WELCOME MODERATOR

Welcome Moderator, this is my A2 blog. I am Oliver Macnaughton and my candidate number is 1243. I worked with Frederick Howe 1230, Harvey Gillett 1225 and Tamara Rudd 1258.
I hope you enjoy my blog which contains my work on the G324 Advanced Portfolio.

I chose Brief 2: construction of a film trailer for "Welcome To Eden" with the inclusion of two ancillary products: a magazine cover and a poster.

My evaluation questions are above.

My research, planning and construction process for my film trailer is below, and my research, planning and construction process for my film poster and magazine cover are in the pages above. 

FILM TRAILER

FILM POSTER

MAGAZINE COVER

CONSTRUCTION:IDENT

 As seen in most trailers, we decided to create a production ident for the start of the trailer. This is because all trailers will tend to start with a production logo in order to show off the company that is making the movie. I decided to print off a template snakes and ladders board that I found on the internet. Originally, our idea was to have a toy snake cross across the board with the name "snakes and ladders productions" following behind. However, it was ultimately too difficult to do this due to the limitations of movement from the toy snake as well as the fact that we had to do it in IstopMotion which would've been extremely time consuming. As a result, we decided to have the idea of  throwing some dice across a snakes and ladders board . Then a hand would come and take away the dice revealing the main title. The dice is also a reference to the "snake eyes" heard in gambling, showing relation to the main title. Ultimately, this proved successful as we felt it was an extremely effective ident that would be able to grab the viewer's attention, 

 

CONSTRUCTION: EDITING

After we finished filming and recorded the narration, it was now time for the editing process. This was perhaps the most challenging part of the experience as it required a lot of effort, partially due to the enormous amount of footage that we had to get through. Some footage that didn't even make it into the final product included the scene in which Ular comes into the house with lots of shopping and exclaims "hello my darlings".  However, we cut this all out due to this footage seeming like unnecessary "padding" and would've added nothing to the film.

We also had to inset intertitles for dramatic effect. For these, most of the titles would feature religious connections. These included some of the ten commandments such as "thou shalt not steal". This is so that we could emphasize the religious connotations that were seen throughout the trailer.
The main editing software that we used was Final Cut Pro. We found it as an extremely effective as we were able to add many different effects that would help improve our trailer. For instance, some scenes such as the moving in scene, there was some shakey cam. Luckily, with Final Cut Pro we were able to sort this out as there was a setting which would decrease any shakiness to the footage.

CONSTRUCTION: NARRATION

After wrapping filming, we decided to record some narration for . As we didn't want to use too much dialogue as we would've had to record. I provided the voiceover for the narration as I played the character of Ular.  I thought of the poem, the Sick Rose by William Blake as something that I could possibly read out whilst in character as Ular. Blake's poem very much features the themes of love and death, both themes play a big part in our trailer. There is also connected symbolism as there is a scene in the trailer where there is a closeup on Ular's hand slowing picking away at the petals of the rose, representing dying love. Ultimately, we recorded me narrating the poem in about five takes, thinking that it was successful enough to be used in the final product.
 

CONSTRUCTION: BEDROOM SCENE

In this scene, we had Adam come into the room, angrily. Through his anger, he smashes many objects in the room, including a picture frame with photos of him and Eve.  For this scene, my specific role was as boom and sound operator.  We laid out many different props in the room in order to make it look like a bedroom. We included books, jars and a picture frame of many different polaroid photos of Adam and Eve. Before this, we had the actors portraying the characters take pictures in order for the shoot to have a layer of authenticity to it.  

 The shot of Adam destroying many of the different objects was one shot that was particularly difficult to do.  We could only shoot this particular shot once due to the fact that many of the objects would ultimately be broken and it would take a lot of time to make the room look like how it once did. So for this shot, we had to make sure everything was perfect and looked right. Me and the cameraman had to be as close to the actor as possible both to make the shot look good as well as having to pick up the sound with the microphone. Ultimately, the shot was done effectively enough that few problems arose out of the creation of the shot.   

One of the most effective shots was a close up of Adam picking up a broken picture frame. For safety reasons, we decided not to use real glass but did find some fake glass online which we used instead. Once again, this shot was extremely effective as it created a layer of emotion and conflict for the character of Adam. The shot of him picking up the picture frame reminds of all the positive aspects of his relationship of Eve but his anger through knocking everything shows that there is a layer of conflict for the character.

CONSTRUCTION: ADAM COMING HOME

This was the scene in which Adam returned from the robbery. He comes to find Eve who questions his actions. Then the police are seen outside and Adam and Eve run off together.  We bought some strobe lighting which would flash blue and red at the house. I handled the lights as they had to be powered by a car which I had to be outside for. As a result, communication was key in this scene. We had the cameraman inside the main hallway of the house as well as the actors. The camera operator would have to text me when to turn on the lights. We had to do many takes for this scene due to this reason alone. The scene ultimately  had to be rehearsed and took nearly an hour to film. Ultimately, it was a effective shot though that added to the tone of the trailer

CONSTRUCTION: MUGGING SCENE

I took role of the camera to film this scene.In this scene, I filmed a bit where Adam mugged a random pedestrian. The scene had to be filmed fairly late at night in order to convey realism and intensity to show the evil nature of the crimes Adam is committing. We filmed it down an alleyway that would allow for a level of intensity We filmed it without a tripod in order to allow for a level of "shakey cam". 
Once the fight was over, we had an overhead shot showing the unconscious body of the victim. This was so we could show what it looks like from Adam's perspective.   This would give the scene a sense of realism, much like how it is used in the Jason Bourne films. The scene was particularly effective as we had Adam run off into the darkness, which perhaps represents the beginning of his life in crime.

