the trailer begins aytipically and unconventially for popular media trailers with the green audience basis screen and the institutional companies not commencing the trailer, but instead the trailer begins straight away with a scene of paper being folded, a close up angle depicting this in detail with sharp focous, which perhaps has a metaphorical meaning of something being altered, changed, distressed and turned as this is what is happening to the paper- perhaps symbolic of what is yet to come. the time warner conglomerate logo is shown for a short period of time, which acts as a USP for the film with a large company budget behind the creation, however its short screen duration arguably is purposefully to ensure the magic behind the film is not distrupted and the media companies responsible for the films creation do not take all the attention, keeping the hyperreal themes behind the film constant.
The piano keys played alongside the trailers opening juxtapose with the horror genre itself, aswell as the dark lighting of the film with high pitched keys that are slowly played in a melody rising tension. a diegetic conversation between two perceived brothers occurs as the brother helps the folding of the paper to create a ship...it is at this point that older audiences may begin to decipher that this trailer is using anecdotal/allegory style references to the 1900s Steven King IT screen box office hit. additional to this the boy running outside in a yellow raincoat further reinforces the plot from steven kings IT with the notorious yellow raincoat being a signature symbolic prop connoting horror from the prior movie.
The piano soundtrack is accompanied by diegetic rain and ambience in the trailer, the rain itself acting as a type of pathetic fallacy to darken the mood of the trailer, making it seem more sinster, upsetting and solemn. the high angle used to track the young boy as he makes his way down the street with his paper boat is effective in making the rain- a pathetic fallacy link to danger and evil- seem powerful and view the young boy as vulnerable and victimised. the high angle shot is also effective in belittling the young boy, making audiences associate with the perspective of him as vulnerable and weak.
One of the key points in the trailer, is when a jump scare is used to make audiences feel scared and on edge, toying with the uses and gratifications theory of allowing audiences to associate with charachters. the jump scare depicting a clowns face popping out from a typical drain system creates a abstract almost surreal image that would stick in audiences heads, making them feel uneasy which is what horrors are styled to do.
the credits that appear on screen stating 'from steven kings terrifying novel' effectively use the adjective terrifying to emphasise just how petrifying this horror is. It also gives context to the film, drawing in audiences from fans of the famed author. this technique is effective in adding realism to the trailer. the dark colour usage of black juxtaposing with white text almost gives a skeletal feel to the text,making it appear daunting and shadowy.
the slow paced tracking editing following round a pole with a 'missing' poster on, alongside non diegetic dialogue of a young boy talking about more people in the town going missing than the national average gives context to what the boy is talking about, and the slow paced editing allows audiences to read the text on the poster, almost as if it is a warning to audiences too aswell as the movies characters. this allows audience involvement and plays on a hyperreal crime/news idea with missing posters and crime appearance in the horror movie making it seem even more realistic.
One of the most prevalent scenes of the trailer is when a red balloon is floating by itself through a classroom. typically balloons are associated with childishness and innocence, however the slow pace of this prop especially with it being an inanimate object almost possessing animate daunting and stalking characteristics makes it seem scary to audiences similarly to the primary audience of the movie itself as all the movies characters watch this balloon. the red balloon is also a symbol watchers would associate with clowns, and the novel 'IT', its red colourings connoting something to be feared or dreaded. the repetition later on of a similar mid shot of this same balloon reinforces its stalking habits as something to be feared.
When the young boys are entering a tunnel to find a clown they have suspicion's about, the camera films the boys from a sinister angle from ahead of them, almost as if they are being watched. This rises tensions about what is going to happen with them. in this scene the lack of any natural lighting, only their torchlight makes the whole environment seem especially dangerous, and the torch flare pointing at the camera blurring audiences visuals makes the scene unclear and uneasy.
the interrogative 'what are you afraid of?' appearing in credits onscreen directly addresses viewers and is a technique of direct mode of address with the second person pronoun usage that we would aim to include in our own movie trailer to reel audiences into the action. effectively these credits along with the ending credits in the final scene appear on the screen alongside the sound of a camera shutter click, effectively portraying the movie and its credits as if it has been captured like a realistic and truth withholding documentary style film. the shutter click also uses relational editing to the scene in the trailer when the boys are looking at family images on a projector screen, which makes this noise almost daunting and feared as it is associated throughout the trailer with the clown.
Divergent, being a sci fi genre movie, didn't automatically appeal to us when considering the genre for our own created trailer as conventionally sci fi movies popularly use fierce CGI and multi million pound editing and shots to create a warped science based or dystopian alter world. This hence would mean we would require more technical advanced technological software to use than premier elements. however, sci fi trailer analysis, with sci fi being one of the most popular genres of the 21st century attract huge audience appeal- and hence we wanted to cultivate some of these conventions for our own trailer to attract audience appeal.
the beginning of the trailer commences with a blurred shallow focus shot of a barley field, depicting with natural sunlit lighting a serene natural environment not appearing to adhere to conventions of sci fi. the short milli seconds that contribute to the duration of this establishing shot display a setting for the trailer of somewhere peaceful, setting an equilibrium audiences perceive/presume will be distrupted. relational editing with the strands/stalks of the barley is edited with a fade to relationally link to strands of falling hair, also blurred with a shallow focus shot. this enables there to be a link with whoever is having their hair cut, and the barley fields, suggesting a character at one with nature, serene and natural and a possible protagonist for the film. The following close up of the females hairdo with a sharp focus taking account of minor detail creates an enigma as audiences are intrigued as to who this female actually is. the repeated shots of this female including a reflective shot metaphorically connoting self reflection reinforce this female is our protagonist, and shots follow in a linear chronological order her progress through events in the trailer. Her face is absent of makeup and her surroundings in the deep focus shots reinforce her simplicity, atypical and unconventional of sci fi films which often feature sci fi costume, makeup and surroundings. juxtaposing this however is the following scene, introduced with a fade effect that features an establishing shot of a cityscape of sky scrapers and towering buildings, a conventional sci fi setting.
the fantastical usage of CGI and computerised imagery when the female is in a cuboid filled with water suggests themes of dream, the supernatural and defeating science which are typical traits of sci fi movies. The sound usage here of tension rising snares and synthetic sounds reinforce the drama that is taking place.
the ambiguous title of the movie itself- divergent, is exemplified when a woman tells our protagonist her fraction wasn't deciphered, she does not belong to a society/group of people in her dystopian futuristic society and she is hence divergent. finding this enigma out so early on in the trailer allows audiences to want to discover more about the plot, after already being let in on a secret of the plot.
the shot of the girl falling from a high up skyscraper ledge is one of the most effective shot usages in the trailers entirety as alongside the techno heart racing rendition playing as an audio, it creates a feared scene that would scare audiences, especially those afraid of heights- one of the worlds most popular fears/phobias. the usage of a skyscraper edge/ledge almost metaphorically puts audiences on this same edge of tension.
