The title of the film
The title for our trailer had to be symbolic, as an action thriller film we needed something which stuck in the heads of the audience at the end. The final title had to be basic with some sort of special effect, we decided on the black background with the white writing as it really helps set the scene in terms of the movie, as one of the last shots we see the title needed to be something with both conventions of the action/thriller genre but also have our own twist on it. The slight tint on the title of the film was put in as a special effect as it makes it less bland, even though we wanted a film title which was basic it couldn't have no editing on it as the detail makes it stick out more, the blend of colours makes sure it stays in our mind. The bullets are stereotypical of the genre as they represent all of the action elements within the trailer, of course during our trailer guns are a large part of it as we want to fill the atmosphere of the protagonist vs antagonist, the gunshots at the end being the final part of the trailer apart from the credits, the fact that we used three bullets was on purpose, the rule of three was used throughout our film especially with locations and so we decided to add it again here.
Settings/Location
Our settings and locations were very important in the making of our film, we wanted to conform to the idea of the big budget productions as much as possible, to do this we ended up filming in three major cities (Dubai, London and Reykjavik) as well as three more urban locations (Esher common, Oxshott scout hut and Stoke D'Abernon's residential area). We used the idea of the rule of three here as it was important in order to attract the audience as much as possible, having six different locations made it difficult to film but bought about a feeling of authenticity when it came to actually editing it. We had a nice balance with the hot deserts of Dubai, cold snowy mountains of Iceland and the built up areas of London and it helped create the idea that our story was about a worldwide or at least multi national organisation therefore helping us conform to our story-line.The fact that we used lots of different locations helped with our production a lot, our use of both recognizable and non recognizable locations helped our production reach the level which we expected, the big budget production movies usually have a mixture of the both as well, this helps us to conform to the genre as it means that we can present it as a quest of the those who are good against those who are evil
Costumes and Props
We had to make sure the costume and props in our trailer were conforming to the stereotypes we set out, the action/thriller genre we chose meant that we had to have those action elements in mind, stuff such as guns had to be a constant presence in the trailer, the shots I have chosen show a wide array of the type of guns we were dealing with. Usually in action/thriller films the main character has a smaller type of firearm as opposed to a bigger assault rifle or shotgun, this is because it is seen as the more precise weapon as well as showing of the ability of the so called protagonist. The bigger gun is usually present for the bad guys to show off their strength in the situation, however they are usually less accurate and therefore always miss the so called more agile protagonist. The costumes also had to conform to the conventions of an action/thriller genre, this meant that the main protagonist had to wear something smart, in most of our shots I was wearing a shirt with trousers or black chino's, however there are a few shots where i was in a whole suit and others where i was in a coat depending on the climate. As for the bad guys it is symbolic that they wear dark clothing to give them that secretive appeal, the black coat is a constant presence for our bad guy so you can distinguish between him and the protagonist more easily, the other bad guy is seen to be wearing a suit, this is because we want him to be seen as the main enemy and leader of the entire organisation. The suit helps conform to this.
Camerawork and editing
We tried to use a variety of different shots in our film, we wanted to progress from last year where I used lots of prolonged shots and move into a more fast paced editing to fit with the idea of a trailer. The most symbolic shot of the trailer is the one up the top right, this is the climatic shot for our trailer, it shows the main protagonist in a spot of bother with the antagonist pointing a gun at the back of his head. The shot is symbolic because it leaves an enigma code because it makes the audience think about how he will escape this situation. the fact that we used a close up and over the shoulder shot helped to give prevalence to the protagonist but also gave a low angle shot of the main bad guy therefore giving him power. We also used a tracking shot in the same sequence as the climatic shot, this was important as it gave a sense of realism to the trailer as there is always a shot following the main character especially in action movies. Editing was also a big part of the trailer, we had to try and fit the credits over the footage we had gathered and still have it flow well, it was hard to do as most of the shots are split second and so don't give us the time to establish the names, we also had the problems of no proper close up on Conor's character which would work so we had to fit it into the background, however this can make him seem like a character who has less of an impact which helps him keep his secrecy. The example is of Matt and its an over the shoulder shot therefore conforming to the action elements as there is a gun present, the black background really helped as it meant we could use white writing which would stick out really well therefore increasing the quality of our editing.
