Casting list

I contacted many people to find out if they would like to be in some of my footage and main actor. I decided to take images and narrow them down to girls and boys then, through filming, see who worked best.
These are a selection of the people I photographed.

This is a notes page I created whilst thinking about which person to use. I decided that the males would be more stereotypical for my genre and style and therefore focused more on the males and then short listing them.

Practice shot

In this shot i wanted to get the feel of someone being alone. Someone standing still with the whole world moving quickly around them. I did a shot at school of some people walking around to use in imovie to practice what i could use on my final clip that would look effective. Here is my first practice.

My photos

To start getting a feel for what I was trying to achieve in my teaser trailer- I used resources I already had around me to make up a slide show of images that could be flashed up in between my teaser trailer to create a electric/ psychological feel overall. The background music is what I created playing around on Garage Band when I started to learn how to use it. I have added this in to show progress into familiarising and learning the software I will need to use to make a successful piece.

Making of the story board

To make ideas flow i used yellow post it notes to draw out shots i had imagined that could be in my trailer. I used green to add in intertitles and the titles itself or any other actions or sound where it would be more dramatic then others.
I then used these to put together several ideas of ways the story board could flow or would it be better to not have things that linked and make it like a puzzle you had to wire together.

I also then thought of the overall feel this may have and came up with psychological science style with wires involved to reinforce the thought are we wired up to be criminals or different or just nature doing it to us. I then decided to use a digital camera to take pictures of science equipment which may relate and may be good, with the right use of light, to have flashed up throughout the trailer.

my story board First ideas

Frozen

This trailer works well as a quick teaser as it doesn't give anything away about how they get up there, why they are still there and what will happen within the film as it doesn't seem like an advanced plot. I think the way the voice over works with certain dialogue for the characters is interesting and works really well to help create a fast pace and tension. Fast pace is a key thing for a teaser trailer i feel short clips work better then having scenes from the story as you don't have enough time to explain the main film plot- just include effective scenes which will make the audience think.

Inception

This trailer is one of the most effective i have seen with the logo at the start linking to the theme of buildings and another world. I really like how it doesn't use voice overs or dialect just diegetic sounds with a effective sound track. The sound track creates tension from the first beat at the start with the zoom in effect as if it were coming for you just like the film is. This is what the inter-titles do as well and with the tilt on the writing reflects the story line but this is about as much as it gives away. The only thing they use to sell the film is directors of the dark knight- meaning that the teaser trailer draws the most attention and will make people want to no more. To do this is 1 minute 3 seconds makes this one of my favourite trailers.

I have done a step by step analysis of the trailer. I wanted to do this to look more into certain conventions and what messages a director can portray using limited scenes and dialogue.


Media trailer

My final thoughts for the trailer (Informal)

Here is what I have come up with for shot ideas and what I generally want to create.
I want to have the structure of slow shots. Starting with the science equipment, newspaper articles and the lighting of candles. Then a shot of the collage of pictures of the boy who is trapped on the wall and him coming face to face with it. Then the guy wiring the bomb and laying out the rest of the candles.
To speed up the shots in the middle I need to think of other things that could relate to this story line. To then end with a black hand finishing the wiring of the man inter title WIRED then a close up of the man strapped to the chair trying to break out then the sound of the candle being blown out.
Coming soon to follow after (or a date).

Practice shots & Practice with software

These are two clips I put together based on some themes of my initial ideas posted before.
I used Imovie to edit- getting used to speeding up clips, slowing them down, changing the colour and putting music over them

I used garage band for the music and recorded myself on piano playing hometown glory.
With clip 2, I wanted to see what dialouge could sound like in the trailer but I don't think it is very effective.

Initial idea (informal.)

For my first idea i was thinking of looking into the psychological thriller films which make people think similar to inception, the others and frozen. I thought about looking at the concept that are we born in a destructive or is it our environment and situations that make us who we are.

It would start with him wired up to a chair in the dark with his eyes on focus framing the shot. Would then zoom out and see the hand breaking away from the chair to release himself then dissolve to black. The inter titles would then read something about being destructive and show scenes of his past times- cheating girlfriends, family abuse, him in crimes etc.

