Behind the scenes- special effects from Sarah on Vimeo.
I believe this shot is a good shot to place a CGI face, purely because it’s a dark window which gives off a sense of danger because you can’t see further. The zoom on the shot will make the face stand out, which will catch the audiences attention leaving them on edge for the rest of the trailer.
Why will this shot work/not work for visual/special effects? This shot will work well for my visual effect of a mysterious CGI face, the reason for this is because it's a dark window so by the camera looking into it you're going to expect there to be something to look at. How will this shot help the narrative? This particular shot doesn't exactly help the narrative as it's a basic shot and doesn't have a meaning behind it. The dark window is just a shot where the face can appear, this shot isn't very significant to the story line. But from an audiences perspective this shot will help the narrative as it's where we first see this face which tells the audience this figure can only be seen at night and it hides/appears in unexpected places. How do you intend to cut away from this shot to the next one? This shot will fade into black and then the next shot flashes up, this will create a jumpy effect. How effective do you think this shot will be in the final piece? I believe this shot will look quite effective. As it's a simple shot, I will be turning it into something more than that, I want it to be quite a dramatic/jumpy shot when I've added the visual effect and I think it will look good. How effective was your directing of the actors? No actors are involved in this shot. |
What was the production process used to create this shot?
The production process used to create this shot was very simplistic, I used a tripod and set the camera up and then zoomed into the window. One of my crew members was holding a torch behind the camera to add artificial light so that the window was clear on camera as it was dark when this was filmed. Compare this shot to the original storyboard - are they the same? I made sure I followed the storyboard throughout the production process to ensure I followed it and the shots were how I planned them to be. This shot is the same to the planned content in the storyboard, however it's only 6 seconds not 7 but it is long enough for use in the final product. However I made sure I zoomed in the shot as planned on the storyboard and the content is the same. What direction did you give to cast and crew especially where the effect was concerned and how did you work within the risk assessment? For this shot it was me filming and another crew member who was at hand for the lighting. I made sure myself and my crew member stayed safe and followed the risk assessment, I made sure that there were no people around when I wanted to film to avoid members of the public tripping over the equipment e.g. the tripod. I also made sure that my crew member was aware of the equipment around and that we both were not blocking any entrances or exits. |
This shot is effective as it’s a hand print because it creates a sense of suspicion, the audience don’t know who’s hand it is nor why it’s there, emphasising the unknown within the trailer. I believe this shot will be effective in the final piece. I’m planning on using this shot at the end of the trailer.
Why will this shot work/not work for visual/special effects? This shot is an ending shot to tie up the trailer, this shot would work for visual effects because the hand print can have effects added to it to make it stand out more. For this shot I'm thinking of adding a flash effect and maybe even making the colour change from black to red for a split second to symbolise blood. How will this shot help the narrative? This shot helps the narrative because it's influencing the unknown in the trailer, there is a mysterious unknown killer that only gets shown once in the trailer and all that he does is presented as clues in the trailer such as the hand print. How do you intend to cut away from this shot to the next one? This shot is the end shot, it flashes and then fades completely to black. How effective do you think this shot will be in the final piece? This will be an effective ending shot for the ending of the film because it leaves the audience with a cliff hanger as a hand print is unidentified it also leaves the audience wanting to see more as there is unanswered questions. How effective was your directing of the actors? No actors were involved in this shot. |
What was the production process used to create this shot?
The production process used to create this shot was a hand held camera shot at a dutch tilt angle, this process was used to create effect and connote the feeling of tension and terror. Compare this shot to the original storyboard - are they the same? The original storyboard states that this shot should only be 6 seconds however when filming this I decided to make the shot longer and then to cut it in post production as with hand held shots you can never guarantee quality so I wanted to record it for longer so that if the first 5 seconds were blurry or just not good enough for use in the final piece I had more footage to use. However the rest of this shot is in line with the story, I used a close up on the shot to help build tension in the final product, I referenced the storyboard whilst on shoot which made me remember all of the proposed angles, zooms etc. What direction did you give to cast and crew especially where the effect was concerned and how did you work within the risk assessment? For this shot it was only myself and my crew member as an assistant for lighting. However because we were filming in public late at night we made sure that there were no members of the public around but we also took precautions if a member of public were to walk past, we made sure all equipment was out of the way of paths, exits and entrances but we also made sure we could be seen by using a torch to light the area. |
This shot is of an old style mansion, this shot creates further tension in the trailer because a random light turns on out of the blue. This will look good when the music is loud and coming up to the drop because it will build tension.
