Using media conventions.
The trailer incorporates several key elements of a disparaging storytelling technique. For the most part, the trailer uses a series of relevant images that explains and suggests a story; for example, in a brief frame, we notice Mr. Day sprawled on the floor covered in blood with the camera looking over the shoulder of Tyrone. The next frame shows Tyrone 'accusing' Alex of the crime. However, there is no explanation of how Mr. Day was murdered or any proof Alex murdered him. The only viable theory that links the murder of Mr. Day with how he was murdered is the gunshots right at the end of the trailer. The gunshots are obscured with the 'SCHEMATA' logo thus, not telling the audience who actually murdered him.
Another convention the trailer uses extensively, is the element of 'fast, paced action', i.e. quick, successive cuts with themes related to fast movement. The key principle of any teaser trailer is to provide the viewer with a brief glimpse of the motifs possibly relevant to the film, without divulging an explicit storyline. One technique which is prevalent in the film industry is to merge several images with succinct durations, thereby evoking a vast array of definitions to the viewer. These media images can mean anything, which is the sole purpose of teaser trailers, due to the fact that the audience make their own minds up about what the film may be about. For example, in our teaser trailer, the class are seen in a restaurant with Mr. Day speaking casually. If you juxtapose this with the clip where Alex protests his innocence, the viewer may draw conflicting parallels in terms of definitions. The cinematography in both (the restaurant is a warm, vibrant atmosphere - the classroom a harsh and ominous shade of black and blue) do not match up, meaning this film could probably serve to reflect media images of success or sincere failure. Taking these points into account, it is safe to argue that we used the 'fast, paced action' media convention effectively to highlight the point in which the viewers perceptions of media images determine their personal response of what the film's plot is.
Another, almost mandatory method utilised in many teaser trailers are the final titles that dictate the title and release date of the said film. Perhaps the basis of the titles at the end of the trailer is to fulfill one purpose. Teaser trailers usually begin with the title of the distributor(s) and/or producer(s), but don't necessarily begin with the title of the actual film. Upon reaching the end, the audience finally see the title of the film. The aim of this may be that it increases the tension aspect or watchable factor i.e. What is the name of this film? Who directed it? What is it about? In our final title, we began with the 'Schemata' title, then the much-used cliche 'Coming Soon'. Since the teaser is exciting to watch, the viewers are possibly influenced to watch it again. This increases the likeliness of word-of-mouth, an aim of teaser trailers.
Developing media conventions.
- Discuss the 'evolution of the teaser'.
- Using 'Amerika'.
Teaser trailers are known for their complex, cinematic storytelling narrative that provides the viewer with a distinct take on the film. Have a look below at the official Hulk (2003) teaser trailer (duration 1:02).
Interestingly enough,
From the video, we can observe several elements which make this film watchable. The background information of the fictional character Hulk is not present, and the studio already assumes that the audience know a little bit about the fictional character.
Challenging media conventions.
Our soundtrack choice aimed to step away from the mainstream and fall into a completely new category of the teaser trailer. As a group, having watched a vast array of teaser trailers, some that fall within the psychological thriller territory and some not, we have noticed a pattern amongst the majority of trailers. To begin with, the majority of trailers we have viewed, predominantly Hollywood-produced trailers, use a selection and varying technique of the symphonic orchestra. The 'symphonic orchestra' is a base that films use to fill in the gap and enrich the sound sense, thereby allowing the viewer to experience an almost revolutionary take to the sequence.
As much as we appreciated this method, we decided to avoid this media convention. Yousif discovered a track that he believes fits into one of the themes of the film ('Amerika' by Rammstein) and we discussed how we can develop this and incorporate it into the trailer. We chose to have numerous images playing in succession with the track, and the accompanying track would fulfill the role of instantly immersing the audience into the world of 'Schemata'.
This has achieved a significant factor. We used a heavier and more aggressive track as opposed to a delicate and consistent one. Our feedback from colleagues and professionals were thrilled at the fact that we used such a track to the best of our ability, and were impressed that it functioned well with the images. Another significant factor is that upon discovering the name of the musicians and the name of the track, viewers were susceptible to interest of the song. People have noticed the extent to which the subject matter of the track bodes well with the theme Yousif had originally evoked.
