Film Trailer Analysis

http://www.slideshare.net/DANxASHTON/paranormal-activity-3-film-analysis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V389T9J5QYY&list=FLDf-IhDVdylZDtmVbGal8Sg&index=7&feature=plpp_video

Advanced portfolio - Evaluation

My trailer is conventional in the way it compares to real media output because I used a variety of shots and sound effects to create it and it is in the conventional time of around three minutes. The use of intertitles to help explain the narrative of the trailer and a billing card and are also conventional. The genre we were aiming to portray in our film trailer was horror/psychological thriller.

An audience could consume the trailer either at the cinema, TV or on the internet . e.g. Youtube or pop ups. People could also see it at the beginning of other DVDs and films that they have purchased.

The audience could consume the trailer either through passive viewing which means that they don’t seek to view the trailer in the first place. This is affective advertising because it pulls people into your niche without them seeking it out. The other way to view the trailer would be to actively seek out the trailer, most likely on the internet.

After receiving feedback from a focus group made up of both males and females that came under our 15-25 target audience range, I feel that the trailer I produced was very successful because we were able to create the illusion of the character of the mother being the protagonist and it also left enough of the plot out so that the people we asked would want to go and see it.

In our trailer we used generic codes and conventions such as, intertitles, billing block, soundtrack, web address and release date.

We identified the target audience by researching similar films in the horror/psychological thriller and this lead us to out 15-25 target age range. We chose 15 as the lower limit because we believe that at that age people have a lot more disposable income and are more lightly to go to the cinema on a regular basis. When we asked the focus group they agreed with our target audience range.

We asked the focus group to give us feedback on what they thought the genre of the film was and they answered with “horror” which is exactly what we were aiming for. They knew this because of our use of narrative, props, mise en scene, and dialogue throughout the trailer.

The audience understood the basic plot of the film from the trailer, and were also successfully mislead into thinking that the mother character was the protagonist.

The audience was able to identify that “Harry” was the main character through the trailer and also that the mother had something to do with the killings, but they weren’t sure what. This was intentional because we wanted the audience to now enough of the plot to want to see the film but not enough that they knew the entire story.

We used mid shots and close ups on the faces of the main character’s so that the audience could identify them as significant and be able to recognise them in another scene. This proved successful because the focus group were able to tell us who the main characters were after only one viewing.

In the trailer we made the character of “Harry” the main character. We chose the actor because he doesn’t fit the persona of someone you would expect to be a killer. This was crucial because we wanted to mislead the audience into believing it want him that was the killer. We used costume and props as well as dialogue to show this.

The representation of “Harry” is unconventional because the audience don’t identify him as the protagonist and the audience feel sympathy for him during the bullying scenes.

The audience agreed that the setting and the mise en scene were appropriate for out trailer because it added to the effect of the horror element. The only comment they had was that the lighting changed from scene to scene.  This was only a problem to us because we don’t have lighting equipment available to us. If we were to make the trailer again and we had a bigger budged then we could alter some of the lighting.

We asked the audience for feedback on the sound throughout the trailer and they said that the backing track was really effective for the trailer and helped promote the genre. They also said that the use of dialogue was good because it allowed snippets of the plot to be reviled.

The key themes we show in the trailer are bullying, mental illness, double life and secrets. These are all shown throughout the trailer.

Our trailer conforms to Todorov’s theory of narrative in that it starts with a state of equilibrium, then a disruption of the equilibrium, leading to a recognition of the disruption, and then to an attempt to repair the disruption which takes you back to equilibrium.

The audience though that the film trailer was extremely effective in showing enough of the plot to entice them to see the whole film, but didn’t give away enough that they would know the entire plot.

The trailers strengths are that it was successful in every area we aimed for it to be, and that it is a strong promotional tool. The trailer entices an audience to want to see more and also give the viewer a hit at the genre of the film. The way the different shots in the trailer are pieced together using static and fades proved o be successful because the focus group commented on the effect it had on creating the “handy cam” affect and feel to the trailer. The plot of the trailer was successfully shown and the characters represented successfully also. The audience commented on the lighting, saying that it could have been a little better and consistent but agreed that due to our budget we had the best product possible.

