Special effects makeup and character design

I have two videos where I made and decorated the mask in detail
https://youtu.be/dr6HkygMSyU
https://youtu.be/jyZWzvRpSFQ

The below shows a mind map and selection of makeup products for the normal makeup used and not the special effects makeup

I have the drawings and designs of the costumes for the antagonist

Evaluation question 4- Technology in media

Research-

• YouTube
• Magazines
• Horror films

Planning-

• Prezi
• Wikipedia
• Drawing
• Powerpoint
• Word
• Google Drive

Production-

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Premiere
• Movie Maker
• Canva
• Cyberlink
• Drawing
• Word
• Android microphone
• Android music app

Evaluation-

• Movie Maker
• Prezi
• Youtube
• Blogger
• Google
• Word

Research
During the research process a large form of technology I used was YouTube; I used this to research SFX (special effects- makeup) and began to teach myself how to do simple things with this makeup until I progressed enough to where I had the ability to make prosthetic wounds and a well fitting mask from scratch. I also used YouTube to research trailers; I began with trailers of films I knew I liked such as The Conjuring which I analysed in a huge amount of detail and films of this specific sub-genre such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th; this allowed me to begin identifying common themes and factors at play in horror.

Whilst researching I also used magazines such as a specific horror magazine focused on special effects makeup and how it is used in horror; this inspired me even more and helped me to design exactly what kind of design I wanted which worked in synergy with my YouTube research as I could then look for the specific techniques that I could use to make the products.

Planning
When planning, I have used PowerPoint and Prezis to plan conventions, theories and character development. I have in detail planned and researched many different aspects of film and provided examples on a variety of topics such as the Smurfette Principal which I provided  three film examples where a first film had one female amongst a group of males and for the second film a second female was added; similarly, when I looked into the conventions I went into a lot of detail especially when it came to the themes, sound and lighting in which I invested a lot of time and energy into the planning of this project. I also used documents such as Word and Google Drive Documents to plan different aspects of the filming day, using online technology to work out when and how to meet everybody, this was mostly done through social media due to this being an easy way for all of us to get in contact; this meant everyone was aware of any and all decisions that I or others wanted to make, an example of this is how Chloe who was the normal makeup artist and prop helper, was able to make it known to me that she would be bringing a large amount of supplies and would need help carrying and transporting her belongings.

Production
I originally started to edit my trailer on Adobe Premiere which as I have explained in detail about the technical difficulties faced by using a programme which caused a lot of problems and technical difficulties as explained in my software and changes document. Movie Maker is what I ended up using because it could be run on the equipment I had as well as it being an easy software to use and one I am used to using.

I also used editing software such as Photoshop and online editing software such as Canva to edit images for the trailer and ancillary tasks. Something unique I did that no one else in my media class has done is create my own music for the horror trailer by using Android app software and making lyrics with a simple piano, violin and cello four chord backing track and a separate two chord cello and violin music to continuously play over the entire trailer. As Movie Maker is a more simplified software, to add the continuous repeated two chord layer I needed to use a piece of editing software by Cyberlink which allowed me to overlay the music on top of the trailer.

Evaluation
For evaluating the entire project I debated what to use before deciding on using Blogger, Movie Maker and Prezi documents to explain all aspects of my project. The Feedback was something I decided to write about in a video format with screenshot images of all the questions in the target audience research survey I performed asking their view about my horror trailer. The two Prezis I created both used themes which were different from each other after being planned on paper and then written up in a creative and entertaining way which I believed would still make the topics interesting to the audience. Prezi is an interesting site which is very easy to use after you get used to it, a Prezi Presentation is a site easily accessible from anywhere and this was just one of the reasons as to why it was to easy to use.