The short shot of a male in conversation with our protagonist saying 'welcome to dentals' hints at a potential sub plot, or plot B with a love interest included in the trailer. This makes the film seem especially intriguing as a hybrid genre plot is suggested which would draw in wider audiences not just males typically for sci fi or females for romance.
The close up shot of a gun barrel loading and the male character preparing weaponry introduces a dark side to the movie, contrasting with the barley field setting the film began with. this allows there to be a disequilibrium created.
one of the main trailer dialogue quotes 'if you want to survive, follow me' creates a tensious atmosphere for audiences who would be intrigued to find out the dangers the characters face and if they eventually do survive, the lack of any ambience or other sounds when this is diegetically said reinforces it even more, and the personal pronoun usage actually makes audiences almost feel just as targeted as the female.
the final montage that cumulates the ending of the trailer uses juxtaposing shots of scenes of intimacy atop a skyscraper with the characters kissing, as well as scenes of fast paced action and high emotion packed scenes. the montage helps to give snippets about the plot away without revealing its entirety and leaving audiences with enigmas to decipher.
the trailer begins with a trio of media large scale famed institutions central to the screen in the middle third, depicting warner brothers, new line cinema and the famed trade mark lion institutional logo. this technique of commencing the trailer with such unique selling points as the large scale institutions would draw in audiences who are interested in the large budget film from renown media conglomerates. this would be a technique perhaps less necessary and useful as a USP to our own trailer creation as flaunting low budget small scale independent firms we have created ourselves to represent our trailer would perhaps divert interest for our film.
After the media conglomerate trio of logos, non diegetic sound usage of a conversation with a high pitched sounding female talking to another male commences, creating a positive tone with her soothing dialogue usage. This is further emphasised through not only the audio of the conversation but picturesque idyllic visuals with establishing shots of a green heavenly location of rolling hills, allowing audiences to fit to Maslow's needs of escaping from daily troubles and woes and be in a location of serene happiness. the high frequency natural lighting additionally enables the warm and natural location to be emphasised to express something natural and hyper real- allowing audiences to relate to the location and be involved in the reality of the film.
the fade editing technique used to divert from the birds eye establishing shot of the countryside location connoting nature and purity leads to a long shot inside an internal setting of a job centre- with the use of mise en scene with the prop of the job centre sign giving away this location. this contrast of scenery gives the trailer depth, and shows a primary and secondary setting keeping audiences interested.
the over the shoulder shots between the job centre worker and the female allow audiences to become engrossed in the conversation, particularly with the shot reverse shot editing allowing audiences to feel part of the interaction and hence relate to the female protagonist very early on- fitting with blumler and katz uses and gratifications theory of being able to associate with the characters. relative to mise en scene the costume choice of the female protagonist with a fluffy jumper coordinated with a plaited hairdo and the lilac pastel colours of her attire reinforces an almost childish innocence making the protagonist fitting to the archetypes of a stereotypical romantic lover in the media, linking to the likes of the fault in our stars and the notebook.
the tactical uses of Emilia Clarke by producers and directors as the prevalent female protagonist is effectively flaunted in the trailer with almost every camera shot and scene featuring her. With her millions of Facebook, Instagram and twitter fans as one of the most famed female actors this almost creates a viral marketing campaign intertwining jean boudrillards idea of hyper reality with some of Emilia Clarkes real genuine characteristics as a ditsy feminine individual being expressed through her role in this film. Also after her juxtaposing role as a mythical queen in HBO series game of thrones, audiences and fans of Emilia would be intrigued by this parallel role.
The film begins to introduce a piano ambient soundtrack to assist in creating a romantic environment for the trailer, coinciding with the protagonists dialogue which begins to allow audiences to assume the film is a hybrid genre with romance and comedy when the female suggests 'um i've never done it but I'm sure I could learn' when questioned about her caregiving experience. short humorous snippets of diegetic dialogue and conversation allow audiences to begin to get to know their female character, and almost metaphorically fall in lover with her character and her presence, relating to her lover in the film.
the constant usage of natural lighting throughout the trailers entirety reinforces the romantic serenity and realism of the film, creating an almost idyllic dream like state of which audiences would wish they lived in. the lack of editing too reinforces the natural themes of the film, however subtle minor scale editing such as the slow motion usage of editing when the female is running through hospital doors to reinforce themes of greif, death and sadness to the storyline- which alongside the romantic themes enable the film to be a drama as well as a sad female orientated audience film.
Effectively the majority of the shots used are in fact close ups and match on action and shot reverse shots to depict conversation. this romantic trailer is especially adapted to this movies plot as typically conventions of romance trailers would be majority of long shots suggestive of body language as romance is built on body language and emotions between characters however here the man in the relationship is in fact paralysed and cannot show any body language hence the close ups and frequent dialogue usage express his emotion more, arguably giving a more intimate portrayal of a relationship.
The upsetting and distressing themes in the trailer, for example when non diegetic dialogue of the male saying 'I promised my parents six months and that's what I have given them' as well as hospital scenery allows audiences to connect with the film on an emotional level, as well as a social level with themes to discuss and talk about. the emotional themes revolving around the male protagonists disability and his euthanasia requests tugs on the heart strings of viewers who will feel like they are obliged to find out the males fate.
the effective usage of the male protagonist looking out of his window, gives a sense of physical and metaphorical self reflection. this enables audiences to recognise that the films plot will revolve around this male protagonists life, The effective shot without the filming cameras in the reflection only the males reflection and face creates cinema magic and makes the process seem realistic and relatable.
the credits 'live bodly' 'live well' 'just live' associate with audiences on a textual level, almost using subtle direct mode of address with these imperative phrases teaching a moral lesson on how to live your life.
the cyclical/ronda structure of the trailer with in the first minute of the trailer the female explaining how she used to love her bumble bee tights to her presumed lover, and she receives these as a gift at a presumed birthday party makes the trailer have structure and depth, as well as already giving away hints of the storyline making audiences want to uncover more.
