Sound/Music/Titles

Antigonish - Hugh Mearns

"Yesterday, upon the stair,

I met a man who wasn’t there

He wasn’t there again today

I wish, I wish he’d go away...

When I came home last night at three

The man was waiting there for me

But when I looked around the hall

I couldn’t see him there at all!

Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!

Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door... (slam!)

Last night I saw upon the stair

A little man who wasn’t there

He wasn’t there again today

Oh, how I wish he’d go away"

Incorporate lines of poem with scenes in film - shot of empty stairs with sound of heavy footsteps and the slam of a door, accompanied by the line 'go away, go away, and please don't slam the door'

Codes and Conventions of Horror Movie Trailers

• Villain - usually surrounded by darkness, face rarely seen
• Victim - displayed in different colours to show innocence and neutrality 
• Tension
• Eerie music 
• Ghosts, spirits, evil
• Fear and panic
• Stormy/bad weather
• Supernatural elements
• Majority of characters are quite young - group of teenagers showing vulnerability and naivety 
• Failed attempts of heroism 
• Arrogant characters who have no belief in the villain's existence - often first to be killed off or taunted

Underlined = typical conventions that I will strive to use throughout my film trailer

Proposal

I have chosen to produce a trailer for a horror film, I will have to follow closely, the codes and conventions of typical horror movies and ensure I research thoroughly into existing trailers.

Title of Brief: promotion package for a new film, including a teaser trailer.

Outline of ideas:

A trailer for a horror film, house is haunted by a spirit that only 'comes out' when taunted by the occupants, will show a group of teenagers thinking it a joke, they then proceed to get followed and taunted by the spirit of Polly.

Auxiliary Products:

Promotion package, Film magazine cover and Poster for the film

Target Audience: (age, gender, socio/economic group)

15

How will your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

- Black and white.

What is your inspiration?

'Identity', 'The Unborn',

How will your main product and ancillary texts compliment each other?

Screenshots form the trailer and images of the main antagonist will be used on the poster and magazine to ensure the film is recogisable

How will you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Internet research, software such as iMovie for construction and Photoshop for magazine and poster

How will you incorporate the following concepts?

Genre: dull colour scheme, solemn and slow music to build tension,

Audience: Classification 15

Film Trailer Brief

History of Film

Post-modernism
In media and film, post-modernism refers to the situation where one text is referenced in another, where particular codes and conventions are expected and the affect of cultural references on the audiences' understanding.
Intertextualality
The shaping of a text's meaning by other texts
Pastiche 
The reference of one film in another e.g 'Anuvhood' was made in reference to 'Kidulthood'
The beginnings of film - 1890
- Crank cameras were used where the film has to physically be pushed through
- 17 meters of film = 50 seconds. Films were always very short due to practicalities
- Lumiere Brothers were ground breaking in the late 1800s


La Voyage dans la Lune by George Méliès - 1902
- Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight Tonight video recreates the film 


Meanings in media are mediated - what the audience is bringing to the text as well as what it brought to them

Examiner's Report 2011

10 keys points that could help you prepare an effective portfolio:
1. Candidates frequently spent substantial time planning the main production but hardly considered their ancillary tasks.
2. Candidates had presented their pre-production material with a director’s commentary
3. Combined performance and narrative to good effect, with a variety of camera work used creatively and with appropriate editing.
4. The best teaser trailers showed excellent understanding of the genre, being short in length and consisting of numerous shots that were tightly edited.
5. Candidates seemed to spend so little time (or had little knowledge of) the importance of the lighting and composition of images in their principal shoots that they were left with sub-standard original material to work with.
6. The best videos combined performance and narrative to good effect, with a variety of camera work used creatively and with appropriate editing.
7. Best practice made creative and varied use of digital technology in the presentation of work, using such things as video, audio, PowerPoint and freely available presentation software online such as Prezi and Scribd.
8. Candidates whose responses are limited to essay style prose, whether on a blog or PowerPoint presentation illustrated by some still images, do not demonstrate excellence in the use of digital technology in the presentation of their work.
9. Images were best when thought had been given to pose, expression, props, lighting, costume and setting and when subsequent use of image software enhanced the photos appropriately.
10. Camerawork was often far too limited, particularly lacking in close ups and with insufficient attention paid to framing.

Short films and Film trailers - last year's entries

Lessons learned:
- use a tripod to keep shots steady
- think about sound levels when filming and editing
- ensure the pace of editing is suitable for the genre of the film
- trailers need to be attention grabbing, some began too slowly and told too much of the story
- close up shots work better than establishing shots in some film trailers
- what institutions are likely to produce the film?
- Horror movies - juxtaposition between the image and sound and sometimes less can be more
- The editing process is extremely important
- Use a variety of locations
- Use the rule of thirds

About A Girl Response

About A Girl is an award winning short film, roughly 9 minutes in length, that follows a 13 year old girl and her internal monologue. After what I felt was a boring start to the film, I began to sympathise with her character as it is revealed she is very lonely within her family, this view is emphasised with the use of different camera angles and shots to make her seem more isolated. We find out her parents are divorced and neither her mother nor her father spend a great deal of time with her. It takes two viewings of the film to appreciate the references she makes throughout. Slight comments and anecdotes such as the story of her and her brother getting a dog and keeping it well hidden from their mother has great reference to the end scene of the film which can only be picked up during a second viewing. Also, the Britney Spears lyrics play a large role in the story, she sings "I'm not that innocent' which is obvious by the end of the film, however, this is juxtaposed with her final statement in reference to buying a 99 ice cream. This shows that although she has dealt with all the drama, she is still only a child. The film was shocking, and towards the end attention grabbing dealing with current issues of the country today.