Why will this shot work/not work for visual/special effects? This shot wouldn't work for visual effects because it's a shot that lasts a matter of seconds and its only purpose is to build an aspect of tension within the trailer, no visual effects are required to boost this shot. How will this shot help the narrative? This shot helps the narrative as it shows the 'killer' could be inside people's houses, with the sudden bright light turn on. How do you intend to cut away from this shot to the next one? This shot will jump straight to another shot without any transition. How effective do you think this shot will be in the final piece? I think this shot will be fairly basic as I'm not going to add any sort of effect or transition onto it to boost it, it's just going to be how it is. I think for the few seconds it gets shown it will add a mysterious tension. How effective was your directing of the actors? No actors were involved in this shot. |
What was the production process used to create this shot?
This was a tracking shot, the idea of this shot was to make it look like the camera is tracking and capturing the shot as if someone would be seeing it if they were to be walking and looking at the mansion. This was a hand held shot, no lighting was used on this shot as the building was already lit up in such a way that the camera picked up on the lighting effectively and gave it a spooky effect. Compare this shot to the original storyboard - are they the same? In the original storyboard I had intended for this shot to be a pan but instead when filming I decided to do a tracking shot instead as it looked more effective on camera than a pan. This was because it captured a walking type movement and then the light in the mansion switches on which adds to the feeling of terror. With this being a hand held shot, there were a few takes to ensure I had the best quality shot, the shot on the storyboard was intended to run for 3 seconds, the shot is a second longer than what was intended on the storyboard but that isn't an issue as the shot can be cut in post production. What direction did you give to cast and crew especially where the effect was concerned and how did you work within the risk assessment? As this shot was a hand held shot and I did not need my crew member for this shot there were no real risks involved, as I was filming I made sure I wasn't filming number plates of cars or any members of the public and that is the only precaution I had to take. |
This shot of St Ives Bridge at night is eerie and fits well to the genre of trailer because it’s night it’s a convention of a horror film,most horror films are set at night because it builds tension and makes things more scary for the audience.
Why will this shot work/not work for visual/special effects? I have not intended to include any visual effects on this shot as it's a shot of a scene, the only visual effect I might apply is making it slightly darker and slowing it down so the pan is a slower. How will this shot help the narrative? This shot is establishing the scene so this will help the narrative because the audience will see where this film is being set, it's being set in a rather remote and quiet place. How do you intend to cut away from this shot to the next one? This shot will fade onto a subtitle page. How effective do you think this shot will be in the final piece? I wouldn't go as far as saying this shot will be effective but it will give an understanding of the type of place and atmosphere this film is set in. How effective was your directing of the actors? There are no actors involved in this shot. What direction did you give to cast and crew especially where the effect was concerned and how did you work within the risk assessment? As I did not need my crew or actor in this shot I filmed in by myself, however I took the identified precautions on board especially as I was filming near a river I needed to be careful I wasn't near the waters edge and that there wasn't any equipment I could trip over. To cover these risks I made sure that my tripod was as far away from the river as possible but still not in access of the public walkway and I made sure I was careful when filming near the water. |
What was the production process used to create this shot?
This shot was done by setting up a tripod and using a pan to capture everything within the shot. The shot was to establish the scene, therefore it had to be a long shot. For this shot I used the light from the bridge as it made the scene look darker and creepy on camera as the light is reflected in the water. Compare this shot to the original storyboard - are they the same? The original storyboard states that this shot is 8 seconds long, however because this is an establishing shot when filming I wanted to film enough footage so that there was some spare if I needed to fill out time or replace the footage hence why I filmed this shot for 19 seconds. The rest of the aspects are in line with the storyboard as I was cross referencing the storyboard whilst I was filming so that I didn't miss out any key features of the shot. |
This low angle shot helps build tension, making the church look powerful and almost like it’s looking down on the audience. Many horror films use this camera angle in horror films because it’s effective on the audience. I also believe this church looks particularly old and haunted which fits really well with this genre.
