Planning- Filming Risk Assesment

Film Planning- Title (18-2)

From our research we learnt it was important to keep the title either 1 word or a short snappy phrase to ensure that it catches the audiences attention immediately. We now know our plot line so we started to think along the lines of something ominous to make the reader question the title and want to find out more.

As explained our plot will follow 4 characters which are all connected by the same date of birth, which essentially leads to the curse between them and the spirit that follows them. We saw something similar to this concept in our research of "1408". We found this worked really well because through the omission of words you create a feeling of mystery and we immediately wanted to find our what the title was.

This lead to our decision to title our film (18-2), which is the date of birth that ties our characters together. Further to this the mystery that we are creating is particularly important for our film because we have chosen the horror-thriller genre and decided to incoreperate the supernatural horror convention. Having a title like this adds another element of mystery and has the audience asking questions from the start. An important element we found when looking to engage the target demographic.

Planning- Settings and Locations

After our research into what makes a film scary we found that many people found that isolated locations were considered to be a scary convention for a thriller-horror film. This convention is something that was first identified in gothic novels when the era of gothic emerged in literature. We found that this was an important stereotypically scary convention to include as we was creating a thriller-horror film. Therefore we decided to incorporate an abandoned barn as seen above in the image as a main location for our film.

In great contrast to this we have also incorporated shots of our characters in our sixth form school environment. This is firstly because in the trailers we have watched such as 1408 they always start with a neutral setting where there are not any stereotypically "horror" related mise-en-scene. Due to our young target demographic as discussed a school setting was also important for us to use as it is a typical environment that they see everyday therefore creating a relaxed feel to our trailer before we introduce our fast paced montage which will incorporate the horror from our locations as seen from the barn location. This location due to how relatable it is for our audience also reinforces the verisimilitude we wanted to create for the audience. 

These two main locations compliment each other well because they are so contrasting that they allow for the audience to quickly identify between the scenes of suspense and other scenes which release the tension built by isolated settings like the barn.

Planning- Target Audience and Age Certificate

We have chosen a target audience of young adults and teenagers between the ages of 15-25. From our planning we know that films similar to our such as 1408 have been received well by the same target audience. This is the demographic we feel that we will be able to get a preferred reading from, allowing them to be consumed by the horror and mystery of our film. The four main characters in our film are all aged 17 which puts them in a nearly central position to our target market, as the market will be able to relate to a character of this age. As we are looking to appeal to both males and females who like horror/thriller films we chose to use 2 males and 2 females as it offers relation of gender for all of our target audience. On the other hand, demographics slightly older than 25 may also get a negotiated reading as although they aren't our target audience they may still be able to relate to the characters we are presenting. Although we are more likely to get an oppositional reading from these types of people outside our target audience as they simply won't understand exactly what we are presenting through the characters in our film. For example we use elements of modern technology such as communication through the use of social media and smart phones, an older generation may not understand this concept.

Once we have established our target audience it was important to ensure what age certificate we could give our film. After researching what can be in a 15 we found that the following could be included:

-Drug taking

-Sexual nudity

-strong violence

-discriminatory language or behaviour- racism and homophobia

-brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence

-strong verbal references to sex

-frequent strong language

-portrayals of sexual activity

As our films narrative includes a group of young teenagers being hunted and haunted and eventually killed in some cases we felt this fell into the category of strong violence. Further to this there will be the occasional use of strong language and discriminatory language or behaviour. Due to these reasons, although not conforming to the other aspects, we would give our film a rating our 15. However this was not a problem for us as our target audience starts at 15, therefore there should be no issues for any of the target audience trying to watch the film.

We also looked at similar horror/thrillers that we had researched to find out what ratings they were given. We found that the recent releases of Krampus, Oujia and When a stranger calls were all given a 15 rating. As these are in the same genre of film as ours and will be targeting the same demographic we saw our age certificate as no problem.

