Evaluation Question 4- Natasha

4) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages.

Photoshop

Image

First attempt

After confirming our decision to use the protagonist in our poster, to meet the conventions of a poster. I attempted trials at photoshop, to develop my skills and see what techniques I could apply to images. We initially tried to make an image of the protagonist holding a book over her face, with the title of the film written on the book. We made an effort to make the book a psychology book as it showed images of the brain, which suited the genre. On top of this, we thought that the inclusion of a book would connote the thoughtful personality of the protagonist, and by not including her face we could suggest that the protagonist is mentally stable.

Development

Later on, I again attempted creating an image on photoshop. I layered an image of the protagonist over another image of the protagonist's eye, to connote how she is trapped within her own illness. Although the idea was effective, I was unskilled at this point and so the overall product was not very professional and came across as quite comical. However, we did decide that the method of layering was effective and decided to use it in our final product. The colouring of the photograph also did not suit the genre.

Final Product

I used Photoshop to create the final poster image. After completing the photo shoot in the kidnap/loft location, I decided to combine the two images of the protagonist and the imaginary character. I opened up the image of the imaginary character standing up and then layered on top of the image the image of the protagonist tied to the chair by rope with tape over her mouth, making sure than the layering was smooth. This was effective as it gives the audience a good insight into the plot, while using effective mise en scene -location and props- and still leaving space for the title and tagline. 

Typography 

First attempt

Once we had decided on our typography, I laid it onto the poster. It was important to make the title visible and also make best use of the space. I decided to put it next to the protagonist's head on the poster, as the lighting was high key in this area, meaning the black font was explicitly visible- which is important on a poster. However, looking back I did not like how the words were squashed up on the image, as this did not have much of an impact and made the poster overall look weak.

Final Product

On photoshop, I also edited the typography of the title so that it suited the poster much better. I did this by splitting the title up into three lines, which allowed me to make each letter much larger, using up the space available much more. This had a much larger impact and was also much more noticeable on first viewing. I also used the ‘Rotate’ tool so that I could make certain letters crooked which came across as though the letters had fallen onto one another, suiting the psychological genre much better.

Camerawork 

First Attempt

I also made use of a more advanced camera during the production stages of our trailer in comparison to our previous pieces. To begin with, I was unskilled with the camera, and used simple, static shots on the tripod. This was successful when filming basic full shots of the characters, however did not leave us with much to work with in the post-production stage. As our genre is psychological, it was important for us to be creative in our camera work to depict the state of the protagonist's mind. 

Development

After practising with the camera extensively, I learnt a couple of effective techniques. This allowed me to be more creative in the shots that I took during certain scenes. For example, in the shot where the victim -who is getting dressed- is being stalked via webcam. I filmed a close-up shot of her pulling on her tights which pulls focus from the background to the foreground, something which was impossible beforehand and is an effective shot. However, this still didn't allow us to explore the mental illness of our protagonist. 

Further Development

Therefore, I researched different camera techniques even more. In the final scene, where the victim wakes up to find she has been kidnapped, I tried to be creative in the filming process by using an aerial shot from above the victim which pans down her body to reveal she has been tied up, also pulling in and out of focus to give a more surreal effect. I commonly put the camera out of focus to depict a POV shot, which shows the instability of the protagonist's mind. I also learnt how to change the exposure and colour levels of the shot, which allowed me to make the scene more low-key, which suited the ambiance we wanted. 

iMovie 

First attempt

I also made use of the software iMovie to compile all of the different scenes together. This meant that I could import the footage into the software, split clips and order them in the right order. I also was able to import soundtracks and sound effects. This was useful in the creation of a sequence, however did not allow me to be very creative in the post-production process. 

Final Product

Therefore, I explored the software a bit more, to see what capabilities it had in store. During the post-production stage I made use of different transitions on the software to help create an effective eye-line match by inserting a black slide for 0.2 seconds to mimic a blinking effect during a POV shot, which was filmed unfocused to replicate the protagonist’s hazy state of mind. We also changed the exposure and saturation of some scenes, to help create the ambiance that we wanted.

Final Cut Pro

First attempt 

When I first started to use Final Cut Pro, it was overwhelming due to the wider variation of effects and techniques that were available in comparison to iMovie. I played around with the fast and slow motion effects, which were effective for the genre as they allowed me to alter the pace of the footage and make the clips seem distorted. I created many short video clips to practise with the software. However, the creativity in the first attempts was somewhat lacking. 

Final Product

I used Final Cut Pro alongside iMovie in our final product throughout the post-production stage to make use of the different available visual effects. In the final scene, which features the victim waking up to find that she has been kidnapped, I particularly used these effects. On all of the shots, I used the ‘Cool Tones’ effect, which made the footage considerably more low-key, suiting the genre much better and coming across as more chilling and scary, which is what we wanted. I also used the ‘Trails’ effect on the POV shot of the bloody hand as this made the shadows and highlights of the shots delayed, coming across as though the the victim is seeing double, which suits the scene well as she is just waking up. Finally, I used the ‘Bad TV’ effect in several areas, for example in one shot I used this effect for 0.4 seconds at the start and then 0.9 seconds at the end, to build tension for the climax. These visual effects helped improve the overall effectiveness of the trailer, seeming more professional. 

Chroma Keying

Research 

To begin with, I was unsure of how to go about the chroma keying scenes, as this was an area that was completely new to me. I did extensive research into what we would need, and what software would be best. I also planned what backgrounds to use, coming up with a variation of options to use including a moving video of a hypnotic spiral or a static image of a prison cell. However, I decided the best option would be to trial the software and different backgrounds. 

First Attempt

For our first attempt, to see how to use the background, I used a temporary green screen to film against and also used a phone camera without a tripod. This meant that when I edited the two videos of the same actor together, the result was extremely unprofessional, shaky and also the colour of the green screen we used meant there were holes in the footage. However, from this process I learnt how to simply use the software, so I was happy with the outcome. 

Development

I then tried the process again, however using a tripod and the professional camera, to get a high quality result. This time the outcome was better than previously, however I had trouble inputting a background, as the video I wanted to use was a different resolution to the foreground footage. However, I then overcame this by coming across the 'crop' tool which allowed me to crop a video clip to the right size for the framing. 

Final Product

I finally worked out how to effectively use chroma keying by filming several scenes in front of a green screen with a tripod. For our final product, I filmed the shot of the protagonist on the laptop in front of the green screen and then later on used the ‘Keying’ effect on Final Cut Pro to change the background to footage I recorded of the victim’s Facebook profile. This meant that we could effectively show the audience what was on the laptop screen in a creative and innovative way. We also used the chroma keying to show the surreal state of the protagonist’s mind by changing the background to an intimate close-up shot of her screaming to a shot of pills, which explicitly shows how she is overwhelmed by her illness, making the narrative clear and allowing the audience to sympathise with her. The overall product was innovative and successful.