Planning - My Role

For this project my group (Kirsten, Millie and I) have decided that I would be lead editor, since I will not be able to be present during filming (the locations we need are in Buckden and I have no way to travel there). We also thought this decision would be the best because I am the most comfortable and familiar with the mechanics/how to use our editing software Adobe Elements, whereas the others find it confusing and difficult to use.

Here is evidence of this discussion via Facebook Chat:

Planning - Film Trailer Music (Updated 18th Jan)

Whilst looking for appropriate music for my thriller film trailer, I decided to search for it within the YouTube Audio Library. By doing so I managed to find three soundtracks that seemed suitable.

Soundtrack 1 - "High Tension"

Although this track effectively has an intense, urgent tone/atmosphere that is needed for a thriller trailer, my partners Millie and Kirsten stated that they had already used it before in their AS film. Therefore in order to have a distinct difference between our current project and our past ones, we decided it would be best to not use it again.

Soundtrack 2 - "Echoes of Time v2"

This track has a very haunting, intimidating feel to it and is slow paced, which is why we chose to use it during the first half of our film trailer (since most thriller trailers have a slow buildup at the beginning). The opening scenes are our main character Detective Maria Jones trying to encourage information out of the murder survivor (who is unresponsive due to the fact that she is having flashbacks to her escape from the killer's clutches, which are shown as the Detective questions her), this track accurately portrays the dark, mysterious nature of our film and will hopefully draw the audience's attention.

Soundtrack 3 - "Extinction Level Event"

This music will play during the last half of our film, as it is more fast paced and will work perfectly alongside the quick cuts that we plan to have towards the middle and end of our trailer. It will also increase the anticipation of our audience.

//Update: 18th January// Soundtrack 4 - "Letting Go" by Nicolai Heidlas

Found by Kirsten, this track is fast paced however it is also very sombre/sad. We may use this in our trailer during the scene where the crime scene is shown/announced to emphasise the tragedy.

Planning - Film Trailer Props - Case Research

This is the case research our MC created 10 years prior to our film trailer's timeline. This will be used in the scene where our main character is going over her old notes/files from when she previously investigated the family murders that are central to our film trailer's plot.

Planning - Film Trailer Props - Killer Silhouette

This is an image of what our MC suspects the killer looks like (height measurements are also present but were cut off in the photo). This will be used in the scene where our main character is going over her old notes/files from when she previously investigated the family murders that are central to our film trailer's plot.

Planning - Film Trailer Props - Coroner Reports

These are the coroner reports for our killer's previous victims. These will be used in the scene where our main character is going over her old notes/files from when she previously investigated the family murders that are central to our film trailer's plot.

Planning - Film Trailer Prop List

·      Phones and Cameras for group of people during interview @ crime scene

·      Crime Scene Tape

·      Notepad + Camera for journalist character

·      Numbered crime scene cards (which can simply be made using paper)

·      Plain Blankets for ‘bodies’  X4

·      Microphones
 

Planning - Film Trailer Moodboard/Mind Map

(Click image for full view)

Planning - Film Trailer Initial Ideas 2 (With some changes)

Film Trailer – Generic Conventions:

• The generic thriller conventions used in our film trailer is that we will have our two main characters be partners, both playing the stereotypical roles of a young rookie (who tends to bite off more than they can chew) and an older, more experienced veteran (whose role is the leader and to keep the rookie in check). The main antagonist will be male and will most likely be psychotic. A film that uses these particular conventions is Se7en.

• The key things for our trailer will be that quick cuts and low key lighting will be used in order to build tension and make our audience become invested in our film.

• Later on in our film one of the protagonists will be outsmarted by our antagonist (E.g. they will be framed for his crimes), causing conflict between the good characters.

Film Trailer – Main Characters:

Peter Stone – A rookie reporter. Gets themselves too involved in solving the series of murders that are central to the film’s plot. Is young, eager and intelligent (despite being underestimated). Partner to the Detective.

Detective Maria Jones – The main lead of the film. Is a seasoned detective who is very independent and incredibly determined to solve the murders. While initially she and the reporter did not get along (due to the fact that the reporter was doing his own investigation in her case, causing her to become irritated) they eventually grow to trust one another.

Mr Dark Dark – The film’s antagonist. Is cold, calculating and ruthless. The main theme of his murders is that always leaves one survivor (he likes to target families) so that they can suffer from survivor’s guilt for the rest of their lives.

Survivor (female) – A young girl who was left alive by Mr Dark Dark, manages to escape his clutches in order to contact the police.

 

We chose to scrap this name for the killer as we considered it to be far too immature for a thriller.

