Deciding On Target Audience.

During this piece of research I will identify and specify who our targeted audience is.

Age.
Our targeted audience's age group would differ from the mid teens to twenties (15-20 years old). This is because we feel that this age groups enjoys horror films due to the massive amount gained during an adrenaline rush. It is easy for me to know this because I am 17 so in the center of the targeted audience gap, knowing how teenagers usually react to horror/scary films.

Gender
Our targeted audience's gender could potentially be both male, and female however i would swing more to a majority of the viewers/audience would be male viewers simply because they tend to prefer this genre of film and watch it more frequently,

To concludeI would say that our film trailer would be aimed specifically for boys with a varied age of 15-20 years old, however it could appeal to anyone.

Deciding On A Sub-Genre.

My project partner and I sat down and talked about main horror sub categories, we came up with three and narrowed it down to one, of which suited us best.

Paranormal:

The biggest strength about this sub category would be that it is the most popular globally, examples of paranormal film include: The paranormal activity series, The conjuring/Annabelle series. They are all rated highly as horror films, showing success. Also very few actors are needed making the shoots convenient, usually paranormal films are addressed around a backstory and a new family being introduced all to find out they're being haunted. The only disadvantage we found with this subcategory is that the editing phase would be very difficult, however we feel that we can succeed with it.

Monster/Alien:

Monster/Alien films are more so focused on fantasy or another genre as opposed to horror, therefore falling in success when shown in horror films as they are not very popular especially at the current time period. This could be a positive thing due to there being a fairly large gap in the film market. Like paranormal few actors would be needed to shoot this film trailer making it somewhat convenient and less confusing. To undergo the task of using Monsters and aliens for our horror film could be a big risk due to the popularity of the category in recent times. Another big effect on why this project could fail would be the editing of Computer Generate Images (CGI) to make an enemy/monster this would be incredibly difficult to produce and therefore is an option we chose to avoid.

Clown/zombies:

A good reason to do this subcategory would be because it could be fairly easy to introduce an antagonist and equip them to look like a clown/zombie, this could make filming easier as well as the actor would be unknown. A further reason to do this category of film would be because of the popularity at this current time due to the new film release in cinemas called IT. The drawback for this category/subgenre would be making it our own, in the sense that a storyline is incredibly difficult to come up with and it would be hard to make our trailer unique.

Shot Types.

Shot Types.
Establishing shot - This short is commonly used at the beginning of a scene or the opening of a film, it has a wide/high view showing everything, they're usually taken from a high angle looking down upon the city or avenue.

Long shot - A shot taken from afar showing usually a persons full body plus a minority of background, a shot used to show location/environment alongside the actor.

Mid Shot - This shot is most commonly used showing a character from the waist upwards, it is used to highlight character identities, This is the most common shot and is often used just to pass passages of time showing brief amounts of information.
Close up - A close up shot is used to experience a character's facial expressions and emotion, it is also used to highlight levels of importance when telling a story.


Extreme Close-up - An extreme close up, shows one large image of usually something quite small, for example an eye, it is used to show emotion and create tension over a period of time.

Camera angles

Camera angles and effects they can have.

High camera angle (From Above) is used to look down on someone or something, it is usually used to show dominance or importance of the object or living thing , for example a king would look over a servant etc.

Low camera angle (From Below) would be used to show the height of something or if something is unreachable or hard to obtain, also to show a lack of respect, lack of significance or lack of value.

Medium camera angle (Eye Level/Centered) this camera angle is by far the most common and can be used for no specific scenes as it is used in any ordinary scene.

Pan - A movement which scans a scene horizontally. Used to show moving objects or people in Point of view perspectives.

Tracking(Dolly) - A moving shot tracking an object or person. Gives the movement effect.

Audience Research

Audience research

Questionnaire

1. How many films do you watch a month? 0-2, 3-6, 7-10, 11 or more
2. What genre do you prefer? Please specify.
3. Do movie trailers influence the films you watch?
4. What makes a good movie trailer?
5. In a movie trailer, do you prefer fast or slow paced tension?
6. Do you enjoy horror films?
7. What setting do you feel is best? Abandoned building/area, old house, dark woods
8. Do you like realistic horrors or not?

