Trailer Research - Memento Analysis

The presentation of the film is structured with two timelines, one in colour and one black and white. The film cuts between the two sequences, highlighting their different purposes. The coloured scenes are shown forward, however the events are ordered in reverse, the black and white scenes are shown as events that happened before. The constant difference in time structure keeps the audience engrossed in the film and gives them a further insight into the storyline.

There is a crime aspect to this film, and questions arising through the plot are left unresolved until the ending of the film. This helps generate suspense and intrigue for the audience throughout the film, emphasised by the scenes of action including a car chase and a fight. Despite the protagonist participating in this behaviour, sympathy is still created by his reasoning being vengeance for his murdered wife, and also his condition of losing his memory. 



Here is the trailer for the film, the structure of the film being in reverse creates more suspicion for the audience, the ending of the trailer showing the website name backwards, it shows that although the structure of the film is not shown explicitly throughout the trailer, it is hinted at with this. 

Analysis of Posters

We took different genres of film and there posters and looked at what they all seperately represented and what impression it gave of the type of film, characters and classification.

Trainspotting

Gone with the Wind

Devil wears Prada



Kidulthood

Test Shots

We created a video of our tests shots that we felt needed experimenting with before our filming date. This has enabled us to see any flaws in concepts or practical issues we will need to consider in filming. It also gave us the chance to see what ideas we have been thinking about would actually look like visually, within our trailer.

Audience Research: Plot

We sent out a survey to all of Year 11, 12 and 13 asking them what they would do if they found £100,000 in their bank account. These were the results we found:

To make our film more interesting we will challenge the ideas of  the audience. We will also do some research into how people would spend £100,000 to give us a broader idea of the realistic options of what people of a similar age to our characters would do with the money.

Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist that believes film are mostly seen from the heterosexual male point of view.

Mulvey argues that the only way to eliminate the patriarchal Hollywood system is to radically challenge and re-shape the filmic strategies of classical Hollywood with alternative feminist methods. She calls for a new feminist Avant- Grande filmmaking that would rupture the narrative pleasure of classical Hollywood filmmaking, she writes; 

'It is said that analysing pleasure or beauty annihilates it. That is the intention of this article"

   

An example of a male view of a film/ scene is Psycho as its degrading view as it shows the character in a vunerable state as she's naked in the shower unable to defend herself. This scene is a classic look in to showing how they use the women figure to shock and excite the audience as the director manipulates the girl and her body to add excitement, terror and thriller in to the scene and film which was shocking and unseen at this time. 

 Laura Mulvey's, 'Male Gaze' theory says how the camera lingers on the curves of the female body, and events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of a man's reaction to these events. Relegates women to the status of objects. The female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily, by identification with the male.

Foley sound experiments

Based on the Iconic coming of age sounds and crime sounds we decided to do Foley experiments of our own to see how we could use sound to convey typical conventions and meaning in our trailer

Jacques Derrida

Jacques Derrida believes that a "text cannot belong to no genre, it cannot be without...a genre". This view shows that all texts have at least one genre, many have multiple genres, or sub genres. "There is no genreless text."

A hybrid genre is a genre that includes elements of two or more genres combined, for example romantic comedies and thriller/ horror. This shows Derrida's theory well as it shows that there are a lot of examples of films with more than one genre.

The examples below show how more than one genre can be given to a particular text.

E.g. romantic comedy

E.g. thriller/ horror

Derrida's theory is something we will be able to show in our trailer, as we are using a hybrid genre in our trailer. However, Derrida's theory is one that is easy to relate to any text, as it is true to all texts, with them having at least one genre.

Theorist: Steve Neale

'much of the pleasure of popular cinema lies in the process of "difference in repetition"'

'genre is constituted by specific systems of expectations and hypothesis which spectators bring with them to the cinema and which interact with the films themselves during the course of the viewing process'

There would be no pleasure without difference.

We derive pleasure from observing how the conventions of genre are manipulated, and seeing how our expectations shift.

Example of when expectation is defied:

In Django unchained, a hard hitting Action Western, comedy is used to portray the KKK.

