PLANNING: HOT SEATING - JACK MASTERS

For our film trailer - III Days, we decided to take a step further into the life of our main protagonist character, Jack Masters. We were able to develop his character further through the use of a hot seating exercise, whereby we "investigated" his role in the film. We were inspired by an article written by Charlie Sierra about building the back story to film characters in which he quoted from Riding the Alligator, a book written by Pen Densham, an Academy Award nominated filmmaker. In one of the chapters in the book, he provides a check list of questions every writer and director should ask of themselves when they are developing their characters. The purpose of this is to outline a deep understanding of your characters for both the actors and director, and for motivating a character’s choices or actions.

Jack Masters - Character Interview

Our film trailer focuses on the unfortunate involvement of a teenage boy in a murder investigation, incorporating the idea of "wrong place, wrong time". We decided to incorporate an interview whereby his involvement is wrongly inferred, similar to one of the scenes integrated in our trailer. Here he is interviewed by a anonymous prosecutor, as if in a police station. This is a creative way to introduce the character while showing his stance on the murder cases. Moreover, this format matches the seriousness of the trailer and adds to the thriller genre.

Hot Seating Script:

Max: I told you… I don’t know what’s going on. I’m trying to figure this out myself!

Interviewer: What connection do you have to the victims.

Max: What? No I didn’t know them. I feel like I’m going crazy why is no one listening to me. I don’t know why these letters are coming to me. I don’t know why this is happening. I don’t know anything.

Interviewer: Hmm… this is all sounding suspicious. Is there anyone you would like to call. Perhaps a lawyer?

Max: What? A lawyer? You can’t be serious… I’m innocent.

PLANNING: HOT SEATING - OLIVIA BLAKE

Olivia Blake is the second victim in our film trailer. We imagine her character to be around early 50's, with a kind face in order to gain sympathy from the audience. We drew inspiration from Stephanie Smothers - A Simple Favour. She is presented as a single mum who runs a popular "vlog" where she shares recipes, parenting tips, and DIY how-tos. Her character suggests that of a type-A personality; over-volunteering, ambitious, highly competitive - essentially a workaholic, making other parents feel like slackers. Another good example of her character includes Denna in Life Of The Party. 

Hot seating script

Hello fellow Mums, welcome back, sorry I missed last week I had to pick up Maddison from her hockey practice. Anyways, this week I’m going to be making a fabulous Rosemary and Thyme roast goose with an accompanying sweet potato mash. As always I’ll be taking you step by step working towards your perfect homely dinner. So make sure you tune in this weekend on my channel at three PM!!

Can’t wait to see you there...

PLANNING: PRODUCTION COMPANY NAME

Our team visualised a simple yet memorable production company name. While we discussed potential options we collectively decided a professional name was best suited to the serious tone/theme. However, having previously planned the construction of the ident, we appreciated the idea of associating the theme of light into our title.  

Therefore we came to the conclusion of our ident being 'Blacklight productions'.

PLANNING: RISK ASSESMENT

We began our risk assessment by identifying the key hazards and risk factors which acquire the potential to cause harm during the production of the film opening, III DAYS. The risk assessment highlights the hazards/risks posed to each scene, in which we provide precautions to avoid the possibility of implications occurring.

PLANNING: TREATMENT, TOPLINE AND BIG QUESTION

Film Treatment by Lucy

PLANNING: CALL SHEET

Call sheet for the scenes in which Max Green (Jack Masters) discovers letters as well as the deaths of the victims

Shoot Date: Saturday 11^th January 2020, 4 pm.

Location: In Max Green's house 

Cast: Max Green (Jack Masters)

 Camera Equipment:

 - Canon camera EOS 750D

-  Manfortto Tripod

Lighting Equipment: N/A

Props: Car keys, 3 letters, radio, newspaper article.

Costumes: Casual clothing

Call sheet for the scenes in which the detectives are investigating Max Green's (Jack Masters') potential involvement in the two previous murders.

Shoot Date: Saturday 25th January 2020, 5 pm.

