Analysing Film Trailers

Film Title: 2012            Genre: Action/Sci-Fi    

Intended Audience: Male, age 15+ Intelligent

The title is used as a selling point as the world ending in ‘2012’ is a known prediction and is current knowledge, therefore the audience will gasp each caption and ultimately at the very end of the trailer the title ‘2012’ will appear and the audience will be able to connect everything that happens in the trailer with the title.

The genre is recognisable due to various elements within the trailer. These include the use of film shots; men within a science laboratory dressed in black suits, this gives the impression of an important meeting taking place in somewhere also of some significance. There are also shots of famous world buildings at the beginning of the trailer therefore the audience can comprehend the film will be about the world. Later on there are film shots of building falling, down, roads falling and aeroplanes crashing, this distinguishes the genre as an action.

The captions used in the trailer begin with ‘The Mayan Calendar Predicted It’ and ‘Science has Confirmed It’ ‘But we never imagined’ ‘it could really happened’ all separated with different film shots. The isolation of each of these captions teases the audience and consequently they want to know more as to what this new film contains and is about. The captions later go on to read, ‘from the director of Independence Day’ which gives the opportunity for the audience to make connections between ‘2012’ and the successful and recognised film ‘Independence Day’, and ‘Day after Tomorrow’ this influences them to think the current film will be as successful and will have a similar genre.

There is voiceover of the American president in the trailer, with him speaking to his country about the end of the world. The voice is quite deep and he speaks at a slow pace, mirroring the pace of the film shots. The voiceover sets the tone for trailer as the audience can recognise the seriousness of the subject through its pace and therefore they know the film will contain high tension action within it.

Additional elements are conveyed by the music in the trailer. The music starts quietly at a slow pace, with a dramatic tone which then starts to get faster as the trailer progresses. Towards the end of the trailer the music is very quiet, with the sound of the buildings crashing and falling to the ground being the dominant noise. The trailer also contains sounds of ambulances and police car sirens which conveys danger. Overall the music portrays the action that occurs in the film shots and sets the tone of the film.

The film’s media language is also aimed at its target audience through the use of mise en scene, sound and camera editing. The mise en scene is used through the shots of world famous building which later in trailer come crashing down, the editing used in order to create these shots would appeal to its target audience as they would like to see vast amounts of editing used to represent the action they crave to see in a film.

Film Trailer Conventions

Film trailers are an important part of film marketing, they promote the film to the public which as a result, creates immediate interest in the film before its release. There can be several versions for one film, earlier ones known as 'teaser' trailers, tease the audience with only a few exciting details. Later ones give more detail including the all important release date.

The conventions of a film trailer are as follows:

• Trailers include key moments from the film which are not placed in the sequence of the film, and do not give away any crucial plot details (some trailers are criticised for giving away too many details)
• The title of the film is not usually put on screen until the end of the trailer, often followed by a release date.
• The names of the main stars are out on screen early on in the trailer. This is important as it lets audiences know who they can expect to see in the film. Audience will often decide they want to see a film just because of the stars in it.
• Sometimes the names of the director and/or producer are included, with phrase such as 'from the director/makers of...' This helps the audience to make connections between the film being trailed and previously successful and recognised films.
• Many mainstream films will use a powerful voice-over that draws our attention to the key points of the film.
• On-screen text gives important about the film, including the stars, director/producers, tag line, title and release date. Notice the style of this text and how it is often accompanied by a musical beat.
• Music is essential in trailers as it can suggest the genre, style and plot of the film. Look at how music is used cleverly to bring all the elements of the trailer together.

Documentary: Production & Post-Production

Production

We were given two  (10 hours lesson time) in order to research, plan, produce and edit the documentary. We used around 4 of these hours for filming. Fortunately, we were all avaliable for all of these allocated shooting hours. We all allocated roles for ourselves. Myself and another person in the group were involved with filming and editing and had a small role in acting, the third person in the group was the main actor. We also used a few extras for certain scenes, such as interviews and a mock drug deal. We managed to get to the town in the morning in order to avoid the business of the town centre which might cause problems when filming.

Post-Production

The post-production aspect of the documentary was very time consuming, and unfortunately due to people in the group being absent we only had two hours of lesson time to complete this process, therefore we decided to take an extra two hours of our own time to finish it. We should have been more organised with the timing aspect of the post-production and should consider this in future tasks.

