Resarch for Trailer

I looked at things that I could include in my trailer and did more research into psychological thrillers adn techniques that could make my trailer original and different from other peoples to make it stand out. I first looked at the real life story of Eve White/Black who taught me about people with mental disorders and learn to live with them but thought that it would be intertesting to base my trailer on someone with MPD, I then looked at Gollum and how he speaks to himself in the Lord of the Rings which gives the example that he is alone and lost needing someone to talk too and then the final research I did was on the film Youth in Revolt where the main character creates a new self of himself to be able to do the things that he once thought were imaginable.

MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder)



Gollum - talking to himself, camera angles change to make him look like he is speaking to someone else.



Youth in Revolt - he creates another him who is more rebellious than his real self so he has a new and improved friend.

Romantic Comedies

Research - Romantic Comedy

I had a look at other genres that I would enjoy looking at and analysed the genre, narrative, representation and audience of two Romantic Comedies. Then had a look at theories and genre evolution.

Trailer Analysis - Sinister

There is a childrens drawing that one of the main characters in the film had drawn to make the story be seen as being more scary as children are seen as being innocent and naive compared to an adult that could have a bad history of violence. This means that children are more likely to be scare the audeince and make them fear for the characters life as a child is young and has the rest of there life to live and is less likely to be able to protect themselves which worries the audience. The drawing makes the events that occur seem more real. 

Establishing shot of the location, in most psychological thrillers it is set in a household were a loving family lives. A house is where both the characters and the audience are meant to feel safe as it belongs to them however there is no way of stopping the past of the house and the things that have happened inside and around the area that make events happen. The family are only just moving into the house so the story that happens afterwards is out of their control. 

Stereo-typically of horror films and psychological thrillers there is a couple that are trying to build a family where something goes wrong and one of the couple are in danger. In the film there will then be a scene where the couple have a conversation about how everything is going to be alright and things will get better meaning that the children won't get hurt which is a relief for the characters and for the audience who are then pulled into the life of the characters as they are more able to relate with a happy couple who are having unexplained problems. 

There is always a object of interest which appears more than once during the film, in this film it is a box that is filled with tapes. The box is the only thing in a empty room which shows the audience that this object is very important and will be the thing that causes problems throughout the rest of the film as its seen as being something that needs to be seen in a room. The box is a dark colour with the rest of the room being very dull and dark the could represent that the blackness is a dark and evil colour that is meant to be intimidating for the audience as you can't see whats around you when its dark which creates tension. 

High angle shot looking over the main characters shoulder, like the audience is another character  in the film creating tension for the audience as the fourth wall created by the characters has almost been broken. 

Events being shown as something positive and very happy (equilibrium) and it makes it obvious to the audience that things aren't going to last like this for very long by showing past footage of how people were happy until things started turning bad. 

Bad situations happening out of control of human power which scares the audience and make them worry about the things that will happen to them next and what the consequences are going to be. The audience will start to ask questions about what is going on and want to watch more to find out the next events that will happen to make the story, this is the disequilibrium as the characters are starting to run into problems that will prevent everything from being as good as it was before. 

Most psychological thrillers and horror films have the face which appears (this is the person that is making things go wrong) this face is then becomes what the film is about and finding out what it wants and how it will get it. 

Titles are used to show the audience things that are happening and give them a brief idea of what events are happening in the film and give a more obvious idea on the story as well as narrating the events that are taking place.

Close up of the fear on the characters to show that they are worried and the audience is able to look at the character as if they were the 'villains' in the film who are making and destroying the family and the events that are occurring. 

The face of the film is back to cause more mystery and problems by coming into the audience view and becoming almost there life, to create a sense of fear and worry. 

To be able to show that all psychological thrillers are slightly different I then analysed another film which is Sinister to see the differences in repetition and how different directions produce their own psychological thrillers.

Trailer Analysis - Saw

Saw

Shown at the start of the trailer and it is a low angle shot that is looking up to the dimly lit ceiling that is moving at a very fast past could show the audience that the camera is running from something or trying to escape from a bad situation. The lights are very dark so creates tension as the character might not be able to see all around themselves making themselves worried about what might happen next. 

