Task 5: Storyboards

(1-3) Here is our storyboard created on Storyboard this. Our general story is a dying girl living the last moments of her life and documenting this into a diary. The trailer starts of with our main character Hope played by Lauren Malcolm sitting in the doctors being told she has a terminal illness and has only 6 months to live. She decides to document her life in a diary hence the name of our trailer Diary of Dying Girl. The following scene is showing Hope waking up in the morning after. A montage shows her in the morning getting ready for the day like nothing has happened. In the third slide it shows Hope bumping into our second main Character Logan played by Cavan Rodgers. This is when the two meet and fall in love. 

(4-9) Slide four continues on directly after slide 3 with him running after him to giver her books back however she doesn't hear him. Later on Logan knocks on Hopes door giving her books back to her. He swiftly asks her out on a date to the cinema and Hope agrees. Edited in will be a fading shot of her writing into her diary. Then a montage shows them living moments together for example going to a party and having days out.
(10-15) However as time goes on her condition gets worse and she gets more ill. She starts falling over and coughing blood up. As she's in the bathroom Logan is knocking on the door to se if she's okay when she comes out Hope sits Logan down to tell him her condition (indecisive).

Task 4: Target Audience Research

 Create your own user feedback survey

1. Which of the four quadrant(s) would your film appeal to?
There are different quadrants that films can fall under, these are:
Older males (>25) Older females (>25) Younger males (<25) Younger females (<25)

We definitely think that our film would appeal mostly to the quadrant of younger females (<25). This is because of the genre and the type of trailer we are planning to make. Due to wanting to make a drama and romance trailer we think that females would be more drawn to this. This is because it will be more of a feminine and emotional film which stereotypically young females enjoy watching. Our main character will be a teenage girl, this also links to our chosen quadrant of younger females because they may be more interested in the film as they can relate to her. Seeing as our trailer will be based on how the young girl is suffering with the fact she has cancer it might be too much of a sad subject for really young females to watch, so our trailer will be aimed at older teenagers and young adults.


2. What is the target audience for the films you looked at when looking at Influences?

The Fault in Our Stars                                          The fault in our stars would appeal to a certain demographic. The ages that this film would appeal to would be younger females. This is because girls stereotypically enjoy romance films because they are more feminine. We got this chart from IMBD and it shows the ratings that the different ages of people gave the film. From the chart we can see that we were right in thinking that this film appeals to younger teenage girls the most. However we were quite surprised at how many men rated the film. The age of men that most liked the film were also young teenagers under 18. This has made us think that we should try and make our trailer appeal to teenage boys as well as girls. 

The Notebook

The Notebook will most likely appeal for younger females. We feel this because it is a very emotional film that will touch females more so than men due to the romance. From the chart we can see that the highest rating was females under 18, this is the age range that we thought it would be. We were also intrigued at the fact that quite a lot of older females enjoyed the film too. We though it would most appeal to teenage girls but from the chart we can see that the film had high ratings from females aged 30-44 and females aged 45+. Also the most amount of votes came from men and woman aged 18-29, again this has made us feel that our trailer should appeal to both gender of younger adults.

Now is Good

Now is Good will also be suited to the target market of younger females. This is again due the romance genre and could also be that this film is set from a teenage girls point of view. The chart shows the highest rating for females under 18. This is the age range that we thought this film would appeal to the most.The rating for males under 18 was also quite high as well.This had made us think about trying to make our trailer appeal to young boys as well as young girls.This would help our viewings by appealing to a wider range of teenagers.

