LO3 - Be able to produce production materials for an original audio-visual promo idea

LO3: Produce Production Materials

Equipment & Images:

One piece of equipment that I have used to create my video is a Cannon camera as this will capture the footage I need and allow me to record in a professional manner. Here I am adjusting the lens within my camera so that my actor is in focus and that I have found a suitable camera angle that suits my genre of the promotion video. One thing that was good about this is that I could easily focus the lens onto my actor, allowing my footage to look clear and professional for the audience. One thing that I found difficult with using the Cannon Camera is by adjusting the settings so that the footage quality is still clear and bright so that my footage could avoid being ruined by the darkness of the natural lighting. However, I could tackle this later when I upload my footage and begin to edit it within my chosen editing software, I can adjust the brightness of the footage and change it so that the footage has the right balance of light so that you can clearly see the actors but not too bright that it ruins that element of darkness within my horror genre. Overall, I found the Cannon Camera useful when recording my footage as the quality came out really well and I managed to get lots of shots.

Additionally, another piece of equipment that I have used to record my video is my iPhone as during the production phase me filming my video, the setting was getting quite dark and the camera wasn't picking up the correct brightness that I was hoping for. Due to this I had to switch mid way through recording to my iPhone as my phone quality for recording was much better for the circumstances and challenges I was facing during filming.  While recording on my iPhone I still had a range of accessible features such as an easily adjusted zoom feature that I could use for up close shots. Additionally, the iPhone has better camera quality as the frame rate can go up to 60fps and can also have 4K resolution, meaning that I could still get some really good quality footage while also filming on my phone. There wasn't much to do for the setting up of the iPhone being used as the main equipment for gathering footage, I just had to access the camera app on my iPhone and then swipe until I was on the option of 'Video', everything else such as getting different shot types was me either crouching or leaning down so that I could get the correct angle for my video.

Overall these were the only pieces equipment I used to capture the footage to help create my video as I was limited with equipment at the time and  I wanted to capture as much footage as I could before my actors became busy again. So overall the two pieces of equipment that I have used to get the footage for my trailer is my iPhone and a Cannon Camera.

How Have Legal & Ethical Laws Been Implanted?

When capturing footage for my product, I needed to make sure that I have followed my Legal and Ethical Constraints within my report in LO2.

 One way that I have followed is the Copyright Law as this act claims that I must use footage that I have taken in order to create my short trailer to avoid any legal action being taken caused by stealing assets and footage from other creators. I have followed this legal constraint by making sure that all the footage captured within the trailer is originally taken by me as seen with the images above which proves that I haven't stolen any footage and I have gone out with a camera and filmed actors that have followed my story. I will also need to continue with this law throughout the actual creation of my trailer as I will be adding more assets and features within it. 

Another constraint that I have followed within my Legal and Ethical report is Liability and Slander ethical issue which means that I have to have made sure that when capturing my footage for my product, I have not made anyone look bad or damaged their reputation in any way as this can get me and my product in trouble. I have avoided doing this when gaining my footage by making sure that the characters that I have created for each of my actors is original and follow the traditional ways of how a group of friends are within a horror film. I have also made sure when getting my footage that they don't include any harmful statements or false news about anyone in and outside this project as this it would be slander and untrue towards another person and could therefore get my work into trouble and I maybe forced to have it taken down. Additionally, as I stated in my report previously that I will not include any slanderous words within my script for my actors to read at this would make my trailer have a bad reputation and I have indeed followed through with my footage not capturing any slanderous words coming from my actors and making sure that my actors stick to the script to make this words more avoidable when recording.

 The final law that I have implanted while recording it to make sure my footage is suitable for my aimed target audience for ages 15 and above due to some of the horror elements such as blood and demonic entities. However, when capturing my footage, I have made sure that they don't contain any explicit actions or words, any offensive words that may offend a specific group of people and to make sure that it does not contain much gore other than blood. This helps my product pass the guidelines of the BBFC and makes sure that my product reaches and attracts the correct target audience without making them dislike my product by including elements that may not suit the age rating.

Codes & Conventions While Filming

Since my trailer will be about a horror film, I will have needed to follow or be inspired by the traditional codes and conventions of a horror film, such as jump scares and eerie lead ups to scares etc. Well I have followed these when collecting my footage, as within my footage I have captured a group of teens who are the main group for this film, walking through the woods while the sun is dropping. This is traditional when it comes to the codes and conventions within horror films as the footage includes a group of teens, which is traditional with horror films and they are in the woods which already creates that eerie setting due to the trees seeming like they lead on forever and it is easily to get lost within them, which is the same feeling viewers get when seeing other film trailers with the traditional lost in the woods film, fitting with the codes and conventions of a horror film. 

