Research And Planning: Test

 

This was my first attempt of creating a short clip using imovie. Our task was to show a journey or a chase scene in a lesson, to get used to operating the handheld camera's and to give us an idea of how much we had to consider the direction and recap all we'd learnt last year when filming. I found this task extremely difficult, and I think that the video created shows this and I was personally disapointted with the quality of it.

We did try a few different locations around college but different setbacks kept occuring and we ended up with 3 different full clips, all about 25-30 seconds long. As a result of this, the mise-en-scene wasn't as good as it could have been. In addition, all of our clip was shot in high key lighting, contrasting with the mood we were trying to create since it doesn't set the right atmosphere but this was difficult to do since weeks of planning hadn't been done. This is something I will make sure I take notice of when I start my teaser trailer.

Me and the group tried to vary the editting transitions, changing them around where was most suitable. We would have been able to look at editing more closely if there would have been more footage to work with. But we did use; fade to black, straight cuts, a dissolve, a shot reverse shot and a wipe within.

Cinematography was thought of slightly. But again when the teaser trailers are made, this will be thought of in a lot of depth. The opening, where I'm on the phone and Nathan can be seen through the window would've been good if it would have been a mid long shot of me so you can see me on my phone, then Nathan could appear out of focus in the window. A close up his face could then have appeared with a shot reverse shot of my expression, back to his. This is where freaky music could have been included. I like how when I fall, it has been shot at a high angel to show the desperation but it might have been good showing nathan at a low angle also to suggest the higher authority. 

We did play around with sound in garage band for this video, but it didn't go very well. This is something I will research into when I start my teaser trailer.

Research And Planning: Genre

The first thing that I am going to look at are four different genres of films. I will look at Horror films, Romance films, Comedy films and Animated Films. Each one will have a different target audience and be edited/set in a specific way to give the best effect.

Horror Films

Horror films are stereotypically known to be very dark and create fear to the audience watching. Some directors base them on real events to make a bigger impression and make them feel more involved. This generally results in a bigger buzz around the film and more people going to see it, resulting in a larger budget. Low key lighting is considered often during mise on scene and during teaser trailers, more captions are added instead of talking to make it look more effective and not give too much away. Editing consists of a lot of jump cuts to keep the tension existent. In addition to this, horror films generally have a higher certificate rating of 18.

Romance Films

These are also known as chick flicks which are generally watched by females rather than males. Generally these are set in high key lighting and in sunny locations to keep the atmosphere a positive one and this usually leads to a happy 'fairytale' ending which is why its so popular with teenage girls specifically. They can stereo typically be known for always including a guy/girl relationship and the story later on is easy to guess. The editing usually consists of dissolves and straight cuts to keep the reality consistent so that we as a audience can easily follow. Unlike horror films, Romance film ratings can vary from being a PG to a 15 because of specific scenes.

Comedy Films

With comedy films, the same actors crop up again and again. For example Eddie Murphy, Ryan Reynolds and Adam Sandler have appeared in a lot of comedy family films. High key lighting is used to keep the family atmosphere and generally comedy films are for both male/female and all ages to get a wider and larger audience. The rating for these films will also vary depending on the use of strong language involved by the actors/actresses. No particular transitions are used for these kind of films as their main aim is to humor the audience, resulting in straight cuts being the most common which allows each scene to flow. The lead character is generally very distinctive and make a strong impression on us right from the beginning, making us remember them.

Animated Films

Animated films are usually categorized as being the ones for a younger audience and are therefore very popular and get a lot of publicity. As a result of this, they are rated as a U or PG usually. A lot of the animated films that come out nowadays are highly successful. With this being the case sequels of the them are being made. For example Toy Story, Lady And The Tramp, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda etc. By doing this, it creates a larger viral marketing campaign. To spread the word about the specific film, there's a lot of thought put in about advertising. Shops such as the 'Disney Store' sell lots of merchandise to promote and these usually consist of being anything from clothes, plush toys, mugs, stationary etc. In addition, animated films are usually very bright and colourful to attract their target audience.