Analysis of AS Production

This year I am proud of how much I have learnt and achieved, showing progression in my work. For example, when I first begun I had very limited knowledge on the technology we had to use such as Adobe Premier Elements and Photoshop, but after watching YouTube videos and researching about how to use these it allowed me to gain a stronger understanding for our opening two minutes. This was effective as through this it allowed me to produce a high quality trailer by adding transitions, cutting scenes to make seamless movements and adding audio in the background providing tension. As well as this I learnt new terms and put them in practice when analysing YouTube trailers, learning about the film industry and learning new camera techniques.

Even though I have gained a better understanding on many things this year, I still have a lot to learn next year to progress. For example, in A2 when producing our second trailer there is a lot that we can do to make it more advanced to the one we have made this year. Firstly, we will plan our trailer earlier as in this case we filmed it last minute which meant that when we looked over our trailer and we want to re film our ending we had no time to do this due to the deadline. Secondly, I would like to get more involved with the editing of the trailer. I done a lot to participate in the trailer but as we worked in a group of three all of us limited certain knowledge as we all done individual tasks. Next year I can achieve this by working by myself. Our trailer was based on a horror genre so next year I would like to mix it up to a Romance. This would consist of following different codes and conventions which may be interesting to get a deeper research into, especially because it is my favourite genre! The four main focuses that is a bit part in our trailer consist of camera composition, mis-en-scene, editing and sound. Next year I could progress on all these areas which would improve the trailer significantly and could result in a higher grade. For example, for camera composition we could add more complicated shots and shots that are mainly used in that genre, shots such as match on action look effective but are simple once you edit it correctly and tidy. The mis-en-scene is always quite an easy convention to follow as you can take a variety of ideas from other trailers in your chosen genre. In our trailer this year sound caused many problems when trying to put over our trailer. For example, we had to match the sound exactly to our trailer to create that build up and suspense in the right areas. This was extremely time consuming as it was a tricky task but with a bit of help we as a group succeeded!

Besides all the stressful and tricky situations with the trailer and technology I found this a great experience and real achievement to make a high standard trailer, giving me an insight into what the media industry can be about!

Initial Idea

I am interested in making a marketing campaign for a film in the horror genre. Horror trailers traditionally follow the cliches of where there is a victim and antagonist. I believe our group can achieve this successfully due to our experience last year where I applied this into my opening analysis for my horror genre. This gave me an insight in what type of shots I will need to use. In horror trailers................. Horror genres have to be dramatic to have that suspense and tension, I believe this can be successful by having fast up paced editing, gradual build up of non-diegetic sound and shots that fade in and out of black which have become very conventional for horror trailers to use. As well as this a main eye catching feature for a film with thriller/action is a logo, for example Batman's is a Bat and Spiders mans is a web therefore I would like to incorporate this for our trailer to make it look more advanced and professional. Due to creating a successful horror opening two minutes last year I knew I really enjoyed this type of genre and I wanted to incorporate that mysterious and eerier atmosphere therefore by making it a thriller I can do this but still do something completely different,

Romance

The Best of Me

The trailer begins with the non-diegetic sound of a piano that gives off a romantic atmosphere, during this time we get a medium shot of a young beautiful women in a backless dress smiling at this handsome boy, the boy looks up and then back down again implying that he is shy. We then get a close up of the female with an even bigger grin. From here we can tell that these two characters are the ones that are going to fall in love. The popularity of the female compared to the boy can be the reason why the boy was a bit shy, thinking that she was out of his league. When we see a two person shot where the female approaches the boy we see him coming out of him shell a bit. A shy boy in romantic films always makes the boy much more intriguing and more likeable to the audience where the females who are the target audience as they would feel soppier towards him, compared to a young cocky teenager. The girl who seems full of confidence says “you don’t know how to flirt do you?” inferring that she likes this boy. He replies “I guess not”, again being shy which is shown to be an adorable attribute of his. We then get an over the shoulder shot of the female saying “well what are you going to do about it?” this is different for a romance film as the women is taking the lead suggesting that she wants this boy to take her out. We get a close up of the boy grinning. We cut to a title which shows it is made by the producers of The Notebook, this is successful as it is a popular romantic film that many people adore and love due to the twisted but amazing storyline therefore fans would be interested in watching this.