3. Are there any other audience groups that your film may appeal to?

4. What other 'niche' factors could be considered about how you might appeal to an audience?

5. What different 'tribes' of youth may be especially interested in your film?

6. Would your film be limited to a UK audience or might it have a global appeal?

7. What limitations are there on your production?

Task 3: Mood Boards

This is our mood board for the genre Romance. We are looking at making a dramatic romance film so this mood board has given us inspiration for the type of trailer we want to make. We have looked at the trailers for these films and like the way the genre of romance is presented in each of them. We have included words on this mood board that reflect the type of genre we want to do. We would like to focus our storyline around these words. We used Photoshop to create this mood board and made the images slightly faded by lowering the opacity of each image. We feel this gives our mood board a softer look which links well to the genre. From our mood board we can see that the colours used in most film posters are very light and pastel, they do not use harsh colours probably because they want to create a softer feel. They also have pretty settings and nice views in each film poster to make it look attractive. This could also be represented as a good location for a date. We also noticed near enough all of the settings are located outside. We feel that this makes the films look more natural and fresh. In each poster the male and female are hugging perhaps to show them being cosy in the outdoor setting. We like that the pictures are taken outdoors and feel this would look good for our poster and trailer. Each romance poster includes a male and a female character showing us that they are in love. They normally will include a really good looking male character to capture the female audience. We feel our trailer should include both charters in a romantic way.

This is our mood board for the genre Drama. Although our film will be based on the genre of romance we also want to include elements of drama. This mood board includes films we found inspiration from. Such as Age of Adaline, this film has elements of both drama and romance. Another  film with the same concept is Southpaw, this film has one of the main characters killed off. Our tailer will include something similar. We have taken inspiration of how the posters have been laid out and will take this into account when creating our own poster. We think that the colour helps to define this genre. Each poster uses sharp bold colours to make it look more dramatic. All of the pictures look very clear and crisp and really try to demonstrate the characters emotions. The characters in each trailer look very serious and mainly feature men. Each of these posters do not really include a setting, they seem to use block colours as the background. Our definition of the Drama genre is that is very serious our reasons for this is most of the publicity for dramas include situations in life that are serious such as death and violence. We have noticed that most genres include small elements of drama for example the theory of everything.

Task 2: Influences from Real Media

Now is Good Trailer 

We liked this trailer as we felt it was influential in terms of it's genre. The trailer begins fast pace with quick cuts and up-beat music. The quick cuts show the most exciting parts of the film without giving away the main storyline. They show the main character smiling and having a good time. The music then slows down and the main storyline begins to unravel. We thought this was effective because at first the trailer seems as though it is going to a happy romantic film and as the music slows down it's starts to show how dramatic and sad the storyline actually is. Therefore we feel that this trailer portrayed it's genre well in an effective way.

This trailer also shows text throughout. The trailer randomly shows different words to demonstrate how the main character feels about her life. The words are shown with different clips from the trailer for example 'moments' is shown with her having a good time with her boyfriend. We would like to use something like this in our trailer because we feel it really adds to the storyline and helps the audience understand the main character and what she is going through.

We also like the editing throughout the trailer. The trailer shows lots of different scenes letting us see the main characters most happy and traumatic times. For example at the end of the film slow-mo is used to show the main character kissing her boyfriend.  Also in the middle of the trailer when the music starts to slow down fading shots are used instead of quick cuts to demonstrate that she's getting weaker and fading away; the shots start to mirror her life. The trailer also shows the main character wiping away a blurry wall. We like this editing because its different and makes you think that she's wiping the blur away to start a new chapter in her life. The trailer also uses zoomed in shots when the main character is writing on her wall. We like these zoomed in shots because it emphises the charters passion of fulfilling what she wants to do before she dies. Overall we like how the editing of the shots change throughout the film to fit in with the storyline and the shots that are being shown.









Demolition Trailer 

We liked this tailer as we thought is was influential in terms of it's structure and the way it was put together. The trailer starts with him writing a letter and doing a voice-over of what he was writing. We liked how the voice-over was the main character as it was like he was explaining his life. We liked how the voice over was from the main characters point of view and like he was reading his letter. We also liked how the voice-over used the same tone of voice throughout as though he's not that interested in what is going on.
We like this idea and would like to use it in our trailer.

We also like how the editing in the trailer adds to his wife's death. For example from the moment that she gets killed to the moment when he finds out that she has died in the hospital, the sound effect of the heart beat works well alongside the fading shots. We think the fading shots are effective because it shows how the man is still  trying to process what has just happened and almost shows that everything's a blur. The sound effect of the heartbeat is also effective because it sort of represents how intense the scene is. It also represents the wife's heart beat because when the husband finds out that she has died the heart beat stops. We would like to use something similar in our trailer as the fading shots and the heartbeat sound builds up suspense. We also like how editing is used to do a slow-mo rewind of the car crash, when the man says 'lets go back to the beginning'. We thought this editing technique was really dramatic and adds to how scary and intense it was to be in the car at the time.

