Research and planning: location reece

These are the location recce for the places we will be shooting our trailer.  We have tried to deal with all the issues we can think of that may occur while on set.

Research and planning: micro elements - cinematograpy

• I have been researching and watching different romance films such as Coyote Ugly and realised how they use the different cinematography elements.
• For example when the storyline becomes emotional we should use a close up on the characters' faces to show their emotions.
• When the characters are in a happy place in the storyline e.g. walking holding hands, we should use a long two shot to show their full frame.
• In our storyline we should make sure a high angle shot is used when the dad is talking down on the boy in the office as he holds more power than the boy.

Research and Planning: practical and impractical trailers

IMPRACTICAL TRAILER


This type of trailer would be unsuitable for us to shoot as we do not have the facilities to shoot along side a lake, at a carnival, at a large country house and props such as the hundreds of swans would be very difficult to find.  The locations are suitable for film companies with large budgets, whereas we only have a very small one.

PRACTICAL TRAILER


For this type of trailer it will be easier for us to film our own trailer as the locations are more suitable for us.  They are easy to access and we can go to our local city, Manchester, to film some of our scenes. The props are also quite basic but have the same effective impact as any other prop, but in our case in terms of having a low budget we can access and afford them.

Research and planning: trailer conventions

• Lots of shot types.
• Summary of the storyline, without giving away the ending.
• Different locations for the various scenes.
• Distribution company and logo
• Production company and logo
• Name of the film
• The actors starring in the film
• Different shots to mirror the storyline 
• Clips from the film
• A narrator 
• Score

Research and planning: poster analysis 2

Genre

• Just by looking at the poster we can tell it is a romance genre.
• As we see the young, attractive girl smiling, looking lovingly at the photos, including one of a man and her and another of the man, we stereotypically straight away can tell romance is involved in this film.
• The title is in red, stereotypically associated with being the colour of love.
• Also the title itself states 'I Love You' again showing the genre is romance.

Representation

• As it is a girl we see gazing lovingly at the pictures, this is very typical of a romance film as its very rare to have the male showing his emotions. However in this case she is lying as if she is in deep thought about the person she loves, with a wedding ring on looking exteremely happy.
• As there is only a picture of the male, this suggests that he may not be around anymore and she is still madly in love with him.  This is very stereotypical as the girl is always shown to be the one pouring all her emotions out about the boy.

Media Language

• In the images on the poster most of the shots are close ups of the people so as an audience we can see them clearly enough.
• The main shot is a close up of the attractive female lying down, gazing at the pictures.
• Most of the colours on the images are neutral colours like white and beige; this makes the title and the actors' names stand out more in the bright red.

Audience

• As it is clearly a romance film, stereotypically this would be aimed at females around the age of 20 as by this age they are mature enough to understand the storyline and the sexual scenes, but they still are curious about love and intrigued by it.

Narrative

• From the poster it is clear the female is in love with the man in the photo as we can see by the look on her face.  However, as we do not see the male in person this suggests he is not around anymore as she only has a picture to remind her of him.
• As the female is still smiling at the picture, this suggests it has not ended on bad terms (eg a breakup) but all the neutral white colours on the poster giving the connotations of heaven/death maybe mean that the male in the photo is dead, but his partner (the girl) is still madly in love.

Research and planning: poster analysis 1

Genre

• You can tell from looking at this poster that the genre is romance.
• Having a couple holding one another as the main image shows the audience that they are the main characters and the storyline will be about them two.
• The expressions shown on the characters' faces show they are in love and are happy.
• The colours and text portray a happy and serene vibe, linking with the romance genre.

Representation

• Both the man and woman look in their 20s
• The female's body language, hung around the boy's shoulders, shows that she is hugely in love with him, maybe more than the male is with her as he is facing away from her.
• Because the male is looking elsewhere than at the female suggests he has something else on his mind.

Media Language

• The main image is a two shot and a medium close up, this puts emphasis on them two and their emotions.
• As the two characters are surrounded by clouds, this suggests they are in a place where they are happy with one another and in love.
• The colour scheme is very calm giving off the connotations of love.
• The font stands out on the page but doesn't take away from the main image of the couple.
• There is a long two shot in the bottom left corner showing the audience there is something else included in the storyline.

