Post Production - Merchandise

As part of our distribution process for our trailer, we decided to consider different merchandise products to promote our film. We researched other film companies and some of their different merchandise products and decided the most popular items were T Shirts, Cups and Stickers. Therefore we got in touch with a friend of the group who prints stickers.  After designing some different layouts and designs for our film stickers we decided on using our iconic ‘Chiller’ font and the films name “Here I Come”. Once the layout was designed we printed the final outcome and stuck them onto our different merchandise products.

We designed two types of T Shirt, one men’s long sleeve top and a women’s crop top. The sticker was positioned across the chest to stand out.  We decided on these types of clothing as we agreed this would be the most popular style within our target audience’s demographic. We expect clothing lines such as New Look, Top Shop and H&M to stock our range of ‘Here I Come’ merch as similar items are sold in these places.

The second merchandise product we chose was cups/mugs. As these are ‘everyday’ items all ages can find purpose. This widens our target market to all generations, as they are small affordable items. Therefore we wrapped our film name across the outside of two different designs of mugs. We decided plain white mugs would be most effective as the black sticker will be clear.

We also printed extra large stickers to sell as a separate product for consumers to stick the stickers where they chose. Along with the title production company logos were printed as stickers also.

Time Line of My Opening

00:02 - Age Certification
00:05 - Production Company Logo
00:10 - Establishing shot of Mother & Daughter
00:14 - Mid shot of Mother + Daughter holding hands
00:16 - Long shot of Daughter
00:20 - Mid shot of Mother pushing Daughter on Swings
00:22 - Point of View shot from antagonist
00:24 - Two shot of Mother and Daughter talking
00:29 - Close up of Mother beginning count down
00:31 - Mid shot of Daughter leaving the park
00:33 - Close up of Mother Counting
00:35 - Long shot of mother looking for Daughter
00:37 - Mid shot of mother still looking for Daughter
00:39 - Long shot of Mother alone in the park
00:40 - Close up of roundabout (flashback)
00:40 - Close up of Daughter (flash back)
00:40 - Close up of teddy bear (flash back)
00:41 - Long shot of Mother in park
00:42 - Close up of mother searching for Daughter
00:43 - Close up of Daughter (flash back)
00:44 - Mid shot of Mother shouting for Daughter
00:46 - Close up of Mother Shouting Daughters name
00:47 - Wide shot of Daughter running (flash back)
00:47 - Long shot of Daughter in park (flash back)
00:48 - Close up of Mother shouting for Daughter
00:50 - Close up of phone dialling 999
00:51 - Type writer effect & font (news report title page)
00:56 - Close up of printer printing missing peoples reports
00:59 - Close up of hand using computer mouse
01:00 - Mid Shot of police tape around park
01:01 - Wide shot of park ride
01:02 - Long shot of trains passing
01:05 - Close up of smashing clock
01:06 - Two shot of Mother and Detective
01:09 - Close up of iconic pink coat
01:11 - Pan up power pylon
01:12 - Close up of Vodka bottle
01:13 - Wide shot of swings at park
01:15 - Ariel shot of vodka bottle smashing
01:17 - Two shot of Detective and Mother
01:23 - Close up Mother popping pills
01:25 - Close up of kill board
01:28 - Low angle shot of Mother running
01:29 - High angle shot of Mother in Detective office
01:30 - Close up of Mothers nails tapping
01:31 - Mid shot of Mother downing vodka
01:33 - Long shot of police car
01:33 - Close up of Mother looking at pictures of Daughter
01:34 - Establishing shot of train tracks
01:35 - Mid shot of Mother waking up in panic
01:36 - High angle shot of mother
01:38 - Wide shot of police tape
01:40 - Hand held shot/ POV of someone running
01:41 - Close up of police sign
01:42 - Close up of smashed glass
01:43 - High angle of Mother sitting on the floor
01:44 - Mid shot of swing
01:45 - Extreme close up of Mother in bed
01:47 - Two shot of Mother and Detective
01:48 - Close up of train passing
01:49 - Close up of crumpled mug shots
01:50 - Pan up of trees
01:51 - Fade to black (title page)
01:53 - Long shot of car head lights
01:56 - Hand held pan of cuts on arm
02:00 - Close up of tied up wrists
02:02 - Close up of glass in arm
02:06 - Here (title page)
02:07 - Long shot of foggy park
02:08 - I (title page)
02:09 - Long shot of foggy park
02:10 - Come (title page)
02:11 - Mid shot of arm lifting itself up

