Planning and Research: Micro Element

During the production of our teaser trailer I will be focusing first and foremostly on editing as that is the primary micro element I am being marked on but due to the size of our group we shall all be working together on sound to even out the workload. Aswell as sound we shall also be working together on all other micro elements such as:

• Setting
• Props
• Costumes
• Lighting
• Composition
• Colour
  

Planning & Research - Editing Ideas

When listening to music in my spare time I came across the music video for a song called "Gaia Bleeds" by a band named "Set Your Goals" and I was inspired by the editing in the video and had the idea that using a similar editing style to the one seen in the video could be highly beneficial to our trailer.

Planning and Research: Unused footage

Here is some footage that we shot and intended to use but decided against due to the poor camera quality and bad lighting.

Planning & Research - Soundtrack Ideas

Due to the dramatic factor in our trailer I was hoping to create a eerie but yet tense vibe with the music in the trailer, something similar to the introduction in the song below but with a more intense build up.

Planning & Research - Filming Update

Over the last week our group finished up on filming the footage for our teaser trailer and personally I am very happy about the way all of the shots and quality came out, I believe that this footage will contribute well to making a very high quality trailer and shall make the editing alot easier due to less need for colour correction and image sharpening.

Planning & Research - Weather

Here is a screen-grab of the weather forecast for the next 5 days, as you can see the the temperature's are very low and this week in our area we have had heavy snowfall, due to these weather complications we have been unable to film test shots as our locations would be unsafe to be used.

Planning & Research - Film Poster First Draft

Here is the first hand-drawn draft of my film poster, I have taken aspects and conventions that I felt worked well in the examples in my earlier posts and applied them to my poster in an attempt to make my film poster conventional aswell as unique. As you can see I have placed my masthead towards the bottom of the poster and all other aspects such as my main image in the expected positions to keep it conventional and to allow my previous research to feed into it.

Planning & Research - Actor Release Forms

Here are the actor release form's for the actor's Dan Malone & Harry Burgess allowing them to star in our teaser trailer.

Planning & Research - Magazine Analysis 2

Target audience: I believe the audience that this magazine has been targeted towards is older teenagers with a passion for film and younger adults, I drew this conclusion from the sophisticated design of the magazine and the simple but yet subtle colour scheme. The use of font is more difficult to asses as on one hand a simple font has been used which hints that the designer was aiming for a simple look but on the other hand the angles in which the text around the main image is placed hints that a more complex design was desired, this gives me the message that this cover in particular is appealing mainly to its target audience but is not blocking out other audiences out with a narrow minded view design wise. The main image is of the actor Leonardo Di Caprio, I believe that this was a good choice of cover star when aiming to appeal to a wide audience for numerous reasons: his acclaim as an actor and the longevity of his career has enabled him to gain a wide range of fans, his image attracts the current young female audience where as his earlier roles gained him fans who have grown older as his career has gone on.

Genre: The name empire doesn't immeadiatly make the audience aware that the magazine is a film magazine however the fact that the main image overlaps a reasonably large section of the masthead shows that the magazine is already established to a level that the full masthead is not always needed to be visible for audience recognition.However the tag-line "The Worlds Biggest Movie Magazine" speaks for itself. The magazine cover has been adapted to the design style of the film and its advertising campaigns which I believe is a good idea as then the magazine does not carry a trademark or generic look and this enables each issue to be individual and stand alone in its design and colour scheme. The red, black and white colour scheme is seen throughout many film magazines.

Narrative: As I assume they aimed to do the magazine does not give to much away in terms of the narrative of the film which occupies the cover. However the angles of the text and the buildings in the background hint that the film is a psychological thriller as the text gives off the look of an optical illusion.

Representation: The cover star is dressed in a suit holding a gun, in my opinion the image gives off a James Bond-esque vibe which hints that the character he plays may be an agent or possibly a police officer or villian.

