Below is the film poster deconstruction of the film 'The Butterfly Effect'
(Click to enlarge)
(Click to enlarge)
Initial Ideas - Film Poster
Below is a mind map that I created containing our initial thoughts and ideas for the production of our film poster.
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Editing Film Trailer
Firstly we had to upload all the footage on Magix. To do this I clicked on, ‘Import-user name-my documents-media A2-filming,’ once I had found all of our footage, I highlighted them and finally dragged them down into the timeline view. The first thing we had to do was sort through all of our footage, deleting everything we didn’t want. To separate a piece of footage into two parts, the piece we wanted and the piece we wanted to delete, we simply dragged the orange bar to the place we wanted to separate the shot, and clicked on the ‘cut’ icon. This separated our shot into two, enabling us to delete the section we did not want. Once we were only left with the footage we wanted we sorted them into the order they appeared in our film trailer.
On some of our footage we wanted to add an internal monologue over the top. To do this we first had to delete the sound combined to these shots, by first selecting the shot, and then clicking on the ‘ungroup’ icon. This separated the shot from the sound, in which we could then delete. Once we were left with the shots we wanted with no sound, we then pasted our internal monologue into place. Some of shots however where to long, and didn’t fit the length of our internal monologue. To overcome this problem we simply clicked on the end of the shot, on the right hand side, and dragged it towards the left until we had minimised the shot to the length we needed, seen below:
We followed the same format as above to add any voice overs to our film trailer.
To add sound effects we clicked on ‘import’ and found them in the same way as we found our footage earlier, again dragging them down into the timeline view. We then followed the same format as our footage and deleted any part of that sound effect that we didn’t want to use. After we had only the sound left that we wanted from our sound effect we were able to fade it in to our film trailer by dragging the line down, seen below:
We needed to add some special effects to one of our shots. Our aim was to slow down one of shots, making it more dramatic and emphasising the idea that our main character had taken the whole tub of sleeping pills. To do this we firstly highlighted the shot we wanted to slow down, clicked on ‘effects’ and then ‘speed.’ This brought up a tool box which allowed us to make our shot faster or slower, seen below:
We then wanted to create a sequence of still shots, which faded into one another to convey that time is passing in our film trailer to our audience. Firstly to make our footage a still image we right clicked on our individual shots and selected ‘create still.’ Once we had created all of our still shots we placed them slightly over the top of each other so that they would overlap. And finally to make the shots fade into one another dragged the line down, or towards the centre of each still shot, similar to how we made the sound effect fade into our film trailer, seen below:
Now it was time to add titles to our film trailer. Firstly we selected ‘titles,’ chose which type of title we wanted to add from the choice we were given and then, like our footage, drag it down into the timeline view. After we had chosen the type of title that we wanted, we added our text and then selected ‘general,’ this enabled us to change our titles font, colour, position, size, ectr. Seen below:
To save time, we simply copied and pasted already existing titles into other areas of our film trailer, clicking on ‘general’ from the options in ‘title’ each time to make the needed changes for each of our titles, seen below:
Once we had added all of the titles to our film trailer all that was left to add were our soundtracks. To add the soundtracks to our film trailer we followed the same format we used when adding our sound effects to our film trailer.
Titles
Name Of Our Film:
When it came to choosing a name for our film that we are producing, we wanted to use a fairly short word which reflected some of the themes in our storyline. This proved fairly difficult due to finding a word which reflected themes of death, love and pain. In the end we felt the most appropriate word to use for the name of our product was, 'Forever.' We decided that the word forever was best suited because we felt it symbolised the theme of love, however the word itself is to vague for an audience to pinpoint any specific themes to, and so it could also easily be associated with other themes in our storyline.
90% of the people in my sample have agreed that the title of the film should be showcased either towards the end, or at the end of the film trailer. Again looking back at the film trailer deconstructions from; Atonement, Time Travellers wife and Inception, the title of the film is shown either towards the end of at the end in all three. This again appears to be a common film trailer convention used for a film trailer with any genre, as it was used in all of the existing media products that i previously deconstructed. Due to the results i retrieved and my deconstructions we have decided to position the title showcasing the name of our film right at the end, just before the release date in our film trailer. This will both keep the audience happy as well as make our film trailer comparable to exitsing media products in the industry, making our film trailer more authentic.
Other Titles In Our Film Trailer:
Other titles which we are going to use in our film trailer are:
- Production logo,
- Directors past successes,
- Actor/Actresses names,
- Tagline (broken down into two parts),
- Name of our film,
- Release date.
Backdrop Of Our Titles:
In question 5 from my audience research questionnaire 77% of the people in my sample agreed that titles in a film trailer should be displayed over a black screen. furthermore one of the film trailers which i deconstructed previously has titles which appear over a black screen, making it a common convention used for titles in film trailers. Therefore we had decided to stick with our audiences preference and showcase the titles in our film trailer over a black screen, this will also make our film trailer comparable to existing products as showing titles over a black screen is already being used in the industry today.