 

 

Planning - Film Trailer Initial Ideas

Contradiction A2 Film: Initial Ideas and Planning

USP:

•       What makes our film trailer unique compared to other crime thriller trailers is that we have a strong female lead as the detective; we did this in order to challenge thriller conventions as they usually have male lead roles and female roles are usually just secondary characters.

•      We also have a young male as one of the lead roles, we wanted a large age gap of the lead roles because they will have different life experiences and different perspectives in life. By having two different ages in the film, this may attract an older and a younger audience.

•      These are two actors who are the inspirations for our lead characters, FBI agent Dana Scully from X-Files and Cartoonist Robert Graysmith from Zodiac.

Target Audience:

•      Males and females aged 18-30

•      Thrillers appeal to young adults, due to their complex narratives, violence, gore etc.

•      Crime thrillers are usually rated 15 at the lowest, this is because of the violence, sexual references and many other things. So a crime thriller film would be inappropriate for anyone below the age of 18.

•      Our film trailer will be rated 15, as there will be violence and gore as expected with most crime thriller films.

Plot:

·         A family murder occurs in Cambridgeshire.

·         Only one survivor is left in each murder as the murders continue.

·         It’s been 10 years since the last murder and a man was imprisoned all those years ago by detective Maria Jones, but now the homicides are happening again and so someone has been falsely accused and imprisoned for a decade.

·         Detective Jones must start all over again from the beginning to catch the real killer in order to preserve and protect her reputation of her career.

·         Young journalist and photographer Peter Stone arrives at the most recent crime scene to find out information and take pictures to get a story, he meets and attempts to speak to detective Jones.

·         Peter begins to ask Detective Jones a series of questions and is determined to find out more and they end up working together to find the real killer.

·         Peter manages to figure out the killers next target is and tries to tell detective Jones, however she thinks he’s wrong and dismisses what he has to say so he goes on his own to find him.

·         Peter arrives at the next targets house and tries to help a dying victim, the killer is still there and frames peter for the crime, the trust is lost between Peter and detective Jones.

Research - Trailer Analyses: Shutter Island and Nightcrawler

Shutter Island (2010)

Conventions used in the film trailer for ‘Shutter Island’ are that the two main leads are male and are partners, both playing the stereotypes of the experienced, snarky Teddy Daniels (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) who has a dark past and the younger rookie Chuck Aule (played by Mark Ruffalo). Much like the previous trailers I’ve analysed, this trailer is using star power in order to attract the audience (since both Ruffalo and DiCaprio are incredibly popular actors). The antagonist is heavily implied to be Ben Kingsley’s character due to his appearance (his shaven head makes him appear intimidating), cryptic nature and the fact that in most thrillers, psychiatrists are often portrayed to be evil and/or untrustworthy (a prime example of this trope is Anthony Hopkins’ character Hannibal Lector from ‘The Silence of the Lambs’). There is also a lack of women in the film; the only ones we see are minor characters (E.g. two female inmates as well as glimpses of another woman and a young girl) This helps to establish that the world in Shutter Island is male dominated, therefore suggesting that the film’s target audience is mostly men.

The mise en scene for this trailer is different to both Se7en and Zodiac because instead of the settings being city streets/crime scenes, it is all one location; an asylum. However despite this is appears to have a variety of areas (E.g. the entrance, an interrogation room, a dining room, dark hallways and prison cells). Most of the lighting is low key and the colours are dull and dreary. The costumes clearly set the protagonists/antagonists apart from the rest of the characters, with the main leads wearing long brown trench coats and fedoras (stereotypical for ‘detective’ characters) along with the antagonist wearing a full suit and bowtie (which ties in with the trope of villains always dressing professionally, examples of this would be the ones from the James Bond franchise). Meanwhile the background characters are dressed in what appears to be sleepwear (E.g. dressing gowns).

Editing varies between quick cuts and fades to black throughout (though during the beginning there is slow motion when the two protagonists enter the asylum), syncing with the dramatic 'boom' sounds and the music (which initially starts off as slow and eerie but switches to fast paced around 1 minute 6 seconds, somewhat resembling a ticking clock). Sounds include a sound bridge where one of the inmates goes 'shhh' to one of the protagonists and an amplified gunshot followed by a scream. There is also voiceovers of the dialogue between the characters (alternating between matching and not matching with the scenes).