Question 3

This link will take you to a video where I discuss the audience feedback on my trailer and what others thought.
https://youtu.be/kmuIUdYlIUk

Question 2 how effective is the combination of your media products

The effectiveness of my main product and ancillary tasks is shown in this Prezi document where i analyse the way my products work well together with good synergy.
https://prezi.com/p/5ysj6fmzettu/

Evaluation question 1

This Prezi shows the ways I have used, challenged and developed my product in comparison to real products.
https://prezi.com/p/ceoh0znuivpv/

Final trailer

Final poster

Final magazine

First draft of trailer

https://youtu.be/Zc87d-YNxEs

Peer assessment

Peer assessment ancillary task:

• Posters’ image was shot well- Katy
• Bright pink jacket is a bit too bright for the genre of the film- Mr Robinson
• Font suits the image well- Katy
• List of who was involved needs trimming down, maybe shorten names- Miss Rowe
• Include newspaper thoughts on the film- Ellie H

Peer assessment ancillary response:

• Dulled the image so that the pick was less bright
• Included newspaper reviews
• Production list names have now been shortened

Peer assessment trailer:

• Well edited as it is- Ellie M
• Match up sound better- Katy
• Add in a piece of consecutive music- Matt

Peer assessment trailer response:

• Added in a consecutive piece of music
• Matched up sound well

Software explanation

Software explanation:

All in all my final trailer is a very good product, however there were some problems along the way and 
unexpected changes I had to make. I used Adobe premiere at the beginning but due to technical issues 
I had to change software, I decided to use Movie Maker which I was originally unsure of but I managed 
to use it efficiently.

Adobe premiere-

Alike many of my classmates I used this software for my horror trailer, however due to the school 
computers it became incredibly difficult to use this particular software. The software had been downloaded
onto computers which could not run it correctly which meant that editing was impossible; I would open the
folder and an hour later it still could not run correctly. I decided that I would not be able to use this
software for my trailer and had to restart my project onto another software which I would be able to use 
more efficiently and be able to make an effective, creative and most importantly intriguing horror trailer.

Movie Maker-

I had disregarded this software as an option early on because I thought it could be too basic for the final 
version of this project but after the problems I seemed to be having with Adobe premiere I thought it would
be a good idea to try this software instead as it was more easily accessible and I had previously used it.
I found out that despite my original thoughts, I was able to create a well edited horror trailer; adding in the
sound is what brought the trailer together and so after going through and editing all the visual areas of the
trailer I could add a range of effects, music and my own original music. I believe that the key to this being
a good overall product was that I uses a familiar software; unlike Adobe premiere it was simple to use and
I was able to work on my trailer outside of school, this worked well for me as I did not have to worry about
only having access to my work in one area. The use of effects such as cropped videos or pans was very
important in creating a successful horror trailer, colour and speed alterations also helped with flickers of 
other images being added into the video; when the main image is a calm pan side to side, the use of a 
fast paced scene in between this slow image creates a change in the film and keeps the tension there 
for the audience.

Cyberlink editing software-

After all the editing on Movie Maker, with the help of feedback I realised that I need a consecutive piece 
of music to go over the entire trailer so that it can be recognised as a continuous trailer. On Movie 
Maker you cannot put a piece of music over everything as they are split into different sections and this 
would not work as I had already edited sound, therefore I had to use another type of software to include
another layer of sound over everything, the sound was simple chords on a piano, violin and cello which 
created drama throughout the project.

As mentioned before I had some technical problems but I did manage to create a great and dramatic
atmosphere during the trailer, with the changes I have made it is even better than before and looks 
very professional. Adding in the titles and music made it seem much better than it previously had been,
the simple music meant that it was possible to identify this as a real horror film trailer.

Poster and magazine image

I decided to use one of these images because they work well for a poster due to the use of colour and the way I took the picture. Using a range of light and dark when taking the image meant that this was already a well taken and task specific photograph, the character being centralised also makes her stand out as the main part of this image; the two lights produce more than one shadow for the character which creates a sense of mystery as the girls' shadows seem distorted.

This image works well for my magazine due to many factors such as the use of camera angle, lighting and context. As shown in the poster image; I am able to use the balance of light and dark to contrast an image well as well as successfully and repeatedly using camera angle and subject position to create a good photograph. Having the subject central in the image once again means that the attention is drawn to them, the light displays the facial features well which means the mask is easily visible.

Magazine and poster insporation

Trailer storyboard

List of possible horror names

Location Shots

Above are a variety of images which are from a local woods and the dilapidated pigeon loft at the end of my garden. These are possible and probable locations for filming my horror film trailer because they are local, easily accessible and atmospheric for this purpose. I will analyse these in greater depth through an evaluation discussing the location, effects used and camera angles/techniques; this is because I want to be clear about every aspect I want to include in my trailer.

Genre conventions

Marketing and distribution