The document provides context and initial ideas for Finlay McCall-Smith's final major project (FMP) proposal. Finlay wants to create a music video that also incorporates original music, visual effects, narrative elements, and posters to have more creative control and showcase a variety of skills. Their strengths currently include narrative design, Photoshop, and editing. Areas of focus will be on creating original music and visual effects. Finlay provides mind maps, narrative ideas, and mood boards to develop their project idea. They also discuss influences and aspirations for their FMP.

1. Initial Ideas & Context
Finlay McCall-Smith

2. Pre-proposal

3. Initial Reaction
I would love to have a chance to approach as many aspects of media
production as I possibly could during this FMP, therefore I have chosen
to do a music video as the actual product doesn’t represent a heavy
workload in itself until you delve further into constructing every
component from scratch. For instance, the music, video, vfx, narrative,
title sequences and posters to match. All of this will help to make my
project more personalised and accurate to my vision as well as giving
me a chance to show off a larger array of skills from several different
professional departments within the media industry.
At current, I feel like my strengths are in Narrative design, photoshop
and editing. For this project, I need to massively focus on getting the
music and video effects right, as those will be aspects of the project I
will be essentially learning with very little knowledge. Camerawork is
another aspect I’ll have to make sure to put focus on, as well as quality
of shots and quantity to ensure that I don’t fall into any trouble with
not having enough shots of sufficient quality to edit with.

4. Mind Map
A shot of flickering
streetlight on my
street

5. Narrative Key Ideas
• Superhumans – Exist in either hiding or public view. Very few of them.
• How did they gain their powers? Through a virus? Genetically? Experiment? Gifted
by religious figures?
• At least one in hiding – Doesn’t want to be involved in the business of the other
heroes. Perhaps their power causes harm to others. – This person could be getting
coerced into returning by another but if they do return it could have catastrophic
consequences.
• The Villain – One of the superpowered individuals? Rogue. A government or
organisational individual who’s dealing with the powered people? A being with the
power to sap the other heroes powers? A mix of one or more of them.
• Could be mixed genre with coming of age?
• Main characters: 1 Hero with Superspeed but not without its limitations (fatigue)
trying to unite his friends who split ways and swore themselves to secrecy after
gaining powers – 1 Friend who is invulnerable to everything including ageing who
has isolated himself away with the upset of having to consider an eternity of life –
Another friend who grew tired of them not using their gifts, believes their gifts
were meant for something great and that these friends are wasting them by not
using them to bring order to the planet. This friend seeks to steal all their powers
in order to make themselves a deity. They have already taken some of the other
friends powers including energy manipulation and flight??

6. Narrative Key Ideas
Script first draft:
”Nothing’s been the same since that day.
Shots of the city+incident
“I wish that superpowers had remained a fiction and a dream that never got answered”
Kid sitting reading a comic book
”When we gained our powers, some of us used them to become the heroes we saw in fiction. “
Shot of the hero – Main protagonist
“Others sought exile, tortured by the harsh reality of being so omnipotent”
Shot of the friend – Out in a rural abandonment
“And others.. Set out to become deities”
Music turns more sinister – Shot of someone being sapped of their powers by a currently cloaked
(slightly obscured) villain
Diegetic shot of Villain speaking to victim
“We could be saving this planet from extinction together but instead you sit idly on the great privileges
you’ve had bestowed upon you. I won’t make your mistakes. I will bring the planet peace like it’s never
seen before.”
Hero comes up behind them
”imposing peace through fear is nothing more than control” – Very shoddy (needs reworking)