Location: At Lucy's house

Cast: Max Green (Jack Masters), James Spalding (Investigator 1), Stephen Green (Investigator 2)

 Camera Equipment:

 - Canon camera EOS 750D

-  Manfortto Tripod

Lighting Equipment: Harsh, white lighting

Props: N/A

Costumes: Casual clothing for Max Green (Jack Masters), formal attire for James Spalding and Stephen Green (the Investigators)

Call sheet for the pin board final scene

Shoot Date: Friday 17th January 2020, 1 pm.

Location: In the media suite within the school grounds 

Cast: Max Green (Jack Masters)

 Camera Equipment:

 - Canon camera EOS 750D

-  Manfortto Tripod

Lighting Equipment: N/A

Props: Newspaper articles, images of the victims and scenes, pins, pin board and string.

Costumes: Casual clothing

PLANNING: LOCATIONS

FILM LOCATIONS COLLAGE by Lucy

PLANNING: TRAILER NAME

III DAYS...

In terms of our trailer name, we were fuelled by the concept of time and equally wanted to elude to this due to the major role it plays within our productions final film trailer. Furthermore, after discussing the potential ideas with varying incorporated concepts, we found the film trailer name predisposes the audience to questions which interlink with our film. Generally, we found our trailer name creates a sense of enigma which we are able to further develop in our final film trailer.

PLANNING: SHOT LIST

Scene	Music andd               sound FX	Vision	Actors	Props	Shot types
1	Clock tick and gradual build up of music.	Max Green (Jack Masters) walking towards house, through eye piece.	Max Green (Jack Masters)	Fish Eye Lens	Long shot through Fish Eye Lens.
2	Clock tick and gradual build up of music.	Max Green (Jack Masters) walking through the door after coming home and throwing keys.	Max Green (Jack Masters)	Keys	Long shot
3	Clock tick and gradual build up of music.	Max Green (Jack Masters) seeing first letter on the floor beneath him.	Max Green (Jack Masters)	First letter	Long shot
4	Clock tick and gradual build up of music.	Max Green (Jack Masters) crouching down to pick up first letter.	Max Green (Jack Masters)	First letter	Low angle shot
5	Clock tick and gradual build up of music and voice-over discussing how he has been receiving letters.	We see the letter from Max Green (Jack Masters') POV as he opens it.	Max Green (Jack Masters)	First letter	POV shot
6	Clock tick and gradual build up of music and sound of radio discussing death of victim seen in first letter.	Max Green (Jack Masters) sitting having breakfast with the radio beside him.	Max Green (Jack Masters)	Radio	Mid shot of him having breakfast
7	Clock tick and gradual build up of music and sound of letter box being opened by Max Green (Jack Masters).	Max Green (Jack Masters) opening letterbox to find second letter.	Max Green (Jack Masters)	Second letter	Close up shots
8	Clock tick and gradual build up of music and sound of voice-over of Max Green (Jack Masters) discussing what the letter contains.	Max Green (Jack Masters) opening second letter.	Max Green (Jack Masters)	Second letter	Point of view shots
9	Clock tick and gradual build up of music.	Max Green (Jack Masters) viewing newspaper article discussing death of second victim.	Max Green (Jack Masters)	Newspaper article	Point of view shots
10	Clock tick and gradual build up of music and the detectives discussing his link with the previous murders.	Max Green (Jack Masters) and the two detectives (Stephen Green) and (James Spalding)	Max Green (Jack Masters), the detectives (Stephen Green) and (James Spalding).	N/A	Mid shot Three shot
11	Clock tick and gradual build up of music.	Max Green (Jack Masters) finding third and final letter which contains his own photo and name.	Max Green (Jack Masters)	Third and final letter	Close up shots POV shots Reaction shots
12	Clock tick and gradual build up of music to climatic ending and voice-over of Max Green (Jack Masters) stating he is next to the detectives.	Various shots of the pin board containing information from the previous victims and Max Green (Jack Masters) pinning the final image onto the board (being his own photograph).	Max Green (Jack Masters)	Pin board containing newspaper articles, letters and images of previous victims and himself.	Elongated tracking shot over pin board, and various close up shots panning over board. Tracking shot of Max Green (Jack Masters') hand pinning final image onto board.

