Music decisons.

Music in trailers is key. It sets up the mood and atmosphere for the rest of the film whilst also indicating to the audience what genre the film is. Thrillers tend to use 'creepy'/'eerie' music which starts off slow then builds up faster and faster creating the tension. The music used represents the action going on in the film. 

I have looked at many examples of thriller music choices and they all follow the same sort of fashion of beginning slow, fastening and including a few drum beats when key action is happening and also on occasion overlaying the sounds of gun shots footsteps, heavy breathing and most commonly a voice over, or even almost natural diegetic sounds then with a song being played over the whole of the action.

I found it very difficult to find any copyright free music that would be suited to my genre. For the beginnig of my trailer I used a royalty free track from www.youtube.com. For the rest of the trailer I have chosen to use a song called 'Get my gun' written by some guys I know in a band called 'The Kid Kapichi'. Who have let me use their song in my trailer. I think that this song choice is very good as the sound fits the action quite well, the band also has a Kooks sort of sound which could entice a mainstream audience possibly.

Film trailer

I decided not to have a voice over as I felt that it was too distracting and I feel that it is more effective to have an enigmatic feel to my trailer rather than  spoonfeeding the audience.

I also chose to have minimal and very simplistic credits with a font that resembled my magazine cover fonts so they all linked in almost as if they were the same product. 

Final Film Trailer

QUESTION 4

4) How did you use media technologies in construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

When researching and planning I used many different programmes such as:

• Blogger
• www.google.co.uk
• www.wikipedia.co.uk
• www.imdb.co.uk
• www.youtube.com
• www.prezi.com
• Microsoft office - word and PowerPoint
• www.slideshare.net

In the planning and research stages I wrote down all my findings/ideas onto my blog which is set up on www.blogger.com I used blogger as if it was my 'media diary' updating it with a new post whenever I got inspiration or had completed some research. I used www.google.co.uk as my main search engine to look up certain things about the thriller genre. www.imdb.co.uk was my main search engine when it came to actual film research and directors but whatever I couldn't find on there information wise I went on www.wikipedia.co.uk and what ever trailer or movie clip I couldn't find on www.imdb.co.uk or www.wikipedia.co.uk I found on youtube.com.

For a lot of presentations i used a website called www.prezi.com. This is a free website that allows you to make formal presentations look more visually appealing which I think is a key tool for presentations so you don't get bored half way through they keep your interest/focus 100%. I also used Microsoft PowerPoint  and uploaded them onto my blog via slide share, PowerPoint I found better than www.prezi.com for some things for example if I had a lot of content to write in PowerPoint was the more appropriate choice.
For my audience feedback I hand wrote the questions and just wrote down their responses for no technology was used in this process. 
I also used Windows movie maker to edit a stop frame section together this was experimental so I did not feel as though it had to be done with a professional standard editing programme. 

I used my samsung galaxy s2 to take some location shots and also to contact my friend to see when I could borrow his camera etc. I used my home computer to blog and edit when I wasn't near the college computers. 

During the construction process I used my friends camera which is a Sony A37,  the editing software I used Sony Vegas 12 to produce my film. To edit my photos for my film with Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended which is one of the 
I used www.blogger.com again to post my evaluation questions. I also used www.slideshare.net also.
I posted my final product- Film trailer onto www.youtube.com I chose to post it onto www.youtube.com as it means you can access it quickly and easily it is also a free website that has a very high amount of users so is also a way of promoting my film more.

Evaulation questions 1

Evaluation questions from Oliviacalleja

basic chase scene

Here I have created a basic idea of how I want my film to pan out. I feel as though chase scenes are key aspects of any thriller and in my trailer I want this one chase scene to be a continuous aspect of the trailer. This does however defeat the linear time frame but I feel that it makes it seem more exciting as you do get this running fast paced almost exhilirating scene complimented by this fast paced song but with the flash backs too, I think it allows a break from constant exhiliration and means the audience cannot guess what is going to happen next.
Here I have rendered these clips at a low'ish' resolution 360. and only placed in basic crediting which is nowhere near complete.

Classification

Suitable only for 15 years and over.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest  terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

QUESTION 2

EVALUATION Question 3

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

I assumed that my audiences would be as follows: 

I would say my preferred audience would be young females 12-20 years of age. This is because any younger and they wont be able to view the film due to some of the language used and scenes of violence but also as the protagonist is of the same gender and similar age they might be able to connect with the story a lot better than any other age group/gender.

I would say my negotiated audience would be young males as although they might not really connect with the female protagonist they might find her attractive enough to watch the film and also when I surveyed 10 males aged 17-54 they majority said that their favourite type of films were action or thrillers.

