The brief I chose had a main target of successfully creating a film trailer. In order for me to have well constructed film trailer I needed to use codes and conventions from every film trailer. However I would apply even more specific codes and conventions from thriller trailers, as the thriller genre was the genre I wanted my text to be. It was necessary for me to conduct research to understand what is associated with the genres. There are many films that fit the thriller genre, but in the end i chose two films were very different whilst still having similar codes and conventions. John Hartley stated in his theory that "the same text can belong to different genres in different countries or times". So in some cases a film can be given a hybrid genre (like rom-com). Taken is an out-an-out thriller film. Whereas Super 8 is a strong mix of the thriller and sci-fi genre.
These were the trailers I looked at:
Taken
Super 8
This is the trailer I created:
Just like every movie trailer, mine began with showing the production companies involved with the film. It is often found that with movie trailers that indie films have more production companies than blockbuster films. this is because indie films require financing from more companies as the film is unlikely to be watched by the mass audience. My trailer includes two production companies, suggesting that my film of more of an indie than a blockbuster.
My following two shots are establishing shots showing where the film's location will be. A convention of all trailers is establishing the setting with at least one shot, and usually early in the trailer. Using a long shot I am able to have a frame that draws a large picture, showing the casual town setting. In my first establishing shot I have two similar looking red cars passing each other. This foreshadows the two similar looking characters that will be coming into contact with one another in the film.
The next shot is of my protagonist sitting on his own. Real trailers have a code where the protagonist must be shown early and frequently, this is so the audience is 100% sure on who the film will be following. It also allows the audience to become familiar with the character, and learn a little of their personality before they go and watch the film. With this shot I wanted to make my protagonist look like a lonely person. To show this I made it a long shot, and put my lead actor in the centre of the frame.
Due to the fact that my protagonist and antagonist are portrayed by the same actor I decided to have the following shot be a closer up version of the previous one. This gave the audience the chance to see the details of the protagonist (that he wears glasses), which wouldn't confuse them when the trailer carried on.
Trailers also include lots of enigma codes to make the audience interested. I have attempted to have enigma codes in my trailer through the use of camera and sound. For example I have tried to create a large enigma code in the final shot of footage. The shot ends with a knife around the protagonists neck. The audience are left to wonder on what the fate of the protagonist is. There is also various pieces of dialogue in the trailer which create enigma codes.
The final third of the trailer has been edited so that the shots flow quite quickly. Quick cutting is a convention found in film trailers, mostly in thriller film trailers. This technique is usually used to build tension and suspense. I have also used this convention for this reason.
Throughout the trailer i have used a convention the film trailers use: transitions. Most trailers incorporate transitions to show the progression of time, and the transition they almost always use is a fade. I have included many fades in my trailer. As well as showing the progression of time, fades also build tension, a feature quite key in trailers, especially for thriller films.
As for sound, my trailer incorporated 2 different songs which can be heard throughout. The first song that plays starts with the production companies at the beginning. The song I have selected to use is quite mellow and not very fast. I have used this piece as it eases the audience into what they are seeing. The music creates a 'safe-zone', sound which tells the audience that this is normality through it's well-roundedness and smooth sound. The second piece of music is of a faster pace. It begins as normality starts to crumble around the protagonist in the trailer. As the trailer goes on I have edited the music so that it increase in pace. I wanted to increase the speed of the music as that in turn increases the feeling of tension for the audience. One of the conventions of thriller trailers is including music that does well at building tension.
As well as that a convention of thriller trailers is including a sting, also usually being to build tension and suspense. My trailer incorporates a tension building sting towards the latter end of the trailer. I included it as it was a great way of building up to a final climactic shot.
My trailer challenges conventions by being longer than the average length if a film trailer. Most film trailers are roughly 2 minutes long, however my trailer goes past the 150 seconds mark.
Film Poster
My poster follows thriller movie poster conventions by having the protagonist star in the centre of the poster, it's also the biggest image on the poster. By doing this the audience instantly recognises who they will be following and attaching themselves to in the film. However my poster also challenges the conventions by merging one half of the protagonist's face and one half of the antagonist's face to create one person. But both characters are portrayed by the same actor. This also creates enigma codes, such as making the audience wonder why there is a split between the character's body.
There is a tagline, in a medium sized font which starts on the left hand side of the poster with: "TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN", and ends of the right side with: "BUT WITH VERY DIFFERENT OUTCOMES". A tagline is a convention of film trailers, it is there to build excitement for the audience, and to entice them into watching the film. I also changed the colour of the font very slightly from one part of the tagline to the other. The left part is lighter to represent the 'lighter' version of the person (the protagonist). Whereas the right part of the tagline is slightly darker to represent the 'darker' side of the person (the antagonist). Both of the fonts are a lightish grey, this is so they stand out on the black background so the audience can easily read it.
