First Draft of Film Trailer Storyboard

Here is the first draft of the storyboard I drew for my film trailer:

It includes the basic codes and conventions of a film trailer.

Film Synopsis

What a film synopsis is:

A typical film synopsis consists of multiple elements. Usually it begins with a logline, which is at most two sentences that sum up the film. The following paragraph introduces the setting as well as the main characters. Then the next few paragraphs summarise the three acts individually.

My film synopsis:

A mind-bending thriller. Teenager MATT is being hunted by a person that looks exactly like him. In a race against time Matt must find out what this double wants with him, before it is too late.
Set in the present day, Matt lives in an ordinary suburban area living a normal life. However with the introduction and chase from his double, named STEVE, Matt must change his routine to stay alive. Their lives intertwine, whilst classmates from Matt's local school, CHRIS and BARRY, get involved in bad ways as well as good.
MATT lives a rather ordinary life in his suburban town, he goes about his usual routine which often features some sort of misery. Everything changes when Matt's great friend CHRIS shows him a picture of what looks like Matt standing with the most popular kid at their school: BARRY. Matt questions the photo, explaining to Chris that he's never spoken to Barry before, let alone take a picture with him. Matt remains in confusion, he heads home to check his computer to see if the image is real. Looking through social media he discovers that the photo is indeed legitimate. Due to all that has just happened Matt loses track of the time and realises he needs to head off to work. At the end of the shift Matt asks his boss CLIVE for his wages. Clive responds telling Matt he took his wages this morning. Scenarios just like this keep popping up through the day, and Matt becomes very worried that someone is trying to take over his life.
Since Chris was the one to find the photo Matt asks him for advice. Chris suggests he should go visit Barry and ask about the photo. Barry is convinced that Matt is actually called Steve and that Matt isn't someone that exists. When heading home Matt encounters Steve in the street. Steve had been following that whole day. They get into an argument which leads into a large brawl in the streets. Steve ends up beating Matt up and leaving him in a poor state. Steve warns off Matt, telling him if he gets any more involved with Steve's life he will kill Matt. At home Matt explains to his family his situation, they seem unfazed by the matters. His brother even makes fun of him, and mocks his imaginary friend Chris. Matt runs to his room, believing the whole world is against him. Checking back onto his computer he finds out that Barry has been attacked by Steve, and no one knows of Barry's current whereabouts. Matt thinks that Steve is going to go after him next. He grabs the gun that is hidden in his home and runs away towards nearby forest.
Looking back behind him Matt sees a hooded figure chasing him. The chase between the two lasts a long time, they twist and turn throughout the trees in the forest before the hooded figure catches up with him. The hooded figure puts a knife round Matt's neck, and forces him to walk over to an open field. The hooded figure reveals himself to be Barry, and not Steve as Matt suspected. Through big discussion and reveals, Matt discovers that he made up Steve. He realises that every instance "Steve" did something, it was actually Matt himself. Barry threatens Matt, vowing to beat him for the damage he caused to Barry. Matt changes, he demands to be called Steve from now on. Barry and Matt-now-Steve fight. Steve wins, stabbing Barry with his own knife. With a maniacal look on his face Steve grabs the knife and walks back into the forest, back to his home...

Audience Research Survey

Here's a survey I created to receive some audience feedback:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7Q9HG3G

I designed the survey to find out what parts of my trailer deserved more focus when planning and creating it. The questions focus on how the individual people feel about thriller films, and what they think work best with the trailers.
 

To begin I asked how old the recipients were, this gave me the ability to see how people in my targeted age range responded to the questions. The results show that I had a wide range of ages answering my questions.

 

Only one person out of the 17 that answered said that they disliked thriller films. For the future questions I discounted this person's answers. My trailer is for people that enjoy watching thriller films, therefore I need their insight on what works with thriller trailers.
 

 

The next question asks how often the person watched thriller films. I used these answers to see which people's answers to the next few questions I should spend the most attention to. I feel that a person who watches thriller films often knows more about the technical side of the genre then someone who watches them rarely does. However in my questionnaire only one person said that they watched thriller films "rarely". Which meant that almost all answers held high importance to me.

