Editing

I have been trying to edit over Christmas but i have been finding it really difficult to use Adobe Premiere It is a lot more confusing than Adobe Premiere Elements but, I feel like it is going to the program that will give me the most professional result. I have found some videos on YouTube that have helped me learn how to use it better.

Possible Soundtrack Ideas for my Trailer

These are some of the soundtracks that I found to put as the backing track to my trailer, I think that as i'm pretty sure that I don't want to have any dialogue I need to make sure that the music I choose fits really well to my theme and story line. These are not the only options that I have there are also others, I just need to figure out which one sounds best with my trailer and which one fits with the genre best.

I really like this piece of music it but at the same time it is really dark and mysterious and I think it might not fit that well with my trailer. I don't think that it is fast enough but I really like the tension that it creates so I might try and see if I can speed the piece up.

This is my favorite piece of the three as I feel that it captures what I want my trailer to be like but it might to grand for my trailer and reminds me of superhero movies too much.

This again is too grand for my trailer but I really like the tension that it builds and the way that it gets louder and louder and more intense but I don't feel that it is the right fit for my trailer.

This is defiantly  my favorite soundtrack that I have found so far, I think that the songs lyrics fit perfectly with my narrative and I think that this version of the song is really creepy and the change in pace will make the trailer really interesting.

Settings Mood-board

This is a setting mood board that I made using In-Design. All of the locations are dark and mysterious and are conventions of the thriller/horror genre.

Make up and Costume Ideas Moodboard

Cast List

Main Character: Lauren Reynolds- this will be the character that has all of the close ups of their face and is the person who has their memories replaced.

Other Characters that I may need to use:
- Jenny Sutcliff
- Jess O'Reilly
- Katie White
- Francesca Jones
- Holly Ward
- Daisy McCammond

These characters will be passing images and may be in some of the scenes but they will not have a main part in the trialer.

Letter Requesting to Film at a Firework Display

15 Fairfields

Great Kingshill

Bucks

HP17 6OD

Dear the Great Kingshill Residents Association

I am an A-level student from the Misbourne taking media studies. For my media studies coursework I have to make a thriller trailer and one of the locations I need to film is at a firework display and I was wondering if I could film at your upcoming display on 7^th November?

I would only be filming my friends there and the fireworks along with the bonfire. There will be no inconvenience to you.

Thank you

Yours Sincerely

Erin Fyfe 

Locations

Most of the locations I would like to include in my trailer are easy to access. This is the list of places that I'm going to use:

• The Sand Dunes in Formby: at this time of year the clouds that roll off the sea look very sinister plus they are not very busy so they will be great to show abandonment. 
• Pine Woods: in the dark these will look very sinister and woods are featured a lot in thriller/ horror films so it will portray well what genre my film is 
• Bonfire Night: there will be a lot of people here and the lighting will be very interesting and creepy
• Shed: I will film this through the trees, therefore making it look like a someone is spying on someone. This is a convention of the thriller genre. 
• Train Station: I want to film when the station is completely empty it will show a sense of abandonment and loneliness

These are the the main locations that I want to use at the moment. As I start filming I think there will be more locations that I want to use and there will also be a lot of locations used for the flickering images. 

Storyboard and Shot Types

To make this storyboard I used a website called "Storyboard that" which is free to use up to 6 boxes so in order to make this I  had to print screen the scenes and put them into InDesign in order to make it this long, I found this website easy to use as it had a search bar to search for the things that you want to put in your storyboard which made it really quick to do, the only issue is that I couldn't find out how to add my own pictures, but I think that in order to do this you had to pay for it therefore meaning that I had to make do with the scenes that the website had preloaded. 

Film Ratings

Film Ratings from ErinIsabel

I didn't include what can be included with in an 18 movie as I am not planning on making a trailer for an 18 film.

Film Promotion

These are some of the ways that films are advertised.

Film Advertisement from ErinIsabel

Film Trailer Narrative Idea

Title: Forgotten

Main concept: Loss of memory

The main idea of the film is that there is someone who has lost their memory. The film is set is at the time all of the memories are coming back, good and bad. The issue is that the main character doesn't recognise anyone in the memories. As the memories come flooding back the main character gets more and more confused, they don't understand what is happening. They realise that some how they have some one else's memories.

