Alright, so I wanted to start analysing what I felt were good teaser trailers and find what exactly I thought was good about them, for Inception:
Sound - There is a constant beat throughout the whole clip which is very deep and echoes for a while, sounds like a fog horn. This goes in time with the transitions. There is also a screeching sound which starts from about half way through and helps build up the tension as it gradually increases in volume. There is no diegetic sound, all sound has been put over the top of the footage
Camera shots - The opening shot was a medium shot of a metal spinner (a key symbol used in the film), it is sharply in focus whilst everything around it is blurred, highlighting its significance.
We were then shown a few snippets from the film involving a birds eye view of a city and an introduction to the main character (Leonardo DiCaprio).
Later on there is another fairly simple shot of a glass of water starting to shake which is used very effectively like the opening shot of the spinner.
After this we are then shown 4 other shots which are used in the final film. These contain action scenes which we may not completely understand at first viewing or without seeing the film.
Editing - From what I can tell so far the editing is the most crucial part in the making of a good teaser trailer. Not only does it involve selecting the right parts to effectively tease the audience without giving away the storyline but it also is responsible for building up tension in an extremely short amount of time. This is achieved through music selected, sound effects, transitions, fonts and the general presentation of the teaser. Also what the teaser trailer chooses to say in its running titles has an effect on what we are inclined to think about as we view it for the first time.
Over-view - The main reason I feel this teaser trailer is effective is due to the fact it hasnt tried to over complicate the storyline. They have used only a few shots, the music and sound effects work well together building a beat and they have kept a dark theme with bold silver titles throughout to create consistency.
Ok so its been a while since I last posted on the blog. Recently in our last few lessons we've been looking at other schools teaser trailers and it made me think about what we have done so far. I feel I have learnt a lot by looking at these clips as you can tell what the better ones have done to make them work. I feel our group felt that it would be hard to create a teaser trailer for an action film, though thinking about it now I feel it wouldnt be too hard. Although there aren't very many action film teasers we also don't have the massive effects production companies would be able to use in their trailers. The more we stick to the conventions the better our peice is likely to come out. So I figure we need to make it a lot shorter, just show the genre and not the plot and make it fast and pacey. We can make it pacey by using a beat throughout (possibly the bomb countdown bleeping). We can tease about the plot by showing a briefcase, a bomb countdown and large groups of people.
By doing this we are almost simplifying our peice, though it will involve re-planning and possibly re-storyboarding. However I will need to discuss these new ideas with my group thoroughly and I will also research into teaser trailers in more detail to find the exact conventions we will be wanting to follow.
So basically we've been to start on our ancillary tasks, Our group has chosen to do a website and a poster.. So where better to start my research than with The Other Guys, which has a similar genre to ours, apart from The Other guys is also a comedy.. which I wish ours was!..
So Here is the poster you can click on it to a full size view of it..
What the poster includes: Title of the film - In a white bold font, which is easily noticeable as it stands out from the background.
A large action shot picture in the centre of the poster. The eye catcher. The picture shows that the film is an action film without needing to say, but also a comedy by their positions and by the expression on the man in the grey suits face..
Famous actor names-the main characters in black font standing out from the background at the top of the poster.
Date of the film - Again white font what stands out in its background nestled between the companies involved and the website.
Tagline- One of 2 bits of the poster which actually has a colour. Which makes it stand out from all the text whats around it. It also gives a little taste of what the film about, in just a few words, in a way what suits the genre.
Website:.The poster has a link to a website, although this is very small and just nestled with all the company logos at the bottom of the poster. However the design of the poster has decided to focus on directing people to there page on facebook. Which suggests that more people are likely to go on their facebook site than go to the website. Thus suggesting the type of audience what might be interested in it..
Colours:. The poster mainly uses dull colours, apart from the red tie and the yellow tagline. The background is like a linear gradient going from light at the top to dark at the bottom.. with a smoke effect. As if its that action shot where an explosion has just happened behind them what you see in many action films where explosions happen.
We can defiantly take aspects of this poster for use in ours, the positioning, the colours, whats included etc.
So we apparently have linked with other schools media groups, so that we can give feedback to each other about our pieces. Its clear that other schools have better equipment to carry out their tasks and it seems like there schools care more about media than our media hating school, judging by their blogs. So yes I shall leave this rant and review!..
* Holding a shot steady, where appropriate -
Most shots use a steady shot, which shows excellent camera skills. However I think in a few shots, some natural camera shake may add to the atmosphere to draw the audience more into the film, to add realism and to make the audience feel they are there watching.
* Framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate -
Last scene of girl waking up, I think it would be better to frame it as an extreme close up of the eyes rather than the shot currently used. You could possibly when framing the running through the woods, have the camera in like the undergrowth/bushes, to make it feel to the audience that someone is watching her, so like have some branches in the way of the shot. I like the clever shot you have done with talking in the car with the reflection of the woods, so that it shows good continuity and denotes to the audience its part of that scene rather than just one shot randomly placed in. Also I feel the framing of the whispering is excellent. * Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate
Very good use of variety, with good shot durations, to show all whats needed. Only point I would say is like said all over this essay is about the waking up scene.
