This is my final main product; a promotional trailer for a new film. My new film is names Truth or Dare and is a story about a US Marine named Jack Johnson who uncovers a top secret document stating weapons of mass destruction and the possibilty of America starting a nuclear war. With this information threatening the lives of others, his family, his friends, his brothers not to mention thousands, millions of mothers, children, wives, husbands and fathers who will be innocently killed in the name of politics. Johnson's struggles with his conscience when coonfronted with a life changing decision; stay and fight with your country, for your country and slaughter many millions of innocent people or fight your country. Johnson soon learns that the country who he's loyally fought for, risked his life to protect are not so loyal in return. Soon Johnson realises that there was no choice and the government where not going to let him walk around with that sort of information, soon the hunter becomes the hunted as Johnson is pursued by a merciless killer working for the US government. Johnson must use all of his skills to stay alive as he is hunted by the same people he used to work for, whom he used to call his brothers.
When producing my film trailer i made the decision that i wanted my film trailer to be a hybrid between the Horror, Action and Thriller film genres, taking the different conventions and characterisitics of these genres and mixing them all together to create my final product.
I made the decision before the filming of this trailer that i wanted it to challenge the conventions of film trailers in the way that i wanted to the trailer to go backwards in sequence to the end to the beginning. After researching many different filming ideas and directoral ideas i came across 'Reservoir Dogs' which tells the narrative from the end and then shows the audience how they arrived at this point. I decided that i would like to interpret this idea to an extent in my production. I therefore had to decide how i could make a link between the beginning of my film trailer and the ending. Therefore i decided that i would use the sound effect of the gunshot in order for me to do this and mark to the audience the complete circle which my trailer has travelled in to get back to the beginning. Therefore i thought about my narrative and storyboard and made the decision to begin my film trailer after my main character has effectively being shot. This links in with the ending of my film trailer as i leave it just as my character is running and then there is the sound of a gunshot and my trailer ends. Highlighting to the audience that my narrative has come full circle and they ahve been taken back to how the trailer began which is effectively the end of my film trailer. I then made the decision, as in reservoir dogs to go back and show the audience how my main characters have arrived at this point.
Therefore i start my film trailer with a blurry effect of the characters eyes opening and the sunlight blinding him, the shot pulses in and out of focus suggesting the characters eyes are slowly adapting to the his surroundings, the bluriness then becomes a bright white light and fades out, giving a possible indication to my chosen audience of the idea that when a person is close to death they see the bright white light, therefore i tried to make a reference to this to suggest to my audience that possibly my character has been shot and is in fact close to death, this has the effect of sparking my audiences interest as they want to know what has happened to the character and whether or not he has been killed and the assassin has achieved his goal. By including these sort of scenes in a film trailer is effective as the audience need to know what has happened and if the character has been killed or if he survives and so they are encouraged to go and watch the film as they need to find out.
My film trailer then switches to a shot of my main character Jack Johnson running through a wooded area, when thinking of possible locations i also had to take into account that my film was going to be a hybrid and therefore i had to chose my locations carefully in order to make sure i incorporated all of the different genre types. Therefore i decided that a wooded shot would be effective at the moment as it is an isolated location with the character being in the middle of nowhere, creating a feeling of isolation and of being trapped with the main character which is an idea which is featured typically in horror films, the location is a typical setting for horror film trailers as the danger could be lurking anywhere and the character has no sense of direction as to where he is, he has no idea where the danger is and is therefore in a state of being trapped and lost whilst being hunted which fits in with the horror genre incorporating the excitement and tension that is associated with these typical horror genre scenes. The scene then switches to a shot of Johnson sitting at a table looking distractedly towards some files lying in front of him on the table. I made the decision to chose to show Johnson dressed in his US army uniform in this scene in order to convey to the audiences of my main hero's career and indicate how he has got hold of these top secret government files, i also feel the fact that my character is wearing his uniform in this scene before he has read the top secret documents and then wears them no more highlights the change in my character and shows that he has made his decision and given the army up to do what he believes is right.