Media Language: In some aspects the magazine cover is very conventional but the angled text around the main image I believe is used to give the otherwise typical magazine cover an edge. The mast head, main image, barcode and other expected features are placed in the typical positions.

Planning & Research - Publication Plan

Publication Plan on Prezi

Planning & Research - Draft of film magazine

Here is my first draft for my film magazine. I have used the typical conventions seen on magazines including the examples below. For example the positioning of the masthead, stories and barcode.

Planning & Research - Magazine Analysis

Target audience: I believe the audience that this magazine has been targeted towards is older teenagers and younger adults, I drew this conclusion from the subtle complexity of the design which immediately may attract the audience within the demographics I mentioned. The prominently blue colour scheme hints that the magazine may be directed towards men however the cover star's appeal to the female contradicts the what one may think of colour scheme initially.

Genre: Immediately the name "TOTAL FILM" makes the audience aware that this is magazine that is completely focused on film and film related topics

Narrative: As I assume they aimed to do the magazine does not give to much away in terms of the narrative of the film which occupies the cover. But as seen in the masthead the buildings are very prominent which may hint that the buildings are an important image in relation to the film which occupies the cover.

Representation: The cover star is dressed in a suit holding a silenced weapon, in my opinion the image gives off a James Bond-esque vibe which hints that the character he plays may be an agent or possibly a police officer or villain.

Media Language: In some aspects the magazine cover is very conventional apart from the detailed image within the mast head. The mast head, main image, bar code and other expected features are placed in the typical positions.

Planning and Research: Shot List

Here are the shots we intend to shoot during filming next month.

Planning & Research - Week Plan

This week I plan to film some footage and create drafts for my poster and magazine. I also plan to do some work on my blog keeping it up to date.

Planning & Research - Film Magazine Name Ideas

After thinking about what I should name my film magazine I have compiled a list of a few ideas:

• Inside Film
  
• Reel Film
• The Red Carpet
• 35mm
• Premiere
• Showcase
• Cine-mag
  

Planning & Research - Film Poster Conventions

The layout of this film poster for the psychological thriller "Shutter Island" is reasonably conventional in the placement of the key features such as the mast head, lead actors name and main image. I shall attempt to incorporate features of this poster into my own as I design it.

Planning & Research - Film Poster Analysis

Here is a poster for the film seven.

Genre: Psychological Thriller/Horror - The genre of this poster is clear to see as the tagline of the poster says "Seven deadly sins, Seven ways to die" strongly hinting towards horror, however the colour scheme is more bright and golden rather than the conventional horror colour scheme.

Narrative: The poster hints that the storyline will include murder but does not give to much away about the characters.

Media language/layout: The layout of the poster is fairly conventional due to the placement of the masthead and the lead actors names. The golden colour scheme exerts happiness but is opposed by the red strokes through the seven deadly sins. (As seen below)


Audience: I believe that the poster aims the film towards an older audience spanning from people in their early twenties onwards. It does so by its use of detailed design and simplistic colour scheme.

Representation: The actors on the poster are being utilised as a marketing tool due to their pull and the size of their names and images on the poster. But as characters they are shown to be in deep emotional thought hinting that the film may have an emotional, thought provoking storyline.

Planning & Research - Storyboard

Planning & Research - Props & Costumes

Planning & Research - Software/Equipment List

Over the course of production we will be using numerous items of software/equipment:

HD Camcorder*
Microphone
Motivated Lighting
Digital Camera
iMac
Pc*
Final Cut Express
Photoshop
GarageBand
Sony Vegas 9.0*
Adobe After Effects*

(All items listed with "*" are personal items & all others are available from college)

Planning & Research - Week Plan

This week I intend to compile a list of equipment and software that we will need to produce the teaser trailer alongside with a list of costumes and props. If all goes to plan, hopefully this week we will be able to start shooting some test shots to gain some insight into what our trailer may be shot like.

