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For A2 Media we had a variety of briefs which as a class we all choose the best brief which
we thought would be best to undertake as part of our coursework. The brief which we selected included producing a promotion package for a new film, which contained a teaser trailer. In addition to this we also had to create a film magazine front cover and a poster for the film. The reason for selecting this particular film brief was so that I could learn new skills, In AS we were taught the print skills which were portrayed though out magazine and posters.

This project requires a great amount of knowledge, skills and resources. However our school may lack the resources required in order to achieve a highly professional looking project. Nevertheless we are still confident in achieving a successful teaser trailer for a horror film.
To start this project off, we firstly needed to undertake some detailed research about teaser trailers. Once decided on the genre of my trailer (horror) I searched YouTube to find examples which I then when on to do a detailed analysis off, this meant breaking the conventions of a trailer in order to find the differences and similarities these trailer had. By doing this I gained an idea of the number of shots, variety of shots and the length of the trailers. After this I did an overall conclusion for trailers explaining what the conventions are for a horror film and how they were portrayed in order to target the audience.

The planning will include a precise production schedule which contained information what needs to be filmed where and when. However we found that the schedule had to be altered at time due to the weather conditions. As I worked in a group this meant that all members of my group decided on a name for our film, the number of characters and locations together. When deciding on our characters we decided it was best to draw up character profiles which were then given to our actors so they understood the emotion of their character better. This also helped us when filming as the actors seemed more real. The next stage of the planning was producing risk assessments for our location and we also took photographs for visual purposes. Finally we created a synopsis for our film as most films have one and was seen to be a vital convention when undertaking my research. We also produced a shooting script, shot list and a storyboard which provided us the basic knowledge when shooting.

Today, in class I wrote up a list of codes and conventions for general trailers then focusing on my genre I wrote up another list for horror trailers. I found that the main conventions are the same however in horror trailers the pace is much faster when building tension and the music gets louder. We also decided on the name for our film “The Missing” and therefore were able to write our synopsis. The narrative of the story were broken down into five sections, we based this around Tzvetan Todorov analysed narrative stages; equilibrium, disruption, recognition of disruption, attempt to repair and reinstatement of equilibrium.

After having our narrative and synopsis for our trailer we then we on to decided what we wanted to show in our trailer in order for it to be successful. However before we could start this process we needed to decide on the number of characters and draw up a detailed character profile. This would benefit us when shooting as each actor will we assigned a different character to portray , therefore having a character profile will help them to perform.

Today we were going to shoot the location we decided to use. By using our school as the setting for our film it made it easier as we are able to film during lesson time which would help speed up the production process.

Today we continued where we left and took a digital camera with us to start taking location images. After we had done this we started in the risk assessments for each location.

For a week and a half we have been spending time on our storyboards. The storyboard is the most used piece of work when filming therefore we felt we needed to spend some time deciding which angle to film, the type of movement whether the sound should be diegetic or non diegetic.

The storyboard will be used at all stages in the production process including the editing as we have also noted the transition and the length of each shot.

Today I created a rough anamatic for our trailer, this was based around the stills of the storyboard which I scanned into the computer in order to produce a rough version of our trailers. This enabled me and my group to visualize what the trailer what look like. I also added transition into the shots however by using Windows Moviemaker it wasn’t as professional as I wanted it to look. Nevertheless I gained an idea of the pace and the length of the trailer. This anamatic trailer allowed me to understand how editing software works.

After watching our anamatic trailer with my group and the teacher, it was clear to see that out intertitles were too long and was over taking the trailer which made to seem boring to watch. Therefore after using intertitles in our anamatic we decided to use a voiceover at the beginning of the trailers.

Today as a group we wrote up a list of equipment that we will need during our filming. This helps us save time when filming daily.
Today we started filming our footage however we found that we didn’t have enough actors so we had to use a person from our group as an actor. We did a character profile of 5characters however due to the lack of characters we only had 3 characters which consists of 1 boy and 2girls.

After 1 week of filming we had to edit our footage at Brentford learning centre due to the lack of resources our school had. However we only had one day to edit our trailers so we only had a short space of time in order to have a fully edited film. We firstly had an introduction to how to use the editing software as we weren’t familiar with it and then we had to download our footage onto the computer, however this process took the longest for our group as we didn’t realise how much footage we actually had and therefore we began to panic. After our footage had downloaded we created a rough cut then edited our rough cut and started to add transitions into our footage. For this process we had to refer back to the storyboard as we had mentioned the pace and type of transition required for each shot. As our genre was horror the trailers didn’t require a lot of transition . Towards the end the group spilt into pairs one pair focused on adding the logo, titles and voiceover while the other pair found music.

