Creating Our Questionnaire

Before creating our trailer for our film, myself and Ferne decided to carry out some initial market research to ensure that our trailer contains all of the aspects we need use in order to appeal to our target audience.



We have decided to use a questionnaire to find out information that will be helpful to our overall project. This will influence our overall decisions, as we want to include our target audiences interest. We designed our questionnaire together to make sure we pulled together all of the information we both wanted to find out to help our project. This research is crucial as we are still in the early stages of planning and can easily make any alterations or changes that we may need to.



After asking 100 participants we analysed our results by creating clear graphs for each question. We both had 50 questionnaires to hand out each and in doing so we tried to target our audience in order to gain the responses of our target market, which is relevant to our project. After collecting the information we then put them into graphs and analysed each graph to show what importance it has to our overall project. In comparison to our plot and storyboard myself and Ferne have made an accurate representation of our target audiences needs. However we will evaluate our plot and storyboard to ensure we include certain aspects that our target audience want to see and that will appeal to them.


Creating and analysing our questionnaire results have helped me to gain an understanding of market research and have an insight to our target audiences interests and ideals that a film should have. This will ultimately help me in creating a target that will appeal to my audience and to include customer needs.

Analysis Of Others Storyboards

After creating out first storyboard, our class got together and swapped storyboards. The idea was that we would be able to gain feedback on our own storyboard and give others feedback, whilst gaining a better understanding of what to include.

I analysed Anna's storyboard and found it very good, although she could have had more annotations around the images to help her ideas be portrayed as well as they can when filming. Anna had lots of boxes that showed each individual shot, which gave her a very detailed plan to work on.

We received feedback that our storyboard was very good, however we had not added any images, and our feedback suggested it would be to our benefit. Myself and Ferne have taken on this feedback and have decided to add images to help us identify what our shot should look like when filming. This will be more time effective for us and will enable to undertake our filming more effectively, which will give us more time to do the editing and do more filming if necessary.

Creating a Storyboard For Our Trailer

Myself and Ferne have decided to work together on this project, as we feel we can contribute an equal amount of knowledge that will work together to create the best possible trailer and additional features.

When deciding what plot we were going to use for our trailers, we looked at both of our film pitches and decided which plot we could realistically use and portray as the most professional. We decided that we would use my film pitch for our trailer, as we could use many effects and shots that would make it seem professional.

Together we created our first storyboard for our trailer. This storyboard was very detailed in our annotations and gave clear notes to show what would be in the shot, who would be in it, what the shot type was and gave indications to the sound in the shot. We also described each shot transition and started to give estimations of shot times in order to fit in comfortably into a teaser trailer. We had six boxes for our storyboard, however some boxes contained flashing images that we have annotated but not drawn.

As this is our first storyboard for our trailer, i think we have a very detailed approach in its construction. We have contained a lot of information about each shot and its function to help us when we are filming the trailer. However the images may need to be drawn again, as instead of describing them, we need a clear box of each shot. This will help us in creating our own trailer as we have planned it in a lot of detail and it is very clear on what we need to achieve. This will avoid time wasting and help us to see what is necessary for the trailer.

Watching Trailers

After presenting my film pitch, i then started to watch teaser trailers in the genre of horror in order to gain a good understanding of what a professional trailer would include, as i would like my trailer to look as professional as possible. These trailers included, 'Jennifer's Body', 'Antichrist' and 'Sorority Row'.

I noticed that within these trailers, there were very similar aspects that they all used. Most of the trailers included captions and fades, in order to entice the audience as it is unclear and create a build up of action. Many had flashes of events and used unstable cameras to make the viewer feel uneasy and therefore apprehensive, as they aren't aware of what is happening. The fear of the unknown is hugely portrayed within horror movies, which include low level lighting, as in the dark you are unaware of your surroundings, which makes the audience feel uncomfortable. I also found that many horror trailers ended with a quick, scary image, which helps to make the film memorable for the audience and persuade them to watch the film.

By looking at teaser trailers i can gain an understanding of the conventions within them and then apply them to my own trailer. I have found it hard to find many teaser trailers, which means that my timings will have to be very accurate and will limit my use of certain shots.

