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PRODUCTION LOG : TEASER TRAILER

CREATING MY TEASER TRAILER

CREATING BLOODLINE: THE TEASER TRAILER Once, we had finished filming and started the construction of our teaser

trailer, me and my production team took it in turns assembling and editing our teaser trailer with the main role of editor being split between us. I was assigned:

Role C) : Modifying edited sequences in negotiation with the director/ producer

Role D) Dubbing additional sound effects, music or voice over as appropriate

And Role E) : Creating titles and credits for the finished project. This PowerPoint will be focussing on Role C and how I modified our film sequences in Adobe Premiere in negotiation with my team in the aim of constructing a media product aimed at a potential target audience.

DIGITAL PROGRAMMES I AM USING TO CREATE MY TEASER TRAILER Adobe Premiere: is a video editing software

application. It is part of the Adobe Creative suite, a suite of graphic design, video editing and web development applications developed by Adobe Systems. I intend to use this to program to create and edit my teaser trailer, I have decided to use this programm because I feel it has the right features such as the 3D and 2D monitors to create a professional trailer. It has also produced commercial films that have gained critical success such as Avatar, thus I feel it is the right direction for my first film feature.

Role C) Modifying edited sequences in negotiation with my production team In constructing our teaser trailer, with our raw

footage me and my production team had filmed, Terri’s role was to create a draft version of our teaser trailer using the storyboard as a guideline to ensure we had the right shots and actions we had planned out in our initial storyboard. Once, we had the draft version, my task was then to modify the edited sequences in negotiation with my production team. Before, I began transforming the draft version, I wanted audience feedback on what areas to adjust, what could be of styles of editing and if they understood the storyline through the chronological sequences.

Role C) Modifying edited sequences in negotiation with my production team: Audience Feedback Lewis: “ I think you need fast cuts in the sequence to establish the

genre and add intensity. I don’t really feel intrigued to watch the rest of it because the images don’t grab my attention”

Femi: “ The storyline is not really clear or easy to understand. I didn’t really get the two middle scenes from the phone call to the girls running, if felt like a big piece of the narrative was missing”

Nana: “ Some of the sequences are too long, maybe you should speed them up a bit to get more of the narrative across”

Reflection I think my audience feedback was helpful and it acted as a starting

point from me to change the teaser trailer using our creativity and conventions stated in our statement of intents with our target audience’s opinion on how to make the teaser trailer better. It was important for me to get audience feedback, because I am constructing this media product intending to aim it to a potential target audience so it is important for me to get their opinion as I am looking to appeal to their needs and wants.

Role C) Modifying edited sequences in negotiation with my production team I first worked on the audience

feedback, my first task was to quicken the pace of some of the sequences, as they were to slow. I did this by using the style of editing: fast cuts. I did this by right clicking on the timeline, awaiting a menu which had the speed and duration of each sequence. Then clicking on speed duration and added a speed of 200% to make the sequences twice as fast. This reduced the sequence’s space on the timeline as it used up less minutes. It was crucial that fast cuts were done not only to grab our audience’s attention but to also create a montage which is a editing technique we had previously stated in our storyboard and statement of intent, a montage allows us to establish the genre of our media product, as this is a typical convention of all action/ crime and urban trailers.

Role C) Modifying edited sequences in negotiation with my production team

As I began to work in the timeline or source window, I had come to rely upon “In and Out points” to accurately edit. These two points can clearly define which part of a clip you want to use, what section of the timeline you want to replace, or where to remove footage. Here are the most essential commands that I used in editing each sequence: • In—Press I to add an In point, I used this as a marker of where I wanted my clips to start from, this helped me cut out any insignificant footage previously. • Out—Press O to add an Out point. I used this as a marker of where I wanted my sequence to end, this helped me create a sequence of useable footage that I could then drag onto my timeline.


I continued to edit the trailer using fast cuts by speeding up the editing and paying close attention the running time of the trailer, as it had to be under a minute long. Thus, I did this by using the monitor to re-cut sequences, me and my production team thought was insignificant or too long and then dragging them onto the timeline to see how long each sequence lasted. I did this because in order for the trailer to fit the conventions of a action genre it is crucial we get some of the narrative in the trailer but still leave some interest and questions to persuade the audience to watch the film yet at the same time our audience feedback told us our storyline wasn’t easy to follow or understand.

