G324 BANJ Advanced Portfolio Thriller Trailer: 2011

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

By Jade Timson-Proud

As part of our media coursework we had to create a group project based on the thriller genre. We had to create a package including a teaser trailer, poster and magazine cover. As previously shown on the blog we had based our project on a detective storyline, with the title “Case 321”. Now all three pieces have been created, we now have the opportunity to evaluate our work and express how and why we chose certain techniques, how the various projects connect, what the audience’s reaction was and, whether we have chosen to stick to the typical forms and conventions of thrillers and the different types of mediums that we have used.

Our first priority was to create a storyline and have some direction to lead our project, revolving around the theme “thriller”. Therefore we began our project by creating a PowerPoint based on researching thriller forms and conventions. The first thing we had to research was what was a thriller. To each individual this term will have a different meaning but as a group we came up with a definition that we all agreed on and could expand on.

“A thriller is a particular genre that can expand into many others. It contains a significant amount of action and adventure, whilst creating suspense and tension along the way. A film that is action packed with elements of horror to grab the audiences attention”.

A main source of inspiration for us was the “Die Hard” sequel, “Seven and “Along came a Spider”. We had agreed that we wanted to create a trailer based on a detective case with a twist. We all felt that this area in particular would be interesting to create and was something that we could devise a good story line for.
With a storyline in mind we then had to create it whilst still keeping in mind the idea of a thriller. Therefore we researched the forms and conventions of a thriller to help us portray the genre clearly. Firstly the storyline we chose was very stereotypical of a thriller. Thrillers usually contain murder, revenge, a chase sequence and shoot-outs, all aspects we hoped to include. We believe that the storyline can quickly tell the audience the genre, so is an important aspect. Yet in the same way we felt the character types and iconography were just as important. To begin, a character’s role can set the scene. As we are only creating a trailer we only need a handful of characters to give the audience a quick taste and understanding of what is yet to come. In the same manner we only wanted to select a couple of characters as the trailer is where the audience first gets to know them. The two obvious characters in our trailer were the detectives. Then to follow, we had a victim and the murder. All character roles were stereotypical and are usually seen within thrillers, yet we decided to challenge the forms and conventions. Generally detectives are played by dominant men whilst the women are the victims, and are innocent and seductive. However, we reversed the roles and the women became the dominant gender. We decided this mainly as many films we had researched stuck to the forms and conventions of a thriller with regards to character roles and we wanted to challenge our selves to produce something in contrast. Also we wanted to show just how different the twenty-first century is in that women are playing a dominant, and equal role in society against men.
As well as character roles we also looked at the type of iconography seen within a thriller. As we were challenging the forms and conventions of character roles we wanted to stick to them in other aspects so that the message of a thriller is still obvious. The typical iconography is within an urban environment, which helps to build suspense for the viewer. We decided to also base a trailer within our surrounding urban environment which fitted in extremely well with our storyline. We used a variety of places to help show this including, a car park, a block of flats, a park and a shopping mall.
Lastly, as part of the forms and conventions of a thriller, we looked at some of the visual and audio elements we could include. Obviously we were creating a trailer, meaning that there wasn’t enough time to include a car chase and a huge explosion so we adapted some of these ideas in to something that we felt was capable to include. Visual elements included a lot of fast paced editing to show a range of shots and different images to not only explain the story, but to also build tense and suspense. With regards to sound we aimed to use loud music to grab the attention of our audience yet at the same time we changed the sound around a little just to provide variety.

As we were using three different mediums to create our project, we also researched the forms and conventions of trailers, posters and magazine covers. This helped us to create three pieces that would hopefully fit in with real film trailers, posters and magazine covers. The trailer was the first part of our project.
We had to create a teaser trailer, a short version of a trailer, so there were certain elements that definitely needed to be included to create an effective sequence to grab the audience’s attention in a short amount of time. A teaser/trailer provides the first glimpse of a new film so needs to capture their attention instantly.
To start, a trailer obviously has to be fast, so fast paced editing is something that has to be included. The story needed to be told briefly and quickly. Each shot chosen also needs to make a point and contribute key information to the audience. As we are only producing a teaser trailer, we couldn’t pick a range of shots from a whole movie that had been created, therefore we created from scratch certain scenes that conveyed a specific meaning to the story. Every shot has a purpose within our trailer, whether its information about the story or a shot containing action to build suspense. We edited the shots, cutting them to be fast paced, to again provide the vibe of an action-packed thriller.
Establishing characters is a vital part of a teaser trailer and the shots we chose are important in introducing them to the audience. As a result we used close-ups and focused quite heavily on the characters. We did this mainly by having the first couple of shots focused on the main characters before slowly introducing others. We wanted to establish the main characters first and identify them. We used a range of shots to do this to again allow the audience to see them.