For the next scene which is the church scene with my character walking down the aisle of the church, i decided that i wanted to bring to the audiences attention the tough situation my character is placed in and his personality in the way that he turns to religion to point him in the right direction. I believe the image of the church is a symbol of right and wrong and suggests to the audience that Johnson is struggling with his own conscience and has gone to the church, highlighting to the audience that Johnson is a man of religion which i feel also adds reality to my film as after researching into the american history and the US marines i discovered that many American men are very religious and strong christians so i believe it also adds depth and verisimilitude to my production as well as symbolising the right and wrong aspect that my character is struggling with. I also feel this scene adds an element of drama into my trailer as it brings questions of what is the right thing to do and the whole idea of my character wrestling with his conscience.
Further on in my film trailer is the sequence of shots showing my character walking from his home whilst being followed by security camera's. I have chosen to edit these scenes and place a green fill over the scenes in order to create an effect of night vision cameras to display to the audience that this is happening late at night, by showing that my character is being followed constantly by security cameras again suggests a feeling of my character being trapped as he is being watched and followed wherever he goes, whilst is also adds an element of technology and relates to the issue that the government is always watching every move he makes, suggesting that Johnson who used to fight for his country is now targeting him and hunting him like he is the enemie. Again highlighting to my audience the role reversals as my character is no longer fighting for his country but is fighting against them.
The next few chasing sequences i edited in order so that they move at a fast pace and in quick sucession in order to convey to my audience the speed at which these events are taking place, highlighting the turmoil that Johnsons life has been completely turned upside down in a really short space of time. After researching into the thriller film genre and the action genre i also discovered that the idea of fast and short shots are commonly used in order to create a fast, tense and exciting film sequence which has the effect of exciting the readers and keeping them hooked to the non-stop action which is happening in screen. Therefore i decide to include this device into my production, with the shots of the running feet, and the chasing scene between the assassin and Johnson through an abandoned docks. In my original production i hadn't shot the footage at the docks, but due to me looking back at my footage and thinking that it lacked some important footage i then had to rethink what it was missing and came up with the idea of conducting some film at the abandoned docks.
Taking into account my research on the conventions of my chosen genres which i wanted to try and incorporate i decided that abandoned and run down areas are a common feature of the horror and thriller genres so i decided to mix these locational conventions with the chasing and fighting scenes to also add the element of action, in order for me to include all of the most exciting and appealing effects from all of the genres and inject them all into my media construct.
Thus creating fast paced and exciting chase scenes though a run down area with crumbling and abandoned buildings and the sea to the characters left, this excites the reader as it looks as if the character is running into a dead end with no where else to turn, also the area itself looks run down and dangerous again adding more elements of danger and excitement into my production which will hopefully have the effect of exciting my audience and keeping them interested in my production. Also the imagery of the abandoned building symbolises destructions and the end of old things which have serves their purpose and then just being left to fall apart which symbolises the narrative at what is happening with Johnson, he is not needed anymore and has served his purpose and now he is being left to rot.
This is also the same of the scenes in the underpass, i didnt initially plan on using this location, however whilst on the way to film at another location i discovered this underpass. The graffitit and the darkness which are contained in this location immediately gives off a dangerous atmosphere to the location, i decided that this would provide an ideal location for a scene to show Johnson being watched secretly and followed by the assassin as i felt this location itself being dark conveyed a sense of danger and the unknown as again my character is trapped in the small space of the underpass with lots of dark areas suggesting anyone could be hiding and about to attack him, as the audience can see the assassin watching Johnson and therefore i have used dramatic irony again here as the audience know something is about to happen to my character which he is unaware of.
