Tuesday 29 November 2011
Practise Teaser Trailer
On 28/11/11 an Apple expert came into school to teach us some iMovie techniques. We were taught about clip transactions, video and audio adjustments, add freeze frame, split clip and how to add music and text into the video. Overall, I thought it was an extremely beneficial day as I learnt so much and I am now confident when it comes to editing my trailer.
From audience research with my questionnaire, I know that my audience will like the close ups and soft lighting. From looking at professional teaser trailers, I have found that the running time of them start at 53 seconds - 2:25 therefore, I believe that the average time for a teaser trailer is about 2 minutes. This practise teaser trailer that I have produced is only one minute long so for my final piece, it will be longer.
Wednesday 23 November 2011
IDEA
I was listening to this song when I read one of the comments underneath:
"I told my neighbour (who is my age and I really like him) that this was my fave song. He said he had never heard it so I told him he had to go listen to it. He said he would. The next day it was raining and I looked out my window and saw him standing in my driveway. I ran out there with an umbrella and asked what he was doing. He sang, 'I don't mind spending every day out on your corner in the pouring rain".
This story genuinely touched me and I really want this idea in my trailer!!
Thursday 17 November 2011
Applying Narrative Theory: One
The fact that there is no hero in my trailer makes it hard for me to compare theorist ideas to my work as they all include a hero character. In my trailer I will only have two characters - the two lovers.
Joseph Campbell theory of narrative has found some currency in the modern hollywood blockbuster. It is often called The Hero's Journey. It comes in three acts - departure, initiation and return. Campbell's theory doesn't relate to my trailer because I don't have a hero. My reason for not having a hero is that I am producing a romantic genre and I wanted it to stay between the two characters - I didn't want any complicated storyline with lots of people. I wanted two lovers who fall in love and find a problem that is caused by their own personal dilemmas and will be fixed this way too. This way, the audience are more likely to relate to the story line when watching the movie.
Tzvetan Todorov is another theorist, arguing that all stories follow the basic structure of an equilibrium, disruption and resolution. It involves talking about ideology and power relations. This theory can apply to my trailer a little better. In my story, the equilibrium is when the couple are in love. This will be shown through shots of the couple laughing and spending time together. The disruption is when Scarlett realises that when she goes to University, it may cause problems between their relationship as she will be moving far away. The resolution, however, is rarely shown in a trailer because otherwise you would be giving the whole story away and no one would want to watch it. By leaving out the resolution, you can leave the audience wondering what will happen between the characters and that is what will make them want to watch the movie.
If a narrative begins with an idea of equilibrium or balance, whose idea of normal is it?
This is an interesting question. The script writers/producers etc. would do market research to find out what equilibrium is to the target audience when in a relationship. With this, they can create a normal world that the audience will find suitable. All members of the audience will be aware that when you are in a relationship, it is not happiness all the time. All couples have arguments eventually, which is why something like this has to happen in the trailer. If the characters fell in love and they lived happily ever after, the story wouldn't be interesting enough to capture the audience's attention. Therefore, if trhe equilibrium is disrupted by an event, there has to be something that goes wrong. In my trailer, the thing that will be going wrong is that Scarlett will be going to University far away soon and they will struggle to maintain a long distance relationship. The events that happen in my trailer are arranged according to the ideas that they contain.
In the narration, the viewer does not know more than the narrator. However, I don't think I will be having a narrator voice over during my trailer - I would like to stick to captions on the screen and dialogue from the film clips. The point of view comes from an outsider watching their relationship. The narrative doesn't cheat in any way. The events are compressed in time because obviously I have to fit a lot into a short amount of time. Even in a trailer, the time will very often be compressed to fit more into the time schedule.
Joseph Campbell theory of narrative has found some currency in the modern hollywood blockbuster. It is often called The Hero's Journey. It comes in three acts - departure, initiation and return. Campbell's theory doesn't relate to my trailer because I don't have a hero. My reason for not having a hero is that I am producing a romantic genre and I wanted it to stay between the two characters - I didn't want any complicated storyline with lots of people. I wanted two lovers who fall in love and find a problem that is caused by their own personal dilemmas and will be fixed this way too. This way, the audience are more likely to relate to the story line when watching the movie.