Challenges the idea of is it the stuff that happens to you that causes you to go "off the rails."

After thinking more about this it would be to difficult to go that much into a plot going back into his past in a 30-60 second clip. I still really like this idea of having someone that feels different, or someone that is highly analysed within the film.

A further idea I had was to have a little girl talking to a dolly as if it were her imaginary friend. Then show the break down of the older girl versions life growing up with this voice she thinks is real. It would be more like a drama/ thriller then something psychological.
I am going to do a few practice shots relating to this, just to get use to the recording process, and adding music in and editing speeds and colors of the clips.

Genre Powerpoint

Genre presentation

View more presentations from Aimee.

Presentation2

View more presentations from Aimee Deegan.

My top 3 trailers.

Whilst looking into teaser trailers I didn’t want to narrow my choices of genre down straight away so instead I decided to go for my top 3 trailers from each genre of film based on how much they make me want to watch the film, find out more or simply one I want to keep watching!

My favourite trailer 500 days of summer


I just really like the general feel throughout. The start with the couple and the voice over explaining this film isn’t going to be the typical romantic comedy you expect. In this trailer the voice over works particularly well as addressing the target audience- girls who like these films and with the list of emotions you can go through during your relationship or liking someone.
And the clips from the film are edited together in a fast pace fitting in with what is being read with the voice over. The main actors are named and shown which helps with face recognition if you don’t recognise the names. The upbeat music and popular song at the time of release only makes you smile watching the trailer and you can tell it will be a feel good film. The whole look of it and genre being quirky and indie style and still not giving to much about the story away make this a very successful, fun and memorable teaser trailer.



Number 2- Twilight


This is my favourite for editing techniques.
The fast pace keeps you intreged and you want to find out more about what happens. The music isn’t to overpowering yet works with the edit techniques. However I don’t like that this trailer used dialogue from the actors as I think it weakens it and instead of creating a mix of what happens in the story line it shows blocks of scenes with no room for guessing.

Number 3- the silent house (low budget)



This is one of my favourite teaser trailers I came across as it shows a variety of lighting, camera angles and sounds. It also doesn’t look to glamourous and high budget to do. After thinking of my initial ideas I wanted to just get a collection of teaser trailers that would fit to a style I would like to achieve. It fits conventions of a teaser trailer as well as breaks them. It is a continuous camera roll throughout the film yet the clips have been edited for a fast pace effect and to limit what is given away in the story line.

What is a Teaser Trailer?

A teaser trailer is primarily used to advertise and rase awareness for an upcoming Film, television program, video game, or product. As the intention is to grab attention, teasers are normally between 30-90 seconds and contain bits of footage from the film. Released usually well in advance before the film to create hype and tension and get everyone ready for the begining of the release or even making of the film giving it time to get pulicised. An example of this could be alice in wonderland which was released a year before it was out.

Also superman had a teaser trailer released after the film release date was moved which was used to remind audience and make them wait. After researching conventions of a teaser trailer using www.filmeducation.org the basic aim needed during the trailer is:

• Make you aware that the film will be opening in the future
• Make you aware of who is in the film
• Make you aware of the genre of the film
• Give you an idea of the story of the film.

• It is also used to create awareness such as
• When will the film open?
• What type of film is it?
• Who is in it?
• What other films that you have either seen or heard of feature these stars?

Sound tracks.

For my piece it is very important not to have copyrighted tracks so the best way to get around this is by using programs such as garage band

Other things to think about are the spoken word whether its from the actor or a voice over which i will have to look out for in other trailers.

For soundtrack music I will have to think of the way the music sets a mood and what it sets out for you. At the same time it should be constant and fit the genre well.

Introduction to media Alevel

For this half of my A2 level, i have decided to create a promotion package for a new film which will consist of research, plan and film my own teaser trailer. Along with this, i will need to create ancillary products such as a filming for the final products being poster and a magazine front cover (or a web page). I will need to make sure that all of these link together and have the same theme.

I will spend my research time looking into genres of films and connotations of a trailer. My overall film should be about a minute long.

This blog is a way to record and evaluate my stages and final pieces.