The idea of producing a drama trailer appealed to me in a bias perspective as dramatized movies are my favourite movie genre, and hence I felt like my experience in the industry through being an avid watcher of many drama films would assist me in producing a drama, however, dramas as a film genre require deep context, well thought storylines and plots that are given an insight to throughout the trailers and ancillary texts and for my media project I was more inclined to want to boast my media skills through camera usage, editing and account of the technical elements rather than considering a storyline as priority. the girl with the dragon tattoo, the trailer I am about to analyse, was Inspiration for my drama/ crime short movie I produced in my lower school years, my first ever media project, with a link to the right. this trailer with usage of sound, fast paced editing and crime themes inspired my future works.
the trailer for the girl with the dragon tattoo begins with wintery ambience, the sound of a whistling wind commencing the trailer, which sets an eerie tone for the piece and places audiences in an external environment, making audiences feel vulnerable and almost lost with the echoing sound. this interlinks the usages and gratifications theory suggested by blumler and katz as audiences will be feeling like they can associate with the characters and feel as if they are experiencing the movie happenings for themselves. The wintery ambient sound diegetically played in the opening to the trailer coincides with the visuals of an establishing collection of shots panning round an outdoor snowy environment, depicting a storm connoting a disequilibrium to begin the trailer which is unconventional of drama trailers as typically there is first an equilibrium that is broken and distrupted throughout to reach a disequilibrium at the trailers midpoint rather than right at the beginning. the white purity of the snow connoting innocence juxtaposes with the themes of darkness, murder and violence depicted in the rest of the movie, which audiences are expected to have a understanding of with the books of the girl with a dragon tattoo being huge global best sellers, hence the film being widely awaited. the white snow hence is not what audiences would be expecting of the opening to the trailer, creating enigmas as to why the snowy atmosphere is what begins the trailer. The juxtaposing darkness of the bare trees creates a parallel between light and darkness, a visual symbolic parallel of good and evil, later exemplified in the trailer. The usage of the snowy imagery panned around in establishing shots for the first 8 seconds of the trailers flaunts the film institutions and visual editors usage of editing and unique selling point imagery.
The following montage of short milli second snippets of high action scenes from varying angles of low angle and close ups creates almost a whirlwind of different shots to confuse the audiences, a key technique of author stein Larsson when he wrote the girl with the dragon tattoo as confusion leading to a big reveal of an enigma was one of his writing techniques. The repeated shots of pressed flowers from a close up shot and from a long shot triggers audiences to ask themselves questions about what these could connote, creating enigmas in the trailer audiences will have to watch the entire film to decipher. This makes audiences more inclined to watch the whole movies entirety, and acts as an effective marketing campaign.
the fast paced techno music in a tension building rendition created by repeated sound motifs and keys playing creates a high paced atmosphere for the imagery shown, particularly necessary and effective for the trailer especially with the absence of dialogue in the trailer, hence the music is used for purpose of interlinking the shots together.
the inclusion in the montage of high status actors, Daniel craig, Christopher plummer, stellan Add to dictionary to name a few, act as unique selling points for the film to enable it to be marketed to audiences who recognise these characters from prior films. The differing shots of these characters begin to give away characteristics of their personas, without the dialogue involved, and chiefly the drinking of alcohol they all participate in throughout the montage give them a feature in common, the alcohol a link that interlinks the characters together. The alcohol also connotes disorientation when people are intoxicated, linking with the disorientated non linear non chronological order of the shots from the movie. the similar repetition of the snowy road shots reinforce the setting for the movie, which is what in fact the full length movie opens up with.
the girls voice that begins a onomatopoeia chant with echoing 'ooohs' and 'aaahs', creating an almost warped rendition of a infamous tribal chant. this similarly coincides with an idea we had for our own movie trailer to use nursery rhyme warped renditions.
The montage imagery of contrasting modes of transport, trains, motorcycles, cars, boats depicts a fast moving travelling process through the course of the trailer, keeping audiences enticed throughout during the fast paced course. similarly to the transport imagery, weaponry with gun shot and shootings are used in milli second appearances to reinforce the danger involved in the movies plot, a juxtaposing idea to Maslow's need to escape from daily troubles and woes, instead this movie captures further troubles and woes, seeming appealing to audiences. the contrasting usage of differing saturation shots with light and dark being used is effective in presenting an ongoing plot throughout the course of day and light, giving the plot depth and making it three dimensional.
the ambiguity behind the date of the films release at the very end of the trailer simply saying 'comming', creates tension for audiences who will feel almost threatened and patronised. This ambiguous technique will make audiences want to find out more for themselves, assisting in the marketing campaign.
the trailer begins with the universal studios institutional logo in co ordination with a twisted rendition of buddy hollys everday playing diegetically, which is an archaic sound motif to be played alongside a contemporary cinematic hit, creating a almost contrapuntal juxtaposing feel. the colour scheme of the universal studios anamatic logo has been slightly altered to darker hues linking to the dark themes behind the films plot. moving with brevity to the next scene of the trailer, with a fade to black editing technique to maintain continuity there is a home camera filmed shot from a point of view angle, filming a roadway a through a car windowscreen. the jolted uneasy camera movements reinforce this home camera novice filming technique which emphasises a unique and independent style for the film, aswell as blurring lines of hyper reality as the absence of CGI and cinematic conventions reinforces the reality and truth behind the film.
the montage editing creation of different home videos from contrasting angles, close ups, low angles and tracking shots creates a non linear confused trailer style, leaving audiences anxious to find out more, and the point behind these stylistically muddled shots. The lack of artificial lighting with natural warm lighting from the sun instead further emphasises the hyper real realistic filming technique reinforcing the truthfulness behind this horror. the family orientated videos also give a family feel, which is warm and inviting linking to the warm lighting- both these motifs juxtapose ideals behind horror movies and their traits as typically dark lighting and lack of a family or friendship encircled plot makes the protagonists or victims seem vulnerable, however here audiences would not know who to relate to or who is vulnerable as the family seem very happy. these camera shots juxtapose typical linear professionally filmed horror trailers. however, combined within the home camera shots, are interludes of long shots with higher film quality reinforcing the movie mode/format of the piece, this creates a paralleled mixture between the reality with the home camera scenes and the media and non-reality with the professional scenes. this hence creates a new innovative film style that uses inspiration from paranormal activity and the blair witch style filming with entirely low budget home cameras with normal cinema camera filmed movies such as ouijja and the hills have eyes.
the scenes with the grandparents interacting with the children give away what the plot revolves around, a winter holiday with the grandparents for two young grandchildren. this leaves audiences guessing with ambiguities as to why the idea of grandparents could be associated with themes of horror. the long shots also help to exaggerate body language to give across emotions of love and care to audiences, which will be juxtaposed when the long shots used to display the scenes of horror and terror are used.
when the grandfather states 'your bedtime is 9;30 its probably best you don't come out your room after then' this dialogue is reinforced by the long length time of this scene compared to all the other short snippets of scenes in the opening montage, so hence this dialogue is prominent and reinforced as a warning not only to the two young characters in the film but also as a warning to audiences. at this point the non diegetic soundtrack of bell chimes and percussion stops abruptly, hinting a breaking of the equilibrium and a change of tone from happy and warm to horror. this disequilibrium is reinforced by the establishing shot of a gloomy atmosphere of dark forestry which hints also a change in the setting from a homely environment to an entrapping forest. in synchronous non diegetic format, ambience of insects and nightime noises play to reinforce the nightime atmosphere.