We challenged the media convention of the symphonic orchestra to accomplish and develop a trailer that aims to avoid the mainstream, and experiment with a track that has no correlation to the symphonic orchestra, thereby challenging a cliche' of the overused media convention. Our use of the said track exemplifies the trailer and adds as well as intensifies a thrilling element.
We noticed how Final Cut Pro (FCP) is used to edit the majority of teaser trailers. FCP delivers an exceptional service to the viewer, using tools such as 'rendering'. According to our media studies teacher, FCP is industry-standard, meaning it is prevalent in the film industry in post-production. We did have intentions to create the teaser trailer on FCP, however, we were limited from using it due to the fact that FCP requires the user to place an entire clip on the hard drive of the system. Since the Macs we used at school are limited in data quantity, we were set to use different video editing software.
As discussed earlier, Premiere Pro only uses the image of the data, extracting only the necessary elements to enable ease of use. Premiere Pro contains many, if not all of the tools FCP possesses, meaning we didn't lose out on things like 'rendering' and 'merging'. Jeremy Thomas automatically assumed we had edited the 'Schemata' trailer on FCP, but when we informed him about what we had actually used, he was surprised and praised our 'professional outlook'.
We challenged the media convention of using FCP as a software that is necessary for all video editing usage. Instead, we used Premiere Pro to complete our task which delivered an exceptional service and provided us with the same tools as FCP meaning that we had no reduction in video quality or services.
- Question 2 : How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
We believe that the combination of our ancillary texts and our main products are both effective and successful in such that each individual product made by the group is linked to another, sharing a relationship with one another to some degree. When we set about creating the main task alongside the ancillary texts, we wanted there to be a clear and distinct theme that ran throughout them that we had hoped that the audience would also see between the three products, these being; the website, teaser trailer and the promotional posters. Having this clear distinction is vital as the target audience may only see the group trailer and this, we oped would make them want to more about the film, we hoped that the promotional posters had the same affect.
The predominant colour used throughout all three product is black, which ca be thought f the as the main theme. I decided upon this as the colour represents shadows, ambiguity and lurking danger which reflects the lurking danger that the characters are faced with in the trailer and the ambiguity of who there enemy truly is, and it is these messages that we wanted, as a group to get across to the audience without however giving away the majority of the storyline. In the trailer we showed this with scenes shot in the dark partially showing the characters behaving erratically and for the most art in fear once again treading of the theme or ideology of lurking danger. We also adapted the colour of black into our website design and opted for it o be the main colour for the background throughout the multiple interactive pages. For the website we used the same font that we used during the trailer for the header on all the pages of the website and the two promotional posters that we produced to make sure that the products were recognisable and flowed well, following the codes and conventions of media texts. The posters however incorporate pictures stills taken whilst filming and have been edited to be used for the posters. We used quite a wide selection of images, the primary poster uses only one cast member sat down in what appears to be protective position, once again the treads on the idea of an unknown danger which is what we hope that the audience will also make this connection. the secondary poster incorporates almost all main cast members minus they're mysterious but wonderful teacher Mr. Day, we decided on this as it reflects the notion of numerous enemies, a class which have turned on each other, were no one is sure of who they can trust.
We believe that overall it is this combination of all of these decisions made during the editing and construction of our main product and ancillary texts to work alongside each other so effectively in advertising the product (the film) as a whole so well as a clear relationship link can be established by the audience through the similarity in the themes that they carry and the conventions that were used, and we believe that it is all of this that aids the audience in establishing it as one in the same.
- Question 3. What have you learnt from audience feedback?
The Teaser
After editing the first trailer, it was shown to a number of colleagues and teachers. The purpose of the trailer was to provide the audience with an enigma surrounding the events of the storyline. The concept, according to some of the colleagues and teachers, was an interesting one. The execution however wasn't solid. A media studies teacher suggested that overall, the trailer was 'good' but was mainly 'substance over flash' and 'probably wouldn't sell the film'. This feedback was also echoed by our colleagues who didn't find the trailer appealing.
Both our media studies teachers outlined several flaws:-
- The trailer was far too long for it to be considered a teaser trailer.
- Far too many titles. This exhausted the viewers and took them out of the story of the teaser.
- The font accompanying the trailer wasn't appealing.
- 'Too much black'. The teachers advised the spaces between each image to be tightened because it felt too slow.
