Shonam Shahi

The genre for my film is a science-fiction and adventure. It follows the story of Nick Aries who discovers more about his dad and finds how he has powers that could help have the planet of Aurora. Having looked at sci-fi and adventure films in my research and analysis, I’ve noticed that this genre typically uses orchestral music with many sudden and long build up, and the use of drums to create a tense atmosphere. To stay conform to the genre and to keep it appealing to the target audience, I’ve used snares/quick build ups throughout my trailer to create sudden moments of intensity.

During my research and planning in our A2 production, I analysed several soundtracks that may have been suitable for the genre I was going to create (HERE - http://shonamshahig324.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/soundtrack-research-analysis.html). My film trailer was a science-fiction and adventure genre, there for I was after orchestral sound tracks, with lour bass drums and sudden build-ups/snares to create a suspense atmosphere. I was successful in finding a few pieces that conformed well to the genre at the time, however some soundtracks that were used in the trailer were found after this, as I had carried on searching after. Having listened to many tracks, I was confidently able to choose suitable soundtracks that would be in the trailer. The soundtracks in similar genre trailers are almost like the ones used in my trailer, indicating my choice of sound track was convention and related to the genre well.

Sound effects are also an important in trailer: they are used to transport the audience to the location and makes them feel as if they are in the action with them. During the filming process, I used the microphone on my smartphone to record scratch audio from the different locations we filmed in. Some of the scratch audio included leaves rustling, the wind blowing, the cycle chain moving, sound of the bike on different terrains, and other various sounds that were later added to the trailer during post production. This created a more realistic representation of the sound in the location, therefore transporting the audience into the scene of the film. Recording of scratch audio is used a lot in film production. It may hardly be noticeable; however, the product will be less satisfying without it, and is an easy part to look over.

Post production is the final processes during film production. These processes include everything that is completed after the filming process – usually including the editing of the footage to the final film. Post production finalises the product, and is usually the lengthiest and most time-consuming section. Films that require extensive use of CGI (computer generated imagery), visual effects, green screen and animation will need more time to edit to create a more realistic and immersive film.

My A2 production film trailer is for a sci-fi and adventure film, and therefore requires a multitude of visual elements that are convention in that genre. This included CGI robots, spaceships, portals, cities and shots from space. During the post-production process for my trailer, I used a handful of programs to create these visuals. The programmes included Photoshop, After Effects, Cinema 4D and Premiere Pro. Almost all the visual effects were made in Cinema 4D and edited in After Effects; this was a video composition programme which means it layers all the clips to create a shot with many visual elements. After adding the visual effects and CGI to all the clips that were required, I used the video editing programme, Adobe Premiere Pro, to edit all the footage together to create the trailer.

The image above is a screen shot of the editing timeline for my film trailer production in Premiere Pro. The use of different ladled layers in the editing timeline for Premiere Pro makes the editing process easier because any clips and sound effects that need tweaking can be located easily.

The ‘Video 1’ track contains all the footage and edited clips with CGI. Above the ‘Video 1’ track layer, there is an adjustment layer names ‘CC & CG’. This stands for ‘Colour Correction & Colour Grading’. I used this adjustment layer to colour the colours in the image by using effects such as ‘levels’, ‘RGB & Lama Curves’. This made colours in all the footage equal, and flat meaning it was easier to colour grade. Colour grading is the process of adjusting the colours in a clip to represent a different mood or feeling. In my AS Production for a 2-minute opening, I researched and analysed the use of colour correction and colour grading (HERE - http://shonamshahig321.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/color-correction-grading-tutorials.html). I’ve bought over these skills from my previous production into this project, and had helped me achieve a specific feel to the film.

Conventionally, sci-fi and adventure films contain teal blue and orange colour scheme – such as in Zach Snyder’s, Man of Steel, and Michael Bay’s, Transformers. I used this adjustment layer to add this teal blue and orange colour scheme, as well as a bit of contrast to make the colour more vibrant. On-top of the adjustment layer, I’ve added a grain layer, which adds grain to the final image. This simulated what it will look if the film was shot on film rather than digital. The grain only adds a small effect however I chose to include it to make my trailer seem more realistic and conform the conventions of film. 
Below are examples of before and after images of the edited footage. Image on the left is the edited footage, and the image on the right is the edited footage with colour correction, grading and a film grain layer overplayed over the image.