Another way that I have followed the codes and conventions when collecting footage for my horror trailer is having a scene where a character is running away from something or someone. This is traditional as we see these kinds of scenes within horror films and trailers themselves as these indicate to a threat opposing our characters and when we see them running it makes us wonder what or who they are running from, creating that mystery when people view those products.  I have been inspired by other products that include this code and convention within their horror film product that I have implemented it within mine to hopefully capture that traditional feeling of mystery and fear within my trailer. 

One last code and convention that I have included when capturing my footage is having the group of teens / characters being split up when having to survive whatever is lurking in the woods. I have done this as it is traditional within horror films for characters to separate from groups and be on their own as it makes the audience worry for the character who is alone and makes them also think about what could be lurking within the shadows while they are alone, but it ultimately also creates fear within the audience further as we worry for the character and that helps us feel the fear the characters are feeling. I have seen these traditional codes and conventions being used within already existing products such as movies and trailers and I have tried to add the same idea within my footage as it would indeed follow the codes and conventions of a horror film of isolation but it would furthermore help create the feeling of fear within my target audience and them thinking of what comes next.

Comparison - Storyboard To Footage

When capturing my footage for my film trailer, I partially followed my plans made from my storyboard for scenes but when actually getting to the location and filming I decided to add some scenes that weren't in the originally planned and I have also decided to discard some scenes that I thought were maybe unnecessary or were a bit difficult to film due to the location of where everything was taken.  For example, for the first couple of scenes within my storyboard, I wanted the main character to do some research on the urban legend so that it could show how the group ended up within the woods in the first place (Shot 1 & 2 on Storyboard), however this footage was not captured due to the location we were in and my actors being busy, causing this scene to be scrapped from the trailer.  Another scene that I have decided to scrap was the journey into to the forest (Shot 3 on Storyboard), as on the storyboard that I wanted a scene where my characters were on the train going to the forest to help the anticipation build up within the audience for them to think how does this go all wrong, however I decided to get rid of this due to the footage being imperfect to use within the trailer due to it being out of focus and not creating the right feeling I wanted for the scene. Fundamentally, I wish I could've added this scene within my actual trailer but it just didn't look right and stood out from the rest of the clips, if I ever wanted to create a scene like that again in the future I will need to make sure that I have the camera focused this time and to make sure that my footage creates that build up that I wanted originally. 

On the other hand, there are scenes that I have captured based upon the planning of the storyboard and an example oft this is the shot of when the group is all walking together within the forest (Shot 5 on Storyboard). I decided that I wanted to capture this footage no matter what as it shows the calm before the storm, and how this is the groups last glance of innocence and freedom before entering the woods, so I managed to capture this quite well. I believe that planning this scene before it was done was effective as it allowed me to gain some essential scenes that I definitely knew I wanted to capture for my product as it has meaning with it and it shows the cast of characters all together but it also presents build up to what is going to happen next. Additionally, another scene that I have followed due to the planning of my Storyboard is the chase scene (Shot 12 on Storyboard) as again I thought this was a crucial element to add within my horror trailer and traditional / conventional horror movies trailers always have someone running from something or they are being chased. I followed my planning of the story board, making sure that my character / actor is running within the woods within having natural lighting and that the shot it wide enough to show their whole body or the top half of their body, however, I have changed this scene slightly so that instead of the camera being faced to the actors left, the camera is placed behind them so that we can see them drop the stick that they picked up within the previous scene and run away from it, which gives the audience that feeling of fear and mystery as they don't see whatever made the character run away but they know that something sinister is lurking. Finally, another scene that I have decided to follow due to the planning of my story board is the scene where one of the characters try to phone the police due to the strange entity lurking within the woods with them (Shot 13 on Storyboard). Within this scene I have kept the whole concept of 'calling for help' but I have instead changed the shot type to an extreme close up when filming as I wanted to capture the fear within my characters eyes and the panic that they are experiencing and additionally, I wanted to make it so that the audience wouldn't be able to see the 'entity' as the camera angle makes it look as if the audience is hiding behind the tree trying to call for help with the character, building up more fear and anxiety within my audience and it helps them be more involved within the story as they experience these emotions. I overall wanted to make sure that when capturing footage like this that even though we didn't have an actual actor play the 'entity', I wanted the feeling of it to be real and to make sure that the audience doesn't actually see the creature as it keeps it suspenseful and an overall surprise for the audience when they watch it.