In the trailer there won't be much about the story line, it will hint at a lot of different things and will make the audience want to see the film in order to find out what happens. It will involve a lot of short shots and will be fast paced which is a convention of the thriller genre.

Audience Research Survey

I don't want to base all of my audience research on this survey, i think that my focus group is better to find what sort of things i should include in my trailer, but i think that this survey will help me choose my target audience. This is some of the questions on my survey, to see the full survey please go to this link:

Survey Monkey Audience Research

How will Trailer Analysis Help me?

I think that trailer analysis has really helped me get a good grasp on the codes and conventions meaning that I know have a good understanding of how they are used and how they can make my trailer better. Furthermore this has also meant that I have a better idea of how trailers are edited meaning that I can use this to make my own trailer. Also I it has given me a good idea of what sort of shots that I can use in my trailer.

Third Film Trailer Analysis

This video was made with the presentation software called Powtoon, it was quite easy to use but to do a lot of writing it isn't very good as you have pause the video in order to read the writing.

Second Film Trailer Analysis - Slideshow

First Film Trailer Analysis - Essay Form

Before I Go to Sleep is a thriller film based on a bestselling novel. A women is in a traumatic accident where she receives blows to the head which cause her to wake up every day having forgotten everything she learned from the day before. She is told to record a video diary so that she can remind herself of what she learnt the day before, whilst doing this she discovers the truth around what happened to her.

The close up of the eye in the establishing shot of the trailer is very disconcerting to the viewer as this breaks the conventions of a trailer when the establishing shot is normally of a setting to set the scene and this normally gives the audience an idea of the genre of the film as they can tell from where it is based. The fact that there is an extreme close up of the eye could make the audience quite uncomfortable as they are so close to a person which is not normal. Having dilated pupils is an obvious sign that someone is scared, but the eye does not have dilated pupils which could confuse the audience as normally we are shown close ups of faces and expression to portray an emotion, but there doesn’t seem to be one, this will make the audience wonder what the significance of the eye is.

The sudden movement of the woman waking up shows that she woke up suddenly as of from a bad dream, then she looks around and doesn’t seem to know where she is. The audience then see a man lying next to her. This is seems normal, except for the fact that she asks “Who are you?” This has connotations of a drunk hook up which would explain the fact that she doesn’t know where she is. The man replies saying “I’m your husband” which is confusing as she should know who her husband is. This, along with the fear in her eyes when she is talking to him makes the audience worry for her as they don’t know why she is in that situation.

The unknown man who states to be her husband starts to help explain why she doesn’t know who he is because she had an accident which resulted in her “storing information for a day” but then forgetting it when she wakes up the next. This is the first bit of information about the narrative and even though it does answer some questions that the trailer has already created it makes even more.

The short flashing image of the police creates a sense of dread as this could imply that everything is not as it seems. This is then followed by the phone ringing, the short shots create a sinister feel to the phone ringing and the fact they zoom in on her hand when she pick up the phone makes the audience assume that the person ringing is bad.

The person on the other end of the phone turns out to be Dr Nasch, a doctor who is helping her with her memory. The thing that creates tension is the fact that he then says “I’m not sure if Ben knows”, this sounds shifty and makes him seem untrustworthy, combined with the fact that the camera work has made him seem like a bad person makes the audience distrust him.

The shot going backwards down a hallway, probably done on a dolly, depicts a bigger problem, there is an overshadowing thing that they need to work out in order to get past this. The solution seems to get further and further away as the camera quickly moves back. Later in the trailer the woman is seen running down the same corridor,
almost she is chasing something, the resolution?

The woman asks “Who tried to kill me?” after she found out she was found naked with “repeated blows to the head”. This is a convention of the thriller genre, they are trying to figure out an enigma or two, who tried to kill her and how can she keep her memory.

The white light that flashes on screen could represent the woman’s memory, blank, nothingness. It could also symbolises her aloneness which is then solidified at the end of the trailer when she tells herself to trust no one.

The use of the black and white flashbacks create a sense of unease for the audience because along with the tense music makes the audience untrusting of “Claire”.

The music that accompanies the trailer is full of big drum hits and otherwise is quite repetitive. The use of this music creates tension for the audience and the repetition of the motif could represent the repetition of the woman trying to get her memory back each day.

