Evaluation and reflection

EVALUATION & REFLECTION
Chloe Ross

EFFECTIVENESS OF RESEARCH
Overall, I think my research has been very effective. The research I have conducted had given me ideas of how I
want to present my project, how it would look, the style and the content of it as well as helping me with how to
actually produce my project as well. I think my project reflects what I have researched as the majority of it was
based off that, it also helped when I decided I wanted to make more than a trailer and a poster I researched DVD
covers as well as some film theory as well which made it a lot easier for me to make. The theory helped me a lot
with writing the script, I looked at a lot of narrative theory and structure that showed me how to write a
compelling story and what would interest the audience. The audience research I conducted was also very
effective, it helped me understand my target audience more and what they would like to see in my trailer.
Because my project is aimed at the audience it has to appeal to them, conducting audience research and asking
what they would like to see in my trailer had given me a clear outline of what to include in it and what not to
include.
What could of gone better?
To improve my research I think I could of done some research on promos. I wasn’t really planning on making a
promo along with my trailer but because my trailer was only 2 minutes long I felt like I needed to make a 30
second promo to go along with it. Before I made my promo I did look at a couple of promos before to see the
style it was in and how they edited them together but I didn’t really research it. I feel if I did more research on
them I would of had a better understanding on how to present it, I could of also asked my audience about it and
what they would like to see in a promo that would appeal to them. In the end I watched a couple of promos and
tried to edit mine similar to the ones I watched which was the last jedi promo and the joker promo. Going off just
watching them helped me with how to promote my trailer to the audience because it’s only a 30 second clip I
needed that 30 seconds to appeal to the audience and include content that would make them want to watch it. I
feel if I researched this I would have had a better understanding of how to appeal to them. Apart from that, I was
quite happy with my research because I feel like I had researched everything else that applied to my project and
that has helped with it.

E F F E C T I V E N E S S O F R E S E A R C H
To make sure I cover all the important areas in my research I have split it
up into different sections. When I was researching trailers I did it under
different sections such as Length, Lighting, Location, Product, Soundtrack,
Mis en scene, Sound effects and audience appeal. Doing this gave me a
structure to how to present my research and it also helped me make sure
I was covering the important areas that will help me with my project as
well. I feel like setting it all up in this way has helped me get the most out
of my research as I was covering all the aspects I needed for my own
trailer.
For my trailer research I looked at the Saw and Shutter island trailer. I
chose these ones because they were similar to the trailer I wanted to
make. Saw was similar with the villain, because I wanted my villain to
be psychotic but also clever in the way Saw is in the film I needed to
see how that came across in the trailer and how they presented that.
Also looking at how they used the soundtrack and sound effects to
create tension helped a lot as well with my own trailer as I have found
how they created suspense. I also looked at the Shutter Island trailer
because that’s a detective film and I was also making a detective film
so I thought that would be the best to look at, I could see how they
were dressed and the whole look of the trailer. It also helped me get a
better understanding of how I could present my protagonist in the
trailer as the shutter island trailer was mainly focused on there
protagonist I wanted to do the same. Also, looking at these two
trailers I got to see the similarities and differences between them and I
have used the similarities in my own, such as both of them have a
narrative voice over to tell the audience what’s going in the film. They
both use sound effects to create tension, and the way they’re both
edited together to tell the audience what’s happening is pretty similar
as well. I tried to apply the similarities of the two trailers to my own to
get the appeal of the audience and to have a structure to how I want
to present it as well.

For my poster research, similar to my trailer research, I split it up into
different sections but with different headings. For my poster I have
covered, Fonts, colour scheme, Art style, credits, slogan audience
appeal and style. Covering these headings has helped me
understand more about the style and design of the poster as well as
hidden visual meanings the poster could have as well. This has
helped me with my own poster and what styles I could use for it as
well. Setting my research up in this way similar to my trailer, again
has helped me structure it in a way that can help me get the most
out of my research and cover the most important parts.
When researching my posters I looked at two different ones. The get out
poster and the silence of the lambs poster. I chose to research the get
out poster because the genre of the film was similar to the genre of my
trailer and the whole style of the poster reflected the plot of the film.
Analysing the get out poster helped me understand how they used
imagery to show the audience different meanings behind the poster as
well as making it eye catching. Researching how they did this allowed me
to come up with my own ideas to present my poster with similar
imagery, however the most inspiration I took was from the silence of the
lambs poster. I chose to research this poster because the film is a classic
and is quite old and I wanted to see a different style of movie poster in
contrast to the modern ones. The whole style of the silence of the lambs
poster is very subtle, yet eye catching. The way they used the shading
and different colours as well as the moth on the mouth had so many
different meanings, and I really liked the whole black and white look to
it. So, similarly to the Silence of the lambs poster I tried to apply the
same look to my own, I did the poster all in black and white and I tried
to create shadowing with my protagonists face, I also added red smoke
to make it stand out against the black and white colouring. I did take
heavy inspiration from this poster which made the research for this very
effective on my project.

As a side by side comparison of my poster and the silence of the lambs poser which I researched, I can see the similarities and differences between the two.
Similar to the silence of the lambs poster, I made mine black and white. I have found this to be really effective as when you put some color to it, it really
stands out. I have found there’s not many black and white posters out there, after looking at how the silence of the lambs has color graded there poster I
thought it was very simple but very effective. With the Silence of the lambs, they had just included the protagonists face on the cover. With my poster I
included the protagonist and a background to it so it can set the tone of the film and the aesthetic. Similar to how the Silence of the lambs poster has colored
the eyes red, I tried to do a similar thing but with red smoke. The red in they eyes I have found from my research, can represent death or witnessing to much
death or a loss of innocence. The red smoke in my poster, it starts out think where the title is but when it reached the detective it gets bigger I wanted this to
show how my character is being consumed by death as the smoke is almost covering him. I did get this idea from the silence of the lambs poster as the color
red can have so many meanings behind it and can be interpreted in many ways I thought it would be a good device to use in my own poster. The Silence of
the lambs poster is also quite old, in comparison to modern posters its very subtle. With my title I tried to do it more modern than silence of the lambs so it
looks bolder and stands out more, because my protagonist is in darkness he is a bit hard to see, whereas with the silence of the lambs there character is quite
bright so it stands out more. That’s why I did my title so big and bold so that could be the main thing that stands out.

For my secondary audience research, I found out what type of
audience the Saw and Shutter Island films were targeting at. This
has helped me a lot with my own project as the saw and Shutter
island films were in the similar genre of film mine is in so there
target audience also applies to my target audience. To find out the
specifics about the secondary target audience I split it up into
sections. Gender, Age, product appeal to audience, what it says
about my audience, observation and social grading. Splitting the
research up into section has helped me in detail about my
audience. Also doing Saw which is a horror and researching Shutter
Island which is a mystery Thriller has helped me find the differences
and similarities between the two target audiences. Because my film
is a mystery thriller, the same as Shutter Island, there target
audience applied more to mine but research Saw also helped
because my film is gory I could find the target audience for that.
Fining out this audience research has helped me find out what
type of audience I was targeting my own project at. I knew these
films were for the more mature and older audiences so while I was
making my trailer I knew I need to include scenes that would
target that age range. For example, included a few scenes with
dead bodies in, a knife covered in blood and a sort of jump scare
scene when the villain suddenly appears on screen. I knew, because
I was targeting the older audience that these scenes would appeal
to them more, I also tried to make my trailer look grim and dark
with color grading and the dialogue in the trailer was very serious
so the audience will immediately know the film isn’t for kids but for
the older audiences. Making my project has been more about
focusing on what the audience would like to see, doing this
research has given me a better understanding of who my audience
is and there preferences which I tried to appeal to.