For us the most important element was the audio aspects. As a group we looked at many trailers to gather inspiration to determine the style we were going to choose, e.g. dialogue voiceover, music etc. Originally we chose to use all dialogue as we felt that our story would be better explained if we did. However we felt that the trailer wouldn’t have flowed very well. We thought of a voiceover but this particular style is very old fashioned and even though it works it’s very dated. The style that is very current uses inter titles between the shots to convey meaning. One trailer in particular that conveys this very well in “Die Hard 4.0”. We felt this fitted better with our particular trailer as we are showing a modern film, with the use of women instead of men. We did this for the majority of our trailer, using music in the background. Yet at a certain parts we did use dialogue that we had specifically selected to help convey a certain meaning more clearly. Using less dialogue is another current feature and we have tried to adapt to this.
Another form and convention of a teaser trailer is the visual style. The graphics and transitions chosen are important in conveying a clear meaning. Again, as a teaser trailer is short, there isn’t time to show a range of graphics, so simple transitions such as cuts to show speed are used. We have done the same thing, although we have decided to apply a certain style when using words to covey meaning. It’s a simple yet effective style. Just in the same way we included graphics when applying the title and release date as this is important in providing the viewer with the information needed. We stuck to many forms and conventions when making our trailer as we felt it gave it the professional finish that we were after.

The film poster was created next. Film posters have a range of conventional features to advertise the film. We have stuck to these forms and conventions. First and most obviously is the image. The main focus is the picture and we chose one that conveys a certain meaning with regards to our film. The image says a lot, but didn’t use the main character. This is an obvious decision to make, but the image we picked contains more information for the viewer and we think it fits better with our trailer. We also picked a colour theme of red, white and black that flows throughout our project.
The font is another element of a film poster that is important, it can also help to convey a certain meaning. Within our teaser trailer we have a clock counting down from ten so we originally chose a font of a digital clock. Yet we decided against this as our poster has style elements of the old film noir, therefore this modern font wouldn’t fit very well. As a result we decided on a clear, bold font to create a simple yet strong meaning.
However, a poster is mainly made up of specific elements of information for the audiences purpose. Firstly the title, followed by a tag line is included to obviously give a background knowledge to the image and film. We used our title of “Case 321” and a tag line of “3 murders, 2 detectives, 1 case”. Then certain features such as the release date, billing block and certificate were also included to make it more authentic. The one feature that we left out was reviews. Many posters include reviews of newspapers opinions on the movie, however the fact that it is a teaser trailer, that’s hasn’t been introduced yet, nobody has seen it, therefore there are no reviews. We feel our poster works rather well in comparison of real film posters and we think we made the right decision by sticking to the forms and conventions of a poster as it looks more realistic.

The last area of our project was a film magazine cover. Just like the film poster we chose to stick to the forms and conventions of a magazine cover. Despite there being a variety of different styles, we felt that when creating a magazine cover you have to really stick to the forms and conventions to make it look realistic. By this we mean that with a poster there is more freedom to design what you want as long as you provide the conventions, yet a magazine cover seems to have a certain format that needs to be followed.
We chose the mainstream magazine “Empire”. The picture we captured and the way we had digitally manipulated it suited this magazine better. Therefore the use of colour and bold font was included, as well as other features unusually seen on this particular magazine. We kept to the conventions of a magazine so we included major elements such as masthead, pugs, main cover line and general cover lines, main image and the website.
Looking at our cover we seemed to have used these conventions in the same manner as the main stream magazines do. There were other features that we could have included, that were optional, such as banners and graphics. However as a group we decided against the idea of adding graphics as the main image is rather dominant and we didn’t want to include anything that would distract the audience from this.
We feel that the magazine cover was the easiest when sticking to the forms and conventions as covers tend to follow a certain format that appears on most magazines. The format and layout of our design is very stereotypical as we also chose to stick to the rule of thirds. When designed, most magazines are split into three, horizontally and vertically, and a feature is placed in each square. We used this same style as we feel it makes the piece neat and tidy and gives it a more profession finish.
As a group we did want to challenge the cover to experiment and see what else you could do, however this didn’t work as it didn’t look like a magazine cover and therefore defeats the object. So out of all three pieces for this project we felt that the magazine cover was the piece in particular that really stuck to the forms and conventions of this medium.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

