Dear Moderator,
Welcome to my A2 Media Studies blog. Here I have documented all the stages through creating my products of a Film Trailer, a Film Magazine Cover and a Film Poster. Hope you enjoy looking through my blog!
Thanks,
Sam
Q1- ''What type of Editing would you expect to see?''
We were pleased with the results from this question as
initially we wanted to use fades to black, jump cuts, straight cuts, slow paced
and fast paced editing, and these were all mentioned in our questionairre which is great. We will also definitely look into the other ideas we got given to see if it works or not.
Q2- ''Do you think we should have a Voice Over for our Trailer?''
Although the voice over got the majority vote for yes, we are still unsure about whether to use one or not. However, this is not an issue as we can look at both voice over trailer and non-voice over trailer and see which one is better so it is definitely an option thanks to the questionairre's results.
Q3- ''What shots are typical for a Horror Film?''
All of the shots suggested in the results from the questionairre were very
helpful and unique; we'd been open to do any kind of shots but hadn't really thought about canted and high/lows shots
of the villain/victim. We will definitely be looking into these results as we feel they could be effective in our trailer so the results here were extremely helpful.
Q4- ''What location would you expect to see in a Horror/Fantasy Film?''
The woods was the most popular answer to this question, which we are greatful for as we wished to make the main location the woods. This has ensured us that we are most definitely going to be filming in the woods, we thought about it at first but after our feedback it is now a definite we think.
Q5- ''What Non-Diegetic music would you expect to hear?''
“Slow
eerie music contrasted with fast paced high pitched music” was the most interesting answer we got in our result in my opinion, and we will definitely try it out for our trailer as it sounds as if it could be really effective and unique. All the other suggestions were helpful too, but this one stood out for me most.
Q6- ''Do you prefer films in First, Second or Third Person?''
The majority vote on this question went on 1st person and our group respect the results given, however we feel that because there was no brief storyline given to the audience, they went off their own initiative for us but a First Person narrative wouldn't really get the whole message of our plot for our trailer and wouldn't be as effective. So on this occasion, we have decided that it would be better to do our trailer in Third Person.
Q7- ''Do you think the main characters should be Male or Female?''
The audience gave the majority vote of Female which is interesting, we haven't specified what gender our main character is yet however we know that the villain is female which contrasts to a usual horror villain that is stereotypically male. One of the answers said that a male victim would be ''not stereotypical for a horror'' which could make our trailer more unique on the market. We will look into this more closely in the future.
Q8- ''How do you think we could create suspense?''
All the ideas suggested will most likely be used and played around with to fit the genre and tone of our trailer as I think they are all really good and effective answers that have helped us. I like the sound of 'contrasting music' as it sounds interesting and different.
What types of editing would you expect to see?
-Fade to black
-Fast Paced
-Fade in/Fade outs
-Cuts aways
-Jumps cuts
-Dissolves
-Slow paced
-Straight cuts
What shots are typical to a horror film?
-Close ups
-Wide shots
-Canted
-Low angle
-High angle of victim/Low angle of villain
-Master shots
-Extreme close ups
-Over the shoulder shots
What location would you expect to see in a horror/fantasy film?
-The woods
-Dark building
-Graveyard
-Underground
-Abandoned area
-Old looking mysterious places
What non-diegetic would music would you expect to hear?
-Suspense building music
-Background music to create tension
-Fast paced beats
-High pitched
-Themes and stings
-Mood music
-Slow eerie low pitched music contrasted with fast paced high pitch music
Do you think the main character should be male or female? (number in brackets = votes)
Female (6) Male (3) Either (1)
-They seem more vulnerable -Because it isn't stereotypical -"It could be either
-It is easier to create fear for horror depending on the
-It breaks the stereotype of men -Attract female attention situation"
always being the hero
-They show more fear and are more
vulnerable
-"I've seen most films with girls as
the main characters"
-You feel more for the character
How do you think we could create suspense?
-Slowing down scenes
-Editing to build climax
-Increase of pitch
-Faster editing
-Music
-Slow editing
-Fast editing
-Contrasting music
-Close ups
-Lots of jump cuts
We have decided on our job roles at this point in the construction where the three people in our group are assigned to focus on one main Media Language, here are our predictions so far:
Male or Female?
