Applying Recognisable Conventions of Trailers

In order to further our understanding of the conventions of film trailers, we were put into groups and told to create ideas for a film trailer for a movie entitled "Bloodshed High". I was in a group with Dan and Joey. One convention that we recognized as being important to show is a USP (unique selling point). This is important to show in a film trailer as it shows how your film is unique which will attract an audience to go and see it. The USP of our film is that it is one of the only films where horror and teen themes are used. We thought that this was a good idea as it will attract people that are interested in teen films as well as people who are interested in horror movies. Another convention of a film trailer we realised was advertisement of the star characters. We did this by highlighting that William Defoe was starring in our film because he is associated with horror films and also because he is a star he will attract an audience simply by him being in it. One of the most important features of our film trailer, which will be highlighted in the film trailer, is the fact that the setting is an abandoned mental hospital turned into a boarding school on an isolated island which adds a claustrophobic element to the trailer/ film. From looking at my own groups idea and by analysing other groups' work i learnt a few key points. These are:

Key Features of Movie Trailers
1. Film trailers and the movie itself are two different things, while a film have a narrative a film trailer is only made to highlight the important parts of the film to make it an effective advertising tool.
2. When creating a movie trailer it is important to take into account an audiences expectations of a film trailer while creating a few new elements for example a unique selling point. An example of an important feature that an audience will expect is the production company at the beginning, from seeing this the audience will usually automatically know wht kind of film the trailer is for, e.g 'Twisted Pictures' will associate the film with a horror genre.
3. It is important to stick to horror movie conventions when creating a trailer as this will help the audience recognise the film that is being advertised which is important so that they will go and watch the film. For example non-diagetic music used in film trailers creates mood and atmospherem also using a star name in a trailer is important as it will help sell the film because some audiences will go and see a film simply because of a star that is in it.
4. Lastly it is important to apply the knowledge you have of conducting a film trailer, it is one thing knowing the key elements and another thing being able to put it together effectively.

Initial ideas spider diagram

To lay out our knowledge of horror movies concepts we we created a brainstorm in class on wednesday 15th of september. Since I do not have a scanner and it is quite hard to see a full A3 page on this blog I will type up the brainstorm we did in class.


Settings:

* Mountains
* Basements
* Abandoned Buildings
* Cemetery
* Fields
* Old Houses
* Farm
* Carnival
* Spaceships
* Outback
* Hills
* Dreams/Nightmares
* Crypts
* Underground


Lighting:

Creates Atmosphere

* Lack of
* Bright light
* Dimmed lights


Characters/Archetypes:

* Pedophiles
* Mental Patient
* Cannibals
* Monsters
* Prisoners
* Criminals
* Mutants
* Aliens
* Serial Killer
* Zombie
* Ghost


Camera:

Hand held

* Blair Witch Project, Paranormal, Horror, Thriller


Fixed/Spectator

* Hollywood, Action, Drama


Editing

Creates atmosphere

* Quick, fast paced
* Slow, can make something tense


Realism vs. Hollywood

* Realism is often in horror movies, with verisimilitude.
* Unrealistic can take you out of the action

Horror movie Initial Concepts

Group Allocation

For the time being this is how our group responsibilities are allocated

Jack
Casting, Props and storyboard for trailers, Storyline for whole film

Dan
Uploading the bulk of research to blog, Research horror conventions

Alex
Research Lollita and Lovely bones to find particular horror film conventions. Research pedophile films. Research horror movie trailer conventions

Coursework groups

We have now chosen our final groups that we are going to use to complete the coursework. I am in a group with Jack Dalziel and Dan Rodriguez, these are their blog urls :
Dan-http://danrodriguezy13coursewrok.blogspot.com/
Jack-http://jackdalzielabs.blogspot.com/

