Film Trailer 1st Draft

Here is my very first attempt & draft of my film trailer. I got on Adobe Premiere and thought I'd make use of the footage that I shot with my friends. Since these were filmed during the summer of 2013 I wasn't able to get feedback from my teacher to see where I could make improvements but when I did get the chance, filming early would prove to be beneficial as there were numerous things wrong with the film trailer. However, my teacher was really impressed with what I came up with considering it was my first go at it.

While the teacher was screening my trailer I took out my notepad & pen and made notes. Listening closely to what's being said and writing down areas that needs improvement.

What's wrong with it?

-It turns out that the key thing that was wrong with my film trailer was that it was becoming more like a film, rather than a film trailer. I was revealing too much information with the script & titles & the shots were too long. Some of the shots were inappropriate for example this one:

It's not that it wasn't a good shot, it was a great shot, nicely filmed & creatives excitement, however the protagonists, the people who are supposed to be the heroes are running away from the camera instead of towards the camera which gives the audience an impression of them being the monsters and that's what makes the shot inappropriate (breaking conventions).


What can be done to improve it (aims)?

-I will shorten the length of the trailer to no more than 2mins 30 seconds and this is the maximum time allowed for typical film trailers.

-I will improve my script by revealing less information about the film.

-I'm going to draw a new storyboard and re-film some of the shots, and getting some new shots in along with the ones I've already got.

-Instead of relying on secondary sources I'm going to create my own eg. the News Report.

-I'm going to improve the way in which the music juxtaposes with the shots so everything fits together. 

First Shoot (Planning & Filming)

How did I get my cast together? 

In a world where technology is so advanced, mailing has become a thing of the past. I rounded up the guys together through the use of Social Media and text messaging. Since they all had Facebook accounts & mobile phones it made it easy for me to communicate with them because they are only a notification or text away if I needed them. I created an art collective entitled 'The Young & Talented' which is a group of young people I brought together, each of them having some sort of talent or aspiration to do something creative. Since they all share a common interest it makes it easy for me to work and push forward any ideas which they or myself may present. 

Selecting just the ones out of interest for my trailer, I arranged a meeting with them via Facebook in order to discuss the screenplay and what to expect while playing their roles. We agreed to meet up with each other in town, directly in front of the train station because it'd make it easy to locate each other. We then proceeded to the nearest Costa and sat down in there having coffee while briefing them the idea. 

How did we go about shooting? 


I didn't create a shooting schedule because some of my cast members were due to go off on Holiday soon and that means I only had a short amount of time to work with. We decided on days that we would film, the time & place we'd meet at the meeting but re-arrangements had to be made but thanks to social media I was able to Liaison with the group. 

As you can see things didn't go as planned and so roles had to be improvised, my original synopsis contained 4 members but since one of them were sick and it meant I had to make some adjustments, making brief alterations to the story. This in turn actually became a positive thing because it means that there was less people to work & direct, making things less complicated. 

Videod Focus Group 1 (Film Trailer)

Above is a videod focus group (feedback) I did with a few students from my media studies class. I generated a series of questions in relation to films & film trailers to see what their perspective on them were.

Cast List

  Dean Rowan

  

Dean is an 18 year old performing arts student currently enrolled at Hull College. Dean is enthusiastic about performing Arts as his biggest aspiration is to become a professional actor. Dean is a funny, hardworking, trustworthy and highly motivated individual, it doesn't take a long time to get along with him. I chose Dean because he seems to have the right attitude when it comes to Media & Film, whenever I mention a concept for a new film he's always gets really excited.

As Steve

Steve is a PHD student currently studying Bio-Chemistry at the University of Hull. Steve is the Leader of the pack, he's a dominant, yet laid back individual. He keeps the guys in check and takes responsibility of nearly every decision that the team makes. Aside from his career, Steve is an excellent football player and have played in several tournaments across the UK, winning several national & regional titles.
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Sarah Vause

 

Sarah is a very good friend of mine & student at Wyke 6th Form College. Studying English and Film, her greatest aspiration is to become a writer. Sarah is a very calm & quiet individual but once you get to know her you'll find that she can get pretty loud. I chose Sarah to play in my film because she is enthusiastic about films & stories and because stories are a key element in making films work it makes her a perfect candidate. 

As Julie 

Julie is a current PHD student, studying Chemistry at the University of Hull. Julie is a very intelligent individual, she always inventive & figure out ways around problems. She is the most mature one of the group as she takes everything she does seriously and she's got the caring attitude of a mother. However one of Julie's biggest issues is that she is quite boisterous of her intelligence and very opinionated, making it difficult to get her to co-operate with ideas presented to her. Julie has a crush on her longtime research partner & best friend Steve whom she eventually admits her feelings to & falls in love with. 