Age?
Expected Editing for Horror/Fantasy?
Voice Over or Titles?
Typical Horror/Fantasy Film Shot Types?
Locations for a Fantasy/Horror?
Expected Non-Diegetic Music to hear?
1st or 3rd Person?
Main Character to be Male or Female?
How do Trailers create Suspense?
A trailer is a visual taster promotion for a film. A teaser trailer is usually in between
about 1 minute and 1 minute 30 seconds. A full length trailer is about 3 minutes
long. They are shown on TV and screening before a film and include clips from
the actual film to show what the film is about.
Codes and Conventions of a Trailer can include:
-Montages
-Release Date
-Name of Film
-Titles/Voice Over
-Production Company
-Certificate
-Peaks from the Narrative
Genre-
The Genre of The Descent is Horror, and has other genre aspects such as Fantasy, Thriller and Adventure. The mise-en-scene and cinematography is very 'claustrophobic' (as the titles say) which already gives us the insight of the characters being trapped and that there is no way out. The genre is also represented through the non-diegetic piercing eerie music that is played throughout. At the equilibrium of the Trailer there are many fade-to-black editing transitions which suggest death, and due to it being at the start it shows they are happiest here but all will go downhill for the characters. The lighting is low-key which is a usual strategy done in Horror films.
Representation-
The representation of the characters is very contrasting. We are introduced to this group of strong women who are brave and not the stereotypical 'princess' character films usually portray. The trailer is also not shown through the Male Glaze as the female characters are not represented as sexually attractive and need men to survive, they are represented as a strong force together. Having said that, the female characters are then trapped in this underworld needed to be saved and only having each other as their hero. This contrasts with the representation of them being non-stereotypical female roles as the trailer is then showing them weak and also, going by Propps theory, 'princesses' - however, they are still reliant on themselves to survive. This gives a whole new perspective to the representation of the women in this film trailer as it is arguable that there are points both for and against being a non-stereotypical female role.
Narrative-
From the narrative we can see that the film is about a group of strong female characters who are proceeding to go potholing down a cave until they get trapped within the underworld. Whilst they are trapped, the narrative flows around the scenes of the unknown and how the characters believe they are not alone. Whilst this is happening, titles describing the emotions of the characters are shown with a black background saying 'claustrophobia, disorientation, fear' etc. These tags make the trailer more eerie and also add to the suspense building up. After the title of 'Fear' we are shown a clip through what seems like a handheld camera (held by one of the female characters) using night vision, the characters are screaming for help and then in a chaotic pan from one character to another we see a scary looking mythical creature stood right behind the character the camera had panned to. With this comes diegetic screams and a non-diegetic sting of noise. Following on from this disruption, the editing becomes very fast and action packed, until we again return to slow paced shots transitioning to fade-to-blacks. This intensifies the scary tone the trailer wanted to create as it goes from slow pace and tense scenes to high action scary scenes, then back to slow pace and tense scenes. The slow pace shots also highlight the fear of the unknown. The trailer ends with a few captions of quotes bigging up the film, with shots of the characters in action sequences. Throughout the trailer, we never really see the 'monster', which is a strategy most trailers used so the audience are curious and want to see the film to witness the monster themselves.
Audience-
The audience of the Trailer isn't specifically targeted just at teenagers, as the Trailer also seems very appealing to adults who are fans of horror films. The reason I say this is because it is quite literally a one-dimensional film where there is no comedy or points of feel-good moments throughout the trailer (which are usually used in films aimed at teenagers/the younger adults being introduced to horror films). The rating of the film I haven't been given a definite for because some sights say it is certified a 15, others an 18. If I were to classify it myself judged on the Trailer only, I would say it is a 15 because there is no shown brutality or extremely scary moments in the trailer that could make it an 18, however this could have been a strategy used by the company (classifying the film an 18 whereas making the trailer a 15) for the trailer to have more air-time success.