when the children open the door and reach for a camera, its evident that it is from the childrens narrative that the storyline is filmed, and hence these are who audiences relate to. they film their grandmother scratching the walls, which acts as a jump scare because of its juxtaposition with the prior loving family scenes. The lingering of the camera on the old woman is unconventional of horrors which divert away from scenes of terror very quickly to promote enigmas and fear, however here because the children react less dramatically by saying diegetically 'what the hell' rather than screaming and reacting like other horror characters, in reinforces the reality of the trailer. it also hints a sub/hybrid genre of a thriller rather than a horror because we have met our antagonist with multiple shots and scenes in the trailer which is more conventional of thrillers than horrors.
the warped jewellery box music playing as the grandparents are acting out eerie scenes makes their actions such as the granddad filling his gun seem even more abnormal and harrowing. In this particular scene too, the granddad looks directly into the eye of the camera, hence triggering audience participation and attachment with the film trailer.
the social media platforms and technological devices depicted in the trailer such as the laptop, skype and the phone reinforce the contemporary 21st century mode for the horror trailer rather than including archaic and historical themes. this makes the trailer seem even more realistic and plays on irony and reality as audience members will be watching the laptop screen towards the end through their own personal laptops.
the tracking shot as the girl is walking towards her grandma takes audiences on a slow paced journey, reinforcing the eeriness of this particular scene of the grandmother laughing to herself in a rocking chair. the rocking chair is itself symbolic of horror themes as movies of the likes of anabelle and the babadook use similar rocking chairs in their trailers too.
one of the final scenes, where the grandmother states 'would you mind climbing into the oven for me' is prevalent as the final scene, and effectively plays on the fairytale of hansel and Gretel in a warped manner. this creates a anecdotal link to another storyline, encouraging audiences to be intrigued by the plot and want to find out more.
the trailer commences unconventionally to other similar horror genre films with the absence of any media institution mentions such as typical horror conglomerates such as blumhouse or twisted pictures. instead, the trailer cuts straight to the storyline of the movie, which aswell as making the trailer stand out, innovatively uses the idea of the TV and technology hacking through a ghostly entity to ironically almost hack the trailer when the glitching screen opens up the trailer, and creates ideas of hypperreality.
the establishing shot of the location of a small forest cabin uses deep focus to belittle the cabin in comparison with the woodland sorroundings making the accommodation seem vulnerable in contrast with the overpowering woods, this then uses a relational editing technique to create a link to the next scene which is a young woman appearing vulnerable with the deep focus depicting the dark housing entrapped environment around her. This follows conventions of horrors by having a vulnerable protagonist versus an antagonistic force.
the diegetic dialogue of the woman stating that there is a superstition about 'a tape, where if you watch it it kills you' creates a context for the trailer, reinforcing the storyline behind the trailer. it also plays on real life superstitions that audiences may be attracted and drawn in to find out more about, similar to the bloody mary superstitions that evoke horror from audiences.
the two repeated shots of different females filmed with extreme close up shots putting a tape into a video player reinforces through the symbolic appearance of the tape (relating to mise en scene) the horror ideas in the film that arise through technology (the television) which differs from horrors commonly revolving around historic themes rather than social media and current generations.
The time limit of seven days which is repeated throughout the trailers opening is conventional of horrors as it builds anticipation and tension for what happens when this time limit runs out. it also makes the trailer more fast paced as having a time limit assists with the continuity of the trailer in ensuring it is fast and action packed making it stand out from other trailers.
the actual film title 'the ring' is ambiguous, as it connotes something eternal and never ending sharing similar ideas to hell as that too is a never ending cyclical eternity. it also links to the structure of the trailer itself which is cyclical in structure with the start of the trailer being a victim of a curse, and the end of the trailer depicting another victim of the curse structurally showing an eternal cycle. the idea of a ring also doesn't need text to repeat the title, instead the outline of a ring is visually presented throughout the trailer repeating the title and main idea behind the trailer.
at 1;58 in the trailer where the dark hues and harrowing imagery is interrupted by a extreme close up of red maple leaves, their scarlet red colour connoting danger and perhaps the danger of nature, whilst the maple leaf itself has medicinal purposes- potentially incorporating the idea of a cure into the trailer with the amount of harrowing cursed horror that is filmed exempt from this naturally beautiful imagery of the leaves.
the final scene of the trailer where the grudge like girl climbs out of the television screen would stick in audiences heads with prevalence as it is the last scene of the trailer. it also is extremely abstract with something inanimate with the TV screen allowing something animate and supernatural to escape from it. the dark surroundings with the dim lit room further directs audiences to the centre of the screen where this is taking place.
intiailly, when the universal studios media conglomerate logo commences the trailer, audiences are aware the film is made by a hugely profitable, reknown, recongisable, famous and high reputation company and hence this 2 second institutional title already draws audiences in and intrieges them to watch the trailer. This is a potential future barrier for our own film trailer making as it would be copyright fraud if we used a large scale instition to promote our film and hence we would be obliged to make up our own independent film distibuter, which would not be so much of a unique selling point. the universal studios recongisable globe logo has been partially altered for this movies marketing campaign and has adopted a dark, more blue/black hue colour scheme indicating the dark nature of the film it is about to promote.
the sound of a door knock is non diegetic playing behind the universal studios screen appearance however straight after the non diegetic knocking sound relational editing to a female being let in a males house through his front door allows us to recoginise it was her who was knocking, and already creates a swift brevity for the movie as everything seems to be happening very quickly shown by even the knocking sound of the door overlapping the prominent opening title of universal studios, with the sound starting straight away as the trailer commences keeping it swift and quick and not boring audiences. The knocking on the door sounds prevalent, eerie and is reinforced with definition as at this point there is no other sound, this perhaps would initially scare audiences as typically in horrors, such as the strangers for example or scream, a knock at the door connotes an unwelcome guest and the door knocking sound is a sound connoted and associated with horrors as soemthign to be feared...however this film juxtaposes this idea as the guest at the door is welcomed with a hug and a kiss by her assumed boyfriend, warping some of the conventions and codes of the horror genre. The idea of the trailer opening with the opening of a door creates a structure to the trailer- wherby the threshold of the door opening is what begins the trailer and it would be assumed the shutting of a door metaphorically- hence the ending of a life/death- is what will end the trailer or film plot hence giving it a structurally cyclical structure. the beginning of the trailer with the pleasant conversation between the assumed couple with close up shots of an intimate kiss, and slow paced fades to reinforce the pleasant romantic tone to the piece, subverts and juxtaposes what would be expected of a horror.
the long shot of the female playing with the dog flaunts her body language which is caring and compassionate with the dog being used as a tactical mise en scene prop to reinforce her pleasant personality as thelog shot depictsher picking the dog up and stroking it. Once again this creates an unconventional feel for the horror, however the dog featured in this opening scene is partially convetnuaonal of horrors where the pet is typically first to die, almost as a moral compass or warning sign hinting for characters to escape or 'get out' which ironically plays the movies title.dog deaths are used in the amytiville horror, drag me to hell, the girl with the dragon tattoo, the truth about kevin- which give a similar tone to this movie.
