This blog is going to be our updated progress in the creation of a teaser trailer in the genre of a Social Realism, focusing on choices and decisions in a girls life. We hope to show our increasing knowledge and interest into the genre.
A2 students- Bronwen Lambert, Hannah Bellinger-Brown and Joe Sloggett.
The Kuleshov Effect is a film editing montage effect demonstrated by Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov in the 1910s and 1920s. It is the process of taking a single shot of one thing (e.g. a man's face) and placing a variety of shots after it. Kuleshov used the experiment to indicate the usefulness and effectiveness of film editing.
Below is a video of the Kuleshov Effect in action.
The Kuleshov effect can be applied to our teaser trailer as there are certain instances where we have used editing to create a certain idea without actually showing it literally. For example, when the main female is sitting on the bed with the male and he says "have you not done this before" we instantly assume that he is talking about sex, despite actually seeing any sexual references. Purely because it is a male and a female sitting on a bed the audience think it is about sex. Additionally, when we see the medium shot of the father walking towards the screen with the belt in his hand, we automatically assume he is going to use it in a violent way on his daughter. This effect is useful as we can inform the audience of what is happening without actually having to show it visually.
We were given the opportunity to present our trailer to the year 12 media classes in our school. This was a fantastic opportunity to get feedback on whether they felt we matched the conventions of our genre and whether they would be inclined to go and see the film.
We handed out a questionnaire to each person containing a variety of questions from "Would you watch this film?" to "What are the three main themes?". As you can see from a few of the responses above, everyone generally had the same answers. All of the participants noticed that it was a social realism, as well as being aimed at females and for the 16-21 year old age group. We also received an overwhelming amount of compliments on the adventurous story line as the participants thought it was quite challenging. The majority of the responses noted that the main themes were abuse, relationships and having a dream.
From the feedback, we can feel confident that through our use of shots and work in post production we have created an effective and appealing social realist teaser trailer.
This was our audience profile so that we could clearly direct our trailer at our specific target audience. Having a specific character in mind helped us to make our decisions and include aspects such as the Sex scene, the bad boyfriend and the pregnancy test into our trailer because we knew that our character 'Gemma' would be attracted to it.
This question relates to how we used codes and conventions of our genre: social realism. We chose to present our evaluation questions through visual methods, combined with a audio layered over the top. This would enable the audience to view an example and a comment in context.
"In what way does your media product USE, DEVELOP
or CHALLENGE forms and conventions of real media products in association with
our trailer?"
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products in association with our trailer? Mania is a social realist film, therefore should follow the conventions of this particular genre and also the conventions of a teaser trailer. There are certain characteristics that you expect to see that we should include in our product to demonstrate how we have understood, and reproduced a social realist trailer. Our storyline is similar to that of Andrea Arnold's "Fish Tank" which consisted of a teenage girl having a talent and wanting to per-sue it, however obstacles such as family and love intervene. We used the bad boyfriend and disruptive family life themes of fish tank and applied them to our own trailer. The storyline matches the conventions of a social realism as it is hard hitting and emotional. We captured elements of her struggle through shots such as the medium shot of the dad walking towards the screen with the belt. As you can see we have included a main protagonist which is commonly seen in our genre. We chose to cast a female as the main character to make it easier to feel sympathy towards her and to emphasise the vulnerability of the character. The actress is an unknown female which confirms the genre. Unknown actors or actresses are usually seen in social realist films as the idea of the film is that it is meant to be a realist perception of life and the struggles people face. For example, in this is england, Thomas Aiden Turgoose plays a lead male role, however before this he was not well known, similarly with fish tank's Katie Jarvis playing mia. Another convention of social realist film is that they are based in a working class environment. We have depicted this lifestyle through the continuous use of tracking shots of the housing estate. The idea that the main character comes from a less fortunate background is a convention of social realist films. We challenged this convention slightly as we did not want to focus predominatly on her socio-economic background, but more on the relationships she has within her life that, inturn prevent her from following her dream. One of our themes was sex which is a common convention of our genre. We showed sex through the medium shots of the girl putting her top back on in the boy's bed, suggesting she has just had sexual relations with him. We challenge the stereotypes of the genre by narrowing the themes we exclude the use of drugs, alcohol and antisocial behaviour, so we can focus mainly on the struggle between her father, her intimate relationships and her dream. Social Realist films normally use mostly diegetic sound which we developed through use of dialogue as well as a sound track layered over the top. Our trailer matches the conventions of Freytag's dramatic structure. Initially there is exposition, following a rising action created through the slow motion medium shot of the father walking towards the screen with a belt in his hand implying violence. Additionally, there is a climax at the end of the trailer when there is a rewind of her recent events which builds up tension and curiosity as to what will become of the character. As for the last two stages of Freytags theory, these are not appropriate for a trailer as having a falling action and resolution would reveal the whole story, which is not a convention of a teaser trailer.