I think the primary research I have conducted has been the most
important part of my research. It helped me understand a lot more
what type of things my audience would like to see in a thriller film. I
asked them a series of different questions that all relate back to my
project and the answers I received has helped me plan out and make
a trailer that would appeal to them. I found the questions where they
give me a direct answer such as when I asked what their favorite film
in the thriller genre was to be more helpful. When I gave them the
freedom to write their answer instead of being forced to pick one I
get to see their opinion more and the trends between there answer
and someone else's.
Conducting this research I have found to be most effective in my
project. I have based my project of what the majority of answers from
my audience were. For example, when I asked what their favorite film
was in the thriller genre was the most common answer was the film
seven. The film seven was about a detective trying to stop a killer who
is murdering people according to the seven deadly sins. In my trailer
it’s about a detective trying to stop a murderer by trying to solve the
puzzle boxes he leaves. It’s a very similar concept but the story and
the characters are very different and I think based off the audience
answers of the film Seven being their favorite film I think mine would
appeal to them as well. I also asked them what type of character traits
they look for in a protagonist and an antagonist. Finding out their
responses contributed a lot when I was writing the script and how
they acted as well as what they say. The most common answer I got
for the protagonist was they had to be likable, clever and relatable.
When I was writing the script I tried to make him come across like
this. For example, the opening of the script had him walk on the
crime scene not saying anything he looks down and at the body
examines it and asks if it’s the same as the others. When I wrote that I
wanted him to come off as sort of a Sherlock character to show he is
clever. In my trailer, I did have to cut this because I had issue with my
audio and it flowed better without it I found but I still tried to apply

( C O N T E X T U A L A N D T H E O R Y )
For my Contextual research I researched 3 directors, James Wan,
Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese. I then made 3 slides for each of
the directors, the first slide focuses on quotes from them to do with
film, a mini bio and a list of films they have either directed or produced.
The second slide I chose 3 films that they had made and I wrote a short
analysis for each one, then for the last slide I researched their filming
techniques and included a mini biography. I chose these 3 directors
because there films were in the similar genre I wanted my trailer to be
in and I wanted to find out there filming techniques and how they
would go about filming a movie.
I found this research to be very effective and impactful to my final
project. Researching these directors gave me inspiration and ideas for
they type of film I wanted to go about making. Researching their
filming techniques I have also found to be very helpful as well. For
example colour grading my work I took inspiration from the James
Wan film ‘Insidious’ and the Martin Scorsese film ‘Shutter Island’. I
found the use quite bleak colouring to set the tone and atmosphere
for their films so I tried to apply the same colour grading to my trailer.
Because I filmed in the day the original footage I had was quite bright
so I had to use shadowing and contrast to make it look bleaker and
darker. It didn’t turn out exactly the right colour grading as James Wan
or Martin Scorsese because of the footage quality and editing software
but I think it sets the tone with the shadowing on some parts of the
footage and gives off the thriller genre vibe. When analysing there
films, I found out what camera shots they used to convey different
things in there movies and I took inspiration from this as well. I found
that James Wan used a lot of mid shots and close ups of the face to
convey what the character is feeling and I mostly included mid shots
and close ups in my trailer, as well as some over the shoulder shots as
well to create suspense and to see from the characters perspective.
Overall, I have found the contextual research to be very effective in
terms of filming techniques for my trailer and ideas for the tone and
story as well, I would say Shutter Island was the film that impacted the
idea for my story the most when I researched this because I liked the

( C O N T E X T U A L A N D T H E O R Y )
For my theory research I researched genre theory and narrative
theory. For my genre theory I split it up into three different
potential genres that I wanted my trailer to be in. I researched
thriller theory, mystery theory and slasher theory. I did want to
psychological thriller theory but that was more of a sub genre and
it kind of falls under the mystery genre as well. The other theory I
researched was Narrative theory which included Vladimir Propp
theory and Claude Levi-Strauss’s theory. Researching this helped
me create a structure when it came to writing my script, it also
helped me understand the characters more and how they should
be presented and written.
Overall, I have found my theory research to also be very effective on my
project. Researching the genre theory has helped me understand what
content I need in my trailer for it to fit in the genre I want and how to
present my trailer for it convey the genre I want it in, Researching this
also helped me decide what type of genre I wanted my trailer to
feature in, at first I was indecisive between thriller and slasher, with
mystery if I chose thriller I was going to do a mystery thriller or
Psychological, but after researching these genres it has helped me get
an idea of what genre I preferred to show and what would fit with the
narrative. I decided I didn’t really want to do slasher because it falls
under the horror genre and I wanted to try something different than
horror because a lot of people go for it, so I decided thriller because it’s
a genre I feel not a lot of people usually choose and it’s one of my
favourite genres. With the narrative theory I feel like this has had been
more helpful than the genre theory research because it helped me
understand the structure of narrative a lot more which I found to be
very important when it came to my own narrative. Propp found that the
characters function was to provide structure for text, the hero is
someone who seeks something. In my trailer my character is trying to
seek who the killer is and stop the murders. The villain is someone who
actively poses or blocks the heroes quest. In my trailer the villain is
stopping the detective from finding out his identity and is just playing a
game with the detective. I used Propp’s structure for my own narrative
and it helped a lot with giving each character a motive which essentially
creates the story. I also used Levi-Strauss’s Binary opposites theory as

Summary
Overall, I think my research has had a very big impact with how my project has turned out. From researching existing
products, trailers and posters as well as some extended research on DVD covers and Disk print, it has helped me a lot with
the design and whole look of my project. The audience research I think has been the most effective with my project. Because
the whole project is made to appeal to them knowing more about my audience has helped me understand more about what
they are looking for and what interests them. My script and trailer is based off the feedback my audience has given me,
making my trailer similar to the film Seven, which I have found is the majority of my audience's favorite thriller film. I also
wrote my characters based off the character traits my audience find most appealing in a protagonist and antagonist. Also
looking at the designs of the posters has helped with the style and design of my own posters and DVD covers it also helped
me know what to include. With the DVD cover research, it helped me a lot with my own because I knew where to put the
credits, the synopsis and the DVD logos as well. I had never designed a DVD cover before so without the research I did on it,
I would have been lost on how to design it. The Contextual and Theory research had also been very effective on my work, I
found the theory to be more effective than my contextual however, but I did take some inspiration for my project from the
contextual research I found that the theory was more helpful with the overall structure of my project. Overall, I think all my
research I have conducted has had a big impact on my project, although some areas more than others, I still feel like the
aspects of my research that I feel hadn’t had as much of an impact than some other parts of my research still contributed to
how my project turned out and without it I don’t think my project would be at the quality it is.

F I N A L C O N C E P T P R E P R O P O S A L
Overall I don’t think I have changed that much from my pre
proposal, I feel like I have mostly expanded from my original
idea to make it better and more appealing. I did change a few
things like the genre it was set in, the influences for my trailer
and the tone and look of it but the changes I did make wasn’t
massive I feel like they were quite small changes but they were
for the better. Overall, I have kept with my idea all the way
through my project and I think it has turned out well.
For the tone and style of my project I originally said I want the tone and mood to be very dark and the style
I wanted it to look have noir detective look to it. In some ways I have kept to this, however when I started
researching existing products such as Shutter Island I found hat the style and tone wasn’t exactly dark it
was more grim and bleak. The color grading was very grey rather than dark although there was some
scenes that had a dark tone and feel to it overall I found the film to be more grim and bleak in style and
tone. This is something I applied to my trailer, with the greyish color grading and feel to the trailer rather
than going very dark with it, I feel like I’ve kept just on the edge of the dark tone. With the noir look I was
originally think of doing it black and white like an old detective film but with the setting and props I
thought it wouldn’t work because of how modern everything is. Instead I did a black and white poster and
DVD cover that I feel give the noir detective style look to it.
For the initial influences for my trailer I said that the biggest influence for my project was Saw and Sherlock. I
did find that once I conducted my research my influences did change. I did research Saw but then I started
looking at other films such as Shutter Island and Seven which are more similar in narrative and style to my trailer
and I found them to be my biggest influences on my project in the end. I think when I first planned this I wanted
to do a much more violent trailer like Saw with lots of murder and gore. I found that as I went on I wanted to
rather focus on the narrative and story rather than lots of blood and gore. Although Saw does have a good
story it’s main genre is slasher with lots of violence, I had to think realistically with what I could do and the
resources I had as well as the genre it was in. Once I decided on Psychological thriller I didn’t plan to include lots
of gore in it but rather on visual storytelling which is why my main influences changed to the films Shutter
Island and Seven.
For the audience effect when they see my trailer I said that I wanted them to be put on edge by it and I want
them to be intrigued, wanting to know more about it. I think intriguing the audience is what every trailer sets
out to do, and I stuck to this idea all throughout my project. I knew the audience was who I was making this
project for and I wanted them to watch the trailer and then want to go see the film. To appeal to them I did
my audience research and asked what they wanted to see in a trailer and from there feedback I adapted my
my ideas to make sure I appeal to them. I think with the feedback I got with what they wanted to see, I have
appealed to them on some level and hopefully they will want to watch it. I plan to conduct some audience
feedback to see what they think about my overall project.
Pre proposal similarities and differences
For my pre proposal I made it in December, so around 3-4 months before I started production on my project.
From here I can see if I have kept to my initial idea all the way through my project and what changes I have
made to it. For my FMP idea I said that I wanted to make a murder mystery about a serial killer murdering
people and leaving puzzle boxes for the detective to find. I have kept to this original idea all the way through
project. My trailer is about a serial killer leaving puzzle boxes at crime scenes for the detective to find,
although I did expand on that idea, in my trailer I didn’t focus too much on the puzzle box but rather the killer
explaining his motivation to why he was murdering these people. I think this original idea was just a small
outline I had, I did change the murder mystery to a psychological thriller because from my audience research I
found that sub genre is what they prefer most, but the short summary of my idea has stayed the same
throughout.