Nightcrawler (2014)

While the settings (E.g. city streets/highways, crime scenes and a news station) and uses of fast cuts are similar to both the trailers for Se7en and Zodiac, in regards to the main character Lou Bloom (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) he is not very stereotypical. For instance he is not a cop trying to solve a crime but rather a stringer who does morally questionable things (E.g. filming live accidents/crimes without permission, arriving at crime scenes before the police and endangering his partner whilst driving) in order to make a living. He also seems to be mentally unstable, since we see him in one scene towards the end screaming at himself whilst looking at a mirror. This makes him more of an antagonist instead of a protagonist since he only seems to care for himself, while most protagonists are selfless. Another difference from the other trailers (including Shutter Island) is that there are women with major roles, a news director (played by Rene Russo) and a detective (played by Michael Hyatt).

The music is split into three parts, the first being the slow, repetitive piano notes at the beginning which only lasts up to 27 seconds before switching to the louder, electric rock. Later towards the end it changes to the haunting song 'I'd Love to Change the World' by Jetta. This gives the audience a subtle hint that not all is quite right with the main character in regards to both his personality and psyche. All these different types of music seem to represent the protagonist's growth; he starts off as an eager but unlucky man (E.g. always getting turned down when he asks for work) before transitioning into a controlling and manipulative individual (E.g. making sarcastic remarks whilst being interrogated).

Most of the camerawork is panning and close-ups (common thriller tropes) in order to establish the world/setting (which is modern day Los Angeles) and characters for the audience, much like what the trailers for Se7en and Zodiac did.

Research - Thriller Target Audience

For most thrillers they have a range of age groups that are interested in the genre; yet they are most commonly aimed towards young adults (people between the ages of 15 and 25) due to the fact that they are old enough to be able to watch violent scenes without being frightened but still young enough to not be put off by them. The main nationality that this genre seems to aim towards more is American, possibly because that most thrillers are set in popular American cities (New York being the most common choice).

Although both genders seem to enjoy thrillers, the majority of the films appear to be set in a male dominated world. This is indicated by how the main characters are almost always male whereas the female characters are either portrayed to be villains or are simply part of the supporting cast. Thrillers that have this stereotype are Shutter Island, Zodiac, Se7en and Memento. All of these films are crime/mystery thrillers, which suggest that this is the main sub-genre men are interested in.

However there are some thrillers that seem to break this stereotype by having the main protagonist to be female, examples of this are The Silence of the Lambs (a crime thriller), Alien (a sci-fi thriller) and Black Swan (a psychological thriller). From this I can tell that the female demographic enjoy a variety of sub-genres and not just one.

Research - Trailer Analyses: Se7en and Zodiac

Se7en (1995)

The trailer conventions for the film ‘Se7en’ begins with a deep voiced narrator (which was a popular thriller trope during the 90s and early 2000s) introducing the main characters, Detective Mills (played by Brad Pitt) and Detective Somerset (played by Morgan Freeman). These characters appear to follow the stereotypes that are often associated with ‘cop’ characters, one being the young, cocky rookie (Pitt) and the other portraying the old, wise veteran (Freeman). By showing that these two popular actors (as well as a third; Gwyneth Paltrow whom plays the stereotypical concerned, supportive girlfriend) are in this film, this will encourage the audience to go see the film (this is known as star power).

Mise En Scene consists of a variety of settings/locations (E.g. police HQ, crime scenes and city streets), low key lighting and dull, dreary colours (a mixture of greys and dull greens).  There is also the use of a red filter whenever one of the crime scenes is shown, which appears to symbolise danger and evil. Overall the mise en scene helps to create a pathetic fallacy (emphasised by the fact that rainfall seems to be always present in each scene), which is appropriate for a thriller since it is supposed to represent the grittiness and brutality of humanity.  

Editing involves a large amount of quick cuts (typical for most trailers); flash cuts (which are also synced with a ‘boom’ sound effect, increasing the tension each time it is used) as well as captions that are repeated towards the end (E.g. listing the names of all the seven deadly sins, which are a key theme for this particular film). Some of the editing seems to be non-chronological, since during the middle of the trailer it appears to show scenes from the film that are related to the ending (possibly because that these scenes are the most interesting and it will make the audience become invested in the storyline). As for the sound, there are amplified sounds throughout (E.g. a gunshot, a door slamming open and police sirens) and fast paced music that grows in intensity towards the trailer’s climax. The majority of the camerawork consists of close-ups on the main leads and establishing shots of the locations/crime scenes, this is to keep the film’s plot shrouded in mystery as well as maintain the audience’s interest.

The trailer is broken down into three sections, the intro, the action and the tense ending. The effect this has on the audience is to keep them in suspense while watching the trailer, so that when they’re finished with it they’re compelled to go see the film in order to see the outcome.