Role C) Modifying edited sequences in negotiation with my production teamOnce, we added the fast cuts to the beginning of the trailer, I then played the whole

teaser trailer to see if it had made a difference. Whilst, the trailer was playing I wanted to work on the second criticism that was given to me from our target audience which was that the storyline was not clear to understand. I noticed that some sequences had been in the wrong order when comparing it to the initial storyboard. Thus, I had to look back at the initial storyboard and change the scenes in accordance to how we previously designed them in chronological order. I did this using the project monitor which organised each sequence in chronological order. This helped me to find the clips I needed to change and drag them on the timeline. Me and my production team in negotiation agreed that we needed to have the phone call sequence after the establishing shots, as looking back to our statement of intents, we wanted to follow the 5 stage narrative structure. This helped to convey our narrative more clearly and effectively.


Some of our sequences, whilst watching the teaser trailer had bad lighting that did not allow us to see the moving image as clearly as we wanted. Although, it was still prominent and visible, it looked amateur and looking back to our initial storyboards and statement of intents, lighting was a key feature in our trailer as we wanted, high key lighting to be used throughout the majority of our trailer to give it a “ Hollywood Effect”. Thus, we decided to use a tool called Shadow/Highlight which makes it easy to target your adjustments. This is a powerful and intuitive way to fix troublesome footage. Here are the steps, I undertook to transform bad lighted scenes to high key lighted frames.

1. Drag the Shadow/Highlight effect onto a clip that is too dark.

2. Uncheck the Auto Amounts box to take manual control.

3. Twirl down More Options to access advanced control.

4. Adjust the Shadow Tonal Width and Highlight Tonal Width sliders. The range defines which areas are affected (the lower the number, the tighter the range).

5. Adjust the Shadow Radius and Highlight Radius to create a transition area between selected and non selected pixels.

6. Modify the Shadow Amount to lighten shadows in the image.

7. Modify the Highlight Amount to darken highlights in the image.

8. Enable Temporal Smoothing to a few frames to analyze adjacent frames when adjusting tone. Using a higher value can compensate for sudden changes in the scene.

9. When you brighten a clip, it has a tendency to get washed out. Boost Color Correction to restore saturation to the effected areas.

10. Use Midtone Contrast to increase the amount of contrast in the clip.

Before and after of using the Shadow/Highlight effect to correct poor lighting.


Using the high key lighting also prompted, me and my production team to use the Blending Mode tool. We used this because some of our scenes were shot at night, Blending Modes can lighten especially dark video, and make it more high quality in saturation, this will help us fulfill our initial aims of producing a high quality, professional trailer as the cinematography is competent. I used the screen mode to lift the details out of a dark shot by essentially dropping out the details that are darker than the shot below. This means that brightness can add up without introducing significant grain below. I then: 1. Selected the desired clip in the timeline2. In the Effects panel, searched for Calculations.3. Dragged the effect on the selected clip and open the effect in the Effect Controls panel.4. Twirled down the Input property and leave Input Channel set to RGBA.5. Twirled down Second Source and leave the Second Layer set to the default value. Set Second Layer Opacity to 100%.6. and Changed the Blending Mode to Screen or Add.If the shot was too light, I reduced the Second Layer Opacity slider. If the shot was still too dark, I copied the Calculations effect in the Effect Controls panel and pasted a second copy onto the clip.

Role C) Modifying edited sequences in negotiation with my production teamLooking at our research and analysis of real media trailers, I noted that

professional editors often try to avoid changing picture and sound at the same point (called a straight cut). This is because the edit can be very jarring. It’s more noticeable when both elements change suddenly, which can jolt the viewer. Thus, me and my production team decided to use a better method and use an L-cut (where the video changes before the audio) or a J-cut (where the audio changes before the video). These are so called because of their shape in the timeline. They are especially helpful when editing dialogue because they give the editor better control over pacing and reaction shots. I followed these steps to see the impact they can have on Bloodline:

1. Moved through the timeline and located the desired edit point. 2. Selected the Rolling Edit tool (N). 3. Alt-click (Windows) on an edit point. 4. Dragged the edit point left in the timeline to create an L-cut or right to create

a J-cut. I was then able to view a preview of the outgoing and incoming frame while dragging in the Program monitor.

