The final blog

Hi

I'm not going to be updating this any more, as this was just for the ISOLATION? project. However, I have a new project in the works, and the blog for that can be found at the below link:

http://georgesnextfilmtrailer.blogspot.com/

Evaluation of trailer

1.

Visual signifiers:

Almost the entire trailer was in black and white, except for the ending, which signifies quite a plain, blank atmosphere - until the end, which is suddenly a lot more dramatic.

Voiceover:

We did not have a voiceover in our trailer, because we didn't feel it was needed. We had captions to tell the story, but we did not want to give too much away.

Elements of mise-en-scene:

The story was told mainly just by shots of me sitting alone or walking off into the distance, looking alone. The captions said that my character is completely alone in the world… or is he? And the trailer ends there.

Quotes:

We hardly have any speech at all in our trailer. The only time it is used is right at the end, when my character shouts out, 'No… NOOOO!' We did think about using speech a bit more, but the character is alone for the whole trailer, so it would be a bit pointless.

Captions:

We used captions frequently throughout the trailer. We did feel the captions were very important, because it was the only method we were using to tell a story. I think using captions was very successful, not just for explaining the story to the audience but also for creating suspense. The only downside was that there was a spelling mistake on one of them.

Camera shots/angles

A lot of people thought that our establishing shots of the streets were very good. Aside from that, we had close ups on my face and eyes in the park, and long shots of me walking into the distance. Some of our viewers have told me that they thought our shots looked very professional.

2.

The only character in the film we ever see is the main boy. Obviously as he is played by me he is around my age, and our discussions about the character brought us to the conclusion that he is very disturbed - he has no friends, he hangs around in the park alone and he is being stalked by zombies (which might be real, or in his mind.) Not much else is known about him, even amongst ourselves - he is a very mysterious character. We never even came up with a name for him. In my portrayal of this person, I tried to portray his slightly crazy persona by rolling my eyes erratically and the camera shots worked with this by zooming in on my face.

3.

Our film is a thriller about zombies. Our trailer has a Warner Bros. logo at the start, which is the production company we decided would be appropriate to make our film. We thought of Warner Bros. because they are an extremely successful production company and we thought our film would sell better if a renowned production company was running it.

4.

We thought the main theme of the movie would appeal to a male audience, which is why we were originally going to have a female main character to draw in both sexes. Unfortunately I had to eventually take up the role, so this plan might not have worked out so well. We didn't talk about age much, but I guess it would probably be a teenage thing, seeing as it is made by teenagers and the main character is around 17. It could also appeal to younger children, because of the zombie theme - and from what we've discussed so far, the plot doesn't seem to be particularly complicated, so young children might not find it difficult to understand.

5.

The song we used in our trailer was Isolation by John Lennon. This was chosen by Ned, probably because it fitted in with the 'isolation' theme. Some people have commented on the choice of song, saying that it was the perfect choice and really captured the emotion used in the trailer. Because the trailer only has one character, that will probably attract teenagers (and not many other people) to watch it. However, the professional-looking editing and establishing shots might also attract people who have an eye for well-made amateur films.

6.

I have learnt quite a few things to do with editing on an iMac during this project. For example, I was taught how to make certain special effects in a film, like making it rain or splitting the image in half. I have an iMac at home, so I am quite excited about practicing these skills in my leisure time. I find that messing around on a computer for an hour can be very productive for learning new things. If I was to do this project again, I would probably try to do more of the editing myself. Although the editing was truly amazing, it was nearly all done by one team member, and I would have liked to practice it a bit more.

It's finished!

Okay, so I know I haven't posted on here for AGES... but I bring good news! Our wonderful trailer has been completed! I owe Ned everything for the marvellous editing, he's been such a valuable part of our team. Here is the YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okXI2ttuqQ0

So yeah: that's pretty much the whole thing. Will later be posting some stuff about my opinions, how I would rate it, that kind of thing and then after that... well, I'm not sure if I'll be updating this blog any more, but keep your eyes peeled on my user just in case.

The editing and such

Hi bloggers!