Media Language
Cinematography-
tight framing. The tight framing conveys the feeling of the characters and makes it look uncomfortable for the characters. Also, in one shot of the trailer the characters use a night-vision handheld camera as they are shouting for help then a scary looking creature appears behind one of the characters. This creates realism within the trailer as it portrays the message that it is home filmed footage that is real life. Most of the shots are at eye-level which could carry on the realistic tone as the audience will feel more involved because it is shot to show them as if they are within the film. Shots in The Descent trailer are also mainly off centre point, which makes the characters seem unbalanced in this underworld. I have also noticed that at the beginning of the trailer when one of the characters takes a picture of the rest of the girls, the image is then shown in a black and white/yellow faded wash still - this very much looks as if the image has been published in a news paper after the film which, again, carries on with the realism and making the trailer more believable.
Editing-
During the trailer there are plenty of fade-to-black's at the beginning which shows that the film is dark and deathly, portraying the genre. The editing at the start of the trailer starts off at a relatively normal pace, using straight cuts to show realism as the audience aren't aware of the editing transitions. As the characters go into the cave and become stuck, the editing becomes very slow and tense; which is naturalistic as we as an audience are feeling what the characters are feeling. The editing pace increases as the disruption starts (the scary creature behind character) and from then on the editing becomes very roller-coaster style - being fast at high points of action, then all of a sudden the pace is slow because a character is shown vulnerable and lonely etc. The trailer ends on fast pace editing, making the audience intrigued to see the film as to what happens after this as we are just chucked into the deep end with no answer if the characters come out okay and alive or not okay and dead.
Sound-
The trailer uses many non-diegetic stings next to diegetic dialogue. In the start of the trailer, there is an eerie non-diegetic noise playing that lasts throughout underneath the diegetic dialogue of the characters talking. Loud stings of loud whoosh noises slam into the sound as the editing shows fade-to-blacks add to the tense atmosphere. When the title 'fear' appears, the text becomes dissorientated and jumpy and parrallel to it the sound becomes very alien and bizarre, sounding like some sort of creature. There is a non-diegetic sting of a loud bang as the scary creature appears behind a character, and with it comes along a faster pace of sound along with diegetic screams from the female characters. Typical horror sounds for genre conventions are used in this trailer, shown by the points made above (screams, eerie/tense music and also heavy breathing) all creating suspense and keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat.
Mise-en-Scene-
The location for the majority of the trailer is inside the cave. We do also see a small snippet of the characters outside a cabin and driving to the cave, however all these places are only building the tension up for the main cave location. The cave is extremely claustrophobic at first and the characters are shown in tight spaces, however as they get trapped the cave is more open and free for them to rome around but they are scared and fragile at this point as the location is alien to them. Typical horror conventions are used such as low key lighting with an orange tinge creating a sense of urgency and alarm for the audience. The orange also creates the dirty, underground, claustrophobic feel which is also shown through the mise-en-scene. The low key lighting used in the trailer is sometimes that dark that there is only minute detail the audience can see, which adds to the intensity. Costumes and Props show typical potholers clothing and essentials (helmets, ropes, torches etc) which makes the audience feel that at least one of the characters is very experienced in potholing.
Just had a meeting with my group and we have decided that a Fantasy-Thriller film would have been too difficult to construct and make, so instead of Thriller we have changed it to a Fantasy-Horror but mainly focusing on the Horror with Fantasy elements. We are still thinking of using the woods and a group of teenagers being there at night and the mythical creatures attacking. Instead of analyzing Alien, I am going to analyze the trailer for The Descent which is extremely relevant and was suggested by my Media teacher as a similar storyline.
We filmed our audience research as we got the feedback to our questions. The results were very helpful as the idea of a Fantasy/Thriller would be a good film to make because it is likeable and enjoyable by our target audience due to them willing to pay to see a film with a genre of Fantasy/Thriller.
The initial idea for our plot was backed up by our audience research as the audience being interviewed gave advice and answers which fit would fit into our trailer well and would be effective. The 'mythical creature' idea seems to go down well with the people being interviewed, which is good. The audience idea of them seems to be on the same page as our group's idea, which will make it more successful as it will be more effective on the target audience's opinion because it is a creature they want to see.