Planning-USP

The USP in our film is the date that brings our four main characters together. Throughout our research we found that in the vast majority of horror films the main characters seem to have a pre-established relationship such as being friends, as in Oujia. However we decided to subvert this and use a different convention that ties our characters together as our USP. To do this we decided to use their date of birth which connects them all, as seen in our title "D.O.B". The spirit/ghost in our film decides to haunt these characters in our film because it was the same date that a drunk driver killed his family, who was also 18. This narrative is further explored later in the film and because evident that their date of birth ties them to the spirit as well as each other. This provides a USP  as we emphasise the dangers experienced by our main characters by offering no sense of familiarity through other characters, forcing to create new bonds in a short space of time, heightening fear for the consumer throughout. 

Planning- Our film pitch

As seen above we pitched our ideas for our thriller trailer to our class mates and our teacher identify key features and conventions of our film from plot to target demographic. The process was useful as it gave them an opportunity to critic our ideas and clarify what aspects they feel work well and what they think could be improved. The feedback for us was very helpful and we were told that the majority of our ideas were good and our conventions clearly fit our intended genre of a thriller-horror film trailer. However we also were told some positive criticism which was that they were concerned about how we would introduce our characters in such a hostile environment like an abandoned barn without it seeming forced and unnatural. We took this feedback on board and decided that we would use a text message from a loved one such as a boyfriend or girlfriend inviting them to come to the barn. This was a simple aspect that we as a group had not thought about prior to our pitch which is why I found it to be such a useful exercise.  

Planning- Scripts and Voiceovers

After our research into the structure of different thriller films, we decided how we wanted to begin with a slow tempo start and build into a crescendo of music and footage montage. This meant that we could exploit the script carefully to convey the narrative of the film to the audience at the start whilst gradually building the tempo. However in the scene we would still include horror/thriller mise-en-scene to portray the genre of the film immediately through the use of low key lighting and eerie non-digetic sound.

Script:

George: "My girlfriend asked me to meet her here, what about you?"

India: "My boyfriend asked me to come here for a camping trip for my birthday!"

Sean: "Wait, no way, it’s my birthday too!"

Hayley: "Same…"

 George: "Same…"

Hayley: "I really don’t like this."

This is a feature we saw in our research of 1408, they opened with a conversation which set the narrative in place for the film which was about the death of his daughter as seen previously in the research. For us we had to tie a connection between 4 strangers and make this clear for the audience. We was able to achieve this through our dialogue in our script and starting the film in this way.

Secondly we decided to use a deep stereotypical British male voice to conform to the conventions of thriller trailers. However we saw a feature which was using simple, yet effective wording of "This Summer" in The "Lucy" trailer which can be seen below. To make our trailer unique we decided to incorporate these two elements together using the voice over and also the bold statement wording of "this summer" to engage the audience in our film. This will then promote the fact that the film will be coming out in the summer, however the fact that it is a broad statement saying "this summer" means the audience will engage further if they want to find out exactly when it will be released.

 Voiceover: "This summer, 4 strangers, get a surprise they wasn’t expecting!"

Lastly in our script we have include a short piece of digetic diologue to compliment the soundtrack as we felt if all of the music was non-digetic the audience would lose interest. This is a feature of trailer conventions we saw in 1408 when they combined the use of non-digetic and digetic sound in the conversation over skype with his wife, it always them to ensure  the audience is engage and we found this effective when we watched it ourselves.

Sean: "Help me"

George: "Get in"

Planning-Storyboard

We have decided to use "post-it" notes to storyboard our trailer. This way if we decided we want to change any of our shots then we can simply take out one of them out and replace it.

As seen above the storyboard was a very effective tool in the planning stage of our trailer as it allowed us to visualise each frame of the trailer. Therefore allowing us to figure out whether different shots would work with one another. We found this method much more effective than previous styles of storyboarding simply because of the convenience when looking to change orders and shots.

