font can define a product is the series of Spiderman films. Every Spiderman film has used the same sort of similar font that resembles that of a spider’s web which is also tied into the film.

With that being said I wanted my font to resemble something that represented what you link a heist with a sort of really professional italic like font that has multiple different meanings that all come together. I looked at a couple of different fonts to see which would be the best to implement into my work and i found Glouchester MT Extra Condensed which is everything i wanted for my main font.

 

 

 

 

Flat Plans for my Movie Poster

The layout that im going for this is not what you would consider a bog standard poster, i want to have something that reflects that of my work which is a collection of different genres all harmonising into one which is where i came up with this idea of having this layout featured as my main auxiliary poster.

Main Image x3- The reason behind me using 3 images as my overall main image is to bring light to the fact that my work isn't something that you see everyday and that the poster and magazine cover should tell you that if you haven't seen the trailer, a good clever witty poster can bring attention to the actually film itself. The three images will feature my main character in three distinct poses that all reflect parts of his personality at different stages of his life, so i will have an image where he is wearing his mask as hat is the earliest representation of him in my film, to then him looking sort of depressed to represent him during his denial stage of his life, to  which then leads to where he is now so i need an image of him looking sort of crazy maybe a smirk of some kind. The final image should be in the middle of the poster and should be in front of the other images to tell the audience that this is the best representation of what he looks like in the present and also the most important stage of his life as my entire film will be focused on this part of his life.

Film Title- My font has already been chosen for my title as mentioned in a previous blog post, the Gloucester MT Extra Condensed font chosen is a very unique style of font that im hoping will give my work an identity that will exceed past my film itself and will stick in peoples heads. To keep with similar codes and conventions i am going to place the title in the middle of the page just below my centred main image as it coincides with the image and will lead to some interesting interpretations for anyone looking at the poster.

Actors Name- To keep up with the level of professionalism that my work has i am going to put the main actors name above the film title to make sure that it looks like something you would see for an actual movie poster. I also believe doing this that the actors name will make the film title seem like it is in the right place as without the actors name i feel like something is missing.

Credit Box- As with every movie poster my poster will feature accredit box that features the production studio, the director, the producer and actors etc. I am following set codes and conventions that have been used for pretty much every movie poster i have seen hence why the credit box is  right at the bottom.

Flat Plans for Magazine Cover

The layout for my magazine cover is one that is pretty standard it is something that you would normally see on a daily basis, this is the vibe i wanted to put across with my work as it varies differently for what i want to do with my poster. The professional approach of this piece of work is what will make it stand out especially when you put my work together and look at them all together.

Masthead- the masthead is basically as simple as it comes in terms of placement, like Empire magazine the masthead goes from left to right and its width goes from one side to the other making it one of the focal points of the cover. The masthead is usually the main reason as to why people buy a certain magazine as it gives it an identity and the location of the masthead is following those codes and conventions as moving it to another location would be stupid.

Main Image- The main image is the main attraction for a magazine as the image will most likely be the main reason someone buys your magazine. I chose to keep up my professional approach by putting the main image right in the middle as it is usually the first thing people see when they look at a magazine, the main image will be quite big and will take up the most space on the cover which will be fully edited to make it look very professional and clear.

Main Sell Line- The main sell line will be featured pretty much in the centre of the magazine just below the main image as it is the only form of sell line to once again stress the fact that this is a professional style magazine.

Barcode- The barcode is located in the bottom right as it isn't really the main point of the magazine and is really only there for the store who sell the magazine to scan them. I will make the barcode the smallest part of the cover to highlight some of the better parts of the cover.

Essential Info- The essential info will be used in a very unexpected place, i got the idea for this from a specific Empire magazine cover where the essential info was placed in the space between the two parts of the letter M and seeing as my magazines name is TMOVIES i felt like it was only necessary to place the essential info in a place where you wouldn't expect. The location also tucks it away not so much as to where you cant see it but so much so that the main image and the main sell line are the main attraction.

Final Company Logo

Company Name- Topple Productions

Font- Rockwell
Font Size- 24

This is the final fully finished logo for my production company, the company is called Topple Productions and my logo features a spinning top which will later be animated to where it fades in to focus then out of focus, to give it some life.