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Alex Jones

Alex is one of the funniest guys I've ever met; he's a cool, very laid back individual that just try to enjoy life as much as he can. Your first impression if you didn't know him would be that he's very quiet and reserved when actually once you do get to know him you'll find that he is quite friendly & down to earth. Alex is currently at Hull College doing his A-Levels and wants to pursue a career in music. I chose him because he seemed to have the right attitude & motive of someone who wants to develop ideas & succeed. 

As Joe

Joe is a nerd, he is the brains to every operation that the team undertakes. He is a qualified Chemical Physicist for the NWRD but he is also a computer scientists, honing his skills from studying computers at an early age. Joe's knowledge is crucial to the team as he is an individual of high intellect, he's innovate, always reading and researching for new ways of doing things. Aside his career Joe is a professional biker and enjoys doing outdoor activities with his friends. 

Prop List

I'm a bit ahead of schedule as I had already began filming over the summer. Below I've posted some still shots & frames of actual footage from my film trailer. Since my film involves scientists I thought what better way to make them look like scientists than gathering props in relation to scientists such as: 

-Lab Coats, Full Body Protective suits

(The main cast members from my film- Left to right- Sarah Vause, Dean & Alex Jones)

-Masks & Eye Goggles

(Alex all suited up, ready to be filmed)

-Gloves

 

 



 Other Props used in my trailer:

-Digital Cameras- For investigative work (data recording)





(Shot from my film trailer-Alex recording data)
-Computers & Laptops

 

(More scenes from my film trailer-featuring Alex & Dean)

 

-Newspapers, Books & Glasses



 

(Shot from my film trailer- pixelated because its snipped section of the actual shot)

 

 (Notebooks-this is essential to scientists as this is their primary method of data recording)

 

-Fake Goo/Alien DNA

(Shot from my film trailer with scientist gathering DNA)

 

Why Sci-Fi? (Conventions of Sci-Fi)

What is Sci-Fi?

Sci-Fi or Science Fiction is a genre of fiction which deals primarily on the impact of imagined innovations of Science & Technology and often in future settings. 

My view on Sci-Fi & why I chose it: 

I chose Sci-Fi not because I believe that it is not just a genre but it is more of an art form. I feel it is a creative way to bring to 'reality' or 'life,' things you couldn't do on this earth. You have a limitless freedom & capacity to produce, there's no wrong or right way of doing things. I believe that no Sci-Fi text is stupid and that they are all amazing because it is something that was thoughtfully planned & created by an individual. Like every media text, a lot of time & effort was invested into creating such a thing, especially a Sci-Fi. I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion & have the freedom to imagine and create. However, seeing something that was just a thought or words written on a piece of paper come to life, I find magnificent.

Conventions of Sci-Fi (Films): 

Like the definition states above, it is a genre of 'fiction,' it's fake. It's not necessarily 'real.' However, this does not take away the fact that just because something is unseen or unheard of (no supporting evidence) doesn't mean we can fully justify that it can't be real. That is why Sci-Fi films are predominantly based around horror, widespread disease outbreaks and alien intervention because we humans have a tendency to believe that even though we might believe that something is impossible and cannot happen, we still have this other side in us that wants to believe that it can (hypothetical thinking). 

Mise-en-Scene, Narrative Structure & Other Characteristics

The Diegesis of Sci-Fis are normally outside of planet earth in a fictional universe or space and the setting is usually in the distant future or post-apocalyptic times. However when they do take place on planet earth in current, they can be set in past or future times and this usually happens when the producers want to convey a specific message or reinforce an ideology such as the probability of a widespread global crisis such as the end of earth's natural gases, or a disease causing death. 

Even though some films might take place on planet earth, 9 times out of 10 there will always be sophisticated technology involved as this is associated with us humans because we are very intelligent and want to reinforce that. 

A Narrative structure of a Sci-Fi or Action & Adventure film usually suggests that there is a protagonist (good people/hero/humans) and an antagonist (enemy/aliens). Media Theorist Levi Strauss suggests that in media texts are based on binary opposites, a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning. He supports the idea that if there is something good, there must also be a bad side to it and suggests that it helps to structure a media text. 

