To get an idea of the typical conventions of a trailer in the thriller genre, I watched the trailer for 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose'. It's obvious that the film advertised is a thriller/horror due to the fact that it's fast-paced and dark. The pace suggests that there will be action or suspense in the film a lot as it creates tension.
The narrative is quite simple and very easy for the audience to understand - Emily is possessed and on trial. Although it's a very basic plot, there are many characters included; for example, there's Emily, lawyers, a vicar and boy that tries to help her (who could be her brother or a love interest). There are also a lot of settings shown, with most of them being quite stereotypical - such as the dark forest or the dimly lit jail cell. There are also demons featured in the trailer - which are stereotypical in a horror film. Throughout the trailer, there are close-ups on these demons to put emphasis on the supernatural aspect of the film.
There is non-diegetic choir/gospel music throughout the trailer, which gives religious connotations and emphasises the presence of demons and vicars. The music starts off slow, with the pace of the clips matching it, and then gets faster after about the halfway point of the trailer to fit the quick editing of the footage. The music went silent when one of the characters spoke to put emphasis on what they were saying which I found very effective for getting the audience's attention. A non-diegetic heart beat can be heard in the trailer, that fades to black with each beat. I found this technique very good as it added to the tension created and adds another element of horror to the trailer. Synchronous screaming is also featured in the trailer, which is typical of the genre as it is a woman's scream.
By looking at the trailer, I got the impression that the audience was for ages around 15-35 and of both genders - due to men stereotypically enjoying horror films more but also because the main character is a woman females in the audience could relate to. The violence shown makes it obvious that the film is only for people who enjoy being scared people who enjoy being scared.
The trailer is 1 minute and 58 seconds long and has around 90-95 shots in it. Many of the shots were in the fast-paced sections of the trailer and only shown briefly, which is how so many were included. The structure of the trailer is non-chronological and the editing jumps around different very quickly - resulting in quite a lot of the film being shown. Even though I found it effective to build suspense, I also got the feeling that it wouldn't be worth seeing the film after watching the trailer.
There is an intertitle that says "Based on a true story" and this sparks interest in the viewer as they want to know about how something featured in the trailer could have happened in real life. There were 8 intertitles and I found them effective as it seemed as though they were talking to the audience and giving them information. At the end, it says that the film is "coming soon" and this would make people who are interested in the film want to research it some mare and find out just how soon the film will be out.
24 November 2015
23 November 2015
Film Planning - Initial Plot Ideas
Initially, we wanted to copy 'A Stranger Calls' by having a party and a shadowy figure waiting outside. The shadow person would follow a person home and kill them, and we would crosscut between this and the party. The person's dying scream would be blended with the sound of a glass at the party falling to the ground and smashing. Although we all liked this idea, we also felt that it would be more suited for a film opening and not a trailer.
We then realised that we needed the person to have a motive and decided that the murderer-guy would be a friend of the girl hosting the party. Our first idea was that he wasn't invited to the party and he's bitter about that - which we then had to expand because that wouldn't be a good enough motive for murder without some backstory.
After some brainstorming, we made up a new idea that still had some elements of our original idea; a boy who's grown attached to a girl makes bad thing happen to her friends so that she pays more attention to him, which escalates into him killing her close friends.
We considered telling the story from the perspective of the boy. This would show him growing up with a girl who's like a sister to him but, as they get older, she starts to push him away - which results in him trying to get revenge on her. To add a twist to our movie, we then decided to tell the story from the girl's point of view and make the bad things seem like a supernatural being's work - that finally gets revealed to be her childhood friend.
We then realised that we needed the person to have a motive and decided that the murderer-guy would be a friend of the girl hosting the party. Our first idea was that he wasn't invited to the party and he's bitter about that - which we then had to expand because that wouldn't be a good enough motive for murder without some backstory.
After some brainstorming, we made up a new idea that still had some elements of our original idea; a boy who's grown attached to a girl makes bad thing happen to her friends so that she pays more attention to him, which escalates into him killing her close friends.
