Shot Composition

The other day in our media lesson we were given the task of creating a number of shots based on what was around us (shot composition) and we had to film these. We did this last year for AS and the reason we are doing it again is to give us more of an understanding about framing shots and using the props around us when filming. We had to frame four different shots and we could use any location within the school for this and we were not allowed to get any more props apart from what was at the filming location.

Firstly we had to do a dentists waiting room we did this by going in to the reception area and we all sat down on the seats and we had someone walking through going to sit in the seat whilst filling out a form. This was quite successful as you didn't really have a clue that we were actually filming in a school reception. The props we used were books, flowers and pen/paper.

The next frame was a romantic date in a cafe. We used the staff garden as there was a picnic bench, mug and a newspaper for us to use. Two of us sat on the the bench with one person looking through the newspaper and the other person drinking from the mug. The two characters were looking into one anther's eyes and holding hands. I think this one worked quite well because the camera focused on the holding hands and the gazing into one anther's eyes.

The third frame was a busy office. We went to the school office and filmed them through the window. This one was not as effective as the others due to the fact we didn't have anyone really doing anything in it. We also didn't get a chance to use any props in this frame. To make the busy office frame better we thought we could have had someone walk into the office and interact with some of the office staff. This would have given us the chance to use props and get a better angle as we could have followed them down the corridor next to the office before they entered it.

The final frame we filmed was supposed to be waiting at a train station. I think this was one of our best ones due to the fact it genuinely looked as if it was at a station platform. We filmed this in the staff car park up against a high metal fence with spikes on the top. In the frame we had a light which made it look like it also had the station name attached to it. We had to characters in this one. The first was leaning up against the lamp post as if he was bored waiting for the train and the second was holding his tickets/phone and as he goes to answer he drops his tickets and this makes it look more realistic. The props we used were train tickets and the lamp post. In order to improve this frame we had some feedback given to us this was that we could have included a voice over of either someone stating that the train was arriving or another type of announcement they use at train stations like when you leave unattended baggage or no smoking etc.

I think this task has made everyone more aware of what we need to look out for when filming and that we can't have any aspect of a school or someones house it the teaser trailers. Overall this was a successful task.

Mood Board 2 - Initial Ideas

Mood Board 2

Mood Board 1 - Initial Ideas

I have created some mood boards to show some initial ideas that I have. Some of these come from other films where as some of the elements ar emy own idea.

Mood Board 1



This mood board shows the different aspects of horror films. The first two images I used are of woodlands. I chose these because ideally I would like to set my film in the woods as I think it creates a good effect. The next couple of images I chose are of a crucifix, a blood splatter and a flickering street lamp. I chose the crucifix because I think alot of people associate this with horror films, the flickering lamp because it will create suspense and tension if the camera keeps going back to the light. It will be a good effect if I can find one of these when filming for my media teaser trailer. The blood is generally associated with most horror films and I think I will need some aspect of this in my teaser trailer. The next three images are of possible locations for filming. In a childrens playground with the swing, an old car garage with an old car and then a cemetery with a long row of headstones facing the camera. The last three images are of a security camera, train tracks and a lady with some scary eyes. I chose the security camera because I can add an effect at the end to make it look like some of the footage is filmed through a security camera with the date/time stamp in the corner. The train tracks becuase trains are often asssociated with speed and I would like my trailer to be fast paced in certain parts.

Paranormal Activity 2 - Teaser Trailer Analysis

Seeing as I am quite interested in doing a horror film I thought I would analyse another horror film. This film has just been released in the cinema and it is a sequel of Paranormal Activity.

The audience can tell that this is a horror film due to the fact there is dark clours and white noise is used quite a bit (white noise is the noise when a TV screen is blaks and just fuzzy). We also get to see the footage from the hand held camera which is shown throughout the film.

We do not know much about the plot at all. If the audience have seen the previous film then they may know some of what is about to happen however if not they will only know as much as they have seen in the teaser. All the audience my know from the trailer is the woman (the main character) is possessed and she is possibly putting the others in the house in great danger.

The unique selling point of the film is in my opinion the way they have pieced together the different footage whether it is the hand held type or the security camera style footage filmed through the alarm sensors. And the way it shows what time the footage was taken e.g. 23:45 - 14/07/06.

As the film is a horror film I would suggest the target audeince is people aged between 15 and 30. There is no music throughout the trailer apart from the noises when the camera switched between shots. There is a mix of high angle shots, mid shots and low angle shots. This makes the film more realistic and in keeping with the whole security camera feel to it.

I think that there is a new type of film that the public wan't to watch. This being the hand held home footage type. Therefore I may have to consider this when doing some more planning for my teaser trailer.
The titles hold the trailer together, they manage to speak to the audience give information and they continue from one scene to the next. They reveal the title of the film, release date and previous information of the prequel.

