Title

After researching similar titles, I made my own in Adobe Photoshop. The soft glow makes the title seem out of focus, mysterious and otherworldly. The lens flare is reminiscent of the UFO in the trailer. Other examples of lens flares in sci-fi films can be seen in much of J.J. Abrams' work such as Super 8 and Star Trek. The next thing I wanted to do was animate it; I wanted the lens flare to appear on the 'I'. To do this I made a second version without the flare and then took the two images into Adobe Premier Elements. I stitched them together and used a 'cross dissolve' which gave a good fade in effect.

Prop Research

There are a couple of different props I will need for my trailer. These include things that will appear on screen and things that won't.


The story centres around the main character finding a strange glowing object outside his house. The difficulty is finding an object that fits the criteria of being small, light emitting and not instantly recognizable like a light bulb or torch. It also cannot have a wire running from it because the scene it appears in is outdoors. Having looked at my options, I think the best choice is to use light-up plastic rings. These little toys come in a variety of shapes and colours and, as long as the 'ring' part is obscured, look like abstract, alien glowing objects.


In addition to the little lights, I will also need a bigger, brighter light to represent the UFO in the sky. For this something as simple as a torch or light on a phone will do the trick. As long as the hand holding the object and the object it's self are obscured through clever shot placement, and as long as it gives off a strong light, it doesn't matter what the object is.

Filming Day #2

Here is a compilation of shots from my second day of filming. For the first scene in the trailer, I knew I wanted a spooky, supernatural feeling scene set at night. It was a very foggy night, which I feel lent well to the eerie and mysterious tone. The cliché of fog to indicate mystery can be seen in films such as 'King Kong' and 'The Mist'. These shots were taken near my house, at a clearing and on a road. Not all of the shots will be used in the final film, and it's unlikely the audio will be either.

Unlike day one, day two's filming followed a narrative and so I was looking to get specific shots. Most of the shots in the video are in order, but they are not yet edited. This means they will be cut down, rearranged and have diegetic and non-diegetic sound added. The shot at 0:22 will not be the first shot; there will be a couple more, inside the character's, more that set up the scene. I will need to go back and film a few more shots to complete the narrative, such as a long shot of the object in the field and a low angle, over the shoulder shot looking at the light in the sky.

I encountered a few problems filming this scene, for example it was very dark. To remedy this I borrowed my brother's phone, and used the torch to provide extra ambient lighting from a distance. Another problem was finding proper props. The mysterious blue object is a children's glowing ring toy. By holding and filming it just right, I was able to obscure what it really was. The light that appears in the sky at the end is, again, the light from a phone. I had to film this in a way where you could not see the phone or the hand holding it, only the light it's self.

Filming Day #1

My first day of filming took place in London. I went to London without any of my actors so I couldn't film any shots with people in them, but what I could get was a lot of establishing and atmospheric shots. The area of London I focused on was the bank around the Tate Modern and St Paul's Cathedral. I like this area because it fuses the modern metropolitan parts of London with the iconic tourist spots. The weather on the day was perfect for the mood I was aiming for: cold and foggy. It makes the footage feel gloomy and moody.

Above I have compiled all the usable footage I took, not all of which will be used in the final film. Some of my favourite shots are the shot at 0:30 which was taken from the balcony of the Tate Modern, which has good composition and features both the cathedral and the bridge, as well as moving elements like the people and the boat. This makes the shot seem dynamic and bustling. I also like the 0:45 shot which pans up to reveal St Paul's; it has good depth and the passers by look like they could be extras or background characters. I like the shot at 1:26 because of the way the shore goes back in space.

The final shot at 1:27 is taken on an escalator inside the Tate Modern. Through the glass window, you can see my character walking back and forth; I think was was a creative way of doing a vertical panning shot. The issue is that I had my brother film it and the results are somewhat shaky and bad quality. The audio is not an issue as it will be cut out and have music over it in the final film.

Mood Board

Costume Research- Antagonists

An antagonist can be a lot of things: a maniacal villain; a natural disaster; even a disease. In my case, the antagonists will be a secret organisation who operate from the shadows. Since my antagonists are people, not abstract concepts, they are going to need costumes.

To me, antagonists are almost always more interesting characters than protagonists. I like working out what makes them tick; why they do what they do and how they got to where they are. On top of this, they are often more creatively or uniquely designed because, as I talk about in my other costume post, they do not fall into the protagonist's problem of having to please and be relatable to the whole audience. 

I need my villains to look smart, intimidating, professional and dangerous. Looking at similar villains from other movies, the clear theme is suits. Suits fit all the criteria I am looking for for my characters.

Suits are the perfect fit for my villains, but the issue I will encounter is that it may be hard to distinguish the two characters; especially since they are identical twins. To combat this, the suits will have to be distinctly different. Grey and navy blue are the two most common suit colours other than black, which should be reserved for funerals. Another piece of costume I may want to consider depending on the weather is sunglasses, as they can add mysteriousness.

Costume Research- Protagonist

The protagonist of my film needs to be relatable and accessible, so that the audience attach to them. The best ways to achieve this are through dialogue and appearance, and here I will be focusing on appearance.

Most movie protagonists are white males; this is because in society they are considered by many to be the 'default' or 'average' person. While this is obviously not true, as modern society is diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity, sexuality and many other aspects, it is a trope of almost all genres to have a white male protagonist. In terms of costume, having a character dressed too formally of too shabbily will make them unrelatable. They need to be as average as possible without being boring. Looking at other 'average' characters in film, you can see they dress inoffensively and casually. The other issue I will encounter is having the lead be a teenager. Teenagers come with their own stereotypes, many of which negative, so I will have to take into consideration whether I want to conform to or subvert stereotypes such as lazy and violent through costume.

The sort of costume I want for my protagonist will consist of jeans, trainers or sneakers, a t-shirt or collared shirt and maybe a casual jacket depending on the weather the days we film. At the beginning of the trailer, I plan for there to be a scene where the character is in his home at night. For this scene, he may be wearing pyjama bottoms and slippers.