Production Our Production Company Logo

We immediately decided that we wanted to base our production company logo on dark, crime thriller related colours because throughout our research we found that this was an extremely effective and memorable element. Therefore, our logo is based on a black background, featuring only white font and image. As a group we decided that we wanted to include a building of some sort, finally deciding on a shed-like outline. Shed’s and abandoned domestic buildings are often used as a location in crime thrillers, which is inevitably why we chose to include this here. Through the use of photoshop we added in the white wood effect, as it makes the building appear older, consequently increasing the frightening and eerie effect it will have. We agreed that a simple font would be the most effective in our logo. This is because we wanted to create the impression that there was an underlying eeriness, which was hidden and disguised by the simpleness of the font. During independent research into other production company logos, such as Blumhouse Productions and Hammer Productions, it was evident that intricate and ‘fancy’ fonts were unpopular. 

Research Certifications

Information –
All classification decisions are based on the BBFC’s published and regularly updated Guidelines. The Guidelines are the product of extensive public consultation, research and the accumulated experience of the BBFC over many years. They reflect current views on film, DVD and video game regulation.

What does ‘U’ mean?The U symbol stands for Universal.  A U film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. However, you cant predict what might upset a particular child, especially at a lower age.  At U only allow infrequent use of very mild bad language (e.g. ‘damn’ and ‘hell’). Characters may be seen kissing or cuddling and there may be references to sexual behaviour. However, there will be no overt focus on sexual behaviour, language or innuendo. Sex and sex references are treated the same irrespective of sexuality so there could be mild or undetailed references at U.

What does PG mean?PG stands for Parental Guidance. This means a film is suitable for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. A PG film should not unsettle a child aged around eight or older. Parents should consider whether the content may upset younger, or more sensitive, children. Some films are given a PG certificate but have not been made with a young audience in mind. A recent example of a film mostly enjoyed by grown ups but passed PG would be Saving Mr. Banks. However, the certificate means that any issues in the work are appropriate for the majority of this age group and nothing should upset a child of eight or over. A PG film will not contain any theme which is inappropriate for a child. PG works can explore challenging issues such as bullying, bereavement or racism.

12 and 12AThe 12A requires an adult to accompany any child under 12 seeing a 12A film at the cinema. This is enforced by cinema staff and a cinema may lose its license if adult accompaniment is not enforced for children under 12 admitted to a 12A film. Accompanied viewing cannot be enforced in the home, so the 12 certificate remains for DVD/Blu-ray, rather than the 12A. The 12 is also a simpler system for retailers. It means they cannot sell or rent the item unless the customer is over the age of 12.

15No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a 15 rated video. 15 rated works are not suitable forchildren under 15 years of age.
Any of the following can occur:
-strong violence
-frequent strong language (e.g. ‘f***’).
-portrayals of sexual activity
-strong verbal references to sex
-sexual nudity
-brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence discriminatory language or behaviour
-drug taking

18
Films rated 18 are for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 film at the cinema or buy / rent an 18 rated video. No 18 rated works are suitable for children. Adults are free to choose their own entertainment provided the material is not illegal or potentially harmful, so it is possible some themes tackled at 18 may be offensive even to some adult viewers.

Implications for my genreAfter researching certifications, and the reasoning behind these certifications I have chosen my crime thriller to be a 15.  The reasoning for this is to gain the largest target audience possible still being able to include features such as strong violence, drug taking and strong language. 

Research Micro Elements

Extreme Close Up – Shows a characters facial expression in more detail & draws the audiences attention to something of importance.

Close Up – Shows a characters facial expression/reaction & gives the audience a clear understand of how the character is feeling.

Medium Shot – Shows a characters body language/ facial expression/reaction, as well as part location so the audience has an understanding of what is happening.

