Movie Trailer- Prom night

This is a trailer from the movie called prom night. This movie trailer is unconventional to many of the other horror and thriller movies. One of the first unconventional things that happen in this trailer is the fact that there is a lot of light, happy soundtracks, and chatty teenagers just getting ready for the collage prom. The soundtrack then stops and there is a gun shot. This shows that something isnt right and this will then build up the tension. The lights go off and on many times each time showing a different picture. This is very conventional as many trailers like to use quick cuts to create tension for the audience as they know something is wrong. This also allows them to see many different situations where everything isn't right. These flashes act as lightning which i think it is a really good effect and I might use this is my own trailer.

Movie Trailer- Hills have eyes

This is a horror movie that has a certificate of 18. This first shows that there are many reasons why this must be an 18 because it would only be an 18 if it was a lot worse than the 15 certificate requirements. This means that this film has a lot of gory moments in it, it is very descriptive on the injuries as it would show how they happened and then the person after the crime took place. When this trailer first starts is doesn't seem like a horror trailer this is because many of the conventions are not used until later in the trailer. This is because when the trailer first starts a track of music starts which is happy and shows that the family are having a good time. Another unconvention is the fact that the trailer lasts for 2 minutes and 35 seconds. This shows that there is going to be a lot happening in this film as a lot of information has got to be put in a trailer to show the audience the plot of the film in a short amount of time. Suddenly the trailer repeats the same track quickly and over and over again. This shows that something is wrong and also it is very conventional as it shows that the movie has a lot of tension and danger in it and coming up in the movie. After this happens there are many things that happen to the family over and over again and to make the film more realistic the soundtrack is no longer as the only sound in the trailer is the noises from the strange happenings. There are many quick cuts in the trailer that only last about 1-2 seconds. After the title of the film comes up this would usually be the end of the trailer but the trailer carries on for a few seconds with a caption that states "the lucky ones die first". I really like this idea and I might use it in my trailer as I think that it is a very good intriguing technique to make the audience more interested.

Movie Trailer- Paranormal Activity

This is a trailer for a film called Paranormal Activity. This is meant to be the sacriest certificate 15 movie ever. In this trailer I like at the end where the name of the movie comes up. This is because it is making the audience wait for the title of the film but also they will remember it more if it the last thing that they see and hear. I also like the flashing effect that the name of the movie has at the end of the trailer as I think that it creates more effect and also makes the name stick in the audiences head. This is also due to the deep voice over that is playing throughtout the trailer as I think that this is one of the most important feature that is in the trailer because it creates a lot of danger and tension because of the deep voice that is used as it sounds suspicious. This is a very big conventions with many trailers for horror and thriller movies. This just shows how important this feature is when creating a trailer for this type of genre that I am thinking of creating myself soon. This has helped me to think what I really need in my trailer but also what isn't so important. Another big conventions in these trailers is that the lighting seems to be very dark. This tells the reader that soemthing is going to happen but also the genre of the movie straight away. Some people think that having dark lighting is a form of informing the viewers because they know straight away what the genre is. Therefore, this is a must in my trailer as some of the filming needs to be done in dark rooms and in the dark night. I have noticed that there is one feature in the trailer that isn't a convention and this is that throughout the trailer there is no sound track this creates the realism as this is meant to be real life footage that has meant to have happened. This creates more tension and suspision that this is actually real footage.

Movie trailer-Saw V1

This is a trailer from the movie Saw V1. I find this trailer fascinating because it has many different conventions but also intriguing moments. The first bit that I like on the trailer is the fact that the music starts as soon as the trailer starts. This shows that it is telling the audience/viewer the fact that the film is either a horror or genre straight away because of the image that is shown but also because of the music that starts playing. I think that I will start my music straight away as it gives the trailer life and excitement to the trailer as people feel like they want to watch more. I also like the editing that has gone on throughout the movie trailer because this builds up the viewers heart rate and creates danger. I think that this is done well because these quick cuts and flashes that go one link in very well with the music. The final thing that I like about this trailer is the fact that there is writing at every beat of the music for example is says "This Halloween" on the first beet and then it says "His Disease". This shows that the time is perfect and fits in with everything. I think that i will try and create a similar image in my trailer as i feel that it works well with everything else that is going on. The lighting throughout the film trailer is very dark and gloom. This also creates the danger throughout the movie trailer because this is a convention and in every scray movie all the horrible things happen in the darkness.