We liked this trailer in terms of its structure; we like the way the wife is remembered throughout the trailer. The wife is remembered using faded shots as if to show that she is fading away. Although she is still in his thoughts. For example one of the first shots we see of her fading away is when he is having a shower. Earlier on in the trailer we see the wife watching her husband having a shower through the reflection in the painting. Later on in the trailer we see the same shot but the wife is fading away. This is a really clever idea because it shows how she is not there anymore. We also see another shot of the wife fading away in the trailer. This is represented as a blurry close-up. We also liked this shot as it shows that from his point of view he is still trying to see her, even though she is not really there. Near the beginning of the trailer we get to see the husband and wives wedding scene. We like the scene as it is quite slow and demonstrates how much he loved her even if he
                                                      didn't show it enough.  

12 Years a Slave Trailer

We liked this trailer as we thought it was influential in terms of its micro aspects/visual aspects. In this trailer there is a clear difference between the slaves and the more upper class people. We noticed that most of the slaves were of a black race because of the time that the film was set in. There is also a very clear difference by the use of costumes. The slaves are dressed in ragged  dirty clothes whereas the upperclass people look as though their clothes are more expensive. The upper class women especially look like they are richer, they all have their hair done and are wearing big expensive dresses. In comparison the lower class woman are in thin dirty rags. The trailer also shows a comparison of how black people are treated in the north of America to the south. The main character lived in new york and was a free man; he dressed like a normal person and was treated equally. When the main character was kidnapped and sent to the south to be a slave, he was treated completely differently. He was not treated equally and was made to do hard labour with no choice. 

We like this trailer because a clear difference between class and status is shown through its camera shots. For example when the main character was in chains on the floor a high angle shot was used to show how his power has shifted. He is now looks weak and vulnerable and is of a lower class. The trailer also uses a birds-eye view shot to show the slaves all cramped up in a cart. This shot almost makes the slaves look dead, they seem really weak and are being treated like they are animals and not humans. The lighting is           dark which adds to how sad and depressing this image is. Also a low-angle shot is used to show how the wife is of a higher class. This shot shows that she has more power and authority over the slaves. She is looking down on them as they are of a different class and are lower than her. A close-up shot is also used to show how much abuse the main character receives. The man who is in charge of the slaves is shown shouting right in the main characters face. This shows how badly he is treated and also how the white people are in control and have more power.

Task 1: What is a Trailer? What is a Teaser Trailer?

The first trailer that I looked at was 'The Secret Life of Pets' Summer 2016

This trailer is of an animation film. I feel as though this trailer has the typical characteristics of this genre of film. For example throughout the trailer there is up-beat music playing. This suggests that the film is a happy one and will make you smile and laugh. The humour in this trailer is also typical of an animation film. I feel this is because these sorts of films attract a family audience so has to keep all different ages entertained. Animations regularly use bright colours and friendly, cute characters; as in this trailer. I feel animation films use bright colours and cute looking characters to attract their younger audience.

This trailer also has the typical characteristic of showing titles of actors that are in the film. However instead of showing the actors names throughout the trailer they just get shown at the end. When the actors names are shown along with the title of the film, they make a quick bold entrance to the beat of the fast paced music in the background. Both the title of the film and the actors names do not appear on the screen for long. They vaguely appear near the end of the trailer but not throughout. The trailer mainly focuses on the content of the film.

During the trailer diagetic and non-diagetic sound is used. All through the trailer non-diagetic sound is used, this is the up-beat background music. This music in the trailer symbolises the humour and happiness of the film. This music becomes even more fast paced when the humans leave their pets, this suggests the pets excitement that they can finally do what they want. Diagetic sound is also used during the trailer. It is used in the form of dialouge when the animals are talking or barking. It is also used to represent the pets getting up to mischief. For example the sound of the electric whisk is used to show the sausage dog receiving a massage. Another example of diagetic sound, is the sound of the fan and the TV that the bird turns on by itself to practice flying.



