Evaluation

When considering how I could present my evaluation in a different and interesting way I thought about the different types of ways I could have done it, ideas I considered were with a post it note video showing pictures of the things I was talking about or a presentation. I then decided to bring these two ideas together and record and edit myself answering the questions and overlaying the video with pictures of the things I was talking about. This two part video is what i created.

The Shortcut Trailer

This is the finished trailer for my film the shortcut, its very similar to my anamatic but with a few minor changes. Examples being the text used in the black segment which is of a different font and also the use of the dreamworks image at the beginning and the scream sound effect at the end.

Calendar

To ensure that I kept to my deadline of finishing all the filming by the 20th of February and the editing of my trailer by the 10th of march I created a calender giving myself specific times of when to complete each task. This varying from acquiring any equipment i need for the filming of the trailer to buying the editing software I need to create the best possible trailer I can. I also used this to plan when I would film and it acted as a good guide to see how long I had. Also when certain things didn't go to plan like cast not being able to film on a day I had planned to I had dates set just in case it might happen and as you can see I rescheduled to suite.

The Shortcut Website

This is the website link to my horror film The Shortcut's website.

http://android.piratemedia.tv/dan-design/index.html

Like my influences I have made it animated with the buttons being invisible but becoming visible when the mouse goes over them and these buttons will take the website user to the page they have clicked on e.g click directions to go to the directions page. I've given an example of what one the pages will look like and have included the trailer onto the trailer page. I have also added background noise being white noise which I used throughout my trailer, this will act as another recognisable link for my audience.

Problems- location

After shooting the party scene at my house I decided that the footage I got wasn’t a very good representation of a 21st century party, with poor lighting that wouldn’t have presented a party atmosphere to the audience. So I then decided to search for a new location and also change the lighting used, borrowing some disco lights from a friend. Well searching for a new location I came across the drama room at school which has lighting control and black curtains around it, this means that I can make it dark and so present the night feel and also use the disco lights as effectively as I can. Another positive I’ve found looking further into using the drama room is that its free when I’m free on my timetable, this means that I can film during school. But this also means that I am going to have to organise the cast to get together again to film this segment of my trailer which could cause some issues to arise.

The Shortcut Poster

This is my new finished poster. I think its a better end result than my original poster with a darker appearance withough the gap in the trees in the background. I also think that positioning the text at the top of the page makes it stand out greater and by having some at the bottom too it makes the scary girl seem like more of a central image.

Chosen Poster Effect

For this image Ive used the same effect as my originally rejected image and its called dark strokes. Again I think it works well just like it did with the other image but this one works better as it doesn't have the gap in the trees in the background. I am very pleased with this image and I like how the white nightgown stands out against the dark background the effect creates. I also like the light appearance of the ground in contrast to the trees and how the light almost spreads from her dress and gets darker towards the edges. all of these things have added to the horror effect of my poster.

Rejected Poster Effects

Like my original poster i experimented with effects and again I have made the decision to use dark strokes as the effect for my poster. The reasons for not choosing these effects were that i found the balck and white effect of plaster lacking in detail which again was the same issue I had with my original design and the other image, with the fresco effect, I felt was again like the original and too bright which wouldnt have suited the horror genre.

Poster Image Change

This is the new image I will use for my poster and this is the other image I considered using for my poster but I rejected because it didnt show the shortcut in the background. But I like it for the same reasons as my origionally chosen image and I think that with there being no gap in the trees in the background my poster will have the darkness it needs to really suite the horror genre.

The Shortcut Poster

After looking at the finished poster I have decided that I think the image is too bright to present the image I really want for my horror film which is set at night. I think this is caused by the gap in the trees in the background of the image and when I experiemented with using different tecniques to try and change the background i couldnt find anything made the image still look realistic. Because of this bright gap in the background I couldnt position the writing at the top the page where I had origionally planed and although having the writing at the bottom of the poster would have made my poster unique I felt that it would have a better effect being at the top of the image. Because of these factors ive now decided to change the image to one which i had origionally rejected.

Chosen Poster Effect

This effect is called dark stokes and I really like how the white dress stands out on top of the rest of the image. although I am a bit unsure about the lighting of the image and I think it may be a bit too bright to really give that horror look especially as my film is set at night. I'm considering changing the image to the other image I considered but ill first see what the overall finished poster looks like after I add the title.

Rejected Poster Effects

This is the effect that I used for my draft image and is called plaster, I felt that this was less effective with my new image with the white of the nightgown not being visible, this was something I worried about when I created my final draft and so I decided to choose a different effect.











This effect is called fresco and Ido like this image, I like how the white of the nightgown really stands out but I think its too bright of an image to really give that horror appearance that I'm trying to create.

Chosen Poster Image

I've decided to use this image as this is a shot commonly used within horror films, examples being within the films The Orphanage and The Unborn. This forming an instant intertextual reference for audience who may see that it is of a horror genre. I also like how the woods is so dominant and you can also see the shortcut in the background of the image. I think the lack of leaves on the trees adds to the horror effect of the image and this is something which differs to my draft images which were greener in colour. Colour wise I like how this is neutral with browns, creams, pale and very dark greens, I think this neutral appearance presents the horror look. The main thing I like about this image though is how the white dress stands out, with the girl being the main part of the storyline I want her to be dominant like the women within The Orphanage poster. I also like her positioning within the image which is central and the stance she has which is simple but theres an element of creepiness to it. theres also space at both the top and the bottom of the image for writing that I want to include. Something I am a bit unsure of though is the gap in the trees which could be too bright but ill experiment with different effects to see what I can do to make this darker.



This is another image I stongly considered for the same reasons as the one I did choose, the main factor with this one was the lack of the shortcut in the background which made me decide to use the other image.

Website Draft

This is the draft for my 2nd subsidiary task a website. I have tried to keep in a similar style to the website of films like The Ring and The Grudge and keep the main focus in the centre of the page with all the information within it. I have also decided to use the same image as my poster as I want that to be the recognisable link between all 3 my website, poster and film trailer so that my audience can immediately see this recognisable link. Like the other websites I will also make myn animated with the writing being invisible until a mouse floats over it and then it will show itself and flash. This means a website visitor will be to click on one of these links and it will take them to that specific page. The links i plan to include are:
The Directions- This would be a map of the town and showing where the shortcut is.
The Invitation- This would be an invite to the party where the girl is attending.
The Myth- This would show the audience the synopsis of the movie.
The Gallery- This showing pictures of the making of the movie.
The Trailer- This being a link to the official movie trailer.
I have decided to use the word 'the' at the beginning of each of the headings so that the audience can see a link to my title.