Trailer Feedback

'The first part feels like a music video. Although you include captions and it’s edited in a way that makes meaning. The villan is over-emphasised in relation to the hero. Although the comic element is signified it’s confusing with the music. The girl is poorly introduced. Might be an idea to tell the audience who is starring in the roles at this point. Awful change of sound when the song ends – needs a fade to bridge the edit.

Nice camera work in the ‘we have a situation scene’ I might be tempted to open the piece with that'

I am not pleased with this feedback, it is clear that our trailer was not put together properly therefore the audience could not understand it. We are going to address this problem by looking over it and changing everything that needs to be changed, hopefully our next feedback will be improved.

Finished Average Joe Trailer

This is our final trailer; I am not 100% happy with the final product. I have chosen music which works well with our film genre which is ‘Superhero’. I have also made the transitions between shots much smoother, which is an improvment on the previous attempt, however i think more could be done.

Editing

This is the first time I have used Adobe Premier Pro to edit; previously I had only used Window Movie Maker which is not very professional. However I have worked out how to use all the controls and have edited the trailer. This is the timeline of our trailer. I have added video transitions in between each clip so that it runs together smoothly, titles, and ‘Superhero’ sounding music.

Trailer of Average Joe so far

This trailer is quite different to our previous edit, our previous edit had very little story line and did not look much like a trailer. I had to edit it with Windows Live Movie Maker, therefore it did not look very professional and was quite basic. However we have rectified this by shooting more scenes and editing it with Adobe Premier Pro, which enables us to edit shots properly and make our trailer look more like it should do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AQnfpIZZN0&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Story Board

Our story board has 12 shots. The first shot is the establishing shot of Calverley park, where most of our trailer will hopefully be filmed. The second shot introduces the hero ‘Average Joe’, doing the typical superhero ‘power stance’. The third, fourth and five shots are introducing the villain. The sixth shot introduces the girl who ‘Average Joe’ is in love with.

The seventh shot shows the villain running to find and kidnap the girl ‘Average Joe’ is in love with. The eighth, ninth and tenth shots show that she has been kidnapped and had her hands tied behind her back while the villain keeps a close watch on her. The eleventh shot shows ‘Average Joe’ at work, while his second in command comes in and informs him of the trouble. The twelfth and final shot shows ‘Average Joe’ coming out of the lift and running down a hall way in a silly fairy costume which is meant to be his superhero outfit. We are going to try and stick to our story board as best we can as it will make setting up and filming easier.

Planning of Average Joe

Film Title - Average Joe

Genre - Super Hero Spoof/Comedy

The main set for the film will be in a park or wooded area, possibly Calverley park.

Location - Tunbridge Wells

General story overview - Living a boring day to day life, Average Joe decides he is bored of his 9 to 5 job and becomes a 'super' hero. All is well in Joe's life until the one he loves is kidnapped by his nemesis and all hell breaks loose.

Cast and crew

Average Joe - Joe Curtis

Evil nemesis - Sam Townsend

Love interest - Maria Gonzalez

Editor - Betty May

Camera and acting - Maria Gonzalez

Our trailer will consist of 12 shots, including the introduction of the evil nemesis, the girl 'average joe' is in love with, the kidnapping and 'average joe' coming to the rescue.

Early Footage For Audience Feedback

This is our groups very early footage, therefore it is quite short. Please leave comments giving feedback so that we can make improve our other attempts.

 
                                    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q5buVpzGPU&feature=related

Uk Cinema Attendance

This table shows the attendance to cinemas around the UK, by looking at the table it is clear that when cinemas were first introduced they were very popular. However the figures drop over the years due to developments in technology:

• 1950s – Invention of colour television.
•  1972 – 50% of homes have colour televisions.
• 1976 – The first video player is invented. 1982 – Dolby digital surround sound is introduced
• 1991 - Home video and Multiplex cinemas were invented

These developments in technology may have made people want to stay at home and watch TV rather than go to the cinema as having a TV in colour at home would have been very new and therefore very exciting to young people. Another reason for decline in cinema attendances might be the lack of amount of screen across the country. Many of the cinemas around the UK were closed down because most of them were converted into Bingo Halls and Retail Outlets. During the 1950s the average of screens across the UK was 4807 and the average of screens during the 21st century is 3406.

One of the mains reasons that the cinema audience is on decline at the moment is the major advances in technology. There used to be only three ways of watching a film; the cinema, a video or on the television, however this has changed. There are now more ways of viewing and purchasing films:

• DVD
•  Bought online
•  Downloaded illegally online before the film is released on DVD
• Smartphones
• On the Ipad

This development in technology could potentially kill the cinema industry, there is now a way of getting new box office films for free before they are released on DVD, as teenagers no longer need to pay to watch films they consequently do not need to go the cinema anymore.