PLANNING: CHARACTER CASTING

Neon Yellow Gym Poster by Max Toye Green

PLANNING: ADVANCED PRODUCTION INTIAL DEVELOPMENT

For the genre of our film trailers, we discussed 
making it a thriller horror. When we compared 
the film 'Yesterday', a drama fantasy, to 'Joker', we all agreed that the thrill and excitement of 'Joker' was more appealing and offered a wider opportunity for skills to be employed in a trailer package. 

However, the more I dove into researching this genre, I found myself investigating 'A Quiet Place', 'Halloween' and 'Us', we realised the horror element to the film wasn't as appealing as a drama thriller- thus we decided to remove the key elements of grotesque violence and gore. 

I suggested that the fast paced and intense nature of thriller film trailers provided more avenues to explore. Despite not liking the idea of gore and violence being incorporated into our productions we did agree that 
the premise of the supernatural is appealing and 
engaging.

                     

                     'Us' Official Teaser Trailer - Poster

A Quiet Place - Poster

Using the mind mapping software creately, I developed a spider diagram organising my established thoughts surrounding; themes, genres and potential storylines. 

PLANNING: STORYBOARD

MY GOOGLE FORMS QUESTIONNAIRE

I created an audience questionnaire tailored to my own film production work. Through the use of Google Forms, I was able to collect data that I will be able to present in both graphical forms and words, as I asked questions that yielded both quantitative and qualitative data.

Google forms link

RESEARCH: TRAILER ANALYSIS - JOKER

TRAILER ANALYSIS:

JOKER

By Lucy Spalding

A trailer should reflect the film’s genre and sell the film by its exciting vision and sound. The Joker trailer conforms to these expectations.

Director Todd Phillips has followed in the footsteps of earlier films in this genre by aiming at unfaltering realismin his mise-en-scene, which is what makes the film so unnervingly realistic and intensifies the sense of menace. We know the familiar new York skyline of the trailer opening. We feel threatened by the menace of The Joker who seems so convincing. This sort of trailer treads a fine line between imbuing the audience with fear and risking a higher BBFC age rating. The same controversy shadowed the audience and critics reactions to The Dark Knight.

Hundreds of city buildings flood the screen. However, a sense of emptiness is created through the portrayal of 8 millions people living the same life, a sense of unfulfillment draws in those sat watching.

Another trailer genre convention is the minimal use of dialogue; voice-overs are often used to anchor the meaning of the visuals and provide keys for understanding the narrative to the audience.

The introduction of a voice-over matched with a hard cut transitions the city skyline into the next scene, where two characters are revealed to the audience. It is a trailer convention to feature key protagonists. The use of dialogue “Does it help you have someone to talk to?” opens the mystery of the narrative: what, the audience is invited to wonder, is so wrong that a therapist is uncovering someone’s dark past and secrets? This use of enigma excites the audience’s attention.

The Joker is positioned from the start as a troubled and flawed antagonist. Brief shots of his unhappy past represent him as a bullied and tortured victim of society with a twisted body and increasingly twisted mind.

Trailers use non-diegetic sound to create atmosphere and build suspense. Here, non–diegetic sound consisting of sinister toned music increases in volume and pace. The anticipation of the scene is coordinated until the climax of music is reached. This is matched by a reaction shot whereby the Joker famously smiles. The contradictory smile takes the form of his defensive response. The smile is the Joker’s trademark and thus is an important visual code in the trailer.

The canon of dramatic sound created is quickly overcome by a light-hearted rhythm, ironically matched to the garbage filled city streets he drags himself through. Another hard cut follows showing himself tackling a nearly infinite staircase, of which can be seen to signify the hardship he faced previously in his life. A personal narration of his past is seamlessly linked in. The dialogue “My mother always tells me to smile and put on a happy face” is simultaneously paired with a mid-shot expressing the joker’s genuine of joy.