the diegetic conversation in the trailer using alternate over the shoulder shots to make audeinces feel involved and interacting with the trailer effectively hints a sub plot or plot b to the movie when a racial theme and motif is introduced when the male character states 'do they know I'm black' almost creating a hybrid genre to the film which makes the trailer stand out as the movie hence seems like a drama/epic horror as racial themes areoften plot ideas behind dramas, historics, documentaries and epics rather than horrors. the genre hybrid idea is further reinforced in an alternate way when the male actor is filmed in the car with a close up having a conversation with his assumed friend who states'i aint never seenyou like this man , don't come back with yo dam pants up to yo damn stomach' incorporating humour into the trailer, giving it a comic appeal. The phone conversation filmed with alternating cross cutting technique editing makes the conversation feel personal and interactive. The humorous conversation sets an equilibrium in the trailer which is swiftly broken when a deer hits the front window screen of the car, reinforced with a loud bang sound effect for dramatic effect reinforcing the horror idea as this acts as a jump scare. a long shot depicting the car after the hit is then used to film the car swerving away. this shot is effective in reinforcing the idea of the modern car/automobile, making the horror stand out as it is evident the car is modern and hence the horror movie is a 21st century based contemporary horror- a unique selling point differentiating this movie from archaic, historically set horrors. the titles that then intrude the screen after this shot leave audiences guessing if the car has crashed or not, it is hence a tensious cliff-hanger for audiences, whilst BLUMHOUSE institution titles appear on screen, a renown company for producing successful horrors such as the conjuring and insidious.
the repeated snare sound throughout the differing scenes of the black male meeting his girlfriends parents, to touring the house, to meeting their house maid Georgina- makes the linear order of the scenes taking place reinforced and splits up the action. also the sound juxtaposes with the welcoming nature of the parents hence suggestive there is something not quite right about the family he is staying with. The constant filming however in warm natural lighting subverts from ideas of typical dark artificially lit horrors, keeping audiences awaiting the fate of the films characters.
the montage of purposely abstract and ambiguous varying shot types creates a confusion around the film for audiences, which is ironic as the film is based around the actions of the brain. the reoccurrence of the extreme close up shot of the tea leaves cup acting as a hypnosis totem with the woman clanking the metal spoon against the cup reinforces the idea of the theme of hypnosis and the supernatural in the trailer, often a key convention In horror trailers. the exaggerated loud noise of the spoon hitting the cup sounds especially eerie as it is so loud, and almost acts as a sound motif for the movie as its repetitiveness is immediately thought of when the trailer comes to mind. the final scene in the trailer of the dead deer skeleton and anatomy links back to the beginning of the trailer with the deer being hit creating a Ronda cyclic structure to the trailer suggestive of the protagonists fate that audiences would want to decipher more about.
the final scene with the credits usage of 'say something #get out' creates a viral marketing campaign for the film for audiences to involve themselves in, hence promoting the movie and blurring the lines of hyper reality as if the audience members are too being targeted.
Pathetic fallacy with the weather outside- it’s a storm;
Connoting danger, unrest and turmoil. Used in many horror movies, claps of
thunder can actually be the sound to commence a movie/trailer, also used for
jump scares (lighting is a non-artificial jump scare- it’s a real noise). 1982
poltergeist takes place with a stormy setting, Friday the 13th uses
a storm for its pinnacle scene on the night of Halloween. Linking to the storm
which associates with setting and mise en scene also the idea of shadows and
darkness used throughout the trailer is conventional of horrors as having lots
of shadows not only gives depth to the scenes themselves when being filmed but
also gives a sense of constant following which is a chilling concept, relevant
to this trailer as in the beginning the woman’s shadow is constantly present
and synchronous with her- foreshadowing perhaps her descent into darkness (as
she dies).
Usage of old photos, and monochromatic old film editing to
make it seem like the storyline is true and has historical context. Common in
horror movies- as themes and storylines rooted from far back in history make
them seem more realistic and believable.
Traditional fear triggers such as clowns, grim reapers
insects cloaked figures, and dolls etc. are fear triggers for
audiences/nightmare creations. Here the clown is used and after watching the
movie I don’t feel it has much relevance to the plot- however for the scene in
which it is used its purpose is for a chilling jump scare.
Camera composition:
Millisecond and split second shots don’t give too much away,
we didn’t even get to properly depict what was bloodstained and being dragged
along the floor until we slowed the trailer right down and managed to quickly
pause it to realise it was a hand. Also effective in creating brisque jump
scares for audiences- and not revealing antagonistic characters/beings in
details so it remains an enigma during the film.
Eye line match and pov shots makes audiences feel like they
are in the film too- almost like the new 360 degree Facebook feature where you
can view round you, a bit like virtual reality. In this respect the jump scares
feel more directive and personal and scare audiences more.
We thought the shot from a low angle looking up at the old
man as he unzipped the bag was particularly effective as it maintained the
enigma of what is actually in that bag…once again also makes audiences feel
that they are inclusive in the films plot.
Narrative:
A lot of the narrative is mainly audio of this character assumed
to be the protagonist. He speaks both diegetically and non diegetically showing
he has a prevalent role in the storyline both when he is present in the plot
and when he is off screen. We recognise however the challenges/oppression as a
protagonist he may face with multiple high angle shots that look down on him
belittling him, hinting our narrative may be altered/controlled by a powerful
antagonistic character/being. Narrative to the trailer doesn’t give too much
away, and is authentic because the film itself doesn’t have a narrative voice
speaking over the top of the film so this trailer is almost different and doesn’t
give too much away about the film and how it is structured and how the plot
pans out. Once again as we said earlier with referring to historic context and
themes our protagonist speaks to other characters that expand on the historic
roots for the film making the narrative seem to be based on what has happened
throughout history. This historic context is further emphasised by the setting
of ravens fair which is depicted in a mid-shot with the towns sign. This is
actually a real place so further makes the film have a sense of realism making
it even more chilling, and the legend of Mary Shaw who is the antagonistic
spirit in the film is a true folklore legend here. There are also books that
feature this same setting so it seems almost storybook like in the narrative
however this is completely contrasted with the fact that this film is an adult
horror.
Sound:
There are intervals where only a black screen is shown with
no visuals only audio non diegetic sounds of screams, drum snares and sound
effects…this gives the trailer a sense of the unknown- triggering the scare
factor as everyone fears the unknown. Also it puts audiences into darkness so
they do not know what’s happening, so a following jump scare scares them even
more.
Sound usage of 1900s’ often 1950s musical renditions and
songs is often chilling and particularly conventional in contemporary horror
because the songs sound so old and historical to modern society making them
eerie and scary. Tiptoe through the tulips is an example of this used in
insidious.
