RESEARCH & PLANNING Initial Ideas

All Blogs for Initial Ideas

In my first lesson of As Advanced Media Studies, i have come up with some initial ideas for my teaser trailer;

· Holding A Baby: A young teen male has it all, a brilliant life, a lovely family, and he is popular at school. However, when his ex-girlfriend turns up on his door step with a baby in a pram, she ask him to look after the baby for an hour or two. She doesn't come back and we go through a tearful but, comedic journey in which we learn a hard lesson about life, relationships, and growing up to fast.

· Memoirs of A Double Life: In this idea, a teenager goes missing, a traumatic event happens to him, and he is found in a abandoned area. He ends up in a psychiatric hospital, mute, and in a state of catatonia. No one knows why or how but, his diary is missing.

· Rumour: When a rumour is generated about a young adult male assaulting a woman who he supposedly loved, he is killed. There are several suspects with several motives. Who is the killer and why did they do it?

· A Letter from England: A newly-wedded are all prepared for the start of their new life. However, there are serious complications with the birth, the mother dies four day after birth, and the father, a 27 Jamaican who had never been to England in his life, is all on his own. His family is back in Jamaica; his wife's family are evil, leaving him to fend for himself because he did not sign over the baby to them. Now, he has to bring up a premature baby on his own with no family or wife. Will he succeed?

Another Idea

One could say that my mind is childish, thus, so are the ideas I imagine. However, I see the world in a different way to everyone else and, yes, I may be a teenager but, the older I become mature my ideas. I have a wide array of ideas for my teaser trailers; many of them are happy, few of them are dark, a small number of them are funny, but, there is a mixture to develop and ripen.

The things that I have seen recently have made me change the perception I have on life; the way the media has lead many people to think that the Underground Rap Scene is nothing more than a group of wanabee gangster. Or, what about the rising number of outrageous murders and killing that slowly consume us?

The idea that I have come up with connects with the recent movement in which upcoming rappers like Labyrinth, Plan B, as well as singers like Leona Lewis, have been visiting their old schools. They have been taking young teenagers   (who have had torn up lives) and given them the chance to make something of themselves. They have used recording studios, put on public performances. So, after I watched the shows, I thought about making a movie trailer about a rapper trying to bring rap to Mainstream. I feel that I am compelled to do this because of my love of music and rap; I'm a poet, an author, and a ammeter rapper so I  have the knowledge of what I can do in this trailer.

Deeper Into my Ideas
Previously, I thought that attempting to produce and adaptation of Harold Pinter's play "The Dumb Waiter" would be impossible. However, I have had a light bulb moment and I realised that I do not need to make my teaser trailer in the same image of the play; I can us the same plot and storyline while adding changes of my own.

I have the perfect soundtrack but, I cannot remember the name or composer. It was composed by an Italian man and comes in the form of an instrumental. The beat is slow and hard hitting, the pace is slow and jumpy, every instrument packs a punch. It sets the muggy, tense, awkward, and sinister tone for a Pinter piece. I remember when Scott and I used it for the AS drama exam and the effect that it had on the audience and us because of the dark atmosphere that it had on us.

Over the next few weeks I will do some research on Pinter adaptations and gather up some ideas that can be used to attract a Pinter type audience. The play "The Dumb Waiter" was set in the 60s and has that quirky-classy feel. I will also find out about the Whip Pan Transition editing technique (more about this in another post), the setting that was popular back then, and, I need to find a way to embed a Pinter trademark like his pauses because this will attract his type of audience.

Teaser Trailer Ideas

Ideas for my Teaser Trailer

It was today that I came up with this idea. I was thinking; the CHERUB Series by would renowned author, Robert Muchamore. I could maybe do a film adaptation of his first novel within the series, The Recruit. I mean, I feel that it would be quite easy because it involves a 12 year old son, his sister, their mum, and a few other people. The boy is the son of a thieving terrorist who accidently kills herself when she mixes alcohol with drink. When she dies, the boy is brought to a care home with his sister, the sister is taken away by her father, he ends up in a gang and on the wrong side of the law, despite being very intelligent, and then he gets recruited into CHERUB, the secret operations unit.

That’s an overview but, I will say no more except I attend an all boys Secondary/6^th Form College and we have a brilliant Expressive Arts Department were there are over seventy 12—18 year olds taking the subject. Plus, I’m an actor myself so I have experience in acting.

RESEARCH & PLANNING Movie Poster Analysis 3

This is the movie poster for the 2009 Action-crime thriller, "A Dangerous Man", Staring well known actor, Steven Segal. The first and most essentiasl element of this poster is the compostion of the main antagonist, Segal. He is composed in a extreme close up that notifes the audience that he is the main charater. Nothing more is needed except the compostion of his face and the gauarded position of his gun, a main convetion of an action-crime thriller. Due to Segal's famr, the audience does not need to see much in the poster, suggesting that they have an idea that this contains some sort of action and crime in is because this is Segal's main genre.

