Looking at the common features/ conventions of drama films in terms of characters, and all of the micro aspects will help me understand what my own trailer should be like. It will also help me to construct a storyline which was the purpose of this task as it has shown me what kind of storyline I should be creating and the kind of characters I will be working with. My research is presented in the presentation below...
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Trailer checklist
Looking at the two trailers has really helped me move one step closer to creating my own. It not only has shown me what is expected of my genre but shown me some good features of trailers that I may wish to consider using in my own trailer. By looking at what I liked about the two trailers analysed I have come up with a checklist of things I will need to consider when creating my storyboard- that is when I shall refer to it. It also concludes this research as it summarises what I have taken from this research by creating a short list of what I will be considering during planning for production. That was the purpose of this research (to give me more guidance on ideas for shots, scenes etc).
Influences- drama trailer
I looked at a second trailer for some influence when creating my own. I created this timeline and picked out particular shots/aspects of the trailer that I liked. This has helped me gather some ideas for my own. This trailer was produced by A2 Media Studies students, I looked at this trailer in particular to see what kind of a product I am expected to produce in order to achieve a good grade. This trailer received an A grade; being able to see what an A grade in A2 Media Studies actually looks like has proved to me that the expectations are high, so I have learnt a lot from looking at this trailer.
Aspects of this trailer I may consider using in my own
- Using imaginative shots for scenes that may typically be recorded using another type of shot. Such as an extreme close up of someone's mouth when they're talking rather than a close up.
- Think carefully about titles, don't just go for standard and boring, try and be as creative as possible.
- More attention must be paid to editing, don't just go with putting all the shots together and running smoothly and be done with it, try and use creative editing techniques such as the action on the eye shot uses in the trailer for The Comedown. A split screen is also something not seen all the time.
- Slow motion can add tension and drama.
What have I learnt from looking at this trailer?
- Not to be simplistic, try and be adventurous with editing, shots and the titles used.
- Use a huge range and number of shots.
- If a trailer is to use a soundtrack with lyrics they must not overpower what is being said on screen or take the focus away from that.
- Lighting is an important aspect to consider and must be altered if it does not work well with the mood of that particular scene, small micro aspects of the trailer like this when put right can have an overall big impact on the trailer itself.
- Using imaginative shots for scenes that may typically be recorded using another type of shot. Such as an extreme close up of someone's mouth when they're talking rather than a close up.
- Think carefully about titles, don't just go for standard and boring, try and be as creative as possible.
- More attention must be paid to editing, don't just go with putting all the shots together and running smoothly and be done with it, try and use creative editing techniques such as the action on the eye shot uses in the trailer for The Comedown. A split screen is also something not seen all the time.
- Slow motion can add tension and drama.
What have I learnt from looking at this trailer?
- Not to be simplistic, try and be adventurous with editing, shots and the titles used.
- Use a huge range and number of shots.
- If a trailer is to use a soundtrack with lyrics they must not overpower what is being said on screen or take the focus away from that.
- Lighting is an important aspect to consider and must be altered if it does not work well with the mood of that particular scene, small micro aspects of the trailer like this when put right can have an overall big impact on the trailer itself.
Influences- drama trailer and looking at micro aspects
I decided to get some influence from other trailers of my genre. I looked up film's of the drama genre using the IMDB database. The film Adore was listed under the theme of drama so I chose to look at the different micro aspects and decide what I like about them and look at the overall composition of the trailer and what I could learn from it. I created the timeline below to look at the cinematography as well as the other micro aspects and I will now evaluate what I have learnt from looking at this trailer...
What I like about this trailer and what I might consider using in my own...
Cinematography
A lot of shots which are varied, this stops the visual aspect of the trailer getting boring. I particularly like the use of close ups- to extreme close ups. It really helps to draw attention to the subject that the audience need to be focusing on.
Editing/Titles
The titles match the films logo, this keeps a consistent design theme which is recognisable.
Mise En Scene
Using props to tell stories of the past, this could be important in a drama, which often has to inform the audience of the background story to the problem which the characters now face.
Sound
An instrumental soundtrack without voice over keeps the audience's attention on what is displayed on the screen. I also like how it ends with an important part of dialogue with one of the characters saying "I'll never forgive you for this". This acts almost as a cliffhanger because as soon as you think that the trailer has given away too much and you know the storyline, it reinforces the fact that you don't and it leaves the audience wanting to know what the character does not want to "forgive" the other for.
What have I learnt?
- Trailers require a variety of shots in different locations as it is unlikely for a film to be set in entirely one location.
- Drama films often require a lot of close ups as they're based mainly on human emotions and it is close ups that draw attention to that.
- The editing techniques need to match the mood of that particular scene, for example, you would not use a slow fade in a fast, action-packed scene.
- The titles do not have to comply to grammatical or the rules of standard English, in fact, if they do not it can help to tell the story more effectively by helping to convey a message.
My steps before initial ideas
I feel like my research so far has not given me enough guidance in terms of creating my initial ideas. This has lead to me making the decision to conduct more research. In the mind map presented below are a few ideas of the tasks I am going to complete before creating my initial ideas.
It is important that my film trailer attracts its target audience, this means I will have to conduct some research into my target market, but first I will need to identify who they are. For research concerning the actual trailer itself including the types of shots and genre conventions I will look at a few more trailers.
It is important that my film trailer attracts its target audience, this means I will have to conduct some research into my target market, but first I will need to identify who they are. For research concerning the actual trailer itself including the types of shots and genre conventions I will look at a few more trailers.
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
Feedback by Sam Richards
What went well:
- Varied types of posts
- Good number of posts
- Detailed series of posts such as the genre research posts
- Creative posts
Even better if: you made an interview post, or filmed yourself for a podcast
Current grade: A
Monday, 9 September 2013
Genre moodboard
Although I have an idea of which genres I was likely to be working with I have few ideas for a storyline for a film on which my trailer would be based. This lead me to creating a mind map to write down all my thoughts and associations with the genres to see if I could construct any ideas around them. This can be seen below...
This has given me some influences as to what I may like to include in a film of each genre I explored. It has helped me to decide that scenes from drama are often good at capturing an audience as they portray realistic characters in situations characters can relate to so I will most likely have aspects of drama in my initial ideas for my trailers. I think that I'd like to create a drama possibly with an aspect of mystery or even fantasy. Possibly even with toys as characters but with a main focus on human characters facing a difficulty which is often a key focus of drama films. A fantasy drama is something different which may or may not work and I like the idea of trying something different. My next step will be to construct several initial ideas so that I can decide on which I'd most like to create.
This has given me some influences as to what I may like to include in a film of each genre I explored. It has helped me to decide that scenes from drama are often good at capturing an audience as they portray realistic characters in situations characters can relate to so I will most likely have aspects of drama in my initial ideas for my trailers. I think that I'd like to create a drama possibly with an aspect of mystery or even fantasy. Possibly even with toys as characters but with a main focus on human characters facing a difficulty which is often a key focus of drama films. A fantasy drama is something different which may or may not work and I like the idea of trying something different. My next step will be to construct several initial ideas so that I can decide on which I'd most like to create.
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