Filming Effects: CCTV Camera

Below is a video we made to produce a CCTV effect which we are planning to use as one of the main features for our film trailer.

Second Pitch Idea

After the feedback we recieved from our first pitch, we decided that our idea was too far fetched and hard to make believable. There were still some positive element to our first pitch that we wanted to include in our second storyline. Such as  maintaining the same action/horror effect and also using the same props such as the air guns. Here is the poster of our groups second pitch:

My own experience and love of horror and action films has given me motivation for how I want my groups trailer to look. Inspiration from films such as Paranormal Activity has made me realise how easy it could be to make a movie that involves the use of CCTV cameras and handheld cameras to produce an effective trailer. Paranormal Activity is a horror movie literally about paranormal activity that has been captured on CCTV cameras and webcams throughout the house. It features ordinary families in ordinary houses and settings which is why our group initially decided that a storyline along them lines would be sufficient and still effective.

Here is a trailer of Paranormal Activity just to show the idea of CCTV cameras and Webcams that are used:

Although this is a horror film, it has ideas in there that will be very useful to us.

Here is the presentation of our group's pitch:

Initial Pitch

Camera Research

There are many aspects involved with producing a trailer. To be able to produce a believable trailer, there is a need for good equipment. In this case, a good camera with good lens's and also amazing editing software.

The camera's we will be using are Canon 600D - 550D and also a Nikon D3100 in total with this. With this we have 6 lenses: 2 standard (18-55mm), 1 medium zoom (28-105mm), 1 higher zoom (70-300mm), 1 fixed zoom (50mm), 1 fish eye. Also with this, we have 2 GoPro cameras which we can use for action shots which work well with our horror film genre as we will be able to display point of view shots which will cause suspense to the audience. 

Our GoPros both have a fixed fish eye lens. I believe that our groups variety of cameras and camera lenses, we have the potential to make a very believable trailer.

Camera Effects:

The above picture was taken with a Canon 550D with a Canon EF 50mm f1.8 Lens. By simply changing the ISO (International Standards Organisations) of the camera, we were able to drastically change the lighting even though the shots themselves stayed exactly the same. ISO basically means the cameras sensitivity to light. The lower the ISO, the darker the lighting. This feature on the camera will be useful to our group when filming a horror trailer because the different lighting we can produce is substantial. The low ISO produces a very dark lighting which will certainly come in handy when trying to portray dark or gloomy scenes in our trailer. The high ISO will also come in handy if the lighting in some areas is not as light as we need it to be. 

We are also at an advantage with our group as we have a range of different lens's. We have a range of zoom lenses as well as two fish eye lenses. Below is a picture we took with a fish eye lens compared to one we took in the exact same place and position however using a normal lens instead:

Our range of cameras will help us massively when filming our trailer because different cameras produce different shots. We are fortunate enough to have two Go Pro HD Hero's which will produce amazing action footage. Below is a video clip of a Go Pro HD Hero 2 being used. This is not a video that we as a group have produced however it is significant in showing the amazing effects we can have from using this type of camera. All shots from this video were filmed with the same camera.