Timeline view of an L-cut edit point where the video switches before the audio.


Between editing each sequence, I noted that every time you have an edit or a cut, there is a transition. The simplest transition is a cut, it is a typical convention that is used in action trailers, however me and my production team felt that it lacked any effect on the audience and sometimes made the cohesion of the trailer look disorientated. Thus we made a mutual decision, that it would be more appropriate to use an effect to create a more stylized transition. I found several choices in the Effects panel inside the Video Transitions group and found it easy to apply a transition as I simply had to drag it between two cuts in the Timeline panel. The main effect I used was the cross dissolve (A cross dissolve is a standard type of transition. ) I used it to smooth the abruptness of a cut or to “mix” two clips to create a soft composite.

Role C) Modifying edited sequences in negotiation with my production team I found that my creativity sometimes came

up regularly when editing , at times I felt bored and as often tempted to spice things up with transitions. However, by having the initial storyboard and statements of intents with me I didn’t lose my judgment and resort to using “one of everything” from the Transitions menu. Me and my production team felt that transitions should only be used to show a change in space or time to convey the narrative effectively.

Role C) Modifying edited sequences in negotiation with my production team Looking at the initial storyboard, I found that one of the styles of

editing was a dark fade in which comes after the phone call scene . The fade out is used to create suspense and dramatise the action and hopefully entice my target audience to continue watching the trailer. I created the fade out by using the Effects panel inside the Video Transitions and chose the dip to black tool. I chose this because it was a simple, clean transition and made the editing look high quality as the transitions remained coherent. The fade out is a convention of our genre, as it is used to suggest a shift in narrative and time. This is one of the ways, I have used real media trailers to influence my own media production.

Role C) Modifying edited sequences in negotiation with my production teamThe mise en scene was another aspect of our trailer that I

also focused on. The positioning of objects within a frame was crucial and sometimes random insignificant objects such as a drinks can would appear in the frame during editing. This was something that me and my production team despised and was frustrated with. We had to use Photoshop to retouch the film stills, I did this by opening a video file as easily as any still image; choosing File > Open, and then selecting any QuickTime compatible movie file. Choosing the AVI file. The Open command automatically sizes the document to match the video clip and adjusts the timeline to match its duration and frame rate. I was then able to retouch and edit out the insignificant objects, exporting the film still back into Adobe Premiere. By using, the two digital technologies I was able to edit the objects in frames, which is essential as in our statement of intents we wanted our trailer to be high quality and proficient.


Finally, after my week of editing I decided to tighten up the timeline. A clean, tight timeline speeds up editing. I did this by : • Using workspaces: I found useful workspaces for Audio, Color Correction, Editing, Effects, and Metalogging. Choose Window > Workspace and then select the desired task. I also created new workspaces or resetting an existing workspace to its default view.• Deleted unused tracks: Right-clicked on a track in the timeline and chose Delete Tracks. In the pop-up window, I chose to remove all empty audio and video tracks.• Renamed tracks: I right-clicked on an audio or video track to rename it. This made organization easier (especially for complex audio mixes).• Drag down: I reduced the layers that have stacked clips upon clips using multiple video tracks. Holding Alt (Windows) key as I dragged them down to overwrite the clips below them. Making sure Snap is on, to ensure that the clip doesn’t move left or right as I moved it down.

REFLECTION After, my week of constructing and modifying the teaser trailer in

negotiation with my co workers, I found the whole experience challenging yet rewarding. Because I learnt how to use a new digital software. I have never used Adobe Premiere before so learning the basics and advanced skills was key in creating a commercial product. I think that my time constructing Bloodline the teaser trailer went well, I was able to fulfil my tasks set to a high standard and within the time frame which allowed me to do extra roles such as the credits and sound. I made some mistakes in terms of the speed of editing, when we wanted to render the trailer finally, I found that some sequences were to quick and needed to be slowed down in order for the audience to understand the storyline. I think that I have produced successful designs to engage my potential target audience as our designs are based on their feedback, conventions from our genre and our creative ideas that cater and appeal to our target audience’s needs and wants. By basing our designs around the audience and genre, we are guaranteed to successful engage our audiences attention as we have researched our designs and they have proved successful. Our unique selling point (USP) is the our narrative and genre as Bloodline is a urban action genre but still remains loyal to the social realism genre through authentic and real locations.

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