F I N A L C O N C E P T
With my full proposal I made it in January, a month after my pre proposal. My
proposal is much more detailed than my pre one because this is when I fully started
it off. With my project concept it’s pretty much the same as the summary in my pre
proposal, but more in depth. Similar to my pre proposal I have made a few changes
throughout my production but nothing majorly drastic. For example I said I planned
to make a mystery thriller but it turned out to be more psychological from my
research I found that was the best way to go for my audience. I have always had the
idea that I wanted to make a trailer, I felt like making a trailer gave me more
freedom with the scenes I shot because it didn’t necessarily all need to link together
and follow on from each other. I could have a random shot in there but as long as it
matches the tone and feel of my trailer it doesn’t really matter if it doesn’t link to my
other scenes. I thought doing this would be easier to do, especially at the time I
wrote this we were in lockdown again so I didn’t know what access I would have to
equipment or actors. Making a trailer appealed to me more than making a film and
I’m happy with how it’s turned out. I also said I planned to make a poster and DVD
cover in my project concept as well which I have done, this went along with my
trailer I always planned to make a poster and cover with it. However, I also said I
would making a moving poster, I now think that was to ambitious of me because I
just finished my disk print the day before production ended so I wouldn’t of had
time to do that, I am happy with the other products I have made along side my
trailer though, because I have also made a promo, disk print, DVD cover and a poster
so I’m happy with what I managed to get done in the time that I had.
With evaluating and reviewing my work I said I will be doing self reflections
weekly and looking at what went well with my work. I have kept a document of
daily reflections throughout productions and I have explained what went well and
what I had difficulty with along with screenshots. The only problem with doing he
daily reflection I found was on somedays I was waiting to film so in the meantime
I wasn’t doing much because I was already prepared so on those days I didn’t
have much to write, I think weekly reflections would have been better but going
through my daily reflection is helpful to see the process of my production and
what struggles I had with it. Overall, I don’t think my project has changed that
much form when I did the proposal I did have a few alterations with the narrative
but in the end it was pretty much the same.

F I N A L C O N C E P T
Summary
Looking back at my pre proposal and my proposal I don’t think I changed that much about what I initially had planned. From the beginning I knew I wanted to make a
trailer along with a poster and I stuck to the format all the way through my project. The story concept I kept pretty much the same, I just expanded on it, once I did my
research it gave me better ideas on how I could make my story more interesting and more than just trying to solve a puzzle box. Although I did keep to the original
outline of a detective trying to solve a puzzle box to stop the murders, I just thought the narrative could be more interesting and match more with what the audiences
wanted to see so I wanted the villain to have a motive and I focused more on that in my trailer rather than just the puzzle box. I originally, also just planned on making
a poster and DVD cover along with it but once I made the trailer I thought the run time wasn’t enough so I made a 30 second promo to go along with it, which I used
the same clips and dialogue for I just mixed it up and put different music behind it and I think it worked well. Along with my DVD cover I also made a disk print for the
actual DVD, I thought because I had extra time and instead of making another poster it would work quite well the actual DVD cover and I’m happy with how that’s
turned out. I think in contrast to my proposals and my final project I have just expanded on the ideas I had and adapted to the resources I had and what was
happening with the pandemic and made something as close to what I originally planned as possible. I knew when I first planned this project there might be a chance I
would have to film it all at home, but luckily we had just came out of lockdown around the time production started so I could have access to my equipment and
different filming locations, but while I was planning I always stuck with having only two characters in my project the villain and protagonist. I did also include a police
officer when it came to writing the script to make it more interesting to watch rather than just two characters but I think sticking to only two characters worked with
social distancing measures and the tone and feel of my trailer. Overall, I think my proposal has helped me have a clear outline of what I wanted to make and I stuck to
it while expanding on it and I think its worked out well.

P R O D U C T I O N
W H A T W E N T W E L L ?
Filming
Overall, filming my trailer went quite well. I managed to get the majority of my
filming done in one day, I had left some smaller scenes I had to shoot for another
day because we didn’t have time to go to the location to get it done but I got all
my footage shot over 2 days in the Easter holidays which I had kept to my time
schedule in my planning. The props and the locations I had planned to film in I
found worked well with the tone and feel of my trailer, I did originally plan to film
the opening scene near the river, but when we were walking up to it we saw this
secluded spot that had this massive tree and I thought that would work better for
my opening scene because it was quite and there was a lot more space to work
with. The majority of the other scenes I just filmed at my house, mainly in my
garden and down my alleyway I thought worked well with some scenes as it felt
claustrophobic and I wanted that to translate onto the screen for the audience.
During filming I did come up with some scenes to shoot on the day and
sometimes I went off script a bit. I included the alleyway scene where there’s a
figure stood in the alleyway to make the trailer slightly more scary. I did get rid of
some scenes in the script such as when the detective is in the bathroom and see’s
himself covered in blood in the mirror, I replaced that with the detective trying to
scrub blood of his hands because it was easier to do and I found the fake blood
that I bought did stain so putting it on the actors face wasn’t a good idea. I did
find the scene where he was rubbing the blood of his hands to work better and it
was more symbolic like in Macbeth where lady Macbeth is trying to rub the blood
of her hands as it symbolizes ridding away the guilt and crime while she descends
into madness. I wanted that to come across in my trailer because the detective is
slowly loosing himself while he’s trying to solve this case and it’s mentally getting
to him. I was unsure at the time once I finished filming if I had gathered enough
footage for my trailer for it to be long enough, so while I was editing I did film
some more scenes on my phone which I found was good camera quality to match
the camera I was using on the day of filming. The scenes I filmed on my phone
was the knife covered in blood scene, the villain slowly taking his mask of the table
and the hat dropping scene. I didn’t really need my actors for this because I wasn’t
showing there face but I found those extra scenes I filmed worked well in my
trailer. I did also film a scene where someone's wrists had been cut but I didn’t
know if that would be to graphic to include in my trailer so I left it out. Overall, I
found my filming to have gone very well I found it ran very smoothly and the
actors just did what I told them to do without a problem and the footage came

P R O D U C T I O N
W H A T D I D N ’ T G O W E L L ?
Filming
One major issue I had while filming was the weather. On the day I decided to
film it did start to snow. I wasn’t really expecting it because it was the Easter
holidays and it doesn’t normally snow in Easter, luckily the snow was on and off
but the issue we had was that it was very cold weather to film in. I did originally
plan to film on the night but I didn’t know how bad the snow would get and the
actor I had playing the main character could only film over the two days so I
decided to film it earlier in case it did start to snow heavily on the night. It did
stop snowing when we were filming, but because we were walking into town it
was very cold for my crew to walk in but we did manage to get the majority of
filming done on that day so it didn’t effect production that much.
The other issue I had was the actor who I had originally planned to play the main
character said he couldn’t come the night before we were meant to film because he
was stuck in Manchester. Luckily I had planned a back up to play the main
character, the only problem is with the costume I was counting on the original actor
to bring a trench coat for the look of the detective and my backup actor didn’t have
one. I did find the character looked the part in just his coat, I just felt like it would of
looked better if he was in his trench coat. I also had a few issues with the props as
well. The fake blood I had bought I found stained, with the bags that goes over the
victims heads I covered one in blood and it went straight through it and it took
hours to dry. I decided not to use the blood covered bags in case it went on the
actors face because there was also a warning of it getting in the eyes it could cause
extreme irritation so I didn’t take that risk. The hat that I bought for the detective
was also to small for the actor. In most of the shots that he has it on, you can see it
doesn’t really fit his head. I did fix this when I was making my posters as I just photo
shopped a proper size hat on the actor. I couldn’t really fix it in editing so I decided
to just leave it, I did find it looked a bit silly and I kind of wish now I just took it off
him but I don’t think it’s overly noticeable.
Overall during filming I did come across a few issues, luckily some of them I had
planned ahead for and others I just had to think on the spot. I don’t think it affected
my project majorly because it was only small issues. For the most part I found that
everything else ran smoothly and the end product was the same I had planned to
make. I think with these issues it’s just helped me for the future and the next time I
make something like this I know what problems to expect.