What normally happens next is that there is a disruption in equilibrium within the diegesis, something happened which compromised the balance. In the case of Sci-Fis it's the usual: aliens invade earth or human based world OR the humans themselves caused a disruption from an error caused by scientists or the government etc. that is why aliens aren't always necessarily the antagonists, the human themselves could have  caught a disease or something which caused them to transform into flesh eating creatures- the possibilities are endless. 

There's always going to be 'conflict,' a fight, a quest, it's necessary, that's what builds the narrative and usually accounts for 1/3 third or 2/4s of the film. As a narrative structure suggests, there has to be a disruption in the Equilibrium between the protagonist (humans) and antagonist (aliens, creature). That then leads to the quest & conflict in the diegesis and then re-equilibrium happens, it has to because of the ideologies of Sci-Fis, it's a must that we humans want to come out as victorious because we hate defeat.

 That is why even before a film ends, especially one that deals with aliens invading earth we have preconceived ideas of the ending, it's normal to think that we (humans) will find balance and defeat the aliens. However, it will not be the same equilibrium. Thing's might be similar to the way things were before the disruption but it will never be exactly the same. Something happened, which caused something else to happen; one thing leading to another (cause+effect). 

 

But what about Sci-Fi Film Trailers?

 

With no doubt at all the same exact conventions would apply to them as well. As I mentioned before in an earlier post on Sci-Fi Film trailers, these are key conventions associated to them:

 

-Generally moderate to very fast pace editing

-Really dark Mise-en-Scene

-Dark, dramatic music which create mystery & suspense

-Sometimes hardly any music at all with just sound effects, voice overs & speech from the actual film

-There's a story being told most of the time to give viewers an idea of what the film might be about

-Heavy usage of CGI and Special Effects

-Aggressive usage of text enhanced with movement & lighting effects.

-Voice Overs (Narration)

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

Strangers Amongst Us

A group of PHD students from England are on an apprenticeship with a top secret Research group called New World Research & Development (NWRD). They are an organisation of people from all around the world with bases scattered globally. With a very innovate nature, their primary focus is finding out ways to improve human performance & ability. 30 Years earlier a UFO crashed off the southern coast of Hull into the river Humber, Government officials were immediately on the scene and quarantined the  mysterious object which weeks later, Official reports presented by them in the media stated that it was just a telecommunications satellite. However, deep within the laboratories of the NWRD told a different story, the object which crashed into the river was indeed a flying saucer.  In it scientists found mysterious intergalactic creatures that are not of this world. The beasts were almost human-like, scientific research proved that they had supernatural abilities such as super strength and super speed. To prevent controversy, the general public was not notified and the NWRD would keep the beasts in quarantine to conduct further research & testing for over 29 years.

The tests being conducted on the beasts involved genetic modification, merging DNA samples from the beasts with that of the humans. A very dangerous procedure, this would later prove to be catastrophic when an experiment goes totally wrong; triggering a massive explosion in one of the main generators which power the facility, causing damage to one of the cells which held the genetically modified beasts. The explosion released a toxic chemical, infecting nearly everyone in the lab. The beasts, now free after being quarantined for 3 decades, seek redemption. Earth, once peaceful is now in chaos-thousands of people all over are suddenly disappearing, simply vanishing into thin air; some humans are bitten & transformed into creatures just like the ones found 30 years earlier, causing havoc and widespread damage. Now it’s up to these group of students (Steve, Joe & Julie) along with the military services across the world to reverse this global phenomena. A month earlier, Steve, Joe & Julie would leave NWRD as they had warn experts of a possible global catastrophe. 

Textual Analysis of Existing Products (Film Trailers)

 

Storage 24

 

 

Storage 24 is a 2012 Sci-Fi-Horror film. The UK is in chaos when a mid-air disaster, occurred on board a military plane causing it to fall & crash in central London. Details of the cause of crash are sketchy as the plane released materials considered to be ‘highly classified’ over the city. Oblivious to the fact that the city is under total lockdown, 4 people find themselves trapped inside a giant storage unit centre called Storage 24.

Storage 24’s trailer begins with a voice over from a news report, immediately establishing the setting of the film with ‘’Britain is under high alert after…..’’ which then overlaps with other news reports, creating an atmosphere of confusion and anxiety and this immediately grasps the viewer’s attention as we’re unsure of what’s going on.  This is followed by a series of shots from realistic news reports which are only shown for a split second, accompanied by zapping sound effects, augmenting on the already well-established confusion. The lighting, accompanied with the eerie silence (no music) builds even more tension as the setting (storage 24) is very dark, it’s almost impossible to see anything.