I have also chosen to add a CU shot at 1:47 into my film trailer to show both my films hero and main protagonist meeting face to face for the very first time in the film trailer. I believe the use of a CU works well here as it enables the audience to see the look of determination, focus and fighting spirit which is conveyed through both characters facial expressions. By showing this CU shot i believe it suggests to my audience that these two characters have being building up to this moment and that the film is reaching it's climax which has the effect of again exciting and immediately snatching my audiences attention as they are aware due to the films conventional format that something is about to happen here which is going to be dangerous and exciting and could be the pivotal moment in the whole film which alters the course of the films narrative.
I have then complied with the action genre once again at 1:54 by showing the quick succession of short sequenced shots of the two characters fighting. This firstly shows the audience that their suspiscions where correct and that this is going to be an episode of exciting and dangerous conflict in the film which excites them as they want to know how this conflict is going to end. During this moment i have chosen to have shaky camera effects again due to the fact that i wanted my film to have a nitty and gritty feel that makes the audience feel that these aren't some elaborate stunts on a hollywood set, i wanted to create a feeling of tense and exciting realism that hopefully my target audience of young people could relate to - for example by some of my location shots of dark and dangerous places - also young people, especially young males tend to favour the action genre and after conducting my audience research my initial suspicion was proved correct as most of the teenage males i asked favoured the action genre because they enjoyed the tense scenes of fighting and violence as it made the film more exciting and interesting to watch, therefore i feel my film trailer has reached my target audience in this aspect. I also feel that the use of the shaky scenes before the viewers see the fists come down, shows the violent struggle between the two characters and again adds to the fast-paced realistic effect which has been some of the ideology behind my product.
The Mid shot contained at 1:58 into my film trailer of the assassin bringing his fists down directly towards the camera i think is again effective here, as it highlights the movement through a still shot showing that the struggle is over and that as the assassin is on top and continuing to throw punches suggests to the audience that he has won this confrontation, by showing that the protagonist has won it provides panic and excitement in my audience as the hero has lost the battle and leaves the wanting to know what is going to happen to him now. The fists also have the effect of appearing as if they are going to come out of the screen directly at the audience which again involves them in the film and it also shows the assassins hand blocking the audiences view from the action; it appears as if the assassin is knowingly directly puching the audiences view out of the scene whilst also it indicate that the scene is being watched through the eyes of Johnson which suggests the hero has been beaten.
This is then followed by another scene of confrontation with the hero punching the assassin who is collapsed against the tree bringing to the attention the change in dominance. Johnson then shouts "Why are you doing this", to which the assassin replies, "If you knew you'd want me to kill you". This was a pivotal piece of speech that i wanted to bring to my audience attention in order to suggest that the information which Johnson thinks he knows is just the beginning and that there is in fact a lot more information that he doesn't know of. This is suggested to my audience by the way in which the assassin says "If you knew you'd want me to kill you". Although the assassin knows that Johnson knows something this indicates to the audience that the assassin has more knowledge about these events that are taking place than Johnson does.
The trailer then switches back to a scene in a wooded area with the sound of heavy breathing playing over the top. I chose to include this as, i showed a part of this shot during the beginning of my film trailer so i wanted to begin to make the trailer flow into the circle and head back towards the beginning of my trailer to show to my audience - following the same style which i had reasearched into the the Quentin Tarantino gangster film Reservoir Dogs. Again the location creates a feeling of the unknown and of being isolated and trapped, playing up to the horror conventions again to hype up my audience towards the end of my trailer and build up their excitement for the impending climax. The effect of the heavy breathing is also relevant here as i wanted it to suggest two things to my audience and leave it up for them to decide; Firstly it is the heavy breathing of my character as he has been running for a while suggesting the dramatic chases and fights and short but violent and hectic journey he has been taken on, although it could possibly be interpreted as this, it's initial intention was to symbolise the heavy breathing and suggest that somebody is watching Johnson, this was intended to be the heavy breathing of the assassin as he is watching Johnson through the scope of a sniper rifle some distance away. The voice then says "There is no Jack Johnson!" This has the effect of confusing the audience however due to the destructive tone to how the assassin speaks it suggests that he is going to make sure that Jack Johnson does not exist. This idea is reinforced by the loud echoing gun shot which symbolises to my audience that Jack Johnson has been shot, however although it doesnt confirm whether he has actually been shot, or whether or not he is dead or alive.