Planning- Production Company and Logo

Production Company:
Our production company is called 'Pinnacle Productions' we chose this as pinnacle is the long point on the top of a tower or skyscraper. This connotes that our production company is at the top and is always pointing up and reaching to the top which suggests we want to achieve more. This shows that we are a very competitive company who are trying to become the best in the business by reaching the 'pinnacle' or the top of the chain. Sky scrapers are also very often situated with others, which has the connotation that we are aware of the competition but will work very hard to outperform the opponents. 
Logo:
As seen below our production company logo features an image of mountains. During our research we were inspired by a major production company 'Paramount', they have been producing films successful for over 100 years. Paramount also have a mountain so we took this experience and adapted the concept into our own lower budget company. We used the mountains because they connote that our company is a large, powerful and suggests they are aiming for the 'top' in the business. However we have used very plain and simple colours and design to portray that we are a low budget film company, although maintaining professional and the ethics of a high budget company. Further to this we used sans-serif font that is very clear and precise although having elements that are not quite perfect like the 'N''s as this shows we are a small budget film company but maintains a level of class. Also the use of a simple picture, writing and colours actually gives a professional feel about it which shows again that we are striving for more and when we asked class mates when we were designing this they agreed.

Planning-Soundtrack

This is a picture of me searching through different music tracks for our trailer. We decided to choose our music after we filmed as we wanted to find a track that fitted our footage effectively. Due to our footage we needed a track that started off slow and eerie, yet build to an intense fast paced track to match our montage of past paced shots and editing. This was a feature we saw frequently in our research as the music often built up from a slow paced track into a fast paced one as the trailer progressed.

 After a great deal of searching through different tracks I was able to find something suitable for our trailer. The first track I found had a slow and low tone and pitch which create an eerie sound which we wanted to match our first clips at the start of the trailer. However this soundtrack didn’t progress any further which meant we needed to find an additional track to also incorporate into the trailer. We then found another perfect track which had a low tone yet it was fast paced and also had an element of breathing in it which increases the adrenaline for the audience as it highlighted the danger and tension in the trailer. We then used an expendational fade on the sound and the two different soundtracks worked perfectly together for our trailer!

Film Planning- Initial Ideas

After our research on a wide range of thriller films ranging is a variety of sub-genres such as horror-thrillers, action-thrillers and crime-thrillers. We decided we wanted to stay away from the conventional jumpy horror films as it would be too stereotypical of the genre. We decided we would aim for a crime-thriller and this is what we began to draft a plotline for.

The plot for this film idea was a kingpin drug lord who decides to target the weak and vulnerable to supply his drugs. The film was going to be based around a group of young friends similar to what we saw in our research of the 'Kids' trailer. This would therefore allow us to target a young audience which we know a lot about due to our ages and are most likely going to be able to achieve a preferred reading of our film.

After starting to plan how we would craft the elements of our plot line into a trailer it became apparent that the features we wanted to include to conform to stereotypical crime-thriller conventions, was simply not going to be achievable for us. This is because we needed to include certain figure such as policemen as our film was going to use a USP of the drug lord being taken down from the police force point of view. This would have been difficult for us to achieve whilst keeping the realistic look of the trailer that we wanted to create verisimilitude for the audience. 

This is where we decided to change to plans of our initial ideas. We decided to go for a more conventional horror-thriller film we will be able to achieve a more proffessional looking trailer whilst still incorperating the stereotypical conventions of the genre. We then decided on a new plot line which is an awoken ghost who haunts 4 young teenagers due to their date of birth falling on the same date as his death. We have started to story board and we are able to convey the look we plot line whilst achieving verilisimiltude for the audience. Further to this we decided to use 4 teenagers similar to the age of actors in our first idea because once again we will be able to use our own knowledge to achieve a preffered reading from the audience.

Planning-Characters and Actors

Our film involves 4 main characters that act as the victim to the supernatural ghost in our trailer, rather than conforming to the stereotype of having one main character as seen in our research such as Bourne ultimatum and 1408.