Presentation of Pitch

I felt that my film pitch went very well as i used the slides and my script together in order to visually and aurally communicate my ideas. My presentation resembled the genre of horror as it was dark and used flashes on the images and fades on the writing, which created a scary vibe in order for the audience to imagine the film.

After the pitch i received some feedback from the class and found that people enjoyed my presentation and would have bought it. I also received feedback that my opening line for the film engaged them instantly. I am considering using this idea for my coursework as i believe it has potential and will be able to portray the genre of horror well in my trailer.

Creating My Film Pitch

Sophie Green is a sweet seventeen year old girl who lives in Ohio.

She just happened to fall in love with the wrong guy.

Blinded by love, she lies as she tell her family she is going on a girly holiday to get over him.

As Sophie seeks secret refugee at Kai’s house, all is not as it seems.

Clue by clue, her boyfriends dark secrets start to unwravel and her refugee suddenly becomes her prison.

This once innocent lie fabricated by love and desire, now holds more than one life in danger.

genre of horror aims to evoke emotions of fear and terror within the audience and hopes to visually show our worst fears which may achieve a cathartic response. It usually involves common themes of death, mental illness and the supernatural. The characters within this film genre usually have central villain to which the plot revolves around and a character that the audience are compassionate towards and therefore feel terror for their safety. Horror films traditionally combine with science fiction, such as films like Frankenstein, however a modern approach to the genre has seen a sense of realism, which in turn makes the audience fear for their own safety. This approach helps to engage the audience and stimulate more emotions that before.

The plot of my film is about a young teenage girl called Sophie who’s boyfriend, Kai, becomes isolated and out casted from her family, as they believe he will only cause drama in her life. With Sophie’s anger raging from being forbidden to see her boyfriend, she arranges a girly holiday in the UK, or so her family thinks. Really Sophie plans to spend the week with her boyfriend and couldn’t feel further from ultimate bliss. Although as time goes on Sophie grows suspicious of her boyfriends late nights and the blood stains she finds on his clothes. One day when Sophie is looking for a film to watch she discovers the horrific truth. As she plays the film her world crumbles and she knows that she is in danger as she watches her boyfriend: a rapist and a murderer. Bounding through the doors she tries to escape but Kai suddenly appears and drags her down to the cellar, where she sees the first evidence of his sickening secret. A bed with handcuffs attached to every corner of the bed for each foot and hand. As Sophie lays trapped Kai vindictively calls her sister in front of her helpless and ‘begs her to see him as he is so worried because Sophie has run away’. As Kai licks his lips he goes to hunt down his next victim. She knows her sisters fate, she's lying in the evidence, and yet will give anything to stop this, even her own life. A tragic story of sisterly love and sinister lies, but does good always prevail?

Sophie is the protagonist in the film and is portrayed as a sweet girl, who is stereotypical of an American sweetheart. She works hard at school, loves her family and cares for her friends greatly. However, love is a vision that is so dear to Sophie and when Kai takes interest in her, she falls head over heels for him and isolates herself from everything she found important. This makes her greatly dependent on Kai and very vulnerable to him.

Kai is a deceitful character with an evil hidden agenda. He takes great interest in Sophie’s innocence and beauty, and takes pleasure in corrupting her and having her as a trophy. The conflict with her family only encourages Kai as he thrives off other people’s pain. His crimes of rape and murder make him feel invincible and his control over Sophie arouses him, which makes him lead this double life of secrets.

I would like to use certain actresses and actors within my film, although it may not always be possible I will still like to share my vision.

I believe Rachel Mc Adams would play the part of Sophie beautifully as she has previously acted in the role of a sweetheart in the film ‘The Notebook’, in which she also has conflict with her family due to her choice of partner. She has also acted in thrillers such as ‘Redeye’ and has an endearing appearance, which may help the audience feel compassionate towards.

