Responding to feedback

We showed our progress in creating our trailer to our class to get some feedback. The feedback we received was to add in more hints of physical violence rather than just mental abuse as the trailer needed some more tension.

The trailer for Tyrannosaur was suggested to us to look at. The trailer follows an abusive relationship however only hints at it in clever but also quite subtle ways. The shots are kept quick with dark lighting and bleak colouring to help keep details hidden.

In particular I liked this shot from the trailer, in which violence is hinted at without being able to truly see what is going on, I think it is a powerful shot and is definitely something we wanted to experiment with and try in our trailer

From this we took the feedback on board and decided to implement this when filming. As shown in the pictures below we decided to include dark and mysterious shots that would lead the audience to realise the abusiveness in the relationship. We also changed the voiceover to create Alex as a more vulnerable character and heighten the emotions felt for her by the audience.

9 Frame Analysis - The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The trailer is quite typical of coming of age/romance film in which is features a montage of clips showing both the high and low times throughout the film. It features a voiceover which gives the audience and insight into the main character and creates a connection. The non-diegetic music is quite upbeat and happy, again quite conventional of this type of film. The colours however are quite dark and grey which could suggest the darker story of the film, as typically romance films will use lighter and brighter colouring. The title screens used are also interesting as they reveal information to the audience and also create a greater interest as the audience have to engage with the trailer and read the text on the screen. 

Romance/Coming of Age Conventions conformed to:

-Happy upbeat non-diegetic music

-Non-diegetic audio of voiceover

-Diegetic dialogue from small clips

-Lots of black fades

-Character introduction using screens e.g 'Charlie never stood out'

-Establishing shot at beginning 

-Production company shown

Differences to typical Romance/Coming of Age trailers:

- darker colour palette

- quite fast paced - lots of very short clips used.

Audience Expectations of Romance Films

We decided to ask people what they expected from a romance film in order to help aid the decisions we would make and understand what our audience would want from a film like ours. 

Mood Video

We decided to create a mood video to give the general feel of our trailer.

Model Release forms

Voice Testing Trial 2

After our first round of voice testing, we were not 100% sure on any of the voices so we decided it would be best to test again. This time we tested a bigger quantity of people to make sure we found the right one. We were looking for a voice that was soft but also quite unique, something that would stand out to audiences and capture their attention. 

Film title

We decided to have a brainstorming session to come up with some ideas for our film title.

Here is the piece of paper with some of our ideas...

Voice over casting

As the voiceover is a key aspect of our film we decided to make sure we found the right person it by testing some different people. In this clip it shows the three people we tested with the music over the top, just like it would be in the trailer. As there is little speech in the trailer we felt we would be able to use someone other than our actress if necessary. 

Editing Schedule

Sound Palette

This is a palette of the sorts of sounds and music we would like to include in our film trailer

Our Colour Palette

Planning of Locations

Romance/Coming of Age Mood board

Shooting Schedule

Our shooting schedule is complete besides the date, as we are yet to confirm whether our actress is available on the 11th of December 

Call Sheet

Iconography - Pinterest

We decided to create a Pinterest account in which we could all post ideas about characters, locations and themes. We thought it would be like having a mood board that we could develop and add to throughout the process to help make sure we have a good idea of the vision we want to create.

Below is a link to the account

Our Update

BBFC Age Rating

Applying this to our film idea:

Language - We will be using swear words and strong language in our film to emphasise the anger within the relationship

Violence - Due to the abusive nature of the relationship we would expect our film to have some elements of violence although this would not be shown in detail

Imitable behaviour - there could be dangerous behaviour in our film such as self-harm or suicidal themes due to the nature of the storyline. There are elements of depression seen within the trailer.

Sex - Due to the film being about a couple and their relationship there would be elements of a sexual nature in the film however not in any detail.

Casting Test Footage

We decided to do some cast testing, so we created a duologue similar a scene in our film. 

Below is the script we used:

Shooting Script

Light Testing

Updated Storyboard

Iconic Romance Directors

Health and Safety

Character Profile

We decided that our two main characters would be called Alex and Tom

Tom Rosenthal Music

We decided to contact an artist called Tom Rosenthal in that hope that he would give us permission to use his music in our trailer. He is an artist that we were all inspired by and felt that his music would fit in well with out genre and the style of our film. 

