Group Brainstorm

We brainstormed as a group and thought of different scenes that could potentially be funny for a young audience. We might not use all of these ideas but may shoot them and see how they turn out. We also need to think about the props used and how they could become quite expensive and the locations might be too hard to film from so theres a few things we need to think about before actually starting to film these scenes.

• We had an idea of having Steve the vampire walking down a busy corridor in the school and lifting his hands up and parting them like Moses and the Red sea, and as he is walking through the 'walls' of people collapse and he is swarmed by students and looks to be helplessly drowning in people.
• He sneaks through the window of what looks like a girl's bedroom, and creeps over to the 'girl' in the bed. As he goes to bite the person, they wake up and turn around, and it's actually a gay guy. The vampire then screams as the gay guy jumps on him.
• Steve walks into a room and theres a girl with blood all round her mouth (ketchup), romantic music comes on as he stares at her. She then holds up a burger with ketchup on and says "want some?"
• The vampire is lurking in a tree, reference to twilight, he then clumsily falls out and lands on a trampoline and bounces back up.
• Steve eats Garlic Bread.
• In the midst of a party, we see Steve led faced down on the floor, drunk.
• A werewolf walks into the party with fluff and ears on him, everyone looks in shock, then two girls say, "he didn't get the memo" "It's not fancy dress", the werewolf then walks out sad and confused.
• Steve has a really fat cat that has its own cape, shot of him holding the cat with its belly out.
• Stood in the forest on a windy day, stood in a power stance, with his cape blowing in the wind. Cape blows round and hits him in the face.

  Locations            
                                                    

1. Around School, Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School

The school was built in 1912 and so has an old fashioned look to it, we are hoping to incorporate this old fashioned feel into our movie trailer as it relates to how old the first dracula was. This location is also very easily accessible to film at due to it being our school, and we would not need permission to film here.


2. Around the Streets, Crawshawbooth, Baxenden, Burnley

We would be able to use surrounding streets both near our homes and in local towns, as these locations are easily accessible for all members, and we would easily be able to film various scenes if necessary. Due to these areas being easily accessible, we would be able to get our friends in to act as extras easily.


3. Fields

We wanted to use a mixture of woods and fields to create a rural setting, to contrast with the school and hall.


4. Townley Hall

Townley Hall is in Burnley, it's quite old fashioned looking, and was built in the later early 1500's. It's age and look mean that this filming location would tie in well with the Vampire genre. and the grounds as well as the building would be suitable for filming on although we'd probably have to get permission.


5. Gawthorpe Hall

Gawthorpe Hall is just outside of Burnley, much like Townley Hall, it is an old fashioned with majestic gardens surrounding it. Gawthorpe, like Towneley would work well with our genre, due to the building looking similar to those used in various vampire films. Again we would have to get filming permission from the owners first.


6. Our Houses

Our houses are obviously easy to film from because we wouldn't need permission. It would also give a sense of reality to the film as our houses are clearly lived in and would look like real bedrooms. As our main character does not live in a stereotypical manor/castle, we feel that just an average home where the vampire lives would add to the comedy of the trailer.

Potential Locations

· Around school

· Streets-night-time/evening

· Fields

· Towneley Hall

· Gawthorpe Hall

Props list

Cape

The cape prop is to make it clear to the audience of the vampire character, as capes such as the one pictured are synonymous with Vampire films, such as Dracula. The cape will be worn by our protagonist Steve.

• Plastic Fangs

The plastic fangs will be worn by our vampire protagonist in our film, the fangs, much like the cape, signify the characters vampire status, and also add in comedy to our film trailer due it imparing his speech slightly, adding a lisp.

• Face Paint

We would need face paint to help give the vampire character a pale complexion, which is needed for a vampire character. We will use glittery eyeliner as well to give the vampire a more effeminate look, as he is a "glampire"

• Blonde Wig

We would need the blonde wig for a scene involving the vampire trying to bite someones neck, believing they are a girl, only to find it is actually a man in a wig. The bright wig shown in the picture is similar to those seen in various gothic and vampire films, so it will tie in nicely with our film.

• Fake Blood

We will be using fake blood in our production, due to vampires needing to feed on blood, and is a key staple in vampire films.