- The trailer didn't hint at any story. Opposed to hinting at a story, it was a series of images of an event that didn't make sense to anybody.
- All the clips were isolated in the classroom. There should be variety.
Furthermore, Youtube users were also less enthusiastic about the teaser with the above comments.
However, the trailer was met with positive feedback in some respects.- The music that accompanied the trailer suited the atmosphere.
- The images, the actions and sound effects all fitted well with the synchronicity of the soundtrack.
- The flashing title of the word 'Schemata' proved popular.
- The clips chosen were relevant. They all felt consistent.
Overall, we felt the negatives outweighed the positives and we set out to make a brand new teaser trailer from scratch. Over time, not only did we get away from the conventions of the first trailer, but produced a completely different teaser that was appealing to all.
The Final Teaser
We had shown the trailer to the original cast who had come in for a test screening of the feature film. After the feature film, they viewed the teaser and we received a universally acclaimed response. They enjoyed the trailer, citing it different to the other trailers in that Yousif's one was 'more of a thriller'.
Layla Rawlins, a developing executive from Film4, viewed the trailer in our school during a visit and also believed the trailer to be 'aspiring to other students'. She liked how the trailer was constructed and 'felt like a teaser trailer'.
Finally, Jeremy Thomas, an Oscar-winning producer and founder of the Recorded Picture Company, noticed the trailer would be 'a brilliant opportunity to market the film'.
The Website
Our initial idea for a website was to produce a very subtle yet effective webpage that provided an aesthetically pleasing base for the film. We drew an effective layout that we believed was, simultaneously, user-friendly and professional.
Upon completion, several prestigious individuals viewed the website and gave favorable reviews.
Question 4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Media technologies were used effectively in every aspect of our production of the media text , we believe without these we couldn't have created a piece with as much out-reach and diversity in terms of the conventions it tackles and the inspiration incorporated for the piece.
In the research and planning stage we utilized online video tutorials to get to grasps with various softwares. On our initial idea for filming and the ancillary task we knew that to produce a product greater than our first portfolio we must get to grips with newer software and tools to make our piece reflect something that of a high level. We knew we couldn't get away using software such as imovie anymore as it was no-where near the crispness and quality editing we needed to execute our piece to a high standard. This is why we stepped up to softwares such as Final Cut Pro (FCP) and Adobe Premiere. Our research has told us that these are used on a professional level, and since our school recently started offering these software packages to use, we would be stupid not to use them. On initial sight these seemed daunting to use , however tutorials on youtube helped us to get to grips with these and in turn create a trailer to a great standard.
The internet was central to the success of our piece, blogger allowed us (as you can see now) a platform to vent our creativity , share and receive comments from other groups and keep documented our progress so we know what we need to add / work on. Youtube allowed us to learn by watching many clips of a simmilar scope as ours, it allowed us to research connotations within the genre and expectations of the audience. We learned camera techniques from this , how to use software and even obtain royalty free tracks for our clips. It also gave us a platform in which to share our footage / media texts. The commenting system enables people to give constructive criticism in which we refined and adapted our work. I believe this is the key to success within a media text as it is our piece we can hold a bias view towards it , however other peoples opinions can open our eyes to other avenues of thought in which will ultimately improve our work.
Our ancillary task which was the website required much research, a lot of designing and note taking went by looking at an array of other websites, however this wasn't the hard part. We had to master the use of a chosen web designing tools such as dreamweaver and wix in order to create a proffessional looking website to complement our media package. We opted to use the online web designer wix.com as apposed to Dreamweaver, this is because Dreamweaver worked mainly on using html (coding) to produce results which we decided with our time limit was not reasonable so we chose the more user friendly wix.
We had to create images from the footage we took, requiring us to use software such as VLC and quicktime for high-res screencaps. We took these and then used photoshop CS5 to create an array of items, pictures for the website, posters and user wallpapers.
Premiere Pro:-
Imovie was the application the team used to edit our interviews that were conducted with members involved in the film such as Ravnit Hunjan and Leon Hady. It proved very useful when it came to editing, cutting, adding transitions and also adding text which explained who the interview was being conducted of and who was conducting it. It is set out in an organised way and is fairly simple to manoeuvre. Clips are easily moved from the camera to the mac and are automatically available to upload when on the Imovie application