Firstly this is India who is one of the 4 victims, India is tall, dark haired which are the characteristics of the female victim in "A Stranger Calls". India is British which was important for us when creating the trailer as we are targeting a British demographic and to engage the audience we wanted to create an element of realism to emphasise the danger in the situations. India also studies a level film studies which means she has experience in understanding the elements involved with conveying a frightened body language which is key for us in some parts to incorporate typical horror mise-en-scene.

India Grauwiler

 Secondly we have Sean and Joe who are playing Sean and George in our trailer. We decided that we should use Sean and Joe firstly because they both look like typical British teenagers which as previously discussed allows us to create this element of realism. Further to this because we are targeting a British audience and Britain has become very cultural diverse we felt that Sean could offer some diverse ethnicity that we do not have from our other actors. This is because we will be able to relate to a wider range of our target demographic because of this, which will contribute to a greater success of our trailer. Sean and Joe were also in a production last year called "Karma" which was a great success so we knew that they had the experience to portray the true potential of the characters in the trailer.

Joe Fraser

Sean Kaitano

The last of our victims is Hayley who is also playing the stereotypical teenage girl role which will appeal to our audience. She has the stereotypical appearance of a British teenager as she is an attractive and has long blonde hair, similar to the victim in Ouji. Due to her innocent appearance we felt she would fit the role perfectly as having this type of character as a victim creates empathy from the audience which means that it will heighten the fear for the audience as they do not want an innocent character to be hurt.

Hayley Brown

Our last character is the antagonist who the audience never fully see. We only show the character dressed in a black silk material costume to create a sense of mystery and also incorporating a fear of the unknown. The character is played by myself which we felt was important because of my height, being 6 foot 3' the costume created a character of greater dominance because I looked taller than the other characters when I was shot in the background for affect.

Planning-Props

We decided to use a minimal amount of props in our film as we wanted to keep a minimalistic and realistic element to our trailer as it would heighten fear. As we are using teenage character we didn't want to give them lots of props as we knew this wouldn't be realistic of the stereotypical teenage. Therefore we decided to use the following:

Car: We incorporated a car scene into our trailer as it conveyed the concept of a chase and the long shot of Sean jumping in front of the car reflected the danger of this chase. We will put the car scene in montage which is important and it was fast paced and matched this convention for our horror/thriller genre. This was also an element I decided would be good to use as I saw it in my research of the Die Hard.

Candles: We have decided to use a set of candles that will be placed in the shape of "18/02" as this is the title of our film. We are using these as it shows the title of our film in a unique and dynamic way and they will also be blown out. Being blown out also forebodes the fact that the characters in our film may also not have the best ending, heightening the fear of our trailer.

Silk Costume: As we are creating a spirit/ghost we had to think of a way of showing this character in our trailer without losing the element of fear that could be lost if the character didn't actually look like a ghost. To overcome this we acquired a silk costume which is very effective as it completely covers the character as looks like the dark figure that is often associated with ghosts. This realism was a feature I saw in my research of Oujia.

 Rope- Lastly we will use a rope which was a key prop essential for our shot of India being hung as we will create a fake noose. The prop will be so effective as it creates a sense of realism and therefore had genuine connotations of danger and death. We also got the idea of using a death from hanging from our research of Oujia where the narrative is based around the suicide from hanging. 

Planning- Group Roles

To ensure that we manage our time and efficiency in our project to our maximum capabilities we decided to assign individual roles to each of our group members. We know that different circumstances will occur where it will mean different members have to use different skills however we have set these out as a basis for our general work. This way there will be no arguments or need for confusion throughout the process and essentially ensure we manage our time correctly.

Adam (me): Director/Cameraman
Georgia: Editor/Storyboard management
Joe: Mise-en-scene co-ordinator/Actor
Sean: Actor/Make-up artist

Research- Film Posters

For my research into film posters I decided to use IMDB as they are considered one of the top review sites for films. This means they are going to have the widest audience that have reviewed different films. Therefore I looked at the top 100 section for thriller films and then looked at how the top films (from the last 10 years) used film posters to advertise their films.

