Deadly Devotion - Teaser Trailer // Summer 2014

I am quite proud of how this turned out even though it didn't go exactly how I planned. I personally do not think the trailer makes much sense but after some feedback people seem to enjoy it. This task has prepared me a little for A2 and has made me excited to be challenged and stretched to produce more (and better) work for A2. 

Storyboard - Pre-Production // Summer 2014

 




I also added a filter throughout my teaser trailer.

Permission - Pre-Production // Summer 2014

Equipment List - Pre-Production // Summer 2014

The equipment I will be using is as follows:

- Canon IXUS 255 HS for filming.
- iPod Touch 5th Generation for recording sound.

Actors, Costumes & Props - Pre-Production // Summer 2014

Actors:

Wilhelmina - main antagonist

Wilhelmina Denness - main antagonist succubus



I have chosen Wilhelmina because I know that she is very good at being a demon-like antagonist and feels comfortable acting. I think she also suits the part well in how she looks.

Costumes:

Wilhelmina will be wearing a white dress and bare feet for when we shoot at her house to visually show her looking more demon like and immediately allowing the audience to make that connection (that this innocent looking girl is in fact not so innocent).  

Props: 

No props will be needed off the top of my head, however when I am at Wilhelmina's house I may decide to use suitable props there and then. If we had more time to do this task I would definitely plan all the props I would be using however as it is a little more rushed I feel as though it's best to just 'go with the flow' on the day and use props if I feel they are necessary. 

Sound & Lighting Design - Pre-Production // Summer 2014

In terms of sound I will use incidental music from incompetech, a voice over of Wilhelmina talking recorded on my iPod and possibly sound from the camera as ambient sound to improve continuity and make the trailer seem more professional.

I will not use any lighting systems and just work with what I have at the time. My camera has an 'auto iso' setting which will be on therefore allowing the camera to automatically let the right amount of light into the shot so that it looks as good as it can.

Location Schedule - Pre-Production // Summer 2014

I will no longer be filming on Saturday as I realise that date is not needed.

Conventions of a Romantic Horror Trailer // Summer 2014

After choosing my genre I decided to briefly look into the conventions for trailers of that genre.

These include:

- Dark, scary (possibly intense) atmosphere.
- Aimed at female audience (the romantic aspect).
- Unusual, dramatic camera angles.
- A voice over tends to be used as an introduction to the romance/love theme.
- Incidental music (spooky).
- Dark colour grading (so the audience can see less).

My Chosen Genre, Target Audience & Story Ideas // Summer 2014

The genre I have chosen to do for my teaser trailer is 'Romantic Horror'. My initial ideas are that it will involve a succubus who appears like a normal girl, wanting to fit in, where her actual intentions lie in drawing in a male partner, just to kill him.

Therefore, my target audience will be teenagers (mostly girls) who are more interested in romantic films with a twist of horror.

Anyway, I liked the idea of doing a romantic horror instead of just horror as last time I worked with a sub genre of horror and wanted to add an element of something this time round that I haven't had to work yet.

Warm Bodies (2013) - Teaser Trailer Research // Summer 2014

The Narrative Structure

- Zombie apocalypse description from antagonist's point of view.
-Zombie's attacking.
- Introduction to protagonist zombie, with comedic elements.
- Love interest, girl is shown.
- Interaction with girl and antagonist, the girl is trying to save the zombies.
- Title of film.
- Comedy element with girl and protagonist zombie (the girl pretends to be a zombie).

Genre of Film

The icons used throughout include blood and gore. These easily establish the genre to be partly horror. However, when the girl human is shown, romantic music is played showing that the film has multiple genres (romance is an element of it). The funny narrative from the zombie protagonist also gives an element of comedy. The text shown at the end is red and white. Red, symbolising blood, again shows the horror side of the film.

Production

A lot of shots are used in this teaser trailer from XCU to XLS. They are fast moving for the majority of the time but this is contrasted with some longer establishing shots. Non diegetic music is used throughout, as well as ambient sounds and two different voice overs. In addition to this the typography is suitable as it is black and white contrasted against the red background (which is an icon of blood).