Long Shot – See the character in full, with context to location & allows the audience to develop an understanding of the character and the location.

Tracking Shot – A tracking shot is when a camera follows a person or an object physically moving with the subject- This can be done using tracks, handheld, ropes, Steady-cam etc & draws the audience in and out of the action, following the drama.

Panning Shot – When the camera is horizontal so that it sweeps around the scene. It can also be tilted up or down in a vertical panning shot or in a diagonal pan, as when it follows an actor up a stairway following the action.Tilt Shot – Creates a sense of height/power & creates point of view of a character, making the audience feel like they are seeing what the character is seeing.

Zoom Shot – Creates movement, in and out of a shot & alternative tracking shot.

Cut – In the post-production process of film editing and video editing, a cut is an abrupt, but usually trivial film transition from one sequence to another. Alternating or intercutting one narrative action with another. Parallel editing.

Pace –The editor has the freedom to change the timing and pacing of a sequence in order to draw an emotional response from the audience & the editor may choose to convey the story’s tension through fast-paced cuts or linger on a particular shot.

Performance – Facial Expressions – used to show a characters feelings in detail.
Body Language – to show expression through body language as a character, and relationship.

Non Diegetic Sound – Non-diegetic sound is sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action & non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from the a source outside story space.

Diegetic Sound – Diegetic sound is sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film & diegetic sound can be either on screen or off screendepending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame.

Mise-en-Scene – Mise-en-scene refers to everything in the scene/shot.
1.Colour/Lighting
2.Actor positioning/ proxemics/ gesture/ body language/ facial expressions. (performance)
3.Make up & Costume
4.Props/ Furniture/ Set dressing
5.Setting & Location

Analysis – By researching the micro elements, I gave gained the understanding to realise these are all potential features that will be effective in my construction of my film opening.

For example shots such as Close ups/Extreme Close Ups/Long Shots etc, are all useful camera shots that add atmosphere, realism and interest. For example, I can use Close ups and Extreme close up to highlight to the audience fear in characters faces. By doing this, the audience will be more likely to emphasise with the character and will want them to survive for longer.

I also plan to add non diegetic, as well as diegetic sound to my film. I believe this will add to the mystery of the horror and create suspense within.

Production Make Up Fx

For the final part of our trailer we met up with Special Fx Make Up Artist Jemma Hunt. Jemma is a friend of the group and she studying media make up level 3 at Cambridge College. Therefore, for the final part of our trailer me and Sophie met with Jemma to shoot some close up of cuts and bruises.

Jemma applied the make up to Sophie's forearm and we shot it close up so they audience can not distinguish whether its the mother's arm or the daughters arm. This leaves an ambiguous ending to our trailer. We planned to film this outside at night because we want to end our trailer with low key lighting and a mysterious twist. We also added smashed glass to/around the cut for effect.

Marketing Twitter

Twitter is an online news and social networking service where users post and read messages restricted to 140-characters, which are called "tweets". Registered users can post and read tweets. As a group we have not created a Facebook and now also a Twitter page on which we can advertise our trailer. The reason for registering with both different sites is because we believe that the two different social media sites hold two different audience types and if we can capture both of these then we can widen our target audience. Each day we will post updates on the production and editing of our production via 'tweets' as already shown below. 

Editing Software - Premiere Pro

As a group we decided Adobe Premiere Pro would be the best editing software to use to create our trailer.Adobe Premiere Pro is a timeline-based video editing software application. It is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, which includes video editing, graphic design, and web development programs. Adobe is a very easily accessible site for us both at home and in sixth form, it is also easy to use and provide a range of effects and transition to further adjust our shots. We also have experience using Premiere Pro from our last production and therefore will crop, zoom, enhance and speed up our shots using this software. 

Filming Day 21st December 2016

On Wednesday morning our group met after weeks of planning to film the main action of our film. During our production we have filmed short clips during media lessons, lunch time and after school but we decided on a full day where our whole group and both our actors were free. As Alissa (Sarah) and her sister Bluebell (Rosie) weren't available until 1pm we spent the morning collecting shots that do not feature our characters such as establishing shots and location shots. We went to a range of different locations such as the railway lines, under the wind turbines, police station and other landscape and urban shots. These shots were mostly successful as the day we chose turned out to be quite foggy/hazy therefore pathetic fallacy is shown by the weather matching the mood of the production.

