The document discusses planning and research for a teaser trailer that combines elements of sci-fi and horror genres. It analyzes trailers for films like I-Robot and Doctor Who to identify special effects techniques. These include using green screens and layering shots to add ghosted images or create the effect of characters disappearing. Footage will be filmed using these techniques and edited together following the standard teaser trailer structure of an initial scene then cutting to the title over additional clips.

1. Secondary Research The planning of a teaser trailer

2. Audience The audience for my teaser trailer or eventually entire film will most likely enjoy digital media. It makes sense to try and distribute my film digitally and this poses the possibility of creating a viral video/trailer online. My Target audience is based on a rough selection of 18-25 year olds who are involved and interested in media and internet technologies. I will use methods such as twitter and viral video creation to promote the video to this audience.

3. Planning of Research For my research I will be watching a number of teaser trailers and possibly some theatrical trailers. I will be looking for: Horror Sci-Fi Thriller Combinations of the above

4. Researching of the Genre As the genre I chose to create the trailer of overlaps into two separate genre’s, I have chosen to research into both genre’s. By researching into both the Sci-Fi and Horror genres i hope to identify multiple conventions of each one which I will be able to adapt and use in my trailer, as well as creating my own style. I will be using aspects of each genre to achieve the desired effect that I envision for my trailer. I will be trying to find film trailers that already combine the genre’s to help me produce my own trailer. I will also be targeting a number of films to observe special effects, regardless of genre. For Sci-fi I will be looking at : i-Robot and Doctor who (TV) For Horror I will be looking at : Quarantine and For Special effects I will be looking at Harry Potter and the half blood prince

5. iRobot Through research I found a particular scene in iRobot where a hologram is produced amongst the actual scene. When the Hologram is moved around and terminates we can see the scan line effect that I want to apply to my shot. I have been researching the types of software required and tutorials for this shot and I am confident that I can achieve this effect in post-production although I am going to have to spend a lot of time with frame by frame editing to achieve this result.

6. iRobot cont. This scene in iRobot is particularly useful for my teaser trailer as I plan to create a similar scene. It is very clear that the doctor is a hologram as the TV lines are visible and the background is visible through the projection. It is also combined with the actual camera shot and angle which means advanced special effects have been used. I plan to create the special effects using software called Final cut or Sony Vegas which I have at home and have researched the effects online for help although I will not be moving the camera around during the shot as that sort of effect requires very high budgets

7. Doctor who (TV) Doctor Who has been particularly helpful as I have found an episode where a similar idea is used. The transfer between two universes was created with a special effect in which a bright flash and a crinkle effect is used.. I feel that I may be able to achieve a similar effect to create a very bright flash and with some editing using special effects software, apply the effect I showed in the iRobot slides. I will not be directly using the effect shown below but using the bright flash concept to mask the switch between shots to create the desired effect as I do not have the correct training or budget to achieve the exact effect.. I felt that by simply making a figure dissapear it would look too generic and amateur, this the need for special editing.

8. Quarantine One of the shots I plan to use in my trailer is a ghosted image of a girl behind another person screaming with a TV scan effect applied. Through using special effects software I hope to achieve a similar green TV scan effect as used in the film trailer for Quarantine pictured left. I hope that by using this effect I will be able to “creep out” viewers by portraying something of the unimaginable. I will be purchasing a green screen and some special lighting to film this scene before editing the footage.

9. Harry Potter and the half blood prince The special effects shown in the trailer are quite spectacular and I will not be able to achieve anything quite this good, but the trailer shows how effective the use of intentional special effects can actually be. The selected scene is very powerful in the film and grips the attention of viewers as it is something that is not physically possible without special effects. Presumably this effect was achieved through the use of 3 different video layers. See following slides for descriptions

10. Layer 1 – Green Screen The first layer that is required is a green screen layer with the actor which is used as the base layer. Chroma Keying is applied to the shot which filters out a selected colour. The most common screen colours are Green and Blue which are most effective and can be selected depending on the choice of clothing with the onscreen subject. Chroma Keying is available in Final Cut, Sony Vegas and more recently iMovie 09’

11. Layer 2 - Background When Chroma Keying is used, the keyed colour is replaced with either an image or a video, a video needs to be selected that looks realistic within the scene. In the case of my trailer, I will be using another video to replace the keyed sections of the shot.

12. Layer 3 – CGI The final layer that is used is any CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) that may be included in the scene. In my Trailer I will be using effects to render the green screen image of a screaming girl with a Bad TV effect.

13. Woods shots A typical convention I have found in a number of horror films is scenes of girls fleeing from someone through dark woods. I hope to use this convention in my trailer by filming at dusk and potentially using night vision to achieve an eerie effect. One film including a chase through woods is Texas Chainsaw Massacre where the camera moves alongside the actor showing a side-on shot as she passes through dense woods. I intend to use a very similar shot in this particular scene of my trailer. I do not have equipment to suspend the camera and track the actor so I will have to find an alternate method.

14. Feet! Director James Cameron is well known for his Feet trademark. Feet are used repeatedly in many of his films, this includes: Terminator: After killing ginger the Terminator steps on her headphones Terminator: The Terminator steps on a toy truck when approaching Sarah Connors house Avatar: A Close-up shot of Jakes feet moving in the soil Avatar: Quaritch's feet in his first scene. I would like to include a number of shots of feet in my trailer using James Cameron’s trademark in my work.

15. How to make the teaser trailer After researching the types of shots I planned to use I needed to learn about how to construct a teaser trailer. I have researched than a teaser trailer would be approximately 2 minutes long and through watching a number of these trailers I have established a general structure that I wish my trailer to follow. Between 30 seconds to a minute of the film would be the first part of the trailer. Consisting of text and shots from the same scene of the film. The first section of the trailer will end with a sudden scary scene Trailer cuts to film title Second half of trailer features random scenes and shots from the film. A lot of film teaser trailers feature a similar layout and I have found it to be effective in gripping the audience thus deciding to use it as a guide to my own.