CONSTRUCTION: GREENSCREEN AND VOICE RECORDINGS

We were interested in the idea of using a news broadcast as a way to give the audience an insight into the story. This news read would only suggest what is happening to motivate the audience to keep watching. We experimented with the use of a green screen to create a digital newsroom from which a news anchor reports. 

For the green screen to work properly, there were several precautions we had to take to ensure the best quality. The subject/actor was positioned at a distance away from the wall, as well as the camera. This was done so that the camera focal point could be set on the subject and the brick pattern on the green screen would be less visible. As well as this, the subject has positioned a distance in front of the green screen to prevent spill. Spill is where the green colour from a green screen "spills" onto the subject. This can result in the subject having a green glow, as well as areas being removed by the editing software. Also to ensure that the editing software (Adobe Premiere Pro) would effectively remove the green screen, two sets of lights were shone onto the background to keep the colour bright and vivid. This would mean it would be easier for the editing software to distinguish the green colour that needs to be removed. 

In this photo, the lights are being set up to ensure that they are lighting the background and not the subject/actor (Tom). Also in this photo, you can see the distance between the subject and the green screen. 

Audio quality is an important part of a good film if the audio does not match the footage, or the quality is poor it can turn away audiences and break your sense of immersion. In the photo, the microphones are being set up. This is to record what the actor says in good quality. This was done because the camera we were using was far away from the actor, meaning the audience would not be able to hear him. If we were to increase the volume of the camera's mic, it would result in unwanted sounds become more prevalent (e.g. footsteps or white noise). After the filming was done, we did another voice recording where the actor spoke directly into the microphone. This was so that we could have a high-quality recording that could be used as a voice-over in different parts of the trailer. 

Here in Premiere Pro, we used the ultra key effect to remove the background (green screen). This will allow us to place anything we want behind the actor, which will be a newsroom. As well as this we used the crop tool to remove the microphone's boom arm that was protruding into the shot. On top of this, we also had to sync the voice recording captured by the microphone with the video. This was done by having the actor(s) clap, and we would use this clap to pinpoint the position the audio need to be. 

CONSTRUCTION: MARKETING PLAN

 

CONSTRUCTION: SECOND FILMING SHOOT

Once we had established where we planned to film next, we were eager to begin. The filming location was a secluded area of our school's grounds that featured thick woodlands and abandoned belvedere. We felt this would be an excellent area for our project and play well into our theme of a supernatural thriller. A few days before filming with the actors, Tom Alex and I scoped out the area and I took some establishing shots of the area. These were great for adding tension as the area was shrouded in fog at the time. Unfortunately on the day, we filmed with Ben there was no fog. This was not an issue though as our project is a trailer, continuity is not required between shots. Although we did talk about how the drastic change in appears the filming location had between filming shoots could be implemented into the supernatural elements of our film. 

These two photos show a great difference in the filming location between the two filming dates.

This was one of the establishing shots that I recorded during our brief exploration of the filming location. The thick veil of fog brings out a sense that this area is isolated and I think that idea will help keep the audience on the edge of their seat. 

This is an over-the-shoulder shot that I took of Ben moving around the building. This technique was used to make the audience feel as if they are entering this uncharted territory with the character and produce a sense of dread of what is around the corner. Then Ben steps further away from the camera showing his swift and efficient movement as he traverses the area, emphasising the specialist military themes of our project.

This clip is an edit of the previous video. I like how the over-the-shoulder technique brought into the scene and made you feel as if you there with the protagonist. To get a stronger grasp of how the footage would look, I put the clip into Premiere Pro and tested out how I wanted the footage to look like. It was also a chance to see if the stabilization effect in Premiere Pro would be effective. As well as this I experimented with the idea of cropping the footage to create cinematic bars to tightly fix the audience's attention on the point of focus. 

Once we had gathered all the footage we needed around the building, we looked around our schools ground to see if anything else would be of use to us. In the photo, we found a stretching brick wall and felt it would be an effective tool to use with a dolly shot as the straight lines of the bricks would help convey a sense of movement and tell the audience that character is moving across a location.

In this clip, we have Ben traversing through the low ground and past a brick wall. The bricks moving past on the right create a sense of movement emphasise a greater meaning behind this character's journey to a location. As well as this, the gun is pointed towards the audience presents the character in a position of power. This will be used to contrast with scenes where the character struggles against the antagonist. 

After this set of filming, we had created a large library of video clips that will be used in numerous way to produce our ideal trailer.