 

 

The following question told me that most people find that characters are the most important part of a thriller trailer. The vote "characters" received almost double the amount of votes that the second placed option did ("setting"). But then again the answer "setting" had been chosen almost once per every three answerers. So this question gave me the idea that i should focus most of my thought process in designing the characters. To have a bigger understanding in why this should be the case, I asked why in the following question.

 



Here are some of the responses to that next question from the people who answered "characters" for the previous one "Characters are the most important part of any story. If I'm not interested in the characters then I have no reason to watch the movie". "Characters are the most important thing - if I don't care about the characters, I won't buy into whatever situation they are in". "Character development is #1 especially does the villain have a believable motive. Without a believable villains most films fall apart". Most of these answers are based around the idea that if they aren't invested in the characters, then they won't be invested in the film as a whole. On the other hand these responses are more for trailers as a whole. Some of the answers for "setting" go ahead and say why specifically for the thriller genre. For example: "Setting is key to building the tension needed in a good thriller", and "Setting is what creates the atmosphere in a thriller. While I want the characters to keep me watching, the atmosphere is what draws me in". Therefore I need to work on character and setting the most.

The final question was "what key elements of a trailer attract you most to go and see a film?". The answer "story" received the most votes for this question with 9 of a possible 17. Special effects and production company received no votes, meaning that I should put little to no thought into a production company name, and I shouldn't rely on special effects to have a good trailer.

 

 

 

In conclusion this survey has helped my process very much. I have discovered that the characters are the most important part of a trailer, and that the setting has a big focus for thriller films. II also learnt that the story is what makes most people go and see a certain film, so I should put a lot of focus into that area.

Target Audience

My target audience is people aged from 15-19 (mainly males). As well as this i am targeting people than are fans of thriller films. Due to my target age being a minimum of 15 years I will not be able to make the film an 18. This means that the film will not be able to feature any details that breach the 18 certificate guidelines.

Analysis of a Film Poster: The Game

This is a powerpoint I created that shows an analyis of a poster to the film The Game:

Analysis of a Film Poster: The Game from samburgessmedia

Analysis of a Film Poster: The Usual Suspects

This is a powerpoint i created showing my analysis of the poster to The Usual Suspects:

Analysis of a Film Poster: The Usual Suspects from samburgessmedia

Analysis of a Film Magazine Cover: Empire

This is a powerpoint I created that anlayses a cover to an issue of Empire:

Analysis of a Film Magazine Cover: Empire from samburgessmedia

Analysis of a Film Magazine Cover: Total Film

Here is a powerpoint i created giving an analysis of a cover to Total Film:

Analysis of a Film Magazine Cover: Total Film from samburgessmedia

Conventions of Film Magazine Covers

Here is a Prezi I made showing the conventions of film magazine covers:

Analysis of a Thriller Film Trailer: Taken

Taken is a thriller movie that was released in 2008. The total length of this trailer is 1:46.
The trailer begins by showing the two production companies that created the film: 20th Century Fox (they are shown first since they are the bigger company) and then Europa.

The first few shots of the trailer are of Bryan Mills (played by Liam Neeson) and Kim (played by Maggie Grace) having happy conversations in different scenes. Relaxing music plays above the shots. This combination of shots and music is to establish the strong relationship between the father and daughter. One of their conversations tells us the daughter is going on holiday with her friend in France, telling us where the movie will be set.

A caption saying "20th Century Fox Presents" cuts in, splitting the tone from these last shots to the next.

A tension building song then starts to play after the last caption. The following shot is shown using an editing technique that splits the screen into different shots. The shots in this sequence show us that their are some intruders in the daughter's hotel. The supporting dialogue tells us that these intruders intend to kidnap her and her friend. This creates the enigma code: what do these kidnappers want with the girls?

The music increases in volume, building the suspense until Kim is dragged screaming from under the bed where she was hiding.

Then the music changes to a more solemn but still quite quick tempo piece of music. At this point Bryan Mills begins his (famous) monologue. The shots during his monologue cross-cut between Bryan speaking and scenes of Bryan in the future in fights, causing chaos, in action etc. This creates enigma codes about the character Bryan Mills himself: who is he? What is his background? How did he become such a powerful force?

The monologue ends with Bryan Mills on the phone which then cuts to a caption showing the title of the film: Taken. Followed by the three lead actors names on seperate captions: Liam Neeson, then Maggie Grace, then Famke Janssen.