Title Font and style
The title font and style was essential in our production, we needed something which was plain but not boring so it didn't take away the audiences attention from the action unfolding. I spent many hours developing the production company logo (top right) and with help made a really top quality image with non copyright images, the IFM logo was taking from my production last year, the Independent Film Making Studio's was our first idea and was the final product last year, however the logo didn't live up to our expectations, the font was efficient because the black helped it stand out against the background with a help of a white shade. Our distributing company was also taken from last year and needed an updating to the logo, the actual picture of London is our own so it helps with the authenticity and the fact that the clouds were covering the whole sky and were pure white meant that the black font would stick out well. The actual title shown at the end of the trailer had to be plain with a bit of animation. the white on black works really well in most circumstances, the slight glow meant it stuck out even more, the slight shadowy appearance meant that it was more of a good quality, the fact we used capital letters for all of it was good because in most titles nowadays within film they are used to create the professional impression. On all films you see especially trailers it is very rare that you don't see them all in capital letters. For the credits we used the same font throughout feeling that it would be better to create that effect, the actual writing was influenced by lots of other trailer credits, most notably the avengers and superman. This helped us create the feeling of authenticity especially in regards of whats actually written, the actual production of the end credits took many hours as it was a lot of fiddling and different documents needed in order to create it, all the smaller writing had to be on separate layers, separate fonts , separate text boxes and sometimes separate documents.
Story and how the trailer sets it up
When creating the initial ideas for the trailer we wanted it to have a solid story, one which is more stereotypical of an action film, the idea of guns, exotic locations and an evil organisation was imperative. The main story idea was that there was a multi national crime organisation trading secrets of intelligence agencies across the globe and it is the job of the protagonist to stop the rogue agent who defected and stop details being spread. The trailer opens this up by using a selection of guns as well as different exotic locations including Dubai and Iceland. The evil organisation was present through Conor's part as both the head of the Syndicate as well as the good organisation therefore meaning he is an insider for the bad guys therefore making the job of the protagonist far harder as thee bad guys will always be a step ahead.
Genre and how the trailer suggests it
The action/thriller genre we decided on meant we had to stick to the typical conventions you would expect to see, the trailer definitely conforms to these as there is many shots where guns are present, the chase scenes also help to establish this as an action/thriller, we needed to make sure that the guns were the main element of the trailer therefore conforming to the conventions of a action/thriller film. The low angle shots of the bad guy are also constantly present therefore giving him power in the situation over the supposed victim. This is symbolic in most action films as they want to make the bad guy look a lot stronger then they actually are to give the sense of a bigger organisation at work. The constant over the shoulder shots also help to establish the genre, this is because they are useful when trying to keep an amenity about a specific character or it maybe useful in establishing who has power in the situation, for example the top left shot shows the protagonist and the so called 'good guy boss' however the fact that there is a lot more prevalence on the boss means he has far more power over the latter.
How characters are introduced
The characters are introduced under very different circumstances, The main protagonist is introduced first through being followed by the camera, this is supposed to symbolize the quest he is on and the journey he is undertaking. This is vastly different to the antagonist, the first shot we get of him is him cocking the gun and then firing therefore establishing him as the bad guy straight away. The fact that he shoots and you can't see the victim helps the audience to realize that he is someone not to mess with. It is safe to say that the establishing shot of the main antagonist helps to set the scene for whats going to come, the fact that he is wearing all black means he can be seen as the villain in the trailer even more. The so called 'boss' in the situation is presented in a suit therefore showing his authority as a character, the fact that he is sitting at a desk makes him seem more important as it gives him a sense of power over the protagonist especially seeing the over the shoulder shot gives him prevalence. The main female lead is only shown briefly in the entire trailer, that is because we didn't want to take away from the action element of the film especially where the gun violence is concerned.
Special effects
The main special effects present in the trailer are from the title, although basic they add authenticity to the trailer as it means that we have edited the title in order to catch the audiences attention more. The only other bit of special effects we have is the white screen with the sound of a gunshot every time someone looks to shoot the gun in a climatic scene. This creates the sense of an enigma code as the audience don't know what happens to the person they character apparently shoots. However overall we didn't really have to use very many special effects, this was because the quality of the shots were very good and the locations we filmed in created the high budget feel to the production, the only time we needed special effects was to fill in a split second shot so we can progress in the trailer from the original scene or if we wanted to improve the quality of something in this case the presentation of the title.
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