Inception:

Plot summary (Taken from IMDB): Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible - inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming.

The film poster shows an unusual situation as you would not expect to see a built up city with skyscrapers filled with water, reflecting the narrative of the film as it shows this new world. However it is also unclear as to why it is like this if you didn't know the plot and was seeing the poster for the first time, this therefore incorporates a fear of the unknown for the audience and has them guessing why it is like that. The film poster is also effective as they have used star power by having Leonardo DiCaprio standing centrally in the poster as it immediately has the audience engaged if they are fans of his work. It is also important that he is holding a pistol in his hand as it reflects the thriller genre of the film and also suggests that the plot will include crime and conflict.
The Departed:

Plot summary (Taken from IMDB):In South Boston, the state police force is waging war on Irish-American organized crime. Young undercover cop Billy Costigan is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief Frank Costello. While Billy quickly gains Costello's confidence, Colin Sullivan, a hardened young criminal who has infiltrated the state police as an informer for the syndicate is rising to a position of power in the Special Investigation Unit. Each man becomes deeply consumed by their double lives, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations they have penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the mob and the police that there is a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin are suddenly in danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy - and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save themselves. But is either willing to turn on their friends and comrades they've made during their long stints undercover?

The main element used in this film poster is  star power to engage the audience rather than any real visual effects or eye catching shots. It is clear that the 3 main characters starring in the film are Leonardo DiCaprio, John Nickolson and Matt Damon as they have their faces incorporated into the title of the film. I found that this was an effective technique as they are 3 famous actors which means that they are likely to attract an audience due to the calibre of their reputations. However the only downside to this is that there is essentially no plot conveyed in the poster due to the lack of mise-en-scene which could show what is actually happening in the shots. Therefore this style has positives and negatives, although for our film we won't have famous actors which would mean this style would be weaker for a low budget film like ours.

The Dark Knight Rises:

Plot Summary (Taken from IMDB): 8 years after the events of The Dark Knight find Gotham at a time of peace. This is due to Batman taking the fall for Harvey Dent's murder. However, a new evil force named Bane has arrived in Gotham and aims to take over the city and expose the truth behind who Harvey Dent really was. Now that Wayne Manor has been completely rebuilt - Bruce Wayne has become almost reclusive, rarely leaving the estate. And with Bane taking over the city by force, it forces Batman to come out of retirement. But his allies are few and far apart. An elusive jewel thief by the name of Selina Kyle could be the key to stopping Bane - but whose side is she on?

This film poster is very effective due to the eye catching effects that capture the attention the audiences attention immediately. This is due to the code chosen, in particular the colours as the dark background and silhouette of Batman contrasts so greatly with the colours in the explosion. This contrast emphasises the explosion, which is important as an explosion would connote conflict and action which is a key feature in thriller films. This convention is therefore likely to further engage an audience if they were to see a film poster like this. The use of colour in the trailer I feel would be effective to use in our own film poster as easy manipulation of the colour can create such a prominent effect.  

The Bourne Ultimatum:

Plot summary (taken from IMDB):Bourne is once again brought out of hiding, this time inadvertently by London-based reporter Simon Ross who is trying to unveil Operation Blackbriar--an upgrade to Project Treadstone--in a series of newspaper columns. Bourne sets up a meeting with Ross and realizes instantly they're being scanned. Information from the reporter stirs a new set of memories, and Bourne must finally, ultimately, uncover his dark past whilst dodging The Company's best efforts in trying to eradicate him.