We considered telling the story from the perspective of the boy. This would show him growing up with a girl who's like a sister to him but, as they get older, she starts to push him away - which results in him trying to get revenge on her. To add a twist to our movie, we then decided to tell the story from the girl's point of view and make the bad things seem like a supernatural being's work - that finally gets revealed to be her childhood friend.
20 November 2015
Research - The DaVinci Code - Film Trailer
For research, I also watched the trailer for 'The DaVinci Code', which is an action/thriller film, to see how different it is from a horror/thriller.
The trailer is very vague about what the film is actually about and this connotes that the film will be about a mystery that the audience will have to think about as they watch. Barely anything is shown in the trailer (and I'm pretty sure what is shown isn't actual footage from the film) and no characters or settings are established - which is weird for a film trailer but also emphasises the mysterious effect.
The main part of the trailer, in my opinion, was the intertitles as they made people want to watch through 'star power' - including famous actors such as Tom Hanks.
Only one music track is used in the trailer, which is slow and orchestral to give a sense of adventure or eeriness. A non-diegetic voiceover is also included, which is done by a typical American man with a deep voice.
Although the film is rated 12A, I think that the target audience is actually people aged around 35/50, due to the historical significance and the link to paintings - which wouldn't interest a younger audience. The trailer actually seems quite childish as it is slow and simple, but this could be seen as boring by people outside of the target audience as most films have a fast-paced trailer that builds suspense.
The trailer was 1 minute and 50 seconds long and had only 8 shots due to most of the trailer being one long tracking shot through the cracks of the painting. There's only one setting and a brief, single narrative, with the inertitles and voiceover being the main focus for the audience.
The trailer is very vague about what the film is actually about and this connotes that the film will be about a mystery that the audience will have to think about as they watch. Barely anything is shown in the trailer (and I'm pretty sure what is shown isn't actual footage from the film) and no characters or settings are established - which is weird for a film trailer but also emphasises the mysterious effect.
The main part of the trailer, in my opinion, was the intertitles as they made people want to watch through 'star power' - including famous actors such as Tom Hanks.
Only one music track is used in the trailer, which is slow and orchestral to give a sense of adventure or eeriness. A non-diegetic voiceover is also included, which is done by a typical American man with a deep voice.
Although the film is rated 12A, I think that the target audience is actually people aged around 35/50, due to the historical significance and the link to paintings - which wouldn't interest a younger audience. The trailer actually seems quite childish as it is slow and simple, but this could be seen as boring by people outside of the target audience as most films have a fast-paced trailer that builds suspense.
The trailer was 1 minute and 50 seconds long and had only 8 shots due to most of the trailer being one long tracking shot through the cracks of the painting. There's only one setting and a brief, single narrative, with the inertitles and voiceover being the main focus for the audience.
16 November 2015
Research - Thriller Brainstorm
15 July 2015
10 July 2015
Research - The Gallows - Film Trailer
We researched low budget/independent film trailers because they are similar quality to what we would be able to make. Looking at the settings, music and how many shots are included helped us to realise the amount of footage we would need for our own trailers and how much we would need to edit it. We also thought about what makes a good film trailer, which gave us inspiration for what we want to do ourselves.
The Gallows
The Gallows is a low budget, horror film that is set around a play that resulted in a teenager being killed the last time it was performed, which a school is attempting to bring back. Four teenagers try to prevent the play from happening the night before the performance, but discover that a spirit is haunting the school.
The characters included in the trailer are the four main teenagers, three police officers and the spirit. The teenagers are seen breaking into the building and vandalising the set of the play, which is a very stereotypical representation of teenagers. There's two girls and two boys, who are all teenagers, included in the film and they are all dressed in casual, normal clothes. The audience would be able to relate to these characters as they are of a similar age to the target audience of older teenagers and act like actual teenagers would in the situations throughout the film. The spirit is barely seen in the film and most of the "scary" things in the trailer are done by some invisible being - which might make the audience jump. If the trailer makes the audience scared, then they would be more likely to see the film because they believe that the film will be good and scare them further. They would also want to see what the spirit looks like and why it is there, along with wanting to know if the teenagers survive.