This questionnaire would be used to give us a better understanding of what sort of audiences would watch our film trailer and enjoy it, giving a wide span of variety.

Narrative Theorists

.

Tzvetan Todorov

Todorov’s believed that there was 5 steps in each story, of which followed chronology.

The steps are as follows:

1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption
3. Realisation
4. Restored Order
5. Equilibrium

Examples of his Theory include the TV series Sherlock Holmes, and The Simpsons.

Roland Barthes.

His theory:

His objective was to Influence the development of schools of theory including the following: Structuralism, Semiotics and Social theory.

Following this he  started to narrow down the action of a piece of text into five codes can be put into any narrative, these being:

• The Hermeneutic code - the voice of the truth
• The enigma code - empirical voice.
• The semantic code - The voice of the person , additional meaning by way of connotation
• The symbolic code - Gives broader and deeper set of meaning
• The cultural code - The voice of science, looks at audiences wider cultural knowledge, morality or ideology.

Claude Levi Strauss

Levi Strauss’ theory was known as the Binary Oppositions

An example of this would be:

• Good and Bad.
• Rich or Poor.
• North vs South.

Joseph Campbell

The Hero's Journey - steps in a story

1. The ordinary world.
2. Call to adventure.
3. Refusal to the call.
4. Meeting with the mentor.
5. Crossing the threshold.
6. Tests, allies and enemies.
7. Approach.
8. Ordeal.
9. Reward.
10. Road back.
11. Resurrection.
12. Return with the elixir.

Jean-François Lyotard

He believed that knowledge was transferred through narratives and that knowledge = power.

There will always be a grand narrative, with a message given to the audience. With a story for example: A tragedy.

• Science understanding of the world through logic and what we can objectively prove.
• Religion claim to understand and be able to explain how the world works, eg christianity has the bible.

Narrative Notes.

Narrative-

• No Correct Way.
• Narrative creates layers of present and future.
• Narrative is fluid.
• Interpretive dialogue with the audience.
• Narrative is built out of events.
• The voice of narrative can vary.
• Narrative is a tale, a story of facts

1. Is what I am seeing linear?
2. What meaning is made out of diegesis?
3. What microelements best illustrate the narrative approach?
4. How do my codes add up to a narrative style or approach?
5. How does the narrative serve conflict?

Forms And Conventions Of Narrative.

FIlm Title - This is used to promote the film, giving familiarity to the audience.

Social Media - This is a somewhat new convention, as  social media has blown up, with the addition of things like facebook tagging it engages the audiences and makes it able to link between multiple people.

Age Rating - Show the age of which is required to watch the film, usually displayed at the end of the trailer or right at the beginning.

Date Of Release - The release date is announced in advance to provide consumers and other interested parties specific details regarding the release.

Music: Dramatic Music (different speeds/beats etc)

Diegetic Sounds -  Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film: voices of characters. sounds made by objects in the story.

Non-Diegetic Sounds - Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action: narrator's commentary. sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect.

Introducing Of Characters - Introducing of the characters that the audience should begin to familiarise, to try and build on the audience.

Film logo/Institution's logo - Using this will be make my work look more professional and give the audience a sense of familiarity with my work. Promotes the production company and creates a clear brand image.

Length - There are usually multiple different trailers for a film trailers and these can last from 1.5 minutes to 2 minutes on average.

Name Captions - bold letters, giving the audience a way to identify the actors name and who they’re playing during the trailer/film.

Plan.

September.

28th - Deconstruction of film trailer
29th - Additional Research

October.

3rd - Deconstruction (Ancillary, film poster)
4th - Poster Deconstruction
5th - Deconstruction (Ancillary, film poster)
6th - Additional Research
10th - Film magazine Deconstruction/Research
12th - Camera Work
13th - Poster deconstruction
17th - Poster research
18th - Film magazine Deconstruction/Research
19th - Overview/script

Introduction to A2.

Introduction to A2.

My task this year is to create a movie trailer, and complete 2 further ancillary tasks. The two tasks being a film poster and a magazine front cover both of which regarding our chosen trailer. My reason for this is that a film trailer, poster and magazine cover all suit me best, I am most excited to create the film trailer which could vary from 60 to 120 seconds because this is something new to me, and something that I have never complete before.