Empire Magazine Cover

Film Poster

Trailer Treatment

The trailer commences with an extreme zoom, showing a map of England, accompanied by the non-diagetic music that is connotative of American ‘Honky Tonk’, which was our initial intention. We aimed to create a sense of mystery with the establishing shot, by showing a small part of the subject to create an enigma for the audience. As the shot begins to slowly zoom out, a non-diagetic voice over states that this is the ‘small town of Bell Buckle, Tennessee’ thus, along with the close up of England, forebodes of the plot to the audience, suggesting that they are presently in America but will end up in England. As the slow zoom brings the shot into focus and becomes a bird’s eye mid shot, we see that the extreme close up was of a globe, connoting travel. Furthermore, the soft voice over informs us that ‘two young girls’ are about to make ‘the biggest decision of their lives…it was time for a change’ as the scene dissolves to a mid to close up of the globe. After a brief pause, a hand comes into the shot and spins the globe, informing the audience that there are people present. The shot slowly zooms out again and becomes an over the shoulder shot of a female character sat spinning the globe. The mise-en-scene is bright and colourful thus connotes happiness and fun.
Continuity editing brings another mid shot into scene via slide transition, which now shows two female characters. The two shot shows an over the shoulder view of the globe being pointed at, suggesting to the audience that the two girls are planning on going to wherever they may be pointing. This idea is reinforced by the diagetic dialogue as one of the protagonists states that they are ‘going to England’. The shot then jumps to another mid shot that shows the protagonists jumping up in excitement and high fiving, thus demonstrates to the audience that this is an adventure. There is then a freeze, where edited text appears that displays the character’s names, thus helping to establish the connection with the audience. Meanwhile the voice over informs us that they are ‘two best friends’ and we gather that the film will include some fun highlights about friendship.
After the text has faded out and the scene jumps back into motion, there is a jump to a shot of the sky with the diagetic sound of a plane flying over head during a short pause in the music, therefore helping to show that the two girls have flown to their destination. The music commences again as the plane noise fades out and the scene slides to a mid shot of a nice wooded area with light pleasantly shining through the leaves. Parallel to this, we hear narrative from one of the protagonists exclaiming ‘Ain’t it perdy!’ As the next shot slides in we see a darker wood, with over grown vegetation that is accompanied by a transactional response from the other protagonist who states ‘Are you kidding me?’ This helps to reiterate the comedy genre as it suggests that the protagonists are to stay in the wilder wood, rather than the one portrayed in the brochure. There is then a revolving transition to symbolise the movement of the camera to now show the two protagonists from a low angled shot, thus reinforcing that the previous shot was a point of view. Furthermore, we can now see that they are holding a picture of the beautiful wood and their disappointed facial expressions inform us that they have been tricked by false photography of the campsite.
As the shot revolves again we get a long to mid shot of the two protagonists standing over what appears to be a pile of fabric, with one of the characters stating ‘Right then’ as they bend down and start to rearrange the fabric which we assume to be a tent. The mise-en-scene is connoting of stereotypical English weather and the costumes of both characters suggest that they were not expecting the cold weather. Furthermore, the narrative implies that to put up the tent is going to be a comedic struggle and to reinforce this, the voice over states that they will face ‘many obstacles’. The scene then fades into a mid shot of the protagonists standing by a poorly set up tent. The composition appears darker, connoting that it has taken them a while to put the tent together. As the music climaxes again, we see the tent fall down in the wind, as one of the girls states ‘I think we did it wrong’, thus adding to the comedy.
