A2: Research and Planning - Trailers

Trailers
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the theatre after the films ended, but the name has stuck. Trailers are now shown before the film begins.

Movie trailers have now become popular on DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, as well as on the Internet and mobile devices. Of some ten billion videos watched online annually, film trailers rank third, after news and user-created video.

Definition 
Trailers consist of a series selected shots from the film being advertised. Since the purpose of the trailer is to attract an audience to the film, these excerpts are usually drawn from the most exciting, funny, or otherwise noteworthy parts of the film but in abbreviated form and usually without producing spoilers. For this purpose the scenes are not necessarily in the order in which they appear in the film. A trailer has to achieve that in less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the maximum length allowed by the MPAA. Each studio or distributor is allowed to exceed this time limit once a year, if they feel it is necessary for a particular film.

Some trailers use "special shoot" footage, which is material that has been created specifically for advertising purposes and does not appear in the actual film. 

MPAA rating cards for theatrical trailers 

A green band is an all-green graphic at the beginning of the trailer. Until April 2009, these cards indicated that they had been approved for "all audiences" and often included the movie's MPAA rating. This signified that the trailer adheres to the standards for motion picture advertising outlined by the MPAA, which include limitations on foul language and violent, sexual or otherwise objectionable imagery.

Action trailer Analysis

There are approximately 30 cuts in the first 35 seconds of the trailer. Because it is a action movie, it would have more cuts and the pace of these cuts would increase as the trailer moves on. This creates more of an effect on the audience and increases the tension and suspense of the dilemmas and actions in the trailer.

The use of voiceover at the beginning along with the sound effects creates an exciting effect as the audience gets to know what sort of characters are in the movie. Everything included in the trailer such as the fact paced edits with extreme long shots and quick instant close ups link to the genre - action/adventure. From this I learnt how to create an almost synergetic effect in the trailer alone where absolutely everything links with each other. The music and the pace of it increases in the trailer.

A2: Research and Planning - Film Posters

As part of my research, I decided to look at different film Posters and analyse them.

One of my favorite Film Poster that i came across was the 'Limitless' one. The idea of three images being present on the cover made it look more appealing. As well as this, the editor added the names of the actors under each image. The title of the film 'Limitless' is  positioned on the bottom of the page.

The layout of this particular poster appealed to me and may be one of the posters I base my film poster on.

Two conflicting images were present on this poster as well as the vertical film title positioned in the middle separating the two images.

A2: Research and Planning - Film Magazine Covers

Researching different covers for film magazines and analyzing them was useful as I came to fully understand the generic conventions used.



Masthead - A defining feature of Empire magazine is the ever changing appearance of the Masthead. While the location and size of the title remains the same, the colour and theme often changes with the genre of the film advertised in the main image. This is a very attractive and appealing method of grabbing the reader's attention and automatically relating the topics of the magazine to the film story, so if the style appeals than the reader will be inclined to read on.

Main Image - The main image is the focal point and main focus of the front cover. It is positioned in the very centre of the page which is particularly eye catching and perhaps the biggest feature on the page. The mid shot of the character holding a weapon immediately tells the audience that the film belongs to the fantasy/adventure genre. The image also feature another merged image with the supposed villain looking at the character. The main image not only looks visually stunning but also informs the audience a little about the plot.

Catch-lines - The catch phrases used particularly 'THE FINEST MIDDLE-EARTH COVERAGE CONTINUES INSIDE' provide encouragement to the reader and almost lures them in persuading them to read more inside and buy the magazine.

Colour Scheme - The colour scheme of the magazine is very important to the theme of the magazine's story, it also stands out to the audience in numerous ways. The dark blue contrasts well with the black used and also contrasts well with the golden coloured text making it clearer for the reader to read. The colours are used to perhaps connote mystery, adventure and evil. At a glance, the genre of the film is instantly recognizable.

A2: Genre

Psychological Thriller

Psychological thriller is a fictional thriller story which emphasizes the psychology of its characters and their unstable emotional states. In terms of classification, the category is a subgenre of the broader ranging thriller category, with similarities to Gothic and detective fiction in the sense of sometimes having a "dissolving sense of reality", moral ambiguity, and complex and tortured relationships between obsessive and pathological characters. Psychological thrillers often incorporate elements of mystery, drama, action, and horror, particularly psychological horror. They are usually books or films.

