Saturday, 28 January 2017

Did I successfully follow my list of trailer conventions?

Before I created my trailer I created a list of conventions (posted on an early blog post) that I should follow in order to create a high quality, professional-standard comedy-drama trailer. I came up with this list of conventions after analysing three comedy-drama trailers, Juno, School of Rock and Forres Gump. The list is as follows:
  1. The narrative should follow Todorov's 5 Step Theory of Equilibrium, however it should not show the final stage as this will leave my audience intrigued enough to watch the whole film.
  2. The comedy element should come from a character (mise-en-scene is very important in portraying this.)
  3. Use sound-bridges in order to create more layers to the trailer.
  4. Use shot-reverse-shots in order to portray how characters react to each other and to explore relationships.
  5. Use day-to-day locations in order to make the film seem more 'realistic' and therefore be relatable to the demographic.
  6. Use montage editing in order to give the audience a brief overview of the whole film.
  7. Use natural lighting, again to make the scenes seem more believable and realistic.
  8. Use a soundtrack that matches the tone of the scenes - and therefore emphasises the mood you are trying to portray.
Did I follow this list?
  1. I followed Todorov's 5 step theory of equilibrium - which is followed in many real media trailers. I briefly showed the first step of 'the state of equilibrium' when I show the protagonist walking down a hallway and there is a close up shot of her stomach with no bump. However this is only very quick as straight after the 'disruption stage' starts as she picks up the pregnancy test. Here I challenged convention by making the first stage so quick, it almost wasn't there, however I did this in order to throw my audience straight into the climax  of the trailer and allow them to engage with my protagonist straight away. The third stage of 'recognition' begins when the audience see my protagonist talk to her parents about her pregnancy - as she is seen facing her consequences. The fourth stage of 'repairing the damage' is hinted when the 'nerds' ask her to prom and when they help her as she goes into labour - because this starts portraying to audiences that she is going to be alright. The fifth and final stage of 'a new equilibrium' is not shown in my trailer. This is conventional of trailers as it means not too much information about the film is given away and leaves the audience intrigued enough to watch the full movie.
  2.  I portrayed the elements of comedy through certain characters and their mise-en-scenes. I created three stereo-typical 'nerd' characters to use as my comedy elements. I dressed them in three different over-exaggerated, stereotypical nerds styles, to maximize the humour of their scenes.
  3. I used multiple sound bridges throughout my trailer. I carried through from scenes over to different scenes which related to what the character in the previous scene is talking about. For example the line of dialogue by the dad which reads "you've got to find people, who love you for exactly who you are" carries on from the scene with the protagonist and her day and the speech goes on top a montage of shots of the 'nerds' making Nessa smile. 
  4. I used many shot-reverse-shots in my trailer. A specific example of a shot-reverse shot that I used is when my protagonist is having a conversation with her parents about what to do in her situation. I used a shot-reverse-shot here as it allows the audience to see how my characters react with one-another and explore their relationship. 
  5. The locations of my trailer are conventions of comedy-drama films as they are normal, day to day locations, such as a school, a park and a house.
  6. At the end of the trailer there is montage editing. The shorter shots allow the audience to have a brief overall picture of the film itself and sums up a lot of the trailer. I personally used the montage editing to portray all my protagonists positive moments throughout the film as my montage followed shots of my protagonist feeling down, so I used it as a contrast.
  7. I used natural lighting in all of my scenes to create more realistic situations - I varied the time of day in which I filmed when I wanted to change the lighting type to portray different tones.
  8. I change the music in the trailer to match the tone of the scenes. For example, when the first credit scene comes down, 'kill the director' starts playing. This loud, in-your-face, upbeat songs allows the audience to understand that they're being thrown straight into the climax of the trailer.

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