Past student film trailer
- 1. FILM TRAILER Analysing Past Student Work
- 2. CREATIVE IDEAS THAT WORKED WELL The character development works really well. You see how she acts like a normal teenager, we watch her get bullied, we see how this affects her behaviour and how she changes her image by cutting her hair. Seeing this in a short amount of time makes you feel as though you want to find out more about what’s happening. You want to get to know her more to see if she’s done something to receive the bullying. We see how other characters change towards her. The first time she walks down a corridor in school she gets bullied, the second time it’s almost like they’re afraid of her. This shows development within the storyline leaving viewers wanting to know what happened. The variety of different camera shots used makes the trailer visually interesting to view. The editing is done in time with the music drawing emphasise towards character actions. The changing of lighting works well. It’s bright at the start of the trailer and then changes to night time scenes reflecting her personality changing for the worst. The storyline was well thought through. They have taken sections throughout the narrative to show in the trailer which grabs viewers attention well.
- 3. EDITING There aren’t many transitions used in the trailer. Fades to black are mainly used between the changing from footage to intertitles and then a fade to black to then cut back to the footage. This helps keep a smooth flow between the change from footage to text and then back to footage. The fact that it is used each time makes it look professional and not just put in for no reason. At the end of the last scene the footage fades to black taking viewers away from the story which they were watching leaving them wanting to find out more. The majority of the clips cut in time with the background score which helped to bring emphasise on the change of scenes. Some of the actions were also don’t in time with the background score such as the character throwing a bottle in the tunnel. As this was done on a strong beat the violent action was emphasised. Some of the scenes are fairly long which isn’t conventional for film trailers but it does show parts of the narrative and leaves viewers wondering what will happen to the girl.
- 4. CAMERA TECHNIQUES The first shot shown is a close- up of the girl. This brings viewers face to face with the main character so we can see what she looks like. This is important as we can then visually see how the character develops, for example cutting her hair shorter in the second section of the trailer. I really like the long shot of her walking down a road with the camera tracking her to the left. This shows the location in which the character is. The camera movement isn’t jolting creating a professional feel to the scene. A long shot is used when she is walking through a corridor of teenagers the first time. This allows viewers to see her timid body language in comparison to the other teenagers relaxed body language. It also allows us to see the different bullying actions they do towards her such as tripping her up.
- 5. CAMERA TECHNIQUES The close- up shot of her fist clenching is good. It connotes her anger which is the first indication we get that she is possibly going to try and get revenge and turn violent. The long shot of a group of teenagers beating up someone on the floor whilst the other girl is sitting on a bench is effective. It shows that she isn’t brave enough to interfere whilst the group of teenagers are around. There is also the comparison between the group of teenagers who can rely on each other and the girl who is sitting by herself with only herself to rely on connoting she doesn’t get along with the others.
- 6. CAMERA TECHNIQUES The low angle of the girl looking down into the camera works well at this stage in the trailer. It indicates a change in her personality and social status. It provides her with power as it feels as though she’s looking down on the viewers. It suggests that she is going to do something bad to get back at the bullies. A close- up shot of the girl cutting her hair emphasises the action and connotes a change in her personality which is vital towards the storyline. It the cuts to the camera being on the floor filming the hair falling to the floor. This symbolises her nice side disappearing and changing for the worst. Again, the close- up is emphasising the action. There is a medium shot through a door frame showing the girl having a tantrum in her room. As the camera is placed just outside of the door frame we feel as though we’re spying in on her. It makes us feel like we want to find out what is making her act like this. Is it just the bullies or is there more to it?
- 7. CAMERA TECHNIQUES A tracking medium shot of the girls legs is used as she is walking holding a knife. The shot draws emphasise towards the knife and the tracking movement makes it feel like we are involuntarily following her and cannot stop her from what she’s about to do. The long shot of her walking away down a path connotes that she’s walking away from home and her school life. She’s walking into darkness connoting her complete change of personality. The last close- up shot brings viewers face to face with her again like the start of the trailer, only this time you feel a bit weary of her as you know what she’s capable of.
- 8. MISE- EN- SCENE The lighting at the start of the trailer is bright representing the innocent side of her. Towards the end of the trailer after we see her having a tantrum in her room, cutting her hair short and then holding a knife to a teachers throat she is filmed outside at night. The darkness now represents her personality which has changed for the worst. She is never filmed with a group of friends suggesting she doesn’t fit in with other people. The choice of location suits the scenario. Bullying tends to start at school and then spreads to out of school hours, for example in parks. At the start of the trailer she doesn’t wear her hood up but towards the end she does. Stereotypically, the public are scared of teenagers who wear their hoods up as it hides their identity so they assume something bad will happen. It symbolises she has changed and had become a more violent individual compared to the start of the trailer. Alcohol is captured in the scene at her home in the kitchen. This suggests that either the daughter or the mother could be an alcoholic. This leaves audiences wanting to know more about the girls home life. A scene shows her carrying a knife and then holding it to a teachers throat. A knife connotes violence and possibly death. It strongly suggests that the girl needs help and support as we can see how her personality is changing a lot. The object suggests the film will be a crime or action film genre. She wears dark clothing throughout. This makes her stand out when she is filmed in the brighter locations showing she doesn’t fit in at the school. When she is filmed at night walking down a path she blends into her surroundings connoting she has now adapted into a person she wants to be.
- 9. SOUND The background score sounds like a song on a album. It plays from beginning to end. This creates a feeling that it’s almost like a music video if you take out the little dialogue and sound effects. I think to make it seem more like a trailer they should maybe have chosen a different background score at the beginning to represent her innocent side and then used this sound track towards the end connoting her character development. Sound effects were used effectively, for example, when the alcohol bottoms fell off the kitchen side and when the girl through a bottle to the floor. The sound effects appeared realistic and added a realistic feeling to the footage. A siren is heard when the girl is sitting on a bench by herself. This connotes the film genre crime and possibly action. It suggests something bad has happened and emergence assistance is needed. It suggests that this environment isn’t a safe place to be. There was only a small amount of dialogue throughout the trailer. I think conventionally there is normally a bit more with quotes that capture audiences attention. The teacher says “Who are you?” when the girl holds a knife to her throat. This again connotes character development and change.
- 10. WHAT DIDN’T WORKED WELL I think the main thing that didn’t work well was having the same background score throughout. It didn’t reflect the character development as well as the footage did. I also think most film trailers include an age certificate so viewers know if they’re old enough to view it. Also, age certificates also indicate as to what sort of content to expect in the film. Viewers would probably want to know if it’s something which would be alright to bring a child to or if the film shows a lot more violence than the trailer. I think they could have included a bit more dialogue to take away the music video feeling. Including some dramatic quotes would really grab viewers attention making them think the script is just as interesting as the footage.
- 11. HOW SUCCESSFUL WAS IT? I think the trailer is really good. I loved the narrative which is shown and I think the best part about it is the character development of the girl. Mise- en- scene and lighting are elements they took into consideration to think about how this would reflect the characters personality. The intertitle fonts were realistic and suits the genre of the film. They included institutional references at the start of the trailer which is conventional. There was a huge variety of different camera shots used and some different camera movements. The framing looked well thought out and there didn’t appear to be anything filmed by mistake. It portrays it’s film genre crime and action well by the scenes shown. I just think the background score for the first half of the trailer could have been more effective if it was something different and reflected the characters personality at the start of the trailer. Looking at what they did well and points I’ve picked up on for improvements, we’ll consider these elements in our own production.