• Waist Coat

We will be using the waistcoat for our Vampire costume, to give the character a posh-er, Victorian style look, inspired by Vampire characters from books from that era, when Vampire novels started to become much more prominent.

 

•  Hair gel

We will be using hair gel for our main characters slicked back hair, done in a similar style to that of other similar vampire characters such as Dracula and Robert Pattinson.

• Ketchup

We will be using Ketchup in one of our scenes, using it as a prop as it is meant to confuse our Vampire into believing a girl has cut herself and is bleeding. Ketchups dark appearance and thick texture means that it can be easily used for our filming and be clearly visible in our trailer

Initial Ideas

For our group’s initial ideas, we put various ideas together for what our trailer was going to be, such as what genre the film would be. We put together a group of ideas we had come up with, and ended up with three ideas which we thought we could do the best: a Crime Thriller, a Romantic Comedy and a Vampire Parody. We eventually settled upon the idea of a Vampire Parody after voting upon which idea we wanted to do, as we all had particularly strong feeling towards the recent spur of vampire films and television shows coming out in recent times, and it was an area which had plenty of material to be parodied.

We have taken inspiration from various different vampire programmes and films, but one in particular we have taken both inspirations and ideas from the Twilight saga and its films. With the series gaining huge success over recent years, with the story following the romance between a vampire and a human girl, we felt that we could parody many things in the films, such as the romance of a vampire and a human, as well as the character of Edward Cullen in the film, who is played by teenage heart-throb Robert Pattinson (pictured).

We also looked at the music video “Vlad the Impaler” by the British band Kasabian, which is about a vampire character. The video is a comedic parody of vampire movies as well as B-movies, showing the vampire to prey on vulnerable women, whilst also fighting off nuns who are using holy crosses on the vampire, using various ideas taken from both novels and films about vampires. The vampire in the video is played by Noel Fielding, known for roles in comedy shows such as The Mighty Boosh, and so his take on his vampire character was comedic, both in the appearance of the vampire and the actions of the vampire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM5YDI7ttME – music video for Vlad the Impaler.

We then discussed ideas of where we could for scenes to put into our trailer. We put forward various ideas, such as at a nearby stately home/hall called “Towneley Hall” and another called “Gawthorpe Hall”, as the houses have been around since Victorian times, and would contribute to the overall theme and feeling of the film trailer, using shots of the exteriors to use as possible settings for the vampires home, inspired by and parodying the settings from films such as “Dracula” and “Nosferatu”.

Batman Trailer analysis
It is clear from the film trailer and film poster that this is a very dark film of the action genre. The ‘Bat’ symbol is present throughout the trailer, this is because and fans and even non-fans recognise this symbol as a signifier or the ‘superhero’ Batman. The trailer starts off with Batman stood on top of a building alone, there is a blue tint over the scene, this colour connotes sadness and misery perhaps foreshadowing what is to come.

There is then a shot of Batman looking over Gotham again as if he is “watching over Gotham” reinforcing the expected hero persona. There are then many explosions again with a blue tint, the explosions are obviously a symbol of destruction, they all show the companies that has invested in the film such as Warner Bros and Legendary pictures which are well known companies and have brought out many good films. There is also DC Comics which is well known for creating The Incredible Hulk, Superman and Spiderman. These have all been massive successes and therefore make DC Comics a reliable company.

