Screen grabs
International Trailer
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of teaser trailers/poster/magazines)
Setting/Location: The establishing shot of our trailer is the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, USA so immediately gives our trailer a professional feel as this is a foreign setting and would realistically cost a lot of money to fly out and shoot at - thankfully for us it was just part of a school trip so cost us nothing at all. One of the opening shots that follows in our trailer is outside "The Lincoln Memorial" which was actually St Pauls which stood in for the Washington memorial as although we were visiting it in February we doubted whether we would have enough time to get all the desired shots. Therefore on a trip up to London we stopped off at the cathedral as it was one of the few places in the local area that had steps outside that could pose as the Lincoln Memorial. By managing to get a good establishing shot and then cut to our character sat on the steps it gave our film an expensive, professional feel to it.
Setting/Location: We shot a few later scenes in the trailer in and outside our school, although this wasn't ideal it was the best we could do in the short amount of time we had the actors for, they had jobs and social plans and so it was a struggle to find a time when cast and crew could make it to a location to film these few crucial scenes. Therefore we realised school was actually a good idea as it had stairs and a large foyer bit for the two brothers to walk out of, with the shots being so short although you can notice it is shot in a school/college this is not important as you realise its supposed to be a courthouse of such.
Camera-work/Editing: The low angle shots of the feet symbolise the important aspect of these shots, the antagonists getting away but are also helpful to hide the background to make it less obvious it was shot in a school and give it a more professional feel to it.
Story/How the trailer sets this up: These scenes are also quite crucial in setting up the story of the film and establishes good vs bad and lets the audience know who we should be rooting for. Miller is introduced as someone we are supposed to like and someone who we want to see succeed whilst the brothers are seen to be "evil" - we don't yet know what they were accused of or why she wants to catch them but the basic of the story has been set out.
Genre and how it conforms to it: Establishing shots of big, recognisable cities are conventional and especially the aerial shot of NYC shot from the top of the ESB, as well as the ones shot from the top of the shard in London, gives the trailer a really grand feel to it and helps make our trailer look like a real one.
Title: With settings like these as well it makes our trailer look more professional and is most important as it helps explain the title of our film - International. By getting shots of Washington, NY and London audiences can begin to understand and guess why we called our film this but also have lots of questions, our title acts as an enigma that can draw audiences in.
Settings/Location: Living so close to London we knew by picking an action trailer we could really use this to our advantage, just like NYC it is big, recognisable and grand and makes our trailer seem more professional. A boat party at our college worked perfectly to double as a party on land that our protagonist Miller attends when she arrives back in London. This was really good for our trailer as although its only a few seconds long shot to have created this in real life would have cost a fair amount of money so again helps with making our trailer feel big budget.
Genre and how trailer suggests this: All these shots also help signify what genre the trailer is, big city shots could have been confused with a romance or thriller but the dance-floor/club scene is something fairly common in action movies as where the antagonists hang out. Therefore helps guide the audience to realise it is an action, especially after such a clear establishing of good vs bad in the first 20 seconds.
Costumes and Props: This is the second time the phone is used as a prop as was our most valuable asset during this shoot as it allowed us to have conversations with people we didn't need to cast and find settings for - although if we did this trailer again I would maybe have included scenes where we saw the person on the other end of the line I don't think it is necessary and by using a phone call it keeps the focus on Miller and her location.
Camera-work/Editing: The match on action on the phone not only allowed us to show some of our filming techniques in a production that was hard to include them but also reinforces the idea Miller is an agent as she is contacted by a fellow agent. The high angle shot was a spur of the day decision made by our director who thought by looking down on her it foreshadows how she is unlikely to capture these brothers - at least this time anyway. It also shows her from a weak angle suggesting the brothers have the power and she's got an uphill battle to catch them.
Settings/Location: Again making the use of London whilst up there on a day trip we got some good shots of Waterloo Station, by going to the upstairs balcony we were able to get some impressive looking shots that showed a large span of the station and instantly made it recognisable. We even managed to get a few shots of trains leaving but these were actually shot in a different location later in the day.
Camera-work/Editing: We shot the train leaving at Earls Court station as it allowed us to get the high angle shot we wanted which we couldn't get at Waterloo. The high angle shots of Waterloo Station show the people to be really small and implies how hard these brothers are going to be to catch, they could be any of these people, they're all moving quickly and they all look the same. It reasserts Millers foreshadowed doom from earlier - she hasn't got much chance of catching them. On the ground shots reinforce the madness, panic and chaos at this station and really put the audience there with her at the station. Another reason why these point of view shots were used was because it was hard to get a shot of Miller running or walking through the station - although if we did the trailer again this is definitely something I would change, as well as including a scene of her running onto camera as the train pulls away to reiterate the fact she has lost them.
Sound: At this point in the trailer there's a music change and the tempo is kicked up a notch, as the trailer begins the music is slow and suspensfull, matched with dramatic beats as the brothers escape, it then changes to dance music as the trailer switches to the club in London and the music changes yet again to less upbeat and more tension filled music as the audience anticipates whether Miller will catch the brothers before they get on the train. The music falls before a loud boom hits the audience and increases the drama - adding to the impression that is is an action trailer. The music build quickly in tempo before another fall in music to add the the suspense and get the audience asking questions.
Story/how trailer sets it up: This middle section of the trailer is arguably the most mundane but is necessary to try and educated audiences what this film will be about, engaging a larger audience than just the teen boys who want to see guns and chases. This was something which we found the hardest when making this trailer, reducing speaking scenes as these felt too structured and fake last year but having enough background info on the story that people are engaged and want to watch the film for its plot rather than just its guns, girls, cars and chases (which also need to feature in the trailer). We also get to see more of the antagonists in this part of the trailer, they could have featured more in the trailer but due to their busy schedules it was hard to find a time when both of them and the crew were available to shoot. Never the less by seeing them in this point and including them in the early scenes and end montage they are established well enough and negatively enough for audiences to know they're the "bad guys".
Camera-work/Editing: These four shots are from the montage at the end of our trailer which is by the far the part we are most proud of, with over 20 different shots, fast paced, exciting music and some really professional looking titles we feel it feels like an actual trailer. We were lucky that two of us in our group could drive meaning we were able to get some good shots of cars as they drove along, we were also able to get some good fighting scenes, some solo shots of our protagonist and some shots from in a garage giving it an action/gangster feel. One of my favourite shots of the whole trailer is a low angle shot when Miller throws papers off a table as it felt really dramatic and helps raise the tempo of the trailer even higher. I'm also impressed by the montage as it showcases how our editing has improved and how were able to create something that gets you excited and sat on the edge of your seat.
Genre and how trailer suggests this: The fast paced montage also conforms to the action genre as it has fighting, cars, chases, guns and is generally very high paced and aggressive. The music also conforms to the genre as it is loud and fast paced and raises the tempo making the audiences on edge and excited to see this film.
Story/How the trailer sets it up: How the trailer was going to end was actually one of the first things we decided on and one of the things we were adamant to keep the same even if we had to lose/change other aspects of the trailer. We were really happy with how it ended up and how the trailer cuts to black on a dramatic beat before a bullet shatters the title - foreshadowing that one of them gets shot.
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