In my opinion 'Paranormal Activity 2' trailer really does show how grasping and attracting a teaser trailer can be using the shots and times that they have used. It is what makes the viewers want to go and watch the film and it makes it more of an immersive viewing experience for them.

Research and Planning - To Do List

Once I have completed these tasks I will mark next to each one to show it is complete.

- Upload and analyse a variety of teaser trailers (Complete)
- Film treatment
- Storyboard teaser trailer (Complete)
- Mood Board of Ideas (Complete)
- Images of costumes and props
- Mind map / List of different genres (Complete)
- Initial ideas (Complete)
- Upload music ideas
- Draft script if theres dialogue (Complete)
- Upload and analyse practice scenes
- Visit and get images of location (Complete)

Teaser Trailer Questionnaire

Here's a questionnaire I designed for my Teaser Trailer.

I will distribute these between my peers and then people outside of my school. The main reason in creating this is to gain more of an undestanding of what peple want to watch and how often etc.

Once I have seen all of the results I will collate them and then analyse them in detail.

1. What sort of teaser trailers attracts your attention when you see them?
- Full of action with big effects used
- Mysterious teasers that don’t give much away
- Teasers that reveal far too much plot when seen
- High quality teasers that look great
- Teaser trailer whereby you recognise either the actors starring in it or the director and producer.

2. In your opinion what is the ideal length of a teaser trailer?
- 30 Seconds
- 60 Seconds
- 90 Seconds
- Longer

3. Are you Male or Female?
- Male
- Female

5. What kind of music is more suitable in a teaser trailer?
- Fast paced music
- Slow paced music
- Music that sounds happy and up beat
- Sad gothic music
- No music at all

6. Would you and have you ever gone to see a film just based on the teaser trailer?
- Yes
- No

7. What is your age?
- 10-18
- 19-24
- 25-30
- 31-40
- 41-50
- 50+

8. How often do you watch a horror film?
- Never at all
- Once every few years
- Once a year
- Once every 3 months
- Once a month
- Once every fortnight
- Once a week
- More often than once a week

9. What is your favourite genre film?
- Horror
- Action
- Thriller
- Comedy
- Romance
- Sci-Fi
- Cartoon
- Family
- Other

10. What is your favourite horror film?
______________________________
11. What influences you to watch a film?
_________________________________
12. Do you watch teaser trailers before you find out about the flms release?
_________________________________

Super 8 Teaser Trailer Analysis

After watching the Super 8 trailer you can clearly see thy have used very quick editing this then gives us an idea that the film be an action fim. The audience are enticed in to watch more by a large explosion which keeps you on the edge o your seat at all times waiting to find out what happens next in the clip.

The music used in the trailers used to create suspense just like the majority of other teaser trailers.

The creators of Super 8 trailer are also making the viewers aware of the fact that the director JJ Abrams has also directed Cloverfield nd created the Lost TV series. And then the producer Steven Spielberg who is also wll known for his films such as Jaws and E.T. This will therfore excite the sci-fi / action film fans. In the titles you see the fact that area 51 was closed in 1979 this gives us a clue to when the film was set and the type of film that you are about to watch because if you know about area 51 you will realise that it is well known for spotting extra terrestrial life.

Something also seems to be alive on the train, it isn't part of the human species as the titles refers to it as 'it' this means that it may not have a gender so isn't human.

Super 8 has different meanings and different people interpret it in different ways.

The Social Network - Teaser Trailer Analysis

This film is all about the social networking site Facebook. It is based on the university life of Mark Zuckerberg, the inventor of Facebook and it focuses on the fact that he invented Facebook and shows us the journey he edeavoured to get it to this stage in the World Wide Web.

This teaser traier doesn't really reveal a lot of the story or the plot however it reveals who the main character is an portrays to us some of his characteristics.

There is hadly any images use within tis teaser. The main reason behind this is I think that they on't want to reveal toomuch information before the man trailer release closer the actual flm release date. All you see is a terribly out of focus image of him which slowly zooms out to become a more clearer image of him. Over th top of this image you see words flash up whilst the vice over is talking. These are some of the key wod picked out from wht the narrator is saying for example "Genius" they use this to show that the gut who is creating Facebook is a genius, another one being "Traitor" as they are talking about suing him for 'stealing' the inital concept before he adapted this to his own liking and one of the last phrases to flash up is "You don't get to 500 million friends, without making a few enemies" which tells us that he ha had to undergo a tough journey to get where he is today. At then end the last thing we see is "The Social Network" and then "October" it then displays the web address below which again gives us the idea they are trying to get s to further our knowledge about the film by looking this up thtough their viral marketing campaign.