As we cut to a low key lighting shot of the 2 character outside the house a romantic song is added to give the audience that amorous atmosphere. We get a medium shot of the boy walking towards this female holding a rose, this is effective as a rose connotes love and passion however the red. As we can see the boy is always underdressed compared to the female, this can imply that he is not as rich or in as higher class compared to her. His one hand in his pocket implies that he is nervous and hasn’t ever done this before and due to him not being as upper class he has never been taught how to act/behave around a girl which the audience may find sweet. This could also be the result of the trailer basing the girl to take the lead as it suits her role and character much more because of her background. We cut from a two shots of the characters spending time together and from these shots we can see their connection and love for each other. An interesting shot is of them sitting on a roof and kissing in the rain. This follows the codes and conventions of a romance as it is typical for a couple to kiss in pouring rain as it makes the scene much more passionate giving the audience that thrill.

The audience are then introduced to the heart breaking storyline where the problems start. You have the rich dad who tries to buy off the son to protect his loving daughter. We get a two person shot of the dad dressed in a suit behind his bar surrounded by expensive drinks to imply he is a well of man. Then we get a close up of the boy looking angry and humiliated by him being underestimated just because of his background. From this we can imply the boy has had troubles in the past therefore has the temper on him. We have the couple lying on a floor under the blanket with the fire behind them. This fire connotes warmth and light in the relationship. However, when the boy says “if this was the last time you ever saw me what would you say to me?” And from there we get a medium shot of the young girl crying her heart out into her grandad’s arms, lost and confused without him. This would start to add enigmas to what would have happened for him to leave.

20 years later the 2 characters meet again, the trailer is successful at enhancing this moment and showing it to be the most powerful moment between them. As we get a close up of each of the characters when they meet we see a flashback of the close-ups of when they first met as teenagers. This is effective as it warms the audience and makes them feel heartbroken with the amount of years that they missed together. We get a long shot of them running into the lake, screaming and having fun leading to a medium shot of them kissing with the sun reflecting from the lake giving them summer. This moment is effective as it shows their love is so deep that even after 20 years they can forgive the past and start over again.



The final shot is the young couple sitting on a chair, with the sun setting, looking over the lake with the title “THE BEST OF ME” as we end with the final piano note.

Romance

The Age of Adaline

This trailer begins with a long shot of a friendly neighbourhood, in this shot we see a boy riding a bike down the street with a fresh sky. We hear the diegetic sound of birds tweeting and the non-diegetic sound of high pitched, music that is peaceful. This is successful as straight away we can infer that the genre is romance. The next shot is a close up of a young female, the close up shot is effective as the audience are gazed by her beauty. She wears bright red lipstick, with her hair perfectly permed and her blue eyes which sparkle in this shot. This relates to the theme of a romance to have a beautiful young woman; in contradiction to the music her sweet and innocent appearance perfectly matches. However, as the police officer states she is 45 the audience starts to get curious. Again, the trailer follows the codes and conventions of a romance as we are introduced to a voice over which narrates the story of this character Adaline. We get a medium shot of Adeline and her husband at their wedding, cutting to another shot of them looking at their baby as they begin a family creating a heart-warming atmosphere.

We then get a medium shot of her driving through a dark forest and then a close up of her looking worried trying to see through the snow, we hear the gust of strong winds going by; then the high upbeat music stops as we see her skid into a gate. As the voice over says “Adelaline’s life would change forever” we hear a ticking sound of a clock, which relates to the fact that she doesn’t age due to time for her stopping. We get a low angle shot of her car falling down in the lake, we hear the waves of the river, the audience are shocked due to the shots juxtaposing from a peaceful, happy atmosphere to a dark and frightening one. However, we see a fast glimpse of lighting struck and then a medium shot of light flickering out from the lake. As the voice over says “magical” there is a close up of Adelaline rising from the water. The fiction of this film makes it more suitable for the romance genre.