PRODUCTION
WHAT WENT WELL?
Editing
Overall I think my editing went quite well. The main thing I’m happy with while
editing my trailer was the color grading. I was worried because I filmed in the day
my footage was quite bright and it didn’t really convey the right tone I was going
for my trailer. I did find this color grading preset called Kodak 5218, this gave my
footage this vibrancy that made the shadows and coloring in my footage to
become more distinctive. After I had set that preset I played around with the
shadows and the darkness of my footage. I made most my footage quite dark
such as when the villain pops up in contrast to the original footage it’s a lot
darker and matches the tone and theme of my trailer a lot more. In the end I was
quite happy with how the color grading of my footage came out because I didn’t
want to leave it with the same look as I had captured it because it didn’t fit well
with the look of my trailer so I’m happy with how that turned out.
I was also quite happy with the transitioning of some of my footage as well. I was
trying to get the timing of each of my scenes appear in time with the soundtrack
to make it all on beat with each other. My favorite part in the trailer was the part
where it showed the dead bodies really fast in time with each beat of the music
and then it transitions onto a title card. I was quite happy with how that turned
out, because the music I had chosen was very intense I needed to match that
intensity with the scenes I had filmed or else it would of looked very out of place
and wouldn’t of really matched the music. I was quite happy with how the audio
turned out as well, at the beginning I got rid of the dialogue that was originally
meant to be in it and instead placed some slow sounding music over the scene, I
thought this worked well because you could still visually tell what was happening
without the dialogue. The beginning of my trailer starts of at a slow pace, I
mainly used some sound effects in this section instead of a soundtrack to build
up the tension then the trailer moves onto the more intense section where it’s
just the soundtrack and the dialogue of the villain. For my promo because it was
only 30 seconds long I just used the soundtrack and a bit of dialogue from the
villain which I also found worked out well. Overall, I think editing my trailer
together turned out quite well as well as my promo and I’m happy with how it
has turned out.

P R O D U C T I O N
Editing
When I first started editing the trailer I did struggle a lot trying to figure which order
I should put the scenes in and what would work best. I was stuck on my opening
scene for quite a while testing out different clips to put in my sequence, in the end I
did just start placing some of my footage in a random sequence and if I didn’t like a
certain clip I would just replace it with a different one. I think the hardest part was
when I had finished my opening scene I moved onto where the soundtrack is
introduced. I found this to be the most difficult to form a sequence of scenes
because it had to fit in time with the music, I think editing took me just over 2 weeks
to do so I had to start my poster along side it. I think making a film and editing is
easier because you stick with a order in which the scenes are in but with a trailer you
are placing random scenes in a sequence as well as trying to tell the audience the
narrative. Scenes in a trailer are also cut a lot shorter compared to a film so I did find
myself filming some extra scenes because the lengths of my original footage was
long I just had to cut it short to fit in my trailer. I just found this to be quite difficult
to do but once I had all my scenes set in a sequence I found that it actually worked
out better than I thought it would of.
The other issue I had while editing was the audio. For my opening scene I had
recorded with the boom mic the audio for that scene, it caught the dialogue from
the detective well but not the audio from the cop. I couldn’t really use one without
the other so I asked for the actor to re record her lines and send them to me but
the microphone she was using wasn’t great. In the end I did just cut the dialogue
from the opening and I found it did turn out well with just the music but I would of
liked to see what it would of sounded like with both the dialogue. The other issue I
had was the audio I recorded for my villain and edited to make the voice deeper I
had put in premiere and then my memory stick crashed and it deleted all my audio
file and I couldn't’t get it back. This also cause the audio in premiere to get deleted
as well. In the end I got my brother to record the voice for the villain so I didn’t
need to edit it to sound deeper because I didn’t have time, I did actually find just
having his normal voice play over it sounded better and less generic than a clearly
edited voice but it was frustrating that it deleted my audio file. Overall, I did have a
few issues to deal with while editing but I actually found that in the end it worked
out better when I found alternatives to these issues.

P R O D U C T I O N
Poster, DVD Cover and Disk Print
I think the main thing that went well with making my poster, DVD cover and print was the tone
and style of it. I originally did plan to have my poster be different from my DVD cover in terms
of style, I was planning on making it colored but I found the black and white color grading to
be much more effective to look at and more original. I actually prefer the look of my poster
compared to my DVD cover, I was originally going to add some ordinary white smoke to the
poster but I thought red would be more eye catching in contrast to the lack of color on my
poster and once I placed it on my poster and blended it I was happy with how it looked. For my
DVD cover I wanted to make it look as close to an actual DVD cover as possible so as I was
making it had some DVD covers from other films on the side so I could see what logos I would
need at the back of my cover, where to position my synopsis and where to put the credits. I
found having other DVD coves at the side while making my own to be very helpful in the way I
could structure it and what to include on it. I do think my color grading of my my products has
turned out well, with the DVD cover the background was a full picture but I made it so the
majority of the top of it is shrouded in darkness where the credits could go and the main part
of the background reflects the character. I’m also quite happy with how the character has fit in
with the background, I was worried that the character wouldn’t blend in with the background
well but I found for both my print, DVD cover and poster that he blends in quite well once I
color corrected the image.
Overall, I think the whole production process of making my DVD covers, Poster and print went
well. I think in comparison to making my trailer this went a lot better. I liked the freedom of
creating my own style for my products and being able to add what I wanted to them. With my
trailer I was struggling a lot more with editing it than I was with my making these products.
However, I do kind of wish now I added some red smoke to my DVD color because I think it
looks a bit too black and white in contrast to the disk print and poster it looks a bit out of
place. I am happy with how it looks, I just think it could use a bit of color to it. I had never
made a disk print as well so when I first started making that I was unsure about how it would
turn out and how I would fit everything onto it. As I experimented with it I did find a way to do
it and I’m happy with how that turned out as well, I think I was expecting making that to not
turn out great because I was originally just going to have the title on it but I thought that
would be too plain so I added the smoke and character on it and I am happy with how the end
result turned out.

P R O D U C T I O N
The photo to the right is the image I started off with when making my poster, DVD cover and print and the left is the
end result. I did have to Photoshop a new hat on him because the hat he was originally wearing was way too small for
him and if I left that in I think it would of looked quite silly, so I Photo shopped a proper hat on his head. I found
doing that made a big difference to the whole look of the character, especially in black and white he looks much
more serious and matches more with the style and tone I was going for with my film. When I was color grading on
the face and body, I did have to select areas separate for example, I wanted the bottom half of his coat to be much
darker than the top half and his face. I was trying to match the character to the lighting in the background so it
looked more realistic and more like that picture was taken there with the background in it. I think in contrast to the
original image of my character once I had done editing him he looks a lot more serious and more like a detective, so
overall I am quite happy with how that had turned out.