The scene fades out and up on a mid shot of the poorly erected tent, with the dark composition it implies that the protagonists are inside the tent. This is further supported by the fade to a close up of the two girls inside the tent from a high angled shot, saying ‘Good Night’ to one another. Following this is a worm’s eye of the moon, accompanied with the diagetic sound of an owl hooting to connote the dead of night to the audience. The shot transitions into another high angled shot of the two protagonists in the tent, with a brighter composition to illustrate that it is now morning. As it does so, diagetic sound fades in that elicits parallel action as it is not coming from the two characters in shot. The narrative finds Charlene asking Brandene ‘What is that noise?’ to which she responds ‘I don’t know’. The shot jumps to a mid shot of the female protagonist peering out of their tent, looking at something that the audience are no privy to, thus creating suspense. After this there is a transition to a mid shot of woman dancing and singing ‘save the trees’, the narrative, along with the mise-en-scene portray the woman as a stereotypical hippy. Her bright costume is connotative of happiness, thus fitting with the conventions of the comedy genre. To stress the action genre, there is a slide to a close up of man who, down to the narrative, we learn is German. Due to his negative face and voice we interpret that he will cause some conflict within the film, thus action. At this, the shot slides back to the hippy that raises her fingers in the symbolic reference of peace and runs away. In the mean time, the voice over has been further enforcing the action comedy genre by stating that the girls will meet some ‘fruitful characters…or just crazy’.
The scene then fades to a long shot of the two protagonists walking through the forest, heading toward the camera. The mise-en-scene connotes a dreary place, creating comedy as it greatly contrasts with the protagonist’s bright costumes. As the characters near the camera, they stop making it a mid shot, there is then diagetic dialogue as Charlene states ‘Brandene, I didn’t bring no pants’, thus adding to the comedy genre. To further the comedy of being in summery clothes in a cold place, there is a worm’s eye shot of the dark sky. The scene then transitions to a long shot of a man walking through a forest, with one of the female protagonists out of focus at the side of the shot. The connotations of this shot are that the protagonists are hiding from this man and, as the shot pans to follow the man walking along; we see that he is also looking around, hinting at action in the trailer. Following this is a high angled mid shot of the protagonists crouching down behind the bush then planning to run, as they stand up and run past the camera, it slightly tracks them before fading to a close up of the two girls smiling with a microphone in the forefront. The two shot helps to connote a happy ending, as the diagetic sound states ‘And here we meet our foreign heroes’.
There is then a cut to a low angled two shot of the protagonists with their backs to the camera, facing the woods. The mise-en-scene, showing them with their bags on their backs implies to the audience that they are about to travel home, this is reinforced by the dialogue as Charlene states ‘Brandene, I don’t wana go home’. The scene fades to the title, which is connotative of travel due to the canvas the text is written on. The music slowly fades as the voice over states the title.
The scene fades back to a mid shot of four characters hugging, in a brightly coloured setting. This implies that they are in a warm place, furthermore the dialogue of the characters hears one warning ‘Be careful’, to which Charlene replies ‘Oh we will momma’, leading us to believe that they are at home and that this is an analeptic shot from before they went to England. Charlene then persists to turn and leave but suddenly falls out of shot, to which we hear a diagetic thud and assume she has fell over. This helps to finally enforce the comedy genre before fading to another canvas of text stating the release date as the music fades back in then climaxes.

