Evaluation

Alex Barham's Evaluation

Comparison between AS opening sequence and A2 theatrical trailer

Unfortunately, the preview didn't render from 4:41 on-wards so only sound and the two sequences are visible. I can't solve the problem, most presumably because of the size. The footage isn't vital, however as the dialogue stayed intact.

'Suit' Opening sequence

Promotional TV Spots

Website

'Suit' Promotional website

'Suit' Official theatrical trailer HD - FINAL COURSEWORK PIECE

This is my main production of the A2 course. I'm thoroughly pleased with the outcome of the work I have put in to creating this trailer and thank everyone involved; from actors to people who offered additional camera work.

DVD Cover

Here is my DVD Cover for 'Suit'. From primary and secondary research I felt the DVD covers for 'Kick-Ass' and 'Super' suited my parody of superheroes. The covers inspired me greatly for my own cover yet I've still retained the cartoon feel seen in my magazine features and promotional posters.

The Suit 'original' theatrical trailer

As I prepared to recast I realised most of my original trailer was completed, so I have decided to upload it and compare it with my new theatrical trailer and AS opening sequence. There is a few notable differences with my completed trailer!

Website Research

Website Research on Prezi

http://prezi.com/e1wuqo5pzery/website-research/ - or here if it does not work.

Final magazine features

Updated feature:

As the actor for the protagonist has changed, I have re-taken particular shots for the magazine features and focused on increasing the quality. I have also taken time to improve on rough areas from the previous uploads.

Advert research

Final promotional posters

With the switch of actor for the protagonist, I quickly needed to change the re-uploaded posters and increase the quality. For this, I took photographs with a HD camera and used professional lights to have a perfect quality and brightness. I believe the outcome looks far better than the original posters with Alan.

Substantial changes to trailer

A brief video which reveals my big decision considering the final cut. Also, the quality and aspect
ratio isn't as good as I expected so I'm currently working on fixing this now.

Working with Premiere Pro

Having used Premiere Pro during my AS course, I was familiar and confident with the software. Moreover, I learnt from previous mistakes during the editing process and essentially, managed to complete editing far quicker than the AS opening sequence. As my theatrical trailer was filmed with a professional HD camera, I had to adjust the format, screen resolution and export format for the entire project - which I didn't have to do in the AS course. However, I coped with this well and first roughly edited the entire sequence of scenes without transitions and audio. When it was completed, I worked on transitions and experimented with a far greater capacity as I was using Premiere Pro CS5.5. Audio and music was undoubtedly the hardest to work on as I had to include a vast amount of tracks and keep check of each in case I added a track onto another - which would quickly erase the previous. Overall, I found working with PremierePro a delight - I completely understood the tools and effects included and managed to create a professional trailer using the program properly.

Changes to theatrical trailer

Since my rough cut feedback I have worked extensively on editing my theatrical trailer. Now with the trailer close to release, I have decided to list the substantial changes suggested by feedback and my own personal changes.

Music

Several completed questionnaires commented on the variety of music, admitting it fitted well with the ethos yet the transitions were quick and unprofessional. I agreed with these responses, the vast amount of contrasting music was always tricky to edit appropriately and fittingly with the plot. I have since worked on audio transitions and effects in Adobe Premiere Pro and Audacity. I have even included new tracks and deleted rough cut tracks as I believe they are better in quality and epitomising meaning.

Titles

Admittedly, the titles were rough and just an experiment - I wanted to see how audiences would react to the simple comic book titles. Many of the questionnaires showed the audience found these titles unoriginal and slightly boring. I have since worked on Adobe After Effects and PowerPoint to adapt my titles and make them intriguing, retro and striking.

Transitions

A few members of the audience felt the transitions were plain and didn't fit accordingly with the music and speech. Some questionnaires stated that the use of simple cuts were boring and gave an amateur feel to the trailer. I have since worked greatly on editing my transitions on Adobe Premiere Pro, creating transitions that are exciting and fit with the plot of the trailer.

Fighting

A couple of the surveys felt the fighting was over dramatic and unrealistic. Worse still, many noted the flip of shot with the incredibly fast-paced fighting sequence ruined the professionalism of the trailer. I have since edited the fighting sequence to keep the same long take and have instead decided to cut vital action sequences where characters are hit and only have the motion for it. I believe this will still create the same effect and links nicely with the idiom: 'Less is more'.