 

This engages the audience because it surprises them and challenges their expectations of the genre.

Example of when conventions are repeated:

Also the typical Western style is exploited, and the audience enjoy seeing the typical opening credits and setting, this is made more satisfying for the audience because it is very similar to the original western films.

 

Because we are only producing a trailer, we have decided not to include a strong challenge of the genre as we felt it will be impossible to establish the main genre (crime) strongly enough in the course of a short trailer for it not to be undermined by the challenge of another genre within it (e.g comedy).

So we will use repeated conventions of the genre as shown in both the crime iconography research and the iconic sounds of crime research

Audience Expectations of Crime Genre

By carrying out primary and secondary research I was able to see what things our target audience would expect of the crime genre.

A lot of the things that the audience would expect to see from the crime genre are things that we will be able to include in our trailer, however due to the plot of our trailer, filming restrictions and time constrictions of the trailer length, we will not be able to include all of these.

Looking back at my AS coursework, I found this post showing the conventions of a crime film and the things you would usually see. In comparison to what I have found from the audience research, to a degree what the audience would expect to see and what the below mind map shows, is similar. However, the below mind map is more specialized into a certain aspect of the crime genre such as camera shots, character and mise-en-scene.

From this we have decided we are going to include a villain who is mysterious and whose identity remains unknown within the trailer. We have also decided that our 'victims' will be everyday people, we have also decided to have three main protagonists who are the 'victim' characters, to provide a variety of character roles. Something else we have chosen to use based on the audiences expectations is tracking shots, including some CCTV shots (as shown in our test shots post). The sounds of screams and gunshots will be used within the trailer to create the effective of the crime genre, some of this will be sound recorded during filming, whereas other sounds will be added in post-production. Sound is something we have already experimented with in our Foley sound experiments, allowing us to see how best to record the sounds we need.

Iconic sounds of coming of age

We have decided to combine genres so we have also research the iconic sounds of coming of age

From this we have decided we will use the diegetic sound of the traffic as our trailer will be set in mostly urban locations, as we think this will help build tension and give the impression of a fast pace of life.

 

We would also like to include the diegetic sound of doors slamming and footsteps to highlight both the characters emotional turmoil and symbolise their journey throughout the film.

We will now conduct some foley sound experiments to see if we can replicate these sounds. Pleas click here to go to Foley sound experiments

Genre Theorist Research - Carolyn Miller

Carolyn Miller is a genre theorist who suggests that 'the number of genres in any society...depends on the complexity and diversity of society'. She also believes that new media genres develop and formalise quicker than traditional, written genres and therefore genre theory should change for more modern media as the theory no longer applies. Carolyn Miller created a piece of work on the socio-cultural approach to genre theory and argues in her 1984 book that 'rhetorical criticism has not provided firm guidance on what constitutes a genre' and exposed some of the difficulties of applying genre theory to new media.
'rhetorically sound definition of genre must be centred not on the substance or form of discourse but on the action it is used to accomplish'

Taxi Driver from 1976 shows a character who has a military past, and will therefore appear as a hero to much of the audience. This is however proved incorrect through the subsequent actions of the character, on the other hand, in The Place Beyond the Pines, the main character is depicted as someone who would fit a stereotype for a criminal. The protagonist in Taxi Driver is an honourably discharged U.S Marine so he doesn't appear as an obvious threat to the country however the climax of the film sees him trying to assassinate the President. The Place Beyond the Pines released in 2013 shows two main character, one a working class traveler turned bank robber and the other a police officer who is hailed as a hero. The similarity between the two films is that the characters who have served their country get away with their crimes, however the characters are not of the same background, Taxi Driver shows the person committing the crime go free while the opposite happens in The Place Beyond the Pines, resulting in the characters death.

Creating the logo

Since our name was vortex, we decided to have a space them with out logo.
I researched vortex first and we discussed the following photos found through google images

We decided that we liked the bright, almost neon colours and that they had an eye-catching quality we wanted to include in our logo. We decided we like the bottom photo the best because it was less regular than the others and gave the impression that our company is individual and not what you expect which is something we wanted to portray.