Media Questionnaire

1.What genre/s would you place the film in?

Emily Bacon – comedy
Hayley Bignall – comedy
Jess Brunt – Comedy
Carissa Leighton – Comedy
Matthew Daukintas – Action Comedy
Sophie Gaunt – Comedy
Lauren Mellors – Comedy/Action

2.Why would you place it in that genre or those particular genres?

Emily Bacon - because of the music and the cliché costumes
Hayley Bignall – music and the funny action at the end
Jess Brunt – the voice and characterisation
Carissa Leighton – For the characters and the music
Matthew Daukintas – Because the plot and characters make it obvious
Sophie Gaunt – The trailer had a lot of joke in it
Lauren Mellors – Because its funny, hilarious.

3.What about the film was recognisable from previous film trailers you have seen?

Emily Bacon – The music and titles, also the trip is very cliché
Hayley Bignall – When the music stops and action happens
Jess Brunt – Costumes
Carissa Leighton – everything
Matthew Daukintas – The characters and setting
Sophie Gaunt – The way it jumped back to the action after the credits
Lauren Mellors – The it jumped to different scenes, quite a lot of stuff

4.Did the trailer make sense in its sequencing?

Emily Bacon– Yes
Hayley Bignall – yes
Jess Brunt – yes
Carissa Leighton – yes
Matthew Daukintas – Yes, minus the last scene in the house
Sophie Gaunt – yes
Lauren Mellors - yes

5.Who appeared to be the main characters and why?

Emily Bacon – Charlene and Brandene, because they are the ones on the films poster, and they’re names are told in the trailer.
Hayley Bignall – Charlene and Brandene because they are the most predominantly featured characters in the trailer.
Jess Brunt – Brandene and Charlene as they are introduced at the beginning of the trailer
Carissa Leighton – Charlene and Brandene because they are introduced at the beginning of the trailer and are in it a lot.
Matthew Daukintas – Brandene and Charlene, as it said it on a shot freeze with text
Sophie Gaunt – Charlene and Brandene, due to how much they were in the trailer
Lauren Mellors – Brandene and Charlene because they were in the trailer a lot

6.Were the characters relatable, did you feel a connection with them and why?

Emily Bacon – yes, especially the two main characters as its something loads of people do (become tourists)
Hayley Bignall – yes, because lots of little girls want to break out and explore.
Jess Brunt - yes, because every time you go on holiday you always meet new people.
Carissa Leighton – yes, because the girls are similar ages to us
Matthew Daukintas – Partly, but I felt the lack of connection made it funnier
Sophie Gaunt – Yes, they were funny
Lauren Mellors – Yes, they were comical

7.What was your favourite part of the trailer and why?

Emily Bacon- The last part, with the hug, as it made me laugh when she fell over.
Hayley Bignall– the ending, because she fell over
Jess Brunt – When the two girls were hiding from the German man.
Carissa Leighton – When the tent fell down, as it’s a situation I have been in
Matthew Daukintas – The tent bit
Sophie Gaunt – “I didn’t bring no pants”
Lauren Mellors – “I didn’t bring no pants!”, made me laugh a lot

8.Did the music tie in well with the shots?

Emily Bacon – yes, it was fast paced, as was the action
Hayley Bignall – yes
Jess Brunt – Yes and showed the comedy genre
Carissa Leighton – Yes
Matthew Daukintas – yes
Sophie Gaunt - yes
Lauren Mellors – Yes, sounded like the right music for the characters

9.Did anything seem out of place in the trailer?

Emily Bacon – Nope, not really
Hayley Bignall – No
Jess Brunt – No
Carissa Leighton – No
Matthew Daukintas – Rob shouting
Sophie Gaunt – Nope
Lauren Mellors - No

10.Was it a good length or was it too short/long?

Emily Bacon– Think it was just right, if it was any longer it would have been a bit repetitive
Hayley Bignall– yes, it was perfect
Jess Brunt – Yes, kept the action going
Carissa Leighton – Yes, it was the right length
Matthew Daukintas – Good length
Sophie Gaunt – Good length
Lauren Mellors – Yeah it was a good length

11.Did the trailer compel you to watch the rest of the film and why?

Emily Bacon – yes, because I want to know what happens to the girls and if they go home or not.
Hayley Bignall – yes, I want to know anything bad happens to the German man or if he does anything to the girls!
Jess Brunt – Yes, I want to know what unfolds between the Hippy and the German bloke.
Carissa Leighton – yes, I want to see what happens to the characters
Matthew Daukintas – yes, because it was well sequenced
Sophie Gaunt – Yes
Lauren Mellors – Yes, because it was funny and I would like to know what happens in the end

12.Which trailer if any does it most resemble?

Emily Bacon– Without A Paddle
Hayley Bignall – Without A Paddle
Jess Brunt – What Happens in Vegas
Carissa Leighton - Tropic Thunder
Matthew Daukintas – Without a Paddle
Sophie Gaunt – Without a Paddle
Lauren Mellors – Without a Paddle

13.Was the plot clear to you?