PRODUCTION
WHAT DIDN ’T GO WELL?
The main problem I had when making these products was when I was making my DVD cover. I had
just finished the front of my DVD cover and when I came back to do the back of the cover the next
week, my memory stick had deleted it. I did think I had saved it on premiere but it hadn’t I also tried
to find different ways to recover it but it had completely deleted the file. Luckily, I had screenshot the
cover so I cropped the front cover of it and placed it into the DVD cover layout. It just meant I
couldn’t edit anything on my front cover or move my character, I was quite happy with how looked so
I didn’t feel like I needed to change anything with it, it just annoyed me that it had deleted my
original version of it. After that happened I started saving my work to the cloud and I got a new
memory stick because it had also deleted my audio file as well so I think my memory stick was
broken, but luckily that was all it deleted. Another issue I had was with the background of my poster.
The background that I had used for the DVD cover I didn’t save it and I was trying to find it for my
poster background. In the end I couldn’t find it so instead I found I different background with a street,
which was different to the one in my finished poster. I thought the first background I had worked well
but then I put the text on it and because of the lighting in the background you couldn’t really see the
text, so I had to change the background again. I do think in the end the background that is now used
in my poster fits better than the other one I had and I think it works well with the character.
Overall, I didn’t face that many issues while making these products. The only major one I had to deal
with was when the front of my DVD cover got deleted but I worked my way around that and used a
screenshot I had taken of it so it didn’t majorly effect the final product produced. I think making these
products has been the less problematic part of my production, compared to filming and editing. I
think because I had what I wanted my products to look like in my head I just played off that and tried
to bring it to screen, whereas when I was editing I did have a general idea for how I wanted it to look
it was just when I edited it, it didn't’look how I imagined it to look so it took more experimenting to
get it the way I wanted. Overall, I think between my posters and trailer I actually prefer my poster and
DVD cover. I am happy with my trailer, I just think these products look better.

PLANNING
WHAT WENT WELL?
I think planning has probably been the strongest part in making my
project. I tried to cover as many areas as possible to make sure I had my
production fully planned and I was prepared for anything to happen
during production. For planning my location I had done a summary of
locations I wanted to film in and included what scenes I planned to film
there. I had then made some location recces forms that included contact
details of the location, shots I could do there, safety issues etc. Doing this
helped me plan exactly what I would be filming in these locations and
made me plan ahead for any possible issues I could face while filming
there. In the end I didn’t actually end up filming in all these places because
I found easier alternatives on the day of shooting but I was prepared in
case I did film in these locations.
When it came to financing I kept a log of all the equipment's and props I
would need to buy. On top of the images of the props and equipment I said
whether I would be borrowing them, buying them or if I already owned
them. The ones I was buying I included links at the bottom to the website I
would be buying the off, which I mainly stuck to Amazon because most of it
was on prime. I then wrote a summary for the equipment and props and
explained why I needed them and then I added up the total cost. I think the
total cost of everything I planned to buy came to £114.48. I do think when I
bought them it actually came to around £80 because I didn’t end up buying
the battery powered portable lights which turned out to be the most
expensive thing. I’m glad I didn’t buy these lights because I did end up
filming during the day so I didn’t end up needing them and they would
have been a waste of money, so I actually ended up spending less money
on the equipment. Overall, I think the planning of my location and finance
went quite well, even if I didn’t end up using some of the props or the
locations if I did need them I had planned ahead if I did so I felt much more
prepared for production when I did this.

P L A N N I N G
During my planning I made a timetable explaining what I planned to do
on different weeks of production. Looking back at my schedule I have
stuck pretty well to it. On the week beginning the 8th I did collect audio
and I started editing the audio so it sounded deeper. On the week
beginning the 15th I didn’t take the pictures of the murders, I decided to
do that when I filmed so I didn't have to ask the actors to come back
different days but I did start setting up and making props. I started
making the detective board on that week, it didn’t really take me long to
do but it was prepared and ready to film. On the week beginning the 22nd
I did make a poster design and I used Leonardo DiCaprio’s character
from shutter island to experiment with what look and style I wanted my
poster, this helped me decide of the black and white look of my poster.
Then the week after in the Easter Holidays was when I filmed and that
only took a couple days so it didn’t run over. When I got back to college
after Easter, I edited my trailer together which actually took longer than I
thought it would but I started my poster alongside it so I wasn’t behind
and I did finish production a day early. So in the end I did stick pretty
much exactly to my schedule during production so that planning turned
out well.
When it came to planning the personnel for my trailer I did have to be
careful while planning this because of restrictions I was told that you were
able to meet with up to 6 people outside in Easter which is why I planned
to film it during the Easter holidays. I did just stick with having four people
helping me even after they said this in case they moved the date of
meeting 6 people outside so I was weary of that. With planning the
personnel I chose people who has had experience with acting and filming
to help with my project. I explained what there roles would be and what
skills and experience they have. I then took screenshots of my messages
that I sent explaining all the information they needed when it came to
filming on the day. I also made a call sheet for them as well explaining
who’s doing what and what time we are doing each scene. Overall, I think
all my planning had gone quite well and I found it to be very effective
when it came to production because I felt more prepared and more
confident while filming knowing I had a plan and alternatives in case
something went wrong.

P L A N N I N G
I don’t actually think a lot went wrong when I was planning and I think the main thing
that contributed to this was my problem solving. When I was planning for production
I also did some problem solving, anticipating factors that could go wrong in
production and coming up with contingencies to make sure I had a backup plan or
solution to stop this. Because I did the problem solving before planning, while I
planned I always kept aware of things that could go wrong such as filming on
location, the weather, people not turning up and equipment issues. I did have an
issue while we was filming with the weather, it began to snow. However, while we
were filming this wasn’t much of a problem it was just on and off the only issue was
that it was very cold. This didn’t effect production and my planning was kept the
same, I just told my crew to bring warm jackets to keep warm because I had
anticipated cold weather in my problem solving I was more prepared with what to
bring. The only other major issue I had was the original person playing the main
character cancelled last minute because he was stuck in Manchester. Luckily I did have
a backup actor available last minute and I had planned for that to happen just in case.
It turned out not to be an issue because production was the same and my project
turned out how I wanted just with a different actor.
Overall, not a lot went wrong with my planning. I stuck pretty much to the schedule I
planned out, I kept to most the location I planned and the majority of my cast crew
did turn up so I think my planning went well. I think if I didn’t plan as well and if I
didn’t do my problem solving there would have been some major issues to deal with.
Especially with the main character not being able to make it, if I didn’t have a backup I
would of struggled a lot with production. I think the planning and problem solving
was the main thing that contributed to my production running smoothly because if
there was a problem I had planned a backup and filming was the only major problem
with production that could go wrong but I found that my production went quite well. I
think thorough planning and problem solving was the key to having a successful
production and although I did have a few problems I found my production to be
successful overall.

P O S T P R O D U C T I O N
I think a lot of things went well during my post production, I do think the
main thing I’m happy with is my script. I did make two version of my script
the first I really wasn’t happy with, I found the dialogue I used to be very
generic but it was just a draft script and that was just an outline of how I
wanted it to go. For my final script I kept the opening scene the same
because I was happy with how that all played out and the dialogue. I did
change the majority of the villain in my final draft, from my theory research I
knew the villain needed a motive, preferably one that opposes the
protagonists goals. I decided the motive for the villain would be that he is
using the protagonist as an experiment to see how he copes with fear and if
he can break him, the puzzles he leaves are like games to the antagonist the
more puzzles he solves the closer the detective is to figuring out who the
villain is. With my script I wanted the plot to come across both visually and
verbally to the audience and I wanted the antagonist to sound smart with
the dialogue like he is talking as if this is all an experiment to him. I think the
dialogue in the script works well in the final draft and hopefully gets across
the motive of the villain and the plot of the film, while at the same time not
giving away too much. When it came to my trailer I did end up cutting some
of the dialogue because it didn’t really fit but I did end up keeping the
important parts in.
With my storyboard I made small stick men sketches of how I wanted the
scenes to play out. This helped me visualize how I wanted my scenes to play
out and the different camera angles I planned to use as well. Drawing these
storyboards helped me when it came to filming as I mostly copied what was
going on in my storyboard and just tried to make it come to life. Along with
my storyboard I also did a shot list that went into more detail about what
type of shot I wanted and which scene will use each shot as well as what’s
happening in the shot. I did mostly stick to this as well, with a few
adjustments because some shots looked out of place or I found a bit too
hard to do, but for the most part I stuck to the shot list. I also made some
concept art of how I imagined the villain to look and the dead bodies as well
as some color schemes and fonts I analyzed and tried to see which would be
the best look for my project. I found this also helped a lot with the style and
tone of my project, I found what colors contrasted with each other and
applied that to my work and I found it turned out really well.