Distribution and Advertising

Distribution and Advertising

After the film has been produced, the next stage is the distribution. Distributing a film means selling it to cinemas and film companies. Marketing plays quite a big role in the distribution process of a film as it the advertising of the finished film. Without advertising, there isn't going to be a big enough audience, which means the film will lose money. The advertising injects a lot of money into the profit of the film, without the advertising there wouldn’t be any audience to watch the films which consequents in very little profit for the film.

Above the line advertising

‘Above the line advertising’ simply means the advertising that has to be paid for by the production company. This form of advertising is very important as it can be seen everywhere by everyone, here is a list of some of the main forms of above the line advertising:

· Printed Advertising - Poster Campaigns, Billboards, Bus stops, buses, Tube stations, Magazines
· TV commercials - costs a lot of money
· Cinema trailers
· Youtube Trailers/ Official Movie website

Below the line advertising

The opposite of this is ‘below the line advertising’, meaning advertising that does not have to be paid for. The advertising that doesn’t have to be paid for is advertising through websites such as youtube and facebook.

Social networks have had a huge impact on the distribution of films in recent years. O youtube there is an icon called the ‘share’ icon, the icon means that trailers can be shared onto facebook and twitter and is therefore available for everyone to view. This form of advertising is free as there is no need for the production company to pay, the audience is advertising for them through facebook and twitter. 

Film premiers can attract a huge amount of media coverage. Magazines will have paparazzi and journalists at film premiers photographing and interviewing the stars and the directors, when the photographs are published they are normally accompanied by some kind of article about the premier or the film. This is another form of below the line advertising as the production company has not paid the magazine to write an article about the film, the magazine company is instead advertising for them. There is a symbiotic relationship between the company and the film, this means that they will both benefit from the company being at the premier as the magazines needs something to publish and the film needs as much advertising as possible.

There is one other type of below the line advertising; word of mouth. This simply means people talking to each other, talking about a film they have recently seen or a trailer they thought was good and would like to see.

Researching how distribution and advertising bring in money for production companies has benefited me with my coursework as I understand how important it is to advertise well and properly as it is essentially the only way people will know about the film. 

Ways People Find Out About a Film and Why They Choose To Go and Watch It

There are several ways in which people find out about up coming films; TV, magazines, newspapers, billboards, etc.

 
The main reason is from viewing the trailer, however there are also other reasons that contribute: 

• Poster
• TV Advertisement
• Reviews
• Radio Advertisement
• Radio Reviews
• Magazines Advertisements
• Magazines News Reviews
• Online Advertisement, eg on facebook, youtube.
• Online Interviews, Reviews and Features
• Outdoor Advertisement, eg. Billboards, Bus Stops, London Underground, etc.
• 'Word Of Mouth'

The majority of people will go watch a film because they think the trailer looks good, however there are also a great deal of other reasons. People will go watch a film because they like the actor staring, some people will watch every film directed by a certain director, they like the genre or the reviews might be really good.  

Exit Polls

 
The UK Film Council requires Exit Poll surveys to be carried out on films supported by the Prints and Advertising Fund. Routinely used for Hollywood or mass release films but much less so for smaller or independent films that typically go out into fewer cinemas with smaller release budgets, exit polls are carried out by professional research companies and take the form of in-depth questionnaires in at least two cinemas over the film's opening weekend.  

They are used to find out about the audience for the film, who they are and what motivated them to come and see it with the results helping distributors to refine their marketing and publicity campaign for the film and inform distribution strategies for future releases.

Here is a link to the uk film council website - http://filmcounciluk.com/ 

Presentation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhMsgVsChSU

Film Production

1) The Idea - the writer/director/producer comes up with an idea for a film

2) Development Finance - The person who came up with the idea then goes to a group of film investors and pitches their idea to them. If the group like the idea, they will give the writer some development money to further develop their idea.

3) Script Development- A script writer is then asked to write a script for the film, and a sales treatment which will be used to sell the film to investors.

4) Packaging Moment- Merchandise is produced for the film, in order to make some money before the film is produced and released. The genre of the film is also decided, in order to determine the audience for the film. A storyboard is also created with the cast listing.

5) Financing- Investors, Pre-sales, Insurance. Completion Bond – if the film doesn’t get finished the completion bond will insure the investors don’t’ lose all of their money.

6) Storyboarding, Casting, Equipment, Special Effects, Set Design.

7) The Shoot – the film is made

8) Post Production- editing of the film, sound, editing rough cuts and endings

Short Film

Unfortunately we could not find a way to upload our short film onto youtube therefore it cannot be uploaded to my blog.