I feel that the trailer was successful in showing all the elements of a conventional trailer.

The film poster I produced adds to the promotional package and contains information about the release date and had a web address and billing block which are all conventional. It also has the name of the film at the top and a sell line towards the bottom which bith give a hint as to the content of the film, these are both also conventional.

The magazine fornt cover does much the same as the poster to promote the film, but it also boasts interviews with the main character in the film. This would boost interest in the film and get it wider media coverage. If an article is covered by a magazine you could expect it to be rolled out over all or the multi platforms a media company might have. E.g. Bauer.

All three elements I have created work together as a promotional package that is representational of real life media promotional packages. Each is designed to draw the maximum possible viewers form the selected target audience. The trailer is the lynch pin of the package but the poster and magazine cover are designed to complement and work alongside the trailer for maximum audience exposure.

I used the following technologies to create my Promotional package.

The Internet - I used this for research, blogging and to source non copyrighted sound effects.

Digital Camera – this was used during the making of the anemati, film poster, film magazine and the trailer itself.

Adobe InDesign - this was used to create the poster and magazine cover and edit the various images I used.

Paintshop –this was used to create the intertitles we used during the trailer and was also used to edit my images.

Photoshop – I used this to edit the images I took using the digital camera.

Adobe Premier – used for editing the film trailer and the sound that went with it.

Video camera and Tripod – we used these on ever shoot we went on to try and give the trailer a professional finish and also to keep the shots smooth.

Blogspot – use to document my research and to display my final promotional package and designs.

 FINAL FILM POSTER 
i chose to use the style of text for the masthead because i thought that it represented two personalities, which is one of the themes featured in the plot of "Two Faced". the image i chose to use is supposed to represent a faceless nameless victim in the distance and also show the protagonist but also without relieving an identity. this was intentional because i wanted the target audience to feel that there is a mystery, and the only way they could solve the mystery would be to go and see the film. the image was edied to make it darker and more eerie. that tag line that everyone in the group used "There's two sides to every story" was chosen because we all felt it was a statement but at the same time left a question that could only be answered by going to see the film. This is stereotypical of film posters because its all about getting the largest volume of people to see a film so that the company that made it will make money. Three elements that are also stereotypical of a film poster that i have also included are the web address for the official site the release date and a billing block.

FINAL MAGAZINE COVER
At the top of the magazine cover there is a banner line which grabs the readers attention and draws them to the competition. as the readers eye naturally falls down the page they can see the masthead which is in a font that is representational of a film used in a camera and so can be linked to the film genre of the magazine. i continued the use of the Font used in my film poser for the title. i did this because it can be used as brand recognition and will be easier for people to recognize what the article is about. my magazine cover has all the stereotypical features you would find on a real professionally produced magazine cover which include, issue date, mast head, banner line, sell lines, web address, tag line, price, image of actor, subsidiary image and features bar. These are all used to draw peoples attention and get them to read the magazine and see the film that the articles are about.  

Shoot #2

Tonight we went out to film the murder scene of bully number two. this involved close ups of the victim and medium shots of the victim and murderer. we chose a location that was very dark as to fit in with the stereotypical night time murder scene in which the protagonist cant be identified. this will help out trailer to flow better when it is finally edited because the audience wont know who the murderer is and this will make them want to go and view the film to find out. The only problem we had with the filming was the time because it was -1 outside and we all got very cold after an hour and a half of filming.

Group embers present; Dan, Lauren and Nathan.
Actors present; Nathan, Niamah
Equipment used; Hand held camera, Torch and a prop of a blooded up cricket bat