The documentary had to be a maximum of 5 minutes long, ours was just over 4minutes. We had plenty of footage to work from and managed to incorporate most of the material into the documentary. Once each shot was put into the film, we also had to incorporate post-production skills in the documentary, these included:
Transitions- using 'fade in' etc to amplify continuity into the documentary.
Voiceover- expressing how Harlow Town Centre used to be a shoppers paradise however due to the rise of 'Chavs' is now a place of crime and derelict shops.
Captions- These were used to emphasise the name of the 'Chavs' We used the four words which made up 'Chav' along with four images into a montage, three of council houses and the word Vermin in conjuction with our main actor.
Music- To begin with we started with a happy song which faded out for the voiceover. We decided to use 'chavvy' music for the scenes where 'chavs' were and where the derelict shops were.

Overall I think to improve, more planning is needed in order for any aspects that could potential go wrong can be overcome. For example is someone in the group is absent then we should plan to approach another aspect of the task so there is time to finish everything required to accomplish the task. Within the planning, I also think we could have brainstormed in more detail in order to have acheived a better overall documentary.

Documentary: Planning

We were put into randomly chosen groups of three in order for us to experience working with people we might not usually chose to work with. The title given for the documentary was 'Harlow: A Dying Town Centre'. From this title we produced a flowchart, with any ideas and connotations associated with the title. As the title was a 'Dying' town centre, I tried to include negative connotations. I also thought it was a good idea to isolate each word/phrase of the title in order to initiate more ideas.

From the flowchart I produced as a group we decided to concentrate on various aspects we covered. Predominantly the 'Chav' aspect and how we could connect this to crime and the empty derelict shops. We decided we would direct our documentary on how Harlow Town Centre was a exciting, safe area to be but how 'Chavs' - (Council House Assosiated Vermin) have had huge negative impacts on the town centre- empty, derelict shops and crime.

Next we ventured around the town in order to scout accurate locations for filming. We found many empty shops with grafitti and litter nearby also.

I also created a shot list to follow for filming. We follwed the list as close as possible, it was useful to have when filming.

Shots of 'Chavs'- Film medium long shot of chavs in town with some shots where the camera pans, following them. Also shots of groups of chavs. Shots with chavs on their own, main chav in documentary- include close up shots, medium close ups and medium long shots.

Shots of empty shops- medium long shots, where camera pans to create a sweeping shot of many empty shops together

Shots of Watergardens- medium long shots, sweeping shots of row of restaurants

Documentary: Research

Research

A documentary can be defined as a factual film or television programme about an event, person presenting the facts with little or no fiction. The popular perceptions of a documentary are that it is a television piece on a current or historic topic where facts are presented to the viewer through footage and interviews in such a way which is informative as well as entertaining to the viewer. A typical documentary which most of us could relate to would be David Attenborough’s natural history documentaries which collectively form a comprehensive survey of all life on the planet. From a more conventional take, ‘The Only Way is Essex’ is also a modern and very current documentary about a group of young people and what Essex is like.

Scot Grierson was regarded as the founder of the documentary movement in Britain and Canada. Grierson defined a documentary as ‘the creative treatment of actuality’. This may suggest the way in which reality is portrayed to the viewer in an innovative and imaginative way. For example, ‘The Only Way is Essex’ is alleged supposed to show the viewer the stereotypical ‘Essex’ lifestyle, however it is mildly exaggerated in order to entertain and capture the viewers sense of humour. Actuality can be defined as actual existence, typically contrasted with what was intended, expected or believed. This may also be expressed as reality. Creative treatment may be interpreted as a more playful take on what is being documented, like the example given before, how real life events are manipulated with the intention of making the viewers viewing experience more captivating and entertaining.