After completing the teaser trailer i then had 2 create the ancillary text which was made up of a film magazine front cover and a poster which was based around the film created in the teaser trailer. However before i was able to construct this next task I had 2 carry out a sufficient amount of research on both film magazine and posters. This knowledge will allow me to have a understanding of the codes and conventions needed to create a professional looking ancillary. I undertook my research by searching the internet for existing film magazines such as ‘total films and empire’ and then analysed them in detail to have an understanding of their representation as a film magazine. I also did the same research for posters.

I have also produced a short questionnaire and have distributed in to 15 people. This will allow me to gain some audience feedback from my target audience. After collecting this data I will then analyse it to see what the key conventions I need to include in order to target my audience. The feedback will also help me gain an understanding of how my magazine/poster will look.
After developing my audience feedback I was now able to take my photographs for my magazine and poster. I took a variety of photographs experimenting with different angels and lighting in order to see which shot will look the best on my magazine/poster.

After taking my photographs I have now started 2 create my magazine and poster using Photoshop.

As both my front cover and poster are now both finished it’s been a long process in finishing the A2 task. But I now have 2 do an evaluation talking about the process of my task

Introduction

For A2 media studies I have been asked to create a promotional film package for a teaser trailer, poster and film magazine cover. For this task I had the opportunity to work as a group. We decided the best genre in which we were going to base our promotional film package around was Horror. This is because after watching a variety of trailers we found that horror trailers were the most interesting and intensive. The intensity used in horror trailers could be shown through my skills which I had developed throughout this course. For example I noticed horror trailers use a lot of close up and fast pace editing therefore I would take this into consideration when filming/editing in order to portray this convention in my trailer. I also think the reason we choose the genre horror is because of technology, as we live in a modern society more people are up to date with technology therefore this allows us to broaden our skills in teams of editing, this means we can explore doing different things when editing such as pace, transition, camera angles etc.

Another part of this promotional film package is to create a film magazine cover and a poster. I felt these two choices were the best as I had a high – quality understanding of print. This was because for our AS task we were asked to produce a school newsletter and a music magazine containing a contents page, double page spread and front cover. As I have already developed excellent skills and knowledge of print this meant that the magazine cover and poster would be produced to a outstanding standard and because I have developed my skills in Photoshop this would benefit my print work as well. The other choice which I had was to create a Web page for the trailer however due to not having the best facilities and technology to design the web page it would mean not being able to create work to the best possible standard which could have a impact on my finale grade.

In order for the trailer to be success I would need to carry out some research. This research will consist of an analysis of horror trailers so I can understand the codes and conventions used in horror trailers. I would also need to watch a range of trailers to gain some knowledge and background around horror trailers. However so I can understand where trailers are first advertised and distributed I would need to do some research regarding production companies.

After I have conducted my research I can then start on my planning which will include both group and individual tasks. Firstly as group we will need to make our storyline; this was done using Tzvetan Todorov theory of the five stages, which include: equilibrium, disruption, recognition, attempt to repair disruption and reinstatement of equilibrium. We fitted our storyline into these five categories. We than needed to storyboard our ideas to understand how it was going to be filmed and which camera angle, movements and transitions were going to be used.

From this promotional film package I hope to achieve a high quality teaser trailer which fits my genre and a well produced magazine cover and poster. I will need to achieve this by carry out specific research and detailed planning.

British Museum

My school was chosen to take part in the unique experience of teaming up with an educational production company to produce a docu - drama based on the Indian Landscape and Garden for the British Museum. The Indian landscape was inspired by the collections of the British Museum and Kew Gardens. It draws attention to the rich variety of plants and trees in the Indian subcontinent and the natural resources they provide. The landscape features plants used in:
 Food,
 Medicine
 Religion,
 Construction,
 Weaving
 Commerce

The aim of this was to promote the Indian landscape so the public had an understanding and sense of what the landscape was trying to represent. The highlights of this filming experience were actually getting to work alongside a professional crew and understanding the how the whole production process works. This allowed me to gain the knowledge of the production process which was beneficial to me as we were going to be asked to create our own trailer as part of the A2 coursework. By me working alongside of the production crew I was able to gain some tips from filming which would have helped me when making my trailer. The other highlight of my filming experience is that I was actually asked to be a part of the docu – drama. I took part in some acting scenes but I was mainly apart of a dance scene.

