Title Ideas

We have decided to use "Chemistry" for our final title idea because it's a nice play of words and it could be linked to the chemistry that the protagonists have between each other or the fact that the male protagonist is a chemistry teacher.

Secondary Research - Audience (carried on)

As I carried on researching about audience consumption, I found out audiences wanted to see real life issues in films and felt as if characters and storylines and issues within stories were things that audiences wanted to feel as if they could relate too.

Here is some evidence to back this up:

 

This graph is showing the percentages of what audiences felt was most important within films. I thought this was good evidence as it shows the opinions of people 16+ and our film is a 15. We felt as if our storyline and trailer would engage our target audience by looking at this because even though our storyline is quite unlikely, we have used a issues that have happened in the past and that some people may be able to relate to even if it's in a different way. The actors we have used are all young and come from different ethnic backgrounds so a wider population may be able to relate to it. 

Secondary Research on Audience Profiling - Demographics

Sarah did some research into audience profiling and demographics and found that it was a common and traditional way of audience profiling.

Demographics defines the population largely by the work they do. Audience segmentation is the process of dividing the population down into 6 subgroups; which labels them by using a letter code to describe their income and their status.

Age Rating & Perfect Target Audience

We decided that our film would be a 15+ as it could be a bit explicit for younger viewers. This is our perfect target audience member:

Name: Jennifer Davis

Age: 17

Gender: Female

Ethnicity: White British

Social Class: E - student

Parents: mum and dad - both married

Sibling: 1 big brother, 1 little sister                                           

Live: Norbury 

Income: unemployed/student

Personality: bossy, friendly, honest, popular, kind

Hobbies: crosswords, art, shopping, ice skating

Relationship Status: single 

Audience Questionnaire - Analysis

These are the results from our questionnaire:

Everyone who answered our questionnaire was between the ages of 15 - 20. 

We had an equal number of boys and girls who answered our questionnaire to make it equal and to make sure we had a range of answers. 

Most of the people that answered our questionnaire said they liked comedy films and romance the best. From this we decided we would defiantly do romance as it's easier.  

The pace of the editing, the story lines and the music were the three things that engages most of our participants into trailers. We will make sure all of these things are enbeded into our trailer so it's more appealing for our target audience. 

Almost all of our participants have part time jobs; apart from a few. 

Almost all of the participants said that they wanted to see "a bit of action" or "sex" in our trailer. We won't take these things seriously but we will try our best to show the good and bad sides of relationships to show the realism of relationships in modern day. 

Audience Questionnaire

As a group we created a questionnaire on survey monkey for people within our target audience to fill in. Click here to view the questionnaire. We decided to do a questionnaire because they are quick and easy and they created reliable results. We were able to analyse the results easily and we were able to compare the results to our other primary research.

Audience Interview

We created some interview questions to ask members of the target audience we were thinking about aiming our trailer at. The interview was unstructured but these are the questions we mainly asked: 

1. How old are you?
2. What are your hobbies?
3. What’s your relationship status?
4. Do you like romance films?
5. What’s the best one you have seen?
6. Why did you like it?
7. What would have to be in the trailer of a romance film to make you want to watch it?

These are the interviews we did:

British Board of Film Classification Age Ratings

A U means Universal. It means that anyone can watch the movie but it's normally means 4+ as the BBFC don't know the certain things that could upset kids.

PG means parental guidance. This means that the audience has to have an adult with them while watching it as some scenes could be inappropriate for little kids to watch on their own as they might not understand it or the child could get upset by what they are viewing.

12A means that people below the age of 12 cannot view the film unless they are with someone above the age of 18.

A 12 rating means that no one below the age of 12 can view the film as it involves some inappropriate things that could be upsetting for younger ages.



No one below the age of 15 is allowed to watch or buy a rated 15 film as it contains certain scenes that aren't suitable for younger years.

Rated 18 films are not allowed to be bought or scene (in cinema or at home) or rented by anyone under the age of 18 as nothing in them is suitable for people under that page.

- reference: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification

Analysing Romance Trailers - The Lucky One

"The Lucky One" is a 2013 romance film that was directed by Scott Hicks and released in April 2013. The film stars Zac Efrom as Logan Thibault, a U.S. Marine who finds a photograph of a women while serving in Iraq. He carries it around with him everywhere and it ends up being like a lucky charm. Later on he tracks down the women with whom he begins a relationship with. 