by Nita Jadeja

There are three media products that we combine for our complete product: the trailer, the film poster and the magazine cover. All three are completely different however looking at them combined as one product, I feel they work together very well. Our genre for the project is thriller and we have used many things stereotypically found in most thriller films. For example in the mise en scene, colour scheme etc.
Firstly, the trailer was the first thing we did. We started off with drawn sketches and storyboards to picture the final thing, and from the storyboard and sketches was how we decided we were going to relate the poster and magazine cover. From our trailer we decided what our poster and magazine cover would look like. The trailer has animated shots edited into the final cut that works with the camera recorded parts of our video. The colour scheme of the animated parts is mostly red, which is a colour usually used to represent danger, blood, etc. which means the trailer is quite stereotypical. For example: (mise en scene), there are guns, weapons and quite a lot of violence involved which is also stereotypical of the thriller genre.
The characters in all three media products are representations of the stereotypical thriller genre. For example: in the poster, the picture is of a girls face with red lipstick in heavy shadow and low key lighting.
Stereotypically, thriller posters always use heavy shadow to add a sense of mystery. Also, the fact that the face is a seductive looking girl is also stereotypical.
Also, in the trailer, the two victims that are killed are female which is stereotypical as women are usually portrayed as helpless and vulnerable in thriller films.
Furthermore, the atmosphere hints what genre the film opening is supposed to come from. We filmed in quite low light to make the characters look mysterious. The location is in an urban area which is also stereotypical.
The magazine cover consists of two of the main characters holding guns aimed at the camera. The fact that the two characters are female is not really stereotypical. It is usually the men who are on the front cover with weapons. However, the women on the cover have been edited so their faces cannot be seen. This also adds a sense of mystery because the audience cannot see who they are.
The narrative is very stereotypical of the thriller genre because all three of our media products feature death, deception, being followed, being watched, all points that can be related to thriller. The trailer consists of many deaths. For example: the dead girl in the beginning, the boy that gets shot etc. also the main characters in the trailer do get watched and followed which is stereotypical.
The iconographies of all our media products represent the thriller genre. For example: on the trailer, there is a chase on the stairs in a small building. There are many deaths in the trailer and also a lot of violence and weaponry involved. The seductive face on the poster is iconic too. The heavy use of shadow, the red colour etc. are all iconic of the thriller genre. We have used the same iconographies in all three media products. For example: the trailer, the magazine cover and the poster all use heavy shadow and low key lighting.
The trailer works well with the film poster because the last shot of the trailer is the part where the killer talks. The photo on the front of our poster is the exact same shot so it relates well with the trailer. Our colour scheme is mostly red and in the poster, the entire page is in black and white apart from blood-red colour on the lips. The colour red, the fact that we never see the killer in the trailer and that this shot is the last shot in the trailer all adds mystery and suspense to the entire campaign and relates them.
The magazine cover works well with both the trailer and the film poster because the two main characters in the trailer are on the cover and it is stereotypical of magazine covers to show the main characters in a film. The colour scheme of the magazine cover is also very similar to both the trailer and the poster so it would be very easy for the audience to identify that all three are related.
Overall I feel that all three of our media products relate well together and it is easy to see how. For example: the colour scheme is an obvious one. All three have very similar colour schemes which would make it easy for an audience to relate them.
I feel the combination of all three products is very effective because it represents what we initially wanted. The audience can see that the trailer is a thriller; the trailer can be clearly linked to the poster. The poster attracts the audience because it is very mysterious and only shows as much as the trailer itself. The magazine cover shows a glimpse of the main characters which is stereotypical of magazine covers. I do feel a lot of thought and effort has been put into the entire campaign and the final product is effective as a whole.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

We have taken in audience feedback from a range of an audience, from other students the same age as us and from an older audience such as teachers. The questions we have asked them are; what did you like about the trailer and why? What didn’t you like about the trailer and why? What do you think we could improve on? Your thoughts and ideas on our trailer. And would you go see our movie at the cinema? We felt as though these questions pick up on good points on our trailer and also it gives us constructive criticism.

What did you like about our trailer and why?

Avneet Kitaure

The most liked feature of our trailer was our intense, fast sound track which went well with our thriller teaser trailer. The music and action made it clear and understandable that our trailer is based on a thriller and our audience picked up on that straight away. Our presentation, style and fragmented structure were another liked feature of our thriller teaser trailer. Certain shots which were used made our thriller interesting to watch and gave out enough information which kept the audience on edge, for example the close up shots of certain words which reflected the crime such as thug, death and knife. Our audience said this was an extremely successful technique which engaged them with our trailer, and therefore the audience said they would go to the cinema to go watch our movie.

What didn’t you like about the trailer and why?