The Joker then says “Where do we begin?” and shows a birds eye view of Gotham which sets the scene. He then speaks about “Cops and Lawyers” and shows a clip of Gordon, a police officer and Harvey Dent, a lawyer. This shows that these two people are obviously main characters and are probably going to be targeted by the Joker.
The Joker then says “What happened?” and there is a flash of Bruce Wayne, both as Himself and Batman. This gives the impression that it is Batman who is preventing the criminals from committing crime which would be correct, but the Joker wants to change this.
There are then many explosions and a scene of the Joker laughing; this is then broken up by a clip of Harvey Dent saying “Rachel’s told me everything about you” to Bruce Wayne which is followed by “I certainly hope not”. This offers comic relief for the audience which breaks up the seriousness and darkness of the trailer. It’s also dramatic irony because the audience knows that he is Batman but the other characters don’t.
There is then more explosions and destruction, which again is broken up by a scene with medium close up shots of Bruce and Rachel in which Bruce says “When you said we’d be together did you mean it”, this shows the audience that there will be a bit of romance in the film which makes it a little more interesting and more appealing to a female audience.
There is another comedy line in which Harvey asks Albert the butler “Any psychotic boyfriends I should know about?” to which the audience knows that Batman is the answer. This is then confirmed by a shot of Batman jumping on top of a car. The diegetic sound of the glass is very sharp and stands out; this is obviously enhanced by sound effects.
There is then a long blackout in which the Joker’s voice can be heard. The Joker is the main focus of the trailer, and is used as a narrator throughout to comment on the action and what happens, i.e. “Gotham needs a better class of criminal and I’m going to give it to them”.
The line “The night is darkest before the dawn, but I promise, the dawn is coming” spoken by Harvey Dent is a signature line in the trailer. Not only does it refer to The Dark Knight but it also says that Batman will, perhaps, be at his lowest point in this movie but he will get through it because “the dawn is coming”.
There is a small clip of the police force smashing the Batman projector light giving the impression that they have lost all hope.
The Title is capital which stands out to the audience with a black background and the faint outline of the Batman symbol. This is what is left in the heads of the viewer. There is then the words ‘coming soon’ and the website if the viewer wishes to get further information.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=6UBP2nXtRRo

Trailer analysis

The trailer starts off with the song ‘She’s so lovely’ by Scouting for girls, which shows Georgia Nicholson’s personality perfectly. Its very up beat and the use of non-diegetic sound lightens the mood and makes the trailer memorable.

There is then an establishing shot of Eastbourne which sets the scene. Georgia then explains that she is “the new Georgia”, this is something that all teenage girls strive for which shows that teenage girls are the target audience.
The logos for Paramount pictures and Nickelodeon then come up; these are both well known companies which makes the movie reliable and bound to be a success. Nickelodeon is also well known for its children’s programmes and films so it is mostly like going to and out to young people.On the quotation “When you’re 15 years old” there are then clips of Georgia with her friends and having fun, these are moments that all girls can relate too. She also mentions that she is now a ‘woman’ because she is wearing a bra; this is something that a lot of teenage girls looking forward to as it means that they’ve finally grown up. These are all things that attract a young female audience.There are many photo snapshots of Georgia and her friends, these have badges or stickers round them such as smiley faces and polka dots. There are a lot of clips in the trailer that young people can relate to such as an annoying sibling, i.e. Lily, and beauty related disasters, such as, shaving her eyebrow off. These events show that not only is it is a chick flick it’s also a Rom-com. This is confirmed when comedic moments are mixed with romantic moments. Georgia then says “I’m very ugly and need to go into an ugly home”, although this is a comedic line it also shows underlying self consciousness which is what all teenagers feel at some point or another. When she is sat in the dark, its shows that there will be sadness in the movie. As shadows are dark and connotes misery.The trailer then “from the makers of Bride and Prejudice and Bend-it-like-Beckham”, if you’ve enjoyed the film then you will surely enjoy this one as it’s from the same directors. It also shows reliability because the movie has come from successful directors. The title is a sans-serif, pink font on a white background; this is a classic style for a chick-flick. There is also a pair of pink lips which is an ideal symbol for the film.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fpuZYQqFzg

FILM TRAILER CONVENTIONS

The main purpose of a film trailer is to inform the audience (potential customers) about the film, to make them excited; interested and so to persuade them to go and see the film. There are many ways in which a film trailer can be created this depends however on the type of film they are trying to promote. Films with different genres will each be portrayed and ‘sold’ to the viewers in their unique ways to entice their potential audience. For example…  The film trailers main purpose is to leave the viewer with an exiting feeling, a feeling of anticipation giving them an impatient urge to go see the film. It needs to ‘tease’ the audience, a film trailer has the effectiveness of being on a personal level with the viewer with the use of non-diegetic sound (voice over man) aimed at the viewer encouraging them to come and watch. This can only be done on film trailers unlike still image advertising (film posters) which will be discussed later. Sound plays a very important role in trailers because even without visuals, a sense of the genre and preconceptions of what the film will be about will have been formulated in the viewer’s mind For example in the film The Dark Knight the audience are almost immediately thrown into a calamity of explosions and car chases with big names such as heath ledger featuring as a main character in the film. This film in particular is a great example in how film trailers play a huge part in what the general public go to see at the cinemas this trailer immediately aims its film at the already infamous ‘batman’ fans and comic enthusiasts which plays on the audiences familiarity with the batman franchise, secondly with its action packed trailer aiming at an audience who are interested in that particular genre. Finally with its star-studded character line-up widening its fan base. By reaching such a large audience they are working their way up on the hierarchy of importance within media world changing opinions of millions of viewers. Generating huge success for future batman films.