The top of the poster shows the lead actor's name, it is in caps and in a bold font to stand out, as well as this I decided to make it a quite bright red colour. The name is quite large as it is a selling point for the film. If the audience sees this name it may attract them to go and purchase a ticket for the film. All the text on the poster (apart from the orange credits) is written in the same font. Having the font the same for most of the text makes it look neater as an image, it stops the audience from being deterred from looking. The largest piece of text is the title, this is because it is the most important part of the film. The title is what the audience use to spread the buzz for a film. The more eye-catching the title is, the more recognisable it becomes. The release date of the film is written at the bottom in a similar colour to the lead actor at the top. This is to make the poster more symmetrical, research shows that a more symmetrical poster creates a more positive response. The release date is there as it is a key advertising convention.
Overall my poster is very dark, with lots of black, this is to represent the serious aspect of the film. These colours also have strong connotations with the thriller genre. One of the conventions of thriller movie posters is a heavy use of dark colours throughout the poster. But I have made most of the text in very light colours. The text needs to stand out so that the audience can easily read it, and it stands out more easily in lighter colours as it contrasts the dark backgrounds. I have made the credits an orange colour, this is so that it links with the text colour scheme (the reds of the release date and the lead actor's name). It isn't as bright and as large as the other pieces of text due to it being not as important as the others. Having the credits shown this way is a convention of film posters.
I have decided to use this image as it represents the two characters looking identical in the film, it also foreshadows the ending of the film where it turns out to be one person the whole time. The title of the film is Janus, Janus is the god of transitions and beginnings. My film is about a character transitioning from one state of mind to another, almost creating a new beginning for himself. Janus is a god that had two heads, I referenced that by having the poster be an image of my character with two half faces on the same head. There is also the Janus coin, with the head with two faces on it, I have represented this with the flipping coin over the lead character's head.
However, with my use of codes and conventions, I have tried not to reflect my chosen genre too blatantly. This is so that a wider demographic reacts positively to my poster, meaning that they would be more likely to go and see the film.
Film Magazine Cover
I have used a dark background to suggest to the audience that this is a dark film. However much like with my film poster I have decided to make it a little more ambiguous so that the magazine cover affects a wider demographic more positively.
All of the font stands out from it's background colour and surrounding images & text. For example the black text on the left hand side of the cover stands out on the white/grey background. But the white magazine title also stands out because of the darker, blacker background. Having text which contrasts its surrounding colours is a key convention of all magazine covers.
As with all magazines my cover's title 'CINEMATIC' has its own distinct font which isn't copied by any of the surrounding text. (However I did use similar fonts to create a greater linkage across the page). The title is in the biggest font out of all the pieces of text. This is a convention of film magazines. The magazine's name should always be the largest as it is the brand, and is the most well-known part on the cover. However the featured film of the month (in this case 'Janus'), is always the second largest piece of font on a film magazine cover. This is because it is the largest selling point for the magazine. The cover uses the film to persuade the audience to buy it. It informs them that they can learn more about this film if they buy this magazine. I have shown this by using the magazine's tagline: "behind the scenes of this year's biggest thriller". The tagline is there to entice the reader, I have used it to advertise what will be shown from the film inside the magazine.
Magazine covers always incorporate a barcode, it's usually surrounded by the issue's number, price and date. I have this feature placed near the top on the right side of the cover, it is away from the other pieces of text as it isn't a selling point for the cover, however it is still a necessary convention for any magazine cover.
As well as this I have included lots of buzz words to make the magazine seem as exciting and enjoyable as possible. Such words I have used include: "exclusive" and "plus". The buzz words I have selected always appear in bold so the eye of the reader is drawn to it relatively quickly.
Another convention of film magazine cover's is having a 'list' feature advertised somewhere on the page. At the bottom of my cover I have the "top 25 car chases in movies" feature. But not only this, there is also a buzz word "inside", and a banner featuring three stills from three movies. This collaboration of elements creates an exciting piece of advertising that would be likely to draw many readers in. The stills do a great job of convincing fan's of any of the three films to buy the magazine. The emotive language and list feature also work in getting the audience to check out the issue.
The biggest image on the cover is of the protagonist from my film 'Janus'. One of the conventions of a film magazine cover is having the lead character from a film appear on the front of the cover. In most cases the character takes up the most room on the cover. As well as this you often seeing the lead breaking the fourth wall and staring directly at the audience. The breaking of the fourth wall creates a more intimate feeling between the cover and the reader, making the reader feel as though the magazine cover is more personal to them, and therefore making them want to buy the magazine.
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