I also believe that the role of Kai would be most suitable for Cillian Murphy. Cillian Murphy has a charming appearance but however can have the look of no emotion and no remorse. Previously Murphy also acted in the movie ‘Red eye’ and played the role of the villian extremely well, sowing a callous side to him, which Kai must have. The main character would have therefore also worked together and avoided any demands or conflict that might have occurred between two professionals.

The target audience for most horror movies are people aged between 15 – 45. This is because between these ages people are less shocked then others and can appreciate the films artwork without finding it too offensive to watch. The certification of 15 is what I am aiming for, otherwise I will lose a huge percentage of my target audience and will ultimately lose money due to the restrictions. They will most likely be a group of people who watch the film, in order to comfort each other and to experience the emotions together. This would not be suitable for a family as this will not provide the parents with nothing but distress.

Many films within the same genre can be seen to have many similar aspects within other films as well, this is because the genre has many conventions and in following them your story will have similar ideas. My film grabs the best elements of horror of dark secrets, violence, isolation, helplessness and revenge. The concept of the film is the fear of the unknown and the loss of control we have over it, this concept is shown in the title of the film, ‘Secrets’. It creates an emotional and fearful experience that will terrify and keep the audience thoroughly entertained.

My task was to create a pitch for an original film that we had created. I found this very challenging to think of the plot for the film, as it had to be appealing to my target audience and it couldn't already exist. It also had to be something that i could realistically use to film a trailer, if i choose to use that plot.

I wanted to do a film under the genre of horror, as i researched it and presented a presentation on two trailers and the conventions of horror. I found this genre the most interesting compared to comedy, which i also investigated. I wanted to do a genre that i had researched as i have gained knowledge from this and will be more confident in creating a trailer from it.

In my film pitch i included lots of details about the film, such as the plot, possible casting, the genre of horror and its conventions, my target audience, an introduction to the film, character analysis and similar films.

After creating a plot i found it easier to think of the other details, as my film came together it seemed like it fitted into the horror genre well. My presentation contained slides that didn't use much writing in order to make the audience think, whilst i gave them more detail from my script.

Poster Analysis

For my project i then had to choose one of the three films that i previously analysed and analyse the film poster for it. I choose 'Pineapple Express' and through analysing the film trailer i could see synergy used throughout the marketing campaign, to make the film recognisable and unique.

I annotated the film poster in a powerpoint slide, commenting on the composition of the poster, the image and the text. Here is an example of what i included in my analysis:

The composition of this image suggests that the two characters lives are parallel with each other.

The facial expressions of the two characters are happy and relaxed, which are the affects of cannabis. This image anchors the slogan of ‘Put this in your pipe and smoke it’. This image also supports it due to the mist in the background which could be smoke and therefore suggests the theme of the film.

Evaluation:

I found this task very valuable to my overall project as it allowed me to see the synergy used in a marketing project and what similarities are used within the same genre. It gave me a greater understanding of the genre and the marketing within the film industr

y. This will help me when putting together my project. If i could improve my task i would have analysed another genre, as it was very specific and hard to gain a lot of information on.

Trailer Analysis

I have chosen to analyse the trailers of Zoolander, Pineapple Express and Superbad for the comedy genre.

In order to ensure that i researched the right information, i watched each trailer three times and made different notes on camera angles, mise-en-scene, lighting, sound, transactions and themes each time. I discovered that on average the trailers lasted for about 2.30 minutes and had many similarities. I used still shots of the trailers to illustrate my points and as i analysed each trailer i discovered that they were very similar.

Zoolander

The trailer of Zoolander lasts for two minutes and twenty-nine seconds. The trailer starts with an establishing shot of a city, which could be assumed as being New York, this brings connotations of a party lifestyle, which is instantly reinforced by an image of a club. There is a voiceover throughout the trailer that sounds very typical of an advertising voice, which makes the trailer feel very exaggerated in order to mimic real life. The music at the beginning is at a normal pace and resembles a ‘James Bond’ theme, which implies the protagonists association with an action lifestyle. As the trailer is clearly not a serious action film, it instantly shows a comical side to the film as it is using a contrasting role of stereotypical characters for the protagonist action hero. Instead of a sophisticated, intelligent and smooth character we are instead faced with a dim, vain male model. This also shows the conventions of comedy by portraying stereotypes in reverse roles. The party lifestyle is also reinforced by the use of celebrities within the trailer, such as Paris Hilton who all praise him, which shows his high status within the film.