The film trailer presents The Joker as the flawed protagonist, a man whose past has made him the creature that he is. A hard cut introduces a ringing sound between each scene indicate the harsh connections between his past life and his inescapable present. Dim lighting floods the screen from a single lamp which illuminates a disorganised desk. This visual code represent his

emotions surrounding his current life, struggling to find the light in his oppression. Repeated hard cuts throughout are used to portray the recurring feelings of frustration which manifest in his mundane life. A point of view shot follows to show his literal emotions written down.

“to bring laughter and joy to the world” is contrastingly matched with a flashback to his contradicting past. Once again a hard cut is used, highlighting the massive changes to his life. A skinny man, of which is covered in cuts, bruises and scabs portrays the punishments Arthur has spent a lifetime collecting. Each one building to breaking point. “Smile” kicks onto the soundtrack. The melody of the tune was written by Charlie Chaplin “Smile though your heart is aching/Smile even though it’s breaking.” This is cut match to a mid-shot smile.

A 4 shot introduces the elevator scene, which captures a clinically insane man screaming as has tied down to a hospital bed. The staff’s wilful ignorance was born from decades of life experienced inside Gotham City. This brief moment highlights the sinister tone of the film, that everyone is miserable, and that the only way through is to deal with your own pain, and ignore others.

Colour and mise-en-scene are key in trailers as devices establishing tone and atmosphere. Graffiti stained steel insinuates the lack of respect people in this city share for others. Lit by a sickening yellow lighting further reflects the location, a mental institution. Quickly curiosity is provoked, questions develop. Is he visiting someone? Potentially his mum, or is he there for himself?

“What?” There is trepidation in his voice, but again, he’s masking fear with a defensive smile. That’s another possible pain to drive him to his more vicious persona.

Arthur’s bad Arkham news brings a tear to his eye, but he remembers his mother’s mission. Make ’em laugh, no matter what. He forces on his happy face. Fake it till you make it. The Gotham subway is portrayed as an isolating place; cold breath, steel doors, graffiti tattooed against walls, carvings in the window. A mid shot captures him sat alone, framing his whole in shot. His body language portrays him facing forward, he has no one, he suffers alone. An obnoxious and evidently fake laugh fills the carriage. The audience come to terms with a new analogy to life, that if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.

Trailers use pace to hook audiences, usually building to a climax. Off the subway, his makeup running down his face, and maybe even mixed with some blood, the music reaches a climax, he start running. Where’s he going? Back home to massage a brilliant idea, a brilliant fabrication. Next we see the lead up to the Joker’s mental implosion. Outside of a Charlie Chaplin retrospective, we see crowds of angry protesters. They’re carrying anti-capitalist signs, condemning the greed of those in political power.

Trailers need to signal genre but also the film’s USP: it needs to be a recognisable genre (here, Action / thriller / horror), but also offers something fresh (here, a Joker that we can pity). We hear the beginning of Arthur’s final voiceover, “I used to think that my life was a tragedy…” The guy can’t stand the sight of himself in the mirror. He smashes his head into the glass, shattering his old self-image. “…it’s a comedy.” Earlier, we saw Arthur drudgingly climb these steps from the reverse angle. Now, The Joker hops to the happy tune inside his head, finding joy in the puddles.

MEDIA THEORIES

COMIC THEORIES 

While researching for our film trailer, III days, I came across various media theorists. I compiled a comic using a software called comic life, in order to explain and present these. In order to analyse these further, I used various superhero characters to illustrate the theories of each theorist.

The various theorists consisted of: 

- Vladimir Propp

- Levi-Strauss 

- Roland Barthes 

- Todorov

- Laura Mulvey

RESEARCH: FILM POSTER

Pink and Grey Caring for Kittens Process Infographic by Lucy

Film posters are used to help promote and market a film. Typically, many films have one main poster (called a teaser poster/ advance poster) this contains a basic image or design without including too much information, the purpose of teaser posters is to initiate awareness and the initial buzz for the film. This is then followed by a series of posters (called character posters) which usually contain an ensemble cast presented in a set of character posters. This reveals a little more information about the film.