The perception of regulation our audience suggested gave us insight as to what we can and can't include, and as the people interviewed were ages 17-18 they were very experienced in what can define a 15 rated film to an 18 rated film. In our trailer there will be no extreme violence or bad language, no sexual scenes and no nudity which all weren't planned to be in it anyway.
Overall, our audience research was successful and will be extremely helpful for future references.
For my second Trailer Analysis I asked friends what other film trailers could be used for my research. The information given by my friends could all have been used as I researched into each given films trailer, however at the moment I'm thinking Alien (1979) would be best fitted as for the Trailer I'm creating it is similar in the concept of Humans vs Mythical Creatures.
Genre-
The genre of
Fright Night is a Fantasy/Horror with elements of Comedy. The trailer
respresents Steve Neale's theory of 'Genre is a repetition with an
underlying pattern of variations' as by the trailer as a whole, it is
very similar to every vampire driven film for example Dracula, however
differs from the market of vampire films in its Target Audience which is
Teenagers which we is shown by using the main characters as teenagers
and also by them including the aspect of Comedy (a genre which is mostly
targeted at teenagers). The Trailer also includes the Binary Opposites
theory, as it is the Teenagers/Humans (good force/hero) versus the
Vampire (bad force/villain) - this is shown through the use of shot
types, when we are introduced to the Vampire character in the trailer he
is never framed in the same shot as the human characters. The vampire
is also shot in a slight low angle, making him appear superior and more
powerful compared to the others. The genre is also represented through
the low key lighting on the horror/tense clips in the trailer, and then
high key lighting is used in the Teenage life such as when they're at
School. The Comedy genre is present through upbeat and happy sounding
non-diegetic music. It is the key element of genre aspect up until
around 50 seconds where we are hit with a sting and the mood is changed.
We are introduced to the Horror genre, meeting eerie non-diegetic music
creating a tense atmosphere.
Representation-
The
representation of the characters in the trailer convey Laura Mulvey's
theory of viewing the film through a Male Gaze (showing the film from a
male's perspective). This is shown by the main female characters being
physically attractive representing them as (Propps theory) the
''Princess'' to which must be saved in the end (Carol Glover's theory of
the final girl being terrorised throughout the film). This could be
classed as a stereotypical representation of a main female character in a
horror/fantasy film. The main boy character doesn't stereotype a hero
as his appearance is quite nerdy, contrasting to the usual physically
fit stereotypical male hero. This shows how the film has adapted in the
Vampire inspired films and how the character types have changed, making
this movie more unique and modernised. The vampire juggles both
stereotypical and non-stereotypical aspects in how the villain is
represented. The stereotype for a vampire is mostly represented by
Dracula which is very dark and hollow, and in its time (1931) he was
considered to be very scary. However in Fright Night the enemy is
represented as sexually attractive to the female characters, this
differs from the original Vampire films and gives the film a more modern
twist. The stereotype, however, is still present because the villain is
still targeting attractive women and we as an audience still fear him
towards the climax of the trailer.
Narrative-
From
the Trailer we can specifically see the Equilibrium. This is the shots
at the start of the trailer, showing upbeat music and high key lighting
signifying everything and everyone is happy. The narrative then jolts
when the disruption comes in after one of the male characters reveals
his friends neighbour is a vampire. We are then introduced to dark, low
key lit locations creating suspense. We then see the lead male character
wandering around his neighbours house as he is out, with this comes a
silence and only hearing the door creak and footsteps right until a
Point of View shot shows a hand smacking against the window, and with it
a sting of pounding eerie music that is very jumpy. We are then
introduced to a monologue by the villain, and with it we see clips of
scenes which describe and compare to what the character is saying. With
this, the suspense music gradually becomes more noticeable and is
gaining a slight speed, which instigates tension and suspense. After
this an explosion scene occurs, creating a starter for the action/peak
montage which comes later in the trailer. The trailer then shows how the
vampire targets, main character, Charlie's ''girlfriend'' or ''love
interest'' and how she needs him by her saying the dialogue 'Charlie is
going to find me' showing how she is in need of help which approves of
Propps Theory. This shows Charlie as the Protagonist, and we see him
setting up and preparing to battle which will be the big climax. Just
before the climax of the trailer, when the characters think they're
safe, we are again hit with a sting of noise knowing that they're still
unsafe and leaving the audience eager to find out what happens.