I think the unique selling point of this film is the rie of facebookad how it is known so well globally. This film i believe has a very large target audience from young teens wo use Facebook regularly to the older generation who perhaps want to find out why Facebok was fist created.

2012 - Teaser Trailer Analysis

This film (2012) is classed as a sci-fi, revoling around the end of the world which is caused by torrential floods covering the whole world in the year 2012. They try to make it like nothing any population has seen to date.

The music that the have used in the film helps create tension perfectly! And it makes the whole viewin experience more immersive.

The majorty of the angles and shots used within 2012 are used in order to create even more suspense than you imagine. They use a close ups of fast paced events, therefore enforcing a panic for the viewer. Then they use extreme close ups of actors faces to show the emotions between them. Teaser trailers are usually fast paced and quick howver I found ths one to be edited together quite slowly!

Where they have been used special effects have been used well. They are used when the waves come crashing down over the mountain tops.



The creditsand inter titles are all in the same font. At the end you see it says "Google Search:2012"

they get you to research this, the main reason that they do this is to create a lot of hype and tension about the film and get people searching for this online which I believe to be the unique selling point of the film.

UP - Teaser Trailer Analysis

'UP' by Disney's PIXAR, aplies all ofthe conventions of a teaser trailer in it. It doesn't reveal any of the storyline and it only lasts around 60 seconds. This is one of the only teaser trailers I have found that is below 60 seconds long and still shows the basic conventions.

The main purpose of this trailer is to try and attract an audience by making them intrigued by what is happening and to idetify what genre the film is. UP teaser trailer doesnt reveal alot. All you see is a bunch of balloons flying up into the sky and attached to the bottom of them is a house with an old an standing on the balcony. He says "Good Afternoon" after this we see UP appear from underneath the clouds. This shows the release date and that the film is being shown in 3D.

This is aimed at a younger audience and I fully believe this meets expctations of a teaser trailer for this particulr age range.

Preliminary Task - Therfield Teaser

I have completed my preliminary task (Therfield Teaser Trailer) however I cannot upload this due to the fact that my school does not allow you to access Adobe Premiere Elements from other computers other than in the media studies room.

I will upload this when I have a chance to use these computers later in the week or early next week!

Coursework Genre Ideas

I have spent time researching the different conventions that each genre should have. I first put these ideas into a mind map and then as you can see below I have broadened my research into more detail.

Horror
- Hand held camera work
- Makes viewer feel like their in the film
- Gory
Guts
Often lots of blood
- Killings
- Suicide
- Homicide
- Murder
- Often brutal and inhumane
- Often no dialogue used at all during teasers
- Tense music followed by screams and cries for help
- Often show a character being intimidated by another character

Chick Flick / Rom-com
- Often follow a relationship between a male and female
- Show a link between the two of them whether this is a strong or weak link depends on specific films.

Drama
- Often very story based and the trailer always has to show the elements that appear in the film without telling the actual story
- Show elements of the lifestyle they live in

Musical
- Often a small community of people grouped together to form a 'family'

Cartoon / Animations
- Animations
- Often popular with young children
- Usually big names are watched by a wide variety of people e.g. Simpsons, Wallace and Gromit

Comedy
- Slow shots used
- Something big usually happens before the main story
- Very humorous

Action / Adventure
- Often exciting stories
- Usually contain searches or expeditions
- Searches for the unknown
- Common features in action films
Guns
Cars
Men in suits
Fast paced Cuts throughout the film
Women

Thriller
- Provides thrills
- Keeps the audience hanging in suspense
- Plot builds to a quick climax before the end of the film
- Life is threatened in dangerous situations
- Often filmed in a 'normal' suburb or city
- Getting increasingly influenced by the horror genre due to more gore and sadistic violence

Science Fiction
- Often mainly Computer Generated Images (CGI)
- Fiction stories

Scream 4 - Teaser Trailer Analysis

This is the teaser trailer for Scream 4. This is the fourth film in the series.

It is directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. Although the film is now 10 years on it still stars Neve Campbell as SIdney Prescott, David Arquette as Sheriff Dewey Riley and Courtney Cox as Gale Weathers Riley. These are the only returning characters from the original films.

Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Narrative:
Representation:
Audience: 18
Media Language:

Saw 3D - Teaser Trailer Analysis

The reason I chose to analyse this film is because I think it is a good example of a horror film and I am hoping to do a teaser trailer for a horror film for my coursework.

This is the teaser trailer for Saw 3D, this is the first Saw film to be shot in 3D technology.

The definition of a teaser trailer

A teaser trailer is a sequence of short moving images put together to advertise an upcoming media product, such as a film, video game or television programme. It is usually between 30 and 90 seconds, which is relatively shorter than a theatrical trailer. Containing little, if any footage from the actual film, it doesn't target to reveal the plot. They're normally released a long time before the media product comes out, hence the term 'teaser'.