Size Of Our Titles:
In question 6 from my audience research questionnaire more people from my sample agreed that they wanted titles to be different sizes than the same. Again looking back at the film trailer deconstructions from; Atonement, Time Travellers wife and Inception, the titles are different sizes in all three. This again appears to be a common film trailer convention used for a film trailer with any genre, as it was used in all of the existing media products that i previously deconstructed. Due to the results we retrieved and our deconstructions we have decided to make our titles different sizes. We will differ the size based on importance, hence the title showcasing the name of our film will most likely be the largest title in our film trailer due to being the title we mostly want our audience to remember.
Font Of Our Titles:
From question 6 of my audience research questionnaire 99% of the people in my sample agreed that the font of the titles should all be the same. Only one of my film trailer deconstructions - The Time Travellers Wife, uses the same font for all of the titles in the film trailer. Therefore, this appears to not be a common film trailer convention used for a film trailer with any genre, as it was only used in one of the existing media products i previously deconstructed. However we have decided that our film trailer would be more successful if it appealed more to our audience and so we decided to stick with our audiences preference and make sure we used the same font for all of our titles:
The font we have decided to our titles is, Monotype Corsiva.
Colour Of Our Titles:
From question 6 of my audience research questionnaire more people from my sample agreed that they wanted titles to be the same colour. Again looking back at the film trailer deconstructions from; Atonement, Time Travellers wife and Inception, in two of them, the titles are the same colour. This again appears to be a common film trailer convention used for a film trailer with any genre, as it was used in two of the existing media products that i previously deconstructed. Due to the results i retrieved and my deconstructions we decided to keep the colour of our titles the same throughout our film trailer. This will ensure our film trailer is comparable to exit sing media products in the industry, making it more successful.
I also concluded from my qualitative audience research that It is obvious an audience notices the colour of titles used in a film trailer. All colours have specific connotations that an audience link to the genre of the film they are watching. Therefore it is important that we choose a colour for our titles that best represents our genre. We decided that the best colour to use for the titles of our film trailer is white. We decided to choose the colour white because for our titles for two reasons. the first reason being that the colour white stands out most on a black background than any other colour, attracting the audiences attention more vividly. Our second reason for choosing this colour is because white is a hard colour to decode, it doesn't have a specific set of connotations an audience would associate with it due to representing so many different things. Therefore using the colour white would easily reflect each aspect of genre which makes our hybrid genre, making the colour white the most effective colour to use for our titles.
Screen Shots Of Our titles:
Camera/ Software Practice - Film Trailer
In order for us to create a more professional, polished finish, creating a more successful film trailer and enabling our media product to be compared to existing products already out there. We needed to make sure the shots we film are not shaky. One way we could create this effect seen in existing media products in our shots is to use a tripod. A tripod should help us to keep the camera completely still, however giving us the freedom to rotate the camera, zoom in and zoom out, successfully creating a professional, polished finish.
Below is the short film that we created for our camera/software practice:
Last year for the production of our opening scene we used an editing software known as 'Premiere Elements.' This year however we wanted to use a more complex editing software that gave us access to more advanced technology, enabling us to edit our film trailer more professionally, making it more successful and comparable to existing media products in the industry. The editing software that we are going to use this year is known as 'Magix Movie Edit Pro 17.'
For our camera/software practise we wanted to familiarise ourselves with a series of camera angles, shots and movements, using my younger sister as our subject. We would then upload our footage onto our new editing software where we would learn the basic skills for editing a film.
Software Practice
Firstly we had to import our filming practise footage onto Magix Movie Edit Pro 17. We were able to do this by selecting ‘import,’ clicking on; username-documents-media A2-filming practise, and in this file we found all the footage that we had filmed for our filming practise. We selected all of the files from this folder and then dragged them down into the timeline, as seen below:
We then needed to sort out which of the footage we wanted to keep, and which we needed to delete. We could do this by selecting a piece of footage, moving the orange bar to the section of that footage we didn’t want, and then use the ‘cut’ icon to separate the footage into two parts. We could then delete the part that we didn’t want, seen below:
Once we had sorted through all of our footage, left with only shots that we wanted to keep, we needed to add titles. We could do this by selecting ‘titles,’ select which type of title we wanted to add from the choice we were given and then, like our footage, drag it down into the timeline. After we had chosen the type of title that we wanted, we added our text and then selected general which enabled us to change our titles font, colour, position, size, ectr. Seen below:
To save time, if you needed more than one title you could simply copy and paste already existing titles, and then use click ‘general’ from the options in ‘title’ if you want to make any changes to the text, seen below:
After we had added all of our titles we decided that there was sound on our footage which we didn’t need or want. Firstly we needed to un group the sound from our footage, which we could do by selecting a piece of footage and using the ‘ungroup’ icon. Then you could minimise the sound, making it quitter, or simply delete it, seen below:
To add fades in between shots to make the footage run smoother we first decided to change from ‘timeline’ view to ‘scene’ view. In the scene view you are able to see the fades from one shot to another, making it easier to see what fades you have, and what fades you don’t have. To use a fade you could either select ‘fade,’ where again you are able to choose from a large range of fades, dragging the one you want down into the box between your shots. Or you could use ‘timeline’ view and simply drag the line on your footage towards the centre to create a fade between your shots, seen below:
And finally, although we didn’t add any effects to our filming practise we found that you could add effects in exactly the same way as you add your titles and your fades ectr. By simply selecting ‘effects,’ dragging down your chosen effect onto the footage you want to change. We found this is best done whilst in ‘scene’ view, seen below:
Sountrack & Sound
Soundtrack & Copyright Eligibility Letter:
As a group we had to make a decision on whether to produce an original piece of music or to use an existing piece of music as our soundtrack for the film trailer we are currently producing.