Furthermore, I have also added new scenes that were not originally planned within the Storyboard and an example of this is when recording my footage for the trailer, I got some random shots of the woods and the trees (angles, colours, patterns etc) to help create the emphasis of the woods having an eerie and fearful atmosphere and give a feeling to the audience that makes them feel that something isn't right. I did these with a mix of shot types, such as close ups of branches and gaps within trees with  long shots of the patterns of branches and trees above us and long shots of the sunset within the maze of trees. I am overall glad I have included these scenes within capturing footage for my trailer as these clips can create the feeling of isolation within the woods but it can also help extend the time of how long my trailer with adding emphasis of fear within the audience within the small clips of it being shown. Another scene which I have decided to collect when gathering my footage that wasn't originally planned when creating my Storyboard is an extended scene of Shot 6 as after the two characters are done talking together on the bench, they decide to hold hands to comfort each other as a way to show togetherness as a group and to show more of the relations between the characters. I believe that I wanted to add this scene because it can make audiences connect with the characters more as we will be able to see relationships within the trailer and it gives an insight to the audience about what type of people these characters are that I have created. This also can relate to a few people within my audience as they may need to depend on other people to comfort them during uneasy and struggling situations making my audience relating and creating ideal selves within my trailer, allowing more people to become interested in it which will lead them to watching it. To capture this shot, I made the shot type a close up as the shot only contains the two characters hands interlocked which signifies comfort and security and the natural lighting helped highlight the hands which will help this scene stand out as it will get the audience to notice the feeling of togetherness better. 

Comparison - Mindmap

Since I have now taken the shots and clips needed for my promotional video, I will now be comparing if I have followed the same idea for my clips and overall promotional trailer. Here is a screenshot of my Mindmap: 

When taking my clips and short videos for my trailer, I did go with the idea of creating a horror trailer about friends getting lost within the woods but however I changed some aspects that are seen on this Mindmap. 

Once aspect that I decided to change when I was filming the video was the aspect of using a ring as a prop within my trailer as the original idea was for the group of friends to enter the woods and discover a cursed ring that once disturbed it would unleash a killer or guardian after the group of teens and they would have to escape and survive against what was hunting them. I decided to change this as I didn't think that a ring would be a suitable prop to use for a horror trailer and I couldn't find some type of ring object to use as a prop for my short trailer. Instead, I changed the idea of having the group of friends find cursed and disturbing drawings instead as I believe fits more with the genre of horror and the paper itself can hold disturbing things that may scare the audience. The idea of the paper being cursed was an inspiration from already existing media such as 'Slender Man' as this product fits within the horror genre so therefore I wanted to use this inspiration within my trailer so that it could create the same horror effect. 

Another idea that I decided to change within my trailer was the idea of using blood for my trailer as I originally wanted to include this element due to blood typically fitting with the codes and conventions of a horror film /  trailer. However, I decided to remove this idea of blood entirely as I wasn't sure where to get this prop and I didn't ask my actors to bring spare clothing that they didn't mind ruining for the use of blood as I didn't want them to ruin their actual clothes. However if I were to create this project again and wanted to use the idea of fake blood within my trailer, I would make sure to have the sufficient funds to purchase the fake blood and I would also sent a message out to my actors asking if they would be okay with the idea of fake blood being used which would then allow them to bring spare clothes or I could provide the clothing. 

Another idea that I have changed for my horror trailer idea was the element of me shooting the trailer on a grey, foggy day to create a more horror tone within my trailer as fog is usually used to create mystery and fear so this idea would have fit with the codes and conventions well. However, I changed this idea last minute due to when shooting my trailer, the sky and the woods were not foggy and instead it was clear while the sun was setting however having the sun set was also an original idea that I had just in case the grey skies and fog didn't happen. I believe that the sun setting within my promotional video still fits within the codes and conditions of my trailer as it creates the idea of darkness spreading over the forest and works well with all of the trees within my shots as it creates that feeling of being lost or that someone could be lurking within the woods and watching the group in the darkness, which follows codes and conditions of the horror genre.

Have I Followed My Risk Assessments? 

When obtaining my footage for my movie trailer, I had to consider my risk assessments as they were plans for if things happened which could pause the continuation of my product. I kept a digital version of my risk assessment within my phone so that if anything were to happen I could swiftly access the document within one of my saved files and read upon what I should do if one of my risks were to happen during filming. 