Editing:
When we slowed the trailer down and managed to have an in
depth look at certain camera shots from the montage edit we analysed how the
antagonist of the movie- the ghost of Mary Shaw was depicted not in human form
played as an actor but was filmed with an extreme close up using cgi so she
looked more like an animatic creation. This is not something we would consider
for your own movie as we felt it didn’t appear very realistic.
The usage of light we thought was very important to editing
with red lighting connoting danger, and extremely bright lighting causing
camera blurring and making scenes feel bold and stark. Also with most horror
movies using very dark lighting this usage of extreme bright hues and lighting
makes the trailer stand out and seem more original. For our own movie we wanted
to introduce torches and non-artificial lighting to create a sense of realism.
Titles:
The repetition of the release date stood out to us as it
reinforced the date to audiences so they are sure to anticipate the release.
The unique selling point of the director prior to this film directing saw
stands out as audiences will view this director as credible for horror movie
creation. We also when making our own institution logos want to stylize them to
fit in with the horror theme like here where the universal studios logo has
been changed to a dark hue.
Mis en scene:
Outfits almost Victorian like, eerie which fit into themes
of folklore rooted in the plot. Lighting is minimal and natural making it seem
realistic.
Obscure and dark locations, lots of scenes of seemingly unexplored
and unhabited locations e.g. the gorge valley in an establishing shot in one of
the scenes. We wanted too to go to derelict places for our trailer to make it
seem more eerie.
Representations:
Frequent appearance of the elderly- once again linking to a
historical context and basis. Also old people connoted with archaic history,
folklore tales, ghosts etc. no youths making the film seem a non-contemporary
horror such as unfriended friend request etc. with recent themes of social
media.
Masculinity- the two supposed protagonists and opposition
force against evil are men. Men with guns suggestive of their power. Filmed
from a low angle giving them prominence and importance. Have the final shot of
a male face in many parts of the trailer. Females perhaps implied as the weaker
gender as the first female to be depicted in the trailer dies.
The trailer begins with a long shot depicting a Diner illuminated by neon lights. The usage of the titling 'Diner' highlighted in contrast with the dark background already hints to audiences an american setting as British food places are more frequently referred to as restaurants, cafes or bistros. The idea of an american setting suggests already this film is a large budget american box office hit as American films make twice as much money in the box office as British films do as far as statistics show and do not need funding from the BBFC as many British independent films do, but rather spend millions from prior film profits. Pathetic fallacy comes into play with the thundery diegetic sound and rain in the opening to the trailer creating a tone and mood for the trailer making it seem solemn and frightening. cleverly the lights from the diner mirror into the puddles on the ground already creating a form of parallel and reflection...not quite reality which links to the films plot. The flashing broken lights with an almost jumpy electrical fault sound makes this setting appear derelict and not particularly used or valued...this gives away a setting in the trailer of a derelict place which is conventional of horrors and a trait we too want to obtain in our own movie trailers of using derelict obscure locations.The editing used to make the shot of the diner flash on screen instead of using another editing technique such as a fade or wipe makes it stand out and seem to immediately go into the action. The flash also replicates the lighting from the storm which makes the start of the trailer effectively seem realistic.
The clock that is filmed in the trailer with a low angle shot makes it seem important and domineering, for this reason audiences are drawn to examine the clock as it is made to look important by the angle it is filmed at. although the shot lasts just seconds, it shows the hands of the clock actually moving backwards rather than forwards which gives yet another sense of obscurity and almost illusion
to the trailer. conventionally, many horror trailers from the likes of woman in black to Annabelle film props linking to mise en scene and obscure stationary images to create jump scares when objects suddenly move and create a tone of eeriness. this technique is something we would like to adopt in our own trailer creation as it leaves audiences with enigmas and dosen't give away too much about the plot which is vital in the horror genre if there are twists and jump scares.
The flashing lights that illuminate Lutzs' face in the extreme close up are subtle and no artificial lighting is used so the whole scene seems very real and relatable and the movie magic of the trailer isn't ruined. this too is a technique we would want to adopt for our own horror trailer by using natural lighting and real neon lights or torches and street lights to illuminate characters and scenes rather than our own artificial lighting. The non diegetic sound of the The everly brothers- all I have to do is dream is an effective choice of soundtrack to use in the background of this scene as it creates a eerie feel due to this 1960s archaic track juxtaposing with the contemporary modern setting making it feel very uneasy. The rising volume of the tune puts audiences in anticipation of whats going to happen next building tension.
The jump cuts used to show different parts of the restaurant that Lutz is walking through effectively dosen't bore audiences unlike following lutz round the entire radius of the restaurant. The scene remains relatively silent with just diegetic sounds from a fire burning in the kitchen, which effectively sets up an imperative jump scare of the trailer when Freddy kreueger jumps out from behind a wall frightening audiences which creates not just a cinematic experience from watching the trailer but also promotes a physical experience suggestive that from watching this film you will physically jump and be scared and the film will have an impact on you as an audience member, making the film even more desirable to see as it feels more real and statistics show that most horror movie cinema audiences go for the experience of jumping at horror movies in the cinema with their friends rather than the actual plot quality and film itself.
The interlinking of sound and camera footage is cleverly used when after the all I have to do is dream melody is played, shortly afterwards lutz wakes up from a dream. This cleverly plays o n the parallel between dream and reality because the film itself is called nightmare on elm street and it is hinted that the plot revolves around nightmares becoming reality...confirmed by Lutz having a cut hand after Freddy Krueger sliced him in his nightmare. The realization of Lutzs' cut hand is filmed with an eyeline match shot so we see what our assumed protagonist is seeing...effectively this makes us as an audience relate to our protagonist as we feel the shock that he too is feeling. The loud drum snare at this point makes this particular shot seem even more important and imperative.
The logo for new line cinema which is a Time Warner owned company in America confirms even further the American huge budget film that this is which will act as a unique selling point for audiences, and even the hue of this logo has been edited to appear more monochromatic and eerie fitting more with the solemn dark tone of the trailer.
The one second shots of different characters in the film almost create a montage, linking these characters together with their one shared similarity given away by the narrative- they are all having very realistic similar nightmares with the same nightmare man. The narrative is coming from a man vlogging his experience so it makes the whole story seem more realistic than perhaps a narrative recorded over the top of the piece. This is yet another technique I feel we could interpret in our own horror movie because lately box office hits such as unfriended, cyberbully and friend request use a entirely new idea of internet horror where obscure frighting going ons happen over media such as Skype, Facebook and vlogging which we could easily do with our computers at home and at school to create some realistic and eerie scenes that would fit with modern contemporary horror and draw in audiences.