Overall I feel the producers of this trailer have done a good job as it is very effective. I think this trailer is effective because of the use of humour. As the trailer is so funny it will attract the audience and make them want to come back for more. The humour of this trailer also adds to the effectiveness of appealing to a wide audience. Although this films target audience is probably for younger children I also feel it will appeal to the older market too. I feel this is because everyone loves watching animals doing funny things. In conclusion this trailer is effective because it grabs your attention in wondering is this what my pet does all day?
Olivia

The next trailer to be looked at was Zoolander 2, coming out soon in 2016.

The trailer begins with the Paramount logo, this is a clear indication that the company that produced the film were from Paramount. After the logo disappears the screen goes blank. As a automated voice over starts speaking about the beginning of time. At this point i was surprised because Zoolander is a comedy and this seemed to sound very serious.

The space sequence is shown through top quality animation with the voice playing over all the way through. All the information given is linked with what is shown on screen. The editing done to make the sequence flow is outstanding and lots of money wold have been spent to create it, this would be because of the production company Paramount who have an extremely high budget for their films.

Further on it beings to talk about humans and their creation, however the problem is there is no link the the zoolander film, making it hard to understand what is meant to be advertised. This was clearly done to build suspense for something interesting or funny. At around 1:10 the main character is shown, with an anticlimactic speech.

The film logo is finally shown with a clever spelling 2oolander showing its a sequel to the previous film many franchises do this. As the logo is being shown 80s music plays over.



The whole trailer makes no sense, it doesn't show the basic concept of what the film is about. No story is shown making it hard to create any interest for it and it won't draw you in.

The film is based on Ben Stiller who plays Derek Zoolander. This trailer doesn't show much about his character and how funny he actually is. The film is shown to be released for 2016 with a date to be set. One good aspect to the trailer is its social media connections. Links are shown for their Facebook page and a hash tag for twitter. This can keep people up to date for future trailers and finding out the release date for the film its self. Social media plays a big part in adverting films now and its good to see Zoolander using its full potential. Having a hash tag is very good as people will talk about the film and will use the hash tag creating excitement for the film.

The third film we reviewed is Insidious Chapter 3. 

The start of the trailer shows one of the two production companies Entertainment One. Straight away mellow slow music plays along with the trailer. An establishing shot of the block of flats is shown quickly cutting to one of the main characters in a wheel chair. The music blends well with all the light bright happy scenes. The girl is greeted by her friends and family. Introducing key characters. This is clearly the calm before the storm.

 Theres many cuts in this part of the trailer showing many scenes of the film. The film makes a change when the girl goes to her room. at this point the second company is shown Focus features. The tone of the music slightly changes becoming more haunting. At this point the girl thinks her neighbour is knocking on the wall however this isn't the case. The music drops as the girl notices the guy isn't next door, all is silent when the first cliche scare happens. At this point the film instantly jumps to dark horror. Also the famous song also plays which is associated with Insidious.

 The Trailer picks up, with lots of cuts creating suspense, camera shots shown with many close ups, establishing shots and over the shoulder. Most scenes are dark to go along with the horror theme. A quote used was 'The darkest chapter' for people who enjoy horror it really attracts them to watch the film. Lots of jumping is expected in this film.

The trailer slows down again and has deep drumming in the back. Another jumping scene is shown bringing the trailer to the end with the name of the film. With the release being shown as Summer 2015.

The trailer clearly shows what the film is about and what direction it goes in. However some points that are shown could spoil the film. Too many of the jumpy scenes are displayed here taking out the shock value.

Once again at the end of a trailer social media is displayed, this is always great for adverting any film giving it publicity. What is good about this trailer is that it slowly builds suspense creating an interest in what may happen. The budget of the film seems very good here as the sets look very high quality.

The next trailer that I looked at was 'The Hateful Eight' Christmas 2015

This trailer was very dramatic and included the typical characteristics that most trailers have. For example the use of dramatic music and sound. Throughout the trailer dramatic music is played, I feel that most trailers do this because it keeps the audience enticed and excited about what is going to happen next. It also shows how intense the film will be. Another typical thing that this trailer does is that it shows titles throughout the trailer. This trailer uses dramatic font that fits in with the scene. The titles are shown in time with the beats of the music. The use of titles in this trailer add to the story line making it even more dramatic.

