At the start of my trailer, I have used a range of inter titles that shows the audience a green screen for appropriate audiences, production company name and distribution company. Grey Pigeon Productions and Momentum Pictures, this was because it is a typical convention to see these at the start to show the audience who made the film etc. These were used to inform the audience but to also make it look authentic and realistic.
The voiceover was used to give the audience a rough starting point to what has happened and in other real media products it is seen as a typical convention at the beginning of the trailer. The next take is an establishing shot, to show the audience the location to help set where the film will be made and what the narrative may be. Urban settings are commonly used in this genre and was found out through the research of Altman's theory of semantic and syntactic elements.
I have included eery music to give the audience a representation of what the genre of my film would be, as it is popular with real media trailers to use disturbing music to set the scene.
In my trailer I have used a set of inter titles, the first one is 'when truth and reality dissapear', this is to give away slight content to the audience when they are first introduced to the characters.
In the next take I have used a dream effect filter on to a shot to make it look like hallucinations or dreams. This is because of the plot being based on mental health issues. These shots are seen throughout the trailer. The mis-en-scene of these shots are filmed in the location of an empty corridor, this is to create the feeling of a mental institute, in a dream like state of what the main character Ebony is in. I also used these shots throughout out the film because I wanted the audience to be not sure whether it is real or not.
The main characters are all introduced with a mid- shot as this is typically seen in real media products and is a very intimate, clear shot so the audience are able to remember. The facial expressions of the characters show the audience the different personalities and emotions. In my trailer I have used different shots to show the different character types from Propps theory.Ebony, played by Georgia Thorp is seen as the main protagonist as most of the fast pace shots are focused on her. Eva, played by Caitlin Meade is shown as the supporter for Ebony, as she does not realise what her condition is and continues to act normal with her, due to her character being innocent as seen in the shot of her saying 'Hi Im Eva' politely with a smile. The last character Poppy, played by Holly Sherlock was seen to be the antagonist with the use of short shots and comments made by her for the audience to gain a recognition of what her character may be like.
After I have used more inter titles that say 'Dreams become Nightmares' this is linked with Levi-Strausses theory of Binary Opposites, in my trailer I wanted to show many of these opposites as the plot is very dramatic and eventful. The binary Opposites shown are good vs evil, reality vs fiction and dreams vs nightmares. By using these binary opposites the audience can gain representations of the conflict between characters, personalities and events that happen.
When the trailer gradually moves on the music and the pace of cuts gradually get louder and faster. This is seen as a typical convention for trailers to build up more and more towards the end to have a big surprise/finish so the audience feels an elements of mystery and excitement to go and watch the film.
As the music gets louder and more fast paced, I have carefully edited the different shots to suit the music. This is because of me wanting to build up emotions for the audience and for them to feel more and more uncomfortable towards the end to have a big finish. By doing this is makes the audience gain a 'buzz' about the film.
The mis-en-scene for the trailer is very traditional and basic.
Ebony: A rough costume, clearly doesn't make effort with her appearance.
Eva: Clean, natural make-up used to show the audience her innocence (may be seen in other scenes)
Poppy: Full face of makeup, dressed in all black to suit her antagonist persona.
By doing this the audience may gain a representation of there personalities and what they might be like.
There are shots used with a ringing phone, this may have been used to put the audience on edge due to the repetition of the ringtone. But the phone can be seen as an object of significance due to it playing a part in Ebony's down ward spiral. E.g. Seeing Poppy call her when its actually Eva.
I have used a mid shot of Poppy and Eva laughing in a dream like filter. As they are together it creates confusion for the audience as to why they are together. This may show the audience how insecure Ebony's character may be and how her emotions spiral out of control.
Towards the end of my trailer I have used fade to black and cross dissolve transitions. This is to make my trailer look realistic as it is a typical convention and make the narrative flow more between shots. The cross dissolve shot from long shot, to mid shot to close up was used due to it having a ghost like effect which suits the narrative and genre of my film, Psychological Thriller. This was also to make it look like all the shots merge into one to create a ghost like representation.
Throughout the trailer I decided to detach the audio from a clip to another shot to add to Ebony's insecurities. This happens when she is turning over in bed, which creates a mystery for the audience of whether it is a dream or nightmare. The audio says 'you made me do it' this is seen as a build up towards the end of the trailer where you see the actual clip being played of her saying it herself. Also the audio makes it more ghost like as it is in her dreams which builds up suspense to the end of the trailer. This creates a shock factor to the audience and also creates questions for the audience to ask. E.g. Made her do what?, Why is she thinking about it? Whats happened?