The next scene is an extreme close up of a girls foot walking In settling snow....this would be a scene you'd expect to see in a drama or romance as snow connotes purity and innocence with its white hue, however a shot from another angle viewing the scene from a long shot shows obscurely this snow is in the girls bedroom, and making it even more frightening and fitting with the genre is the soundtrack behind the footage of short piano keys being played in a flat pitch. This childish like music makes the scene eerie and uneasy.
one of the most effective shots is the tracking shots of Freddy kruegers hand depicting his long sharp blades for fingers. This is effective in giving away hints about the horror characters appearance without revealing his full face as this is one of the films enigmas. This similar technique of only revealing certain characteristics of horror characters is used in trailers such as the babadook trailer where the antagonistic creatures shadow is revealed but not his entire figure as well as saw where jigsaws tricycle is revealed but not the puppet himself.
the next scene of a college class effectively links in with expected young teenage audiences for the film and makes it seem more realistic, especially because unconventionally some of the horror happenings occur during the day in this movie rather than always the night, making this particular movie stand out. Playing on things that scare or make mass audiences feel uneasy like fingers running down a blackboard in this trailer for example is effective in heightening audience interest and fear.
Micheal Bay whos name is highlighted in a bold red font around 3/4 of the way through the trailer is yet another unique selling point for the film because he is renown for being a famous hugely successful film director especially in the horror department directing films such as Texas chainsaw massacre, the hitcher and Amytiville horror. This makes audiences want to see the film even more knowing that its directed by a prestigious horror director. the blood stained font and color scheme used for Micheal bays name and other credits fits in with the scheme of the trailer bringing real life directors and film makers from reality into the imagined world of the film making it seem more realistic and scary,
revealing lots of different scenes from the movie and putting it together as a montage style creation is conventional of nearly all trailers to lure in audiences by giving away lots of open ended questions, enigmas and giving plot hints using all different types of locations and scenes to show how much depth the movie has...especially using different times of the day with night and day.
The usage of the three young girls in the trailer skipping and singing is conventional of horrors using childish eerie themes to convey a sense of historical context to the film, however the knife marks on each of the girls dresses gives this film individuality and links both adults in the audience and eerie children in the film with freddy krueger the main antagonist,
The usage of complete absence of sound when the date of the films release comes on is effective in making it stand out without even any use of ambiance because it completely contrasts with the loud high pitched diegetic and non dietetic sound of screams and loud noises in the rest of the trailer. The blood stained font is a similar font choice we would think to adopt in our own movie as it looks authentic and not typical like a times new roman font and it fits in with the theme with title fonts for films like this, the village and cabin in the woods being very similar. after research i have depicted that the font name is 'chilling cobbles'.
The usage of a directive subject personal pronoun directly addressing audiences, 'your' makes an impact to the trailer because it makes the trailer seem personal and directed making them feel obliged to see the film even more. also stylistically after this usage of a personal pronoun we see Freddy krueger turn round and directly look at the camera from an eye line match mid shot reinforcing audiences feeling directed.
When the trailer reaches an end and the sound motif of the 'one two Freddy gonna get you' plays as well as a non diegetic chilling mans laugh it leaves the trailer on a frightening almost enigma triggering note making audiences want to see more. also the way that a short clip from the movie excluded from the montage in the rest of the trailer is used it leaves audiences on even more of a cliffhanger and gives away information about the scene but not in its entirety.
A teaser trailer is commonly recognized as part of a film institutions ''pre-launch campaign'' which involves challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger full blown future campaign. Teaser trailers too are often released prior to the films major production stages so marketing sectors of the films development team often have little footage and resources to work with, but manage to create montages and collections of limited film clips that together create an enclosed enigma around the films plot for audiences. Teaser trailers are often released very early in advance to a films release date- an example being the 1978 trailer for the superman film by Richard Donner where film marketing departments purposely released the teaser to re invigorate interest for the film which was already proposed to be nearly a year late.
The war of the worlds trailer begins with the paramount institutional logo that appears on screen automatically grabbing audiences who will have heard of the renown filming conglomerate that has released prior films that have dominated box offices of the likes of the terminator, transformers, star trek and godfather series'. The sting of the bass note as soon as the teaser trailer begins sets a tone and mood for the trailer of being quite dark and almost sinister. the prolonged drone of the note even creatively links to aural and visual aspects of the film itself with a drone note being used aurally, and drone machine monsters used visually. Diegetic sound begins as soon as the trailer commences with prestigious actor Tom cruise filmed in a snippet of a scene of the film with his dialect dominating the narrative of the teaser trailer. Tom cruises profile fades in from a black screen and this fade editing technique combined with the bright spotlighting glow from behind his head creates an aura of prevalence around Tom Cruises character so audiences already begin to familiarize themselves with the main character. This is a technique we could interpret into our own created movie as it is a key tool in ensuring audiences find similarities and relationships with characters which entice audiences deeper into the film along with making it seem more realistic. The color usages of the blue tones and hues around Tom cruises profile create a dark, sinister and almost cold tone and mood for the movie as the connotations of blue relate often to coldness and solemn moods. A flare overlay has been added when editing over Cruises face to reinforce the power of the light behind him aswell as giving the shot depth. As the light is behind Cruise it is difficult to examine all of his features in high definition however the light allows shadow and brightness to express his emotions and mood. The way that Cruise is talking straight into the camera creates an audience connection automatically, as well as creating an enigma and suspicion as to why he is talking to the camera with direct mode of address in such a stern manner. The blurring and adjusting focal length used to frame Cruise gives the feel that we as an audience are actually in the film alongside Cruise and he is talking to us as the filming feels natural with the blurring and differentiating focus as if it is through a human eye rather than a camera. The low voice tone Cruise is using creates suspense which is exaggerated by the absence of any loud ambiance or artificial sound affect additions alongside his voice which ensure the focus doesn't deter from Cruise, a higher pitched drone however does sound alongside Cruises diegetic speech which raises in pitch and volume reinforcing the suspense.
The next shot we see is an eyeline match of who Cruise is talking to, which appears to be a young girl. This eyeline match is more effective then perhaps using a shot reverse shot which would suggest the film may be more about the intimacy and relationship between the charachters making the plot of the film more about them rather than their surroundings (the alien beings that have taken over the world). The way the camera looks down upon the young girl from a high angle shot ( the girl being dakota fanning) belittles her and makes her seem inferior which shows the lack of power, strength and ability she has faced with the current futuristic alien happenings in her world. It also almost creates a plot twist for when audiences actually see the film itself after watching the teaser trailer as they will be surprised after this high angle shot looking down on her to discover she has many strengths and is a determined and capable character in the film. The way that she looks directly up to Cruise (who we presume is a father figure to her assumed through his loving and caring dialogue to her) shows the connection between the two characters and how she almost looks up upon him as her safety and security. it also suggests that the plot of the film may revolve around how Cruise persists to save this young girl from the cruel and ruthless world around them. The dark lighting that engulfs Fannings profile rather than their being any visible background creates an enigma around her as a character as well as not giving too much away about the film as after all its only a teaser trailer. it also ensures all focus is on Fanning and her emotions, which is especially important as she has very limited screen time in the beginning of this teaser trailer.