The sound of the heart monitor not picking up a heartbeat could be foreshadowing to the audience that something bad is going to happen to her, such as the person who tried to kill her previously trying to kill her again. This creates a sense of worry for her as she is in a vulnerable position, but at the same time intrigues the audience as they want to know what happens to her.

The husband is represented as the victim as his wife doesn’t know who he is and he has to remind her every day. Also he is shown to be crying about the situation that he is in, making him get sympathy from the audience. He is also shown to be protective over her as he tells Dr Nasch “get away from my wife” this shows him to also be very loving towards her as stayed with her even though she doesn’t know who he is.

There are lots of short shots that are edited into a montage which is a convention of the thriller genre, also the fact that the story line is quite realistic and it seems like it could happen to anyone which makes the story scarier and more intense for the people watching it.

This is a very effective trailer as it creates so many questions for the viewer to answer.  Also as it is quite confusing the viewer will want to watch it in order to understand the story line better. I think that thriller trailers should create lots of questions which cause the viewer to think about it more and even what it again without knowing the story line completely and I think trailer has managed to do this. 

Format Research

I did an analysis of The Maze Runner Trailer with a partner, when doing this I looked at 4 main headings which were, Genre, Narrative, Representation and Link to Theories. With in these headings I looked at camera, editing, mise-en-scene and sound which really helped me analyse the trailer, so I think when I analyse the film trailers that this layout will help me more with my research.

Here is the Slideshow we made along with what we said about each topic.


Genre: The use of the sudden sounds makes the start of the trailer jumpy and creates a sense of urgency immediately. This implies to the audience that there will be jumps and the film will be quite intense. This is a stereotype of an Action film. Also at the beginning there is a sound that could be connoted as a heart beat, this could make that the audience feel tense, this implies that it is a thriller. The way that the sound is used, with the loud bangs and sudden silences creates tension and tells the audience right from the beginning that the film will be tense and there will be action, this implies that it is an action/thriller The fact that this is a dystopian film and that there is the use of mechanical creatures and unknown technology implies that this is a science fiction film. There is a sense of make believe which again links to science fiction films. Towards the end, the trailer gets faster and faster, this shows that it is an action film also the fact that the setting gets darker and more sinister makes the audience tense. This is part of the thriller genre as it creates suspense and excitement. There is also an investigation about an “enigma” which is another convention of the thriller genre The reason that this trailer/film is part of the science fiction genre as it incorporates hypothetical themes that are a main part of the plot. This is a dystopian film.

 Representation: The contrast of the dark and light lighting could link to the idea of religion. You ascend to heaven and the white lights could represent heaven. However this is not the case it is the complete opposite, Tomas does not appear in heaven. This is a juxtaposition. The black guy (Alby) is seen as quite and a leader. He is shown to know the most about the maze and why they are there. This is shown when he says “they are never going to let us out” this makes the audience wonder who they are. Although he is in charge of the glade, he is not in charge of the bigger picture. Also Tomas seems, through the trailer, to end up taking over the leadership position. They are both show to be leaders as the other people in the glade listen to them and respect them. The girl is represented as weak by the boys in the glade as they protect her. This links to Propp’s theory of the Damsel in distress/ princess. The girl is also seen as a significant as she is the only girl that has ever been to the glade and also knows Tomas’ name when she arrives whereas when Tomas arrived he could remember nothing. The maze could represent how teenagers are threatened by society. The maze also shows how separated from the world these boys are and it adds another obstacle to them finding their way out.

Narrative: The white lighting gives the impression of coldness and harshness. This could imply that no one cares about these boys and they have been sent there as a punishment. It also gives it quite a clinical clean feel, as if the could be an experiment. The establishing shot of the “glade” shows them to be surrounded by a huge concrete wall, this supports the idea they are in prison. The use of the spinning camera work and the overlapping of the picture implies to the audience that the character doesn’t know where he is. It shows confusion that both the audience and the character are experiencing this for the first time. A character then says “welcome to the glade” this shows that the people there are ‘local’ and native to this setting as they say it with ease and it sound like they use the word all the time. The Glade is introduced to the audience and the new character like it is well known. This could be a link to the book as fans of the book will most probably know what The Glade is. There is also the word “greenie” used. This adds the amounting questions that the audience and the new character have, you hope that in the film these will be answered, making you want to see it. The audience are then introduced to the Maze. This again assuming that the audience knows what the maze is, creating more questions When the audience first sees the Tomas he is confused and in a lift. The audience then find out that he has lost his memory. The rest of the film is him finding where he is and the dangers of this, but then a girl arrives the same way Tomas did. This starts a change in the glade. The girl and Tomas then become friends. Tomas meanwhile is trying to find a way out. He tries to help people escape. There is no voice over, it is purely narrated by the characters meaning that the audience get a better idea of who the characters are and how they are interpreting the situation. The questions they ask are probably the same as the ones that the audience are asking as both are experiencing this situation for the first time.