Just wanted to let you know that we've started the editing. We haven't got that far yet, but we have plans on how we want to do it and we are learning so much! It won't be long before it's finished. I was going to list all the shots we used, but I'm terrible at identifying shots, and I haven't received the email about it yet (not mentioning any names, mm-hm Ned.) However, I added the storyboard some time ago, so that should give you some ideas...

Bye for now!

The latest on the film

Okay, well quite a lot has been happening over the last few days:

First off: We did some filming and set a date to do some more.

Second off: Natalie had to pull out of filming because she couldn't do the date we'd planned. This wasn't her fault, because we planned it very last minute, and luckily we had a smashing substitute - me!

Third off: We finished filming today! India couldn't come, because she had to babysit her six-year-old sort-of sister (ooh, I'm good at alliteration) but Matty, Ned and myself managed to pull it off. I would like to take this opportunity to mention what a wonderful team I'm working with!

We will start the editing on Monday (well, I say we'll start it. We have in fact already done some screencaps and things.) And after that I'll post the video up here!

Oh and by the way, we also have a fantastic film of Matty climbing up a slope at the railway station. And Matty misread the storyboard - he thought it said '200M out' when in fact it said 'ZOOM OUT'!

Useful link

Hi there

Yes, I know I said I'd try to give some updates on our film in the next post, but nothing's really happened on it yet, but I'm likely to have some more info later in the week. In the meantime, please enjoy this useful and relevant link:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/8332523/Narrative-theory-notes

Links to trailers

Hi

Here are some links to trailers that I like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAUrDiQFCN4 (The Scouting Book for Boys)

Well, it was predictable I was going to choose this one, because it's one of my all-time favourite films. I like this trailer because it's informative, it tells the basic plot but not too much, it's easy to understand and it's something that I think a lot of modern people can relate to. I also love the newspaper quotes at the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nzl50a86DM (My Sister's Keeper)

This film I have not seen, but I have heard it's really good, so I definitely intend to watch it one day. I like this trailer because it's about a very controversial subject, but at the same time it just portrays an ordinary American family. In particular, I really like the voiceovers of the characters putting their own perspective on events - it's something that's very powerful in this trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW1b3G2MN3Q (Man on Wire)

This is a documentary film that I watched as part of my holiday work before I started college, and I chose it here because I found the film really awe-inspiring and I really wanted a trailer for a documentary film as one of my five. I find this trailer really fantastic, because it's not immediately clear to the audience exactly what the film is about, and the moment it becomes clear, it's such a heart-stopping moment. I also really like the voices of the people involved.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thecut/2009/09/getting-close.shtml (The Cut)

This trailer is slightly different, because it's actually for a television series, not a film. I like it because it immediately tells the viewer what the programme is about, it gives them a brief taster of several different situations and it introduces a few characters. Teen dramas are very popular at the moment, with programmes such as Skins, Misfits and The Inbetweeners. Trailers such as this give an exciting portrayal of one of the nation's favourite types of TV programme, and this of course pulls viewers in very easily.

www.countolaf.com (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events)

Unfortunately I can't give you a direct link to the actual trailers, so just follow the directions. Click on the link, and then go to 'The Greatest Movie Ever Made'. This will lead to three trailers - a genuine theatrical one, a teaser one and a deliberate comedy one. I think that the comedy trailer here is actually quite effective - it's not a conventional trailer, but if a viewer is already familiar with the characters, they will find the editing of this trailer hilarious and will probably make a beeline to find the movie. I love this film - they have mutilated the book series (which is why it's good that they never made a sequel) but as a one-off it's a fantastic film, and I think all the trailers here do it justice.

That's all for now. Next time I'll try to give some updates on Isolation?

Analysis of The American trailer

Here are some notes I made on a trailer for a film by George Clooney, called The American:

Here is a link to the trailer:

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ywmoXZwkA0)

In this essay, I will be talking about the trailer for the George Clooney film The American and explaining why and how the trailer is effective. In this instance, I understand the word 'effective' to mean how the trailer manages to sell the film to its target audience.

The film in itself is a thriller. It was released in 2010, directed by Anton Corbijn and starred George Clooney and Paolo Bonacelli. It has generally received positive reviews from critics.