The constructive criticism we received for this helped us to see how we could improve on our trailer. The guns which were used in our trailer were an important in conveying and establishing the forms and conventions of a thriller trailer therefore this reflected the constructive criticism given to us. The audience felt as though there was simplistic action. However the use of guns used in the teaser trailer is to reflect the ending of our movie which breaks out into a massive shoot out.

What do you think could have been approved on?

Improvement on the acting and the story line of the trailer was given to us as feedback. Our teaser trailer gives out so much important information to the audience and is meant to leave the audience questioning themselves therefore we wanted to have a lot going on so the audience would be intrigued and therefore would go watch our movie. The count down towards the end of the trailer could have been timed better and have equal space between each number.

Your thoughts and ideas on our trailer, and, Would you go see our movie at the cinema?

The establishment of the genre of our trailer was very clear and the fact that we challenged the forms and conventions of the typical thriller stereotypes the audience stayed engaged. Usually the main character who has authority and an important job is usually played by a male character however we go against this stereotype and use two women detectives as the main characters rather then have women presented as the typical futile characters they are the opposite and this was a good challenge to break the stereotypes as overtime films need to constantly develop to keep the audience excited and still engaged with their preferred genre.

The feedback was really helpful to us and made us see our trailer differently and we noticed other things to improve on. if we was to do the project again we would defiantly do things differently maybe by planning the story line but making it shown in a simpler way. I would also like to add in more action such as fighting scenes in the play just because I feel as though this adds a bigger and more intense atmosphere of the movie and would make the trailer more exciting.

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

Bayo Oyelade

Media technology has turned out to be a really constructive resource for our group, It really helped us research into the typical forms and conventions of a thriller trailer, poster and the magazine cover. We used You Tube to search for typical thriller trailers, for example we looked at Die Hard 3, Obsessed we even looked at Se7en.

All these thriller trailers gave our group a real insight into how things should be conducted when you make a film trailer. When we researched as a group we knew that we didn’t have a budget for this film trailer, so we did some more research on how we could use effects to make our trailer look as professional as the real blockbusters. Through YouTube we looked at tutorials on how to make bullet effects because we know that’s typical of the thriller. We also looked at how to use ‘after effects’ for things like credits and so on. This really was difficult to take on board as a group and it was really challenging , so we really did have to practice and practice before we even filmed just so we could get the hang of the bullet effect.

An additional issue was that we didn’t know if we could edit our film because the Abode Premiere software (6.5) was out dated and it didn’t have the after effect that we researched and had planned on using, so we all put our heads together and decided that we should make the credits on the new Adobe After Effect cs3 . Once we did our credits on here we then transferred it to the old software which gave the quality that we were looking for after all.

Media technology was also useful for our group when it came to things like researching posters and films magazines. We searched for thriller magazines on Google , and we came across magazines such as Sight and Sound, Empire and Total Film. All these magazines were very ‘colour-schemed’ in terms of the front cover, the graphics and the quality of the magazines, which straight away gave us the idea of having two detectives back to back on the front of our cover holding a gun.

We really didn’t encounter any problems in terms of researching the film poster. However we did have difficulty coming up with ideas for our poster because we didn’t want to have typically copied a thriller poster for our film. Instead we came up with the idea of having the villain’s bottom lip in red lipstick dominate the poster. This means that the poster spoke for itself - we didn’t have to add much because the intended effect was obvious. As a group we decided that for the magazine the best one would be Empire or Total Film because they both really suited our type of film. In the end we decided to go with Empire for the film magazine.

Media technology really helped us as a group to get out trailer, magazine cover and poster done. We used Adobe Premiere Cs3 initially for our film trailer. However , there were many problems , for example , we noticed that any time we used it to do the credits and add to the old software, the visual quality of the work would deteriorate and not be as good on the new one, but we knew that there was nothing that we could do. This was because there were problems with the new software as it couldn’t recognise the film file format all of the time. However, the old software could, so we had to use that Adobe premiere the first series. For the trailer it self we used Adobe premiere 6.5. This was very easy to use, not just because its an older software but because we have done previous work on that software so it was very easy for me as a group member to pick up on from where I left off.

There were other problems apart from technical ones that we really couldn’t control – e.g. one problem was that we were not expecting it to snow on the day of the filming, however the snow, although this actually turned out to help create an effect in our film.

The technology really helped our film and I really enjoyed working with my group. Likewise, they liked working with me, as a group we worked really hard and we got the work that need to be done, done. Adobe After Effects was really effective and helped us In terms of the effects. I would recommend that anyone uses this software to create quality work. To conclude, media technology helped us with the poster and the magazine cover.