Planning & Research - Location Recces

I will inset a video of the location when I am able to upload the video to the computer.

Shooting information
Students getting too close to the camera or cars driving around may cause problems when shooting the footage for the teaser trailer.

Lighting information
All lighting except in the container will be natural as their is no lighting in the actual container.

Sound information
Vehicles driving past, students talking and unpredictable noises may cause problems when filming.

Possible hazards
Due to the container being located on a car park there is a possibility of complications occuring with vehicles and lack of space

Research & Planning : Animatic Storyboard

Here is our animatic storyboard which will help portray how we would like our trailer to pan out.

Planning & Research - Auditions

Here is a screenshot of a facebook status I posted alerting my friends list of the auditions for our trailer.

Planning & Research - Prodution Schedule

Here is the production schedule I produced to help us stick to a schedule when filming & producing keeping us on track enabling us to produce the best trailer we can.

Planning & Research - Cinema Trip

Our media class all took a trip to the cinema to watch a screening of the film "Buried" starring Ryan Reynolds, I believe it was a useful trip as the storyline to the film is quite similar to the plot we had thought up for our teaser trailer. Overall the film gave us alot of helpful insight into how to portray a man being held against his will.

Planning & Research - Treatment

Myself and members of my group have decided upon an idea, a psychological thriller with a preliminary name "Captive".

The trailer will open on the sound of microphone feedback ringing out as the camera zooms out to reveal a speaker, the camera will continue to zoom out to reveal a suited man with his hands tied behind his back & a bag over his head. The camera will arc round to reveal the front of the man as he comes to. As the character wakes a voice comes from the speaker revealing the details of the characters situation. As the situation is revealed numerous flashbacks will appear e.g. the character being attacked & kidnapped, events in the trailer will unfold building supence heading towards the end of the trailer.

Planning & Research - My Preferred Audience

At the moment my group has 3 main ideas for our teaser trailer on being a horror, one an action & the other a psychological thriller. Generally these type of films are rated 15 or 18 & are watched by an audience seeking a thrill or to be scared.When looking at the results of my questionnaire the majority of participants preferred films of either the horror or thriller genre & believed the best films are rated certificate 15. I believe targeting our trailer to anyone over the age of 15 mainly targeting students & film lovers. Our trailer shall be aimed at people of both genders & mainly to people in socio-economic group E.

Planning & Research - My First Podcast

This is my first podcast showing what I have done in the month of September.

Planning & Research - Conventions Research

Last year I produced a music magazine & as my skills have progressed I am challenging myself by producing a teaser trailer.

A teaser trailer is a short promotional advertisement for a upcoming media product. In my case my teaser will be promoting a film. Unlike a regular trailer a teaser trailer is usually around 30-90 seconds containing action packed clips from the film used to engage the audience but not give too much of the plot away.

Here are some examples of teaser trailers:


This teaser trailer is very well put together & I believe our trailer could be edited in a similar style & be as/maybe more gripping but due to restrictions on budget and location we could not create a 3D film or film in such secluded locations therefore limiting us.



In my opinion this teaser trailer is very easy to do & with the resources we possess I believe we could create a trailer to a much higher standard than this.

Codes & Conventions of a horror teaser trailer:

• Fast paced editing
• Voice over
• Dark lighting
• Tension
• Scary music
• Blood
• Secluded location
• Female main character
• Murderer/Culprit
  

Planning & Research - Audience Research

Here are the graphs developed on Microsoft Excel to display the results of my questionnaire. These graphs show that to maximize the ammount of the audience we appeal to it would be wise to not specifically focus on one gender, keep the trailer around the one minute mark and to make the trailer the certificate 15.The other questions brought to my attention that sound & editing will be a vital part in making my trailer the best it can be.

Planning & Research - Audience theories

Hypodermic needle model - The Hypodermic needle model suggests that mass media has a direct & powerful impact on its audience much like the intended message is being directly injected into the mind of audience.

