Evaluation - How have you made your trailer seem like a trailer?

March 25, 2017 Unknown 0 Comments

Like many film trailers, they generally follow Tzvetan Todorov’s theory of narrative by starting the trailer in equilibrium. I’ve stayed conventional in this aspect as my trailer starts off is leaves moving gently in the wind. This shot is calm until we revive more movement from a teenage male cycling. Although this hasn’t broken equilibrium, it starts to build up create more attention towards the trailer and the actions that are taking place. In the image second, I’ve used the rule of thirds to position my subjects in the frame. The edge of the bush roughly stops in the left third, and the teenage character is shown cycling on the right third. This makes the shot look more visually appealing to the target audience of 13 - 24’s, as it creates a dynamic, non-linear, shot because everything is not even and centred. The use of the colour green is prominent in the shots, as well as the depiction of trees and bushes. This location is set in the woods, and can be an indication of an adventure genre.

This close up-shot of the cycle contains a lot of movement and motion blur which add to the fast motion feel. Shot on a glide cam stabiliser, this allowed the shot to be tracked smoothly as I ran alongside the actor. Lots of smooth camera motion are associated with expensive equipment such as rail guides, crane operated cameras, 3-axis gimbles, car mounted cameras and many other expensive solutions that suggest a bug budget film. The use of this smooth track in my trailer makes the audience feel as if this is a big production film, and a lot of planning went into it. People usually associate big budget films with a good film however this may not always be the case. With the minimal amount of equipment, I had available, I could pull this stable shot off with great effect.

As my film, Aurora, is an adventure and science-fiction hybrid genre, I needed several elements that will conform to the genre. The use of this flying robot is an indicator for a sci-fi film, and its light colour and blue design shows the audience this is a friendly robot. The robot is a CG (computer generated) robot which I created in Cinema 4D. The use of Visual Effects in my A2 productions is a unique selling point for the film. Referring to Bumler and Katz Uses and gratification theory, they explained the different reason why people go to watch a film. I believe the use of CGI is the reasoning why people will go to see the film; as they ‘want to be entertained’.

These the shots are of the institutions involved for my film ‘Aurora’. I chose to include two institutions to my trailer as this shows the audience that this is a big budget film as multiple institutions are involved in the making of the film. Almost all trailer now-a-days only display their institutions briefly to save screen time. I’ve chosen the same approach by displaying the logos for both institutions for a few seconds each. These tell the audience the companies involved while keeping it short and sweet as it’s not the most important aspect of the trailer.

This low angle/close-up shot of the antagonist looks intimidating due to the use of colour. A lot of dark colour are use as well as a bright red ring as a face. The colour red, along with the back, connote danger, evil, death and fear. The antagonist is looking down on the camera which may give the audience an uneasy feeling and this hints towards the thriller aspect of the film.

This long shot depicts antagonists fighting the protagonist. It is unclear why they are fighting and this is used as an enigma code to make people want to see the film so they know what happens. The locations of this shots looks like a dark rocky planet which is an indication that the film contains adventure as there are not places here that look like this. This was shot on a green screen and with the aid of video composition and 3D software - I was able to create this shot. Using Cinema 4D, Photoshop and After Effects, I could place the actors in a new location. In the second shot, we see a large explosion which approaches the fighting antagonists and protagonist. This also raises questions like ‘why is there an explosion’.

The two shots had been edited in such a way that it is one continuous shot as the camera travels around the actor as they pass through a CG portal. While moving through the portal, we see the location change from a forest area with many trees to an open field. This is a strong genre indicator for a sci-fi due to the portal and an adventure because of the change of location.

From this shot, it is evident that the film is a sci-fi film. This shot depicts the teen protagonist looking off into the distant as a large planet in the sky. During this shot, a loud snare build up has been accumulating to this point to make the scenic view feel more spectacular. The use if the yellow and purple planet in the sky has been used throughout the trailer and other ancillary text including the film poster and magazine cover. Wherever this planet is seen in the sky, it shown the audience that it is shot on the planet of Aurora and therefore linking to the adventure genre.

The two frames above depict the main protagonist holding a blue glowing fire ball in his hand. This may raise enigmas about the pain protagonist such as how he got these powers and what he plans to do with it. The use of a blue fire indicates he is a friendly character due to the connotations of the colour blue. Through mise-en-scène we can see the character is wearing a hoodie which conforms to the stereotype of teenagers and their fashion. This may make male audience members more likely to see the film as they can feel as if they relate to the character.

This fully CGI (computer generated imagery) scene depicts several space craft’s moving towards the planet of Aurora. When we think of science-fiction, audience members usually think of space and spaceships. I’ve included this in my trailer to make it appeal to a wider audience and the use of visual effects are a unique selling point for film. Having created and render this scene in Cinema 4D, I used my knowledge in the Cinema 4D render to render this to a suitable standard that would look realistic and appealing. Then using After Effects, I’ve added large red optical flares at the back of the spaceships to emphasis the colour red and its meaning of evil and danger.

This extreme wide angle shot of an empty street shows to antagonist spacecraft flying down towards a large tall building. It is evident this is on Aurora because of the planet in the sky, but the large building and spacecraft are genre indicator and enigma codes because we don’t know why they are there or what importance the building has in the film.

The titles through my trailer are constant in their font, animation, colour scheme and type face. Every film has a certain font and colour scheme associated it as it builds brand identity and allows their audience to remember the film when they see the associated colours or theme. In order for me to build brand identity, I used the same theme in all my titles. All titles are on a black background with a slight yellow and purple mist in the background. The yellow and purple/blue colours relate to the colours of the planet in the sky. All the test is white and uses the same font as the film title unless the text is a logo. The order in which the titles appear have also been thought out. Almost all trailer usually show their film title first, followed by credits which include the director, actors, institutions and other important people. This is then followed with the release date with some information on it. I’ve chosen the same approach and order of titles to stay conventional.