This is our final website design, we used the website Wix.com as we felt this would be best and has the relevant tools we can use to create our website.
Our feedback consisted of helpful changes we could make to our trailer to make it better. Our teacher's advised us to add an additional scene of the girl in a art gallery, instead of the shots of the girl looking at art colleges on her laptop. Also, we added a scene where the girl is slapping the boy from the trailer to increase tension and sense of 'mania'. Currently we are trying to get some footage of the main girl holding a pregnancy test to broaden the potential stories inside the trailer, therefore making it more appealing and entertaining. Furthermore, we are tidying up clips by stabilizing them on i-movie, making the voice overs fade in more smoothly and editing the colour filters on different clips.
Feedback is essential when creating a media product as if the public do not understand or appeal to it, then it will not be effective. We used our social networking accounts to publish the first cut of our trailer in order to see people's reactions to it. We received a wide variety of comments as you can see below. Most of them are constructive and contain tips such as "work on audio" and "don't concentrate on the relationship part so much". We will use these comments to finalise our trailer to make it as attractive and effective as possible.
We decided to publish our first draft of our trailer onto our YouTube channel to see the responses that we get. This will be useful for gathering research on how to improve it.
We have evaluated our draft to ensure that we can improve the necessary faults so our final cut matches the conventions of a social realism. We answered the question 'In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products in association with our trailer?'
After reviewing our draft, we concluded what strengths and weaknesses the product had. These include:
Strengths
- Award research
- Original film production company
- Creative font- for anchorage and title sequence
- Use of colour filters- black and white at the end
- Variety of editing techniques- reverse of girl's journey, slow motion in bedroom scene
- Variety of shots- tracking shot, point of view shot, high angle shot
- Variety of lighting- low key and high key lighting
- Good camera quality- Cannon with changeable lens and excellent zoom and focus features
Weaknesses
- Sound is not as layered
- Voiceovers are not embedded- they stick out and sound irregular
- Shots of the laptop are basic and boring- too amateur, does not show our skill and genre
There are certain conventions that you expect to see in a social realism that we should include in our trailer to demonstrate how we have understood and reproduced a social realist trailer.
In our first draft we have matched the conventions in many ways:
- We have included a main protagonist (the girl) which is a convention of a social realist text
- We have depicted a working class lifestyle through the housing estate shots
- The actress is an unknown female which confirms the genre
- The storyline matches the conventions as it is hard hitting and emotional through shots such as the dad with the belt and the scene with the girl in bed with the boy.
- Social Realist films normally use mostly diegetic sound which we used through dialogue
- One of our themes was sex which is a common trait of social realisms
- We challenge the stereotypes of the genre by narrowing the themes, excluding drugs, alcohol and antisocial behaviour.
We decided that to decide our tagline, it is best that we made a list and sent out a questionnaire to ask our target audience which one they think is the most effective or best fitted for our film.
- The art of making the right choice, is harder than you think.
- All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.
- Dreams are your paints, the world is your canvas. Believing, is the brush that converts your dreams into a masterpiece.
- One Girl, One Life.
We decided to use the tagline 'the art of making the right choice, is harder than you think'. We felt this was ironic as she has an art talent, and people will get the the tagline after watching the trailer and will attract people to watch the movie. However we also felt the phrase 'the art of' would be suitable for making choices as well, no matter her art talent. So although it may not be an obvious link to her art talent, we felt it was subtle enough to be noticed.
We felt this also encorporated the choice of her life she has to take in the movie and thus helps the viewer understand more about the storyline, and keeps them on the cliffhanger as we know there will be an important choice at one point in the movie.
'The art of making the right choice, is harder than you think.'
With fish tank, the mise-en-scene changes depending on the mood of the part of the trailer. at the beginning there are shots of her living in the small apartment with her mother, and this shows her claustrophobia, straight from the first shot. (1) We also see establishing shots at the beginning, showing this council estate with green around it, providing us with the hope that maybe she can be happy one day. (2) It is also important to analyse the costume that she has been put in, we can see from a quick shot of her confronting a group of girls, that they all wear the same thing and many would say this depicts on this idea that in her neighbourhood you have to wear the same as others to feel as though you fit in (3). When she is going through the happier stage, where she is developing a friendship with this male character, the mise-en-scene changes accordingly and shows a lot more large open spaces with your shots (4).
Editing
At the beginning we see reasonably quick shots of her and her life. There are also a few fade in's of publicity information such as 'jury prize winner' so that people are more drawn to go and watch the film, as it is well known (5). At the beginning of the trailer, we notice there is a blue overlay to the footage of her and her life and this could represent the mood and atmosphere she is feeling right now. We can clearly see that she is unhappy and with the darkened lighting in the scenes, this helps portray this to the audience (6). Later on in the trailer when the action is starting to unfold, captions are faded from black to blue font with emotive phrases to keep the tension building for the viewer (7). Later on in the opening, there are more fade ins and out when she is going through a discovery stage with a mysterious character and this is shown with the brighter shots as well of them in the water (8). and again this changes dramatically at the end where there are plenty of shadows in the shot and mysterious figures, therefore arising questions to the audience (9).