These are the key features I have edited though I have worked on minor details for greater effect. Though these changes are quite immense and it indeed seems the trailer will be completely different, I have made sure the trailer still holds the absurd and original feel of the rough cut.

Promotional posters

(Re-uploads)

Magazine and poster planning

Before photographing and editing my magazine feature and posters, I decided to plan each with diagrams and sketches, keeping in mind the conventions I had researched.

Magazine feature comparison

This is my comparison diagram between my 'Empire' magazine feature cover and a professional 'Empire' feature cover.

Film Certification

As my film contains moderate violence and dark themes I believe it fits loosely into the highly popular 12A certificate. My reasons for this are mainly to gain a larger audience and have the trailer accessible to most audiences. Furthermore, the 12A certificate is highly popular with films and since its release in 2002 has become a predominant certificate with many feature films. Conclusively, I believe my film fits this certificate as themes from 'Kick-Ass' and 'Super' are present though my representation isn't as explicit and neither is the story-line. There isn't any swearing or scenes of a sexual nature but only moderate violence; which is shown continuously throughout the trailer.

Title Research

Title Research

More PowerPoint presentations from Alex Barham

Poster Research

Poster Research

More PowerPoint presentations from Alex Barham

Merchandise

Magazine features

- edited front cover

I created two magazine covers for my theatrical trailer; I decided upon Empire and Little White Lies because they the most influential, high-grossing and intriguing film magazines in Britain presently.

The shoot - props, costumes, locations, etc.

I've decided to represent my views and an overall conclusion of the shoot in a mock interview video format which I've previously used for my planning video. I believe this type of documentation enables for real emotion and critical, spontaneous thinking.

Music with rough cut

In my AS course, my group and I used Garageband to create the soundtrack for our opening sequence. We kept strictly to the program and only used a few other themes for particular parts.

Since then I have come to discover the Audio Portal on Newgrounds and free non-copyrighted music online. As I wanted my theatrical trailer to primarily consist of jazz, piano and orchestra music I needed the correct quality and professionalism. I first looked through Garageband where I found few appropriate tracks, such as:

'Orchestra Strings 7'
'Orchestra Strings 8'
'Guitar Strings Collection'

However, I attempted to edit certain tracks and couldn't achieve the right feel so instead opted for Newground's Audio Portal. I found some brilliant tracks available from all the genres I wanted. This includes:

Furthermore, I found a perfect 'epic' track for the action sequences, which I believed worked almost jocularly as the music seemingly heightened the action of the trailer. Yet, the action isn't as 'epic' as the music suggests. Thus, the music is more of an social experiment I've created; I personally believe audiences are deluded with the sheer density of music - even if much isn't happening on screen they will be induced by the music and subsequently believe the 'epicness' of the scene.

Lighting

As my theatrical trailer is primarily realistic and set in exterior areas, I didn't focus entirely on artifical lighting. I did, however, use ambient lighting to my advantage. I planned the fighting scenes precisely on a sunny and bright day, as it was vital for the horizon shot for perfect shadows. Furthermore, I needed high-key ambient lighting to slightly blur out the girlfriend and make her seem almost heavenly whilst highly ambiguous.

I will however use harsh low-key artificial lighting for later shots which hold the utmost significance in my film.

Conclusively, I'm happy with the lighting in my theatrical trailer and believe it has sufficient meaning.

Credit ideas

My original credit ideas were fairly simple, I was set on using a comic book font to fit the superhero genre and seemingly juxtapose the dark tone of my theatrical trailer. Essentially, I wanted to use cartoony credits as a light form of mockery of the light-hearted comics from the '60s, such as Batman.

However, since research my ideas have systematically changed. I've been inspired by the likes of Sin City and Fight Club. I still like the cartoony font yet I want to modify the quality and possibly change it to 3D. Furthermore, I've been influenced by the templates from Video Copilot and intend to create either gritty dark titles or contrapuntally light-hearted yet epic titles.

