Production Diary: Day 5

31st October 2012

I started editing the video previously on iMovie but then I accidentally deleted the project but luckily I did not loose any of the raw footage we filmed during the past few weeks. Due to the technical difficulty I had to start from scratch but one thing i did realise from the deleted edit was that the order we originally planned on the storyboard was too logical to how it would happen in the film if it was made. I thought we needed to change it to give it a more intriguing feel to attract the target audience. I arranged a day with Claudia to help me adjust and improve the sequence of events within the trailer.

As I had Final Cut Pro on my computer I thought I would give it a try as the software is more advanced than iMovie. We were able to adjust the lighting and colour saturation accordingly to scenes as some scenes are meant to be during the night. Claudia helped me by giving her opinion and advice on what she thought would flow better and which clips to use between the several takes we did on the same scene. We also discussed the plot of the rest of the film to give us a clearer idea of how to portray it in the trailer and we came across things online which described the reason behind why the ghost is haunting Mai and killing other characters.

“Ghosts” are souls that remain on earth harassing and causing trouble for the living. They are thought to be souls that failed to reach the afterlife because of 1) some problem they encountered on their journey; 2) a lack of a proper send off by their living relatives on earth; or 3) tragic circumstances surrounding their death or life. Special rituals are often held to send these ghosts to their afterlife destination.

“vengeful ghosts,” who have died in an accident or have been angered by some perceived injustice and need to be appeased

We spent approximately 4 hours editing and managed to edit the video aspect of the whole film trailer, all we have to do now is to add music, sound effects and on screen text and our first completed edit will be finished.

Production Diary: Day 4

24th October 2012

Today was our last scheduled filming, we had to quickly adjust the storyboard from the character of Mai bumping into a stranger on the streets to her bumping into a student in the corridor at school as it was just more convenient to cast someone as the unknown student than to find an adult that would be free during the day. As the person in charge of the make up was at another school during the period that everyone else was available, I decided to carry on with the filming of the student and Mai and wait until the end of the day to film the close up of her hand/arm with bruises which can easily be edited in. As we filmed the close up after school, I had to use my hands as substitute of the students on the film but as it is only a small section of me seen.

Then filmed a small scene we forgot to film yesterday on the way back to the location to chose to film at then we filmed all the scenes with the mum character as it was the only day we that every one free. I was in charge of the filming and partial directing again with contribution to Claudia for confirmation and we managed to film all the footage from the storyboard for our trailer. Abi was able to edit a screen shot on photoshop to make a news article on the iPad look realistic which made the scenes more believable.

All we have to do now is start editing the footage together and if any parts need re-filming, we will have time to improve it.

Production Diary: Day 3

23rd October 2012

Today we planned to film the two little scenes left behind from last time so that all the scenes at the location was complete. I was setting up the camera equipment while Claudia did Abi's make up, I filmed and directed today, trying to try various camera angles to achieve the best result possible as some of the shots i planned were not always the most effective or accessible.

We were filming at Abi's location for longer than we thought and our schedule was pushed back by half an hour but we were still able to get help from Oli to be the male character within our film trailer and complete  what was planned. It took many trials to get the restraining scene look realistic as everyone was unsure what action to do but in the end we were able to get useable footage.

Due to the lack of cooperation we got from George (the original puppy we planned to be in our film trailer), we used a different dog. Lu was less excitable and listened well to the commands so we were able to get the filming done.

Production Diary: Day 2

19th October 2012


Due to the bad lighting of the original footage we filmed in Abi's bedroom we decided to re-film it today. After discovering the night vision setting, the footage was a lot clearer. We managed to film the majority of the film trailer today completing all but two scenes located there. Me and Claudia helped Rebecca prepare her make up and costume again for her to be within the shower scene. I was in charge of filming and partially directing Abi and Rebecca within the scene with the help of Claudia's opinion on the camera angle and lighting, trying to follow the story board created during planning.

Production Pitch feedback

I collected audience feedback on my production pitch by linking the prezi alongside my online survey onto different social networking sites such as twitter and tumblr.

I wanted to get feedback from both males and females as our film trailer is aimed at both genders, but as the survey was online and anonymous I did not pick who completed them. I got more feedback from females then males but it will still be useful to see what they think of the story line and if it is conventional or not.

The people who completed my online survey ranged between 11-20+ years but our main target audience is teenagers aged between 14-19, which the majority of the people who completed the survey was.

 What is your first impression of the film trailer synopsis?

•  Informed and to the point; gives all of the necessary information without rambling
• I think it's a really good concept and very well thought out, use a lot of conventions associated with the genre.
• It is conventional but with a twist which makes the plot intriguing
• It looks intriguing
• I think it's a pretty cool idea. It would be a great novel if you can put the whole thing into a story
• Speechless
• My first impressions are that the trailer has a well thought out plot, the pictures used give a relevant image of the trailer and that existing movies of the same genre have been taken into consideration well
• It sounded intriguing and actually rather scary
• Creepily but interesting too

All of the feedback I got from all the people were very positive which means that the story line we came up with should be effective if we portray it correctly onto film. Also as the majority of the people who completed the questionnaire were within our target audience, it suggests that the film trailer should be successful. From the previous survey I completed on audience research, the majority said that the most intriguing element they find in a film is the story line, from the feedback we got suggests that we achieved one of our targets.

I also received a comment on my Prezi presentation, which mentioned my effective way of making the presentation straight to the point and getting our idea across.

 All of the people who completed the questionnaire have said that our genre was easily recognised which shows that the conventions within our story plot were successful.

All of the people who completed the survey have said that they found the plot line intriguing and as the majority of the people who gave us feedback fit into our target audience, which suggests that it will attract our audience.

I asked the people who completed the survey to rate how conventional our film trailer was, there people rated between 7-10 but the majority scored it an 8, which shows that our plot is conventional.