The music becomes up beat again, but this time more tense due to the speed. We see a close up of her looking at herself in a photo, she stares and smiles at it fondly, like it was a memory she had many years ago however, she looks exactly the same. This all makes the audience very curious as this loves story is different from others due to the twist that she never ages. Most people would expect to never age is a good thing, but Adaline shows the dark and negative side to not aging that will touch the audience.

We get a close up of her in the car telling her daughter that she will always be her mother no matter what as tears fall down her face, we cut to an over the shoulder shot of her daughter who is a grey haired old lady. Adaline rests her hand on the back of her head for support as we can see the misery and hurt between them both. This is successful as it is unusual and still has that heart-warming touch by the fact she had to leave her to get a new identity, as she was trapped in this secret which no one could understand. From this the audience would feel sorry for Adaline and try to understand the pain she is going through.

An old man tells her that she looks like an old friend he use to know, the trailer then shows flashbacks of them 2 together. We get a close up of the young good looking boy looing down at this beautiful girl. From his glare to hers we can tell that they were in love, his background is filled with light blue sky and white clouds which can connote the brightness he is feeling. We get a panning view of the forest they are in, with the calm lake and deep green trees surrounding them this type of setting is a stereotype for where romances are set.

The music starts the sped up and we fade in and out from titles, these titles are powerful due to the sudden bang of the white screen shining through with titles such as ‘time stops for love’. We see her fall in love with a complete new man and the audience can understand that there are going to be complications again, curious to know if this is what happened to the previous man she got married too and if this one will be different. We get a medium shot of them taking a stroll through the park, again following codes and conventions of a romance setting. As well as where the boy plays that perfect gentleman role as they fall deeply in love with a girl who always has a secret that they are afraid to tell.

As the music becomes more intense and the editing shots become much quicker, the audience are even more engaged than ever, falling in love with the characters and the moving story just like they are in it. We see her running through the forest, which we can connote as her trying to run away from her problems. With the dark night and the rain pouring down this makes the scene much more dramatic and dynamic. Suddenly, we cut to the title, the music is low pitched and it leaves a dramatic finish with the title zooming in and cutting to the finishing titles.

Romance

A walk to remember

In the beginning of the trailer we see a troubled boy who doesn’t care about his education and has a reputation to uphold in front of his ‘friends’. We are shown this through a medium shot of him crashing a car while all his friends cheer him on. This trailer follows the codes and conventions of a romance genre due to the diegetic sound of the voiceover that narrates the trailer and describes both the boy and the girl. In his scene the music is up paced with low key lighting which could represent him as quite a ‘bad boy’. Compared to the next shot which is the close up of the female gazing up into the night sky looking innocent and sweet. The mis-en-scene shows it is located in a school, which is successful for the genre as this is where many teenage loves occur and can also relate to the target audience. For example, teenage females as it can imply that this love story will happen to them which would draw them in. The non-diegetic sound added in when describing the female is a slow and gentle song, we see a medium shot of her in a long floral dress and knitted sweater. While being mocked by the boys friends we understand that the female is known as the ‘geek girl’ which again can relate to a certain audience in their teenage years as secondary school can be a difficult time therefore, watching this you may escape from reality. The next shots are interesting due to the close up of the girl ignoring the sarcasm of the mean comment and replying sweetly, ‘thank you’. But then we are shown a quick glimpse of a close up of the ‘bad boy’ looking up at the girl in quite a genuine and intriguing way. This is effective as we can connote that this boy may have a soft spot for her and implies to the audience that the romance is going to blossom between them 2. However, with her and him being opposites at school we can understand that there will be complications. This is effective as it will make the audience more engaged and curious to find out what happens next.

We get a two person shot of the boy gazing over at the girl and the girl gazing back, this is effective as with the voice over we know this is the start of the story already the audience start to feel warmth towards these characters. However, we then get a medium shot of him walking past her in the corridor, she looks at him but by her reaction we can see he does not look back. Here we start to see the complications erupting which would anticipate the audience to wonder what will happen.