At one o'clock we picked up our actors and drove to our main location, priory park. Filming began around 1.20 and lasted until 4 o'clock in the park. During this time we shot all of the start of our trailer. This included shots to establish our main characters, two shots to portray their relationship and mid shots of them to emphasise the equilibrium at the start of the trailer.

Our final part of filming was a focus on Sarah and her deterioration as she looses her daughter. We decided the most realistic place for this to be shown was in a house. Therefore we drove to the one of our group members houses and began filming shots to show her alcoholism, lack of sleep, etc.

Editing Title Pages

During editing we have had to consider some key trailer conventions. These include elements such as a title page, our production company logo and age certifications. Using photoshop we designed a range of different title pages for these different elements all fitting with the same theme and style to build up synergy within our production.

During production we decided upon our trailer being a 15 certification due to the initial plot line and scenes of violence and threat. Using key fonts and logos from other websites we created a cinema style age certification title page to ensure no one below the age of 15 watches our trailer. This will be shown at the very start of our trailer before the production company logo. 

As we decided to use our original production company logo, we wanted to recreate the way it plays on premiere pro. Using photoshop we cropped the images down to minimal parts per page. By breaking this up as a still image we were then able to make it appear to be reconstructing on premiere pro. We also have created a theme throughout our trailer which features a flicker in our font/clips/titles. Therefore this has been continued in our production company logo.

For our title page we have decided to keep the same theme as shown throughout our trailer. This being a dark black background with bold white 'Chiller' font. This is to build up synergy within our production. We plan to bring the up the font reading 'Here I Come' over the final shot of our trailer as it fades to a black screen making it clear this is the title. 

Marketing Creating An Advertisement Page

As Social Media hold an enormous market for a younger target audience we have decided to create a page on Facebook to advertise the production/marketing and distribution of our A2 Media film. We will regularly update the page with recent information on our film such as release dates, interviews, pictures etc. 

For our profile picture and cover photo we have used the basics of our title page for our trailer. This is to create syngery and cross media convergence for our film. This will make the title recognisable to our film. 

This is an example of one of our posts on Facebook. By constantly posting on our page we can inform our audiences all of the latest updates and attract new viewers therefore creating a wider target audience. 

https://www.facebook.com/Here-I-Come-Film-1827962670755730/?view_public_for=1827962670755730

Planning Sound Fx

A head of planning as a group we discussed different sound effects we could include in our trailer. As a common convention of a trailer is a montage of fast paced clips we have decided to follow this during editing. Therefore we decided upon a collection of sound effects we may not be able to collect/recreate as a group on our voice recorder. These included a range of different ones such as children laughing/police sirens/ playground ambience etc. Although we attempted to do some of these sound effects ourselves such as clocks ticking and playground noise it wasn't picked up clear enough on the recorder we had. So we decided to research different free sound effect websites that we could use instead and found some of the following;

This sound we recorded on our own voice recorder using an analogue clock. The sound was clear and a good quality however we believe researching others ensures us we can add the best one possible. We decided to add this particular noise as an emphasis on time passing throughout our trailer. As our storyline follows a missing girl it is key to convey time passing to convince the audience of the mothers deterioration throughout this period of time while she is without her daughter.

This sound effect of police siren is a very important sound within our trailer. This particular noise is recognisable as a sign of emergency/crime/fear. As it was impossible for our group to record our own sound clip of this we decided finding the right one from a website was important.



 
This sound conveys the main scene where most of the action takes place. As the plot is revolved around a missing little girl by playing sound effects of children with clips of the mothers insecurity and panic this will be shown to be playing with her mind.

Similar to above, this sound effect is used to taunt the mother throughout the trailer with constant reminders of her little girl.