Analysing a film trailer

1. This is done to create tension for example, if it is a really good movie trailer, then during the trailer it will build up people's excitement of it and therefore cause the audience to be anticipated about the title of the film.
2. We are told the names of the people starring in the film as many people will go to see the film based on the people who star in it. For example Will Ferrel is a well known actor and people find him funny, so if they find out that he is starring in a new film they will be more tempted to see it. This information is given to us towards the end of the trailer through text. I think that it is given at the end because it allows them to wrap up the trailer well as after each name comes on the screen, they show a little clip of them in the film. Also I think they leave it until the end to show the name of the actor because most people will recognise an actor before the end of the trailer and it will keep the actors name in the mind of the audience.
3. These bits are shown in the trailer so that we have a feel for what type of action is going to be present in the film, this then makes the film appeal to the audience as the action in the trailer is most likely to be the best bits. As well as the main action bits, the trailer also shows us a few funny clips from the film to add the comedic element to the trailer that the film includes.
The trailer also introduces the characters through clips mainly presented in funny clips to make the film appeal to the audience more. They also show clips that convey the relationship that the 2 main characters have with each other to let the audience know what kinda of film it is.
4. In this scene it includes music that is primarily heavy guitar based, from this I can infer that this film includes a lot of action. These 2 policemen are percieved as being, the music turns into more jolly, this may signal that the two policemen are everyday people, there is nothing particularly special about them. Later in the trailer almost techo music is played which could indicate that this is quite a jokey film as it doesn't really radiate a serious tone. At one point the music becomes serious but even then it reverts back to a jokey feel especially with the type of singing that is included.
5. The voice of the voiceover is very deep with an obviously American accent. This voice was chosen to exaggerate the action element to the film as that kind of voiceover is a convention of action films, however as it is exaggerating, this adds a comedic element to the trailer.

6. The speed of the trailer is fast which makes it all the more exhilarating which is a good thing to do especially when advertising an action film because it allows the producers to exaggerate the action. In the middle of the trailer the speed increases so that they can mix all the action scenes they can into one short clip to make the audience even more bewildered and excited about the action they are seeing on the screen. At the end it slows down slightly to allow the actors to be introduced, this is done because the actors will sell the film so they want the audience to be able to acknowledge who is starring in the film.
7. In the very last frame of the trailer we hear Will Ferrel complaining about the film industry. This is probably done so that they can be seen to 'break the norms' which will give the audience a lasting impression of the trailer.

8. I think the film trailer was more effective in making me want to see the film. This is because it gives you a better feel of what the film is about, especially as it portrays the each characters role in the film as well as the settings and the relationships of the different characters. I believe that when watching a trailer for an action film these things are important especially knowing the plot of the film. However the film poster is quite effective as it gives the names of the actors that are starring in it and, as I like Will Ferrel, I am more inclined to watch it just because I know he is in it.
9. I would expect this film to be shown before films that are stereotypically aimed at men, for example 'The Expendables' as this is the type of target audience that this film is aimed at. Also the actors in the film will be regonised by people who are watching these action films and they will most probably like the actors.

Film Titile Analysis

Film Title Analysis on Prezi

From this we were told to answer the following question:
What is more important to a film poster words or pictures?
From that research that I did I don’t think that you can say that words are more important that pictures or vice-a-versa as they are both equally important in creating a good film poster, as together they create the right image, one without the other would not seem right. For example if there was the picture that was used in the Saw poster just on it’s own without any words, then people wouldn’t really recognise the poster in the way that the creators would have liked, especially if it is the first time they see the poster, so they will not know what film it is that is being advertised which is what the people who made the advertisement don’t want. However if there was the word ‘Saw’ written on a poster without any picture then this wouldn’t be effective either as people would look at it and not know what the film was about which defies the point of advertising it. Also the words in a film poster can give away the plot, for example if it the first time you have seen the title and havn't even seen a trailer of the film, of a film through the use of colour on the typography and what font is used to write the film title.

The Meeting

Task
In a lesson before the summer holidays, Mr Rosen asked us to create a 1 minute film called "The Meeting." To complete this task he gave us:
a small brief (intentionally so that we could create our own story and to get us used to filming)
a camera
a tripod
and the use of iMovie.
I was in a group with Jack, Joey and Dan and in filming we tried to use techniques that we had learnt in previous lessons such as length of shots, shot angle and shot type but as this was our first time properly filming we didn't do it very well. This was done intentionally by Mr Rosen though as later he told us that he was 'setting us up to fail.'
Our story was two old friends met up after not seeing each other for ages, one who was a confident, 'cool popular' kid while the other was very shy and a bit of a loser.

Evaluation
At the end of the lesson we viewed each others short films all with the same name. Some were quite good using some technques effectively however a couple were quite boring and clearly no thought had been put into them about different filming techniques for example length of shot. This taught me that when creating a short film like this, there are a few key techniques that need to be applied.

1. Don't let a shot run on for too long as watching the same shot for a minute is very boring because it makes everything feel very slow, it doesn't provide any atmosphere or mood

2.Always follow the editing rules.

3.Make the plot of what you are filming clear and don't go off on a tangent so the audience can folllow it and not get confused.