Use of a Soundtrack:
i) The use of a soundtrack is a very common film trailer convention used for films with all types of genre. Music is a form of media that can influence how an audience feels, playing with their emotions and portraying different messages and feelings. Therefore including a soundtrack in our film trailer will hopefully enable us to induce the need for emotion upon our audience, causing them to feel more emotionally involved and improving the success of our film trailer as they feel more ‘connected’.
ii) Looking at the film trailers deconstructions we did previously, from; 'The Butterfly Effect,' and 'P.S I Love You', a soundtrack was used in both. This informed our group that a soundtrack is a commonly used film trailer convention for films with in any genre. Therefore by using this particular film trailer convention, our film trailer can be related and compared to existing media products on the market today, which is a goal we are aiming to achieve.
iii) Finally after I analysed question 7 from the audience questionnaire I produced, I can see that the audience definitely prefers the use of a soundtrack in a film trailer, due to the vast majority of the people in my sample who answered this question selecting 'yes' and agreeing that a soundtrack should be used. Another member from my group had a similar question in their questionnaire and received exactly the same outcome. This informs us that we should definitely use a soundtrack as one of our film trailer conventions in our film trailer, as the audience believes that the use of a soundtrack contributes to the success of creating the right atmosphere and setting for a film, as well as building tension, which will again increase the success of the film trailer that we are currently producing.
Original or Existing?
We took some time and thought about all the ways we could obtain a soundtrack; our options were to either create our own or use an existing soundtrack. Thinking about time constraints and the levels of skill we would need to create a original soundtrack that would be successful, we decided it would be best to use an already existing soundtrack.
However the major problem with using an existing soundtrack is that most of them, if not all, will have copyright protection. This is when a piece of work is protected from use by anyone who does not have permission to do so. In order to use an existing soundtrack you would have to obtain the right to use it by getting permission from the owner/s agreeing to let you use their material. They would also specify under what conditions you may use it.
Copyright Information:
© is the standard symbol stating that something is copyrighted and protected from use other than what is permitted.
'Copyright is the exclusive right granted to the author of an original work, including the right to authorise or ban the publication, distribution and adaptation of that work. Copyright only lasts for a certain time period after which the work is said to enter the public domain. Copyright applies to any expressible form of an idea or information that is substantive and discrete and fixed in a medium. Some jurisdictions also recognize "moral rights" of the creator of a work, such as the right to be credited for the work. Copyright is described under the umbrella term intellectual property along with patents and trademarks.' - Wikipedia
'Document granting exclusive right to publish and sell literary or musical or artistic work' - Google Definitions
Obtaining Copy
'It is normal to request permission via the publisher of the work. The publisher will often have a permissions department to deal with such requests, or may use the services of a copyright clearance or licensing service. If the publisher cannot give permission directly, they will certainly know who you should contact, (as they will have obtained permission themselves in order to use the work in the first place).
If for example, the copyright owner is personally known to you, it may be possible to obtain permission via a private agreement. In such cases you should ensure you get an agreement in writing to avoid any future disagreements.
For website content, it is normal to contact the webmaster of the site. The webmaster may either give permission directly or refer your request to someone in the company who can deal with your request.
For photographs, it is normally to contact the photographer or company, that took the images. As they will normally control the rights to the photos, and will have their own reproduction or duplication charges.' - Copyright service
However the major problem with using an existing soundtrack is that most of them, if not all, will have copyright protection. This is when a piece of work is protected from use by anyone who does not have permission to do so. In order to use an existing soundtrack you would have to obtain the right to use it by getting permission from the owner/s agreeing to let you use their material. They would also specify under what conditions you may use it.
