Final Film Trailer

Final Magazine Cover - Ancillary

Final Film Poster - Ancillary

Audience Research

Using Social Network Sites I was able to get more audience research along with thoughts and opinions of those who I shared the video with.

This is the post which I put on Twitter to find out what I should change/re-arrange etc.

'Pure' (Official Trailer)

This is my final production for my A2 Media.

Written Directions of the Trailer (Start To Finish)

Marlwood Advanced Media Institutional Logo

'The Following preview has been approved for all audiences'

Institutional Logo 'OWB Production Entertainment'

Music - Peruvian Cocaine (introduction) (voice over)

Text 'The Cocaine Industry Is Growing'
Text 'Anyone Can Get Hold Of It'
Text 'And Now Its Made With Pure Cocaine'

Sound Effect - Camera Shutter x3

Scene One, Cut One - Van Driving Towards Location
Music - 50 Cent - Money (instrumental)

Scene One, Cut Two - Man Gets Out Of Vehicle With A Weapon
Scene One, Cut Three - Man Walks Back To Vehicle With An Object
Sound Effect - M40 Sniper Rifle Gun Fire

Text 'An OWB Production'

Scene One, Cut Four - Van Pulling Away, Wheel Spin (Close Up)
Scene One, Cut Five - Van Passing The Scene (Closed Frame)

Text 'A Man Fighting For Himself'
Music - Peruvian Cocaine (Quiet Background)

Scene Two, Cut One - Man Looking Across At Fields
Music - 50 Cent - Money (Instrumental)

Scene Three, Cut One - Man Punching Someone In A Small Grotty Room

Text 'Starring Simon Biggin'
Music - Hands High - Bang On! (Instrumental)
Text 'Based On True Events'

Scene Four, Cut One - Car Moving Towards Location (Side Shot)
Scene Five, Cut One - Man Putting On A Shoe

Scene Four, Cut Two - Car Moving Closer/Faster
Scene Five, Cut Two - Man Buttoning Suit Jacket

Scene Four, Cut Three - Car Reaching Location (Unsteady Camera Work)
Scene Five, Cut Three - Man Doing His Tie

Scene Four, Cut Four - Car Slowing Down
Scene Five, Cut Four - Man Putting On Sunglasses

Scene Four, Cut Five - Car Pulling Up To Location
Scene Five, Cut Five - Man Pulling Out A Gun

Scene Four, Cut Six - Flash Of Car Moving
Scene Five, Cut Six - Man Cocking A Bigger Gun

Scene Four, Cut Seven - Car Stopping
Scene Five, Cut Seven - Man Looks Down The Barrel Of Gun (P.O.V)

Scene Four, Cut Eight - Car Stops
Scene Five, Cut Eight - Man Opens Door With Gun At The Ready

Scene Five, Cut Nine - Trigger is Pulled (Extreme Close Up)

Text 'PURE'
Text 'COMING SOON'

Music Stops.

How I found my audience research

‘5 Mini Case Studies where technology was used to create, refine and secure meaning’

1.       In my film trailer there is a scene where a man steps out of a car and walks out of a shot holding a gun then walks back into the shot later on holding the gun and a case.
The objective of the shot was to tell the audience that the man used force (the gun) to get what is in the case representing the characters attitudes along with what he was wearing.
Although I achieved the purpose, some of the audience didn’t understand what was happening in the scene.
Using Youtube I was able to download an mp3 document of a gunshot. From this I was able to insert it into my film at the point when the man walks out of the shot.
After I had edited the scene again the audience finally understood what was happening in the scene from the gun shot and the music cut to represent the tension of what was happening.

 

2.       From my audience research and general research on the genre of my film, I was able to find out what sort of effects would be useful to indicate the style of film compared to ‘American Gangster’ and ‘Snatch’ etc.
Using survey monkey I was able to find out what screen filters I could use which would fit the criteria of a gangster film. The typical response I got from the audience research was ‘vintage/dark/bright and sharp’ which meant I could use the editing software on iMovie to create a filter to go over my trailer.
After creating the filter I posted my first film draft on Youtube, Facebook and Blogger to see what reactions and feedback I would get from audiences in response to my editing.
The feedback I received was very positive and gave me reception I wanted meaning I could use the same filter throughout my film trailer.

