Change of Plan

Due to a member of Gabby's group leaving, it meant that she had to join our group. Gabby's idea for her group's trailer which was no longer being used appealed to us. So we decided as a newly formed group to use the idea that she had, however with noticeable developments and changes. Every post on my blog from now on will be for the new idea, with my new group. 

Genre Conventions

Genre is a way of categorising media products. As said by Joe Nicholas and John Price ‘the description of genre is traditionally organised around headings such as setting, character, storyline, key signs, messages, and so on’, in the book ‘Advanced studies in media’.

Different conventions are used to establish specific genres. Conventions use a combination of signs which are predictable in pattern and meaning. Therefore through conventions, genre is made obvious.

In a thriller, which is the genre of my production, there are specific conventions which are commonly present. These are listed below.

•  Binary Oppositions – Black and white can represent many things. Such as sane and insane; good and evil; happy and sad. For example, in the black swan, white represents sanity, and black represents insanity. In image 1 Nina is dressed in white which shows she's sane, however she's surrounded by insanity. Towards the end of the film, shown in Image 2, Nina is dressed in black to show that she has turned insane, and dark. 

Image 1 - Sane

Image 2 - Insane

•  Chiaroscuro lighting – low key high contrast lighting which creates a more sinister, tension filled atmosphere. Shadows are effective.

An example of chiaroscuro lighting

• Fitting soundtracks – eerie, jumpy, scary sound tracks are used to also create a more sinister atmosphere.

•  Protagonist and an antagonist

•   Enigmas – usually solved by the protagonist

• Camera shots – close ups and extreme close ups are used often to show facial expressions. Tracking for fast paced moving shots.

To ensure our trailer is recognized as a thriller we will adapt some conventions. Binary oppositions will be used to represent innocent and evil, where innocent will be associated with the sane version of the girl, and evil will be associated with her evil self. In addition to this we will also use face pace editing to create tension and uncertainty. Chiaroscuro lighting will also be used in our thriller as lighting is a key aspect of atmosphere, and in order to create a sinister, unnerving atmosphere, the lighting will have to be appropriate and effective. We hope to adapt as many thriller conventions into our production as possible. 

03/12/14 - Conventions of a Horror

After combining our initial idea with another idea, the genre of the production now is thriller with elements of horror; horror conventions within our production define it as this.

Conventions of a horror in reference to location are settings such as; narrow ally ways, dark streets, ghost towns, lakes, countryside, graveyards, abandoned places. Places as such create unnerving, scary settings. In our production we did a scene in which Rosie runs down a narrow ally way, as she does so the camera chases her, this in itself is a convention of horror films, as handheld shots are deemed so as they make it difficult for the audience to understand what is happening.

Below is a mind map of conventions of a horror. 

Analysis of a Trailer - 'Black Swan'

In order for me to become familiar with the conventions of a trailer, and to understand how and why they are made, I analysed the trailer for the film 'Black Swan'. I chose this film because it is a thriller, which is what genre we hope to make our trailer. Below is a presentation I made analysing the trailer.

Secondary Target Audience Research

For my secondary research into target audience I am going to search for films with a similar storyline and style to ours on IMDB, and have a look at their target audiences. 

• Insidious - The most popular target audience for this film was both males and females under the age of 18.

• The Ring (2002) - This film was equally as popular amongst people of both genders, and all age groups. 

• The Grudge (2004) - This film was watched mostly by female and males under the age of 18.

• The Amityville Horror (1979) - This film was most popular amongst females under the age of 18, however males under the age of 18 weren't far behind. 

After looking at the different target audiences for similar films to ours, I can conclude that the target audience we should be expecting is both females and males between the ages of 15-25. 

Primary Target Audience Research

Target audience research from AlexiaDocker15

Schedule

Below is the schedule we created in order to organize the task in hand.

Dates – week beginning	Plan
1/9/14	Research into trailers, conventions and textual analysis (analysis of black swan trailer)
8/9/14	Audience research (Primary-questionnaire. Secondary-IMDb.)
15/9/14	Secondary audience research and research into products (IMDb- look at rating for similar films.)
22/9/14	Production Planning and ideas
29/9/14 – 13/10/14	Script writing and redrafting
20/10/14	Location Recce and risk assessment
20/10/14	Call Sheets and shot lists
27/10/14 – 31/10/14	HALF TERM – Further research
5/11/14	Filming the school scene.
12/11/14	Filming at the house and the alleyway.
3/12/14	Remaining shots at the house.
8/12/14	Reviewing footage, importing footage begin editing
15/12/14	Editing and researching music. – Rough cut due
22/12/14 – 5/1/15	Christmas
5/1/15 – 9/2/15	Finish the edit (Final cut due), Creating plans for the poster and magazine cover. Creation of the poster and magazine cover on Photoshop.
16/02/15	HALF TERM – Further research
23/02/15 – 29/03/15	Evaluation of production work.

Trailer Conventions

Trailers have their own set of conventions, although trailers differ from one another, they tend to abide by certain rules, and stick to certain conventions, in order to be successful in their purpose. Below is a list of the different conventions of a trailer.

• The film title is shown at the end of the trailer - The purpose of this being the audience is already interested in the film after watching the trailer, and therefore the name is more likely to be remembered. Below is an example of a film title being shown at the end of a trailer.

• The Sting - The sting is an extra clip shown after the titles. In the case of a horror film, the intention of the sting is to give the audience one final scare, leaving them thinking about the film.

• Music - The music of a trailer says a lot about the trailer. It often gives away the films genre, for example in horror films the music may be eerie and creepy, then it may quicken simultaneously with the editing pace creating tension.

• Narratives - Commonly trailers have some form of narrative, whether it's a voice over, or inter-titles. The purpose of this is to involve the audience by talking to them, and to ensure they know what is happening. 

• Billing Block - This is the block of writing which appears at the end of the trailer. It consists of the production companies involved, the directors, the musicians etc. Below is an example of a billing block. 

Hello

Hi, my name is Alexia Docker and i'm in year 13 at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School. The purpose of this blog is to provide an organised way in which my A2 Media Studies coursework can be saved, and viewed. For my A2 coursework I am working in a group with Frankie and Rosie to create a trailer for a thriller film. This blog will contain all of my planning, research, evaluations, and my final production.