I think the part which I was most disappointed with is not being allowed to take part any post production work. This was frustrating for me as I believed I had a good knowledge and understanding of editing which I wasn’t allow to share or portray for the docu – drama. I think not being able to take part in any post production work meant that I wasn’t using my media skills to the best of my ability. I believe if I had been allowed to take part in this the final product would have been better.

The research could place before we meet with the directors, I did this by reaching the British Museum Indian landscape to see what it was about and familiarise myself with some of the knowledge. I had to look up what kinds of plants were kept in the garden and what kind of painting they had and what each of them represented. The planning was done as a group activity including the directors, we all came together as a group and put our ideas forward and then came up with a final decision. Once we had decided this we began to do a practise trail with the directors to see what looks best and what could be changed. The filming work was mostly done by the directors however I think if they had let us take part in some elements of filming it could have been improved. Another improvement which could be made is during the planning, I think I needed to research more on the background of the paintings as all mainly represented the story of Rama and Sita. By me researching this story I would have had a better understanding of the paintings which could have helped during the planning process.

I think the area in which I learnt the most in was being able to see how a production company works as a whole. I also gain more knowledge about filming and how to gain the best shot.

The aspect of the process which will be most valuable in my next image assignment would be the filming process. I learnt that when filming in order to get the best possible shot you need to film it many times and using different angles and lighting in order to gain the best effect. I think this will help me when making a trailer as I already have an understanding of filming.

Research: Key Theorists

Audience theory is the starting point for many Media Studies tasks. Whether you are constructing a text or analysing one, you will need to consider the destination of that text, ie its target audience and how that audience (or any other) will respond to that text. Dating from the 1920s, this theory was the first attempt to explain how mass audiences might react to mass media and suggests that audiences passively receive the information transmitted via a media text, without any attempt on their part to process or challenge the data. Some institutions such as the Governments had just discovered the power of advertising to communicate a message, and produced propaganda to try and influence common people to their way of thinking. The Hypodermic Needle Model suggests that the information from a text passes into the mass consciousness of the audience unmediated. This theory suggests that, as an audience, we are manipulated by the creators of media texts, and that our behaviour and thinking might be easily changed by media-makers.

Research: General Trailer Research

Functions and Features of a trailer part 2

How does a trailer show that a film is worth going to see?
Whilst marketing campaign uses genre to gain our interest, it must also show us how this new film is different to others in the same genre: the USP. This is what separates one film title from another released around the same time or of a similar genre.

USP COULD BE
A genre which presents an usual mix – musical horror
Something distinct – innovative use of special effects
Star playing ‘against type’ – an actor known for action movie taking on a serious role.

What are the Features of a trailer?

• Trailers are NOT mini films. They are a genre in their own right and have their own sense of easily recognisable conventions
• Trailers are designed to capture out attention and hold it for a short space of time
  They create a mood or atmosphere and heighten out anticipation of what is to come within the film
• The style in which the information is conveyed is often fast – moving and requires out full attention.
• To watch a film at this pace would be impossible, we wouldn’t be able to cope with the input and would ‘switch off’. However, we enjoy the rollercoaster effect of a trailer and the mental challenge it presents.
  Sound is very important, particularly the music which can manipulate our emotions and create specific atmosphere
• The voiceover, a feature of advertising, is used to summarise aspects of the story and emphasises credits information where appropriate. Like every other element of the trailer the voiceover looks to promote the film by building our anticipation.
  

CONVENTIONS
They highlight the ‘best bits’ of the film – the very funny, sad ,action –packed, bizarre

• Showcase the stars in the film
• Some visual images barely stay on the screen long enough for us to recognise what we are seeing
• Conventions between characters often consist of one liners
• Dramatic camera angles – show events or character
• Action – combined with credits on screen
• Voiceover – used to tell the story and give credit information
• Music – Creating atmosphere
• Title – may not appear until the end
• Trailer builds to climax, where it ends

The purpose of a trailer
What is a marketing campaign and why is it needed?

• Film making can be very cost effective, with feature films needing healthy takings at the box office in order to cover the costs of production, pay investors and make enough money for the next release.
  
• When a film is released at the cinema it only has a short space of time in which it has in order for it to become a box – office hit.
  