During the trailer sound is used to add to the trailers dramatic effect. Right at the beginning of the trailer just as it is starting the sound of wind is used. This sound is non-diagetic at the start but as we begin to see the snow in the wind it becomes diagetic. I think this sound effect is a clever thing to have at the beginning of the trailer because it makes the trailer become more enticing and mysterious. This is effective because it keeps you wanting to know more about the film.

This trailer also uses camera angles and cuts to add to the drama. This trailer uses lots of quick cuts alongside the fast music in the background. I think these quick cuts are clever because they are almost building up how dramatic the film is by showing us lots of intense scenes. Another intense moment in the trailer is the close-up of Samuel L Jackson's head raising to the suspense sound effect. Once his head is up the music quickly cuts out and he says 'is there room for one more?' This close up along with the sound effect is very effective because it is very thrilling and intense which again makes you want to carry on watching.

Overall I do feel as though this trailer is effective. It is very dramatic which I think is good because it leaves a big impact. The use of sound in this trailer adds to the intense and spooky settings that are shown throughout, for example the snow scenes in which no one is around. I also feel this trailer is effective due to the camera work. The trailer uses quick cuts to add to the drama and focuses on dramatic scenes. The dark lighting throughout the trailer also adds to the spooky and dramatic atmosphere. One problem that I have with the trailer is that it is hard to understand the story line and what is going on. However this could be used for effect as the trailer leaves you intrigued and wanting to find out more.
Olivia

The Last trailer we looked at was The Hunger Games : Mockingjay- Part 2.

The trailer starts with a scene of a wedding with a voice over. The voice in the foreground of the trailer acts as a voice if God, this not only suggests the character behind the voice will be the protagonist in the film but it also influences the audience to be in favour of this character. As this character is featured in previous films the trailer can be attractive as the primary audience will be excited with her presence.

Straight after the voice over ends the trailer becomes very serious as the serious music starts, which is also used in the previous films which
will get the audiences attention and excitement as it is familiar, alongside the name of the production company producing the film in big bold writing. This effect on the text will make it stand out and be unmissable to the audience.
This is then followed by an establishing shot of the major city.


The heroic music alongside the trailer suggests a sense of hope which foreshadows the idea of the protagonists having to defeat an enemy, and succeeding with a lot of resistance. The dramatic sound is played along with an establishing shot of the city again but with smoke coming from all the buildings. This suggests that violence is one of the main factors in the film and the low key lighting also suggests that there is violence and danger present throughout the film.


The close up shot of Jennifer Lawrence holding a bow and arrow pointing towards the enemy suggests that she is the main character and has a very dominant role. From this shot it tells the audience that she is in charge and from the amount of people behind her watching shows she is well supported in the act she is about to carry out. The crowd can also be portrayed as an army that she has made as her costume shows elegance and represents her to be authorities and of higher status. She is also the only person to be in focus, suggesting that it is only her that they want the audience to be interested in.

The trailer ends with a cliffhanger which will encourage and entice the audience to go and see the film. It is then followed by the title of the film along with the recurring tune from the film which is recognisable to following audiences. This is conventional to the franchise of the movies which tells the audience it will follow the same genre and expectations of the film, this will therefore further reinforce the appeal of the film.

In conclusion we feel that a successful trailer includes good sound aspects. This is because it helps to reflect on the genre of the film as well as emphasising key parts. We also feel that camera shots and angles are also important. This is because they show the audience what sort of genre the film is going to be. For example quick shots could be for an action film whereas fading shots could be for a romantic film. We also feel a good trailer uses titles to show what actors and actresses are staring in their film.This attracts the audience to their film if they like the actors starring in it. We also feel a trailer is successful when it shows some of the most important or exciting parts of the film. This helps to 'show-off' the film and make the audience want to see more. It is good when the trailer builds up to a climax at the end of the trailer leaving the audience with a cliff-hanger.