Tzvetan Todorov is another theorist, arguing that all stories follow the basic structure of an equilibrium, disruption and resolution. It involves talking about ideology and power relations. This theory can apply to my trailer a little better. In my story, the equilibrium is when the couple are in love. This will be shown through shots of the couple laughing and spending time together. The disruption is when Scarlett realises that when she goes to University, it may cause problems between their relationship as she will be moving far away. The resolution, however, is rarely shown in a trailer because otherwise you would be giving the whole story away and no one would want to watch it. By leaving out the resolution, you can leave the audience wondering what will happen between the characters and that is what will make them want to watch the movie.
If a narrative begins with an idea of equilibrium or balance, whose idea of normal is it?
This is an interesting question. The script writers/producers etc. would do market research to find out what equilibrium is to the target audience when in a relationship. With this, they can create a normal world that the audience will find suitable. All members of the audience will be aware that when you are in a relationship, it is not happiness all the time. All couples have arguments eventually, which is why something like this has to happen in the trailer. If the characters fell in love and they lived happily ever after, the story wouldn't be interesting enough to capture the audience's attention. Therefore, if trhe equilibrium is disrupted by an event, there has to be something that goes wrong. In my trailer, the thing that will be going wrong is that Scarlett will be going to University far away soon and they will struggle to maintain a long distance relationship. The events that happen in my trailer are arranged according to the ideas that they contain.
In the narration, the viewer does not know more than the narrator. However, I don't think I will be having a narrator voice over during my trailer - I would like to stick to captions on the screen and dialogue from the film clips. The point of view comes from an outsider watching their relationship. The narrative doesn't cheat in any way. The events are compressed in time because obviously I have to fit a lot into a short amount of time. Even in a trailer, the time will very often be compressed to fit more into the time schedule.
Tuesday 15 November 2011
Filming Footage
shot steady
framing shot
variety in shot distances
mise-en-scene
colour
props
lighting
setting
editing
shot transictions (fade, cut, dissolve etc)
sound
Use of ICT/Digital Equipment
To produce my anamatic, I used Windows Live Movie Maker.
On the 29th November, James Smither came in to teach my Media Studies class skills on iMovie as this is the software that I will be using to produce my teaser trailer.
Websites for inspiration and research:
This One - Latyer Media
This One - English and Media (Username: mediamagazine9 Password: jet423st)
Actors, Locations & Costumes
The female actor, Scarlett, I will be using is called Hannah Lloyd. I have worked with her in coursework projects before and she is well known for her photographic and acting work, therefore she would be brilliant to use in my romantic trailer. Here is a picture of her that I have taken myself:
The male character, Braden, will be played by
In terms of music in my trailer, it is not allowed to use music that is owned by other companies. For example, I can't use music from iTunes or You Tube. Therefore, I will approach musicians that I know and friends who play musical instruments and record them playing the guitar, piano or singing.
COSTUMES
For Braden, I see him being quite casual wearing simple clothes but caring for his appearance at the same time. Here are some examples:
Scarlett I see as being pretty and feminine:
LOCATION
I took the following images of a model who is going to be playing the female character in my trailer. But the location and setting in these images is where I would like to film some footage for the romantic scenes.
The male character, Braden, will be played by
In terms of music in my trailer, it is not allowed to use music that is owned by other companies. For example, I can't use music from iTunes or You Tube. Therefore, I will approach musicians that I know and friends who play musical instruments and record them playing the guitar, piano or singing.
COSTUMES
For Braden, I see him being quite casual wearing simple clothes but caring for his appearance at the same time. Here are some examples:
Scarlett I see as being pretty and feminine:
LOCATION
I took the following images of a model who is going to be playing the female character in my trailer. But the location and setting in these images is where I would like to film some footage for the romantic scenes.
Anamatic
This is my anamatic. I have produced it through Windows Live Movie Maker, then uploaded it to You Tube and shared it onto my blog. Rather than making a voice over with the information, I decided to have text on the screen over my sketches. This is because I thought it would be easier for the audience to take in rather than having to use their eyes and ears.
Tuesday 8 November 2011
Dear John - Official Trailer [HD]
The trailer generally presents a utopia world, where everything is perfect in a hot and sunny location, on a beach. However half way through the trailer, it begins showing clips of war scenes which would appeal to the male gender. The music and lighting is both soft throughout the trailer, symbolising the soft and gentle theme of the characters and relationship - there is no shouting or fighting going on. Speech voiceovers are shown throughout the trailer rather than text or just muted clips. This gives a better overview of the movie. At the end of the trailer, quick cuts of clips are shown to quickly sum up the movie and conclude the audience's opinion.
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