One of the risks that I had to consider while filming is the risk of one of my actors or myself tripping and falling during the running scenes of the trailer:

This is a screenshot of what I had prepared for if one of  my actors were to trip and fall which would cause them to injure themselves during the production and gathering of footage. Fundamentally, I had to follow this assessment as one of my actors did injure themselves while running on an uneven surface causing them to injure themselves to pause on getting my footage to make sure that they were seen to and they were okay to continue. As stated within the consequences section, my actor did get a grazed knee due to the uneven surfaces within my recording location (the woods) but having this risk assessment meant that they were seen to much quickly as I had already planned for what I was going to do if this were to ever happen, which means that we would have to get first aid to ensure that the wound wouldn't worsen during filming. Even though this injury still happened, the Pre - Emptive was still followed as stated that I made sure that where the my actor was running, the pathway was clear so that there were no sticks, large branches or rocks that could cause more of an serious injury to on of my actors. Ultimately, following this risk assessment helped me prepare for the scene to make sure that there were no obstacles in the way but it also ensured me of a swift passage of how to deal with this situation if it were ever to happen.

The Second Risk that I didn't have to really consider but I still wanted to mention anyway was the risk of the weather tampering with the equipment and ruining the scene overall.

This is a screenshot of what I had documented for the risk of it raining during the recording session as it could ruin the equipment such as the cameras and props which meant that it would prevent me from gathering footage and it would also cost me to replace the equipment that have been damaged. However like I have said within the report that it would be a 5/10 chance due to it being cold and wet weather that it could possibly rain but it also depended on the day too but I have avoided having to deal with this risk at all due to me checking the weather beforehand, ultimately dodging this risk overall and needing to consider it to there's not much to write about for this. However, I did bring an umbrella and some coverings just in case the weather app was wrong and it did end up raining, which would've prevented equipment from getting wet. But ultimately as I have stated, this risk did not need to be considered as it did not rain the day of recording.

The Third Risk I didn't have to consider that much but it was still a worry when trying to sort a day for when filming can happen is making sure that my actors are not sick or ill the day of shooting.

This is a screenshot of what I had prepared for the action of my actors becoming ill when shooting and recording my video as it would slow down the process of actually getting my footage and if multiple actors are ill at the same then I would have to push back the date of recording which ultimately makes the process of making and creating my video much slower, and it prevents me from getting things done in time for deadlines. However, when getting the footage for my video, non of my actors were ill in the day of shooting so therefore this risk did not need to be considered as much as the others due to them being and feeling perfectly fine to film on that day. Even though I didn't have to consider this risk, it was still a worry for me while filming just in case the random inconvenience occurs that one of my actors do get ill while in the middle of recording but I was prepared for this as stated that I would contact my group of actors (Making sure they feel well before recording)  to ensure that they are all ready to give it their all while acting for my media product. Additionally, I had even prepared another date just in case one of my actors were ill on the original day of shooting so that once everyone was feeling well, we could swiftly go and record on the second planned day instead of having to mess around planning for another day. Ultimately, I would have followed this risk if it had played out that my actors were ill, but on recording day nobody was ill so therefore I did not have to consider this risk when filming but the proof of my risk assessment above shows how I would've dealt with this and how I would've followed the risk if it had to be considered.

The last risk that I had to consider and follow was the risk of equipment failing due to low battery life as this would mean that when gathering footage I wouldn't be fully finished and I would have to plan another day of filming meaning that things within my production schedule gets pushed back.

This is a screenshot of what I have prepared for the risk of my equipment failing during the time of recording as this would make sure that if something were to happen with the equipment then I would have a swift solution for what to do, meaning it saves time and I have a well prepared plan ready. Overall I did need to consider and follow this risk assessment as during the filming of my video, the camera was getting low on battery and due to the natural lighting of the woods, the camera wasn't picking up most of the footage and if it was it was making the footage look really dark and hard to see than it was to see within real life. Within the risk assessment above, I have detailed that the risk being a very bad thing to happen is High as it means having to stop filming which wastes recording time and it means thinking of another solution, which also wastes time but the risk assessment prevents this. I continued to follow the risk assessment as the day before filming I made sure that the battery was fully charged meaning that the camera would have a good battery life for recording and I also tested the camera by taking small videos and pictures to test out the quality was good. However, I failed to follow the rest of the risk assessment as it says that I should have brough spare batteries and chargers with me in case this happens and I did not do this as I thought that the camera life was good enough for my session of recording but I was wrong. Instead of following the risk assessment, I had to think of a solution to my camera dying and the quality being poor which wastes time but I swiftly thought of the idea of getting my phone out and carry on recording the last scenes I need for my life so that's what I did. Ultimately, I did partially follow this risk assessment when considering that I made sure all the equipment was fully charged and making sure that nothing was wrong with the quality but when failed when I planned out bringing spare chargers and chargers just in case something like that happened but I came up with the resolution to record on my phone instead, managing to still get the footage I needed in order to create my trailer.