The music changes when the title of the film is announced and once again when Zoolander’s secret life as a ‘man of action’ is revealed. As the secret life is revealed the pace quickens as the plot is being revealed in an intense exciting way to keep the audience entertained. The pace also needs to be increased as it shows the action in the film and builds up the hero in the film by showing what he might have to entail. The irony in this trailer is shown after the build up of action and then a voiceover explaining their hope to stop an assassination and then Ben Stiller shows his characters stupidity. This is ironic as the person who is meant to save a life has little intelligence, which brings a sense of doom over the character and gives the impression that things will go wrong for this character. This line is said with no music in the background to emphasise this trait. This is then the running theme as there are many shots of Zoolander banging his head, in a child’s room and performing break-dance fighting. This is also a stereotype of male models as they are seen to have little intelligence.

These stills show the exaggerated mise-en-scene, which represents the exaggerated characters to ensure that the audience can identify with the stereotypes.

Pineapple Express

The trailer of pineapple express is two minutes and twenty four seconds long. The trailer starts with a caption of a mans name and a time, this is then repeated slightly later with a different man and a different time. This suggests they both lead different lives but yet they merge together because of their love for cannabis. The issue of cannabis and drugs is a taboo issue and fits in very well with the alternative comedy genre. This issue is introduced in the first couple of seconds as Dale is seen smoking cannabis saying, ‘that is good weed’ and becoming weary of policemen, which you can see in the still below.

The drug dealer is portrayed with little intelligence and makes humorous comments throughout the trailer, when he doesn’t understand statements. In this trailer there is no voiceover but only captions, which suggests it has a more serious plot than other comedy films such as Zoolander.

The music in the trailer changes multiple times to create a calm atmosphere and also to help focus on what is being said. The language is also very crude and shocking such as lines like ‘it smells like god’s vagina’. When a humorous line is delivered the music stops to help emphasise the joke and focus our attention. There is also a build up of action in this trailer, which is created by short shots with fade, the slow motion aspect is also adding to the genre of comedy as it is mimicking action movies that use this affect.

Superbad

The trailer of Superbad lasts for two minutes and fifty-one seconds. The trailer starts with an image of two friends in their car talking to their mum. It instantly introduces the plot of two high school boys in their last year of A levels. The sarcastic and crude humour of this film is also introduced as the mum goes away and the friends comment about each other’s parents’ genital area, as a way of annoying each other.

The mise-en-scene in the still below portrays the stereotypical look of a ‘geek’, which is what the movie is all about. This is seen in alternative comedy when the geeks try to get a popular girl but the social conventions stand in the way. There is a line in which he says ‘We could be that mistake’, which shows he is eager for sexual activity and wants to be accepted among his peers.

In wanting to be accepted they created a fake ID to get their friends alcohol, which is also a typical issue within this genre as it is against the law and the audience can relate to it. There is also another issue of stupidity within trying to look cool as the fake ID has the name ‘McLovin’, which is not a real name.

This trailer also used captions instead of a voiceover and uses many different types of music. As in previous film trailers the music cuts out when a humorous line is delivered in order to create a bigger impact.

Within the trailer there is also an issue of corrupt cops as you can see in the still that the policemen are drinking. This creates a relaxed feeling, and goes against stereotypes, which is more comical.

Overall I have found many similar techniques used in trailers of this genre. These are:

• o Using Stereotypes
• o Changing the music multiple times
• o Stopping the music when a key line is being said
• o A ‘stupid’ character
• o Taboo issues
• o Exaggerated mise-en-scene

Researching A Genre

For my media project I will start by researching a specific genre of film, which I am interested in, that I can also use to analyse trailers and film posters on. I will research the conventions and expectations expected, target audiences and what they appreciate and also examples of films within this genre. As I have already researched the genre of horror, I am going to research the genre of Comedy, specifically Alternative comedy to gain more knowledge within different genres of film.