Audience-
The
audience is specifically aimed at teenagers/young adults due to the
comedy aspect and also the use of attractive casting to appeal to the
opposite sex, this can be shown by multiple evidence in the trailer for
example the first piece of clip we see is the girl taking her top off
and the boy character replying ''Errr...'' to his Mother after she asked
him what he is doing. This is highly sexualizing the comedy of the
film, which definitely relates and appeals to teenagers. The use of
horror also maintains the target audience of Teenagers as it is
classified a 15. Many companies us bi-genre Horror and Comedy films to
target the teenage market because together they join up both what most
teenagers go to the cinemas specifically to see. The fact that Fright
Night is a 15 and not an 18 also shows that it is not aimed at the
gruesome adult horror film lovers because it is clearly too mild to be
an 18 which in this case works to its advantage.
Media Language
Cinematography-
The trailer begins very open spaced, using long shots of the class room and also an establishing shot of the city. Straight cuts and over-the-shoulder shots are used to create realism and it all seems upbeat and fine at first. There is also another establishing shot of the town where the male character lives. When we are introduced to the Villain, the 3 good characters are never on the same shot as him when they are in conversation. This instantly shows there is rivalry between them as they are in opposite shots resembling opposition. As the trailer becomes more darker, we see the male character going into the vampire's house after watching him exit his house in his car in an over the shoulder shot of the boy looking out of the window. In the vampire's house, tight framing is used showing that the character feels uneasy and claustrophobic in the environment. The framing being tight also creates a panic feel making the audience feel at the edge of their seat. In this house scene we also see a point of view shot of the boy looking through a peep hole in a door and a hand smacking against the glass, and after the tension being built this is the disruption of the tension which is set to make you jump. As the Trailer continues, it very much uses the same cinematography of the hero and the villain never being in the same shot: which is very much a convention in a horror trailer.
Editing-
The editing begins very realistic, at an average speed pace where the audience aren't aware of the transitioning which is a convention used usually in films of the Comedy genre. Whilst the equilibrium of the Trailer remains upbeat and at a calm, the editing stays normal up until a fade-to-black is used after finding out that their neighbour is a vampire. The fade-to-black darkens the tone of the editing and shows how the Horror genre is being represented now that the disruption. Fade-to-black is used a few times after this first one has been placed, for example after the boy watches the villain drive off and he decides to go into his house there is a fade-to-black which shows danger. The editing inside the villains house is very fast and panic stricken and each shot is at a different place in the house/a different angle/a different shot type. When the action starts hitting in after the hand hits the window, the editing becomes more rapid and frantic until there is a straight cut to black. The editing pace could also show the heartbeat of the male character and even, to an extent, the audience as the editing pace gets faster, the faster the heart beats through anxiety and suspense.
Sound-
In the beginning, the non-diegetic music beat in the Trailer is extremely upbeat and happy. In my opinion, it sounds like the start to a pop song which, with all the other media language going on, the audience believe it is a trailer for a comedy film. There is also diegetic dialogue of the characters speaking, and also sounds of school alarm bells and ringing phones (setting the tone for the location and the age of the characters in the film). Non-diegetic dialogue of the main male character's nerdy friend is played as a diegetic voice over as he suggests his friends neighbour is a vampire. The sound then becomes more dark and sinister, representing the genre that is now being introduced which is horror. Throughout the eerie part of the trailer, a tense underlying non-diegetic beat remains as the boy wanders through the vampires house until the creeking of a door being opens makes all the sounds fall silent until being broke by a girls scream and a loud sting of noise. Stereotypical conventions of a Horror are portrayed through the sound: screams, creeking doors, heavy breathing etc., but also there are comedy aspects of sound used showing this is a mixed genre.
