Genre research

This is research for you genre of trailer, our genre is horror/thriller. It is important to evaluate successful films in order to see the reason why they were so good. Here are three films that I looked into in detail.


Inception




The first thing I noticed about the 'Inception' trailer is the music. The music starts of at a slow-medium pace and is quiet while the characters are speaking. The dialogue at the start give you the plot of the film so is therefore very important. The music really increases in volume when the name of the director comes onto screen and when action is occurring. The shots used are fast paced, usually a longer length shot teamed with a series of quicker shots after to increase pace. The trailer then ends on a humorous note.


Paranormal Activity 3




You notice immediately that they used a handheld camera to film this trailer. That gives the trailer a documentary type feeling which also makes the trailer more realistic and believable. The cuts in between shots makes it look like the camera is broken, but also gives a supernatural feel to the trailer. The shots are of two small girls it then cuts to previous films and screaming. The trailer finishes on a very long length shot, this builds up a lot of suspense and attempts to make the viewer jump at the end.


Shutter Island




The trailer starts off with a series of quick shots and very simple fade to black editing between them. Once again the music increases in volume when the directors name is flashed on screen. There is a lot of continued dialogue while shots on screen change, the shots the revert back to the original where the conversation is taking place. The 'Shutter Island' trailer like the 'Paranormal Activity 3' trailer contains some screaming but this time from and unknown character making it slightly more scary. At the end of the trailer different shots are being flashed onto the screen very quickly, the editing is really jumpy and this gives a very quick pace to the end.

Risk assessment

When filming you can encounter a number of risk that can damage the health of the people involved. Equipment is also very expensive and without the right care can be damaged.

• Make sure that you run through the scene you are filming with the actors before hand so they know what is expected. This ensures that they have a picture in mind of what the need to be doing and will make precautions before the start to act.
• Always make sure that the equipment is set up correctly and that you are using it in the correct way. If you set up a camera without a tri-pod and set it down somewhere you never know what can happen. Cameras are very expensive and you wouldn't want to break one.
• Because we used a car you have to be careful and safe while driving.

Camera shots

During the filming we used an array of different camera shots in order to convey different attitudes and experiences. These are the shots used:

• Close up shot
• Over-the-shoulder
• Establishing shot
• Mirror shot
• Follow shot
• Match on action
• Handheld shot
• Low angle shot

Magazine research

I am now looking into magazine front covers as research for my coursework.




These are two separate magazine front covers from different magazine companies. However, they both share similar features. Both feature a new blockbuster film on the front cover with the main protagonist on the front cover taking up most of the space.


Both covers also use very bold writing and nearly everything is in capital letter giving a sense of urgency of importance. The writing is bold in order to attract a reader in when the magazine is on a shelf and you just walk past. Both 'Empire' and 'Total Film' have printed the name of the film across the middle of the front cover and also across the photo of the protagonist. Whats more, both film seem to have a slogan printed underneath the film title that relates to the film. For 'Iron Man 2' it is "New suit. New enemies. Same attitude" and for 'Inception' it is "Inside the ultimate head trip"


'Empire' is advertising the new 'Iron Man 2' film and has designed the front cover in order to fit in with genre. The title 'Empire' looks like it is made out of pure electricity and the colouring matches that of the 'heart' of 'Iron Man' in the photo on the front. These colours are used because they relate to the sci-fi genre.


'Total Film' is advertising 'Inception' and has also designed it's front cover around the film. Instead of just using colours to show genre, 'Total Film' have actually pictured parts of the film in the background of the cover, behind the protagonist.


Both covers are eye catching and will draw a reader in if it is just sat on a shelf. They both use the same features of colours that relate to the film and its genre and a protagonist on the front cover. These are the main features that I will definitely need to involved in my magazine front cover.

VOX POP

The film pitch "Birdwatcher"

The film pitch “Birdwatcher”

Set in eerie woodland, Matt takes to his favourite spot to watch the wildlife like he does every Monday afternoon. On that afternoon he witnesses a murderous scene.

Film title "Birdwatcher"

Our film will be called "Birdwatcher" because it goes well with the plot of the film and also has a certain ring to it.

30/09/2011 Mind map trailer planning

This is Ross' and my mind map planning for our trailer. We planned out all of the necessary componants of our trailer to make sure we knew what we were doing when it came round to filming it.