Movie trailers-A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master

I think that this is a good trailer to do my research on because I on my initial ideas post I said that I wanted to have a voice over on my trailer to give it affect and also to inform the viewer on the movie. This movie has a deep voice over to create more tension for the movie and make the viewers heart jump slightly. I think that this would be good on my movie trailer as it creates a lot of effect but also because it inform the viewer. I would be able to recreate the voice easily but by using a lot of effects by doing it. I also like this trailer because there is a non diegetic sound track in the background which is weary and makes the viewer think that something is going to happen and that this movie looks like a scary film just from the sound track in the background. I would be able to create a soundtrack like this on the apple mac from the programme that is provide but I will also have the characters speaking in the trailer. I think that the mes en scene is very key in this video trailer in terms that i could use some of the ideas in my own movie trailer that I will create later on in the course. The lighting is very dark in the trailer to show the effect that a lot of scary things happen at night and this also creates more tension for the viewer as they have the illusion that this will happen to them in the night. This enables the viewers imagination to imagine things that are definitely not going to happen in real life. The settings that the trailer is set in are in very rustic, worn down buildings that look like they are abandoned. This is one of the first signs in the viewers eye that creates the tension that something bad is going to happen and then this also gives them a clue of what the genre of this film is going to be. The clothing that the actors wear are just normal casual clothes that a person would wear every day. This gives the trailer a sense of realism in the place that it is set in and also the clothing that the characters are wearing. Finally I think that this trailer has given me lots of ideas that I could use in my own movie trailer such as the clothing, the setting, the sound that is used and many more conventional effects that they have used.

Reasearch and genres

Throughout the course of this media project I will be creating a Digipack which will let show the intertextuality of media. I am going to create a movie trailer Digipack which will include; a poster, a DVD cover and a movie trailer. the poster and the DVD cover will link in with the theme throughout the course of the project to show the intertextuality of the products and show how closely they link together. I am still not sure on what to do in terms of what movie to create. All I know is that I have got a broad idea of what kind of theme that I want and also the setting. This leaves me with a broad spectrum which I want to try and narrow quickly. I am interested in horror and thriller type movies and this is what I want to base my movie trailer on. In the next three to four weeks I am going to be narrowing my ideas and I will do this through my research and planning of the products that are already available and take my interest.

At the moment I am going to be looking at products that I find interesting and linked to the genre I am thinking of creating. This includes;

Thriller movies such as; Godfather, Dark Knight, Jaws, Sin city, Shifty and many more.

Horror trailer such as; Prom Night, Night mare on elm street, Saw, Scream and Halloween

I will be looking at many films from different century's which will allow me to look at how the technology has improved over the years but also what has stayed the same. This will help me figure out the trends that have stayed the same.

With me researching only two genres I am finding it easier to know how to layout my research and what I am going base my research around. I am going to research lots of movie trailers, posters, merchandise and DVD cover. This will mean that I will be doing many Digipacks that contain this information from the same movie, so that I know what they keep the same so that they link in terms of the font and the background. This will allow me to see which methods are used conventionally and which are not. Hopefully this will allow me to identify the intertextuality from the movies that I will be researching. Over the course of the project I will aim to do the following in my research and planning;

3x DigiPacks

5x Poster Analysis

3x Single Covers and links with DVD covers

Video Research

A Questionnaire to identify my target audience.

Initial Ideas

For this piece of coursework I have had a choice between doing a music video or a film trailer. I have decided to do a film trailer because I think that there are more techniques that i could pick up on and also I have more ideas for that. I am thinking of doing a horror/thriller movie trailer. The setting that I am thinking of is in the woods at the back of I live. This would make the movie more like a thriller or a horror film. I am also thinking of having girls as my actresses in my movie trailer and also making the non diegetic soundtrack myself on the apple mac which has a programme called Garage Band. I might also get a few tracks from a website called garage band. This will allow me to create my own music as well as put it together with someone elses music. This will be showing my techniques that I have improved over the course. I will also be using a voice over in my trailer because it will give it more depth and complexity to it but also will inform the viewers about the film.

Worlde

This is a wordle that I have created. It has all my ideas on it and also the films that horror or thriller as a genre.

Schedule

Here is a list of a rough schedule that I am going to go by to finish my first hand in by. I will follow these deadlines exactly how they are.

1. Complete research (existing products/audience) by 24th July
2. Complete planning (scripts, shot lists, story boards, animatics, mock-ups, flat plans etc) by 10 September
3. Complete rough-cut by 20th September
4. Complete final cut by 1st October
5. Complete album/poster mock-ups by 15th October
6. Final album/poster completed by 31st October
7. Audience feedback by 10th November
8. Revisions by 20th November
9. Evaluations by 30th November
10. 1st hand-in by 1st December

Introduction

Welcome to my blog, I am Becky Mahan and I am studying Media Studies at A level and I go to Biddulph High School. I am going to do a movie trailer and my initial ideas are that the genre that i am going to do is horror and thriller. I have picked this because there are many examples of this which will make my research and planning better because I will have more ideas that will come from other products that I can look at.