The Trailer Editing

The first step after filming was to import the footage which we had filmed onto the computer. We used Apple macs for the editing process and the software which we used was called Premier Pro. With only being able to use one computer at a time to edit we both decided Sarah would be more useful operating the computer because she has more experience with this program and knows where everything is which would save time. At times when we worked alone we would take notes on what needed to be done and worked on those.

The footage was taken from the camera and put onto the computer, we copied onto the mac and Adobe premier pro was opened and imported the stream of clips. They were dragged onto the video bar and we started to cut and re-arrange clips, using the razor tool to cut and the selection tool to move them, the zoom in and out made for more precise.

To make clips shorter Sarah used the rate stretch tool to shorten the length of the clip, this can be used to lengthen clips too.

To insert a title.


At the start of most trailers there is an image which tells the audience the trailer is able to be viewed by anyone or a specific age group. We called it the green screen. To capture the green screen, we found a trailer on Youtube and paused it at the right point. For the best image we made the video full screen and made a screen dump by pressing Shift+Apple Key+4. The image saves onto the desktop where Sarah imported it, dragged it to video bar before adjusting the size and rendering it.


A convention found commonly in horror films is a fade to black transition and we used this a lot in the start when introducing the poison pen captions. This was achieved by selecting video transitions > dissolve > dip to black.

To get an audio track for our trailer we used a converter which converts videos on YouTube into mp3 format so it can be used as a music track. This is downloaded as a file which we imported to Premier Pro and added it to the audio bar so it plays whilst the trailer plays. Like the footage we were able to click and drag the audio to determine when it starts. The music enters after the Bruckheimer Films clip. The audio we chose to use was an Evanescense instrumental.

To create the typewriter effect on the 'SCORPION EYE' we had to create 12 different frames each with an added letter until it eventually spelled 'SCORPION EYE' we had to make sure the letters didn't move too much from the frame before but some movement was good because it makes it seem more jumpy.

The Re-shoot Schedule

1. Chase scene through forest path

Too shaky because filming running alongside actor.

NEXT TIME: Film long shot and have actors run towards camera.

RE-SHOOT: 25th November 2010 3:30pm - 4:00pm (beginning to get dark)

2. Break in scene

Continuity error, door wasn't open enough in one shot, next shot the door was too open.

NEXT TIME: Film both scenes and have door open all the way in each then match during editing

RE-SHOOT: 25th November 2010 6:00pm (completely dark)

3. Running out of house

Reflection of person filming in front window.

NEXT TIME: Film from an angle which doesn't reflect in the window and for the shot directly in front of the window use tripod and stand away. Tripod is less obvious and can hardly be seen

RE-SHOOT: 25th November 2010 6:10 (completely dark)

4. Restless sleep

Doesn't look realistic.

NEXT TIME: Take some practice shots judge what needs to be different, and mess up hair.

RE-SHOOT: 25th November 2010 6:30 (can't see outside so time is not essential)

5. Blurry waking up shot

Unable to shoot because actor is unavailable

NEXT TIME: Use look alike, someone with same build and size. Make sure the camera doesn't focus enough to see detail

RE-SHOOT: 25th November 2010 6:45

The Filming Schedule

October 12th

• Film the setting in day and night
• Forest area to set scene in during the trailer.
• Use pans and zooms.
• Must Be slow to create an eerie feel.
• No actors needed.

October 13th

• Re shoot night setting earlier (at dusk) not sufficient lighting to shoot in darkness

October 29th

• Film front door scenes with protagonist (Still camera looking at door slight tilt to represent something unusual)
• Pick up mail montage, change appearance of arm so it looks like its on different days (Close up on mail, only see hand and wrist)
• Reading letters and putting on the table. (Over shoulder shot then short pan around to see table)
• Actors needed - Helen Palmer

November 14th

• Film the break in
• Gloved hand opening door shot from inside and outside (Pan from letters on table to door, close up on door handle)
• Pick up knife (Close up on knife block, slowly pulls out menacing blade)
• Shadow in frosted glass door (Similar to front door shot static camera, bright kitchen light contrast with dark figure)
• Protagonist wake up shock (Point of view shot from the intruder looking at protagonist, point of view shot from protagonist at intruder, blurry to show awakening from deep sleep)
• Also film alcohol sequence where actor slams a bottle of drink down on a table and rolls over asleep. Under the influence = Vulnerable (shot from the level of the protagonist on the couch. Camera pointing at where the bottle will be put down)
• Actors needed - Helen Palmer, Joe Phipps

November 20th

• Chase scenes through forest (tracking shot of both protagonist and intruder)
• Running out of the house (shot from front, back and side to get different angles of running to, away and past the camera)
• Take photos for poster, magazine and other print advertising.