With the slow paced music in the background, we see fade out editing shots of them holding hands and close ups of them smiling to the ground, the audience understand they are in love. The fade out transitions are successful due to it being gentile, correlating with the music. This is compared to an action film that would cut straight into a black screen to add that dramatic touch. Therefore again, this genre is clearly stated to be a romance by following the codes and conventions.

A long shot of the boy standing in front of a sunset and a calm lake with gentle music is a very different scene for him compared to how he was represented at the beginning of the trailer. This can imply to the audience that he is no longer a bad boy and the girl has changed him for the better. The calm river can reflect on the boy’s mood and the sun setting creates a romantic atmosphere. As the complications are shown through the story the music is still slow but much louder and the editing becomes a bit faster when changing from shots. This is effective as this is where the drama is happening therefore fast paced editing and louder music helps the audience feel the emotion. A medium shot of surroundings are shown with the title ‘love is a leap of faith’ , the blue sky, lake and birds flying across the sky helps set that romance and relates well with the title.

The end shot is a close up of the boy and girl kissing, this is effective as it creates a warm feeling and the soft side of the boy creates likeable attribute for the audience.

Target Audience for Romance

Target Audience for Romance

Age - The age that romantic films are mainly directed at tend to be 13-70 or even older in certain cases, such as a middle aged woman who is lonely and can relate. This could be because of the lighthearted nature of this genre and the fact that these films experience the prince charming, heartbreak scenario.

Gender- Romantic films are mostly aimed at women/teenage girls. This is due to the soppy cliches involved and stereotypical views that love films would make boys want to be sick. Young teenage girls are a very popular audience due to them wanting to grow up so fast and weirdly wanting to experience this prince charming situation, but understand that their hearts may have to get broken a few times before they meet the right one. Girls can relate to this genre more as they show more emotion and have more interests in light-hearted films like this that make them cry. They could also be influenced by friends, for example a big group of girls crying over love films with ice cream at a sleepover actually happens!

Interests - I find that the mains interests in romance film is the emotions you feel. It is 100% a roller coaster of feelings. This is due to typically two young lovers who are made for each other are somehow kept apart because of certain obstacles, e.g. class, differences, parents. However, at the end there is mostly a happy ending which makes the audience feel satisfied with the film and gives them hope that love is true. Also there are many types of romance such as comedy romance, proper romance, thriller romance and those romantic films that make you cry for hours.



As you can see the main audience of this film is people aged from 45+ as 33% watched this movie. This could connote ad link with what I said about age, so them being single woman who need some sort of reassurance to find love. However, 15-44 was still a popular audience. Any age under this wasn't a popular audience, this is because the film was a 12+ limited the range.

The most popular gender is women, 67% leaving the male with 33%. This 33% could be due to the girlfriends bringing their boyfriends a long for a romantic date.

Codes, conventions and cliches of a Romance

Codes and conventions of an romance genre: 

• Aimed at female audience as they can relate more and express emotions 
• 12 – 15 certificate to maximise the audience 
• A typical romance genre would include sexuality, status, gender and relationships. 
• Narrative: falling in love, dating, kissing 
• Often a voiceover is used to introduce the love theme 
• Main characters are introduced – attractive female and male 
• The setting is normally in an urban environment, a beach, a school etc, places where a chance encounter would happen. 
• When a romance film opens, it is likely that much of the setting will be shown to the audience from the use of establishing shots and wide shots showing characters and much of the setting and area behind them. 

Cliches:

• Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl 
• Female lead ends up with wrong boy 
• Prince Charming exists - unrealistic features 
• Bride/groom get ditched at altar 
• Pushy but lovable mother 
• Male lead has a best friend that is a lovable slob 
• Misfortunes can bring people together e.g. car crashes, sudden divorce 
• Major scene at airport or taxicab where boy realises he loves the girl and tries not to lose her 
• Faithful sidekick who secretly worships the male lead from afar 
• The fat, mouthy but supportive girlfriend