I would say that my oppositional audience would be ages under 12 as it will be rated a 12 and also the elderly. I think that it would be too shocking for the elderly. Also middle aged people may find it boring or just not their cup of tea. I asked a female aged 42 and she stated ‘I really like the concept and as thrillers go I would actually be interested in watching it but thrillers aren’t my cup of tea in general I’m afraid.’

I did a few questions and answers with a variety of different age groups and both genders and here are the responses that i got when I showed them my synopsis:

Question 3 from Oliviacalleja

What do you think about the ancillary tasks from Oliviacalleja


From my feedback I have learnt that what I assumed would be my audience was pretty much right, with the exception of the older woman, I didn't think that she'd enjoy the synopsis etc. so much but there will always be exceptions  to what you assume the audience would be. I think that the general feedback was good which has made me a lot more confident on my decisions and although I had the feedback of 'boring' for my poster/magazine cover, I didn't get told it was too busy etc. I believe that the more simplistic the more effective which I am happy sticking too despite the critic.

Film trailer analysis essay

In this essay I will be exploring a particular genre and explain why it interests me and why I feel it works as a genre. The genre that I am focusing on is thrillers. I have chosen this genre due to it's action, mystery and suspense; To me it is a very intriguing genre in how the correct moods and atmosphere is created for the audience to be drawn in and continue to be drawn in. The basis of a successful thriller would be fast-paced editing, gritty story-lines, plot twists and high levels of suspense. Genre's aren't closed systems that all follow the conventions word for word, they are open systems that allow the entrance of conventions from other genres to create sub-genres. Sub-genres of thrillers merge different conventions of all sorts of different genres, for example; Crime thrillers, conspiracy thrillers, spy thrillers just to name a few. I would expect from a thriller, an equilibrium then a disturbance of a death or something violent or sometimes in the case of supernatural thrillers, some unworldly even and then a lot of action happening until the equilibrium has been reached again or even left suspenseful on a cliffhanger.
I feel that with thrillers in particular music is key. Music helps to build up the tension within a scene as many have said, it's about the build up to an event that's the suspense rather than the event happening itself. This I think is true for films such as horrors but I feel in thrillers music is a great accompaniment to an action rather than just a device to build up the tension.
I have chosen to evaluate two thriller trailers, one directed by the 'master of suspense' Alfred Hitchcock and one directed by Joe Wright. I have chosen to evaluate two from two different periods of time to see the progression within the genre through time and what conventions have been developed and which have remained the same.
Vertigo (1958) by Alfred Hitchcock is a classic example of a thriller, as it states in the trailer 'Only Hitchcock could weave this tangled web on terror'. It was like nothing that anyone had seen before, he was an early pioneer of thrillers. Trailers in this time period weren't as hard hitting and exciting as the are nowadays, I feel like the trailer was being sold to the audience more as a product rather than something that is almost reality. Now most films have almost broken down the barrier between media and reality in this 'post-modern age' whereas with the Vertigo, it is very apparent that it's just a work of art not reality. This is done with the usage of the non-diegetic sound of the voice-over with a very salesman like voice, also they have placed the actors credits on top of the shots of each actor, this ensures that the audience knows the actors names and faces whereas nowadays you get the main actors names at the very end of the trailer if at all, but in Vertigo their crediting is made 100% necessary and almost a main factor of the trailer. This is a convention of all film trailers that has almost diminished in time. Also voice overs almost throughout the entirety of the trailer as like in Vertigo has also been stopped, you now only see it often in parody/ spoof films; I think this is because now with the current technologies it's easier to portray a narrative in film with just the visual instead of the sound almost spoon feeding you the entire plot. Voice overs are only really used to give audiences information that is key but cannot be portrayed through a shot and also gives the audience the voice of a character that may not of spoken yet so is used as a character device as well as a plot device.
Actors tend to get caught in a 'genre trap'. This is where they get too well known for only playing one sort of role in certain genre films, so when you see the actor you immediately associate them with the film/ whatever they are doing being in a certain genre. For example Vin Diesel with action films and Simon Pegg with comedies. Saoirse Ronan, who plays Hanna, is well known for dramas such as The Lovely Bones and The Way Back, so Hanna is a quite different role for her. Since being in Hanna she has been in Violet and Daisy, Byzantium, The Host and is filming some more thrillers, so maybe since Hanna she is being almost pigeon holed into being a thriller/drama actress.