• The marketing campaign plays an important role in informing potential audience about the film with the purpose of encouraging people to see the film in cinema.
  
• The distributors are keen for the film to be a success so they can create a marketing campaign that aims awareness of the film and create interest; this means distributors stand a better chance of making a profit.
  

Why is the trailer important?

• A Trailer is a powerful weapon in the marketing campaign. Posters are important in capturing the initial interest of the audience and drawing them into the cinema, but they cannot convey excitement and atmosphere of a film in the same way a trailer does.
• The combination of a moving image and sound both show “larger than life” through the equipment of the cinema.
• This means trailers stirs our emotion and gives us a “flavour” of the film that is impossible to gain through the still images alone.
  

When is the trailer produced?

• Most trailers are created and produced at the same time as the film is being edited.
  
• The timing of a trailer campaign in cinemas, online and on Television is important
  it must be shown far enough in advance to generate excitement about the film’s release, but not so early that people forget about the film.
  
• Often a very short version of the trailer, know as a “teaser”, will be released early on in the marketing campaign to give people an idea of what the film will be about, and to generate a “buzz” around the release.
  
• Most films now have websites to accompany their release, these teaser trailers are often seen fist online.
  
• After this theatrical campaigns and television spots will start to appear to maintain and strengthen the initial “buzz”.
  

Global Releasing

• Where a film is being shown in a range of countries, it many have a range of release dates, in which case each version of the trailer will need to carry the correct information to ensure audience are aware of the release date.
• Any of the films we see in the U.K are from the US and the trailers have been created there, hence the use of American vocabulary and accent in the voiceover.
• However sometimes the trailer may be re-cut for different countries. With a different voiceover or even dubbed speech.
• In recent years changes in media technology have had a big impact on the way that film titles are released internationally. When films are released earlier in the USA for example then they are in Europe “pirated” versions of those films.
• This is due to individuals recording the film in the cinema then uploading it online - an illegal activity usually referred to a “film piracy”.
• As a result if this potential box – office profits are at risk, those involving in promoting a film need to carefully control the process of release. For this reason films are increasingly released on a “day and date” which means that the film is released around the world on exactly the same day in order to prevent the international trade of pirated copies.
  

Research: Trailer Analysis - Sorrority Row

Name – Sorority row

Genre – Horror

Target Audience – The target audience for this film would range from teenagers aged 17 – 19 and young adults aged 20 – 30. The beginning of the trailer suggest that the film is a ‘chick flick’ however watching further on reveals that it’s a horror film, therefore the target audience would be interested in watching the film as it shows enigma and ambiguity.

Plot – When five sorority girls accidentally cause the murder of one of their sisters in a prank gone wrong, they agree to keep the matter to themselves and never speak of it again, so they can get on with their lives. This seems easier said than done, as at a sorority party while everyone is wearing sorority gowns covering their face one of them is killed.
Length – 2.28

Number of characters – In this trailer there are a variety of main characters which are dominated in particular scenes. The main characters throughout the whole trailer are the 5 sorority girls. The other main character which is also shown is Megan’s (the one who gets murdered) boyfriend, However he is mainly showed at the beginning of the trailer. Another main character would be the unknown ghost/spirit which comes back to life towards the end of the trailer. There are also a number of background characters shown throughout the trailer. These include the people partying at the beginning of the trailer, the teacher which gives a speech on life to the girls and the students which are graduating. The background characters normally don’t have much dialogue but portray their actions through body language and facial expressions. The audience would be able to identify the main characters instantly as they are shown in most scenes as they have a significance importance to the storyline. However compare to the background characters that are less likely to be in most shots, background characters are showed when needed to provide a good setting and help the audience establish the scene at the time.

Number of shots – Approximately 113
The shots from this trailer last about 2/3 seconds using a mixture of camera angles and shots, however as the pace gets faster and more action is shown the shots begin to get shorter lasting about 1 / 2 seconds. The camera angles which are mainly used in this trailer as close ups and medium shots. This is to show key emotions of the characters whilst portraying the location/setting however the camera angles used try not to give the narrative away at the same time. The beginning of the trailer starts off by using an establishing shot of the school and the party scene. This is so the target audience get an understanding of the setting. The beginning of the trailer also shows each main character individually in a separate shot. This lasts for approximately 1 second each; this is done so the target audience can straight away indentify the main characters.