Links to Theorists: When analysing this trailer, elements of Propp’s theory comes into play. First off; Propp suggests that there will be a damsel in distress, this is suggested in the trailer when the girl looks vulnerable as she is being protected when the boys surround her when danger is about. When the girl arrives in the glade she creates moral panic as she threatens the social order of the glade.

Theories

Film Institutions and Distribution

Focus Group

Short Trailer Analysis of a Previous Media Studies Students Trailer

From this trailer I realised that i have to think about every little detail for my trailer.

Codes and Conventions of an Action Trailer

The Expendables 3 

The Expendables 3 - Theatrical Trailer from Finch on Vimeo.

There are many codes and conventions found in action films. This is because there are many things that make up a classic action film and the director/creator of the trailer wants to showcase as many of these things to action film fans to show to prove that they should see the film. They put in as many explosions, guns and adrenaline as they possibly can, therefore meaning that they get the audience to want to see the movie and giving the audience a taste for what is to come in the actual film.

The film itself has a rating of 12 where as the previous two films have been a 15, this is probably trying to increase the youth ratings of the film, but the fact that the rating has gone down could imply to fans of the trilogy that there is less action and violence than there was previously, therefore making them not want to go and see it. This is shown to be true by the fact that the 3rd movie made $206 million globally compared to $305 million (Expendables 2) and $274 million (Expendables). This has blamed on the lowering of the age rating but there is a Blu-Ray and DVD extended cut available which has been rated a 15.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Sylvester-Stallone-Finally-Admits-Expendables-Made-Huge-Mistake-68375.html 

There is also a clear chain of events that the trailer and, most likely the film, follow the classic 3 part Hollywood narrative structure. There is a beginning middle and end. There is also a predictable change of events. This makes sure that the story is easy to follow so that there is more room for explosions and fighting.

Another convention that this trailer follows is that there is a romantic sub-plot. Sylvester Stallone's character is attracted to the girl that he sees beat someone up in a club (pictured). This is included to make sure that there is a "Damsel in Distress" or the "Princess" as said by Propp, this makes for a more dramatic story-line.
There are also lots of humorous one liners such as "How hard is it to kill 10 men?" which is ironic as then there are explosions and everyone knows that it will end up being very hard to kill 10 men. This means that there is not just explosion after explosion. Most of the one-liners could be classed as "Classic guy humor" which appeals to that audience.


There is also a lot of CGI effects such as the helicopter, this is another convention of an action film trailer. The use of CGI effects have made action films more spectacular and has increased the production value of the film.

There is also dramatic non-digetic music in the background. This adds tension and makes the whole trailer a lot more dramatic, this implies to the audience that there will be a lot of drama and loud noise. This is another convention of an action movie.

There is also Star marketing, naming all of the big stars that are going to be featured in the film, this is to lure fans of actors to watch the film. Also the audience could think that as there are lots of big Hollywood action star names that the movie is going to be good.


The title of the film isn't shown to the audience to keep them them guessing what the film is throughout the trailer. It also makes sure that it is one of the last things that the audience sees making it stick in their brain. In The Expendables III the title of the film isn't shown until 1.59 minutes leaving only a couple of clips after it.

Furthermore in the trailer the audience are shown a lot of different action sequences such as people jumping on to helicopters to buildings blowing up. This is because the director wants to showcase as much of the explosions and action as possible to entice action fans to see the film.

The music for the trailer is very upbeat and adrenaline filled. The fact that the song is a rock songs implies the audience that the target audience is not the people who also like rock music. The use of the upbeat song also add to the intense nature of the trailer.

