Editing

Once I finished editing my work the last thing production wise that was left to do was to edit it, editing argubly the most essential step when it comes to creating your own teaser trailer as this is the main tool which shapes your footage and makes it look like a teaser trailer. I will make sure that the pace of editing matches the pace of the soundtrack I have selected as well as carefully selecting my footage to make sure that I do not reveal too much about my story.

I used iMovie to edit my teaser trailer, this software was readily available to use at my school and is a very simple and accurate editing programme, making you able to crop footage down to the frame. This software also comes with a host of different special effects and soundtracks perfect for making a teaser trailer.

When it came to maknig the title sequences for my teaser trailer making the white writing on a black background was quick and simple, however when it came to making the title with a white background with black writing the programme made it impossible to make, I therefore had to use After Effects to design my own title and import it into iMovie, what a nightmare for 2 seconds worth of footage!

Sound

From what I have learned from looking at many different film teaser trailers I can see that to make an effective one that sound is essential. It is used as a centre to which all the editing is based around, I therefore had to make sure that the sound I used effectively represented my genre of film. As most music now a days carries copywrite infringement I had to make sure that I got my soundtrack from a royalty free website. I used http://www.purple-planet.com/ to find and download the tracks I used for my teaser trailer, this website contains hundreds of royalty free tracks free of charge.

Here are the 2 soundtracks that I narrowed my choice down too:

Into Battle (Pad):
http://www.purple-planet.com/#/preview-into-battle/4534502091
This is the final soundtrack that I decided on, I thought that it would fit well around the variety of different shots that I had and that the pace of the editing would fit nicely with the beat of the music. I felt that I could make a very effective teaser trailer to this soundtrack

Night In The City (Theme):
http://www.purple-planet.com/#/preview-night-in-the-city/4537962303
Although I also liked this soundtrack for my teaser trailer I felt that my teaser trailer would not match this song as well as Into Battle (Pad)

Props and Equipment

When it comes to filming my production I must hook my audience from the beginning, for a teaser trailer this is a must as they do not last very long. Using props are a very effective way of grabbing your audiences attention and making them interested in your teaser trailer. When it comes to making my own teaser trailer I want to make sure that my end product looks as professionally made as possible to make it look like an actual teaser trailer, I will therefore use all the equipment I have available to me to help add to the overall quality of my end product.

Props:

I used a tire iron as a weapon that the main character knocked out the thug with, this scene was used to throw the audience straight into the action and I felt that to grab my audiences attention effectively that I had to put emphasys on the use of a weapon, I therefore used a close up of the tire iron to grab my audiences attention.

I used my car to show that the main character is willing to kidnap the thug and steal his car as a taste of the crimes he is willing to commit to get his son back. Adding to my target audiences interest in my teaser trailer.

Other props were more subtle in the choice of clothing I had the men in my teaser trailer wear, Zac was dressed to make him look like a thug and Craig had his leather hooded jacket on to mask his identity, I also had to wear this when it came to driving away in my car.

Equipment:

When it came to filming my work the most basic but most important piece of equipment I had at my disposal was a Panasonic SDR-S50 digital camera provided by my school, it was the newest camera that I had at my disposable, however is not high definition as I would have preffered to film with a HD camera to make sure that I ended up with a higher quality finished product. And from previous use in my AS coursework I have found out that it is very light sensitive and becomes very blurred if it pans too quickly or if something moves on screen too quickly, which is very frustrating to find out when you get to editing the final product.

Too keep some of my shots as steady as possible I used a tripod, this helped to add to the quality of footage as hand held cameras can make a teaser trailer look unprofessional.

Storyboarding

The key to making a quality and professional looking teaser trailer is planning and storyboarding is argubly one of the most important aspects of planning what you are going to film, from what type of shot you are going to take down to what angle you are going to take it at, what sound will be in the scene, what sound you will be adding to raise tension down to how you will break up each shot with effects and titles, no matter what you decide to do it must be planned. Here I have made a rough but detailed storyboard of what I hope to capture in my teaser trailer and how I hope to put it together.

Certification of my final Idea

My teaser trailer would be aimed at a target audience of 18, I believe that to make my film as realistic as possible that there would be elements of torture in it to show the things he is willing to do to get his son back and to show his emotional pain in losing his son. Here are the guidelines that the BBFC have for an 18 certificate film:

Suitable only for adults

No-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film in a cinema.
No-one younger than 18 may rent or buy an ‘18’ rated video.
In line with the consistent findings of the BBFC’s public consultations and The Human Rights Act 1998, at ‘18’ the BBFC’s guideline concerns will not normally override the principle that adults should be free to choose their own entertainment. Exceptions are most likely in the following areas:

• where the material is in breach of the criminal law, or has been created through the commission of a criminal offence
• where material or treatment appears to the BBFC to risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour, to society – for example, any detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use, which may cause harm to public health or morals. This may include portrayals of sexual or sexualised violence which might, for example, eroticise or endorse sexual assault
• where there are more explicit images of sexual activity which cannot be justified by context. Such images may be appropriate in ‘R18’ works, and in ‘sex works’ (see below) would normally be confined to that category.

In the case of video works (including video games), which may be more accessible to younger viewers, intervention may be more frequent than for cinema films.

Sex education at '18'

Where sex material genuinely seeks to inform and educate in matters such as human sexuality, safer sex and health, explicit images of sexual activity may be permitted.

Sex works at '18'

Sex works are works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation. Sex works containing only material which may be simulated are generally passed ‘18’. Sex works containing clear images of real sex, strong fetish material, sexually explicit animated images, or other very strong sexual images will be confined to the ‘R18’ category. Material which is unacceptable in a sex work at ‘R18’ is also unacceptable in a sex work at ‘18’.

It is clear to me that from what I intend to include in my final production that I would have to settle with an '18' certificate as most of the rules for an '18' apply to what I am likely to include in my final film.

Whole Film Synopsis

My thriller film is about a hardworking marine who is forced to leave the army following the tragic loss of his wife to become a single parent to his young son, Private Daniel Brown (played by Craig Smith) has not been able to spend much time with his son due to him serving his country and blames himself for why he could not be there for his wife. He steps up and masks his torment to make sure he does not project any of his pain onto his son. Dan starts to get his life back on track when his life is once again turned upside down, his son goes missing and he is left with nothing more than a calling card left by the kidnapper. This tips our ex marine over the edge and though he has not spent long in the army he was top in his unit in close quarter combat and small arms fire making him an efficient and silent potential killer. This movie follows the protagonist’s quest to find his son and take down the men responsible for his kidnapping, as well as his transformation from law abiding citizen to anti-hero vigilante. His mission makes him face his own previously dormant demons in this gripping action thriller and our hero discovers that the closer he comes to finding his son the more he unveils about the corrupt organisation responsible for the kidnappings.