Paranormal activity 3 film analysis

The film genre is supernatural thriller. The audience can tell this because the villain of the film is a ghost or poltergeist, and there are links made back to the previous two films in the trilogy which also attracts the previous audience to see the next instalment. The trailer lasts one minute and forty four seconds and has a total of eighty shots that are pieced together using fades to black and static and inter titles.The diegetic sound of screaming is used throughout the trailer to create the thriller and scary effect. The poor quality of the dialogue matched with the handy cam adds to the realistic feel of the film. Non diegetic sound is used throughout the trailer to scare the audience such as a “wooooosh” sound effect. The trailer establishes that the film is based around a family in their own home, and also establishes that the daughter of the family has some connection to the ghost.The inter titles are used to help establish the narrative, such as “discover how the activity began” to tell the audience what the film is all about and the end title “Paranormal Activity 3” is one of the last thing you see. This is because the company want to leave you with something that you will remember so that you would go and watch the film. There is also a web address on the screen in red, this could be to draw the audience’s attention to it, or be the representation of blood.Being a trailer for a follow on film, it builds on the foundations of the previous two films to create and air of expectation for things to go wrong and a sense that something like this could happen to you. The trailer leaves you with the expectation that the film will be even better than the previous film because it says “this October discover how the activity began”. The mood of the film is very dark and eerie which fits in with a supernatural thriller.In the first half of the trailer nearly all the shots are eye level point of view shots because they are shot using a hand held camera, but there is one interesting shot where the camera pans back and forth like a security camera but we are shown its not a security camera but a standard camera mounted on the swivel base of an electric fan, I feel that this effects the way the audience perceive the trailer and its message. Rather than the shots seeming too professional and clean, but rough as if it really was just one of the family setting up the camera to “maybe capture something”.The mise-en-scene is constructed to look like an ordinary hose that any normal person would live in, which then adds to the shock of the super natural goings on and captures the audience.

Using this trailer is a good marketing scheme because it leaves enough of the story out so that it would make people want to go and spend money to see it. I think the trailer is quite successful in targeting the audience that has seen the previous two films but at the same time it doesn’t really do much to attract a new audience I feel.

List of ten codes and conventions

1.  Age rating information

2.  Use of inter titles

3.  Screams

4.  Darkness

5.  Fast editing

6.  Exaggerated sounds i.e. when the lights go out

7.  Special effects

8.  Voice bridging two shots

9.  Web address

10.          The studio name and logo

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The films code of enigma in this film is, “will the family survive?” and “who is doing all of this?”

Film trailers are a very useful tool in promoting a film as it gives the audience a taste of what is to come but leaves them with a question at the end, which will only be answered if they watch the film.

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Some of the photos we took for the anamatic

Film Synopsis

The film starts with a family group (Father, Mother, Son, and Daughter) sat around the living room table having dinner. In the background the TV is on, and a breaking news report can be seen.  The father tells everyone to go to the car because there has been a biological weapon malfunction and they are in grave danger and must leave immediately. They start to leave the city and start to see that the weapon has already started to affect people. The weapon is designed to attack the nervous system and eat away at flesh. They are just about to reach the edge of the city, and just then the reality hits them.

The government has shut off all the exits from the city in an effort to contain to spread of the infection, but by doing this they sentence thousands of innocent healthy people to death including the family who now seem to have no way out.

This is the point in the film that the audience find out that the father in no ordinary citizen but in fact is a high ranking officer in the military. He tells his family that he has a way out for them and that they should all head to the port and he would use his rank to get them aboard a ship that would take them safely away from the city and out of the reach of the infection.

From this point in chaos ensues as there is a frantic battle for survival whilst the family are chased and picked off one by one by the infected but only the father survives. The father is left alone to make his battle through the city to get to safety. He is pursued through the city by hoards of the infected he must use whatever he can find to defend himself. Along the way he has a breakdown and is crying at the loss of his family, he says “it’s all my fault”. This is the point where the audience find out that it was the father’s fault that the weapon malfunctioned in the first place and consequently his fault for the loss of his family and the thousands of innocent people that are now infected. He manages to barricade himself inside an old church but this is a fatal mistake, he is soon surrounded by the infected. The infected manage to get in and he is now cornered. They start to move towards him. They rip him to pieces and his clothes and body parts can be seen flying through the air. The audience then find out that the whole film had in fact been the dream of the father. He wakes up in a cold sweat and fear on his face, he realises it was a dream and is relieved. But his problems aren’t over, as he finds out when he reports for his duties that morning. He had been assigned to do tests on a biological weapon, and then he realises his dream was about to became reality!

  

                                                                                                                                          Dan Ashton