 

However, because they are abstract concepts, we can't go and create our own using real life footage, so instead, we researched creating things using adobe fireworks

We watched this video and realised it would be very difficult to create the effect we wanted from scratch using the software we have available, as it would be near impossible to create images such as the ones we found above in the timeframe we have available as most of the logos in the video started with a pre-existing image

We also decided that the logo needed to have the possibility of movement, some type of swirling and spinning which was something which would be near impossible using adobe and we don't have access to any other imaging software

We used the doctor who intro's as inspiration for the movement of our logo, as we felt it gave the impression of a journey.

Instead of adobe fireworks we decided to use an existing photo of the galaxy in PowerPoint and using the animation we made it spin and grow to give the impression of movement.

These are the photos of the galaxy we found using Google image we discussed.

 

We decided that we wanted a more circular image to make more of an impression with the movement and also the edges of the image would be less visible

Our first trial is below

We then decided to change the text to white so it would be easier to read and more striking in comparison to the dark background

We decided to make it so the image only spins in one direction with the text spinning in the other direction, to make it less disorientating and confusing for the audience

We felt this final logo was eye-catching because of the bright colours and also engaging because of the spinning and growing without distracting from the company name because it was a slow spin in the same direction.

Iconic Sounds of Crime

From this we have decided to try to include running footsteps and the electronic beeping as part of our trailer as we felt they would best fit with plot. We will now conduct some foley sound experiments which can be seen here

Genre Research - Research of Crime in other mediums

Crime in British TV typically consists of idyllic countryside setting, before a change in the tone with an unexpected murder. A typical plot can include brutal murders through decapitations, stabbings and burning, this kind of violence is unexpected to the audience initially when they are unfamiliar with the show, and has clearly continued to be enjoyed by audience. Period drama crime shows are also popular, such as Heartbeat which is set in the 1960's and 1970's, this is again set in a remote location in Yorkshire, like Midsomer Murders with the two recurring main characters, Heartbeat has a cast which is led by police officers. They act with authority above the other characters and are seen as bringing peace at the end of every episode, usually as in Midsomer Murders and shown in film with Hot Fuzz, the main characters do not originate from where the series is set, showing a contrast of character within setting. The main characters holding higher ranked jobs also show the lack of competence in the other characters, and potentially an increase in intelligence.

Crime books such as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo address more serious themes such as violence against women and bankruptcy and Nazism. The origin of the book comes from a real life circumstance of the author witnessing a rape, this shows how extensively hard hitting the content is, alarming the audience to a greater extent than some crime TV. Due to a book not being visual, the author can get away with more serious topics and incidents as the audience doesn't have to actually see it, the image is less harsh when the reader them-self is creating it. Some of the most famous crime novels are written by Agatha Christie, an example of this is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. The publication of the novel in 1926 opened the audience up to new kind of plot with the shocking twist ending, paving the way for future crime authors. Similar to TV shows such as Midsomer Murders and Heartbeat, Christie's novel is set in a fictional countryside village, making a contrast to typical crime in real life. Unlike The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the book contains much less graphic material, addressing how much more modern day books can get away with in terms of violence.

BBFC Classification

Prezi exploring the different types of classifications that we could have for our film trailer:  

We have decided to aim to get our film trailer classified as a 12A for cinemas and a 12 for DVD.

The trailer will contain infrequent language and possible portrayal of harmful behaviour such as self-harm but not in a way that is imitable. The trailer will not dwell on violence or gore.

Crime Iconography

For our chosen genre Crime, I made a movie of pictures and videos that are related to iconography of crime and explored the different aspects that we could include within our film trailer.

This short video shows all different elements we wish to include e.g action, running, jumping, panic and excitement. We want the audience to be captivated by our trailer and want them to be keen to watch it.

Genre Research - History of Crime Genre

The crime genre in film began in 1900 with the first ever Sherlock Holmes film, this was a thirty second clip of Sherlock discovering an intruder and the mysterious disappearance of a sack of his belongings. Even from this very early, brief film, conventions of crime which we are so familiar with these days are introduced, such as in The Italian Job, with a strong theme of robbery.