The producers of the trailer didn’t waste any time as they got straight into the drama & action, with brief 1-2 second shots of the crash site and contents that were on board the plane. There wasn’t even an establishing shot to establish the location of the place. However, the protagonists (humans) are immediately shown after shots of the wreckage. Only snippets of the antagonist (alien creature) are shown and we don’t get a full concept of how it actually looks until the end of the trailer.

The editing is quick & snappy because the standard length allowed for a trailer is 2mins 30 seconds, with the trailer being 1 min, 49 seconds there is so much information being passed on in that time frame. That’s why there are so many jump cuts because even though there is a narrative, details are quite sketchy as to where the antagonists (alien) originated from within the deigesis.  However it does give us an indication that it was released from the military aircraft because there were shots of the creature’s cell for the crash site.

The trailer gives us these preconceived ideas and that’s what all Sci-Fi trailers tend to do. Like this one, it immediately identifies that something is about to happen, something already happen which caused something else to happen (cause+effect) but the only thing that isn’t shown is the resolution as we are still not sure what happens to the people in storage 24, whether they got out alive and destroyed the alien or not. We have preconceived ideas but it still lacks clarity.

 

War of the Worlds (2005)

 

 

War of the worlds (2005) is an American epic Sci-Fi disaster film. Inspired by the novel ‘The war of the worlds’ by director Steven Spielberg it appears that the world is under attack by visitors (aliens) from outside of our world that strategised a plan to invade earth from many years ago.

At first everything appeared to be pretty normal- a man (Tom Cruise) is seen as a family man, spending time socializing with his children & spouse but things don’t seem to be 100% normal as he seems to be a bit alienated from them. Things quickly start to change as what appears to be a freak lightning storm hit the city, causing power outages, traffic jams from vehicle failures (as shown from the shots). At this very same moment the editing pace changes from slow fades to really snappy fades, dips & cutaways, showing snippets of disasters to come.

At this point it is still pretty unclear what’s caused this and why- this all goes well with the music as the tempo increases, building tension and is further reinforced by the shots being shown revealing further catastrophe, confusion & terror. Keeping us in suspense and eager to know what’s going to happen next the film trailer ends, not revealing how the problem is solved, leaving us with just preconceived ideas. What’s interesting about this film trailer is that rather than it using text to convey the information to us, it uses video & sound to give us a general idea of what the film is about.

 

Stranded

 

 

Stranded is a 2013 Sci-Fi-Horror film directed by Roger Christian. Four isolated astronauts who are stationed in a mining base on the moon experience a foreign intercession after a meteor storm struck one of the bays causing paranoia, fear and death.

The first shot immediately establishes the location of the diegesis, showing an extreme long, telescopic-like shot of the moon over the earth’s atmosphere. The establishment is proceeded by a shot on the moon itself, revealing the mining base which indicates the viewer that this is indeed a Sci-Fi. Like most trailers normally would, this one goes straight into the action showing several different shots with a lifespan of approximately 1 second. It appears that these people are in serious trouble-there is frequent radio communication; the astronauts can be seen analysing sensitive scientific equipment, its chaos. The loud, bassy music helps to reinforce the already well-established disturbance, with the number of cuts per minute increasing. Considering the fact that they are in space, the mise-en-scene is generally dark for most of the shots which contrasts with their computers & other scientific equipment. This reinforces man’s reliability to machine & technology in Sci-Fi, not just when they’re away from earth but in general.

Halfway through the trailer things go quiet for a bit and the shot per-minute slows down, it’s kind of a way of letting the viewer absorb what has already been presented to them and let it sink in. The pace quickly picks back up again and this time things are even worse than before- we knew that there was a meteor strike; we knew there was some form of trouble but we didn’t know what was coming next. Now it is apparent that these individuals are experiencing a series of physical & psychological disturbances. We can see this as the astronauts are seen losing their composure after finding out that a poisonous substance that was released during the meteor strike is causing hallucinations, paranoia and illness (sores) amongst them.

Judging by what is seen in the trailer it shows that yes man may be intelligent, we may have created extraordinary equipment but there’s a limiting factor that we can never get rid of that is ‘we’re only human.’ As supreme and dominant as we might seem, we’re still vulnerable to attack, interference that we’re not accustomed to. It also shows how we react when we’re exposed to certain situations, revealing our true characters in life-threatening situations. However, one thing that isn’t shown is what happens to the characters; did some of them escape? Did they all die? Is there any aliens? None of that was shown so we’re left with these preconceived ideas of what may have happened.