Film posters similarly to trailers have codes and conventions in which one would expect to see within a film poster.

These contain an image with a tagline, these are the elements which are the most crucial in attracting an audience, thus causing them to want to view the film. The image conveys the genre, for example, Thriller genres may have posters containing dark and threatening image/s. Today, the image predominantly includes the main actors as they tend to be the films USP due to them being well known within the film industry. The films title is also included in which the lettering is large and bold in order to make it stand out against the background image. Some of the films USP's can also be the director or producer themselves as they may also be well known, this further helps in promoting the film as these are elements which may appeal to an audience. Posters also include a release date, this is to allow audiences to plan in advance for when the film is released in cinemas. Moreover, the billing block is included, this is a list of names in which the typeface has been condensed, this includes the credits of the film such as the Director.

https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/02/7-elements-of-a-great-movie-poster-design/

Summary of what the website above states what should be included in a movie poster:

• Grab the audiences attention
• Iconography- showing without telling 
• Interest- create an incentive to watch the film
• Appeal
• Recognisable
• Style

RESEARCH: TRAILER ANALYSIS - BIRD BOX

The trailer opens with a hard cut which transitions into an establishing shot of an unfamiliar location filled with a green array of shrubbery a long with tall overcasting trees, alternately blocking light from reaching the forest floor. An eerie silence is broken up by a signature bell ring which is matched with a hard cut. Visuals are exploited immediately to provoke the audience, why is she wearing a blindfold? The audience are forced to question where she is and why. Clear panic is portrayed in the dialogue “where are you? Where are you?”, generally this connotates curiosity of who she’s talking to and why. Instantly the audience are faced with a multitude of questions within the first few seconds of the trailer, of which are yet be answered – as enigma is created, they must watch on.

BIRD BOX -

ANALYSIS

Following this, we are provided with a deeper insight into the first character, Malorie Hayes. Diegetic dialogue “please don’t take my children” voices a worried mother, and we can conclude she is not alone. Alternately, this is quickly followed by hard cut into a match shot whereby a little boy is shown – her assumed son. Visuals display him ringing the bell we are faced with in the opening scene of the trailer and the second child, her daughter, is then introduced. Matching visuals consisting of blind folds, quickly establishes a president that whatever, or whoever she is talking to, is not to be seen.

A flashback introduces Malorie’s past. An establishing shot presents her in the examining room of a hospital, where she is seen receiving an ultrasound. From this we can conclude, a period before her children were born. Moving on, a reaction shot is taken advantage off to present a seemingly less upbeat scene, whereby young girl repeatedly smashes her head against the glass wall of the hospital corridor. The expected chaos is followed with her outside; cars crashing, fire spreading, cars exploding, people running. Further enigma is created.

A multitude of fast past, action packed shots are linked together through hard cut transitions. A narration takes over “under no circumstance are you allowed to take off your blind fold”. The domineering narration insinuates a serious tone – that of life and death.

Editing techniques such as repeated hard cuts, along with the exploitation of short burst visuals help in replicating the overwhelming situation this mother and her children face. Furthermore, reflecting the thoughts quick firing through her head, jumping from one outcome to the next and thus aiding the development of tension. The evidently panic stricken mother is swarmed with a flow of autorotative and domineering voices in an echo effect. As a result, an overpowering atmosphere is created. Through a cannon effect, audio is built to a climax, equally, this is followed with a hard cut to a black screen and matched with silence. This is quickly broken with a harsh scream “please don’t take my children”.

A final hard cut finishes the trailer with a cliff hanger – This is broken up by intertitles of which previously produced films of the same production company are mentioned. Casting is introduced as a form of enticing previously established audiences, i.e. Sandra Bullock.

By Lucy Spalding

RESEARCH: HOW IS THE FILM TO BE MARKETED AND PROMOTED

RESEARCH: PURPOSE AND STYLE

Purpose and Style by Lucy Spalding