Analysis of Trailer

- Text on screen: the only text on screen is at the end of the trailer and the main actors names come up and then right at the end with the title of the film. The font and colour of the text stays the same for everything and it stands out quite a bit as the background of the text is a cream colour and the text is in a mystical purplish colour. 

- Camera Work:a lot of close ups and mid shots are used to show the characters emotions. For example, a two shot close up was used when the characters are kissing. I think this is effective as the audience can see the love they have for each other and it emphasises the genre of the film. 

- Mise-En-Scene: at the beginning of the trailer we see the male protagonist when he was serving in Iraq. The props and the settings of the war zone really showed how bad the situation out there was which makes the audience feel sympathy for him. A two shot mid shot was used when both characters were in the bedroom. The shot allowed us to see their body language towards each other which makes the audience understand their love and feel happy for them. 

- Music: the music changes a lot through out the trailer depending on the mood of the scene. At the beginning when we saw the male protagonist fighting in the war, the non diegetic sound was quite innocent and quiet and their was a voice over of the male protagonist telling us what is happening. The diegetic sound at the beginning is quite powerful as the audience hears the bombs go off and see's the blast. It makes the audience understand how dangerous his situation is and why he thought a simple picture could actually be a lucky charm. 

- Editing: a shot reverse shot is used to show two of the characters arguing in the middle of the trailer. This allows the audience to see the facial expressions between the characters and they could see how the female looked scared as if she thought she was in trouble. 

Analysing Romance Trailers - Endless Love

"Endless" is a 2014 american romance film that was directed by Shana Feste. It is a remake of Franco Zeffirelli's 1981 film of same name and second adaptation of Scott Spencer's novel, the film stars Alex Pettyfer, Gabriella Wilde, Bruce Greenwood, Joely Richardson, and Robert Patrick.

Analysis of Trailer

- Text on screen: the only text on screen that goes on during the trailer is "Say Goodbye To Innocence". However, the words come a few seconds after each other with shots of the film separating them. The title of the film comes right at the end in the same font. By not putting in loads of text on screen, it allows the audience to focus on what's happening and allows them to focus on how intense the movie will be.

- Camera Work: the film is basically about the sexuality and the excitement between the teenagers relationship. A lot of mid to long shots have been used to show the settings. These shots are able to show the audience the romance element as the teenagers go out on dates and go to their "special" places. Near the end of the trailer where it is more intense, a two shot close up is used to show the intimacy between the two characters. This is effective because it shows the facial expressions of both characters and the audience are can tell what they may be thinking or feeling.

- Mise-En-Scene: the female protagonist in the trailer is dressed almost like a little girl at the beginning of the trailer. Her costumes are mostly little yellow and light coloured dresses and cardigans. The light coloured costumes could symbolise her innocence at the beginning of the trailer as near the end we see her wearing a bright red dress which could symbolise a bit of danger; and it ;inks back to the text on screen "say goodbye to innocence". 

- Music: The non diegetic sound in the middle of the trailer is very mysterious. There is a voice singing but the background music doesn't exactly match the tune of the lyrics which could indicate confusion between the characters. The music under the lyrics is almost dangerous and scary as if it was a horror film. This could add into confusing the audience about the genre. 

- Editing: a lot of fades are used within the trailer. 

Analysing Romance Trailers - 50 Shades of Grey

"50 Shades of Grey" is an upcoming film that will be released on the 14th of February 2015. It's an erotica/romance film that is directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and it's based on the best selling novel with the same name by E. L. James. 

Analysis of Trailer

- Text on Screen: the title of the film was right at the beginning of the trailer even before the music started and then the production company names came up. Around a minute into the trailer, the words "This Valentines Day" comes up; this shows the audience the release date of the film and by saying "valentines day", it contributes to the genre as everything to do with the film is romance. The title then appears again at the end of the trailer and then another black screen appears saying "Beyonce - Crazy in Love remix". The font of the texts stays the same through out the trailer, apart from the title, and they only do it on top of black screens so it stands out more. 

- Camera Work: a lot of close ups are used to show the two protagonists facial expressions. By using the close ups, the audiences can get to know their characters and form some sort of idea of what the characters are like. For example, the close ups of the female protagonist normally shows her looking nervous which shows the audience that she's quite shy and not very open.