The colour around Segal is a blur of gold, mabye suggesting that he is a powerful person. Futhermore, the blur of colour reinforces Segal's power as it could suggest that time is draw and controlled by him. This connects to the mysterious of the thriller genre and, due to the colour and haze that sorround Segal and, the determined no-mercy look on his faceis a common covention of the thriller genre; fighting for a cause or "freedom" by any means neccassary.
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RESEARCH & PLANNING Magazine Cover Analysis 2

Media Magazine Cover Analysis

RESEARCH& PLANNING Magazine Cover Analysis 1

Empire Magazine Analysis: The Da Vinci Code by

RESEARCH & PLANNING Film Poster Analysis 1 & 2

Film Poster Analysis One

Also known as movie posters, film posters are used to advertise films. They come in a range of different sizes and the content of them can come in several different designs. Many posters oftenn contain pictures of main actors, a unique scenes  from the film, and other types of designs. 

Some poster will have the film title in large letters, or a main actor, director, etc. A lot of film posters do not need the name of actor because of the films popularity and they will have a tag line. A tag line is a branding slogan or a phrase that is famously remembered by the audience or, one that sums up the tone of the film. An example could be the film poster for "Lord of the Ring: The Two Towers" (Perter Jackson, 2002)

In the second volume of J.R.R Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings", we can see a black background which is illuminated by a fiery orange-red colour which surrounds the infamous ring. The text on the ring burns and can be seen in a orange swirl of smoke. Then, we can see the title of the films. all in capitals and coloured in orange red. Names of any concerning the film have not been included nor any actors. Only the eminent slogan "One Ring Tor Rule Them All" starts at the top of the page. "One Ring" is repeated three times, ensuring that anyone who has heard the of "Lord of the Rings" will remember it, regardless of interest or not. The slogan relates to the film as much as it douse the audience "One Ring To Rule Them All" (this applies to the attracting the audience), "One Ring To Find The All" (to find a bigger audience), "One Ring To Bring Them All" (both fans and new audience will come together), and "And In The Darkness Bind Them", the coming together of different people in the film as well as the audience.

Furthermore, the last line of the phrase connects to the black background and the power that radiates of off the hot ring. This sets the tone and people will know that this is a fantasy or sci-fy film. This is one of the many way that posters are used to advertise the films and attract an audience; they are simple but, the content sets the foundation for the film..

However, film posters are very expensive to make and distribute because production companies have to pay to get them made, pay for places to advertise, pay creative artist, etc. Therefore, film posters are often included with teaser trailer, trailer, and other forms of advertisement.

Film Poster Analysis Two

The composition of Peierre Morel's Action Thriller "Taken" (2009) emphasis the urgency of the main protagonist, Bryan Mills. It is evident that he is searching for something but, seem lost because of his composition in the poster. He is composed slightly to the left of the middle of the poster and, at a slanted angle. This could snuggest that the narrative will be based upon the hardship he will face in the film rather than the character of his daughter Kim. He is also composed at a slanted angle, suggesting that his time is running out. This is reinforced by the log-lines composed high above Bryan but, at a slanted level in line with the  girls chin-"il a 4 jours pour retrouver a fille..." french for "He has four days to save his daughter...".

The composition of the Effie Tower in the background reinforce the glamour of Paris and connects to the expensive looking clothes that the girl wears. It give the impression of glamour and romance in the city known as "the city of love" however, the girl too is composed at a slanted angle and seem to be fading away from Bryan, further strengthening that maybe Bryan is running out of time. It also portrays the convention of a thriller due to the girl looking as though she is being 'Taken' and Bryan running from an exploding halo of blue light into a dark back roads of Paris and, thriller conventions also contain a damsel in distress, a protagonist, and crime concerning antagonist.. The colour blue could suggest heaven and the girls innocence as blue can be connected to perfection. Bryan running into a dark back road, leaving the light, could suggest that he in search of his daughter and needs to leave the perfect rose-tint of the city for a dangerous journey.

The composition of the blood-red film title, "Taken", emphasise the action part of this film. The colour red can be associated with blood, hinting at the prospect of fighting and death. The rugged scar lines in the consuming blood font are composed at various sharp angles, maybe suggesting a wide range of violent battle that the protagonist will embark on, reinforcing the convention of the thriller/crime genre: confusion and violence. The big-block font of the film title could suggest the obstacles that stand in the way of the protagonist and could represent the antagonist as being strong and mighty, while making Neeson look as small and weak as possible. This is done by composing Neeson and his shadow together, making them seem alone because of their distance from the main parts of Paris and, in addition to this, the words seem to be hiding behind the turning of the black, sinister looking road, reinforcing the conventions of confusion and investigation of the crime-thriller genre.