7. Mood Board

8. Mood Board Analysis
Is there any repetition in the images you have collected? Repeated colours/images styles/fonts/tone/mood
• I have collected what I would consider to be two sets of mood board styles here as opposed to one consistent
pattern throughout.
• The first is straw orange tinted naturalistic imagery where the characters and world appear dark against the
contrast of the lens flaring sun. This effect is used in ‘Man of Steel’ and ‘Logan’ so on to show the area the titular
characters use as their places of isolation and peace. Bright suns are a typical feature of paradises in filmmaking or
places where characters can take solace from the troubles of the urban world. I will use this effect in my piece as
the hideout location for some of the superpowered individuals who want nothing to do with their gifts. I believe
this will be effective as it makes for an aesthetically pleasing filter and will contrast well with what I plan to do with
my city based shots.
• The city based shots is the second half of the mood board. In these, I have represented much darker or colder
tones than those seen in the first half, but also with less contrast between the characters and their brighter
surroundings. The colours are often neon, purple and blues are the primary focus here which contrasts well with
the shots from before once again as orange is the complimentary (or opposite) colour to blue. With these shots, I
plan to represent the city as bleak and regimental. The effect of this is that it will make the positive aspects of the
rural shots more evident to the viewer, which in turn will solidify the trailer’s main point that the people in this
world are just clawing for a freedom they can’t find in their urban lives. That freedom will be embodied through
superpowers which will bring vibrancy to these otherwise bleak shots, representing the escape that people in the
real world often desire.
How will your mood board influence your final product?
• My mood board will primarily influence my final product visually. The importance of colour or the lack there of will
hopefully be meaningful and impactful and the use of certain camera techniques or shot types will be reflective of
what images I have gathered on this board.

9. Influence/Inspiration
The X-Men series of movies:
This series, based upon the original comic books that span all the way back to 1963 originally, could be
considered the first ever Superhero or Comic Book Movie Franchise to successfully apply itself to the big
screen. Though the Blade and Raimi Spider-Man movies came around the same time, the X-Men movies
lasted all the way up to 2019 before the rights to the characters were bought up by Disney.
My main inspiration that I will derive from this series would be the Narrative key points and style in
which the X-Men series deals with the topic of Superpower inheritance. In the X-Men movies, we see
characters responses to gaining their powers be greatly polarised; Some characters see their powers as
gifts that reap nothing but benefits to their life, others see them as an illness to be eradicated and
others see their powers as an accessory in their life to ignore as best they can as they try to lead normal
lives. I will attempt to translate this into my own work, by applying a variety of different powers to my
characters that might warrant different responses, as well as giving each character different motives to
give more opportunities for them to clash or bond along the way, to develop them across the story.
I also enjoy the idea that in these films, the world isn't always with them and therefore the Mutants in
the movie feel and inherent brotherhood arise from their need to form together and look out for one
another. This also makes it especially shocking when you explore betrayals from characters within this
circle, as there is the expectation they are all on one side.
Most specifically, I believe the Wolverine movies as a trilogy tonally fit what I would be looking to
achieve. Something grounded and realistic in the way that Logan was, with the Sci-Fi fantasy and
grittiness of The Wolverine and taking one of what I consider to be the only positive aspects of this
movie, the sense of desperation and fear involved in the serial killings from X-Men Origins: Wolverine

10. Influence/Inspiration
The Flash / Quicksilver
Though from different franchises altogether, these two characters share the power to
run at superspeed that one of the main characters of my trailer will too possess. This
means it would be best for me to investigate further into how the VFX for these
characters is done and also to mess around with what additions make the superspeed
effect more believable (e.g. lightning or camera flashing etc).
The flash from the most recent Justice League movies is a good starting point, as his
effect is relatively simple to replicate, relying on less strands of lightning than the TV
show counterpart and being far more naturalistic too, meaning any work done to it
wouldn't necessarily have to have extra effort put into stylisation alone.
Quicksilver, though only in one Avengers movie, is another character that I believe
would be good to draw components from, as his powers were made to look like more
of a blur of his person wiping across the screen than anything more complex than
that. In the X-Men movies, the effect was often done in slow-motion so that the
sequences didn't suffer from pacing issues. This also allowed the audience a view of
the events in the scene that was far more personal and actually arguably, this method
requires less effort to be put into the VFX. The best thing to look into here would be
ways to blur the surroundings instead of the character and a bit of technical
consideration when it comes to shooting in higher framerates and translating that to
slow-motion during the editing process.

11. Influence/Inspiration
Zack Snyder's movies and style of shooting
Zack Snyder is a Director known best for having a successful and relatively
experimental career as a Director creating his own projects, up until his entrance into
the DCEU where he exercised his ability to translate his filmmaking techniques into the
superhero genre.
I would like to see if I can add my own stylistic influence to my piece that is reflective
of the same grittiness he brought to his universe of films.
Having watched Sucker Punch, 300, watchmen and all of his other DC entries including
the recent Justice League remake, I can recognise that his unique style of shooting
mainly derives from his use of colour or lack thereof. It is most apparent in 300 where
only red can be seen in significant contrast against the other colours and everything
else is seemingly saturated. In films such as Man of Steel, Snyder also adopted a more
muted and grungy pallet which allowed for the project to feel more down-to-earth
and human.
I also admire his ability to story-tell without audio, such as in the opening credits to
Batman vs Superman where we see Bruce Wayne's parents being killed (something
that has been massively overdone in cinema history) but it was done particularly
effectively in this rendition because it was almost skimmed over and turned into an
opportunity for exciting visual imagery to be used, especially through close-ups, while
Zimmer's score overlaid it and set the tone for the rest of the movie.