I had to research what the expectations and conventions of comedy were. I researched this through my own expectations and my families. I then researched it on the internet and thought of films in this genre and aspects that they all contain.

Conventions and Expectations of Alternative Comedy

· High key lighting predominately

· Humour

· Extreme Slapstick Violence

· Stereotypical Characters such as ‘Nerds’

· Unrealistic Romances

· Controversial Plots

· Main Focus on Men

· Farce – Lots Of Misunderstandings

· Cut Transitions – to quicken the pace

· Exaggerated Mise-en-scene

· Exaggerated Realistic experiences or situations

· Conflict

· Taboo Issues

· Irony and Sarcasm

· Sex

Alternative Comedy had eventually became mainstream in the 1990’s after being created in the 1970’s and 80’s and is still mainstream today. Instead of relying on punch-line jokes the comedy may include some or all of the following:

Observational humour: Making humour out of everday occurrences, and also laughing at one's own foibles and weakenesses (traditional comedians laughed at other people, such as ethnic minorities or "the mother-in-law", while alternative comedians laughed at themselves, their situation, and at the human condition).

Political satire: Or, at the very least, a radicalised political awareness rooted in socialism; if a comedian was floundering, he/she could get a cheer out of the audience by simply making a joke about Margaret Thatcher (Ben Elton, a well-known alternative comedian, referred to her as 'Mrs Thatch' and would often say, "Ooh, little bit of politics!" when he drifted into political satire). Nearly all female comedians described themselves as feminist to a greater or lesser degree.

Breaking social taboos: Particularly those relating to sex and bad language; alternative comedians swore on stage and, continuing the theme of observational humour, often made jokes about sex acts and sexuality. Toilet humour was not uncommon either.

Surreal whimsy: A comedian might start with observational humour and then drift into a degree of surrealism. For example, Paul Merton's Policeman on Acid sketch, or much of Alexei Sayle's material.

Intellectual humour: Generally speaking, alternative comedy required an educated or knowledgeable audience. It required the audience to participate and understand the humour, rather than simply sit back and expect to be made to laugh.

Extreme slapstick: People were often set on fire, had bricks smashed over their heads, or were flung through walls etc. This is arguably a less common trait of alternative comedy, however, and was only practiced by a handful of artists, such as Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson (and also Rowan Atkinson in the Blackadder television shows).

Improvisation: Working without a script or plan and making up comedy on the spot in response to audience suggestions. This was usually during nights dedicated to 'improv', however.

Story-telling & Personal Narrative: Emphasizing story, personal experience and individual rhythm instead of the rigid set-up/punchline jokes and rhythms of mainstream comedy as exemplified by Un-Cabaret in Los Angeles and The Moth in NY

Accessed on the 05/09/09

http://www.ubercomedy.com/comedy-genres/alternative-comedy.html

I then thought of the types of people that would be interested in a comedy and what they appreciate and enjoy about the genre. This was harder, as the genre of comedy is very big, so i specifically used alternative comedy as it is easier to analyze. The film examples of that genre was very hard to allocate as although it is mainstream now it still fits under the genre of comedy and is therefore hard to find.

Target Audiences and Their Appreciation

The genre of comedy is extremely vast, so much so that it even has sub-genres, such as Action comedies. The sub-genres will have a different target audience to the genre of comedy itself, for example action comedies will entice an audience that is interested in fast paced films with lots of dramatic scenes with some light hearted humorous remarks and characters.

The target audience for the genre of Alternative comedy would be for people aged between 17 – 45. This is because the humour used in alternative comedies may easily offend some people and older people are more likely to disapprove of the humour, as it goes against many of the conventions of comedy in their generation, which is why it is originally called alternative humour. The target audience will be people with a modern view and who aren’t easily offended. Their appreciation will be of the realistic approach to comedy, so that the audience can relate to the plot or character for example and will then find the exaggerated humour amusing because they feel they can appreciate what it is like.