Magazine research

Magazine Research on Prezi

http://prezi.com/imxukoc_n-wg/incorruptible-magazine-research/ - or here if it does not work.

The Suit - rough theatrical trailer

It's quite clear from the trailer I have aimed for an absurd and irrational feel for my fictional film, which is most notable by the constant change in music and continuous use of particular shots that generate a different meaning as the trailer progresses. I believe the rough cut resembles a few shots from Kurosawa's 'Tokyo Drifter'.

After Effects

From pre production due to production, titles have always been a concern. My research into theatrical trailers showed me the professionalism of titles in recent films; they were all stunning and fit perfectly with the ethos of the trailer. Thus, it was obvious to create such professional and fitting titles for my trailer, excelling the titles I originally created using After Effects in AS.

Rough cut audience feedback

Thankfully, all the responses were positive and descriptive. Many of the responses stated that the music and title needed editing, along with a few of the transitions. My primary goal with this rough cut was to ensure the audience could understand the complexity and possibly, the absurdity of the plot and narrative. All of the audience agreed they understood the plot and were intrigued by the pace and unveiling of each plot element.

Other responses detailed on the effective use of lighting, camera shots and realism throughout, thus it's clear I've effectively achieved verisimilitude with my trailer.

The Suit - teaser trailer

Even though the theatrical trailer is my main focus, I desperately wanted to create a quick teaser trailer for my film. I believe the teaser fits nicely with the ethos of my forthcoming poster as it's jocular, contrapuntally light-hearted and different from other teaser trailers.

Shooting schedule - Minor sequences

The various minor sequences (short length in trailer) were fairly easy to shoot but required precise scheduling considering the amount of actors, exact locations and props used.

Shooting schedule - Car sequences

Shots inside the car were fairly tricky as keeping the camera and tripod still was an obvious difficulty. Moreover; health and safety regulations applied greatly considering the high risks involved with a car. I decided to keep my location to a quiet residential area and chose an early morning time slot as most of the public attend work. Nevertheless, I kept the schedule tight and precise; I wanted the shots finished quickly yet still to have a professional feel. Hence, I ensured a multitude of takes were filmed.

Shooting schedule - Combat sequences

The combat sequences were evidently the hardest scenes to prepare and film for. The fighting had to be extensively rehearsed and health and safety regulations applied more than ever; not only for me and the actors but the general public as props with a dangerous appearance were used. However, even with the tight schedule I created; I couldn't keep it exactly to plan and thus have had to continuously edit the schedule.

Combat scenes - rehearsals and choreography

Safety Regulation pictures:

Social network promotions

From my research into theatrical trailers I discovered a large majority of films and film companies have not only their own website, but also pages on Facebook and Twitter. I decided to create my own social network pages to easily connect with 'fans' and 'followers' of my film which can appeal across the globe. Moreover, these social network websites are free to use and set up accounts and considering the amount of users signed up to these websites (Facebook has more than 800 million active users), it's evident these websites are the easiest promoters for any media product.

Casting

My theatrical trailer has only a few main characters yet does feature a host of minor characters such as gangsters for violent scenes. After thinking extensively about each role and who I believed would suit the role I asked the potential actors, who all gladly agreed.

The acting cast consists of:

Alan Andrews as The Protagonist/ 'The Suit'

I believe Alan had the look of a young Christopher Reeves, who was famous for his

role as Superman. Furthermore, as Alan does kick boxing and martial arts I know he will be perfect for action scenes.

Chloe Tetu as The Girlfriend

Chloe is an attentive and tranquil person, so I believe she is perfect for the role as the ambiguous but highly inspirational character who essentially is the centre of the Protagonist's world.

Matthew Jones as The Gangster

Matt can be a loud character at times so I felt he would fit the role as the threatening gangster who ends up at 'T

he Suit's mercy.

Ryan Malster as The Driver

Ryan is an experienced driver who I have worked with on past production '30 Days Earlier'. Considering his scenes are fairly challenging to film, I feel his expertise will help greatly before I film.

Alex Barham as The Politician

I play the politician in the news report watched by The Protagonist. I feel the intertexuality needs to be perfect for the

quick scene so I have decided to employ myself with smart attire for the specific effect I want to achieve.