Cultivation Theory - Cultivation theory says that mass media has become the main source of storytelling in today's society. Allowing the audience to be molded by the main sources of media.

Desensitisation model - This theory states that audience as a whole have become less effected by serious issues & extreme crime or violence as we have become a custom to such acts due to their common use in mass media.

Copycat Theory - This theory states that certain members of the audience tend to copy certain acts seen in mass media.

Uses and gratifications theory - This theory states that audience is more intelligent than other theories give credit for suggesting that an audience seeks out media to supply a need.

Planning & Research - Questionnaire

Today I have designed a questionnaire to help me decide on certain aspects of my teaser trailer.

The questionnaire entailed these questions:

A2 MEDIA STUDIES QUESTIONNAIRE

1. ARE YOU M/F

2. WHAT GENRE OF FILM DO YOU TEND TO FAVOUR?

      HORROR  COMEDY  ACTION  ROM-COM  SCI-FI  THRILLER

3. WHAT ASPECTS OF TEASER TRAILERS GAIN YOUR INTEREST?

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

4. HOW LONG SHOULD THE TRAILER BE?

     1 MINUTE  90 SECONDS  2 MINUTES

5. WHAT AGE RATING SHOULD THE FILM BE?

     12A  15  18

6. WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT THE FILM?

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Research & Planning: Regulation

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), is an organisation funded by the film industry that regulates all film's that are released in the UK.

The classifications that the BBFC give range from Uc to 18.

Originally I was hoping to create a teaser trailer for a gangster film but after discovering that we must create our own music we decided against it. I am now thinking of creating a horror trailer & due to the graphic nature & scary plot the trailer will more than likely rated 15 or 18 making it suitable for an older audience.

Research & Planning: Test Poster

This is my test poster I designed on Adobe Photoshop to recap on my skills

Research & Planning: Pitch

Here is a screengrab of part of my Pitch which I constructed on Microsoft PowerPoint. My original idea was to create a British drama, gang crime trailer but after having a good idea for a horror/thriller trailer.

Research & Planning: Film & Editing test

Research and Planning: Genre

A genre of a film gives the audience a slight clue to what the plot of the film might entail, each genre has certain codes and conventions which the define it. My previous experience in film studies gave me a deeper understanding of genre but I also compiled some research into genre to help my group decide on which genre our coursework would be on. Below is the information I gained from my research.


Comedy: Here are some examples of films from the comedy genre: The Hangover (2009), Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (2004) & Superbad (2007).

The comedy genre is compiled of numerous sub-genres which are used to appeal to each member of the audience for example slapstick & spoof comedy. In the comedy genre the storyline of the film is sometimes less important than the humourous dialogue.


Some stars of the comedy genre are: Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen & Steve Carell.


Here is the trailer for Will Ferrell's newest feature film "The Other Guys"


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Sci-Fi: Here are some examples of films from the Sci-Fi genre: Star Trek (2009), Star Wars Episode IV (1977) & 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968).

The Sci-fi genre is based around fiction with the storylines usually focused around science & technology & or space. Again within Sci-fi there are numerous sub genres. the main focus of Sci-fi films is to drift away from reality may it be a futuristic setting or a setting in space but it is very uncommon that a sci-fi film would be set in the present day with no changes.


Action: Here are some examples of films from the action genre: Die Hard (1988), Bad Boys (1995) & The James Bond Films.

The action genre has numerous connotations for example: car chase's, heroes & villain's & explosions. Most action films are lead by a main character who is involved in some sort of drama which needs to be resolved in an action packed way.

Horror: Here are some examples of films from the Horror genre: The Saw collection, Devil (2010) & The Last Exorcism (2010).

The Horror genre has numerous connotations for example: A villain, damsel in distress & darkness. Horror films are unsettling movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear from viewers. They usually feature frequent scenes that make the viewers jump and startled.