- Mise-En-Scene: the props used at the end of the trailer contribute to showing the story line. The film is based on the sexual intimacy between the male and female protagonist so by using props such as the ropes and chains in the trailer the audience can see that it's an important part of the film.  

- Music: the diegetic sound of the trailer was mainly conversations between the two protagonists. By the little conversations they had, the audience can already tell that there is an obvious attraction between the two. The non diegetic sound was the soundtrack. "Beyonce - Crazy in Love" is the soundtrack that plays through the whole trailer. The words of the song don't start playing until half way through the trailer; this allows the audience to pay attention to the diegetic sound of the characters talking before anything starts happening. When quite a intense scene comes up in the trailer, the music goes but the words of the soundtrack are still going which helps to build the tensions which gets the audience excited about what's going on between the characters. 

-Editing: the beginning of the trailer the editing is slow to build the tension to the audience. Halfway through the trailer, the editing starts getting quite fast to show how fast the relationship between the two is growing.

Extended Research - Sound

I have produced a prezi, which explores the sound for romantic genre. I discuss key terminology that applies to sound in trailers as well as film in general. Secondly I state how music affects trailers and the major effect this has on the target audience; likewise to the dialogue, focusing on diegetic dialogue from the characters as well as the voiceover. Lastly, I explore the use of sound effects and the impact that it has on  the target audience, how effective sound effects are for the trailer.  

Summary of the prezi 
The prezi gives me a clear insight of how sound is so effect in romantic genre trailers, as it creates an atmosphere which engages the target audience in. Similarly to the use of diegetic sound regarding to the dialogue of characters as well as the voice over. Through of my secondary research, well producing on trailer we are going to consider the sound we use as well as make sure it appeals to our target audience and creates the appropriate atmosphere for certain scenes to produce the preferred reading.

-prezzie done by Sarah Divilly

Extended Research - Editing & Mise-En-Scene

Editing in Romance tends to be simple. Looking at many romance films and finding a typical shot type is cross cuts. Cross cuts are when to scenes are happening simultaneously and the shots cuts from one scene to another, for example when two people are getting ready to go on a date with each other. Straight cuts are used to keep continuity to the story, so it carry's on flowing. Cross Cuts may be used to establish a certain action happening at two different locations. The pace of the editing will be slow however subtle and significant changes do occur throughout the film. Such as when the character starts to fall in love with someone the pace of the editing will increase to show this change.

Mise en scene in a romance is vital as it helps to give an understanding of the genre from previous experiences for example in a romance film you can expect to see soft lighting effects and relatively natural lighting from the house and whatever lights are present in the particular shot, this is to achieve the feeling of it being in touch with the reality making the story as believable as possible.The music is always important part of any film no matter what genre. A common icon of a romance genre is the soft tender music, this is to represent tenderness and sensitivity of the relationship and often represents the characters personality. The music is the key in the movie as it creates mood and suspense and that is the key to creating the feel of the film.

-post done by Celyn Ofori

Extended Research - Camera Angles

Camera Angles
There are many different types of Camera Work used in trailers. I am going to explore the different types of camera shots and angles and what each of them do and how they engage the audience.In looking at Camera Work there are different areas such as:

• Angle

• Movement

• Position/ Framing

• Composition 

• Depth of Field 

Angle- High and Low angle shots are used in trailers, this could show the power that the character has if the camera is looking up at them. The high angle shot looks down on the characters and this could show that we are overpowering them and they look vulnerable. They may also use a canted angle to create a skewed frame. Often used to reinforce the idea of chaos or instability 

Camera Movement

• Pan- horizontal movement of the camera from a static position 

• Tracking- Camera tracks the movement of a subject 

• Tilt- movement on the vertical (up and down) 

• Crab- a subtle movement on the horizontal (left or right)

• Crane- the camera is mounted on to a crane so that it can move dramatically up and down and from side to side. Sometimes cranes are put on tracks to create spectacular tracking and craning movement. 

• Handheld- a shaky movement the follows the movement of camera operator. Often used to create realism, urgent and sudden figure movement or to create a point of view shot (we are seeing things through the eyes of a character). 

• Zoom lens- creates the illusion of movement by altering the lens length. 

Position & Framing

• The distance between the camera and the subject. 

• The position selected relates to the information the filmmaker is trying to communicate. 

• The camera is the viewers eyes in a scene so the camera position also dictates the viewers relationship with the action or characters in the scene. 