P O S T P R O D U C T IO N
W H A T D I D N ' T G O W E L L ?
I don’t really feel like anything didn’t go well in my post production, I felt like
everything I did in my post production made me better prepared for when it came
to production. The only few issues I had with post production was the first draft of
my script I really didn’t like but I fixed that with my final drift and I got rid of the
dialogue from the first draft, so that didn’t really turn into an issue but the first
draft I felt didn’t really go well. The other issue I have with post production was
with the color scheme I chose for it, compared to my final product I didn’t really
stick to it and the same with the fonts. The color schemes did choose from did
refer back to the products I chose for my research, it’s mainly the poster color
scheme I didn't really stick with. I think I mainly planned for my poster to be black
and red. However, when I experimented with it I changed it to black and white with
a bit of red which is similar to the silence of the lambs poster just a bit different
from the colour scheme I had originally planned. With the fonts I chose, I did
experiment with some of these on my actual poster but in the end I chose a
completely different font from the ones I had chosen in my post productions.
These aren’t really major issues but these parts didn’t really contribute much to my
overall production.
Overall, I do think my post production went well. In the end I was happy with how
the script turned out, the majority of what I did in my post production
contributed heavily to my overall production. The script played a major part as
without it I wouldn’t have a story or an outline to follow. The storyboard
contributed greatly as well as it helped me visualize the scenes when it came to
filming. The shot list helped a lot with a structure when I was filming I could see
which scene needed what angle and the color schemes helped me see what
colors would match with what and contrast with each other. So overall post
production I found went very well and contributed greatly to how my final
product has turned out.

H O W I D E A L T W I T H T E C H N I C A L P R O B L E M S
When I did my problem solving I made a mind map of all the practical and
technical problems the could occur during my project. I then came up with
solutions to these problems so if they did happen during my project I would
know how to fix it or I would have a backup plan. However, during my
project I did come across a few technical problems during production.
- The first technical problem I came across was with the editing software
premiere. I had started a 7 day free trial on premiere on my computer so I
could do some editing during the Easter half term and when I came back
to college I opened my project on premiere and it couldn’t access it. I
found because I had the updated version of premiere and my college
computer hadn’t updated it wouldn’t open it. I did try to update it but it
kept saying the admin password was wrong. This meant I couldn't
continue editing at college so I had to pay for premiere on my laptop and
bring it into college. I did in the end finish editing on my laptop I just had
to buy premiere to be able to do it.
- The second technical problem I had was with my memory stick, I found my
memory stick became dodgy and when I was editing I had saved an audio
file to it that had all my edited audio on and I found that it had been
deleted. I tried to find a recovery file for it but it completely got rid of it. In
the end I had to re record the voice over but with my brother doing it so I
didn’t have to edit he voice to sound deeper because I wouldn’t of had
time. I did find in the end I preferred the new recorded voice because it
was more natural and it didn’t sound like a generic villain voice.
- The last technical problem I had was the same thing that had happened to
my audio file had happened to my front cover of my DVD cover. My
memory stick also deleted that as well. In the end I had to transfer all my
work onto another memory stick and I backed it up on my computer as
well. Luckily, I had taken a screenshot of the front of my DVD cover so I
just cropped the front of it and put onto my DVD cover layout in
Photoshop so I didn’t have to start again with it.
Overall, I found those to be the only technical problems I had and I managed
to find a solution to it so it didn’t end up to be a major problem. I think my
problem solving helped me come up with alternatives to these problems but
I probably shouldn’t of just relied on my memory stick to save my work I
should of backed it up on my computer as well. Luckily it didn’t delete all my
work and now I know to save it to my computer as well as my memory stick.

H O W I D E A L T W I T H M A N A G E M E N T P R O B L E M S
During production I found that I didn’t really have that many management problems to
deal with. During my planning I messaged all my crew the details about where we
would be meeting for filming, how long the shoot was and what clothes they would
need to wear. I think I only had a couple problems with management which were:
- The night before filming the actor who I had originally planned to play the detective
said he’s stuck in Manchester so he couldn’t make it. Luckily, I did have two back ups
to play the detective and I messaged my second choice to play the detective and he
said he could make it. My other choice was my other friend but she lived quite away
out and with the restrictions with travelling I didn’t want to call her to come all the
way out but luckily the other person said he could do it so I think it got managed
well.
- The other problem I had with management was some of my actors didn’t show up on
time and one of them played a dead body and I needed to shoot a scene with them. I
had already used the other actor that was there with me to play the dead body and I
couldn't make her do it twice because she was wearing the same clothes and
everything. The actor ended up being 30 minutes late so instead I had to play the
dead body so I could move onto the next scene. I did specify the time we were
meeting a few times both individually and on the chat but she just set off late so
there wasn’t a lot I could of done with that. I also had an issue with the weather
because it started to snow, I did tell my cast and crew before hand to bring jackets
and warm clothing but because we were walking to different locations to film it was
very cold to walk in. We did take breaks because we were filming in town we went
and got a hot drink to keep ourselves warm and hydrated while we were out and we
got some food as well. I think my cast and crew were more comfortable after that
and we still managed to get the majority of the filming done while taking breaks so I
think it was planned and managed well.
Overall, I think the problems I faced during productions were managed quite well.
Because the problems I came across I had solutions for it didn’t really end up affecting my
project because I still produced the product I planned to produce from the beginning. I
think sticking with my schedule and being organized contributed a lot to how smoothly
production ran and why I wasn’t faced with major problems during production. I think
looking back I handled management well and it contributed a lot to how my project has
turned out.

H O W I D E A L T W I T H E M O T I O N A L P R O B L E M S
When I began my project I didn’t really feel very stressed with it, I was actually quite excited with it because I had the freedom to make whatever I wanted
and I got to try all the equipment and everything so at the beginning I was actually looking forward to making my project. However, as I got further in
my project and I was applying for universities I did start to feel a bit overwhelmed with everything and I began to get stressed with the work and making
sure everything in my project goes right.
Stress- I think the main emotion I was dealing with, especially near the end of the project was stress. I think the first time I started to feel really stressed
with everything was the night before I was meant to film and the main actor said he couldn’t make. I started to get really anxious in case my backups
couldn’t make it, luckily one of them could but after that I started to feel very anxious about how filming would go. When it came to the day of filming I
was quite stressed trying to make sure all my cast and crew would appear and that I had all the props and everything. In the end I did find that filming
went really well, the cast and crew listened to what I needed them to do and they didn’t mess around or anything which really helped me out and made
me a lot more relaxed with everything. I think near the end of my project was when I got really stressed again as I kept thinking the work I had produced
wasn’t good enough. I think right now I am happy with the work I have produced and I am a lot more relaxed than I was and less stressed with
everything.
Frustration- Frustration was another thing I felt while making this project. I think I mainly got frustrated during production with editing because
sometimes the software would crash and I would get annoyed or the whole issue with my memory stick I found to be really frustrating to deal with as
well. I did find a solution for when my memory stick deleted some of my work but I just felt it was annoying to deal with especially when I had to work on
the rest of my project, this was just something else to deal with and I did find myself become frustrated with it. Apart from that problem I didn’t really
find myself getting frustrated throughout the rest of my project because everything else I found went smoothly.
Panic- I did often find myself panicking a lot of times with this project. The majority of the time it was with the issue of timing and handing everything in
on time. I didn’t really have this problem when I was doing my research or my planning it was mainly during production I felt panicked. Before I did my
filming I was panicking that I wouldn’t get everything filmed, filming did run over a couple of days but I managed to get it done in good time. Then I
started panicking with my editing, because this took the longest to do in my production out of filming and making my poster I didn’t think I would get it
done in time. I did manage to get my trailer finished as well as my promo and I managed to my a poster, DVD cover and disk print along side it I just felt
a lot of pressure to get it done and that caused me to panic a lot.
Overall, I think my emotions were quite high while making this project, especially my stress I felt effected me the most with it. I do think these emotions
impacted my project because I wanted to make sure it was as good as it could be and I feel like I have put a lot of effort in this project which is why my
emotions were quite high but I am happy with the work I have produced so far and how my project has turned out.