Audience

The target audience for this film is likely to appeal to teenagers and possibly more girls than boys because of the love interest. Although the trailer has been tailored to a potentially very wide audience because it has such a wide mixture of genres (horror, comedy, romance). This means people could be drawn in who enjoy those genres.

Representations

There are a couple of easily recognisable representations. One of them being the slightly odd boy being attracted to the pretty girl. This representation, however, has a slight twist as the boy is a zombie giving a fresh, interesting look on this typical representation. The other representation used is the antagonist, who typically happens to be the girls father, being against the love. This resentment is much more justified as the love interest is a zombie so has the potential to kill the girl.

Red Riding Hood (2011) - Teaser Trailer Research // Summer 2014

The Narrative Structure

This narrative structure follows the simply pattern of briefly outlining the storyline of the film showing some crucial moments in the film but at the same time not giving away too much.

Genre of Film

The genre of this film is American dark fantasy. The red cloak signifies danger and the werewolf that is mentioned shows how the film is likely to be pretty dark. The American accents obviously tell the audience that it is an American film.

Production

The transitions used are mainly cuts but also include a lot of fades in and out from black. The cinematography is used in a fantastic way showing the location in a good light and making the whole setting and characters look incredible. This was probably partly done through the use of filters to bring out certain colours in a certain way.

Audience

The way the trailer is edited (especially with the incidental music) makes the film seem quite scary. However, the storyline (using red riding hood) would imply the audience is more children. This, is not the case and I myself would say it was for teenagers and up because some themes are too mature for children but the concept of the film isn't extremely complicated or mature.

Representations

The main protagonist appears to be a female (red riding hood). This protagonist seems to subvert the image of a typical feminine 'girly' girl as she very much gets involved in all of the action whilst dressing in feminine clothes.

Twilight (2008) - Teaser Trailer Research // Summer 2014

The Narrative Structure

The narrative structure is pretty typical as it follows the pattern of introducing the main characters and then showing a couple of crucial situations to the film but not giving away enough information so that you no longer need to see the film.

Genre of Film

The genre of this film is vampire-themed fantasy romance and this is easily established through various two shots of the two characters who probably like each other. (therefore giving away the romantic element). As well as this in the trailer it becomes clear to the audience that some of the characters are vampires and as you see one character fly, an element of fantasy is definitely involved.

Production

Various shots are used (CU, LS, etc), this gives a nice variety for the audience. The length of shots decrease as the intensity of the trailer increases.

Audience

The audience is easily teenagers as the majority of them tend to easily connect with the romance aspect and the fact that it has a fantasy element broadens the potential target audience to people who enjoy fantasy as well.

Representations

The relationship shown in the trailer shows the male as the more overpowering partner physically as he carries her as he flies away. This is pretty typical for a boy to be stronger than a girl.

Shaun Of The Dead (2004) - Teaser Trailer Research // Summer 2014

The Narrative Structure

- Two characters talking with the silhouette of a zombie appearing in the background (hitting the window) as the shot blacks out.
- A voice-over of a newsreader describing the zombie situation plays over clips of the main character walking around and seeing zombie-related things (e.g. blood hand prints on a glass door).
- Various short clips are quickly edited together of the two characters attacking various zombies in various situations.
- This is interspersed with text.

Genre of Film

The genre of the film is easily described as a zombie comedy. This is shown through the sheer amount of zombies in the teaser trailer and how they easily dominate over the humans. Incidental music is used throughout that speeds up as the shots get quicker. This helps to build suspense giving pleasure to the part of the audience who enjoys a good horror. Louder music is then played when the characters are attacking the zombies which gives a nice contrast to the music before.

Production

The length and type of shot varies. As well as this some camera movements are used such as tracking. This gives a good variety so that the audience doesn't get bored and is more likely to watch the film. I particularly like the main transition used throughout which is fading from black and then fading to black. This gives a kind of 'heartbeat' effect which I intend to use in my trailer.

Audience

The video is for young adults but could also easily appeal to older adults and teenagers.