Sound

The use of sound is also important therefore it required a lot of attention during post production. In my trailer, I used a combination of sound effects, voice overs and soundtracks to conform to the sci-fi and adventure genre. These genres usually contain orchestral soundtracks so I chose similar background pieces to conform to the genre. From the image of my Premiere Pro timeline, I used many audio effects and tracks to try to conform to the genre. Nearly all audio clip contains an effect. The most prominent is the use of an ‘content gain’ and an ‘exponential fade’. The ‘content gain’ is added to the beginning of an audio clip and is used to raise the volume of the audio from -∞ to a volume that is suitable. The ‘exponential fade’ does the opposite -  fading the audio out to nothing. In the audio tracks, soundtrack 3 and Voice Overs, I used Volume key framed to change the volume level of the audio through time. This means I can have the audio start off suddenly loud then face it down, and then bring it back up at the end.

From the image of the sound in the timeline, some of the sound clips are shown with a green, [fx], box which indicates an effect has been applied to it. The voice overs contain a small echo effect, as well as a small bass boost effect. This is conventional in sci-fi film, where the voice overs are made to echo slightly, and is the reason why I chose to use this effect in some of the audio.

My A2 production of a film trailer is for a science-fiction and adventure film, with some links to a thriller. I’ve tried to stay conventional to the sci-fi genre by including elements that represent the genre such as robots, spaceships, portals, and special powers. To conform to the adventure genre, I used different locations in my trailer such as the woods, cities, space and on another planet – like the dark rocky planet and Aurora which is represented by the large planet in the sky. The short fight scene is a link to a thriller because of the use of mise-en-scène by the characters. The characters are shown fighting with swords, and their clothing are dark black. As well as their clothing being black, the antagonist’s faces are blacked out which adds mystery. The use of low-key lighting in these shots creates a scary and sinister feeling, and the large explosion lighting up the scenes shows the binary oppositions between good and evil.

My ancillary consisted of two products – a film poster and a magazine front cover. My first draft film poster tried to show the binary oppositions between good and evil but using light colours in the top and dark colours the bottom half. I chose his to stay convention to the sci-fi genre, as there is usually a stark contract between the protagonists and antagonists, as generally a key point in the film. In my final film poster, chose to scrap the binary opposition, by making the whose background a dark starry sky. As well as changing the background to one that’s darker, I added the main actor’s names at the top. End the end, I chose this theme for the poster to stay convention to other film posters. Having analysis different film poster, they all follow a general trend of having the actor’s names at the top.

To stay linked to the science-fiction genre, I’ve used spaceships and antagonists to help promote the genre. The antagonists have red rings as faces, indicating they are dangerous and evil; these are connotations of the colour red. They also wield swords and spears which may indicate an action, however, coupled with the low-key lighting and dark colours in the poster, my intentions were to also suggest a thriller. I used the planet in the sky, the dark rocky landscape and the starry background to indicate an adventure film. Adventure film posters usually show a location that is out of the ordinary, and ones that the target audience will usually not have seen. For example, for a film set in the forest or desert, it may be advertised as an adventure film to a target audience who mainly live in urban cities. As my film is set for a demographic of 13-mid 20’s who may live in urban cities, my poster depicts a dark and rocky planet which will appeal to the audience.

For my magazine cover, to stay conventional to other magazine covers, I only depicted one main character in the cover – the main protagonist. To indicate he’s a protagonist, I used a light colour scheme and low-key lighting in show this. A medium shot depicts the protagonist using direct mode of address which subconsciously makes the reader drawn to the magazine, and makes them want to purchase it. Direct mode of address is a common convention used in almost all modern magazine front covers, and is the reason why I chose to include this.

The use of Enigma codes is utilised throughout my production, in both the trailer and the ancillary text. In the trailer, we find out that the main character has special powers, and was the son of a powerful father who saved the planet of Aurora. In the fight scenes, including his dad and several antagonists, we are not told why the antagonists were there and this raises questions/enigmas among the audience. In the film poster, it is evident that the teenager at the top is the main protagonist. From this we still aren’t sure how his role in the film is going to be played, or how he is going to defeat the antagonists. The audience are left to hypothesise the outcome of the film, and these enigmas makes the audience more curious to know what happens. For their questions to be fulfilled, they will go and see the film to see how the story pans out.