C O M P A R I S O N E V A L U A T I O N
Shutter Island trailer
https://youtu.be/5iaYLCiq5RM
My trailer
https://youtu.be/2Z6uyziIyOM
When I was making my trailer I took the most inspiration from the shutter island trailer. I found shutter island was pretty similar in style and genre to what I wanted to
produce. With the shutter Island trailer I have found some similarities between that and my own my trailer.
Length- Both the shutter Island trailer and my trailer are around the same time duration. Shutter Island is 2 minutes and 22 seconds long and mine is 2 minutes and 1
second long. I found in my research trailers are usually between 2 – 3 minutes long So I have managed to get mine just up to the right time length. I found in both trailers
that in the first part of the trailer it’s slow paced so they’re both introducing the characters and setting the tone for the film. Then I found near the end of the trailers they
both get quite intense with the soundtrack and transitioning between shots, the shutter island trailer gets really fast paced and gradually intense and that was something I
tried to achieve with my trailer near the end as well.
Style and tone- I have found in the shutter island trailer that they use an almost greenish color grading in there trailer that gives it this bleak and grim tone. There’s not a lot
of bright colors going on in the trailer I have found, the costumes they wear aren’t very colorful and it matches the color grading of the rest of the trailer. Similarly, in my
trailer I tried to give it quite a grim look to it because I had filmed during the day my original footage was quite bright which didn't really fit with the tone or style of my
trailer so I tried to sharpen the footage and add more shadowing to it to make it look darker and match the tone of the thriller genre. I do think the color grading between
my trailer and the shutter island trailer is a bit different but also quite similar. I haven’t used the greenish sort of filter that they use in the shutter island trailer on mine but I
think they both have this bleak and grim look to it that immediately sets the thriller tone.
Soundtrack and Audio- The soundtrack and audio used in my trailer and the shutter island trailer I have found to be very different. I have found that the Shutter Island
trailer uses more Foley sounds throughout there trailer instead of an actual soundtrack. With my trailer at the beginning I used some sound effects similar to those in Shutter
Island such as when I had the villains face pop up I used this loud sound effect to give it more of a jump scare. I found that Shutter Island had also done this a lot in their
trailer when they did jump scares as well. However, after the opening section of my trailer I use a soundtrack for the rest of it. I have found that Shutter Island doesn’t do this
but instead continues to uses Foley sounds all the way through as well as voice overs from the characters. I have also used the villains voice as a narrative throughout my
trailer to sort of explain what’s going on. In the Shutter Island trailer they use different characters voices to narrate you through the trailer.
Transitions and pace- I have found that the pace of my trailer and the shutter island trailer is pretty similar. At the beginning both trailer start of rather slow, then when it
gets to the middle of the trailer the pace picks up a bit and near the end it becomes quite intense. In the Shutter Island trailer I found they do this by showing a very short
amount of a scene and then it quickly dips to black to another scene along with the sound effects it makes the trailer quite intense to watch. Similarly, when I was making my
trailer when the music started going fast pace I had to match it with the pace of the scenes so I showed very short clips and did quick transitions to match the pace and make

C O M P A R I S O N E V A L U A T I O N
When I was making my DVD cover I looked at quite a few different covers to see the similarities that they are designed and presented in. I think the Halloween cover was
pretty in similar in terms of the style and the way it is presented to my own DVD cover.
Design- I think the front cover of the Halloween DVD and my own are pretty similar compared to the back of the cover. With the Halloween front cover they only have
Michael Myers featuring on it. With my front cover I only have my detective featuring on it as well as the street background. With my DVD over I went with the black and
white style to make it look more serious and a bit like a noir detective film. With the Halloween cover there’s also not a lot of color going on with it either they've only
shown the mask of Michael Myers mainly shrouded in darkness accept for one half of his face which a bit of light is shined on it. With my detective I’ve done it so he is
facing sideways and you can only see a part of his face to make it more mysterious. The back of the Halloween cover I’ve found to be very different compared to my
own. With my back cover I didn’t want a lot going on it I wanted to keep it looking kind of simple but smart as well. With the Halloween back cover they have included
images from the actual film, a small summary about what the film is about and a bonus features section that’s in orange. When I was doing my back cover I didn’t know
if it would look out of place if I included images from my trailer but in contrast with the rest of the black and white cover I didn’t know if it would look out of place.
Instead I just added a synopsis of the film and some smoke with the villain behind it so keep it looking mysterious.
Style- The style of my DVD cover and the Halloween cover I have found to be very different. I have gone for the black and white style for the whole of my cover whereas
the Halloween cover has gone for black and white for there front cover but added a Halloween orange color on some of the fonts and on the bonus feature section as
well. With the font of the titles I think they are both pretty bold fonts and we have both used white as the font cover to stand out against the darkness of the
background. This makes the title much more eye catching to the audience I find. We have both included actor credits as well but in different places. I have put mine at
the top of my cover and the Halloween one has put there’s at the bottom and the title at the top.
Overall, looking at both these covers I can see some similarities and differences between the two I think the only similarities are really between the front of the DVD
covers. The back of the covers I have found to be very different from each other, the Halloween one is very bold and more colorful whereas with mine I stick to the same
black and white color scheme and I went with a more subtle look.

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK
Observation:
For my survey I tried to ask questions that would give me the best audience feedback. So far I only have 5 responses
because I only sent it out to my friends and only some of them got back. I didn’t put my survey on social media because I
didn’t think many people would take the time to watch my trailer, promo and look at the posters and covers so I only
sent it to my friends. I have got some good feedback from them though which will help me to see what they think of it
and they might be a bit bias with there answers but I have told them to be honest with their answers so it’s not just to
appeal to me. For my first question I asked if I have reached my target audience which was younger adults, I wasn't really
aiming at a gender when I made my project because I mainly found out from my research that male and female equally
watched the film films I was researching such as Shutter Island. Because my trailer is quite similar to shutter island I was
going for the same target audience. However, from the responses I have got my audience have said I have reached that
target audience which is what I was hoping for.

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK
Observation:
For my second question I asked my audience if they would go see my film at the cinema. This is important because the
main point of a trailer is to advertise the film so the audience will go see it. I did include another option if some of my
audience didn’t like going to the cinema or didn’t really want to spend money on it I asked if they would wait until it’s
available to stream. From the responses I got I can see that they would all want to go see it at the cinema. The main
reason for making my trailer is to get people to go and see the actual film so from the responses I have got I can see that
I have achieved this with my trailer. I think I should of asked as well if based off the posters and DVD covers if they would
see it in cinemas as well not based off my trailer just to see if I have made it appealing enough for the audience to go see
it just based off my poster.

A U D I E N C E F E E D B A C K
Observation:
For my third question I asked my audience what they liked most about my trailer. One of them said they loved how the soundtrack matches the pace of the scenes
and how it stays on beat. When I was editing my trailer I was trying to get the scenes to match the pace and beat of the soundtrack, for examples when it transitions
between some shots I tried to get it on beat and in time with the music. I didn’t think when I did this I did it that well I think some transitions are a bit off but I’m glad
they have noticed what I tried to do. Another person said they likes the scene when the villain jumps out after the screen fades to black. Because I was going for a
thriller I didn’t plan to include many jump scares also because I didn’t think I would do it well but they said that scene made them jump which is what I was trying to
go for when I included that. Another response said they liked the editing, music and the dark themes as well as how it doesn’t show the whole plot of the film. When I
was doing my research I did find in some trailers they give the whole plot away and you feel like you have watched the entire film just by the trailer, when I was
making mine I tried to avoid that and I wanted to leave a sense of mystery around it which would hopefully want the audience to watch the film. From this response I
have achieved this which is good because I didn’t want to give the whole plot away. Another response said they liked how suspenseful it was and it makes you want to
go see the film. Because my trailer is a thriller I was trying to make it suspenseful because that’s the usually the reaction you feel while watching thrillers so I’m glad I
achieved that. Then for the last response they said they also liked how suspenseful it was and how it leave the viewer with lots of questions and how that's what you
want because some trailers spoil the whole film. This response is a mixture between some of my other responses which is good because it shows I have achieved
similar things with my trailer and it’s mainly what I was set out to make the audience feel as well. Overall, I think I have gathered some good feedback with these
responses because it shows I have appealed to them in different and similar ways.

