This is a PowerPoint Presentation I have done based upon the similarities and differences between teaser and theatrical trailers. The trailers I have compared are 'Super 8' and 'The Dark Knight', both teaser and theatrical trailers.
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Practical Text Write-Up
Another text we had to do was create a trailer based upon a fairy tale, because trailers were the medium for our main piece. Our chosen one was 'Red Riding Hood'. We had to use careful camera shots in order to create the feeling of being in a forest setting, as well as changing the lighting and tone, to make the trailer seem as close to the source material as possible, without spoiling the narrative, in the same way as real trailers. As well as this we had to add in background music which we believed would add to the tension of the trailer.
Although some of the trailer can be slow paced, we managed to set up the plot without giving too much away, such as the end resolution, while keeping the atmosphere and tension of the original story.
By doing this exercise it shows the elements needed to create an effective trailer. The trailer and footage could be edited in different ways to create a different trailer, but keeping the atmosphere. One way of doing this could be a succession of quick cuts (as seen in 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' teaser trailer) or by using voice-over.
The trailer focussed on the beginning and middle of the story, starting with 'Red Riding Hood' being given a basket of food, and then cutting between shots of 'Red Riding Hood' and the wolf. Cross cutting between the two in the same locations and the use of music created tension, and made the character roles clear to the audience. Because it was a trailer for a relatively short story, the trailer wasn't much longer than 30 seconds long, but it did feature many typical trailer conventions, and introduced the story with few spoilers. Doing this task allowed me to get a feel for making my own original trailer, and showed me things like how to use Final Cut Pro effectively, and what to include/not include in order to make the trailer effective (get people watching the actual film).
Unfortunately we were unable to put a copy of this trailer online, as the file could not be found at a later date.
Although some of the trailer can be slow paced, we managed to set up the plot without giving too much away, such as the end resolution, while keeping the atmosphere and tension of the original story.
By doing this exercise it shows the elements needed to create an effective trailer. The trailer and footage could be edited in different ways to create a different trailer, but keeping the atmosphere. One way of doing this could be a succession of quick cuts (as seen in 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' teaser trailer) or by using voice-over.
The trailer focussed on the beginning and middle of the story, starting with 'Red Riding Hood' being given a basket of food, and then cutting between shots of 'Red Riding Hood' and the wolf. Cross cutting between the two in the same locations and the use of music created tension, and made the character roles clear to the audience. Because it was a trailer for a relatively short story, the trailer wasn't much longer than 30 seconds long, but it did feature many typical trailer conventions, and introduced the story with few spoilers. Doing this task allowed me to get a feel for making my own original trailer, and showed me things like how to use Final Cut Pro effectively, and what to include/not include in order to make the trailer effective (get people watching the actual film).
Unfortunately we were unable to put a copy of this trailer online, as the file could not be found at a later date.
Linked Texts Write-up
Because the A2 coursework involves us creating three parts for a promotional package, they must be in some way linked together. To show how this could be done, we were given, in small groups, one of three tasks and had to create linked texts, i.e. a poster and a storyboarded trailer. Our brief was a Football/Sports magazine show.
We started off with finding the title, and decided upon GOAL!, which is used throughout sport, particularly football. After this we had to decide who would appeal most as hosts on the show, as we knew that for magazine shows like this, it's often the presenters that make or break it. We ended up going with Chris Kamara and Robbie Savage, who are well known in the sporting world. We then designed the Poster and the storyboard, which both heavily featured the pair.
The poster was the two of them standing on a pitch in suits, while the trailer showed them getting ready to start a football match, but instead of putting on a football kit, they are wearing the same suits as the poster. The other matching features of the two included the title font, the tagline (the new football show), and other information, such as the channel (Sky Sports 1 HD) and time (Saturdays at 7pm). Both had a professional tone to it (suits), but the way the hosts were standing/the action in the trailer showed that it was meant to be more informal and friendly. By linking the text in this way, it created a consistency which wouldn't confuse the target audience.
The target audience would be males between 25 and 35 who would prefer the informal style seen on other Sports shows like Match of The Day. As well as this, men are often stereotyped as liking sports, particularly football, and so would need to appeal to them. Robbie Savage and Chris Kamara are both seen as laid back or comical characters (there are several YouTube videos of Chris Kamara's mistakes and on-air blunders) and so would keep with the informal style without going to over-the-top, which it could be argued happens in shows like Soccer AM, which targets a slightly younger demographic (18-24).
We started off with finding the title, and decided upon GOAL!, which is used throughout sport, particularly football. After this we had to decide who would appeal most as hosts on the show, as we knew that for magazine shows like this, it's often the presenters that make or break it. We ended up going with Chris Kamara and Robbie Savage, who are well known in the sporting world. We then designed the Poster and the storyboard, which both heavily featured the pair.
The poster was the two of them standing on a pitch in suits, while the trailer showed them getting ready to start a football match, but instead of putting on a football kit, they are wearing the same suits as the poster. The other matching features of the two included the title font, the tagline (the new football show), and other information, such as the channel (Sky Sports 1 HD) and time (Saturdays at 7pm). Both had a professional tone to it (suits), but the way the hosts were standing/the action in the trailer showed that it was meant to be more informal and friendly. By linking the text in this way, it created a consistency which wouldn't confuse the target audience.
The target audience would be males between 25 and 35 who would prefer the informal style seen on other Sports shows like Match of The Day. As well as this, men are often stereotyped as liking sports, particularly football, and so would need to appeal to them. Robbie Savage and Chris Kamara are both seen as laid back or comical characters (there are several YouTube videos of Chris Kamara's mistakes and on-air blunders) and so would keep with the informal style without going to over-the-top, which it could be argued happens in shows like Soccer AM, which targets a slightly younger demographic (18-24).
Coursework Plan Of Action
For this task I will need to research the following areas:
- Thriller Film Trailers
- Thriller Film Posters
- Magazine Front Covers
- Bourne
- The Dark Knight
- Sherlock Holmes
- Se7en (also written Seven)
- Psycho
- Inception
As well as this, I will compare the trailers and posters from other genres, to see how they differ from that of a Thriller Film.
The final part of my research will come from looking at magazine front covers. The two most popular Film magazines are 'EMPIRE' and 'Total Film', and so a comparison between the layouts of the two, especially for the same film, would be a good idea, as they may portray films in different ways. It may be possible to find covers for the films I have found trailers for, although this may not always be the case. However, finding the links between film promotional materials is key to completing this coursework. This is because this work is essentially a film's marketing campaign, and so the texts would need to link in order to make sense to the 'audience' who would be interested in the film.
Outlining the Brief
For my A2 coursework I have chosen to create a 'promotion package for a new film', which includes:
- A Trailer
And two ancillary tasks, which I have decided to be:
- A Film Magazine Front Cover, featuring the film
- A Poster for the Film
Within this, I have decided to do these products for a Thriller film, partly because it is my favourite genre, but also because I believe that great films are made up of two things: Character and Narrative, and that by creating a Thriller film I can easily show this. Even within the genre of Thriller there are many sub-genre's which can be attributed towards this.
I chose the magazine cover and poster for the ancillary products, as I feel that I have more experience with these than the Film website.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)