Mise-en-Scene-
The Trailer begins with, I would say, high key lighting. Although it is high key lighting there is a blue tinge to this which shows a darker side; however it isn't low key lighting as we can see everything and the mood is upbeat but that blue tinge still conveys that there is darker times ahead. The location begins in an American school/college where the characters are all dressed like average students so the clothing isn't over the top which makes the trailer realistic. The blue tinge gets even deeper and more noticeable as the vampire is introduced, showing the character is the dark character (villain). The location of the town the characters live in seems very lonely and creepy, as (shown by an establishing shot) we see it is quite far away from the town. The houses are all large sized, which is a modernistic stereotype of a horror location as it makes the villains/killer/vampire harder to spot, making the audience feel that it (the villain) is behind the corner or behind the door etc.
The certificate for our trailer, I think, should be a 12A because of the content of the film. The trailer will include suggested violence and would also include blood and gore. The trailer would also include the aspect of horror, however will be mild compared to the actual film to get a better chance at TV advert promotion.
Although our trailer is a 12A, our actual movie will be a 15 because we want it to target a teenage audience and to do so we think classifying it a 15 will let us be more open with blood, gore and violence.
Sound: The sound wasn't great on the sounds matching the scenes, we used mainly non-diegetic sounds as in our version of The Chase we had hardly any dialogue. We used humourous non-diegetic noises that we edited to merge in well with the scenes and to get a better understanding of how to shorten longer sounds to match the shot we wanted the sound to be on e.g the Willow Smith - Whip my Hair part where we edited it to the chorus so it was better than waiting through the whole song. We just wanted to experiment with the creativity of the mix of sounds in the video we created. We, me and my group, all had input to the sound.
Editing: Our editing was mainly straight cuts, jump cuts and we also used match cuts. We tried to vary the editing to try out new ideas for future reference. We also used a few shot-reverse-shots. Also, we played around with the transitions to work out what worked well and what didn't. The use of them in ours was experimental and I feel some work well, for example the fade-to-white at the climax of the video as it is used often in films and scenes of glory, however I feel this transition doesn't work well when the character dropped the buss pass and we put the fade-to-white transition before it. These minor errors are what I have learned from and will improve on in the future.
Mise-en-scene: The mise-en-scene was probably the least media element we prepared for and used due to the little time we had. Our scene was supposed to be somewhat of a bus station however we had to use our College and the places that most looked like a Bus Station to an extent. We did use a main prop which was the Bus Pass which is classed as mise-en-scene however the costumes and other props were not used for any purpose towards the video. The lighting was also very poor and dim. For future reference, I would definitely look more into the mise-en-scene when doing my film trailer as I think it is a key element to how good a piece is.
Cinematography: We tried to vary the cinematography, using varied shot types and camera positions. I feel Cinematography was our strong point, however I feel it still could have been better. I like how we used close-ups on the buss pass and also the hand on the railings, we took extra time to figure out to make the cinematography more creative than one-dimensional and boring. We could have varied the angles a lot more, however we did use high angles and low angles on the staircases. We also used a point-of-view shot when the two characters run after the other character (from which point of view it is) who has the bus pass. I feel this was our strong point, however there is still much room for improvement which hopefully we will achieve with practice.
An Action film usually uses sinister colours with an odd hint of heat themed colours (reds, oranges, yellows) and usually they have a very masculine character that is extremely confident as the main character. The sound is usually very tense and thrilling, building up suspense.
Romance
Romance films are usually aimed at women/girls and tend to use a lot of high key lighting. The romance genre tends to focus on the relationship of a boy and a girl and tends to be realistic to make the target audience feel it is believable and real in the ideal world. Most films have now introduced the Romance genre in a mix with their other genre of film. For example; Avatar which is a Sci-Fi but also has the romance of the two main characters. This is because it reaches a bigger audience (as the romance would interest women, Sci-Fi would interest men) which led to the films success.
Comedy
Comedy films tend to be aimed at teenagers or have the certificate of a 12 or a 15. Comedy films tend to use high key lighting and have a feel-good presence. The Comedy genre is not specifically aimed at any gender, however tends to be aimed at teenagers or young adults.
Horror
Horror films tend to be aimed at teenagers/adults with 15 or 18 certificates. They tend to use tense music that drags on and drains, with low key lighting and lots of other scary aspects. Horror films tend to try and aim for a higher certificate as the higher the rating, the thought is that it is more scary which creates a bigger hype and buzz for a film.