Zodiac (2007)

Similarly to ‘Se7en’, the film ‘Zodiac’ is directed by David Fincher and uses star power to attract the audience. By revealing that popular actors Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo and Jake Gyllenhaal are the main leads, the public will automatically become interested in the film regardless of whether or not they like the genre. Plus much like Se7en, Zodiac appears to be male dominated due to the fact that there is only one woman shown in the trailer and she seems to only be part of the supporting cast (the same role Gwyneth Paltrow had).

During the beginning of the trailer it clearly sets the dark tone of the film by starting off with showing a scene of a woman being shot in cold blood by someone hidden in the shadows of the night. Both establishing shots and wide shots are used to establish the film’s setting and environment, letting the audience know that it is set in San Francisco (whereas Se7en was set in New York). This links in with the mise en scene. It is a common trope amongst thrillers to have the main setting be a large city, since it is a more likely location to have crime/murderers occur than a small town/village. Zodiac uses both low key and high key lighting, while Se7en’s lighting was mostly low key.

Editing ranges from slow motion, slow zooms, fade to blacks as well as quick cuts. The pacing of this trailer is especially different to Se7en as it is much slower and tries to include more detail and information for the audience to take in; this is because there is no narrator to do so (narrators in thriller film trailers had become more or less obscure during the late 2000s). Most of the film’s plot is described in the dialogue between the characters in each of the scenes. The trailer seems to follow the same formula as Se7en did, it had an introduction, the action sequence (however the action was less obvious) and the tense ending (E.g. the final scene was one of the characters asking “Are you sure there is no-one else in the house?” while there was creepy humming in the background).

The soundtrack initially begins very low and tense (appropriate since the opening scene was a person being murdered) however around 1 minute 18 seconds it switches to cheery 70s rock music, which provides the audience a hint to what time period Zodiac is set in. It also suggests that it may include more light-hearted/comedic moments than Se7en did, since the majority of Se7en’s scenes were serious (the only time when humour was included was when Gwyneth Paltrow’s character asked Morgan Freeman’s character how long he had lived in the city, his answer being a dry, sarcastic “Too long”).

Research - Thriller Film Title Annotations

Research - Girl on the Train Trailer Analysis

Throughout the trailer for 'The Girl on the Train' there are various thriller conventions. This is most evident in the media language. Mise En Scene consists of dark/dull colours with high contrast (which help establish the serious/gritty nature of the film) and a variety of locations (E.g. a house in the countryside, the main character's living room, the inside of a train, a street, woods and a dark tunnel) that possibly give hints to the film's plot. The actors' performances are also portrayed to be serious and very dramatic, since the majority of the dialogue is a discussion /interrogation about a girl's death as well as other suspicious events which add to the film's mystery. The voiceover is especially dramatic due to the fact that on a number of occasions during the trailer it is synced perfectly with a scene (E.g. When the line "I saw her from the train" is spoken, it is immediately followed by a scene of a train going past). The editing involves a series of fast cuts which are synced with the slow piano notes of the soundtrack at the beginning of the trailer and later on to the exaggerated 'boom' sound effects, which is a common trope for thrillers because it causes the audience to get excited. There are also what appears to be flashbacks at the start, which suggest that the film's narrative is non-linear.

Camerawork involves a large amount of establishing shots (of both the locations and the characters), pans and tracking shots. These are used to help build the film's world/setting in a limited amount of time since the trailer is only 2 minutes and 28 seconds long. Closeups of the characters' faces are used to emphasise their emotions and body language, in the case of 'The Girl on the Train' the majority of the characters' facial expressions/body language indicate that they are scared, worried and tense. This makes the audience empathise with them and want to know the cause of the characters' (the main character Rachel in particular) distress (plus this ties in with representation, in which there seems to be more female characters than male). This is a similar instance with the soundtrack, while the music starts off slow and calm (albeit a little eerie) towards the end it gets louder and grows in intensity.

Research - Thriller

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Examples of Thrillers include:

• Shutter Island (2010)
• Se7en (1995)
• Silence of the Lambs (1991)
• Memento (2000)
• Inception (2010)
• The Hitcher (1986/2007)
• Taken (2008)

Sub-Genres may consist of psychological thrillers, 'chillers' (which is a combination of horror and thriller), action thrillers, mysteries and comedy thrillers.

Due to the fact that most thrillers like to provoke a fear response from the audience, they proceed to play on their fears by making them come to life within their film. An example of this would be that if a person was afraid of being followed, this would most likely be included in a thriller.