Making My Company Logo

This is the original image that i took from google i then just incorporated it into my Photoshop file.

I then decided to play around with the exposure tool to try and make it look more presentable and more artistic. 

I added the text Topple Productions into my logo the font used is Rockwell as i felt like it fit the purpose of the logo. 

The next thing that i changed was i edited the vibrance on the image to make it more dull. 

To make the image as clear as possible i used the posterize tool and put it as far as it can go.

I then used the gradient map tool to make the image more black and white to make it a lot more serious. 

I finally used the exposure tool again this time to really highlight the shadows of the spinning top, I wanted a really serious production company and i feel like this logo delivers on that. 

Character Profiles- Joe

Joe

 The character of Joe is the main antagonist/protagonist of my work, he is featured on all of my main tasks and is the focal point of my trailer. The story is all about Joe who for a while was just a hired gun answering to people who are apparently 'better' than he is, this is until something happens that makes him completely change his goals and that most men are mostly in the job for money where he has the tendency to get very violent very quickly this is when it changed for him as he decided not to take orders anymore instead he wasn’t going to give up on reason and do the things he loves which is being incredibly violent for no purpose what so ever. He is always struggling with his own sun conscious which is always in the back of his head trying to reason with his decisions he however opts to not go with what his head is telling him but instead act in the moment. Joe is a borderline psychopath with a need for recognition for what he loves most violence however he suffers from multiple personality disorder and his violent side is mostly in control but he does have a tendency to reason it just depends how he feels.

My Company Logo Idea

For my company logo i would like to use an old fashioned spinning top as the main focus of my company. I would also like to use a stylish font that goes with the spinning top. What i would also like is to sort of give it an old and maybe rusted effect almost like its been spinning for quite some time. 

I would like my font to be similar to the Miramax font as i like the way it is set and and it is very clear to read and inter-prate.  

Character Profiles- Mark

Mark 

Mark is someone who was involved with the main character Joe before he decided to be the most violent man in England. Mark is someone from a similar background to Joe he is also a hired gun and Joe's former best friend who is still under the illusion that he can bring his friend back to his normal self even if that does mean getting violent wit him. 

Music Copyright

I have sent an email to the music company Domino who own the rights to the song i want here is the email asking to use the track.

Music Choice

When deciding what i wanted for my music i knew that it would be a track that would be constantly playing throughout the trailer and it would increase and decrease in volume as the trailer would get to certain parts.Three tracks where put into consideration for the trailer all have specific  positives to them that make them each very distinctive. The song i finally chose was a song that has a constant drum roll and is very upbeat which fits the mood for my trailer perfectly.

The song i chose for the trailer was Arctic Monkeys - Teddy Picker. The reason i chose to use this song is because i tried to find a song that also reflects the main characters feelings or the characters demeanour/personality, as the character progresses through the trailer so does the song i feel so this made it an easy decision to go for this song, it also has a very child like feel to it where it doesn't take itself very seriously and i feel that it reflects the personality of my main character.

Another song that i considered but chose not to use was Avicii - Dear Boy, the reason why i considered the song was that it starts of relatively quiet but progresses into lyrics, however i felt like the mood of the song didn't really go with the mood of my overall trailer and so i never used it.

The final track i considered was Cage the Elephant - Come A Little Closer. The song had a really mellow feel to it which then got a little heavier as well as the lyrics in certain sections of the song which is why i considered it and was nearly used in the final version of my trailer however i felt it would be best to create more of an British feel to it as my film is sort of a British film.

Editing Choices Update 1

When it came to editing my work once i had gathered all of my video clips it was just a case of finding ways to make them make sense overall and keep the theme of the trailer going, i wanted something simplistic and not something crazy so went with a pretty standard video with your pretty basic editing techniques.

Dip To Black
I used dip to black a couple of times especially towards the beginning of my trailer as the beginning of my trailer is all just a flashback being narrated by the main character, it also gives the feel of a time lapse so i tried to use it quite a lot until i felt like i could just go into using quick or jump cuts.










Black and white
Once again this editing technique was used to show a flashback at the beginning of my trailer and i felt like it worked really well with the overall trailer as i wanted to make it very British orientated and i felt like the black and white pieces gave it that feel.