 The filming was quite successful, we filmed my friend Conor sitting down an alley with his guitar, as if he was homeless. We asked our other friend to walk by him and give him some money as if he was a passer-by. We took a shot of him from across the road, looking around as if he was alone in the world. However we did not have a variety of shots, therefore we are going to rectify this when we start our real coursework trailer.  

Audience Feedback

In one of our media lessons, we formed a focus group in which we discussed ideas for the short film we have to produce as part of our coursework. We all came up with ideas for the potential title of our film, setting, props and plot. It was useful to know what other people’s ideas were as it helped us come up with the plot for our film.

Pitch

Potential title for our short film – Homeless

Genre – Drama

Setting – Park bench/alley way

Props – Guitar, Cigarette, hat for money

Plot – Main character is a young homeless boy, living on the streets with nothing but a guitar and a hat for some money. The film will consist of long shots of the boy standing on a path way by a busy road all by himself, holding his guitar. There will also be close ups of him sitting on a wall down an alley way busking for money.

Target Audience – 15-30 year olds

A Single Man Case Study

Genre – Drama




Storyline – Based on a novel

Director – Tom Ford


Script writer – Tom Ford and David Scearce


Production Company - The Weinstein Company


Cast – Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Holt

Setting – America in the 60’s


Budget - $7,000,000


Gross - $9,166,863


Tom Ford is an artistic man. He is a fashion designer as well as a director; therefore the film was pitched to a production company that cares more about the art than the profit. The film was put into production because it was based on a well-known novel; it has the genre of ‘drama’ which is always popular with the public. It is set in the 60’s in America with famous actors such a Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Nicholas Holt which is a definite selling point.  

The trailer starts off a being quite fast, there is no music just the sound of a ticking clock. The narrative of the story is not clear from watching the trailer. The trailer shows clips of a university and an expensive looking house or flat. There are titles throughout the trailer showing magazine and newspaper quotes, finishing with the main actors names.

Fight Club Case Study

Genre - Drama

Storyline – Novel by Chuck Palahniuk

Director - David Fincher, previously directed Seven and Alien 3

Script writer - Jim Uhls

Production Company - 20th Century Fox

Cast – Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter

Budget - $63,000,000

Opening Weekend - $11,035,485

Wold wide Gross - $71,000,000

This film was made as it has the genre of 'drama' which is a popular genre with the public and it is based on a novel. The director had previously directed very successful films and has famous and popular actors such a Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter.

The trailer has a medium pace, with a voice over. The trailer shows scenes of an office, a basement and a run-down house. From watching the trailer we can tell that the film is about a man who has insomnia, he meets a man with whom he starts an underground boxing club called ‘Fight Club’. There are scenes that show, a building blowing up, a plane crash, and guns and fighting, this shows the film contains violence. The background sound to the trailer is a sort of drum beat, towards the end the soundtrack is played which is Where Is My Mind by Pixies; this is a clever song choice as the film is about a man who is schizophrenic. There are not many titles apart from at the beginning where it shows the directors previous work and at the end where the names of the main actors are shown. This trailer fits nearly all the conventions of a film trailer, including the one liner at the end before the last credits are shown.

Trailers - The Theory

Trailers: The theory

What is a marketing campaign and why is it needed

·        25% of budgeting goes on marketing

·        The producer will employ a sales agent

·        The sales agent will then sell the film to the distributer

·        Marketing team run a pre-screening to see what people think of the film

·        Above the line advertising has to be paid for

·        Below the line advertising is free –

Facebook links
Media coverage on the news at premiers is free
Film reviews – magazines, newspapers

·        Symbiotic relationship is one that benefits both the magazine and the reviewer

Example – Empire magazine and Mark Kemode

Why is the trailer important?

·        Expectation from the audience

·        Shows the actual film

Conveying genre in the trailer

·        Title

·        Pace

·        Lighting

·        Acting/themes

·        Props

·        Music

·        Location

·        Script

Conventions of Film Trailers

1.      Voiceovers are used to tell the story and give credit information

2.      The stars of the film are showcased

3.      Key points are sometimes conveyed through titles

4.      Conversations between characters often consist of one-liners

5.      Dramatic camera angles may be chosen to show events or characters

6.      Action is interspersed with actor or director credits on screen

7.      Music plays an important role in creating atmosphere

8.      The film’s title may not appear until the end

9.      The trailer builds to a climax, where it ends

10. Montage (a series of shots from different points in the film, edited together) is often used to highlight the most dramatic, humorous or fast-paced aspects of the film

The Brief

Our coursework task is:

 Main and Ancillary Tasks

·        Produce a film trailer – 40 Marks

·        A magazine cover that features the film – 10 Marks

·        A film poster – 10 Marks

20 marks will be for research and planning

20 marks will be for evaluation

The evaluation questions are:

1.      In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge the form and conventions of real media product?
2.      How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
3.      What have you learned from your audience feedback?
4.      How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?