The fade out into the Dreamworks institutional title gives the film prominence in the film industry as this is a renown film company that have had numerous box office hits, however the institution behind the films creation may come as a shock to some viewers of the teaser trailer as Dreamworks are particularly known for children and family movies whereas the title of war of the worlds alongside the trailer connote a more dark adult theme behind the film.
A montage of different shots from a mid line view and long shot angle show different scenes of chaos, riot and uproar suggesting the film has a dystopian and warped futuristic focus. This montage is particularly effective in the teaser trailer as it doesn't give to much away and the snippets of scenes from the film gives a more fragmented viewpoint of the film which will make audiences want to peice of it together by seeing the film for themselves. The diegetic sound of the bell alongside the shots connotes order and commencing of something, which alongside the high pitched human sounding droned e note makes the snippets seem sinister and dark...this is because the slow paced and high pitched sounds alongside the bustling fast paced film clips do not seem to match creating a sense of confusion for the audience which relates to the confusion attempted to be portrayed of the characters in the film itself attempting to evacuate places creating an interlinking relationship and premature attachment between the movies characters and the audience. It also portrays a completely different and dystopian world to our world now which fits the films thriller/horror genre.
The overlay text 'On June 29th' is a simplistic font and gives away very limited information which is typical of a teaser trailer. The fast paced action happening behind this overlay seems to almost be disrupted by the text making it stand out more and its noticeable appearance will stick as a reminder in viewers heads. The bursts of light that illuminate the on screen text make it even more prominent, and these light bursts additionally help to highlight key parts of the teaser trailer- for example high frequency lighting and saturation in the filming of the american flag which secures the setting for the movie in america, as well as the high aperture and bold lighting used in the snow clip included in the montage to give audiences a sense of time and when the action is taking place.
The soundtrack used for the trailer of human voiced orchestral sounds makes the film seem eerie and based on humans and life despite its alien theme. The high note that seems to be continued throughout the trailer increases in volume building tension throughout. about halfway through the trailer this high droned note is completely picked up by a fast paced orchestra made sound bridge which is louder, lower pitched and acts as more of a theme tune for the movie as the rendition is catchy and fast paced fitting exactly to the movies plot. At this point when the sound interludes the action show in the trailer begins to involve the aliens which are the film and war of the world books main attributes. This therefore could act as a sound motif for the aliens in the film.
tactically, producers have used some of the most visually appealing special effects shots in the teaser trailer for example cgi shots with aliens arising from water, the earth appearing to split into two etc, this is cleverly done to allure people into watching the movie.
Mention that the film is a 'Steven Speilburg film' is a unique selling point because of Speilburgs continuous film box office success. This too will draw people into watching the movie. another unique selling point of mentioning Tom Cruises name in the trailer will also grab the attention of fans of his from previous successful movies.
I was very pleased as well as proud of our completed opening last year for our proposed horror movie 'RoByN', especially despite the multiple boundaries and barriers we came across when filming. I felt that we adapted ourselves as well as our surroundings to a professional environment where we considered all the technical elements when filming and with our filming and continuing deep study of media and its technicalities managed to obtain an A grade at AS level which i was hugely proud of. The preliminary task was of huge benefit to us because it taught us about some of the key continuity editing aspects which were prevalent in our film, Especially teaching us how to create clean match on action shots which were vital with our interaction between just two characters in our movie openings. Relating to not only camera work, but also editing and mise en scene our knowledge, skills and technique improved hugely in the process of preliminary task to the real movie opening, and we feel we also independently worked well to complete a secondary prelimary task with panoramas and draft shots of our location because this helped us to solidify our knowledge on certain camera techniques. Because of only having two characters in our movie, shot reverse shot was extremely important to show their interaction and relationship to each other however a possible target for us next year would be to use this technique more frequently especially when we have a limited film cast because it is effective at bringing relation, intensity and depth to the scene. Relating to this, we also could have ensured we focused more on the final cut of the opening scene and who was purposefully given the prevalence of the final shot. A shot reverse shot of the young girl swiftly followed by the males reaction would have been effective and next year with our studies we could focus on this technique more. Despite considerate planning of times and locations for our movie opening, we feel another target for next year would be to be more prepared to film when we can rely on the weather when it is exactly how we want it- in our case foggy and dry; not wet and rainy which posed a barrier for our cameras and for our actor Robyn who had to lay down on the wet floor. next year, if we plan ahead more, we could use the weather (and ideas of pathetic fallacy involving the weather) in our movie to make it more intense, supported by the weather, and it would show more control as producers and directors of a movie. If weather continually proves to be a barrier when filming we could even make attempts of creating our own more appropriate atmospheres for locations when filming for example using dry ice to create DIY fog and mist, or using our own artificial lighting to add saturation, temperature, contrast, shadow and light to environments. prior to our AS projects we began to research how we could have improved how the weather and atmosphere was portrayed in our movie by using dry ice techniques or editing after filming on our adobe software. (tutorials shown in the two videos below).
A major barrier was the sound, which is a part of mis-en-scene. This was important as the quality on the camera wasn't the best due to alot of background noises (such as rain) which made it sound fuzzy. Next year we will ensure that the conditions we film in are appropriate and allow us to create a successful film. Also, we will ensure that we are using the correct piece of technology which is suitable for filming to a high quality. As a result of the bad quality, we had to delete all of the diegetic sound and then add more sound effects whilst trying to make it seem natural at specific points (for example the car door and the foot steps). Potentially, this will not be the case next year and we will be able to keep all of the ambient, diegetic sound making it seem more natural whilst adding the odd sound effect, such as a thud, conforming to the horror genre conventions. We also didn't really incorporate original renditions or recordings of sound In our movie which made our movie less independent and professional because we could have created a home foley studio to create sound effects and used a local/known band or orchestra for the soundtrack, next year this would defiantly be a target for us so that we get the exact sound we want not just make do with edited internet versions.
Lastly, the final target would be filming things more than once. This was an issue as some of the most significant points in the film had minor errors however there were a few which we only filmed once meaning we had to work with it and make changes on the software which may not have looked or planned out as expected. Next year, we will ensure that we have filmed each clip multiple times in order to have the best quality film with no errors. however, we did learn from our errors as many film conglomerates and distributers do too as in our free time we researched 'textbook movie mistakes' to ensure next year we don't make any silly mistakes in our filming for example having a camera seen in a mirror, having someones feet seen, or having an actor look directly at the camera which all collectively ruin the magical feel a movie is meant to exert.