This film trailer is similar to the first two poster in respect to it having a very heavy focus on star power. This is because Matt Damon is a very well known actor and having an image of his back and head, complimented by his name in large font is effectively making the audience identify that he is in the film. Once again due to actors like this having large fan bases, lots of people are likely to want to watch the film because he is in it, therefore it is an effective technique for a film poster. The poster also shows a setting without giving much else away. The extreme long shot shows how there will be a city as a location which is typical of a thriller film as they are busy which heightens danger in an action scene. Therefore having this incorporated into the film poster reflects the genre and is likely to grasp the audiences attention and make them interested in the film.

Research- Film Poster Conventions

Before starting to plan my own film poster I decided it would be important to look at the stereotypical conventions of film poster so I can decided what elements I want to conform to.

The key conventions that all the majority of film poster conform to are the following:

-Film Title
-Main image
-Tagline
-Actors names
-Colour scheme
-Mise en scene
-Star ratings
-Release Date
-Film credits

After researching these different elements of what constructs a film poster I decided to look at the "sinister" poster as it has been a modern successful horror film. Below are the elements that I felt were a success on the poster.

Research-Codes And Conventions For Magazines

I decided it would be important to look at the codes and conventions of a magazine to help me when analysing other magazines and also as I would need to follow this for my own. Codes and conventions are essentially the rules and regulations of how a media product is made. The conventions are typical elements you would expect to find in a media product and where.

Conventions of a magazine can include:

• Types of articles and where you would expect them to be
• How many images
• What types of images
• Double page spreads (these could feature big pictures, a title, a standfirst, columns, both pages on the same topic and pull quotes)
• Enticements (such as competitions or free gifts)
• Magazine cover (would feature a masthead, text such as sub-headings and pull quotes, images, barcode, price and date)
• Advertisements

Codes of a magazine can include anything purely visual such as:

• Pictures
• Colours
• Layout
• Font (serif or sans serif)

Research- Practice Film Trailer

http://www.filmeducation.org/teachingtrailers/secondary/make_a_trailer/view/BFAEB

I decided to use a a website on on Filmeducation on a section called teaching trailer which allowed me to use a simple editing storyboard style format to drag in sound and clips to construct my own version of the Die Hard trailer. It gave me a selection of clips and soundtracks to chose from, my aim was to construct a fast paced trailer in a non-cronlogical order, whilst still allowing for a narrative to be conveyed. The software was very basic and didn't allow for me to achieve all areas that I would include in my final product such as the included release date and so on. The soundtrack was also difficult to work with as it only let me use one track therefore leaving half of the trailer silent. Also I was unable to add many other stereotypical thriller trailer conventions such as voice overs and synchronus sound use for effect. However it was a useful skill to give me an idea of some coventions that I could use in my own project. Overall I feel that I have achieved this aim and was a vital piece of research for me going forward for considering transferable skills such as this fast paced, non chronological style of film trailer.

Research- Leave To Remain trailer

To research the conventions of what makes a good quality movie trailer and to widen our knowledge on this we looked at different film trailers in class. Our group specifically looked at a film called "Leave To Remain" as seen below:

After watching the extract we analysed various aspects and looked at how the video was constructed. Firstly from this I learnt that within a 1:49 film trailer there were just over 65 different shots. This surprised me as you would expect such a range of different shots within a short period of time but it was clear this range of fast shots was essential for keeping the audience engaged. It allowed the film makers to show a lot about the film and the overall tone without giving too much of the plot away. For this reason I felt it will be a necessity for us to incorporate this same technique into our own movie trailer so we can provide the best quality possible.

Secondly we assessed the sound used throughout the extract and how this contributed towards the overall product. The extract had two soundtracks that played throughout and the use of 2 non-digetic added sound effects. The soundtracks were very effective because the first started off very upbeat with a positive tone, setting the mood for the beginning of the extract.

Research- 1408

In class we looked at the "1408" film trailer as it have a wide variety of physiological thriller conventions. Due to this we thought it would be a good opportunity to take some notes and identify some generic conventions that worked well and have the potential to be included in our own trailers. 

Some of these conventions as seen above in the trailer include:

-Good and frequent use of fade to black transition to build suspense and tension for the audience.