 Through Grierson’s definition it is possible to question whether there is real potential to capture the real world on film. Documentaries are about factual events or circumstances, therefore they should be truthful and accurate. However, behind the documentary the real aim of the film or programme may be to persuade or promote the topic they have constructed, therefore there may be an element of manipulation or strategic planning in order to portray the hidden agenda to the viewer. Another point to consider is how genuine people would act when cameras are put in front of them. For example, the current realist documentary ‘Educating Essex’ is a fly on the wall documentary about life in a school in Essex. Although from what we see may be genuine acts, when teenagers are faced with cameras following their every move they may wish to act differently in order to get their ‘fifteen minutes of fame’. Therefore the viewer may not be experiencing the real behaviour of these teenagers. Also the way in which the film or programme is later edited also questions the possibility of capturing the real world on film. Although a realist documentary should impose minimal treatment on the recorded material, the shots would be picked out by how effective or entertaining they would be for the viewer, therefore not giving the viewer the full scale of events.

 Furthermore there may also be ethical dimensions to be considered. To take the example of the documentary ‘Educating Essex’, a pupil that is recorded misbehaving may have had an ‘off’ day on that particular day they were filming, but still gives the impression they are a bad student who is a trouble maker, resulting in Essex schools having a bad reputation. There is also the ethical issue of filming people this young, people who are still children being exposed to the nation as being badly behaved teenagers- an image which is very current in our world today.

 There is one way of categorising documentaries; this is by the degree of creative treatment of the recorded material. There are three sub genres in total. The first one is a realist documentary which imposes minimal treatment on the recorded material- fly on the wall. However if the film maker imposes minimal treatment of the recorded material than this implies they simple wish to record and reveal what they have recorded.

 The second is a formalist documentary which imposes a particular narrative structure on the recorded material-fly in the soup. If the film maker wants to impose a particular narrative then this implies a mild sense of expression and possibly persuasion to the viewer.  Lastly, a subjective documentary, which expresses the film makers personal vision. If the film maker would want to express their own personal vision then this may imply that they want to persuade the viewer in some way to their way of thinking of whatever the topic is. It would mean they feel very strongly and passionately about the subject and wants to fully express this throughout the documentary.  Any one documentary can mix these techniques. The choice of using any of these constructs is completely the decision of the film maker, to whether they want their vision to be known to the viewer or whether they want to create a documentary with little personal input.

 There are many conventions of a documentary. There are six common conventions. Firstly, interview techniques. There are three different customs of this, to show the interviewer on a screen to give authority to him/her, to  enable the interviewee to stare straight out the audience In order to engage the audience with them and to film the interviewee from behind or above to underscore the validity or otherwise of their statements. Another common convention is film techniques; the use of ‘cutaways’ to disguise times in the interviews where interviews had to be re-shot. In conventional interviews there is often a cut a way to the interviewee that disguises such manipulation of the recorded material; to establish recognisable settings for each of the people we see interviewed and filming subjects in clear-cut environments, one way of making them memorable however fleeting their appearances.

 Additionally there a title sequences; a good introductory sequence will set the pattern for the whole piece, it should be immediately apparent to the viewer what the documentary is about and the clarity of purpose is all important. The titles and effects is also a common convention where there is use of captions and highlighted words which is an effective way of providing information that is not immediately apparent, for example names, facts and figures. Rapid montages are also used which often fulfil a role at the end of a production and allow the audience to recap what they have seen. Images are also important; still images often play a very important role in the unravelling of a narrative or theme. Images in newspapers and magazines often feature in documentaries alongside other archive material. Sound in documentaries are also important; the choice of music track needs to be carefully considered, a voice used in voiceover must have the correct ‘weight’ for the subject matter and interviewers need to be recorded in the best available conditions for clarity of sound. Lastly, transitions, where you can add audience interest by using transition cuts from scene to scene.

One Day in September is a 1999 documentary film directed by Kevin Macdonald examining the 5^th September 1972 murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Michael Douglas provides the sparse narration throughout the film. The assault is described by Al-Gashey as well as by some of the German security staff present. Footage of ABC anchor Jim McKay is interspersed, along with sound clips of Peter Jennings, to give an impression of events unfolding as they happened. General Ulrich Wegener, founder of the German counter-terrorist unit GSG 9, was also interviewed during the film. The film offers evidence to the allegation that the rescue operation was poorly planned and executed, suggesting the snipers were not prepared and were poorly positioned. The film implies that had the German government prepared better, the athletes might have been saved. The use of common conventions such as images and sounds are used through graphic photographs of the dead Israelis and Palestinians shown to the viewers in a photo-montage to the Deep Purple song ‘Child in Time’.