Music – The music at the beginning of the trailer starts off as upbeat party music which later goes into a scene of a party. This would confuse the target audience as this type of music convention is not normally used for horror trailers. This type of music is used up until the scene where is stabs her with a cross. From this scene on the music starts normal familiar music conventions which means it starts to build up to create tension and gets louder as the action gets more intense. This would keep the target audience engaged throughout the trailer as it uses a variety of music from different genre thus going against the normal conventions of a horror trailer. In this trailer there is about 10 seconds where they is no music and diegetic sounds such as the phone ringing and dialogue take over. However the music only starts to appear again when the sprit is shown, this is done is create huge enigma and build up the tension for what is going to happen next. Towards the end of the trailer the music gets louder as the pace is becoming faster and intense, finally the music cuts and the title is shown. This would therefore leave the target audience is great amounts of suspense resulting in them wanting to watch the film.

Voiceover – No voiceover

Production Company – The production company which is shown in this trailer is “Summit Entertainment”. Showing the production company is very important as it can help attract the audience. If the production company is a recognisable brand that will encourage people to watch the film as they would have a good reputation for film making and people would assume that film would be to a high standard. Another important factor in showing the production company in a trailer is surrounding copyright laws and to ensure them the trailer won’t be copied.

Credits/Intertitles – There are a number of Intertitles shown throughout the trailer
0.35 – 0.36 ‘A Prank’
0.40 – 0.41 ‘No One Would Ever Forgot’
1.08 – 1.09 ‘A Secret’
1.14 – 1.15 ‘No One Would Ever Tell’
1.50 – 1.51 ‘Sister For Life’
1.59 – 2.00 ‘And Death’
2.20 – 2.22 ‘Sorority Row’
2.26 – 2.30 ‘Coming soon’ – All the Intertitles are written in upper case lettering which suggest that they are powerful credits. It also it written in upper case lettering as it wants it to be eye catching and appealing to the audience. Most of the credits are only shown for approximately 1/ 2 seconds however they appear slowly on the screen and the texts gradually gets bigger. This is so the credits are read by the audience so they are kept engaged and interested.

Editing – The transitions used in this trailer are mainly straight cuts and fade to black. The 5 seconds of the trailer starts off by using a fade to black transitions however when the camera goes to show the main characters individually it uses a straight cut. This is so the characters are shown properly to the target audience and they don’t get confused whereas using a fade at the beginning is only setting the scene. As the pace of the trailer picks up the transitions become straight cut so it’s easy for the target audience to understand and see clearly to action. Using straight cut when the action is building up helps to create fast action and build up the anticipation within the trailer. The pace of this trailer starts off slow but as the storyline becomes more open the pace begins to speed up in order to keep the target audience interested.

Dialogue – Conversation are heard they keywords from these are: dead, kill, prank, lesson, cheat Theta Pi

Research: Trailer Analysis - The Devil's Backbone

Name – The Devil’s Backbone

Length – 1.23

Genre – Horror

Target Audience – 15 and over. Adults

Narrative – A gothic horror film about a young child who attends an orphanage.

Number of character – There are 5 main characters in this trailer. An old couple who shown to run the orphanage but there are also two teachers one female and one male, there is also an orphan who is calming to be seeing ghost.


Shots – The shots which are used in this trailer are close ups which show emotion of the character faces because it doesn’t give the entire storyline away just enough to keep the target audience engage. However there are also establishing shots which have been used to set the scene, with this are also medium shots seen. It is clear to see these camera angles have been used to show the importance of the character. For example a medium shot is used when the man is outside blowing his whistle and the children are running up the stairs, this implies that he is a teacher of the orphanage.

Music – There is a mellow soundtrack that is played in the background of the trailer but it’s very subtle until around 30 seconds into the trailer. From here it then gets faster adding tension and suspense to the trailer

Special effects – Bomb breaks and comes towards the screen

Credits/Intertitles – The actors and actresses name are seen along with translations for the Spanish dialogue.

Editing – The transitions which are used in the trailer are mainly straight cuts which build up anticipation and they make the trailer emphasise the action so the target audience are attracted making them want to watch the film. The pace of the trailer starts off slow but then gets fasters as the storyline builds up. This therefore creates more tension and more action.

Dialogue – Conversation are shown in the trailer and the keywords used are: ghost, dark and horror and there is also dialogue in Spanish

Unique Selling point (USP) – The main USP’s of this trailer are firstly the genre as it explores a Spanish element which unusual to the target audience. Another USP is the narrative and Director of the film.