12. Skills Audit

13. Why are you making this project?
I am making this project specifically because I've always enjoyed the Sci-Fi
genre and therefore wanted to try my hand at replicating it in a more
controlled environment than producing a full length short film or something
of the sort. The format of a trailer allows for me to consider big ideas for the
narrative while not having to necessarily convey all the details of that during
the course of the final product. This will hopefully allow me to focus more on
visual effects and music too, as I aspire to create a theme from scratch that
will take inspiration from pre-existent franchises' themes to create something
that will feel authentically accurate and unique against music which is simply
borrowed from elsewhere. A major benefit of this is that I can also shape the
trailer around the theme and have complete creative control over the tone
and the atmosphere I wish to create. I would also like to hope that this
project will give me a chance to experiment with colour and lighting again to
make something that can be cinematographically appealing and overall of as
high a quality as I can muster with the time given.

14. Hopes for the FMP
I hope I will be able to make a full length, narrative-based
Superhero genre trailer that will represent my ability to
tell stories in a shorter format while containing enough
appealing visuals to entice people into wanting to see the
full project. I hope I will also be able to make an
accompanying score that will be entirely from scratch and
will symbolise the characters well.
I also hope I'll be able to experiment a small amount with
special effects, something that I have absolutely no
experience with. Sci-Fi is my favourite genre but since I
struggle with creating compelling sci-fi visuals on a low
budget, I would like to see how well I can refine a trailer
to at my current level of skill.

15. Strengths and Limitations
• My first strength would be my great access to suitable recording equipment and
editing software from home. Having an optical bridge camera that shoots at 1080p
and a tripod that works for both that and my phone (which is suitable for slow-
motion video capture), I will be able to shoot effectively at essentially anytime
without the need to book equipment. I also have great experience with this
equipment, having used some of it for the past 2 years of Film Production work at
A Level.
• My second strength would be my proficiency with computers and using software
that I am already greatly familiar with at this point. For example, Lightworks and
Premiere Pro. But also my ability to type proficiently which will allow me to
complete drafts of the script etc at a faster pace.
• My third strength would be my expansive pragmatic knowledge of the genre in
which I intend to make my project in. I have watched every MCU movie and TV
Show (besides Inhumans) to date and every one but a few of their major
competition since around 2010. I have also seen many of the movies from this
genre of the past and would consider it my favourite genre, having also read many
graphic novels and even books in the same style. This will inform me in every
respect of what to do and not do when it comes to creating the narrative;
Primarily, it will let me know what has been done before so that I can be creative
with my work and make something that is as unique as I am capable of making it,
while still being true to the genre.

16. Strengths and Limitations
• My first limitation would be my inexperience with using MacOS and
softwares such as garage-band that I will likely wish to use for my
music. All of this will have to be learned from scratch for me,
besides the little amount of time I have already spent familiarising
myself with Macs this year.
• My second limitation is my lack of consistent access to actors. There
will be a small window in which my friends will be back in York from
their university studies but otherwise, people who I can contact
within York may be busy with jobs or other responsibilities. I will
have to make sure to manage my time well.
• My third limitation is that I'm unadvised on how trailers are best to
be constructed at current. I will have to make calls on how to
integrate the music into my trailer without it feeling out of place
and giving the trailer a lot of pacing without any prior experience in
doing so. Since short films and music videos have been the bulk of
what I have made before, I will have to be cautious as to not fail in
getting this new format of video production wrong.

17. Potential Research Activities
• I should likely research more into pre-existent trailers
that I remember to be effective in making me feel
hyped for a movie.
• I should also look into music a little to understand
better how certain themes can be effective, especially
within the superhero genre.
• I should research methods of creating compelling
special effects in the two separate softwares I have
used before.
• Finally, I should research into Narrative and check
whether others share my opinions on what is
important to include within a trailer or leave out etc.