The trailer is very faced paced this is probably due to the fact that the film is also. The film has lots of short shots edited together quickly in order to make the action sequence more extraordinary. This is an example of one of the many fight scenes in the film. It is edited in a very similar way to the trailer.
. The voice over of the trailer is that of the actors. This means that the audience get a better idea of the story-line and they get to hear some of the "one-liners" and get a better idea of who the characters are.

The information that the last frame of the trailer tells the audience the website, the hashtag and the directors, story-writers, directors and the social networking links for the movie. This is so that if the audience can know where to find the more information about the movie.

This trailer would most likely be shown before other action movies of the same or higher age rating as this would be the target audience. It would also probably be shown in advert breaks of TV shows such as Arrow or Empire as these are from some sort of action genre meaning that they would have the same audience, also as they are shown after 9 the trailer would be able to be shown as it isn't suitable for young audiences.


  

Movie Trailer History Part 2

Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick was an American film director and was pronounced as being "among the most important contributions to world cinema in the twentieth century." He was very controlling when it came to his films and he did everything which also meant that he created the trailers for his films. Two of the most notable to the film trailer history are that of his films, Dr Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and The Shining. Over his long career he has won 40 awards and was nominated for 51 more awards. 

1964- 

Dr Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb was one of the first movie trailers to completely break all previous conventions of the film trailer. The sporadically pieced together footage and the random questions that are not intended to be answer in the film all went along with the weird humor that is featured in this film. The use of the text with the footage creates a funny and interesting trailer that was at the time and now really, the only one of it's time.

1980 -

The Shining is said to be of the most effective horror trailers ever with the slow creepy music and one stationary shot of the elevator doors with the writing scrolling slowly over the screen building tension. The blood then coming out of the doors and flooding the lobby makes people wonder what the film is about and what relevance this scene has to the film as it gives away none of the story line.

Don LaFontaine 

Don LaFontaine was an American voice actor who had nicknames of "Thunder Throat" and "The Voice of God" was most well known for creating the cliche "In a World..." which seems to start most film trailers.

In 1963 LaFontaine went into business with Floyd Peterson after they worked together on a radio show for a year. Their business produced advertising exclusively for the film industry. Whilst working on a project in 1964, LaFontaine had to fill in for a voice over artist that was sick, as they needed to have something to show to MGM. MGM then brought the trailer, starting LaFontaine's voice over career. After this he spent a long while as the head of Kaleidoscope Films Ltd. one of the first trailer production houses.

After full-filling his job there Don went on to making his own production company Don LaFontaine Associates. His first project as an independent producer was The Godfather Part II.

In 1978 LaFontaine joined  Paramount Pictures and was in chatge of their trailer department, this resulted in him becoming "The Voice of Paramount" voicing most of their film trailers. In 1980 Don was named Vice- President of Paramount but missed the production. This made him leave Paramount in 1981 and again going solo.

He made the move from New York to Los Angeles all of this resulted in him getting a call from an agent called Steve Tisherman who wanted LaFontaine to pursue voice overs with more enthusiasm this resulting in LaFontaine signing with Tisherman and now having his voice used in over 5000 trailers and being the most well know voice in Hollywood.

Lafontaine has also donr adverts for the likes of GEICO and Coca Cola and has even been the voice over for the Academy Awards and was the voice of NBC, CBS and many other TV channels.

LaFontaine's voice changed the way that films were first introdued to audiences as his voice made the story more dramatic, more tense and more appealing for the audiences to go and see, which is probably why he could be recording up to 35 voice overs a day and could have been counted as the busiest actors in Hollywood. Don passed away in 2008 due to pneumothorax (a collapsed lung) but has left behind a legacy that will not be forgotten.


Sources:
http://www.donlafontaine.com/Index.html?p=Bio.html&pt=
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_LaFontaine

History of the Film Trailer

Sources:

http://www.hopesandfears.com/hopes/culture/film/214473-epic-history-movie-trailers-mad-max-independence-day

http://filmmakeriq.com/2014/03/the-history-of-the-movie-trailer/

https://thedissolve.com/features/exposition/241-becoming-attractions-a-brief-history-of-film-trail/ 

What is the Purpose of the Film Trailer?