Sound
We are introduced to the protagonist with an urban background track. This depicts that the character, is feisty and that they are not necessarily shy, with the urban music representing her personality (10). When there is action as well, such as when the mother slaps her child, the sound effects are accentuated to provide the audience with a clear message that this is causing her trouble in her life. There is also an accent which is a clear trend throughout the trailer and many would say this helps add to the atmosphere of where she lives and her up-bringing (11). There is a track change twice which also represents the mood of the main character, and this is clear especially when added to the mise-en-scene of the fields (12). Towards the end also, the pace gets quicker and extra sound shots of heaving breathing add to the atmospheric nature and creates even more tension (13).
Camera Angles
When we are being introduced to the character, there are many positioning of the camera which represent that we will see the film from her point of view (14). This is showing the viewer that this is the main protagonist and that we will be following this character for the film. There are again, long shots added to the mise-en-scene in the middle of the trailer when she is discovering with the male character and this again adds to how the audience are interpreting her mood (15). At the end, it is clear that the mood is escalating and the tension is building as the camera angles become more 'random' and less specific and sometimes cut off information from the scenes that are being shot. This adds to the mysterious aspect of Social Realist films and therefore keeps the viewer gripped (16).
Analysing Skins will help us to create the perfect party scene which is a large element of our trailer. We can get inspiration from the actions, costumes and attitudes of the characters.
Sound
All the sound in this clip is
non-diegetic. The music used sets the scene from the beginning; the quick tempo
lets the audience know that this programme is associated with teenagers and
their party lifestyles. The song maintains its quick tempo throughout the clip
until the end where the music eventually slows down suggesting that the maybe
the party has finished and the character on screen are beginning to feel the
effects of what they have done.
Mise-en-scene
Throughout the clip there are many
props shown on screen which can be linked to youth. Objects are regularly
thrown across the room which shows teenagers rebellious nature and how they are
‘out of control’. There is also frequent evidence of drug use on screen which
suggests that teenagers are irresponsible, and enjoy disobeying the rules. The
toys such as the tricycle and the water pistol can be linked to the idea that
teenagers don’t want to grow up and instead want to go back to their childhoods
as they don’t have to take responsibility for themselves. Camera
The use of the camera in this clip makes the trailer seem quite in your face as there is constantly a person getting close to the camera. It uses a mixture of close up and extreme close up shots. This is mainly to show the characters facial expression, to demonstrate their excitement.
Editing
There are very fast cuts in this clip
to give the trailer a quick tempo, this is linked to idea of there being a lack
of control, and how teenagers lives are associated with a non-stop party
lifestyle.
Here is our table we did about the differences in a teaser trailer and a theatrical trailer. It is important that we had analysed the differences in the different trailers so that we had a clear list of the codes and conventions of a teaser trailer.
Sound
When thinking about the sound and music in a teaser trailer, we usually hear dialogue from the feature film. This helps us familiarse ourselves with the main protagonists in a film already, simply from a small part of their speech. However, sometimes there is no dialogue from the film to create mystery and some would say that with a soundtrack it gives more of the genre and mood of the film than with the dialogue. A teaser trailer is not supposed to give away too much information, but more to inform the viewer of the main points and a brief overview of the storyline.
Content
There is a lot less detail in a teaser trailer than in a theatrical trailer. The detail is more along the lines of small snippits of the film and maybe, if a comedy for example, some key lines that will amuse the viewer. There is also a lot more symbolism used in the teaser, as again this is to keep a certain sense of mystery with the film. There are plenty of captions and often text is shown on the screen to help move the story and give clues about what is going to happen.
Editing
The editing of the trailer is key for a teaser trailer as it is a lot shorter than a theatrical trailer. This means that a lot more has to fit into the teaser trailer than a theatrical trailer, and therefore there is a faster pace in general with teaser trailers. This is made by plenty of cuts and really quick shots of certain key scenes that make the film and the genre, and gives a sense of excitement with a trailer. This will be key in our Social Realism as it is important that the viewer engages with the genre and the pace of the film and therefore want to watch it.
Anchorage
The main thing which a teaser trailer has not got which is a theatrical trailer does have, are exact dates of release. The whole idea of a teaser trailer is to not give away information and to keep the viewers guessing and excited about the forth-coming release of the film. There are lots of slogans and text which also are a key convention of a teaser and this helps the movie feel more promoted.
From our research, we can now clearly see what a teaser trailer encorporates and this will help us when designing what we will include in our one. It is interesting to explore the content and the pace of what a teaser trailer usually is, and this will be included in our one as well.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