Representations

A typical representation used is the unlikely protagonist. (In this case there are two of them). These characters do not look like typical people to kill zombies as one of them is a little overweight and the other is pretty skinny however they do became good protagonists as the film progresses.

- shot by shot analysis

 

 

Zombieland (2009) - Teaser Trailer Research // Summer 2014

The Narrative Structure

- Introduces main idea of the film almost instantly (as a zombie enters the shot).
- This is then followed by the introduction of the protagonist who has survived during this zombie apocalypse so far.
- A comedic voice-over of various rules to avoid being killed by zombies is heard with corresponding clips.
- Other characters are introduced through the rules.
-It ends with the title of the film.

Genre of Film

The genre of the film is established through various icons such as gore and weapons. As well as this desolate scenes with one or two people walking around makes it seem familiar to people who have already seen zombie apocalypse films. Very little text is used until the end however incidental music adds a feel-good atmosphere which obviously shows that the genre is horror mixed with comedy.

Production

Various types of shots are used from XLS to close ups. The only transition used is a cut and the clips are edited mainly in a way to quickly show lots of clips to get a quick idea of what the film is about. An interesting effect used a lot that I quite like is the use of slow motion to accentuate moments in the clips (e.g. a zombie attacking a human).

Audience

The target audience for the video is most likely young adults. However, it could also easily appeal to other adults or teenagers who are interested in the genre.

Representations

The most obvious representation is how the protagonist is probably your typical unlikely hero who savers the day despite being weak looking and intelligent instead of typically handsome. This is contrasted with the strong, masculine person who ends up with the protagonist. This, much larger man provides an interesting contrast.

Can you ever be truly original with a trailer or are they all generic? - Initial Research // Summer 2014

I think you can have an original concept for a film but it is likely that the way you edit the teaser trailer will conform to one of the main structures. This is because these structures have been proven to work effectively so it wouldn't make sense to do something that possibly will not work.

Structures Of Trailers Today - Initial Research // Summer 2014

- ones that tell a clear narrative
- ones that use the genre to their advantage to entice people who enjoy that genre to watch it
- ones using marquee names or franchises
- ones designed to raise more questions or seem confusing deliberately

Genre Specific Conventions - Initial Research // Summer 2014

What Conventions Do All Trailers Share? - Initial Research // Summer 2014

• A variety of shots.
• Gives away some element of the storyline.
• Either introduces characters or shows very little to create mystery.
• Shows the title of the film and either 'Coming Soon' or the release date.

What Does A Teaser Trailer Do? - Initial Research // Summer Term 2014

The job of a teaser trailer is as I said to 'tease' the audience. It lets them know that the film is coming in the future and helps to create an initial fan base for the film.

Over the last decade new technologies have had a big impact on distribution and exhibition. Digital distribution is now possible and the audience can consume films in a variety of ways and have a choice when viewing it at the cinema (iMax, Multiplex, 3D, etc.).

The History of a Teaser Trailer - Initial Research // Summer 2014

November 1913 - First trailer shown in U.S film theatre for the musical The Pleasure Seekers.

1914 - Trailer material was shown for an upcoming motion picture which featured Charlie Chaplin. It used a slide technique.

Up till the late 1950s - Trailers mostly created by National Screen Service. They consisted of key scenes from the film and described the story with an underscore.

Early 1960s - Textless, montage trailers and quick-editing became popular.


This information was found from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_(promotion)

A Teaser Trailer; What Is It? - Initial Research // Summer Term 2014

A teaser trailer is the first trailer for a film that is released and 'teases' the audience giving them a small amount of information (over a smaller amount of time) so that they want more. This is partly because they are in earlier stages of production so have less footage to work with but also because they want to create mystery for the audience and not give too much away. Teaser trailers are also generally made by films with a potential tent pole audience as they will have a bigger budget and the potential to easily create more hype (and therefore get a larger following for the film).

This is generally followed by either a TV spot or a theatrical trailer.

A TV spot is similar to a teaser trailer as they are generally pretty short.

A theatrical trailer is much longer than a teaser trailer and gives the audience the idea of the story as more shots are shown and the general idea of the plot is more in depth.