In Hanna by Joe Wright, women are shown throughout as different stereotypes, there is Hanna the main protagonist who is shown as a young, natural girl brought up to be a very strong and powerful female this is quite rare I think for a girl of her sort of age to be shown like this. The antagonist is a woman very high up in the CIA, she plays the stereotypical villain, I feel that it is more common for women to be shown as these sort of malicious characters rather than as heroes. Along Hanna's travels she finds a family whose female members consist of an overly protective mother and a daughter who is the stereotypical teen girl who cares greatly about boys, her looks etc. all the things that Hanna hasn't even come into contact with, this gives a contrast in characters even though they are of the same age group, which adds to the hilarity of certain scenes which underpins previous and later thrilling events. I would say that within Hanna females are represented in many different forms which I think if very fair and almost uncommon in the majority of films. Men however aren't shown as much as women, I think this is because the protagonist is a young girl and the focus of the film is about the strength of this girl. In the film men are used mainly as henchmen for the 'evil woman' or as helpers for example Hanna's dads friend, Hanna's father is a main character but isn't featured as heavily as Hanna he's just shown more as the typical 'doner'/father type figure. Race isn't really explored as such, I don't think that it's a key focal point of the film apart from the face you realise that the family are holiday makers through the shots of the camper vans and also their British accents. 
In Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock I do not feel as though race has been represented at all, but gender on the other hand has. Hitchcock is well known for his treatment of women in films, he often uses them as sexual objects or things just to kill off. In Vertigo the woman is playing a helpless suicidal 'princess' character, being protected by a man. This helpless woman is often found in Hitchcock's work, but one of the main male protagonists has a fear of heights- This is showing a weakness too that links in with the ending of the trailer for Vertigo. So I wouldn't say this film was objectifying women or even really looking down upon them either.  
I feel like both Hanna and Vertigo (in it's day) are/were aimed for late teens through to adults as there is nothing in the script that suggests it's aimed at specific audiences or genders. Using the uses and gratification theory by Blumer and Katz which states that audiences watch certain media that suits their psychological needs- To be informed or educated, identification with the character or situation, just for plain entertainment purposes, to enable themselves to socially interact with others or as a form of escapism from real life. I do not feel as though either Hanna or Vertigo are informative/educational and they are both very unlikely circumstances so probably not very relatable to audiences so I'd say that both were for pure entertainment purposes and possibly social interaction. I would say that Vertigo would have the preferred audience of men though as Hitchcock's films are created through a male gaze which may not entice all female audience members.
The genre is clearly shown in both trailers in different ways but I feel Hanna was more effective at doing so, this is because I felt Vertigo could just be a drama as I didn't feel that the trailer was as full of suspense as it should be due to the slow editing and to me not very thrilling story line but that's personal preference I suppose. I felt as though Hanna conveyed a lot of the conventions of a thriller with the fast paced editing, action scenes, voice overs at points, diegetic sounds, flash backs. The whole package in my opinion in terms of thriller conventions. 

Poster attempts

I took a few photos to decide which ones I thought would be the most appropriate to use for my magazine cover and film poster.

I felt that although this shows the audience the face and whole dosy of the protagonist it doesn't give thesaem amount of mystery and fear that posters such as salt and hanna have. 

I really like this image, what I like is the fact  that it almost looks as though the audience is looking behind of and down upon which gives a very nice point of view for the audience. The fact that you cannot see the protagonist's face also adds an element of mystery that I feel thrillers need to contain and conveying them though a poster also insures the conventions are put through clearly with the mystery and the violence with the gun being in shot too; Also the background to the image is very naturalistic with the woods which is a very common convention within a thriller genre.

This image I also like due to the strength behind the image. It is a mid-shot, which will be used throught my trailer but I feel as though this doesn't look like a really well done photograph it looks like an image extracted from the trailer.

I feel like this image is too similar to the image prior to this one, as it's the same pose just on a plain background which I feel like it's not as succesful as the other one.  I will not be using this image.

I really like this image. Although it is not a very flattering image it follows the conventions of film posters such as Avatar with the face being shown- I will half the image through the centre of the face vertically, also the holding of a weapon mirrors The Pirates Of The Carribean film poster in which he's holding a sword and a large gun.

I have chosen to follow film poster conventions of these two films as although they are not directly apart of the genre of my film, they are both very well promoted and high grossing mainstream films so they are ovbiously doing something to attract audiences in which I also need to do.

BELLATRIX film story board notes

start off- 
green this has been approved...
Bellatrix title- super quick
Jump cut
High intensity running scene (over the shoulder shots, CU, MS, LS, handheld camera action shake)
flash back
run
flash back
run- stumble
stop frame Bellatrix title
Character turned away from camera noise then turn point gun (like in salt)-MS
GUN SHOT NOISE 
official Bellatrix title end bit



music: calm relaxing at first, then voice over with some slow thrillery music then full on doom doom doom baa daa thriller music
VOICE OVER: 
BLA BLA BLA