Task Fourteen Ancillary Products 2) Magazine Covers

These are our final magazine covers. All of the covers have the same layout so the audience knows that they are all for the same movie. However, each character has their own colour scheme to make each cover unique.

Odin Magazine Cover

 Hulk Magazine Cover

Reaper Magazine Cover

Oracle Magazine Cover

Kronos Magazine Cover

Title and Logo: Editing process

In order to create the ending title in the trailer, I had to write the title as you would with the Basic Text feature, however, I then got a rectangle shape and morphed it in such a way that it looks like a line. I then used the Stencil tool to change the appearance of the text. Using a picture of concrete,I changed the colour and lighting to create an orang sort of colour, whcih is the main theme of our project.

We all agreed that we wanted a similar title to our last film (Rebellion), and in order to do this, the title had to look televised in some way. Therefore I chose to use the bad TV effect on the title which gave it the iconic look it now has. I also had to create two versions of the title. This is because I had to crop both of them and keyframe the title in order to create the sliding in half motion that the trailer has.

The picture above is the finished title.

 The screenshot on the right is the logo screen we created for LPGS Media. We noticed many trailers have more than one logo appear, so we decided to create another one. Yassir found the picture of the camera and edited the reels on the camera to rotate. I then created the writing using the simple 3D text tool and added shading and a bluish colour to it, to match the LPGS theme.

The logo on the left is our actual logo, as seen on the blog itself. However, we thought it looked a bit too blurry. Due tot his, I put it on Final Cut Pro and cut the edges off to make it appear as though it was more crisp. However, it still did not look right and it took a very long time for us to work out how we could make it seem better. So I decided to try and put the Heat Wave effect on it which made it shake, meaning you couldn't tell how blurry it was. I then edited the lighting to make it seem like a fire was behind the point of view from the camera. We believe this effect worked out very well in the end.

Task Twelve: Trailer Editing Process

We used Final Cut Pro X to edit the trailer.

Throughout the editing process we had to use many different forms of editing techniques. As seen in the picture above, we have been able to overlap different sound effects which flow perfectly when listened to in the trailer.

This screenshot is taken from the very start of the trailer. This was one of the hardest parts to edit as it revolved a lot around the audio aspect of editing. Every white dot you can see in the blue squares is where I have had to synchronise the audio with the picture and overlap the video files in order for the trailer to sound right and make sense. Before doing this, the trailer sounded very amateurish as you could hear each cut and background noise was quite frequent.

One of the most important audio aspects of the trailer is in fact the background music. In this screenshot you can see how we blended our main background music (Twelve Titans - Monolith) with our post credit background music (Power). As you can see, the end of Twelve Titans and the start of Power have been faded out/in, which is followed by a gradual increase in volume where the two white dots can be seen, which is where Oracle puts on his headphones after the short dialogue with Hulk.

These two screenshots show how we created the Green preview screen. We done this by simply creating a green background on Final Cut Pro before adding the appropriate text as an overlay above the green background. If you look closely, you will notice we put the LPGS website URL in the bottom corner to show that we customised it.

 To edit the "famous" helicopter crash, I (Charlie) had to find a pre-made green screen helicopter crash on the internet. After downloading the best one I could find, we decided to film a long shot of Michael running towards the camera on one of our filming days. After I got this clip, I placed the helicopter effect above the clip of Michael running.                                                                 I then put the Luma Keyer effect on the helicopter clip which takes away the green colour and makes it seem as though the helicopter is actually there. However, the helicopter now looked very grainy, and i therefore had to edit the opacity and do some colour correction work to blend in the colour of the helicopter with the background to make it seem as though it really is there.

Throughout the majority of the trailer, we used the Vignette effect which is an effect that is very commonly used in action movies, it gives a sense of tension and makes everything seem slightly more dull, which is what we wanted as the movie is set in a war zone.

The screenshots below show just a tiny portion of the vast editing that went into creating just a few gunshots. To create these gunshots, I had to once again find a green screen effect from the internet that looked good enough for our trailer. I then used the same technique as the helicopter shot but this time I had to line up and angle each gun shot with the barrel of the gun and add other effects found on the internet such as powder which gives the illusion that smoke is coming out of the weapons. Gunshot sounds were also used to go along to make the trailer seem more real and fully immerse the viewer.

The final shot which many audience members seem to like is an effect that I created which quickly rewinds all of the shots to go along with the section of music which creates a lot of suspense and draws the viewers in. This was very tedious, but all I really had to do was find different shots from the trailer and put them in reverse order whilst gradually making each shot shorter to build the suspense more. I also muted every shot so it flowed well.

Sticking to our original ideas

Above is a prezi summarising our initial ideas. Below we will outline how much of it we stuck to and what we changed.

Genre
We stuck to our proposed action genre as our film is a sequel and we know we are capable successfully creating an action product as we have done last year.