Solution/Outcome:
We thought about each aspect thoroughly and after researching all about copyright and protection on existing media products we decided to write a letter to the company who produced the soundtrack we wanted to use for our opening scene, stating that; we would only use the soundtrack for educational purposes and so it will not ever be publicly presented or used for any commercial purposes in hope that we would get permission for the use of this soundtrack.
Because we wanted to use an existing piece it meant we had to contact the people who own the songs and who distribute the rights to use them, this being the recording companies we had to email them requesting to use the songs for educational purposes.
Below are the emails we sent:
As a group we had to make a decision on whether to produce an original piece of music or to use an existing piece of music as our soundtrack for the film trailer we are currently producing.
Use of a Soundtrack:
i) The use of a soundtrack is a very common film trailer convention used for films with all types of genre. Music is a form of media that can influence how an audience feels, playing with their emotions and portraying different messages and feelings. Therefore including a soundtrack in our film trailer will hopefully enable us to induce the need for emotion upon our audience, causing them to feel more emotionally involved and improving the success of our film trailer as they feel more ‘connected’.
ii) Looking at the film trailers deconstructions we did previously, from; 'The Butterfly Effect,' and 'P.S I Love You', a soundtrack was used in both. This informed our group that a soundtrack is a commonly used film trailer convention for films with in any genre. Therefore by using this particular film trailer convention, our film trailer can be related and compared to existing media products on the market today, which is a goal we are aiming to achieve.
iii) Finally after I analysed question 7 from the audience questionnaire I produced, I can see that the audience definitely prefers the use of a soundtrack in a film trailer, due to the vast majority of the people in my sample who answered this question selecting 'yes' and agreeing that a soundtrack should be used. Another member from my group had a similar question in their questionnaire and received exactly the same outcome. This informs us that we should definitely use a soundtrack as one of our film trailer conventions in our film trailer, as the audience believes that the use of a soundtrack contributes to the success of creating the right atmosphere and setting for a film, as well as building tension, which will again increase the success of the film trailer that we are currently producing.
Original or Existing?
We took some time and thought about all the ways we could obtain a soundtrack; our options were to either create our own or use an existing soundtrack. Thinking about time constraints and the levels of skill we would need to create a original soundtrack that would be successful, we decided it would be best to use an already existing soundtrack.
However the major problem with using an existing soundtrack is that most of them, if not all, will have copyright protection. This is when a piece of work is protected from use by anyone who does not have permission to do so. In order to use an existing soundtrack you would have to obtain the right to use it by getting permission from the owner/s agreeing to let you use their material. They would also specify under what conditions you may use it.
Copyright Information:
© is the standard symbol stating that something is copyrighted and protected from use other than what is permitted.
'Copyright is the exclusive right granted to the author of an original work, including the right to authorise or ban the publication, distribution and adaptation of that work. Copyright only lasts for a certain time period after which the work is said to enter the public domain. Copyright applies to any expressible form of an idea or information that is substantive and discrete and fixed in a medium. Some jurisdictions also recognize "moral rights" of the creator of a work, such as the right to be credited for the work. Copyright is described under the umbrella term intellectual property along with patents and trademarks.' - Wikipedia
'Document granting exclusive right to publish and sell literary or musical or artistic work' - Google Definitions
Obtaining Copy
'It is normal to request permission via the publisher of the work. The publisher will often have a permissions department to deal with such requests, or may use the services of a copyright clearance or licensing service. If the publisher cannot give permission directly, they will certainly know who you should contact, (as they will have obtained permission themselves in order to use the work in the first place).
If for example, the copyright owner is personally known to you, it may be possible to obtain permission via a private agreement. In such cases you should ensure you get an agreement in writing to avoid any future disagreements.
For website content, it is normal to contact the webmaster of the site. The webmaster may either give permission directly or refer your request to someone in the company who can deal with your request.
For photographs, it is normally to contact the photographer or company, that took the images. As they will normally control the rights to the photos, and will have their own reproduction or duplication charges.' - Copyright service
However the major problem with using an existing soundtrack is that most of them, if not all, will have copyright protection. This is when a piece of work is protected from use by anyone who does not have permission to do so. In order to use an existing soundtrack you would have to obtain the right to use it by getting permission from the owner/s agreeing to let you use their material. They would also specify under what conditions you may use it.
Solution/Outcome:
We thought about each aspect thoroughly and after researching all about copyright and protection on existing media products we decided to write a letter to the company who produced the soundtrack we wanted to use for our opening scene, stating that; we would only use the soundtrack for educational purposes and so it will not ever be publicly presented or used for any commercial purposes in hope that we would get permission for the use of this soundtrack.
Because we wanted to use an existing piece it meant we had to contact the people who own the songs and who distribute the rights to use them, this being the recording companies we had to email them requesting to use the songs for educational purposes.
Below are the emails we sent:
(Click to enlarge)
(Click to enlarge)
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