The films i have placed under this genre are:

Examples of Films within the genre Alternative Comedy

· Zoolander

· The Hangover

· South Park Movie

· Super Bad

· Knocked up

· Pineapple Express

Understanding of Storyboards

A storyboard provides the structure of any film or animation in order to help to show how the film should be seen, heard and produced. A storyboard is usually produced after a concept or script is written for a film or animation. The storyboard visually tells a story panel by panel and usually contains notes underneath the panel to explain the shot in more detail. A storyboard can be compared to the visual look of a comic strip and how it develops a story visually.

Information from each panel are communicated visually, however some information may need to be noted down underneath the panel for more detail about the shot. Whilst what characters are in the shot can be seen, how they are moving and what they are saying may need to be written down. Camera angles, timing and transitions, lighting and sound descriptions and sometimes even a purpose of the shot may need to be included.

I created a storyboard for one of the trailers that i had researched for my presentation, which was 'The Last House On The Left'. As it would have taken up a large amount of time to storyboard the whole trailer, i used a 49 second section of the trailer in order to see how i would cope with it. This task was much harder then i expected as i was given a lot of information in a very short period of time and it was very easy to miss important parts of information. I decided that the best way to obtain all the information i needed was to watch the trailer and only comment on one feature at a time. For example i would comment on what was in the shot and then next time i could comment on lighting and then the next time transitions etc.

This experience was harder then i expected as it was very detailed and takes up a lot of time in order to obtain all the necessary information. This will help me in my project as i have learnt what is expected in a storyboard and the level of detail that is necessary for a good trailer.

Trailers Featured In Our Presentation

During our research of the genre of horror in movie trailers, we used two trailers, 'The Orphan' and 'The Last House On The Left' to demonstrate the conventions found in the genre.

Trailers are a brilliant form of advertising for the movie and are often the most effective method of communicating to the target audience. It is also often replayed and only lasts for a short while, which is more likely to keep the image in your brain.

The trailers used many similar techniques such as cuts, fades, music, voice-overs, text and low lighting, which helped to portray the genre of horror and give an overview of the plot.

The trailer should entice the target audience and give them enough information so that they know the plot, but yet don't give show any spoilers otherwise the audience will know the whole plot and will not need to see it. Some trailers will also use celebrities names and directors names and previous work to entice an audience that those names might already have. This also gives the film more credibility, as it is attached to a reputation.

Importing a Hyperlink

After importing an image of the movies promotional poster, i will now import a hyperlink leading to the official website of 'Bruno', from which latest news, games, reviews, photos and much more is available.

http://www.thebrunomovie.com/

I was able to import this hyperlink by double clicking on the URL web page address and then left clicking on the highlighted address. A list of options then appeared, from which i selected copy. I then returned to my Blog and right clicked on where i would like the hyperlink to be and then selected the option paste. I then highlighted this URL address and clicked on the icon that is called 'Link'. I then pasted the URL address again in order to make it a working link.

The Purpose Of Trailers and The Difference Between A Teaser and Main Trailer

The purpose of a film trailer is to advertise a film by showing a condensed version of it to an audience in order to persuade them to watch the whole film. The trailer consists of several selected shots in the film to portray a story-line to the audience without revealing the main aspects of it. In order to sell the film to the audience, trailers normally use the most exciting shots they have without using spoilers that give away the plot. This is important as trailers usually have a maximum of two and a half minutes and need to sell an entire films worth within that. Most trailers are shown in the cinema however they are also available on the internet and on the television.

A teaser trailer is a short version of a main trailer lasting between 30 - 60 seconds in comparison to a main trailer that lasts up to 2 and a half minutes long. The teaser trailers purpose is still to advertise an upcoming film, however it is a condensed version of the trailer itself. This short footage teases the audience and can give a greater impact on the audience, as they want to find out more from the film due to the lack of detail given. This is used alongside a marketing campaign, usually for big films to add to the hype of the upcoming film. Teaser trailers are often made during the editing process of the film, which can lead to it containing deleted or alternate scenes. Teaser trailers are often shown on Televisions and need to be quick to fit in with the other advertisements.