* Shooting material appropriate to the task set
Very relevant, it builds up the tension and the atmosphere to make an audience want to go and watch it, but doesn't show to much, which is good, because a teaser shouldn't give away too much.Also the good amount of different shots used and the timings represent that of a typical teaser. The text used is also very relevant and placed in places normal of a teaser. Should have a website, even if fake website link somewhere on there though.
* Selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting:
I feel maybe the tense atmosphere could be added to if the scenes in the wood, was more dark, gloomy, just like more secretive rather than just in bright day light. Like in the wood sequence in 32-33 seconds. Add darkness is a common aspect of horror films!.. Apart from that rest of the mise en scene is good.
* Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer
One main thing, the titles fading and fading out is very effective, although I feel they could be better using a more relevant font rather than a standard every day font. Perhaps a font like this which I think would suit the style of the film (Although that was one what I quickly found, so with more research I think you would be able to find better!)
* Using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set -
Good use of the I dont know the word, so Iwill just say the breaking up of shots with the blackness, works really well with the teaser. Maybe you should use some windows movie maker transitions, like the star, and the checkerboard to greatly worsen your piece! ;).. Incase you didnt get the last sentence, it was a joke.
* Using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set -
The music really complements the images, it helps build up the tension and the atmosphere, Maybe some weary noise over the whispering right at the beginning, just fade it in slowly?.. I also feel you have worked effectively with the music to fit with the images, like changing the pace of the video to fit with the music and vise versa, diagetic sound also work well with the music overalayed.
Things perhaps to improve:
Lose the very last scene of the girl waking up because it ruins the atmosphere that you have previously built up. Maybe you could just do like an extreme close up of the eyes suddenly opening, which I think will add to the tension more and to the genre.
The door closing shot 40ish seconds, just doesn't seem right with the rest of the clips. Maybe a different sort of door would work, like a big wooden door creaking.. or just for it to be closed diffrently but yeah it just doesnt seem to fit at the moment.
Making the wood sequences more creepy, dark and mysterious, rather than just bright day light. Whereas darkness would add to the atmosphere and fit with the horror genre.
The voice over, over 16 seconds also to me makes it feel like it momentarily loses the tension of it.. I think just weery whispering noises would work better.
Finding a more unique font for your titles rather than just standard font.
Overall feedback:
Overall one of the best A2 media project I’ve seen, it fits the criteria of a teaser trailer very well with effective use of titling and music to add to the experience. The things to improve are minimal but maybe more personal opinion.
Overall very good piece!.. I would give top marks.
Level 4 Excellent 32-40 marks (35 marks)
..
So basically right I am blaming your group, if I fail my psychology exam, because I thought your teaser deserved an actual essay to give you feedback.
So at the moment the group haven't been updating the blog, due to it being exam time, so we are all focusing on revision for our exams, Well Conors probally doing revision on minecraft during the night and sleeping during the day, but thats a whole different story!. .
So basically lots of updates. I haven't done anything on my plan to create a teaser without using any 'real footage', but I will get round to that eventually after the end of January. I also had this idea, that the digital timer we are planning on using, transforms into text. e.g 00:00:01 will transform into 'whatever the title of the fom is'.. So yeah just an idea we could implement, which could make the titles look more exciting and more relevent to the genre of the film, this could also be done with the text on the poster so, its like digital number in text form.. Make sense?. .
Its also been the time of the year where all my real year people come back from uni, to come and see me!!..
So I've been to the cinema twice with them, seeing 2 very different films. Basically one being one of the worst films I've ever seen and the other being one of the best I've seen for a very long time. These 2 films are Gullivers travel and 127 hours.
I will start with the worst 127 hours.. HAAA NOOO I JOKE. The worst one is really Gullivers travel, Now I obviously didnt choose this film, despite it apparently being a comedy, just its trailers, reviews were all crap.. So ya know wasn't expecting much.. Ohh understatement of a life time there, the special effects were poor, When Gulliver was meant to be big, he never looked like he was in the scene, it was clear that it was green screening, and they even did the rule one mistake of not aligning his feet up with the floor some of the times so he was floating at times.. In comparison with this though, days after watching Gulliver, when flicking through the channels I ended up on 'Honey I blew up the kid', now incorporates similar effects, of having the child really big. But even though this was done in the 1980s the effects were amazing, they actually managed to make me feel that the child was actually in the scene and that he was actually a 50ft baby.. Why couldnt gullivers travel manage to do this?.. Also 'comedy' more like wannabe comedy, it just tried to hard to be funny it failed.. miserably. I don't think I laughed once during it.
Rant out the way, now on to the praise. 127 hours, Now I think this is a much cheaper production, not using well known stars. I also went into the cinema, being pessimistic thinking that it won't be very good because its not a comedy. But it was amazing, the story line, the realism, the simplicity of it all. It felt like a home movie in a good way, that you could really relate, really connect with the characters.. Now at times just him being stuck in a hole with a boulder trapping him, did drag on.. One of my friends slept for like 30 mins and really didnt miss much. The shots it included in it, weren't all 'ohh I'm an amazing camera man, I can do lots of complicated stuff' but simple but effective for realism, lighting and colouring added to the effect. I would highly recommend people to see this film.. even if you're like me and only watch comedys!..
Ohh yeah I was doing revision, better get to it!.. MS
