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1. Experiments
Josh Eastham

2. Process –Title cards

3. Process –Title cards
Name Concept
Inspiration from existing products
This was one of the first production experiments I did. To start of I looked at fonts that
some classic horror films have used as well as colors and different styles. Then I took the
one I liked best and began experimenting with different warp and sizing effects in
Photoshop as well as different positioning of the letters. I eventually came up with
something inspired by the Steven King book covers of the 1980s. Whilst I like this design its
isn’t very original therefore I will likely start again when it comes to making my real FMP
film in order to produce something effective but original to my film. Despite all this
research I don’t want to spend too long on producing a title card as it will literally be
shown for only a few seconds at the start of the film.

4. Process- Introduction Soundtrack
I want my film to open with a dream sequence as a result I wanted my soundtrack to reflect
that by being eerie and creepy. One thing people said in my survey was that a lot of horror
films these days have music that is all very similar and as a result gets repetitive and
annoying. When I was researching soundtracks I found out that some of the best horror films
used ultrasound frequencies and low humming frequencies which would make the viewer
feel uneasy and fearful without realizing. Therefore this is something I want to incorporate
into my film as I want it to be different and not clichéd. One thing I may look at is
documentary's on how different sound effects are made for films and see if I can get any
ideas on how to create something good from that. This was the article I first read on
ultrasound frequencies in horror films. https://news.avclub.com/some-of-the-scariest-
sounds-in-horror-movies-are-the-on-1798253775

5. Science Fiction Production
Experiment
This was a production experiment I did to see what doing a Science Fiction film would look like. I
eventually decided to not do a Sci-Fi film as I thought it would be do difficult to convincingly portray an
alien planet however I wanted to see what futuristic type of effects I could do in premier. I used a lot of
stock footage of YouTube in an effort to create the effect of a futuristic HUD that could be from the point
of view of some sort of robot drone perhaps. To accomplish this I looked at some of the footage I had
recorded but not used and I again began experimenting with color correction in Premier. I managed to
create a very alien and radioactive looking setting buy adding a red grading as well as dust particles
floating around. For the HUD elements that appear on screen I found them as overlay effects on
YouTube, I then put them on my video and then animated them so they move across the screen into the
bottom corners using the scale and position settings in premier. I found some free futuristic computer
sounds on YouTube as well and added them on for atmospheric effect. Then Finally I added the text such
as “radiation detected” and “target acquired” using the premier text effect.

6. Video production experiment-Horror

7. Process Video
To film my video I used one of the colleges Cannon 700D cameras with the standard 18 to 55 mm lenses and a clip on
video light. I also used my own tripod with the camera. I was unfortunately limited with how I could film as I was the
only one in the house at the time and therefore I had to make do with what I had at the time, for the sake of a
production experiment however I believe that It actually turned out ok. I practiced filming from different angles with
different shot types. For example the zoom out shot from the door in this scene and the over the shoulder shot of me
walking toward the door. This production experiment also had a heavy focus on me practicing different visual effects
and editing techniques. For example throughout this test video I wanted to have a concise color grading with dark and
DE saturated colors to make it feel more cinematic. I also wanted to have the letterbox aspect ratio that all films have
so they fit on the cinema screens better. To achieve this I added black bars at the top by cropping my footage both at
the top and the bottom. I also experimented with other effects such as adding an anamorphic lens flare on to the light
coming off my phone just to see what it looked like. I actually like how it looks as in my opinion it gives the scene a
more polished look. To achieve this I found a link on YouTube to download some 4k anamorphic lens flare overlays. I
did this not sure if it would work however I was surprised at how natural they look in the scene and how well they
blend in with my phone light and the color grading of the scene. It was relatively easy to do the positioning and
animation to make sure it moved with the light. The reason I downloaded an overlay instead of adding it using
premiers built in lenses flare effects is because it didn’t have the type of effect that I wanted on my film.
To film my video I used one of the colleges
Cannon 700D cameras with the standard 18 to
55 mm lenses and a clip on video light. I also
used my own tripod with the camera. I was
unfortunately limited with how I could film as I
was the only one in the house at the time and
therefore I had to make do with what I had at
the time, for the sake of a production
experiment however I believe that It actually
turned out ok.

8. Process Video
Here you can see too examples of the same shot the one on the left is the one with the
color grading whilst the one on the right is the shot without. As you can see it makes a big
difference with the mood and tone of the shot as the left one in my opinion really does
feel like it is from a horror film whilst the one on the right is would feel out of place in a
horror film as it really does feel like raw footage. I think color grading and music is the
thing that sets the atmosphere most even more so then other visual effects like CGI as I
otherwise I think if I had done this video without color grading the horror element would
feel really out of place due to the bright and saturated colors. To achieve this effect I used
the quick color correction effect in premier and then added a slight blue hue then brought
the saturation all the way down to create this effect. It took a while with playing around
with the settings to achieve different effects but I instantly knew when I had it right due to
watching other horror films as part of my research and making note of the different color
corrections on some of them.

9. Process Video
This sequence uses stock footage from YouTube for the paranormal girl. The reason I did
this was due to having limited amount of time and because I wanted to practice overlaying
and ultra key techniques as well. I also thought it was a good idea to practice jump scare
techniques as well. This was actually probably the most difficult part of the film to edit
despite the fact that I used stock footage. The reason for this was because I couldn’t decide
which footage to use as well as the method of jump scare that I wanted to have. I spent
several hours trying to edit one jump scare with different footage and then coming up with
a different better idea and starting again. I eventual decided on the paranormal girl effect
as that made sense based on the fact that I was filming in my sisters bedroom after it had
just been repainted and therefore with the right color grading looked really creepy.

10. Reflection
One thing I defiantly be incorporating into my final project is the cinematic
letterbox effect as well as the DE saturated colour grading as in my opinion it
makes the video footage look professional and polished compared to the raw
footage that the camera just records. I do hope that I will be able to figure out
something better then using stock footage for jump scares like I did in my
production experiment as often doing this looks really low quality and out of
place. I also want my film to look as original as possible and therefore using stock
footage is not a good idea.
I may reconsider the use of lenses flare effects as whilst it does add a more
polished look to the film I’m not sure if it really suites the horror genre and that
maybe it is more suited to Sci-Fi films rather then horror films. In terms of the
title card I like the designs I came up with however as I previously stated they
were heavily inspired by other similar products therefore I think I may start again
for my actual film and do my best to come up with a new idea instead of re
purposing something that had already been done.