The Target Audience

Our film will have an age certificate of 15 and the audience we expect to draw in are male and female teenagers and adults between about 15 and 25. The characters in the story are young adults which the target audience can relate too. Also the plot is relatively simple so will not require a lot of thinking which can put a lot of people off watching a film. To attract this kind of audience, the trailer has shown parts of the film with action and thus created a quick paced exciting advert as opposed to a slower more explanatory trailer which one might expect on a more mature film aimed at older adults. This trailer will predominantly be shown in late afternoon to evening in between shows like X Factor, Misfits and other highly rated television programs and channels like E4, which the intended age group are likely to watch and conveniently released during winter when this age group are looking for things to do that don't mean being outside in the cold weather.

The Mood Board

The Setting

The film trailer will predominantly be set in this kind of environment, surrounded by untamed trees which although still have vibrant green foliage will make the area much more enclosed and block out light from the surrounding area more than bare trees and branches would. The rickety old wooden gate that leads to nowhere further enforces the idea that no one has been here in a long time and if something was to happen it would be a while before anyone discovered anything.

This is a narrow path which leads into total darkness, the overgrown trees would frame the shot if we wanted a person running into it and also close in on the protagonist the further down the path they run. This would be difficult to illuminate in the darkness so we would need to film at dusk when it is light enough to see but not broad daylight. We could darken the film later in the editing process to make it more eerie. The leaves on the trees and the moss on the bare branches gives the whole frame an eerie green glow.

In my previous photo analysis' at the start of the project I mentioned how the colour or brightness of a light can change the mood of the shot. The same theory is applied here with the colour of the surroundings.

Most of the trailer trailer will be set in a house, there is nothing unusual about it. It is a regular home where the protagonist can feel safe and puts the audience in a false sense of security as she goes through her daily routine of coming back from work and picking up her mail. The disruption to the routine when she receives strange letters is something that could easily happen to anyone and makes this film more frightening than if it were happing somewhere or to someone unusual and this can sit in the mind of the audience throughout the film.

The Detailed StoryBoard

The Basic StoryBoard

The main characters in my trailer include the film protagonist (a female), the bartender (a male) and an evil presence (either human or spiritual). Other people in the trailer will include the extras which will play the part of other previous victims. The trailer will show flashes of these victims in parallel with the main female character.

The main protagonist is shown in a bar ordering drinks. She is drunk and the barman tells her she has had to much.

He proceeds to warn her that she could get hurt in the state she's in but when she refuses to listen he begins to tell her a story about people who have previously mysteriously disappeared after leaving the pub in such a state.

As he tells the story the trailer shows all the events which he talks about, happening to the woman who he is talking to. The barman then becomes the narrator of the trailer dictating the horrifying situations the woman finds herself in. It is around this point that the pace of the trailer quickens and suspense begins to build.

Pans and flashes of an eerie looking house set the scene for where the film is set, the trailer will give the idea that this is in the middle of nowhere and any help the woman hopes to find is inside this house.

The shot shows the protagonist running down a road through thick trees, during the shot there are several flashbacks of the same thing happening to other people, these will be distinguished by an effect like sepia or be made blurry.

An ironic shot of the girl telling her another person she knows that she'll be ok, shown quickly between screaming and running and flashes of trees and fast breathing.

A person standing on the wrong side of a bridge looking scared as though they are about to jump but not really wanting to. Sobbing noises, maybe a desperate but quiet plea for help.

-

-

-

-

-

She turns around and walks out of the pub as the doors close a bolt of lightning flashes and the screen goes black. After which the title of the film appears as well as credits and a website.