The trailer shows the audience immediately that it is advertising a thriller. Without knowing the main plot in its entirety, the audience can tell that the bare bones of the story involve someone in military intelligence (probably a contract killer) is trying to resign, but is forced to perform one final task. It is not made immediately clear what this task is, but of course the whole point of the trailer is not to reveal everything, to make people go to see the film.

The film was mostly shot in Italy and Sweden. Location shots are used very effectively in this trailer, particularly at the start. I am thinking in particular of three shots: A bird's eye view of a car driving along a road, a shot of some rooftops and a shot of a man driving a car with some mountains in the background. I don't know if these places are meant to be anywhere in particular, but I think it is likely that they are there to promote a particular location, and even if they're not, it's a nice touch and has a good effect on a viewer in a cinema.

I think that the target audience for this film is probably young men. I think this because the main themes about the contract killer stereotypically apply to men. Also, the majority of the cast is male, and the three main women in it are all in their thirties, extremely attractive and playing wives and girlfriends of the main characters, and having them typically involved in love and sex scenes in the trailer is another element that typically appeals to men.

The music for most of the trailer is slow and sweet, but also powerful. This is particularly useful for a thriller such as this, because it adds suspense to the constant drama and keeps the audience alert. At the start of the trailer (when the sign for 'FOCUS FEATURES' comes up) there is a sound like a projector starting up, which could illustrate the start of something exciting, because projectors start up before a film begins. There are also sounds like flashes between scenes, to show that the film and trailer are fast-paced and that there is little or no time between scenes.

There is no voiceover for this trailer, but there is a lot of dialogue from the film. I have not seen the film, but it seems to me that some of the most powerful lines are there. The ones I find the most memorable are when an attractive girl says to George Clooney's character, 'You're a good man, but you have a secret', and later when an elderly man says to him 'A man can be reached if he has God in his heart', and Clooney replies 'I don't think God's very interested in me, Father.' This latter is right at the end of the trailer, so it will stick in the audience's minds. This is effective because such an exciting line will make the whole film memorable, so will attract a large audience.

Film shots and news

Okay... I meant to update this a couple of days ago, but it has ended up being now :P

I have a bit of news about our film. The totally awesome Ned has started making a storyboard, and I will be describing the film shots below. We will probably start filming next week. We don't have a definite plan on where and when, but we suggested in the early evening in Cotham Park. Also, we have found our actress! Her name is Natalie Whiteland, she is in a few of my classes and I am delighted to announce she has accepted the role of our main girl.

Okay, here is the description for the shots we have planned in our storyboard so far:

Shot 1: Warner Bros.

Shot 2: Busy street, blurred people in background

Shot 3: Extreme close up on main character's eyes

Shot 4: Zoom out along in park, swing, morning, evening, fades into empty park

Shot 5: SCREENTITLE: Over black: 'Imagine if' (laughing)

Shot 6: 'You were in a world of your own'

Shot 7: Close up main character, cheeky smile

Shot 8: Actor's name

Shot 9: Her cracking emptiness

Shot 10: Dead body on road

Shot 11: People flashing across screen

Shot 12: Main character, shadows against wall (scream)

Shot 13: ISOLATION?

Shot 14: Date of release

Shot 15: Coming soon (www.isolationfilm.com)

More news coming next week. Ciao!

The first blog

Hi

My name is George Millman, and this is a blog I have created for my college media project. The project is to create a trailer for a film, and I am working on this with my colleagues, India Rawlings, Ned Holmes and Matty Hall-Thomas.

The film we are discussing is called Isolation? (hence the name of the blog.) It tells the story of a slightly crazy girl, who has no friends because she's a little bit mental. This is how she is isolated - except she's not, because she soon finds out that she is being stalked by zombies. But are they real or in the mind? All will be revealed... well, it won't, because all we're making is the trailer, but you know what I mean!

This will be a UK horror film, funded by Warner Bros and created by an independent production company. The target audience will be teenagers. We thought that the theme would appeal more to boys, which is why we made the decision to have a female central character, to get both a male and female audience. As we only have one girl in the group (who doesn't want to play this role), we will be casting someone from outside to play the role of the girl in the trailer, but we have not as yet approached anyone. The rest of us can play bit parts as zombies, and as I am a voice actor, I will probably end up doing the voiceover/narration for the trailer.

I believe that's all for now. I will be regularly updating this blog in due course.