A2 Planning

First Sequence

A young girl is walking alone in a field like location.The location will be edited to a dark sinister effect. The sound in this scene will be both diagetic and non diagetic.

Second Sequence

She is sat in an empty room being interrogated by another woman who looks middle aged. The interrogator will not be shown whilst saying this, only the girl being interrogated is shown. 

Third Sequence

All sound will be muted, the girl is alone in the interrogation room. Whilst camera pans out, a non diagetic scream. Music starts again

Whilst camera pans out, cuts to black.

The End.

Filming dates:

All dates are in 2014
Friday 7th November - approximately 2 hours needed, 8:30 to 10:30. Scene 2

Featuring two main characters

Saturday 8th November - approximately 3 hours needed. Finish scene 2 and scene 3.

Featuring main characters in interrogation room

Tuesday 11th November - approximately 2 hours needed. Continue filming scene 3 and finish it.

Featuring main character in interrogation room

Thursday 13th November - approximately (1/2) hour needed. Finish filming scene 4.

Featuring main character in bedroom

Script in detail

First sequence

The camera pans from the right side to the girl. Long shot of her walking. Location is made obvious and visible because of this shot. The mise-en-scene will be basic and simple. The girl will be wearing casual clothing. The diagetic sound will be casual, non-diagetic music. This scene will only last for 1 minute. The camera pans away and cuts to scene two, just after her last thought appears. Constantly cuts to screen that asks the questions 'what if?'

Second sequence

For more effect on the audience, I am going to use over the shoulder shots, and effects such as swift, unclear flashbacks. Non- diagetic and diagetic sounds are both going to be included in this scene. The non-diagetic sound may consist of the beeping sound security cameras often make. Diagetic sound includes the door banging whilst the interrogator walks out. Extreme close up of the girls face, camera goes blurry.

Third sequence

The scene begins with a blurred shot, continuing swiftly from the end of scene 2. The girl is alone. Diagetic sound - everything is muted. whilst the camera pans in, a loud scream. Extreme close up of eyes

Research

I researched a short film and came across one where the audience could see the thoughts of the characters in the film.

https://youtu.be/Wl2_knlv_xw

Through research I had found some key questions which may be useful when I start to plan my trailer.

1. Who/What is the film about?
2. What is the basis of the action in the film?
3. From who's point of view is the audience being shown the story?
4. What is the theme?
5. What is the style/genre of the film?

I wanted my trailer to include several different effects and interesting techniques. To do this, I researched existing films and trailers which incorporate outstanding effects, emphasizing the impact on both the characters and audience.

In the last two minutes of 'The Walking Dead' during Shanes death the producer had included swift flashbacks whilst the character is dying. 

The flashbacks appear as extreme close ups and are not clear to the viewer. There is also a sound effect when during the flashbacks. The fact that my short film will be based upon the idea of the state of mind, I decided a concept like this would be suitable and effective.

My trailer will consist of an empty room, with a camera positioned in the top corner. So, the film appears as though it has been shot using a security camera. The 'Rec' icon will also appear on the screen to make the security camera footage look realistic.

Just like Shane's death scene in 'The Walking Dead'. The camera will constantly show flashbacks and quick shots to the street and a hand covered in blood. As an alternative to filming these scenes, I will take snapshots of the street and use those.

The street will be dark, foggy and mysterious. 

The interrogation room will also be dark with a black and white effect. An example of the sort of interrogation I want to use would be as such.

A2: Film Trailers

Length 

-A trailer is approximately 2 minutes long however this varies on the length of the film and the amount of cuts the trailer includes.

An average trailer would include more than 100 cuts. This is because the trailer includes a lot of shots from the actual film which is over an hour long.

A2 Pre-Production Survey

I designed a questionnaire to identify the audience appropriate for the Film trailer I produce.

1) What is your gender?