Towards the end of my trailer I have used he inter title 'And Your Life Vanishes' this is a build up link towards the last inter title of the name of the film 'Into Thin Air'. As both inter titles give an insight into the plot as Ebony's life is vanishing 'Into Thin Air'. Also on the 'Into Thin Air' inter titles I put a sound effect alongside the shot as it creates more drama and an impact for the audience.
The last hand held shot of Ebony running away creates a false equilibrium for my audience as the narrative is not returned to the normal state (equilibrium). This is to surprise the audience and want to make them watch the film as it creates more enigma codes as the narrative has maintained the air of mystery around the initial product. The dialogue used by the main character is 'What have I done' and then a piercing scream, to the audience it may show her vulnerability due to her realising what is wrong with her, or the mental illness taking over the person she is. The scream also comes when the music has reached its climax to create a frightening atmosphere for the audience to end on.
I have included my production details and social media links so that it makes it seem more realistic and is more authentic for the audience. I used social media links due to the audience being predominantly young adults and females which hopefully would create a brand identity for the film so that others can recognise it e.g. On Twitter.
I think this image will be a good component to the film poster, due to this character being the main one. Thinking of editing a transparency of the other two main characters to make it look better and more professional.
I think the image taken will be a good contribution to the billboard poster. This is because the 3 main characters are involved but also can be affective due to the surroundings of the picture. With this image it can show the audience who is involved within the film.
These are some of the billboards that i researched. I chose these 4 due to the fact that they have very similar conventions but also the same colour scheme and maybe genre. The billboards are very simple but can be very effective in the way that they are placed and laid out, the first three have very similar designs due to the colour scheme and font, and i think this will be effective for ours due to the fact that it is a very dark film with a psychological thriller genre. Billboards are very simple and effective and i think if we use these specific conventions then it will make the film look good and it will suit the genre that is chosen for it so it will intrigue the audience.
Conventions of a Billboard:
Main Image (Usually main character, or other key characters in the film)
Large easy read font used
Colour Scheme
Date the film is in cinemas
Name of the film
Actors name or just main actor
Direct Adress
Slogans/ Quotes
Colour, font or picture to be bright colours to attract the audience to look at the billboard
'Classification' (U, PG, 15, 18- indicates to the audience about who the film is appropriate to, who can watch the film)
Star Rating (Optional)
Running Time
Producer or Director Success
Distributor
Barcode
Synopsis
Disc Information
Certification Information Box
Release Date
Tagline/ Quotes
Region
Film: Gone
The DVD cover and the movie poster is the same, the image used has similar message to the audience as our plot. The back of the DVD cover has the usual conventions but uses some techniques to suit the message of the front cover/movie poster. The techniques used are the usual components the audience would see on a DVD cover but still has elements unique e.g. the back of the DVD cover looks like broken glass and a bullet hole fired from a gun which may suit tot he content of the film which could be a good technique to use for our plot to show the audience what may happen. It uses tailgates and quoted to intrigue the audience in buying the DVD , but also uses the same colour scheme throughout like black, white and red which may symbolise the content of the film.
Film: Black Swan
The DVD cover is slightly different to my research in other psychological thriller films but still as the same message about what the film can entail. The DVD cover uses usual conventions but also uses unique techniques to make the dvd cover be different from other films out at the time. It uses a unique front image to want the audience to see the film but also what message it can give to the audience, it has a unique back as like the film 'gone' it uses a mirror or glass layout/style to show the audience what the content of the film is like or how it may symbolise something that happens. We can get a range of ideas from this dvd cover as it uses a basic colour scheme but still looks professional, has a lack of information which is what audiences prefer but also has a simple layout to confuse the audience of the psychological thriller confusion within the film (contrast).
With these 2 DVD covers we learn that they both use the typical conventions to reach out to an audience, but also how they make the DVD cover simple and effective because the film may have a large shock or action content. They both use simple images and layouts with a basic colour scheme, this may help with our print product research as most DVD covers use this technique because the film may speak for itself. Both also use simple font and font size to keep the audience focusing on what the film may entail. Overall this gives us a general idea about the conventions we may use for our narrative but also how other films use simple and effective techniques yo reach out to they're specific audiences.