The object of interest for this scene is a saw which is linked in with the title of the film and also the next scene that will occur in the actual film, this is a prop that is shown on a dirty white floor to show to the audience the events that might be happening. The saw is shown more clearly on the white floor as the saw is a dark colour showing the audience that it is something that the characters wouldn't miss if it was seen during the film.  

The claustrophobic space for  one of the characters during the film shows the audience that dark and sinister things might be happening to the characters during the film. The small space will shock the character as they are not able to see the things that are around them so might have problems when it comes to being able to fully think during the scenes in the film. It is a close up shot of the female characters eyes to show the fear that is in her eyes even though the lighting is very dim so that it is harder to see but it creates a mystery for the audience as they know something weird is happening by looking at the head brace that is part of her costume. 

Shot of a television screen that is showing the face of the villain during the film called 'Jigsaw', the scary face is iconic for the rest of the film as he reappears during the trailer in a range of different places causing problems for the other characters in the film. Again the lighting is dim so the character isn't able to see the background behind the TV. 

Creates a dark mystery for the audience to work out as the events that are happening in the film are being recorded by a camera that is out of view. 

A big group of people is something that you see a lot in films such as psychological thrillers and horror films as the characters get killed off one by one by the villain. The shot is a high angle that allows the audience to see the characters in full view with their costumes and props (this image then stays with the audience throughout the rest of the film) the shot introduces the audience to the characters and the events that happen later on. 

Close up of an air vent. This shows the audience that the characters might be in a place where they find it hard to breath or are looking for a way of escaping. The dirt from the bottom of the air vent introduces the idea that the characters are in a space that is quite old where lots of stories have taken place and never been cleaned. 

A timer which shows a time with no meaning, this will create a tension for the audience as they are not sure on the events that are taking place and what the timer is for. 

One of the last images in the trailer is of the villain again who is wearing a dark (black) suit to make his face stand out. The background is dark and has been blurred out slightly so that the audience is able to get a good view of the character and remember his face for the rest of the film. His face and costume stays with the normal conventions of a dark film as the character is able to hide in the background of the dimly lit background. 

 

To be able to create my psychological thriller to the highest standard I analysed another film where I was able to have a look at how they managed to make there own films and what techniques I could use to make my own, so that people would want to come and see it.

Conventions of a Psychological Thriller

·         Overlap with the horror genre and make things more scary, link to death

·         Characters find it harder to be themselves, have to have further physical and mental strengths

·         Low Key Lighting – shadows create a fear and tension for the character

·         Out of Reality Experience

·         Death (dying and torture)

·         Mirrors

·         Darkness

·         Thrilling activity (unexplainable events)

·         Clues that go on throughout the film

·         Props such as sharp objects

·         Eerie music, even though silence can sometimes create more tension

·         Flashbacks go to a time that was better in their lives and the fear of leaving their ‘good’ side of life in such a bad way. Audience can then also learn more about the character’s

·         Black and white colouring used in costumes of the characters to show that they are in a negative and dull situation

·         Small spaces that are very claustrophobic that can play tricks on both the characters and the audiences mind

·         Titles might be used during the film in the same font and colour as the actual film title

I have already looked at the conventions of a normal trailer for all genres of film however here are the conventions of psychological thrillers and the kinds of things that the audience expects to be shown in a trailer of my genre. Some of the points are things that you would expect to see in other genres and then others such as 'small spaces' are more likely to be seen in a psychological thriller to show the audience that all events that will occur are unexpected and create paranoia. 

Psychological Thriller Trailers

The genre that I am choosing to study and create media products around are psychological thrillers, here are some examples of psychological thrillers that have done very well in the film industry and been able to produce a product of a high standard that has become very successful. These are examples of American Thrillers that all show different plots of films and gives away small details about what sorts of things are involved in psychological thrillers. 

Trailer Conventions

When making my own trailer there are certain conventions that I must follow to be able to product a high quality product. There are traits that I need to add into the trailer to be able to class it as being a trailer that advertises a product, such as including  a film title to be able to give away a small detail of what the trailer and media product will be about.