The inspector or detective genre became popular with the release of The Maltese Falcon in 1941. The plot entails a detective trying to stop a jewel theft, this again set the trend for this sub-genre of crime film. The introduction of a famous leading actor into the genre began with Humphrey Bogart being cast in the leading role. At a time when films such as The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Maltese Falcon brought crime films into mainstream cinema.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 




Crime films can vary from following a character who is trying to stop a crime from happening or finding justice, such as Se7en with main characters such as policemen. However most crime films centre around the main character and their pursuit such as The Next Three Days, in this example his actions are not law-abiding, however his intentions are sincere and heroic, making the audience root for him.

 Another popular crime sub-genre are mob films, the most famous being The Godfather. The reference to real life crime proved popular and led to sequels such as The Godfather Part II and Part III, these also incorporated actual events, the death of Pope John Paul I and the Papal banking scandal. This theme is continued into modern day films like Catch Me If You Can and I Love You Phillip Morris.

Theory Research - Narrative theory

For our trailer we needed to explore different narrative theories that we could possibly use for our trailer. We took different theorists along with people within our class and looked at all of them to see which ones we could use or relate to in our trailer. Here's the finished product:



We will now apply all of these theories to any trailer analysis' and also have them in mind when creating our initial storyboard.
The theory we are most interested in is Barthes' Enigmas as from the trailers we have watched we have found this to be the most effective technique used to engage the audience.

Character Research Results

I wanted to receive feedback on the mood boards and the different character options. I asked people to choose their favourite male or female style and which styles either contrast each other or fit together well. The results were interesting and are listed below.

The most popular girl style was Grunge but both Boho and Girly Girl came back as being the same amount of votes so we have decided as we want two girl characters that contrast each other we would have one girl that is Grunge and the other who is girly girl and boho inspired. The audience felt that those two styles would contrast each other and conveys different backgrounds, stories and personalities which is huge aspect of our film trailer.

With the boys styles the results were much clearer, skater boy won by a landslide as people said they preferred it as it was more laid back and casual. They also stated they felt that the skater boy could fit with either girl style as its similar to the grunge girl and even though it contrasts the girly girl it can also fit with it as its so different.

The results of the character investigation have allowed us to see that the characters we will be using within our piece will be a skater inspired boy, a girly girl/boho character and a grunge girl. The styles contrast each other but also hold similarities leaving a lot to be implied by the characters intentions, decisions and the pivotal plot as to what they'll individually do with the money.

Girl Costume Moodboards

For our trailer we wanted three different contrasting characters and I brainstormed different ideas and investigated the target audience as well as codes and convention of characters. I then made a collection of different mood boards to give us a clear insight in to our character options.

Mood board of a boho chic style:

The boho style takes hippy, vintage and Aztec fashion inspiration to create a chic style that gives an impression of a someone who takes pride and time in their appearance but wants to convey that they have a relaxed attitude.

This is a mood board on a girly girl character:

This girly style has different patterns, styles and colours which portray the characters feminine, delicateness and consciousness to impress people. The style is very friendly and approachable giving the impression the person is popular. Most people associated with this style are conventional girls that take fashion as a high priority.

This mood board is on a grunge styled girl:

This grunge styles implies rebelliousness, individuality and confidence. The character is not conforming to society but being themselves showing self assurance. There keen to experiment with different styles, accessories and patterns to show there bold confidence as it shows they are sure of there character and personality and do not need to have other peoples improvement or acceptance.

With this three styles taken in to consideration I made a brief video to show more styles as well as the music element.

Boy Costume Moodboards

We want to have a boy character within our trailer so I explored different styles of boy's that we could include or have to see what would look better with our chosen girl characters and would fit our idea.

A Skater Boy:

This style is very relaxed with jeans and tops being the main aspect it gives the impression the character is easy going and likes to be comfortable with themselves. The style also hints at tattoos, smoking and drinking like in some of the pictures leaving us to be able to explore a wide range of characterisations.