Film trailers must make us want to see films. If they don't do that there is no point. They must appeal to as wide as audience as possible but, at the same time make sure that they are keeping to the film and showcasing the film the best that they can. Film trailers were created in order to sell films.
Trailers must be around 2 minutes long, a rule enforced by cinemas. In this time they must make us want to see the film.

Teaser Trailers are becoming a new trend and are released before the actual trailer to make us more excited for the trailer and the trailer is used to make us anticipate and look forward to seeing the film.

The Fantastic Four Teaser Trailer

The Fantastic Four Official Trailer

In the Official Trailer there is more of a story-line and the audience gets a better idea of who the characters are, where as the teaser trailer has more suspense and more mystery as it's purpose is to entice the audience into watching the full length trailer.

Intertextuality

Intertextuality in music videos slideshare from ErinIsabel

Applying Goodwin's Theory

Terminology

Film Poster Analysis

First film poster analysis from ErinIsabel

Second film poster analysis from ErinIsabel

Editing and Camera Work in Horror Films

We did this in a group and then went away individually to find out more. Through this process i found out that editing plays a massive role within the horror genre as it can create tension and can draw the audience in with the tiniest of things. These are some of the links that we used to find our information: http://cuvideoedit.com/pacing-and-rhythm.php http://www.videomaker.com/article/17056-when-editing-a-horror-movie-or-thriller-timing-is-key http://www.slideshare.net/lonelywolf457/why-is-editing-effective-in-a-horror-film http://www.audiomicro.com/royalty-free-music-blog/2013/10/editing-for-the-horror-genre/ http://filmmakermagazine.com/76622-so-you-want-to-make-a-horror-film-on-jump-scares-and-other-basics-of-fright/#.VYu7hflVhBc

Codes and Conventions in Horror Films

How can independent learning help me in at A2?

How can independent learning help me in at A2?


What does independent study mean to you? Independent study means going out and finding information for you self and trying things on your own first before asking a teacher. It also means that as well as being independent in your learning you should be independent in asking for help and not worrying about what everyone else is doing.

After comparing the mark scheme and the A2 introduction text I have realised that in order to succeed in this course I need to make sure that I use lots of research and make sure all the research that I use is relevant to the task. In order to do this I will make sure that I use lots of technologies and different types of media to present my research and to help me with my research. I also want to show my creativeness but at the same time show my technical understanding and knowledge and I think the best way to do this is through my blog as this means that I will be communicating effectively. I will also have to effectively evaluate my work to show that I can be critical and to prove how my research has helped me with my task. I will need to make sure that I independently investigate different things in order to make my blog individual.

 To reach my target grade of an A I need to have:
 Do planning and research and within this I need to:

• Complete and detailed planning and research- looking at lots of different sources and a range of different media 
•  Excellent research into similar products and target audience- lots of research into these things and make sure that I don’t make any snap decisions and that I have lots of evidence of these things
• Excellent organisation- time schedules 
• Very well thought out shot lists etc. - Taking my time on these things. Make sure that they are all planned before I do anything else which will help me out with the point above 
• High level of presentational skills – use a lot of different media to present my research
• Excellent time management – time schedules and lots of planning

I also have to evaluate my work and within this the mark scheme wants me to be able to:

• Use excellent skill in the use of appropriate digital technology or ICT – I can use a range of media to present everything on my blog and also make sure I think carefully about how I will present my evaluation 
• Have an excellent understanding of issues around audience, institution, technology, representation, forms and conventions in relation to the production of the product- this will all come as part of my planning meaning that I will be able to evaluate how well I planned and whether it was effective or not. 
• Show that I have made a development from the preliminary task and show that I understand this development – compare the successfulness and quality of both tasks • Show excellent communication ability – use different types of media to communicate and make sure

Codes and Conventions in Jaws

http://www.slideshare.net/kbamediastudies/codes-and-conventions-in-horror-films?related=1


Jaws follows many of the conventions that are generic in the horror movie genre.

• The couple are in a secluded location
• The characters forget about the threat
• It is dark, the equivalent of the power getting cut off
• The fact that they are in a secluded location means that no one can hear them 
• The characters leave the main group
• The warning that the guy give the girl is ignored by her
• Someone is killed in the first 5 minutes 

All of these things are stereotypical of a horror movie