The construction of ‘One Day in September’ is a formalist documentary as it imposes a particular narrative on the structure of the recorded material. The narrative implies that the athletes’ deaths could have been avoided if the government were more prepared. The narrative is not strong enough to be a subjective documentary as it is just hints and implications that lead it to be a formalist documentary. I think the purpose of the documentary is to reveal the events of the massacre and also to analyze in depth the circumstances of what occurred. I would imagine the preferred reading of the representation would be an informative view of the events that occurred that day and how maybe something more could have been done in order to avoid the deaths.

Evaluation of music video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aog3GTtbKsg

Evaluating in relation to Goodwin's Theory

There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals.

As planned, we tried to pick out the lyrics of which were achievable to connect to a visual image. This wasn't too difficult as the lyrics made frequent references to nature. These aspects were fairly simple to find, for example, the sun, and shoot them to fit the song. As the lyrics are sung so does the image, establishing a strong relationship between the lyrics and the visuals.

'Birds in the sky' These lyrics are sung in conjuction with an image of birds flying in the sky, this emphasises the lyrics. It is a short shot and is the esatblishing shot of the music video, after the image a transition is used to fade into the next scene. We used a low angle shot by manipulating the tilt of the camera, given the impression of looking upwards into the sky.                   

'Breeze drifting on by' Here we had an image of a huge tree drifting in the breeze whilst the lyrics were sung. Luckily it was quite a windy day when we shot this so the tree swayed heavily side to side, portraying the 'breeze'. A slight low angle shot is also used here by tilting the camera to give the impression of looking upwards at the tree.

'River running free' here, we went on a boat ride and shot the river flowing quite fast, relating directly to the lyrics. The boat was going quite quickly therefore the film of the river does look quite fast paced, which possibly would have looked better if it was slightly slower due to the pace of the song. A medium shot is used here with a slight tilt downwards to the camera to give the impression it is close by. 

'This old world is a new world..' the singer sings these lyrics whilst opening a window and looking outside of it to represent the new world she is about to venture out into. A medium shot is used here and the camera also tracks alongside the singer, moving with the singer.

 'Stars in the sky' Here, unfortunately it was difficult to get a shot of stars at night as it would not come up clear enough on camera, however we used a shot of the street lighting at night which I feel also created a good affect, as the blurred street lighting gives the impression of 'stars in the sky.'

'Freedom is mine' When the singer sung these lyrics, she opened her front door and ventured out, emphasisinng the freedom she now has into the new world. The camera shoots at a medium shot which then switches to a medium close up and then follows the singer as she walks outside the door.

'Feeling Good' The singer writes 'Feeling Good' in the mirror with lip stick whilst these lyrics are sung. The camera shoots at a medium close up, almost an over the shoulder shot, mainly focusing on the writing.

There is a relationship between the music and the visuals

The music is quite slow and has a relaxed pace which connects to Goodwin's theory of the relationship between the music and the visuals as the pace of the film is also slow. The singer starts off looking quite shy, making little eye contact with the camera, frequently looking down and to the side. She wears a bath robe, covering most of her body, emphasing her shyness. Then as the song progressess she becomes more confident, looking directly at the camera and changing into a more revealing dress. To add to the slow paced song there is a lot of fading used in the editing to emphasise the slow music.

Looking down, shy at first

There will be a demand on part of the record comapny for a lot of close ups of the main singer or vocalist

This theory is also portrayed through this music video. Throughout the video the main focus is on the singer, with various close ups also shown. We used a range of shots within the framework in order to fully explore this theory. Some shots switch from close ups to medium shots, souly focused on the main singer.

There is likely to be reference to voyeurism, particularly in treatment of females

The main singer in our video is a girl and there are shots towards the end of the video walking down the starirs where the camera is moved from her head to her toes. This is also wear the singer is wearing a short dress with extremely high heels. There is also a shot of her taking off her bath robe, where her bare shoulder is shown, then the robe is dropped and the camera drops to her feet then fades out into a different shot.

I have learnt a number of things in the planning and production of thi music video. Firstly, directly within the music video I have learnt it is important to take special attention to the mise en scene within the framework of shots. There are some shots in the beginning where there is Vaseline bottle in the background of the shot. You can also see the top of my laptop screen where I was reading my lyrics from. I also think it is very important to fully use every shot possibly within the music video, we did utilise many however I think the video could be improved by using a wider variety.