 

3.       In my trailer I started the credits using a basic font ‘COURIER NEW’ which didn’t seem to fit the style and genre of the trailer.  DaFont is a good website which I used enabling me to find fonts used in films meaning the texts were very professional.
SkyFall was the best font I could find and fit into my trailer really well. The effect from using SkyFall was very good as it looked brittle and strong at the same time the white colour of the font sat very well on the black background which I decided to use.
After changing my fonts to SkyFall it meant I had to come up with subtitles and credits for the characters and production. The very ending of my trailer had the text ‘PURE’ (Pure being the title of my film), then ‘COMING SOON’. Using the SkyFall effect made the text look very professional and looked very similar to what professional film companies do to their films.
After editing in the fonts ad changing the backgrounds I added in a cross blur effect at the ending with the ‘PURE’ ‘COMING SOON’ which meant both texts would shoot past and across each other. This made the ending of my trailer stand out and showed of the title of my film.

 

4.       I left my first draft fairly open and unfinished so anyone could comment on it. A professional came in to assess my first draft and thought I was very good although one of the scenes I did dragged a lot with the van driving and reversing.
After getting some feedback from other people I cut the scene out removing 20 seconds of my trailer. Because 20 seconds was a lot of time I needed to supplement the time with frames and transitions. Throughout the trailer I added in over 23 transitions and over 30 cuts meaning I could balance out the time which I needed from the van cut.
The transition I used throughout the trailer was one which was recommended on a forum sight which exposed certain graphics and effects which had been done to professional film trailers. ‘Cross Divergence/Convergence’ suited my trailer the best as it dissolved across the scene and crossed into the next shot as do most film trailers.

 

5.       The sizing of the screen meant my trailer didn’t look like a realistic trailer. Photoshop meant I could create black boards to go on the bottom and top of the screen making a ‘wide screen’ effect which people would see in the cinema.
I made a transparent effect with the black boards meaning it wouldn’t effect what you would see on the film. The outcome of this was a more real feel to the trailer and meant I could post my 4^th draft of my film trailer ready to be assessed again by another professional. 

Review From A Professional

Oscar Stringer reviewed my Film Trailer and gave feedback on what editing/cutting and changing I could do to the trailer.

- Cut out some of the van scene as it caused the trailer to lose intensity and dragged too much.
- Work the music to fit in and sort out any silent parts of the trailer which could effect the momentum and speed of the trailer.
- In the final 30 seconds, make sure that all the clips are near enough the same length to make the tension rise even more.

This was the first outcome of the trailer after editing. (still not finished or finalized)

Questions for a professional

This is the link to the first draft of my Film Trailer. I would appreciate it if you could comment below on these questions to help me create my second draft of the video. 

1. In the scene when the car is pulling up and pulling away from the building, should I cut the shots closer together along with cropping some of the background to make the car the center of attention? 

2. When the man is swinging the golf club, does it give you the impression that someone is being hit and provoke violence?

3. In the final part of the trailer when the man is kitting himself up, do you think the instrumental suits by building up the suspense till the moment the gun is fired?

4. With my Institutional logo 'OWB Production Entertainment', do you think the filter I put on still shows lots of detail with the logo or do you feel it looks more faded?

5. The text I used was from 'Skyfall'. From research I figured that 'Skyfall' would be the most suitable text to use for the style of film. Do you think the text fits in well with the style of trailer?

Thank you for your time and I hope to receive some valuable feedback on my Production Task.

Film Poster - PURE

Not my final edit.
Starting to bring in text and different fonts to create a similar effect as the Jaws Poster.

Ancillary Task

In every film trailer you will ever see there is likely to be an 'Institution Logo' to represent the company making the film/trailer. From research I found it that most companies would use a logo or an object to stand out so people would acknowledge who the institution is just by seeing the logo and not necessarily the writing which goes with it. 

'Universal Studios' is a good example of this as the logo is the earth spinning which people would recognise anywhere.  http://www.universalpictures.co.uk/images/Introbg.jpg

Because all these big institutions had a big logo for people to focus on it meant that I needed to create one myself but making it unique. 

I made the logo on a special editing site which I found on a forum. There were lots of different templates which I could you and you are able to draw in your own effects. 

This is the design I came up with.. 

OWB stands as my initials so I called the production company OWB because it sounded more professional than using my my first or second name.

Secondly I made the body of the Eagle into a film reel to represent film and cinema as a way of showing the connotations of what my Production Company is about. Then using the eagles head seemed quite iconic and noticeable to someone who would be viewing meaning I could try and make the same effect as Universal Studios etc. 'Golden Age Corporation' was a text added in to relate back to the eagle and the colours used on the logo. Also it could relate the golden age with the change of font to look older and more vintage compared the the very modern Title and Logo.

Ancillary Task

Mini mock up of what I plan to do for my film poster. 

The basic idea is to relate to American Gangster by using the black and white effect along with the sharp red used to create effect of violence. Also the character in the poster is wearing a suit which shows the authority which he stands under whilst holding a gun meaning he could be a man of violence and relates more to American Gangster and the interlinks between guns and people. 

 

Shot Analysis (Photo)

This is an analysis of a shot I took and edited it into the style of trailer I was trying to achieve by taking elements from the film poster 'American Gangster'.

Portfolio

Research on Film Posters. (American Gangster)

The aim of my film poster is to stand out and still maintain the maturity and look of a common gangster film trailer cover.

Some of the covers i looked at came from American Gangster, Gangster Squad, 44 inch Chest and many more which had unique ways of showing off the film and exadurating it in a fair manour.

The way American Gangster shows its self off is by using a black and white effect which puts the old fashion traditional gangster feel into it along with a red splatter of blood which underlines the title. This way conotations of modern day are brought back and means they film still has the gory violent side to it.

On the cover the two main characters are shown which makes them a focus point for when you are watching the film. They positioning also shows connotations to what they are like as they are keeping a look out and not focusing on the camera.

Genre Research (survey monkey)

Using survey monkey meant i could get a wide range of answers from people by putting the link on twitter/facebook etc. 

Because of this my knowledge and expectations changed as the answers people gave me were slightly different to what I expected. 

This is the link for my survey which related to the film genre I am studying.

SurveyMonkey - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/S6PMWQ8

Trailer Production Ideas

Because most of the trailers I have researched contain a Voice Over. I have decided to use a voice over for the first 20 seconds of my trailer to give the audience an insight into what the film is about from the voice of the Characters in the trailer.

'I've heard whispers about the financial support your government receives from the drug industry......
     Well, the irony of this; of course, is that this money, which is in billions; is coming from your country.
You see; you are the major purchaser of our national product; which is of course, cocaina/cocaine.
And the increase of this drug is turning the UK into one of the biggest drug countries in Europe,'

This quote shows that the film is likely to be on drugs and the exportation/importation of drugs into the UK.
Giving the audience this information is likely to make them pursue with the trailer if they have a brief idea on whats coming.

The inspiration of the quote is from a song called 'Peruvian Cocaine by Immortal Technique'. Using some of the original speech and putting in my own shows that there is a detailed depth of field as the song 'Peruvian Cocaine' is deprived from the history of cocaine and their is knowledge in the song which is thought would be relevant to my film trailer.

Also, I did lots of research into the music which would be used for my trailer.
I did research on 14 songs which were:

Black Strobe - Im a Man
Disco Science - Mirwias
Klint Diamond - Snatch
Snoop Dogg - Vato (instrumental)
Lloyd Banks - The Sprint (instrumental)
Public Enemy - Harder than you Think (instrumental)
Big K.R.I.T - Hometown Hero
Drake - Cameras (instrumental)
Jay Z - Heart of a City (instrumental)
Imagine Dragons - Radioactive (instrumental)
Massive Attack - Paradise Circus
Kevin Rudolf - In the City
Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools (instrumental)
50 Cent - Money (instrumental) 

After going through each song over and over to see which would suit the role of an Action/Gangster Trailer, I decided that 50 Cent - Money (instrumental) would suit the part best. The reasons for this were because the song kept at a certain up beat tone through out and didn't jump at all which would fit into the layout of my film Trailer.

Film Inspirations

These films all relate to each other from the way they are set out and the story line put in.
The theme/genre for these films are action/gangster and some comedy.

Snatch - Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and supposedly Jewish jewelers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208092/

Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - Four London working class stiffs pool their money to put one in a high stakes card game, but things go wrong and they end up owing half a million pounds and having one week to come up with the cash.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120735/

RocknRolla - In London, a real-estate scam puts millions of pounds up for grabs, attracting some of the city's scrappiest tough guys and its more established underworld types, all of whom are looking to get rich quick.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032755/

American Gangster - In 1970s America, a detective works to bring down the drug empire of Frank Lucas, a heroin kingpin from Manhattan, who is smuggling the drug into the country from the Far East.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765429/

Layer Cake - A successful cocaine dealer gets two tough assignments from his boss on the eve of his planned early retirement.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375912/

Film Certification

Film certification range from U to r18.
From this information I was able to give my film trailer Rated 15 as it filled the same requirements. Also it meant I could keep to the style of film because Snatch/American Gangster etc. are all rated 15 to 18.
This meant my target audience would not change and still fit the requirements.

Symbol	Name	Definition/Notes
	Universal	All ages admitted, there is nothing unsuitable for children.
	Parental Guidance	All ages admitted, but certain scenes may be unsuitable for young children. May contain mild language and intermediate/illegal substance references. May contain moderate violence if justified by context (e.g. fantasy).
	12A	Cinema only. Introduced in 2002. Films under this category are considered to be unsuitable for very young people. Those aged under 12 years are only admitted if accompanied by an adult, aged at least 18 years, at all times during the motion picture. However, it is generally not recommended that children under 12 years should watch the film. Films under this category can contain mature themes, discrimination, soft illegal substance, moderate swear words, infrequent strong language and moderate violence, intermediate references and nudiity. Seexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Seexual violence may be implied or briefly indicated.
	12	Home media only since 2002. 12A-rated films are usually given a 12 certificate for the VHS/DVD version unless extra material has been added that requires a higher rating. Nobody younger than 12 can rent or buy a 12-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game. The content guidelines are identical to those used for the 12A certificate.
	15	Only those over 15 years are admitted. Nobody younger than 15 can rent or buy a 15-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category can contain adult themes, hard druugs, frequent strong language and limited use of very strong language, strong violence and strong seex references, and nudity without graphic detail. Seexual activity may be portrayed but without any strong detail. Sexual violence may be shown if discreet and justified by context.
	18	Only adults are admitted. Nobody younger than 18 can rent or buy an 18-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category do not have limitation on the bad language that is used. Hard drugs are generally allowed, and explicit seex references along with detailed seexual activity are also allowed. Scenes of strong real seex may be permitted if justified by the context. Very strong, gory, and/or sadistic violence is usually permitted. Strong seexual violence is permitted unless it is eroticised or excessively graphic.
	Restricted 18	Can only be shown at licensed adult cinemas or sold at licensed seex shops, and only to adults, those aged 18 or over.

What Narrative Theorist Would Fit?

Tzvetan Todorov can up with the 5 stages.

These 5 stages are - A state of equilibrium, A disruption of the equilibrium, Recognition of disorder, Attempt to repair the damage and Restoration of a new equilibrium.

From my research it showed that the start of the trailer, along with the film would show a normal state of living with nothing wrong going on. In Layer Cake it shows a T.V programme which seems fairly ordinary, and American Gangster just shows a view of a city.

There is then the disruption of events as we find out that in Layer Cake it starts to show drugs being used and violence behind the camera. In American Gangster 'Frank Locus' says 'no body owns me' and a bullet is fired showing the audience that something is up and something has happened for him to stamp down his authority by shooting his gun.

A mix of a Recognition of disorder is then shown as it shows a story to why the disruption is happening by using a voice over in American Gangster and showing who the people are in Layer Cake.
The audience now knows that there are powerful people in the films as the stereo type for Gangsters are shown with men wearing big coats and smoking cigars.

An attempt to repair damage isn't really shown because of the montage of clips put together. But still the story of the trailers are still progressing as we go further into the trailer.

Eventually there is a new equilibrium as the trailer up beat tempo tunes down and gradually brings the characters to a stop.

Genres And Certification

Research into Films and the Certificate they have.

'Layer Cake' and 'American Gangster'

Layer Cake - Layer Cake is a film which revolves around drugs and the transportation but at a less intense volume compared to American Gangster. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375912/

American Gangster - American Gangster is a film based on true events of the drug world which gives a similar idea to what I want to make. The film is a little too far fetched for what I am making although it does contain key aspects to what i want to happen in mine and has given me great ideas. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765429/

What I Need To Research

Audience feedback and attributes-

Make a Facebook page with a few paragraphs describing my ideas/mood and target audiences.

Ask people to post ideas on the page and what they think would work well and what wouldn't.

Also there will be questions for them to answer about the film.

Characters-

Its good to include a woman in the film trailer as the genre is mostly male dominant.

There needs to be a clear hero and villain which the audience can identify.

Film Research-

Find quotes and reviews from the public and critics about the film genres i'm looking at. 

'Harry Brown', 'Get Carter', 'American Gangster', '44 Inch Chest' are good examples of of the film genre i'm looking at.

Lengths-

Film lengths in the genre.

Research - Audience

Target Audience for an Action/Gangster film - As the age range is for more mature and older people my Advanced Production would have to accompany the average age.Using older actors, e.g. men is the most sensible option for the genre of my film trailer. Using teenagers wouldn't feel as serious compared to adults in an action/gangster film. And because of this it could move into a Sub Genre and venture away from my own expectations.
The researched age range for Action/Gangster films have varied from ages 16-30 for male, and 18-35 for for females. 

Start of A2

Exam

There are two parts to the exam which consist of Postmodernism and Coursework Evaluation.

Course Work

Course Work consists of a DVD Cover, Posters and either Film Trailer/Magazine or Music Video.

For my A2 Coursework I will be producing a trailer for a new gangster styled film 'Pure'. My ancillary tasks will be a magazine cover and a poster to promote the movie.

I have chosen a trailer because it's a big step from AS and I would learn more about the film side to media, as at AS I did a short film which is in complete different context to what im doing for A2. But I can also develop my print skills through the ancillary tasks as I am good with Photoshop and editing softwares.