Composition 

• The way a frame is composed can help to convey important information. 

• A basic convention of composition: rule of thirds 

• Proponents of this technique claim that aligning a photograph with these points in mind creates more tension, energy and interest in the image than simply centering the subject would. 

Depth of Field

• A frame's depth of field refers to the focal length. 

• Where a frame shows everything sharp or in focus this is called deep focus. 

• When a particular part of the frame is picked out and the rest of the frame is blurred or indistinct it is called selective focus. 

• When the focal point changes within the frame this is called pull or 'rack' focus.

-post done by Amy Braud

Extended Research - Characters

Because we have chosen to do a romance genre, we decided to do more research on what goes into romance films. 

Characters

In romance films, there are stereotypical characters such as:

• Protagonists - Tend to be a male and a female character that have some sort of emotional bond. Romance trailers normally show both of these protagonists in them and they normally start with showing either them meeting or show one of them in their everyday lives. For example the trailer for "Dear John", which was released in 2010, shows the main male protagonist, John (played by Channing Tatum), surf boarding and then shows how he met the female protagonist Savannah (played by Amanda Seyfried). By doing this, it enables the audience to automatically recognize who the movie is about and why they are important in the film.
• The Best Friend - both of the main characters normally always have a best friend who knows about what the characters are going through. Through the film they would normally play the "therapist role" in the film. For example in "The Fault in Our Stars" both main characters have the same best friend who they both are able to confide in a some point in the film called Isaac. 
• The Family - family members are always involved in the main characters love life. They normally play the funny and embarrassing role within the film. In today's society teenage romance films aren't as serious as the olden time ones such as Romeo and Juliet where the parents are quite strict and over protective. 

Potential Narratives for our Chosen Genre - ROMANCE

We have decided to base our trailer on the Romance Genre. These are some of the potential genre ideas we have: 

• Teacher, student love affair. New chemistry teacher comes in and attracts the eye of all the girls, however he only see's one girl in the back of the class. From this a whole spiral of events happen; for example his WIFE has a miscarriage, the teacher is confused about what should happen between him and the student. 

(We have decided to do our first idea about the teacher and the student because we thought it would be easier and it would be more effective)

• A family could be going to Brighton, for a few weeks during the summer holidays. The family have a mum called Elise who is recently married Kai. Elise already has two children; a daughter called Tiffany who's 19 and a son called Elliot who is 17. Throughout thew whole holiday Tiffany and Kai have a growing emotional relationship and end up having an affair. However, Elise doesn't know this but Elliot does... what will Elliot do? 

• A girl called Betty is in love with her childhood friend Ian. They go to school together even now but a big argument causes them to never speak again. A few years later they run into each other but Betty is now in a complicated marriage. Her feelings towards him start coming back... what will she do?

• An immigrant comes into town on a truck. A girl finds him on the street and shelters him and looks after him. After time they fall deeply in love but then he gets sent away. The girl is devastated and spends most of the film looking for him. 

Conventions of Fantasy Films

The last genre we are considering is Fantasy. Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap. Fantasy films often have an element of magic, myth, wonder, escapism, and the extraordinary.

Examples of fantasy films: 

• Lord of the Rings

• Harry Potter 

• Chronicles of Narnia

• Tron

• Pan's Labyrinth 

• Star Wars

Codes and Conventions 

• High production values

• Younger target audience although significant older appeal

• Wide/saturated distribution (normally by an American Studio e.g. Warners or Disney). Mainstreamers and Aspirers

• Dedicated, sometimes obsessive fan base

• Convergence and Synergy – computer games, merchandising, forums and blogs, fan sites…

• Emotive, often ‘romanticised’ narratives

• Hyper real, idealised representations

• Saturated primary colours

• High key lighting

• Significant CGI and FX e.g. green screen technology

• Aspirational, escapist characters, often undertaking a quest

• Occasional political narrative themes only understood by an older target audience with significant cultural capital (e.g. about minority groups)

• Reputation for being ideologically traditional e.g. Disney ‘teaching’ gender roles to young target audiences

• Positive narrative outcomes (happy endings)

• Simplistic, linear narrative (e.g. a Hobbit travels across middle earth encountering danger)

• Iconography includes magic, mystical creatures e.g. Elves and Fairies

Harry Potter: Magic is the main feature in this fantasy along with trolls, giant spiders, giants, elves, goblins, dragons and mermaids. They are all mythical creatures.
Settings: A castle, Forests, lake. All typical settings for a fantasy film.