-Carefully considered dialogue that is quick enough to engage audience whilst combining this with sounds effects to keep the audience on edge.

-Discontinuity editing whilst incorporating flashbacks to make this clear for the audience.

-Low key lighting which is a typical thriller convention to add a dramatic atmosphere of unknown, which incorporates an element of "fear of the unknown" which is a common fear in audiences.

-Voiceover used to make the narrative clearly conveyed to the audience so they have a plot understanding from the off set.

-Fast paced editing which builds towards the climax to engage and create adrenaline for the audience.

-Good use of special effects which add the excitement for the audience which is key for a thriller trailer.

Research- Research of whole film (The Bourne Ultimatum)

Prezi presentation for my research of The Bourne Ultimatum

Please click link above for my presentation!

The process of researching and creating a presentation on the key conventions of this thriller in particular was key for my research. This is because I learnt about picturing the film as a whole prior to thinking about what elements to include in the trailer. Due to this it allowed us to consider what style of thriller we will go for and then what generic features we can incorporate into our own project. These key features are found in the analysis in the link above. 

Research- Evaluating Micro Elements in Kids Trailer

Kids Trailer- Representation

Mise-en-scene:

Firstly it is important to note the props used, there are shots of alcohol seen throughout the trailer, such as in the club there is a mid-shot of a large bottle of spirit on the table. The connotative effect of this is that teenagers are reckless and uncontrollable.

There is high key lighting used throughout the trailer which conveys a light hearted and care free representation of the society that the teenagers live in.

The costumes used throughout the trailer are a mix between very baggy clothing which conveys the representation of a gang/violent lifestyle as this is stereotypical attire for a gang member. Contrasting with this is that there are also many shots with characters wearing little to no clothing which once again reflects a careless representation of teenagers in the trailer.

Lastly the characters in the chosen for the film are a very culturally diverse mix of race with an equal amount of white and black people. This represents teenagers as a very accepting and culturally affluent group of people.

Editing:

Fast paced editing is seen throughout the extract from the offset as soon as the titles come out with very quick cuts. This establishes a representation of energetic and dangerous of the teenagers in the extract.

Cut screens with comment about the film allow for the inference that the film gives a realistic representation of the younger generation due to the fact that it claims it is an important film.

Soundtrack:

Siren at the beginning, gives inference of crime in younger generation.

‘do you know where your children are?’ followed by heavy music, infers that the younger generation are not as the older generation view them.

Letters of ‘KIDS’ matching beat of the song, directly links their behaviour to the aggressive music.

Change back to calm music at the end to represent the outside view of youths as it is less exciting for the target audience, establshing the concept that youths are negatively looked at.

Camera:

There is a longshot in the trailer, at about 0.24 seconds, this shows two young teenagers’ umping over barriers that they are clearly not supposed to be jumping. This suggests to the audience that they are of a rebellious nature and do not follow rules. This is only the 3rd shot in the trailer; this is done to set up expectations and themes of dangerous and silly behaviour by teenagers, right from the beginning of the trailer. This is a very negative outlook to have on teenagers, this is a negative representation.

At 0.34 seconds there is a mid-shot of a boy and girl smooching, this  mid shot as a result suggests to the audience that there are going to be themes of sex and potential romance in this movie. So far the representation of teenagers in this extract is too be young, rebellious free spirits. This midshot is evidence of that.

Between 0.37 and 0.40 there are various different shots including close ups, mid shots and high angle shots which show a brawl between the teenagers, this fight includes weapons and furthermore there is a close up on a man getting hit in the head with a skate board. This whole sequence of cuts emphasises the danger and violence in the film, the world shows teenagers in a very negative light.  I personally disagree with this representation, the director was very clear in portraying the teenagers as reckless, they could also be seen as thugs, the is greatly in this extract and it seems that drugs, sex are valued in this world.