CONSTRUCTION: LAMPOST SCENE

For this scene, I took joint responsibility as cameraman.  we shot the scene in which Adam and Eve find the flyer advertising the room for Ular's house. We didn't use a tripod for this scene as we decided to use a handhelding technique instead. This was to get a sense of movement, like the audience is moving along with the characters.  We reshot the scene a couple of times as we didn't get the sense of excitement from the main characters, however it was generally a very quick but effective shoot.
Around this time, we also shot some cutaway shots from a nearby graveyard. These shots were primarily for filler but also allowed us to express some of the religious connotations and symbolic codes that have become such a big part of our story.  

CONSTRUCTIONS:WOODS SHOTS

In this scene, I shared responsibility for shooting a scene in the woods. Primarily most of the shots are mainly filler for the romantic and happy scenes with Adam and Eve. We found different areas in the local woods to use for the particular scene. For example, we used the leaves on the ground and have the two main characters to play with them in order to get a romanticised feeling to the trailer. The couple playing in the woods together has a carefree quality and suggests their moments of innocence as they feel at home in natural surroundings, far away the commercial lures and temptations that are later offered to Eve.  As a result, we were able to use some of these happy shots to contrast with the later elements in the trailer that would feature the darker elements. For Levi-Strauss, the way that audiences understand certain words and visual symbols is through having an idea of their binary opposites.Binary opposites are used in many films, particularly thriller and horror, where the "villain" depends on the difference between that word and the opposing word "hero". Good and evil are common binary opposites in films.

CONSTRUCTION: MOVING IN SCENE

In this scene, we decided to film a shot where Adam and Eve finally move in as tennants. This is also the scene we first see Ular. For this scene, I provided assistant direction as well as acted as the character of Ular.
For this scene, we had Adam and Eve knock on the door, there would be a shot of Ular's hand opening the door before he reveals himself saying to them "hello, welcome to my little slice of Paradise". 
The first shot would feature an over the shoulder shot of Adam and Eve knocking on the door. This was so that we could show the audience of where they are, indicated by the earlier shot of when they see the poster for the house.
One shot that we decided to do was to have Ular' s hand open the door. This was so that we could get our first look at the rings on his hands, showing that he is quite an extraordinary character. His rings were skull shaped, indicating at his evil presence.
The next shot featured Ular opening the door before saying his line of dialogue. For this scene, I decided to act in a way in which I would say the line slowly in order to give a level of sinisterness to the character. However, I also had a smile on my face in order to perhaps make me look charming and inviting towards Adam and Eve.
 

CONSTRUCTION: FACEBOOK PAGE

I decided to make and publish a Facebook page for my film trailer. Much like Instagram, the main reason why I decided to use Facebook is the fact that it is an easy and free way of distributing my movie. As a result, its an effective way of any independent filmmaker to use it as a marketing tool. I have used it in both putting up work that would get the audience to understand the characters as well as putting up certain images e.g. the logo for the film. 

Here is the link to my Facebook page below: https://www.facebook.com/Welcome-to-Eden-193322741022617/?ref=hl#

CONSTRUCTION: DINNER SCENE

  In this scene, Adam is preparing a surprise dinner for Eve. When he leaves the room, Ular walks in and tries to sedude Eve, including feeding a strawberry to her. We then see Adam in the doorway, angry about what he sees.
We performed a closeup of the lighting of the candles as well. I lit the scene, primarily with just the candlelight. Much like how Stanley Kubrick did with Barry Lyndon , this was to give the scene a sense of realisim. It also helps to establish a mixture of both romantic and dark themes. The scene should be one that has a romantic quality as Adam wants to express his love in some way but it is ultimately overshadowed by Ular's seductive powers. For this scene, I acted as Ular but I also did some direction, specifically providing suggestions on how the scene should ultimately be lit in order for to evoke many of the romantic qualties that I felt suited the scene.
 


 


We had to film the movie seductively in order to get a sense of the romantic tension between Ular and Eve. We let the camera follow around Ular's hand onto the shoulder of Eve. This was one such shot that was able to give this scene this scene of tension.  We performed a closeup on Eve's mouth when she was eating the strawberry. This was to give the scene a sense of seduction. We used the idea of Laura Mulvaey's "male gaze of the camera" in order to make this scene seductive. Otherwise, the scene would've looked awkward and it wouldn't have worked

We then had an over the shoulder shot of Adam looking through the doorway at Eve and Ular. This ultimately was so that we could get an idea of his jealousy. He's angry but is unable to do anything as he knows that this would break up his relationship with Eve.