Star Wars: Space is the main feature in this fantasy. It is set in the distant future. It includes futuristic technology which included lightsabers, droids, cyborgs, laser blasters, spaceships, unrealistic planets, the force, clones and vehicles.
Settings: Space, Spaceships, Planes.

Lord of the Rings: This is a epic high fantasy with Dwarves, Elves, Wizards, Dragons, Mythical creatures and monsters.
Settings: Castles, Forests, mysterious locations and buildings.

Forbidden Forest: This is a typical fantasy setting because it is dark and creepy. Normally in fantasy films the characters will meet some mysterious creatures who live there. There is a lot of low key lighting because it is overgrown with trees, plants and other wildlife growing there. This is a very popular setting which is used a lot in fantasy films.

Castle: Castles are also another popular setting because the main characters live there or it will be their goal to get there throughout the film. They are normally surrounded by a lake, trees and plants. There will be lots of bright lighting because it is in an open area and there will be a happy atmosphere. Castles are the best setting because they have the fantasy theme with kings and queens living inside.

Mysterious locations/ places: This setting is usually the type of setting when no one really know what it is but there is a lot going on. This one looks like a house with contraptions flying around. There is low key lighting and high key lighting in this setting, it has quite a weary effect with dimmed colours in the sky. Normally mysterious characters will live there and we wouldn't know much about them but we find out more as the story goes on.

Post done by Amy Braud

Conventions of a Horror

We are also considering doing a horror trailer. Here is some of the research we got.

• SETTINGS

Small communities or isolated places. Urban environments, dark streets and narrow alleyways. Large cities or run down ghost towns or being alone.                                                                             

These type of locations are usually associated with zombie apocalypse type movies and sometimes serial killer movies.

The dark alleyway provides a sense of vulnerability so this is mostly where the victim gets attacked. A prime example of that is in the movie sin city. Sin city is an action fantasy film but the only reason I chose it as my best example because of all the dark scenes.

Often sometimes would have a very dark history like houses that anew family moves in to, abandoned houses that people go an investigate, hotels and insane asylums. The top 2 movies that come to mind when thinking of houses with history are:

1. Woman in Black 
2. The Conjuring

The Conjuring is a typical example

of a house which is haunted by past experiences and a new family moves into the house and is tormented by the demonic movements. Compared to the Woman in black the house in The Conjuring is much more cleaner and well kept but still has the eerie atmosphere.

 The woman in black is an example of a movie about an abandoned house and has been taken over by ghosts and someone goes into explore what is going on. Whereas the house in The Woman in the black is dirty and the audience can clearly tell that no one has lived there for many years.

TECHNICAL CODES

The camera work is very expressive and unnatural.High and low angles can connote fear and nightmare. POV shots are important because they allow the audience to see the characters world through their eyes. This effects the audience by making feel scared and vulnerable just like the victim. Handheld shots make it difficult for the audience to make out what is happening this way the audience would be more intrigued to carry on watching. Disturbing sounds are very important in horror movies. Ambient diegetic sounds cause a sense of reality for example footsteps and doors creaking.

• ICONOGRAPHY

Visual style: Often dark colours like red and black which links to evil, blood, danger etc.

Lighting is expressive and non naturalistic. Low key lighting can create dark shadows and unfamiliar shapes in blackness. Lighting can be motivated naturally for example fire, torches. Props can help us to further identify the horror genre. Specific props can be identified with a certain villain or character. i.e. Chainsaws, machetes, knifes , claw , gauntlets, house appliances. Common objects include: weapons, masks, icons supernatural, religious icons.

• CHARACTER TYPES

The protagonist is usually the victim and the hero of the movie. the villain is often a monster mutated freak, alien serial killer and most of the time possessed person.The stupid/ immoral teenagers that always get killed. Creepy child. Police officers that can either be good or bad. 
Many more: Ghosts, zombies, demons, psychopaths, stalker, weirdo werewolf. 

 

 THEMES

Good vs Evil

Depression

Religion

Childhood issues

Revenge

Supernatural

Beyond death

Science gone bad

Zombie apocalypse 

Nightmares

Madness

Insanity

Lust

Self consciousness

Envy 

Suicide

Post done by Celyn Ofori