Research- Pyschological thriller moodboard

For research we decided it would be very valuable for us to create a moodboard from a selection of film titles from posters that are similar in respects of conventions to the style of film our project will be. Due to this we choose the following films as they the psychological thriller genre which we ourself our planning on choosing:
-Ransom
-The Last House On The Left
-127 Hours
-The Ring
-Panic Room
-The Fugitive
-The Next Three Days

-Se7en

-The Others

-Shutter Island

-The Silence of the something

-Face Off

The moodboard is very effective as it immediately allows us to establish similar aspects each other, therefore showing us a range of stereotypical psychological thriller conventions. The first notable Resemblance between the way that all of the titles are presented, the backgrounds that they are displayed on a in dark low key lighting for the majority of them. This is a stereotypical feature as when we researched about what people are afraid of we found in a survey that 1 in 3 adults are still scared of the dark. This is due to fear of the unknown, so incorporating this into a title is an effective method of portraying danger and insinuating fear for the audience. 

Secondly there is also a common theme of bold sans serif titles seen throughout which is important as it immediately establishes the connotations of the words for the audience. For example in panic room they have used this sans serif style which allows for the reader to establish the genre of the psychological thriller as the word 'panic' connotes fear, a common feature of this style of film. To support this a red font colour is also used which is effective as it stands out and has the connotations of danger and blood which is another key feature, a technique also seen in 'The Last House On The Left' and 'Sin City'. We also found that the title "127 Hours" was also very effective due to how it engages the audience, having an ambiguous title like this made us want to find out more. Further to this it once again incorporates a fear of the unknown as the audience is initially unaware of this number's significance, therefore establishing tension from the outset, key for a psychological thriller.  

When considering these titles in terms of posters we found the mise-en-scene used was a key feature to consider when creating our own. For example the settings in 'Shutter Island' and '127 hours' are important. This is because a major factor that comes into establishing fear in the audience is isolation. A remote island and a vast expanse of wilderness create this effect very well and are both stereotypical locations for a psychological thriller, therefore will will look to incorporate something similar for our poster. Secondly in 'Panic Room' and 'The Other's' the positioning of the actors in the shot is very effective. Firstly in 'The Other's' the audience can see a woman's worried and frightened face which establishes tension and suspense for them prior to even watching anything, allowing for maximum engagement. Similarly in 'Panic Room' the way the dark figure is placed higher up and out of sight of the protagonist, it makes her look vulnerable, once again establishing a fear factor for the audience which is once again a very effective use of mise-en-scene.

The key points of learning from creating this moodboard were:
-Findings about the stereotypical synergy across all of the film's with regards to low key lighting.
-Which Font style's and colours work most effectively.
-How you can engage with an audience through the title.
-How we should incorporate mise-en-scene effectively into our poster.

Research- When a stranger calls

We decided to do some collaborative research in class for film trailers to help us identify more thriller trailer conventions which would allow us to see common thriller elements as we know what conventions we have already found in other trailers. These are some of the thriller conventions we identified and felt were effective in engaging the audience and conveying narrative to them:

-Firstly we identify the use of setting for thriller mise-en-scene conventions as they used familiar settings. This was seen in the fairground setting as the target demographic for the film are all likely to have visited a fairground. This familiar setting we found created a false sense of security which they heightened the fear when the latter thrilling events.

-Low Key lighting is another convention we found worked well as it is used throughout the trailer, it created an eerie and scary setting even in common locations like fairgrounds. Due to the dark settings it also creates a fear of the unknown which we know is a common feature for audiences.

-The use of music greatly contributed towards the thriller genre as it the use of non-digetic eeire music had us an an audience on edge, essentially building tension and suspense for the audience which is needed in a thriller trailer as it creates the atmostphere needed.

-There is a clear use of non-chronological editing which helps to create a adrenaline filled atmosphere and of mystery to keep the audience engaged. A feature seen in many trailers not just thrillers as it excites the audience, however specifically for thriller trailers it unsettles the audience.