      The way a film is promoted to the public plays a huge part in whether the film will be successful or not. Although trailers are the main form of film promotion it is important that they are advertised correctly for example If it’s a romantic ‘girly chick flick’ film trailer then It should be shown during the day in between breaks of day time TV and in the evening in between breaks of ‘coronation street’ times with are seen stereotypically as viewed mostly by the female gender ‘housewives etc’. There are of course other ways in which to promote a certain film, posters for example however these aren’t seen as being as effective.      A film poster must speak to the audience in a way a film trailer cant it’s a still image which means it must capture its audience at first glance it must give an idea of the films genre and story line through one image. Furthermore these must be placed carefully in order to capture an audience by placing these posters on the side of buses, billboards, and bus stops etc. finally other companies such as Orange the phone company have been getting together with cinemas as a way of promoting films that are shown by offering ‘2 for 1’, ‘Orange Wednesdays’ playing a small part in the distribution of films today.

        Every trailer should have its target audience e.g. Teenagers. Without any specific target audience the trailer isn’t going to encourage anyone to go and watch the film the trailer is advertising; primarily because there is no audience. Once the target audience is identified the trailer can then be created to appeal to that audience.

As a teenager what I’m looking for in a film trailer is something that immediately catches my attention right from the word go! It has to have the ability to make me laugh, smile and immediately want to go see the film at the cinema. You have to remember that with the use of a film trailer you are wanting the audience to go out and pay to watch the full movie, with that in mind the film trailer must be appealing enough without showing the entire ‘best-bits’ of the film leaving surprises in store for the audience a film trailer is meant for the audience to want to go see more not less! For example recently I saw a trailer on TV for the new Inbetweeners movie; The Intbetweeners is an already existing TV series, which I am a big fan of! None the less the film trailer played a brilliant role in catching the attention of me ‘a teenage viewer’ with the Inbetweeners being a very teenage orientated film genre its comedic and all about the lives of a group of teenagers in identical scenarios; going abroad for the very first time for example - something which many teenagers can relate too, the trailer gave me a taste of what was to come in the full film however I was surprised when I saw more into the storyline I didn’t feel as though the trailer ruined what was to come in the full movie, this along with its already existing fan-base and catchy one liners ‘PLAYAAAAS’ is a brilliant example of why it did so well, selling millions of cinema tickets and expanding its fan base. It played on the audiences existing knowledge to fulfil their expectations without giving away all the storyline.

Trailers use a number of conventions the use of music maybe movie soundtracks, in which with the film itself a soundtrack is brought out simultaneously giving it more of an appealing technique. This use of horizontal integration with a soundtrack being brought out together with the movie creates more publicity for the movie whilst simultaneously they are helping to promote each other.

 With the use of a well-known actor or actress staring in the film would make it appeal to me more just like in the film ‘Valentine’s Day’ the whole of the cast members were made up of a-list celebrity actors/actresses which is one of the main reasons why it was so popular.

        There are some bad qualities when it comes to looking into a film trailer however, although they are there to encourage a potential audience just as a film trailer plays a huge part in the viewers expectations of the movie it can however leave them disappointed, I speak from a first hand experience when I say, I have been enticed by a films trailer advertisement with it being full of exciting fast paced scenes, comedy full one-liners and its underlying love story my expectations are at there fullest as I go to see the film at the local cinema only to find no surprises all the ‘good bits’ had been shown in the trailer there was nothing left in the film worth watching, a film needs to live up to its trailer expectations  and that certainly didn’t!

Introduction

Hi my name is Gabrielle and welcome to my media A2 portfolio blog, here i'll be uploading videos, pictures and posts throughout my media production coursework. Giving you an insight into my groups research and planning as we produce our vampire spoof comedy trailer.