Construction: Teaser

The first thing I done after filming was upload my clips into final cut. After it

uploaded, I completed an edit decision list . Following my edit decision list, I deleted the clips which were practice

shots and the shots which went wrong according to my edit decision list. I then

renamed my clips in regards to what scene they belonged to so that when

editing, I could easily pick the relevant clips.

Creating the shot showing that the preview should be approved for appropriate audiences...

This is the first shot which appears in the three teaser trailers which I analysed as

part of my research, so I decided to recreate it to say that the preview should

be approved.

The first stage in creating the first shot was to open up PowerPoint, create a

green square, and then create the different parts of the text. I then resized

and change the colour of the text to white.

The second stage was to group the different elements together by selecting all the different parts, right clicking the mouse, selecting ‘grouping’ and then

group.

The third stage was to convert it into a format in which final cut would support. To do this I selected the image, right

clicked and selected ‘save as picture’ and selecting JPEG then save.

After saving the image as a JPEG, I went into final cut and clicked on ‘File’ then

‘Import’.

I then selected the image from where it was saved and clicked choose. I then

simply just dragged it into my sequence and positioned it at the beginning.

Creating text in Motion

Experimenting in motion with text font for the title of the film

After experimenting, I decided to change the title of my film because I found that the title didn’t really work with my film and didn’t really tell the audience anything about my film.

I changed the title of my film to ‘living a nightmare’ because I thought it fitted in better with the plot of my film. I also discovered a better font which is ‘Chalkduster’ in motion which I believe perfectly portrays the

genre of the film which is horror.

Moving the text into Final Cut

After importing the text from motion into Final Cut, I decided to experiment by layering the text over a moving image of the actress walking towards the

screen with a candle in her hand. Although it breaks convention, I believe it works and the audience

agreed too as it helped create a more eerie, tension-filled atmosphere.

I used image and wireframe to ensure that my text was placed in the correct position. I had to keep

resizing and moving the text around because when I let the sequence play, the text ended up covering the

image but it didn’t take me long to ensure an accurate positioning.

In motion, I created the text for the actresses name to put into final cut. I used the crayon tool to make the text

grey colour. I also added behaviour to make the text fade into the shot and fade out of the shot. I also added a slight glow

to make the text look a bit ghostly. I then finished by clicking on ‘File’ then

‘Export’ and saved it as a QuickTime Movie. I then went back into Final Cut

and imported it.

In motion I also created text which shows the time for my film. I thought this would be effective because in horror films, showing the time tends to symbolise something bad which is about to happen or shows a

flashback. When I imported it into Final Cut and ran it with my sequence, I decided to not include it in my film because it didn’t really fit in with the rest of the sequence as it didn’t really help put forward the plot of

the film which is what I initially thought it may do.

Experimenting with speed

For quite a few of my shots, I changed the time in terms of making the shot

faster or slower. This allowed me to make my teaser shorter and also allowed me to

create more suspense and portray the genre of horror.

I found that in order to ensure the change in speed fits in with the film and doesn’t

look a bit out of place and very unrealistic, I had to experiment with

different speeds which meant I made it too fast or too slow and had to keep

changing the speed till it was right. This experimenting process was quite useful

for example, as I found that at first when I thought a certain speed didn’t work and

tried a different speed, that the first speed I tried actually worked better.

Shot transitions

In terms of transitions, I used fade in fade out a couple of times to show that some time has between the two shots. I mainly used a basic cut to increase

the pace of the teaser

Adding music

To add in some background music, I went onto YouTube and found some music which fit in with the genre of my teaser. At first I found a few different ones but they had copyright so I kept looking until I found some

music which the owner actually wrote alongside the music that people were allowed to use it and he also had lots of other music which were allowed to be used by anyone, but they didn’t fit in with my teaser

trailer.

Adding sound effects

During editing, I realised that I was missing some sound effects. One sound effect was of the actress screaming in a very high pitched voice. After I recorded the scream, I imported it into Final Cut and played about with when the scream is heard in the sequence. At a later date during editing, I heard the church bell

ring near my house, and it gave me and an idea to include the sound of church bells ringing because in horror films, bad things tend to happen when the clock strikes and also in some horror films, I have heard

the sound of the clock striking or the bell ringing to inform the audience that something bad is going to happen. I included this sound effect when the title of the film comes up with the shot of the actress moving

towards the camera as I thought it created a bit of suspense and mem