Below you can see the email we sent and his reply giving us permission to use his music.

We plan on using songs such as 'All of them Dreams' and possibly a few others, shown in the sound cloud below

Location Recce: Beach

Tasha took some photos of a beach nearby her house.

Casting

Timelapse Timetable

We created a timetable for our timelapse so that we knew exactly what we wanted our character 'Alex' to be doing on each day.

Changes to the narrative

We decided to take on board the feedback given to us about our first draft storyboard and consequently have changed the narrative. This is an rough outline of what would happen throughout the whole film so that we were clear on the complete narrative, which would help us to adapt the trailer appropriately. 

Initial Storyboard and Feedback

Animatic of storyboard

Romance Genre

Digital Storyboard

Film Distribution Company

We had looked at several film distributors when considering which company would work best for our genre and type of film.

We decided to go with Fox Searchlight Pictures due to the fact that it specialises in independent and British films, as well as art house films. When researching art house films we found it interesting that they were very much focused on aesthetics - something that we plan to do. They don't tend to have high budgets or huge advertising campaigns.
We decided not to use Universal Pictures because the films they had distributed were quite high budget and big blockbusters, we were aiming at a more niche market.
We decided not to use eOne Films because the majority of the types of films they had distributed were not the genre we are doing, they tended to be more action films.
We decided not to use 20th Century Fox because again the genres tended to be actions and comedies rather than romance and drama. 

Targeting your audience

Textual Analysis - Will Darbyshire's Vlogs

Textual Anaylsis - Submarine Trailer

Textual analysis of Submarine Trailer

Editing

The bold editing in the trailer is quite unconventional for the social drama genre. The quick cuts and zooming creates an unusual and uneasy feel to the film, suggesting that it's not typical of its genre.  The grainy filter used makes the film seem as though it is set in the past, as well as the use of the typewriter which again hints at this. 

Mise-en-Scene

The costumes and makeup in this trailer add a nostalgic feel, as everything from the clothing to the haircuts has a late 1980's feel to it. The lighting is both warm and orange in places and also very blue, which contrast each other well, however the lighting is usually low key which could represent the darkness in the film that the characters feel. The setting is also important in this trailer as it gives us an insight into the characters lives, from the trailer we can find out that they go to school, that Oliver lives at home with his parents and that they live near the sea side, which could all reflect his loneliness. 

Sound

The most noticeable sound in the trailer is the voiceover, which reveals lots of information to the audience. We find out the story through the eyes of the protagonist, which creates a relationship between the audience and the characters. The voice over allows us to find out about Oliver Tate and immediately tells the audience that he is a quirky character just through the sorts of things he talks about. 

The non-diegetic music soundtrack used is Alex Turner's Piledriver Waltz which fits in well with the genre of the film as the music is very mellow and doesn't overpower the diegetic dialogue. The music used at the beginning of the trailer is very simple, which could reflect the simplicity of the movie and again does not draw attention away from the important voice over.  

Cinematography

During the trailer there are a wide range of shot types used, from long shots to close ups, with quite a few establishing location shots. Also there is often the use of a tracking shots which makes the audience feel more involved in the storyline and matches nicely with the voiceover because as an audience we feel as though we are there with the characters. 

Time Lapse Location

At the start of our film we plan to create a time lapse scene in which our main protagonist stands by a tree as the seasons change. We needed to find a location that we could easily access every day in order to be able to film a short clip to create the time lapse. We decided to use our school as the location so we decided to look for the perfect tree. 

Location Recce 1

Initial storyboarding

Inspirational Shots

After looking at a post on Buzzfeed about 129 of the Most Beautiful Shots in Movie History, we chose 4 and here's why we like them:

Applying Todorov's Narrative Theory

Ideas so far...

Inspiration - Mood Board

Genre Research - Coming of Age

Genre in Trailers

Leon

Reflection

Theatrical Trailer

Teaser Trailer

Film Posters

To create this I used a program on a Mac computer called Sketchbook Pro to draw the Faun and create the background effect. I experimented with colour combinations and sizes to give make things stand out.

To create this I used a mixture of an online infographic maker called Canva and Sketchbook Pro to create and draw the elements for this poster. For example, I imported the tree on Canva and drew Ofelia and the fairies. 

Theatrical Storyboard - Pan's Labyrinth

Teaser Storyboard - Pan's Labyrinth

Film Promotion