How will we make our trailer fit the genre
We also stuck to the points we made here such as using the guns and masks as they are stereotypical props and costume which are often associated with the action genre. We also included a clear link between Kronos and Hades. This can be seen in the trailer when the government official says"He (Kronos) played Hades like a puppet" during a shot of Hades in a prison outfit.

What will happen in our trailer
We have followed our trailer exactly as stated in the Prezi. However, we had to remove the first part of our script in which the group are introduced to the new base as it would have made the trailer too long. To compensate for this, we included shots of the base throughout the trailer to show that the group have progressed from operating from an abandoned school to having their own base.

Actors
We managed to get all of the actors who played a main role in our trailer. However, we were unable to get anyone to play extras so we had to improvise and use camera angles where the enemies could not be seen in shot. We also managed to successfully overcome our challenge of replacing the actor who played Hades as the shots were short and you are unable to tell that it is a different actor.

Props/ Costume

• We managed to obtain all of our preferred weapons. However, to purchase the guns without a licence they had to either coloured or clear. We overcame this obstacle by buying the coloured guns and spray painting them black ourselves.
• We managed to obtain two separate headsets for Oracle. A small one for when he is in the field with the rest of the team and a larger gaming headset for when he is at the base to make him look more professional.
• Oracle also wore fingerless gloves while the others wore armoured gloves. This was once again to emphasise that he doesn't like to engage in close quarters combat. Therefore we made him wear gloves which are lighter and more comfortable so that he can easily get to position as a marksman while on the field.

Filming Location

We managed to successfully complete all the shots that we planned to complete at each location. We also filmed two shots at Millers Pond in Shirley. These were the shots where Reaper is running away from the helicopter and the shot where Reaper and Oracle are standing next to the pond.

Superpowers

One of our original ideas was for our characters to have superpowers. We thought the superpowers would add another element to our trailer and would give us an opportunity to further develop our characters and their personalities, as this is what our film is based around.


We thought that each character should have a superpower that highlights their personality or skill. For example, Oracle would have telepathy as he is the over watch of the group and needs to be able to relay messages quickly. Reaper would have super speed as he is quick and agile, thus enabling him to take out his targets easily without leaving a trace. Hulk would have super strength to highlight his brute nature as the muscle of the group. And Odin would have an enhanced marksman skill, giving him the ability to kill his victims in 1 shot, whilst never missing. This emphasises his leadership of the group by showing to the audience how he has, in a war-zone, potentially the most valuable skill.


However, even though some powers such us telepathy could be done easily, other such as the super speed and strength required some special effects which proved difficult to do. For example, even though we managed to successfully complete a test shot for the super speed, it was difficult to implement it when there were multiple characters in shot as all of their movement would also be sped up unless we masked and tracked our character which proved too difficult.

Super Speed Test Shot

Because of this, we chose not to use superpowers in our trailer and instead develop our characters through the introduction of a new base, new personalised costume, and new weapons tailored to their role in the group as well as some other props. This shows how the team has progressed from a group of friends caught up in a war using what they can find to survive, to professional mercenaries who are so skilled that the government would entrust the fate of the world to them.

Struggles and Difficulties with Filming

Struggles and Difficulties with Filming

Location

When filming the clips for our trailer, there were a variety of initial problems that our group faced. We first considered health and safety, and where would be considered 'safe' to film in. Therefore we ruled out our original ideas of filming in abandoned buildings. This was in case they were deemed structurally unsafe. Moreover, filming with firearms was always going to be an issue. Therefore, to avoid breaking any laws, all the shots in which firearms were present were filmed on private land, with the landowners permission. This meant that overall, we were able to work freely with our ideas, and explore different camera angles and shots without worrying about unnerving anyone in public.

Editing

Another issue that developed in the editing area of our production, was the updated software we chose to work with. After the update (Final Cut Pro X), various new options and special effects were added meaning that, even though we had a much broader choice of special effects to use, it meant that sometimes, finding how to add in certain effects, like slow motion for example, became a challenge, as we didn't know where it was located on the software itself.

Equipment

Having a new camera (Canon 760D) definitely proved a challenge at times when filming. One particular challenge for us, was getting used to the cameras immense capabilities. Before this addition, we would film with a standard 720p video camera, however, purchasing a camera which could now film in 1080p at 50 FPS, became difficult, merely because we were not used to the quality that it was able to film in. Moreover, the camera had precision manual focussing, as opposed to our old camera which had automatic focussing. This meant that when filming specific shots, the cameraman had to adapt the focus by hand, thus making some shots more difficult to film.
     In addition to a new camera, we also purchased a higher quality microphone (Rode Videomic Go), and a shoulder mount for the camera. This meant that we had to get used to working with the shoulder mount, as it was something that none of us had ever worked with before. Moreover, the microphone, which was able to record sound in the highest quality, meant that the actors had to change their voices, in order to avoid any harshness picked up by the microphone. This meant not speaking too loud, or making any harsh, sudden noises with our voices.