The 'Swag' Moodboard:

This style is a lot more experimental and conveys a vain aspect to the characters as they care about the way they look and impressing people as they take different styles, colours and materials and try to coordinate the outfits to stand out and grab people's attention to them. It shows them as confident and bold as this style is always developing and changing.

The Preppy Style:

This style is different from the other styles as it uses different materials, colours and styles as it wants to imply they are clever and smart. It is a smarter look and shows a sense of pride in dressing well and showing people there interest in looking intelligent and standing out.

Music Video Inspiration

The music video 'I Knew You Were Trouble' by Taylor Swift gives a good insight to one of the the characters we want to portray in our film trailer as the grunge style is also a element of the music video. The character in the music video is represented as misunderstood, confident and bold. 

This music video shows a vulnerable naïve girl trying her best to appear strong, independent and confident. She is conforming to the people around her and what she thinks will keep them around.

As the music video progresses she talks about losing herself  because of her experience with him. The character gave up a lot for him by becoming someone else to impress him. This is something we could explore with in our characterisation as she is so desperate to please people she forgets about who she is. This character is seen as having her innocence taken away and she believes that he's perfect for her but in fact he's just trouble and a bad influence.

The style the character is dressed up in shows an
element of grunge as she's in dark clothes with heavy makeup and pink hair but in earlier shots of her we see her as more feminine, girly and cute. 

The characters emotional development is shown as getting worse as it proceeds as she has lost her confidence and how she's developed into something she's not. It implies that the girl at the end is just a character to hide who she truly is, in case of rejection. The character is conforming to attract the guy and shows how she needs to feel like she belongs somewhere to be able to feel comfortable.



The music video also implies there's an element to him that made her 'lose' herself. This can be interpreted as drug and alcohol taken that he has influenced her to do. The music video shows they go to a bar and a party which is both a place where this are expected so it shows how she's blinded by him to do stuff she wouldn't have done.

 

 The video represents vulnerability, naivety and lose of innocence . The video is summed up in the monologue which concludes the effect it had on her:

'I guess I just lost my balance. I think that the worst part of it all wasn't losing him, it was losing me.'

Music Video Inspiration

For another character option we looked in to other music videos that were different from the other one. 22 came across as a more feminine girl that could be a good character as she could contrast the Grunge character.

 

I researched and found the same artist, Taylor Swift, who portrays an entirely different character, style and concept in this fun, girl and carefree video contrasting brilliantly against the other video. 

In the music video Taylor  is seen as spending a lot of time with her friends and mucking about, dancing, singing and playing with them. The character is seen as carefree and loves spending more time with her friends than boys and just likes to forget everything and just mess about and have fun.

 

The character's outfits are a lot more colourful, fun and friendly as there's splashes of yellow, green, blue and bright patterns. Her makeup is very natural except the bright red lipstick she wears earlier on which is know to be a very sexy feminine colour to wear. This all portrays the character to be very soft caring and ladylike as she's delicate in all her colourful girly patterns and clothes.



 Some shots portray the character as carefree which connects with the grunge character as there both trying to convey to friends, family or acquaintances that there not bothered by anything and there strong, independent and just want to
have fun.

  

The character is lively, bubbly and always seeming to have a good time. Taylor portrays a girl who is well of as she lives in a big house with a pool and massive garden. This parades wealth and materialistic items and the character is seen with different nice clothes, accessories and items that contrast the grunge character who had a minimal amount of stuff and was confided to a small dark places.

The music video inspires a girly girl character who is fun, friendly, bright and carefree who's well off and portrays that's she's problem free and having fun is her priority.

This character also has some elements that connect the two contrasting characters as they both seem to give an attitude of not caring or bothering about what other people think but behind the whole façade there both insecure in some ways and use this 'carefree' attitude to hide behind.

 

This allows us to explore that our two characters may come from different backgrounds but they still share some similarities if that be attitude, insecurities or sense of humour we can explore all this different aspects within our film trailer. There similarities could also lead them to becoming close and connecting eventually.

Here's the music video that I got the gifs and character inspiration from: