Research and Planning - Treatment

Here is the treatment me and Elise created using Prezi. This discusses the plot we wish to follow through and how we will achieve this end product.

Research and Planning - Cinema Trip (Gone Girl)

On Monday the 6th of October, my film studies class took a trip to our local Cineworld at Ashton under Lyne. We are currently studying director David Fincher's films so took this opportunity to watch one of his latest masterpieces at the cinema to furthermore use as a case study at a later date; Gone Girl.

"With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent."

Overall this thriller was incredibly gripping and intense, something that both me and Elise believe should be interpreted into our trailer to make it look more attractive to our target audience. The film further confirmed our genre research and what we would associate with a thriller through aspects such as the editing, mise en scene, sound and cinematography that ran throughout the film. (Some of these stereotypical ideas consist of low key lighting, simplistic score that created an intense atmosphere, fades to black/white and close ups)

Research and Planning - Update

After a series of discussions, me and Elise have decided to act upon Proposal 1, "A classic thriller with a modern twist where a body is found dead in a field. A documentary styled trailer documenting a group of teens journey. A detective is also called to solve the mystery." a modernised thriller. We think this is a very approachable plot that we can easily manipulate into an intense and attractive trailer. We a very excited to start planning and filming! :) 

Research and Planning - Proposals

Mine and Elise's trailer proposals presentation:

Research and Planning - Good and Bad Trailers

Good trailer:

'The Purge' (2013) is an example of what I think makes a good trailer. The narrative of the film (what the purge is and why it happens) is explained extremely well simply by using titles that fade in and out between peaceful shots. However, once the purge has been announced, CCTV shots and flickering editing are used to heighten the crime and violence in this film, so the audience watching know the genre type and type of scenes to expect. After this, we are easily introduced to our main characters with a voice over, and not long after the disruption takes place (they let a man into their home on purge night). As the trailer progresses, diagetic sounds such as gun shots, knifes and a cars engine are used to once again illustrate the type of crime and action to expect. A series of straight cuts and jump cuts are also shown. This use of editing heightens the genre and fear, as you are never shown extreme violence or action scenes. As an audience member, I was on the edge of my seat as I never knew what to expect. This fear and wanting to know what happens is what makes this trailer so good, as it achieves it aim in attracting an audience as they are left wanting more!

Bad Trailer:

Despite this being an amazing trailer for the thriller film 'Into the storm' (2014), it can still be classed as a bad trailer for me. This is simply because of the difference in budget. Into the storm was distributed by Warner Brothers (a conglomerate company) and its budget alone was over $50million. This enabled the film to use high concept technology and special effects to create this intense action/thriller film. In comparison, our trailer will consist of a very small budget. We will be borrowing all the equipment needed from college, and the editing will be done using simple software such as iMovie. All this means that our trailer will not consist of any high quality special effects (if any at all) unlike 'Into the Storm'.

Research and Planning - Target Audience Prezi

Research and Planning - Survey Monkey Questionnaire Results Analysis

After analysing my survey monkey questionnaire results I noticed a few things. Firstly, only one participant was aged 16-18 (the others two 19-22) and furthermore only one was female (the other two male). I will have to take both of these into account as age and gender can play huge factors in influencing the questionnaire answers. Also, the variety of gender and age participants widens my audience feedback range, allowing me to gain a larger in sight.

One of the next things I noticed when analysing these results, are the original film genres my participants like the most (one answered horror, the other two action). Both of these genres can be seen as being very similar to the thriller genre, making me question wether I should allow my end product to have a hybrid of genres alongside thriller (such as action and horror) so I gain and entertain a wider audience. 

When I asked the question 'What colours do you associate with a thriller?' all the results thankfully illustrated my original genre research of the colours I would also expect to see in a thriller film; Blue, Red, Black and White. Therefore I know that when I make my thriller trailer, dark, cold colours should be used as they are popularly associated with the thriller genre.

What's more, when I asked the question "What certificate do you expect a thriller to have" once again, all the participants answered with the same answer; 15. I will therefore (unless any additional research says otherwise) use the 15 certificate as my rating of my finished trailer.

Another thing I asked on Survey Monkey, was the question 'What sort of music do you associate with a thriller?' The responses to this were "climatic", "dramatic and chilling" and "tense and dramatic music". From this, I will have to further research and investigate the type of music thrillers tend to have in trailers, so when it comes to making our own music we know how to interpret these themes into it.

Finally, another aspect I will further have to research and discuss with Elise is the setting we will use in the trailer. The results I received back were all different, meaning my audience all thought of different stereotypical thriller settings. I will have to go online and research more trailers of thriller films, and the settings they have to gain a wider understanding!