Furthermore I also learnt that it was quite hard to find the right time to use the location we needed, and how to get everyone in the group there. As the camera could not be taken outside of school hours, therefore we had to use our own camera and only tow of us could be there for the filming.

Initial Ideas and planning for music video

Initial Ideas

Once we absorbed the Goodwin theory we were ready to create our own music video, relating to his theory. We went intor groups of three and were chosen a song by our teacher. We were given the song, Feeling Good by Nina Simone.

Firstlty I thought it was a good idea to do some research on the artist to get some background knowledge. Nina Simone was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music. Her musical path changed direction after she was denied entry by the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. Simone was later told by someone working at Curtis that she was rejected because she was black.

"Feeling Good" is a song written by English singer-songwriters Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the 1965 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd. Nina Simone's version appeared on her 1965 album I Put a Spell on You. "Feeling Good" was released as the lead single from Michael Buble's It's Time. The single was released on April 19, 2005.

Planning

We decided to take a 'heartbreak' approach to the song, meaning the main singer would be waking up after a bad break-up with a boyfriend. And as the song progresses she forgets about him, whilst getting ready. She later hits the town, literally 'feeling good'.

I took into account the concepts of Goodwin's theory in order to plan for the music video:

There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals.

'Sun in the sky'- For theses lyrics we could have a shot of the sun rising, we would have to wake up significantly early one morning and find a good location to shoot this from, but it would create a good effect as the opening of the song too.
'Birds in the sky' we could shoot a crowd of birds flying through the sky to amplify these lyrics.
'River running free' we could shoot a downstream of river flowing freely to emphasise the lyrics being sung here.
'This old world is a new world..' to emphasise these lyrics we could have the singer opening curtains or a window to portray the 'new world'.
'Stars in the sky' For these lyrics it would be a good idea to have a shot of the nights sky, representing these lyrics.
'Freedom is mine' When the singer is singing these lyrics we could have her opeing her front door, running out, symbolising the freedom she has acquired.

There is a relationship between the music and the visuals

The music in the song is quite slow but very powerful, therefore will establish a connection between the slow music and the visuals by having slow paced shots, with the singer moving slowly in a relaxed pace. The transitions could also be slow moving, possibly using fading in and out techniques. As the song progresses the music gets more intense, we could relate this to the visuals by letting the singer grow throughout the video too. For example, she could start off quite reserved and camera shy, then throughout the song, slowly get more confident and by the end of the song she is moving a fraction faster, looking at the camera with confidence. This could also be reflected in her clothes, at the beginning of the song shes could be covered up in her pyjamas or a robe, and then slowly take it off and wear something more revealing like a dress.

There will be a demand on part of the record company of a lot of close up of the main artist or vocalist

 

Using this theory we could have the singer as a main focus of the music video, utilising fully a range of shots of the singer throughout the video, especially when she is singing, close up shots should be taken.

 

There is likely to be reference to voyeurism, particualry in the treatment of females

 

To relay this theory into our music video we could use medium shots of the singer, where her body could be in focus, slowly moveing the camera from her face to her feet. The singer could be wearing something revealing, like a short dress to make a reference to vouyeurism. It may also be a good idea to have a shot of the singer taking off her pyjamas or robe, with them falling to the floor, but not directly showing any part of the body by adding in a quick fading transition.

 

We will also have to take into account the mise en scene of the music video. Within the framework of the shots we could have girly objects, such as flowers and hearts and pink objects to emphasise the role of the female singer and how powerful and confident she becomes by the end of the song. We could also use things like photographs- ones of a couple, exemplifing the singers story.

 

The location of the video will also play an important roll in the production of the music video. It would have to take place in a house. Particularly in a bedroom, where the singer would be upset at first, then getting ready to go out. Stairs would need to be used, as well as a front door. To portray the singer going for a night out we could shoot her in a club singing, this may prove difficult, therefore we woul have to find a stage, possibly use the school assembly stage to shoot this.

 

The last thing to think about are the technical aspects of the music video. This would include lip syncing, which may be a challenge, however one that could easily be overcome with a bit of practice. In the editing we would have to match up the lip syncing with the music. Also in the editing we will use smooth transitions, inclding fading in and out to emphasise the slow moving song.