There are multiple music tracks used in the trailer, with the main song being a cover of Nirvana's "Teen Spirit" (which fits with the storyline). The music pauses in places to allow that audience to hear diegetic sound - such as screams and banging doors - which puts emphasis on them and tries to scare the viewer.
The trailer is 2 minutes and 18 seconds long, and in this time there's roughly 86 shots. The pace gets a lot faster once the spirit starts making things happen, which interests the audience and makes them want to keep watching. Near the end of the trailer, there is a scene of a girl with a noose around her neck and the pace slows down slightly before multiple images flash quickly across the scene and then she is pulled back by the noose. This might make the audience jump and also makes them want to know what happened to the girl.
The main two settings are in a school and outside what I assume is the same school, and the teenagers are seen in the school's theatre, hallway, hall and backstage. The audience can relate to these places because they will either be in school or they have just left school, which would frighten them into wondering if their own school is haunted too.
The inter titles show reviews of the film and movies related to it - which would attract fans of the horror genre because they might have seen the other films before. They appear very quickly, giving barely any time for the viewer to read them, which fits with the fast pace of the trailer and would perhaps make them need to watch it again if they missed anything.
The Gallows
The Gallows is a low budget, horror film that is set around a play that resulted in a teenager being killed the last time it was performed, which a school is attempting to bring back. Four teenagers try to prevent the play from happening the night before the performance, but discover that a spirit is haunting the school.
The characters included in the trailer are the four main teenagers, three police officers and the spirit. The teenagers are seen breaking into the building and vandalising the set of the play, which is a very stereotypical representation of teenagers. There's two girls and two boys, who are all teenagers, included in the film and they are all dressed in casual, normal clothes. The audience would be able to relate to these characters as they are of a similar age to the target audience of older teenagers and act like actual teenagers would in the situations throughout the film. The spirit is barely seen in the film and most of the "scary" things in the trailer are done by some invisible being - which might make the audience jump. If the trailer makes the audience scared, then they would be more likely to see the film because they believe that the film will be good and scare them further. They would also want to see what the spirit looks like and why it is there, along with wanting to know if the teenagers survive.
There are multiple music tracks used in the trailer, with the main song being a cover of Nirvana's "Teen Spirit" (which fits with the storyline). The music pauses in places to allow that audience to hear diegetic sound - such as screams and banging doors - which puts emphasis on them and tries to scare the viewer.
The trailer is 2 minutes and 18 seconds long, and in this time there's roughly 86 shots. The pace gets a lot faster once the spirit starts making things happen, which interests the audience and makes them want to keep watching. Near the end of the trailer, there is a scene of a girl with a noose around her neck and the pace slows down slightly before multiple images flash quickly across the scene and then she is pulled back by the noose. This might make the audience jump and also makes them want to know what happened to the girl.
The main two settings are in a school and outside what I assume is the same school, and the teenagers are seen in the school's theatre, hallway, hall and backstage. The audience can relate to these places because they will either be in school or they have just left school, which would frighten them into wondering if their own school is haunted too.
The inter titles show reviews of the film and movies related to it - which would attract fans of the horror genre because they might have seen the other films before. They appear very quickly, giving barely any time for the viewer to read them, which fits with the fast pace of the trailer and would perhaps make them need to watch it again if they missed anything.
1 July 2015
Creating my own film magazine cover
One of the problems that I faced was making this magazine cover look different form the last one that I created. I searched for images of past 'Total Film' covers and decided to copy the tilted bar across the middle of the cover that shows images of upcoming films. I think that it works well with the cover because it is more eye-catching and allowed me to add more underneath - as on my past cover, I had to make the font smaller so that it would all fit in.
Initially, I wanted to put Madison and Ethan on the cover to mimic the main characters on the 'Jupiter Ascending' cover but I felt that it made the cover look too cluttered and took attention away from the main character. Another problem that I faced was the fact that the fact that the picture of Madison wasn't very good quality, and so I had to sharpen and re-colour the image so that it fit with the professional style of the rest of the cover - which took longer than it should have due to my limited Photoshop abilities.
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