Editing

Before starting filming I went back and had a look back on my research and planning into conventions of a film trailer to truly understand what to include when editing our film trailer. This previous research helped me to recognize what I need to include to create a effective trailer. 

FILM PRODUCTION LOGOS 

When analyzing other trailer I came to the understanding that film production logos came at the very beginning of the trailer before we see any footage. However when I researched further I found that some trailers allow the audience to see some of the trailer before the production identities in order to set the tone for the trailer. An example:  If you watch the beginning of the Queen of  Katwe trailer you can find that the first thing that the audience is introduced to is an inspirational quote setting the tone fore the rest of the trailer. It shows that the audience that the purpose of this trailer is to inspire them . The audience is also introduced to the setting and the protagonist before we see the film production identities. 

I really like how the beginning of this trailer is formatted therefore I thought that I can apply some these concepts to my own trailer. In my own trailer I made sure that the audience is introduced to the Protagonist and his sisters situation, letting the audience know that their parents have died before we see the film production identities. By doing this it sets the tone for the rest of the trailer allowing the audience to sympathies with the protagonist. I also used a cross fade animation technique in the opening scenes to slow down the pace of the trailer and allow the audience to contemplate the circumstance of the protagonist and one of the reasons why he went into selling drugs. The opening scene will only last for 14 seconds then we will see the  film company identities. Furthermore by placing the company identities after meeting the protagonist it gives the audience the impression that the beginning part of the trailer is more like the prequel to the actual trailer,as you are gaining knowledge into the protagonists past and not the actual story line. Then by introducing the film company identities it shows the audience that the story line of the trailer is now beginning.

FILM TITLE

In all the trailers that I have seen the film title always comes at the end of the Film Trailer. So in our film trailer we placed the film title at the end. However, we wanted to make sure that the design for the film title fit the personality of the trailer therefore we did a questionnaire and found that majority of the group liked the design format of Cold Spaghetti BTN Therefore we decided to use this font, as the design fits in with the themes in the trailer, and because it was chosen by the majority. Our group liked the font as we believed that the rough rugged writing reflects the hard life of the protagonist, and the title looks handwritten which makes it more personal to the audience. We decided to do the colour white on a black background as it will standout more and grab the attention of the audience, but at the same time due to the simplistic colours it is not brash and too loud which our group wanted.



MUSIC

My co-director Ellie D'Sylva was in charge with selecting the track for the trailer. However, when applying the track to the trailer I found that the track is not long enough for the whole trailer so I have to double the music so it can last till the end of the trailer. The music is a dramatic beat which emphasises the dramatic situation of the protagonist. The music starts 5 seconds into the trailer after the quote in order for the audience to reflect the quote and make them think how this quote might apply to our trailer.

Additionally, in certain shots we had to mute the shot and dub sound over it. The reason why we had to do this is because when we filmed the shot and played it back there was a lot of background noise, so to deal with this situation we decided to mute the shots that have loud background noises. So the actors that were in that particular shot would sit down with me and we would both look at the screen and he would say their line so they are in time to when they say it on the screen. I would record their voice on a separate device such as a phone and add it on top of the shot.

TIME LENGTH

The average time length for a film trailer is 1.30-2.00 minutes. This is why I tried to edit the trailer so it stays between these boundaries. This aspect of editing is what I found the most difficult, as I was struggling to condense the trailer below 2 minutes. When I began editing it started to look like a film opening rather than a trailer, so to help me I looked into our past research into the codes and conventions of a trailer and applied the concepts to our trailer therefore it made it easier to edit. When editing the trailer I cut lots of the shots that we have filmed in order to reduce the time length. We also positioned the cuts so that they were in order but in a way that it does not give away too much of the storyline in order to introduce enigma codes which will entice the audience to come and see the trailer.

WRITTEN SLIDES

In the editing process I thought that it will be beneficial to add some written slides to the trailers as they seem to be a common feature. I was not sure what to add so I added the basic captions such as based on a true story and critic reviews. By doing this it makes the trailer more authentic.

WHAT WENT WELL

The main thing that went well with filming is that in year 12 I was not given the opportunity to edit before  to edit our opening sequence because we appointed the duty to my co-worker. So this is my first time editing so I think that through the experience of editing it has helped me develop as a designer and creator.

Furthermore through editing it has allowed me to have a better understanding into how to edit the movie poster and magazine. Even though we would use different programs as this is a video and they are images, this experience has allowed me to understand the basic principles of the process to completing the final product.