Why will this shot work/not work for visual/special effects? This shot will work with visual effects as I could put a rain effect onto it to make the scene look more dull, I think this will be an effective effect for a horror film. How will this shot help the narrative? This is another scene shot, so all it is helping is the audience identify the scene and atmosphere. How do you intend to cut away from this shot to the next one? This shot jumps to a shot of hands covered in blood, the jump effect creates more tension especially when leading to a gory scene. How effective do you think this shot will be in the final piece? This shot is effective because it's a low angle shot of a church. Some people believe churches at night are haunted places as they have graveyards, so this creates an uneasy feel complimented by the angle it has been filmed, giving the church a powerful look. How effective was your directing of the actors? There are no actors involved in this shot. |
What was the production process used to create this shot?
This shot was filmed by using a tripod and then tilting it down and slowly panning upwards to create an effective low angle shot. I did not use any form of other lighting other than the lighting sourced within the shot which is the lighting from the church's entrance. Compare this shot to the original storyboard - are they the same? The original storyboard identified that the shot was 5 seconds, when I was filming this shot I filmed it for longer so that there was enough footage to be used as back up, this shot will be cut down in post production though to be in line with the storyboard. I kept to the storyboard with the angle of the shot, I identified that it would be a low angle shot. The lighting also made the church look spooky which is in line with the story board as I had identified that I wanted to use lighting to add further effect to the scene. What direction did you give to cast and crew especially where the effect was concerned and how did you work within the risk assessment? As I didn't have the crew with me or any actors with me I was able to keep risks minimal by taking on the precautions relating to my own safety as well as the public. As there was no one around when I filmed this I didn't have to worry about being in the way of public, however I still made sure my equipment wasn't in the way of paths or entrances/ exits of any buildings or driveways. |
This is the title opening shot, ‘If I am a Killer’ is worded in graffiti style writing, with red drops of blood on top of the writing. The red influences a sense of danger and the graffiti makes it look a little more in sync with the genre and style of the trailer. The way the camera zooms out on the word ‘killer’ also provides a sense of danger because it stays on that particular shot for quite a few seconds making it stand out to the audience.
Why will this shot work/not work for visual/special effects? I feel like this shot is quite good in itself and doesn't need any visual effects added to it. The only effects I'm planning on putting over it is cuts and flashes so each individual word flashes up instead of it just being left at a basic pan shot. How will this shot help the narrative? This shot is an opening shot of the title of the film, so apart from providing the audience with the title it doesn't give an idea of the story line. The only thing is the way the title is presented, in graffiti with red spray paint marks to represent blood, so the audience may be able to gather from this shot that the film will include gory scenes. How do you intend to cut away from this shot to the next one? This particular shot is going to be cut to each individual word rather than showing the whole thing at once. After it is shown the shot will fade to a white smokey colour and then onto a subtitle page. How effective do you think this shot will be in the final piece? I believe this is a really effective opener to present the title. Purely because of how the title is represented, so I think it will look effective in the final piece once the effects/transitions are added to it. I want the start to be quite fast paced and jumpy so it grabs the audiences attention from the start and that's what I'm hoping to achieve with this shot. How effective was your directing of the actors? There are no actors involved in this shot. |
What was the production process used to create this shot?
The production process for this shot was a hand held camera capturing the writing on the wall. Because this shot will be used as the title sequence I wanted it to be shaky so that the audience can feel the tension and horror at the beginning of the trailer. Compare this shot to the original storyboard - are they the same? As far as the storyboard goes I followed this well, I made sure the shot was a close up of the text however I introduced a pan to the shot during production in order to capture the writing effectively, this wasn't covered on the storyboard as it was something that I tried out whilst filming and thought it suited the shot better. The shot was a bit longer than the intended timing from the original story board, this was only because I was planning on editing the title sequence in post production anyway so the timing didn't have to be exact as it will be trimmed down and edited anyway. What direction did you give to cast and crew especially where the effect was concerned and how did you work within the risk assessment? For this shot I used one of my crew members for lighting therefore I had to protect myself, the crew member and also potential public interactions with my production. I ensured that myself and my crew member were away from any path ways or entrances and exits that may be of use and we also kept our equipment close to us and not in the way of any potential members of the public. However because we were filming at night, I had to keep my crew member aware of any tripping hazards that were apparent. |
Behind the scenes- visual effects from Sarah on Vimeo.