Research - Film Trailers (Crime/Thriller)

The key characteristics of crime/thriller film trailers are that crosscutting and jump-cuts are used throughout. The purpose of this is to make the audience feel both intimidated and excited enough to be convinced to go see the film. The music usually starts off very slow, quiet and eerie at the beginning, resembling the way a criminal/murderer stalks its victim. Gradually the tempo and pitch build up until by the climax of the trailer the soundtrack is very fast-paced, loud and intense. This could be a representation of how a killer begins chasing their victim, the loudness and the speed portraying how the victim may be feeling in that particular situation. In the majority of crime/thriller film trailers there is also a voiceover (either dialogue from one of the characters or a narrator) to provide key information about the film's plot, so that the audience can make their decision to watch it or not.

Popular Crime/Thriller films that use these tropes for their trailers are:

Research - Film Trailers

The role of a film trailer is to provide the audience with a brief premise of the upcoming film, establishing its genre, plot and cast. They contain clips from the film (though sometimes clips are exclusive to the trailer only) of key parts of the film’s story, non-diegetic music and a voiceover (either a narrator or dialogue from a character) to explain what is happening. Due to the fact that most trailers only last 2-3 minutes, they are very fast-paced (with a large amount of cuts) and will slowly build in intensity towards the end in order to get the audience excited.

For example for the Captain America: Civil War trailer it began with showing a snowy landscape whilst playing slow, quiet music. There is a voiceover, which the audience will recognise as Chris Evans in his role as Steve Rogers/Captain America. He appears to be lamenting how in his job as a superhero, it is difficult to save everyone.

And as he says this, the trailer proceeds to show clips of various cities being destroyed while a different voice states the name of each location. While this is happening the clips cut to each of the character's solemn and guilty expressions with the music growing in volume.

Later on in the trailer we see and hear a conversation between two of the main characters (Captain America and Iron Man) about how the Captain states that no matter the circumstances he cannot ignore a conflict, this serves as juxtaposition since the following clips during his speech are of buildings being destroyed and other characters fighting. This continues until 1:20 where a clip of one of the characters falling from the sky is shown with someone yelling "Rhodes!", which triggers the music to stop and the trailer to fade to black.

However as another voiceover states "I was wrong about you, the whole world was wrong about you"  in a venomous tone, the music starts up again with more intensity and a montage of characters fighting one another is shown. Crosscutting is used for this and each cut is timed perfectly in order to synch with the music (which now has drums whereas previously it was only strings).

Towards the end of the trailer we're shown an establishing shot (much like the beginning of the trailer) of the entire cast (separated into two teams) running towards each other in order to attack and after we see the title of the film we are shown an extra scene in which we are introduced to a new character; Spiderman.

Since the film's creators were aware of how excited the fan's were when they teased the fact that this character may appear in the newest Captain America film, to see this humorous yet highly anticipated scene after such an intense trailer serves as extra incentive for the audience to go watch the film. 

Too Late Film Poster

For my film poster I used an eye as the main image because it is a stereotypical trope for horror film posters. They are used because they are an effective method of portraying fear and/or suspense, the reaction horror films expect to receive from the audience.

Examples of horror film posters that use this tactic are:

I used red and white for the colour scheme of my text (along with a ‘creepy’ font) similarly to why I previously did so in my magazine cover, these colours clearly suggest that the genre is a horror where in reality it is a teen comedy. By false advertising my film, I am more likely to gain a larger audience.

Jaws Poster (recreated)

Research - Film Posters

In most film posters it has been shown that the main subject is the primary characters (E.g. the protagonist or antagonist). This is to show the audience who is a part of the cast, therefore helping them to decide whether or not they should watch the film. If the poster reveals that a famous actor/actress is in the film, the audience would feel more inclined to see it.

Maleficent (2015)

Taken 3 (2014)

The main colours used in film posters appear to be blue, black and white regardless of the film’s genre. This could be because that these colours seem to connote an element of mystery, which then proceeds to encourage the audience to find out said mystery by watching the film.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Star Trek (2009)

The Little Mermaid (1989)

Too Late Magazine Cover

Total Film Magazine Cover (recreated)

Film Magazine Cover Analysis

http://mediablog.longsands-academy.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Winter-Soldier-magazine-cover-analysis.pdf (for larger view)

Research - Film Magazine Covers

For the majority of film magazines covers, they consist of a large image (which is usually of an actor/character from the film), the film title, reviews and advertisements for other blockbuster films. The target audience appears to be general (for all ages/genders) however due to the fact that the actors used in the covers are almost always male leads; this would suggest that the magazine is trying to appeal to men. Though this could also appeal to women since it is using popular and attractive male actors, this technique is otherwise known as celebrity endorsement.

 - The image of Leonardo DiCaprio is in the centre of the magazine cover to draw the audience’s attention to it. The film title is large and in bright red to make it easily seen and recognised.