Observation:
For my fourth question I asked my audience what they liked most about my poster and DVD cover. I have found I have got some similar and different responses from my
audience. My first response they have said they liked the whole style of it and how professional it looks as well as how it stands out. I was worried when I was making my
poster that it might of looked too photo shopped because I had to try and make the character blend in with the background that he wasn’t originally in, I was worried that it
would be too noticeable that I had photo shopped them in. But by the response saying it looks professional helps me know that it doesn’t look too photo shopped which is
good and I’m glad I have made it look professional as well. The second response said that they liked the whole black and white style I have done to my poster and how it looks
original. When I was researching posters I did notice there wasn't many that were black and white except from the silence of the lambs poster which is loosely what I based
mine off, so I am glad they thought it was original because I also didn’t want it to look like copied it from another poster. The first and second response has also said that they
stand out a lot which is also good because it shows that it immediately grabs the audiences attention attention and it isn’t too bland to look at. The third response has said
they also liked the black and white filter I used as well as how it shows a dark scheme that is also presented in my trailer and promo. I did plan to try and somehow link my
posters and covers together with my trailer through the tone and style of it. I wasn’t sure because I chose to go for the black and white look if they would present the same
tone and style that trailers and promos show but from my audience’s feedback I can see that I have achieved this. The fourth response has also said they liked how it links to
the trailer as well which is good to see that another audience has said this to show that I have achieved this. They also said they like how it gives a sense of mystery to it and
how it’s not over crowded. I sometimes find that a lot od posters have too much going on in there posters you don’t really know where to look so I tried to keep mine
relatively simple and not overcrowded which I am glad they liked that. My last response said they liked how the color scheme describes the film and how it looks professional. I
have found these responses are quite similar to each other and they are what I set out to try and appeal to them so I am glad they have noticed them and that they think it

Observation:
For my fifth question I asked my audience what they didn't like about my trailer, I didn’t get very many responses to this because
some have just said there was nothing they didn't like about it and one person has just skipped. I don’t believe my trailer was
perfect and there are some areas in it that I didn’t particularly like but some of them just said there was nothing. From some
responses they have said what they didn’t like, one said some transitions were a little off which I agree with. I did find in some
scenes where I was transitioning it didn’t really cut well or in time with the music. I think that could be something I can go back and
improve on because I wasn’t very happy with how some transitions had turned out. The other response I got was in the beginning
scene when the detective was placing the pictures underneath the hat one of them kind of got stuck on it and it could of gone a
bit smoother. I didn’t actually notice this until I was editing and I didn’t have time to go re shoot it and it was a very small slip up I
didn’t think it was overly noticeable. I think next time I do some filming I need to double check the footage to make sure
everything runs smoothly. Overall, I didn't get much feedback for this question which is a good sign but I’m also not sure if they’re
being bias because they know me but from the feedback I have got it can help me for next time I make a project.

Observation:
For my sixth question I asked my audience what improvements could be made to my trailer I did get more feedback with this one
than I did with what they didn’t like about my trailer which is good. One of the responses said to maybe include more scenes with
the villain, I did plan some more scenes with him in my script but they did slightly change on the day so instead of him folding
the knife in the street I just filmed a knife covered in blood so I didn’t include him much. However, the villain is suppose to be a
mystery and he is talking throughout the trailer which is why I didn’t really feel like I had to visually include him as much. For the
second response they said to fix some transitions between some scenes. I do think I need to improve on some transitions that are
in my trailer because I don’t really think they run that smoothly but it’s only on some scenes mainly when the camera flashes and
it’s showing that sequence of scenes. The third response they said that there could have been some more dialogue from the main
character, I do agree with this. There was suppose to be some dialogue between the main character and the police officer at the
beginning of the trailer but the dialogue with the police officer didn’t capture very well so I had to cut it out because the
detectives dialogue and the officers played off each other so without one it didn’t really work. So I do think I could of included
some more dialogue from the main character but I think it adds more mystery surrounding the character without the dialogue.

Observation:
For my seventh question I asked my audience which they liked best the poster or the DVD cover. I asked this
because my poster and cover are done in a slightly different style from each other so I was curious to see
which they liked best. From my survey I can see that one person liked my DVD cover better than the poster
and the rest just liked them both. I personally do like the design of my DVD cover but I prefer my poster better
just with that bit of red smoke I think it just makes it stand out more. The majority however, has said they liked
both, I think next time I should just give them the option between the two so they have to choose one just to
see what the majority preference would be.

Observation:
For my last two questions I asked my audience to rate my promo and trailer out of 10 and my poster, DVD
cover and disk print out of 10. All my audience has voted it all out of 10 which is good. However, I really don’t
think my trailers and posters are a 10 I think there could be some improvements made to them such as some
things in my trailer could be tidied up a bit and I could add some more things I just don’t think the work I have
created is a 10 out of 10. However, I am glad that my audience thinks it should be rated that high which means
that I have appealed to them with the products I have made for my project which is what my goal was.

FEEDBACK SUMMARY
From the survey I have conducted I can see that my project does hit the target audience I was aiming for and it has also helped me know what
improvements could be made to my project as well. I do think the feedback I got could be slightly bias as well because I did just send it to my
friends, despite me telling them to be honest in there feedback I feel like most of them held back on there opinions and just put that they
thought it was good. I think maybe sending it out to some strangers might have been better so it’s more honest feedback but I didn’t really
think the strangers I would send it out to would take time to watch my trailer and that which is why I just sent it to my friends because I knew
they would actually watch it. However, despite the feedback being a bit bias I have found it quite helpful because they have said what
improvements could be made to it such as some transitions need fixing, some more dialogue could be added and I could of included more
scenes with the villain. Knowing this will make me more aware for next time I make something like this I know what I could improve on. They
have also said what they liked about it, I find that them saying what they liked better than just asking if they liked it because I can see what
certain parts of the trailer appeals to them. A lot had said how suspenseful it is, which is good because I was trying to make the trailer
suspenseful because it’s a thriller I needed to set in the right tone and from the audiences feedback I have achieved that. The same when I
asked what they liked about my poster and DVD cover a few said that they thought it looked professional and original and they like how the
style and themes link to my trailer and promo. I didn’t really know if I had done well with matching the tone of the trailer to my poster and
covers but from the audiences feedback I can see that it has worked well together which is good. Overall, I am quite happy with the audiences
response I have received, although I think some are a little bias and it could have been criticized more I think this has helped me know what
improvements I could make as well as what I did right in my project as well.

SUMMARY (WHOLE)
Looking back at all the work building up to this project I could really see how my ideas have improved as well as what I have kept similar. I
could see from my proposal I made before I started this project that the concept of my project I have kept the same but throughout my
research I can see how some of it has changed or developed more based off ideas I have gathered through my existing products research
and my audience research. I think the research I had conducted reflects some ideas from my products for example with the silence of the
lambs poster that heavily influenced my own poster with the design and style. Looking at the shutter island trailer had helped me with
creating the characters as well as the whole style and look of my trailer as I loosely got some ideas from that film as well. The audience
research I conducted on the existing products helped me understand the audience I was aiming my trailer at because the films I researched
were very similar to what I wanted to make their target audience also applied to my own. Then conducting my own survey to get feedback
from my audience helped me understand what aspects they like in a thriller that appeals to them most, I took this information I gathered
and then applied it to my own project and I think it has worked out well. I also got to reflect back on how my planning and problem solving
has effected my project and I could see it had a major impact on my project. For example, I had planned for two back up people to play the
main character in case my main one couldn’t make it and it turned out he couldn’t so I had a back up ready. I did feel a lot more prepared
with making my project once I planned it all out and went through potential problems it helped me a lot in production. I think overall, my
project I have made does hit the brief set as well as appeals to my target audience which I have found from the feedback survey I have
conducted. I am quite happy with products I have made, I do think some parts could do with some improvements but overall I am happy
with how it has turned out and how my work building up to it has effected the development of it and overall improved it from my original
idea.

Evaluation and reflection

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