Emily Bacon – yes because we guessed what happened.
Hayley Bignall – Yes
Jess Brunt – Definitely
Carissa Leighton– yes, it was.
Matthew Daukintas – yes, they go to England and encounter trouble
Sophie Gaunt – Yes
Lauren Mellors - Yes

Evaluation

Our trailer incorporates many of the regular conventions associated with the Action-Comedy genre. After watching a range of Action-comedies, we noted all the recurring shot types and compositions and tried to encompass them in our trailer, however, the main observation was that the majority of transitions were simple jump cuts and the shots ranged mainly from long to mid to close ups. They are also sequenced in chronological order; on the whole, so that the audience can get an idea of the film’s plot, we chose to follow this particular convention for the reason that our piece would be hard to understand if sequenced haphazardly. We also felt that, when watching the finished article through, the scene transitions were plain and added nothing to the comedy aspect of the trailer, therefore we decided to add some dissolving and sliding transitions.

Another technique learnt was the ability to freeze a shot and add text to it. This gave us the chance to introduce characters in the manner that action comedies do.
The use of sound effects was limited, with the exception of pure action points; however, our trailer focused more on the comedy aspect than the action so we decided to stay with purely music. We noted that the music was always quite jovial with moments of high impact and slower parts. Going on this framework, we searched for the perfect song, with great difficulty we found one, which fit with the “hillbilly” theme we were going for. We applied it to our trailer and it climaxed at the right moments to give high impact. The connotations of both the music and the brightly coloured mise-en-scene for the characters show that the film is light-hearted and comical, as yellow is a symbolic reference to happiness.
The characters in the trailer are stereotypical Tennessean youth, ones that connote a “dumb” happy go lucky American often referred to as a Hillbilly. That being said, our representation adds a new dimension to the typically negative stereotype by making them more three dimensional, making them something that the audience can relate to – tourists. To make this more evident in the short amount of time of a trailer we used iconic references, such as the mise-en-scene, in particular the costume, to help highlight their origin to the audience.
Due to research done into the most receptive action-comedies, such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Without a Paddle, we decided that to aim our trailer at young teenagers, as they are predominantly youth watched films. Also when researching distributors of such films we noted that Paramount Pictures were a prime distributor of action-comedies, therefore would be the institution most likely to produce our trailer. Our certification would be a 12 as many previous action-comedies have been and our trailer has no obscenities, swearing or sexual references therefore would not offend a younger audience. With that in mind our promotional campaign would be heavily based upon technological outputs that are popular with the new media obsessed youth. The first outlet would be the television, with an advertisement in between programmes such as Coronation Street or a number of reality TV shows, which have a wide teenage audience. Secondly, we would advertise on the internet, where surveys have shown many youths communicate, the development of sites such as facebook, MySpace and MSN have led to a media-communicative youth so would be a good space to advertise in. Thirdly would be the radio, in particular Radio 1 – a vast station that is heavily involved in the global village. This encompasses the internet also, with the Radio 1 website that gives lists of the shows film reviews and is a popular site among the youth of today. Furthermore, we would use the conventional methods of advertisement, such as posters and magazine inserts that would be noticeable to teenagers, for instance placing a poster in a bus stop near a school or college where many youths catch the bus to their educational institutions – perhaps even on the bus itself.


From this project I have explored the different technologies available to film makers, the use of tracks to capture moving images and the use of helicopters to shoot high altitude action. We also discovered a site that taught us how to produce film effects, such as bug inside somebody’s flesh, however we had no use for any of these effects in our trailer. One piece of equipment we used, which is used by professional film companies, was a boom mic. This enabled us to pick up sound from far away that we would not normally have picked up. We also used the conventional camera and tripod so we had a range of handheld and steady cam shots, we also used an MP3 recorder which we familiarised last year. The Adobe Package was the same as the one we used the previous year, but was much easier to use this year, knowing how to operate it. This helped when it came down to editing clips and adding multiple soundtracks that we needed to fade in and out. It also helped us to incorporate a wider range of transitions that developed our knowledge of the package further.