Research Company Logos

These are a collection of different crime thriller companies and their production company logos. After researching a variety of different company logos including ones of other genres, some of the general conventions became clear. Most logos we came across appeared to be dark in colour, such as blacks, blues, greys etc. They generally show low key lighting and little saturation as many are simply black and white. These dark colours connote the disturbing tone to the films as they show no conventions of positive images/prints/fonts. Most fonts shown were also San Serif which foreshadows the bluntness and brutality of the films produced. As shown the backgrounds are generally black with a small image/logo and Titles/font below. 

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Research Own Film Habits

We decided our group genre by discussing types of films we all enjoy and agreed could be possible to create based upon restricted facilities and equipment. We concluded that a Crime Thriller would be the genre we chose to base our trailer on. Therefore we spent several days researching and watching crime thriller trailers, clips and films. These include;

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"The novel is a psychological thriller about a woman suffering from    .She wakes up every day with no knowledge of who she is and the novel follows her as she tries to reconstruct her memories from a journal she has been keeping." - Wikipedia 
We decided to use this film for ideas that will show our main characters deterioration, as the struggle of main character in Before I Go To Sleep is shown to effect her emotional state we have used key ideas from this as part of our main characters psychological state. These include different shots of her panic, emotion, and fear. 






Suspects, Criminals and Crimes make Gone Girl fit the classic definition of a mystery novel. "On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne reports that his wife, Amy, has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick's portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble." -IMBD 
As this is a big blockbuster we decided we watch the film as a group a analysise the trailer for different clip ideas, camera angles and movements, costume ideas, body movements, facial expressions etc. 






"In the late 1960s/early 1970s, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree." - IMDB Our group analysed parts of this this film and trailer to be able to identify with our detective role for a scene in our trailer. Further in the film the main character develops a obscure obsession with working out the mystery. We want to portray this in our trailer as the mother becomes obsessed with researching and trying to find her missing daughter. 





Some of our ideas were also developed from crime books and novels different group members have previously read.  

"A 14-year-old girl in suburban 1970's Pennsylvania is murdered by her neighbor. She tells the story from the place between Heaven and Earth, showing the lives of the people around her and how they have changed all while attempting to get someone to find her lost body" -IMBD
As I have previously read this book instantly ideas began to form from similar conventions of the film. As the storyline follows a young girl it was interesting to compare other films to how we plan to portray a young girl in our trailer. 



"This English-language adaptation of the Swedish novel by Stieg Larsson follows a disgraced journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), as he investigates the disappearance of a wealthy patriarch's niece from 40 years ago. He is aided by the pierced, tattooed, punk computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara)." - IMDB
This was another book that was brought up during our group discussion of films and books similar to our genre. The missing persons plot line is useful to analyse as we were able to establish mise en scene conventions we could include in our production. 



"A divorcee becomes entangled in a missing persons investigation that promises to send shockwaves throughout her life." - IMDB
This book written by Paula Hawkins (later directed by Tate Taylor in a Hollywood blockbuster) reveals a twisted mystery of a missing person and the effects in has on people around her. As 3/4 members of our group have read this book with was another than stood out during discussion of other crime thrillers. 

Production Locations During Filming

These are a range of location shots from a collection of images that were taken whilst filming our trailer. Other images are taken from google maps showing the various places we decided to shoot our film. 

   This is an image taken to show the establishing shot we decided to include at the start of our trailer. 

This is another screenshot from google maps of the train tracks we included with a long shot in our trailer. The idea behind this was to speed up the shots of trains in Adobe Premiere Pro to emphasise the distress of our main character through fast motion and loud noises to suggest her anxiety and fear. 

This is an image taken from google maps showing the car park of the playground we decided to shoot most of our production in. The reason for this was because a playground connotes the storyline of it being based around a young girl. The park is the only scene where the daughter is actually shown and therefore key to filming. This was also a very accessible location for the whole film during shooting days. 

This photo show the main house where supposedly the characters live. Shots here mainly include various scenes of our main character Sarah. We believe this is a very relatable and realistic setting in our production and our target audience can relate to this as may live in similar housing etc.

This is a shot taken from the back of Longsands Academy where many shot where taken during weekdays filming. Shots here include using departments such a food tech as kitchen setting etc. 

This final shot is taken from google to show another establishing shot in our production. At this location we decided to use other camera movements such as zooms and hand held shots etc.