Audience

• Looking at the main image on the poster and the age of the characters, I would say the target audience is for females aged between 16-30, as a younger audience would be interested in the love storyline, and getting older into 20s people of this age can relate to the characters.  People getting up to 30 can relate to the storyline in terms of their own past experiences.

Narrative

• From the poster we can see that their relationship will be the main storyline as both of them together is the main image.
• We also know that a younger boy will be in the stoyline as the sub image shows this, maybe being their child, or as they are at a young age themselves it could be a sibling of the male's.
• As the poster is covered in clouds this could be linking with the state of love the couple are in or maybe as it looks heaven-like, death is a factor in this film.

Research and planning: film magazine analysis 2

• This film magazine is promoting an superhero film. The cover shows all the conventions of a magazine cover for example, masthead, cover lines, a main story, large image, dates and a barcode.
• It is obvious this magazine is promoting a superhero film as Spiderman is the main image on the cover and the cover line of his name. His facial expression makes him look mysterious and secret linking with his superhero disguise.
• The colour scheme makes the cover look simple but effective as the masthead stands out the most but the cover lines stand out also all in the sky blue colour.
• The target audience for this film magazine would be around 20 years old as the simpleness makes it appeal to a younger audience and having a superhero as the main image on the cover will attract any people around that age and appeal to them to buy it.

Research and planning: film magazine analysis 1

• From the image on the cover you can assume this magazine is an action/romance genre or is just promoting this type of film. You can tell this because the characters on the image are grasped onto each other showing they have a close relationship, but their expressions on their faces show that they are worried so need each other.
• The colour scheme on this magazine cover relates to the action side of the genre. The bright yellow and the whites in conjunction with the font shows to the audience this is an action genre, also the colours used with the dark background associates with males and males associating with action genre.
• The masthead is the largest font on the page making it stand out the most. But the second biggest is the main cover line.  This also stands out with its large font and the bright yellow, this way any King Kong fan who walks past this magazine will notice it and consider buying it.
• The image doesn't take all the attention on the page as the cover lines stand out as much as the image, linking them together to create the article.
• This is obvious it is a magazine cover as all the typical features of a magazine cover are present. For example cover lines, masthead. barcode, dates, stories included in the magazine and a large image.
• The target audience for this magazine would probably be 25+ males as they will be able to understand the relationships within the film showed on the cover and enjoy the action it talks about in the article. Women of this age will also enjoy the magazine too because the image clearly shows a relationship between the two people, making women who are interested in romance enjoy the magazine.

Research and planning: plan for the week

This week I will focus on getting my two film magazine analysis done as well as my two poster analysis.

Research and planning: group meeting

 

In this meeting post we discuss all the micro elements and how we will include these elements in our project.

Research and planning: Animatic Storyboard

This is an initial draft of my animatic storyboard of my film trailer.  This shows the different shot types and the storyline for my trailer.

Research and planning: animatic storyboard scenes

These are the scenes that I will include in my trailer.  I will also do an animatic storyboard video to show more depth in term of the different media areas.

Research and planning: november podcast

Here is a podcast for November to show what I have done and what I still need to do in terms of my research and planning.

Research and planning: film name ideas

These are some names we came up with to maybe call our film trailer...

• Right Here
• Yours, Always
• Always Yours
• Kind Regards
• Love Conquers 

Research and planning: production/distribution company ideas

The film company Jelly Legs have made the famous production The Royle Family and all of their one-off series that goes with the production. I like the way the logo moves when you go on their website, the font of the logo is fun and makes you think the productions will be fun too, suggesting the genre of the company is comedy.

Some of the productions Vertigo Films have made are Spring Breakers, Monsters and Sweeney. I think the logo represents the company's genre of action and social realism by just being black and white with a simple font.

The most famous productions Warp Films have made would be Four Lions and This Is England '86. I think the logo represents the genre of this company well with the flash through the logo with the title on it.  This links well with the social realism/independent theme.

 

Here I used the software Word It Out to create my own logo including the names of existing film company names.