RESEARCH & PLANNING What Type of Film Has a Teaser Trailler

What kind of Film might have a Teaser Trailer?

Teaser Trailers may not be included in every single film that is made. They are mainly used to attract the internet based fans that use technological formats like Facebook, Twitter, Bing, Google, and YouTube and, they mainly contain scenes and images that are not included in the actual films. In my case, I am using a teaser trailer while I am in the process of editing the film and I will be using this to generate extra hype for my audience while informing them of what they should expect and what they may see in the film.

Some teasers are used as a last resort for films if they have not generated enough attention from advertising and a normal teaser trailer promotion. In the case of Batman (1989, Tim Burton), a teaser trailer was used as a last marketing bid to keep the comic book fans of Batman happy with the film and ensure that it reflects the comic.

Big-budget films also use teaser trailer to keep the audience entertained in the film, attract more fans, build a bigger audience, and keep them guessing about the film. I will recreate scenes that may be in my teaser, turning them into short scenes that last a few seconds but, I will not included scenes that will be in the films. Many films have this but, they change the scenes in the films so; many viewers go to films seeing things from the teaser trailer and getting something totally different. A teaser, I think, should never give too much away but, give enough so that the audience wants more.

RESEARCH & PLANNING What is a Teaser Trailer

What is a Teaser Trailer and what might it have?

A teaser trail is a short version of a normal trailer however; teaser trailers are faced-pasted and packed with hard-hitting content. The content within a teaser trailer is designed to attract a large audience during the build up to film that has been produced, they target the users of the Internet as they are commonly shown on all Internet platforms, and they aim to generate hype amount audiences. 

Millions of people use the Internet worldwide which is the main target of teaser trailers due to the Technological Revolution and the new phenomenon of Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is the phrase that is used to describe the current movement and era of Internet interaction. Facebook, YouTube, Blogger, Wikipedia, Twitter, and other websites like these have enabled user-generated content and social interaction. We, the users, are now able to comment on subject that have been uploaded on the Internet, we can now share our thoughts with mot only our friends, but the entire planet with the click of a button, or a tab on a phone. We can upload, download, and make music, videos, and even films. There are over 600 million users and that number will continue to rise. 

If a film is not successful in attracting an audience through Television advertisements, transport posters (buses, bus stops, in tube station), or newspapers, the next place to go to is the Internet. Teaser trailer are short (some can be 40 seconds long) and in them, they contain something that will attract the customer, make them remember what they have seen as well as thing about what they have seen. The Batman Trilogy has three films; Batman Begins, Batman: Dark Knight, and Batman: Dark Knight Rises. These films have a teaser trailer in which the audience will instantly recognise the film and this is done with the use of the Batman's bat log or with duologue or scenes from previous films. This can be done in the space of a few seconds, uploaded onto sites like the one I have mentioned above, and millions of people, regardless of if they are interested in the film or not, will have knowledge of the film. That is why many new films have a separate trailer to the ones that we may see on TV.

Thoughts for A2

A2 Cycle: A Few Thoughts

Working in a Group

In the previous AS cycle, I was not impressed with the group that I had been put into. We hardly had any communication skills, ideas were shoved aside because of selfishness. Ideas were not listened to or, behind a members back, they were changed without notice.

The new group, hopefully, will be mature, open-minded, considerate toward the views, ideas, and opinions of others, and, the main point; everyone will have a strong level of communication. I do not want to be in a group that does not know if there’re coming, going, been, or gone. I do not want to be in a group that finds the misfortunes of others funny or, blame things on each other because they cannot take responsibility for their actions. I need a serious but, humorous group that is present for one thing; to damn well learn and not play about.

Difficulties from AS

Difficulties in the Previous AS Cycle

What Difficulties have I have come across so far?

I would say that the analyses of teaser trailers are proving to be a difficult area within the A2 cycle of Media Studies. I have always had problems when it comes to analysing clips of film, whether it be TV drama clips, or action films, I have never be able to tough grasp on it. I know that I will be able to improve on this ability but, it need improving now. Hopefully with lots of help, I will be able to master one of the main and key elements in all cycles of Media Studies.

Finding an idea that is not impossible to do is very hard, due to my wild imagination and my creative ideas. It is easy to just say to myself ‘I am going to make an adaptation of Harold Pinter’s play “The Dumb Waiter’ however, when I actually start to do it, I will find out that I will have insufficient funds and low manpower as technology to do it. To try and do it would be to complicated I would need ti find a café with a basement in it, then the basement would have to have a ‘dumb waiter’ hatch, two beds, a speaking tube, a lavatory and a passage, a small coffee table, and o the list goes on. I need to think big but, I need to think wisely and this will be very hard for me to do.