I have followed the typical conventions expected of all film trailers in the way that i have firstly included caption cards saying 'Would you risk everything'.......'for the'.........'Truth'. This is effective as it splits up the action on screen giving the audience the action in short and sharp bursts which excites them and draws them into the film whilst also by displaying the text is prompts the audience to think and suggests that the film is about somebody taking a risk that is going to cost them everything. It also indicates a possible structure to the narrative and suggests to the audience a possible storyline.
I have chosen to include a voice over, however i have challenged the typical conventions. I didnt want my voice over to just contain a brief outline of the story which is the conventional norm to film trailers, instead i decided it would be creative and would challenge the typical conventions if my voice over was of a conversation taking place between two characters. Therefore i displayed a conversation between an unknown male giving orders to the assassin to find and kill Jack Johnson, this still provides the audience with an insight into the storyline however does it in an interesting way which challenges the typical conventions of a voice over just telling the story and by doing it differently it also has the effect of interesting the reader that a new style has been used. My film trailer also follows the conventions in the way that it includes the name of the film, the release date and the production details at the end such as who is starring in it, produced it and directed it, this provides my audience with the important details of my film. Some films chose to include the name of the film half-way through the trailer however i opted again this idea and decided to place it at the end, as the audience may forget the films name it if is placed half-way through and some more exciting footage could distract their attention away from the title, therefore by placing these relevant details at the end it helps the audience to remember what the film is called and when it is going to be released to cinemas.
I have chosen to place a dramatic and powerful sound track over the top of my film in order for the music to contribute to my audiences excitement. The powerful music adds thrills and excitement to the trailer and gets louder and dramatic which has the effect of thrilling the audience.
I have used a select few props in the filming of this trailer for example, by displaying to the audience the machine gun which the assassin has, it highlights that this man knows how to work these pieces of weaponry which highlights to the audience that he is comfortable with a weapon suggesting he is used to using them. Throughout the trailer i decided not to show Johnson with a weapon as i wanted to display to the audience that the assassin has access to more things and is at an advantage whereas Johnson does not have these things, i also wanted to suggest to my audience that Johnson is a skilled and trained fighter and does not necessarily need a weapon.
I also produced some 'Top Secret' documents for Johnson to look through, by adding the official logo's of the FBI and the american flag it highlights to the audience that the document looks official which again suggests to my audience that Johnson has got hold of these papers that he clearly shouldnt have suggesting this is where the conflict of the plot is going to stem from.
Throughout the trailer i have chosen to use straight cuts and cross cutting in order to keep the action moving fast and tight so that it creates a tense and exciting atmosphere and keeps my audiences entertained, whilst also keeping their attention on the film. This effect also creates the idea that all of these events are taking place in quick sucession in a really short space of time.
Teaser Trailer
After the completion of my film trailer i decided to begin work on producing a 30 second teaser trailer which could possibly be shown on the television in an advert between popular television programmes in order to further advertise my film trailer. Therefore i had to decide what scenes i thought would be effective to create an insight into my story and the conventions of the genres and keep the audience excited and their interest and expectations in my film high. Therefore i also made the decision to cut a lot of my scenes even further down in length so that the teaser was made up of lots of really short snippets of my film showing in quick sucession in order for me to convey to the audience a sense of my film in a really short space of time, therefore i chose a lot of the action scenes and altered the order in which they where shown so that my audience got a teaser of what my film is going to be about without giving too much away. After chosing the scenes and putting them in the sequence which i wanted them to be shown i decided to use the sound track from the Excorcist to play over the top. Although this piece of music is traditionally associated with the horror film genre i decided that it created a tense and exciting atmosphere and felt it would do the same to my target audience and encourage them to view my film.
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