Female 60% (6 votes)

Male 40% (4 votes)

The majority of people I surveyed were female. It was interesting to see what both genders preferred and how their opinions deferred - obviously considering age and other categories as well. My product is not targeted at a specific gender audience so this part of the survey did not create much of an impact on the overall product.

2) What is your Age?

Under 14 (1 vote)

15-20 (5 votes)

21-30 (1 vote)

Over 30 (3 votes)

The majority of people who took part in the survey were from the age range category of 15-20. Only 1 person each were in the age range categories of under 14 and 21-30. This was an ideal question for my survey and I people from many different age groups managed to answer the questions on my survey. This was useful as my product is targeted at the age category of 15-20, although this is not limited.

3) What genre of Films do you prefer watching?

Action/Adventure (2 votes)

Horror/Thriller (0 votes)

Comedy (3 votes)

Romantic Comedy (2 vote)

Science Fiction (0 votes)

Tragedy (1 vote)

Romance (2 votes)

Animated (0 votes)

Other (0 votes)

I was not surprised when I saw that people mostly voted for comedy as their favorite genre. Only because comedy tends to be a very popular genre. However, it was interesting to see that nobody had voted for horror or thriller as their favorite genre. I would have normally expected this to be an extremely popular genre. However the fact that I only surveyed ten people may have made the survey slightly biased. Rom-com and Action/Adventure had the same amount of votes, both of which are very popular among teenagers. I was particularly satisfied by this result, as my film trailer will have elements of adventure in it - potentially satisfying the audience.

4) How often do you watch films?

Very Rarely (0 votes)

Daily (1 vote)

Weekly (6 votes)

Monthly (3 votes)

Yearly (o votes)

Other (o votes)

The majority of people, (unsurprisingly) watched films quiet often, demonstrating their interest in film. 

5) How do you watch Films?

Illegal Streaming (4 votes)

Cinemas (1 vote)

DVD/Blu Ray (2 votes)

Itunes (0 votes)

TV  (2 votes)

Payed online streaming (1 vote)

Other (0 votes)

It was interesting to see that many people watched films using illegal streaming. It was slightly disappointing as short films often do not appear on websites used for illegal streaming for films. However, the votes helped me in providing a satisfactory short film which makes people want to watch them more often. Only 1 person each watched films either on payed online streaming or in the cinemas.

6) Do you watch film trailers?

Yes (8 votes)

Sometimes (2 votes)

No (0 votes)

I was very pleased to see that absolutely every person I surveyed does watch film trailers, either as a habit or from time to time. It does not only show the audience’s interest in film, but also provides me with an insight into what I need to include in my film and the types of people it will appeal to. Many of the people I surveyed often heard about or watched films on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter or Youtube. This was particularly helpful as I can upload my short film on websites such as these to know people's opinions and get appropriate feedback, which will be extremely useful.

7) Do you pay attention to film Posters?

Yes (6 votes)

Sometimes (3 votes)

No (1 vote)

Only 1 person who took part in the survey does not pay attention to film posters which was very useful in providing me with satisfactory information on the fact that the majority of the people who took part, do in fact pay attention to film posters. Considering, that I myself will be creating a film poster as part of my brief, this information was very useful. 

8) What makes you want to watch a film?

Editing (0 votes)

Actors (2 votes)

Genre (2 votes)

Director (0 votes)

Storyline (9 votes)

Other (0 votes)

It was interesting to see that the majority of people voted for two categories that make them want to watch a film. The most popular among them, however, was the story-line. I was very pleased to have seen this as the most popular category since the story-line is as well as the editing is what I will be focusing on most to make my film appeal to the audience.

9) Do film reviews ever influence your opinion of the film?

Yes (3 votes)

No (7 votes)

Sometimes (0 votes)

It was interesting to see that film reviews very rarely influence the opinion of the audience. 

10) Do you like the idea of a Film trailer revolving around the state of mind?

Yes (10 votes)

No (0 votes)

I was pleasantly surprised to see that all of the people who took part in the survey liked the idea of a short film revolving around the state of mind. This was a huge advantage as it encouraged me to make the film satisfy the audience.