The Extreme close up was not something I had used before, as was the slow zoom out that followed. This allowed me to expand my shot capabilities and also added that sense of mystery our piece needed.

On previous tasks, we had attempted to use low angle shots, but they never really worked. Incorporating it here I felt worked well as it helped show the ‘bigger than life’ characters against a background that is completely foreign to them, as depicted by their facial expressions.

Furthermore, the necessary auxiliary tasks meant that we had to explore and master Adobe Photoshop 3.0. We created a film poster for our film, with connotative signs that fit with the action-comedy conventions, such as colourful text and plain backgrounds, with the protagonists in the foreground. We also had to design an Empire magazine cover, following the normal design that Empire use, this meant the use of puffs and flashes. The cover I designed and created used many bright colours and a fun photo that helped capture the characters personalities so that the connotations were that of happiness and humour.

Our Empire cover, with the plain white background to connote the simplicity of the characters, like the Megan Fox ‘stripped bare’ implementations, with bright colours, like the Kick Ass cover to show the action comedy theme. The editing of the ‘Empire’ title to make it individual – with the tilted E to connote the quirkiness of the characters and the rounded edges to show their kind natures. There is also a slight highlighting of the text to imply the good with the bad that occurs in the film. I also had to manipulate the photo, to cut the two characters out of their original shot using the polygonal lasso tool. The puff needed edited, so I coloured the background in a colour related to those in the main photo and included pictures that we had taken in character.

Our poster took more editing and manipulating as the photo was poorer quality, with a darker composition. I therefore brightened the contrast and hue, making it seem brighter. Furthermore, to have the hippy peering out at the corners, I had to cut her out of a separate photo and place her so that it look realistic. I then focused on creating text, one that boded well for my intended theme, going through many before finding the ultimate one. My poster is like many of the Action Comedy posters, as it shows the main protagonists in action poses. Furthermore, it is simple with connotative text. I originally wanted to do individual posters, for each character, as that is a convention used by many modern action comedies such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Without a Paddle, however it was not possible for the requirements.

We also did a survey on our target audience, asking them to first watch our trailer and then fill out a questionnaire which found that the genre was clear to most as was the plot and protagonists.

Over the two year course I have developed my knowledge of the media industry, the use of technology and distribution, and I have also familiarised myself with the technology available to me. I also feel I have progressed my maturity with technology and become more adapt at navigating Adobe Premiere. Furthermore, I have become adapt at using Photoshop, both Photochop CS at home and Photoshop 3.0 at sixth form.

Final Editing - 27th January 2010

Today we were determined to search for the perfect piece of music. We know of a site called FreePlayMusic.com that allows us to save and use un-copyrighted music. We listened to every song in the comedy and action/adventure styles but found nothing, therefore had to re-think our strategy and decided that listening to the songs in the Honky Tonk section might be plausible. Eventually we found two songs we liked that seemed to suit our trailer. We added them both to Adobe and put our favourite track on the footage and commenced changing the length and speed of the song. Having done so, we noticed that in places it was too loud so set about changing the decibels to fit with the tone of the particular scene and the volume of the voice over and characters. The whole thing completed, we watched it through, noticing that the ending did not fit as well as the rest of the trailer but decided to leave it for now and come back to it at a later date to see if it still seems out of sorts.

Editing - 22nd January 2010

With the sound completed, we focused on the scene transitions. We noticed, when researching, that the typical conventions of Action Comedies are different to the way our film was running. The scene transitions rarely just cut, but rather fade to show time change and often have other fun transitions such as pushes, spirals etc. Therefore, we went through our piece and edited in these other transitions. Now all that's left to do is the music.