The Script;

Script

(Editing note: Non-diegetic Sound, Background Music and sound effects throughout trailer)

Helena: Crying sounds, kneeling over the grave of her husband [long shot].

Her crying becomes louder and then we see the soldier hat of her husband in her point of view [point of view shot].

[Close-up on Helena's eyes crying]

(Editing note: Fades into her eyes with 'tears of joy' due to having the baby).

Baby: [Crying sounds]

Nurse: Congratulations! You have a healthy baby boy.

Helena: My beautiful baby Jack. [beaming smile]

Helena and Baby: [walking into their house; match on action shot]

(Editing note: black screen)

[Shot of baby dead in the cot, over the shoulder shot to close-up shot]

(Editing note: Distribution company)

Helena: [close up on her face while asleep]

[camera tilts towards ceiling, whilst fading into Helena's dream]

Helena:

Dream sequence; [mid-shot of the baby's cot with a figure stood behind it, unclear image]

[Her alarm clock rings at the end of the dream sequence]

(Editing note: Alarm clock fades into the sound of a police siren)

[panning shot of the police car moving]

Police Man: [Mid-shot of him getting out of the police car]

(Editing note: The actors names appear on the screen.)

Helena:

Dream sequence two; [mid-shot on the baby's cot with the figure behind which is now slightly clearer]

(Editing note: A black screen with 'from the makers of distorted' on it)

Helena: [runs towards the camera screaming/shouting angrily]

[Extreme close-up on Helena's bloodshot eyes]

[door slams shut]

[zoom-out to show the psychiatric ward]

(Editing note: Film title appears on screen:D.I.D you?) 

We thought that by constructing a script it would make it easier for the people appearing in our trailer too learn their words and their stage directions. Although, we do not have many spoken lines in our trailer, there are many things which need to be noted. I have put in 'editing notes' so that they can gather a feel for the trailer and know how to act at these points and also to remind us where we need to add certain features during the editing process. There are also directions for the person who is in charge of filming and holding the camera at that point, so that they know which angle/camera movement will be used and also so that the people playing the characters know what kind of position they need to be in at that point.

Normally there wouldn't be a script specifically for a film trailer, as a film trailer usually consists of parts of the film which has previously been filmed. But, as we are not creating the whole film and only the trailer, we would need a script.  

Film Title - Mind Map;

 

Choosing the correct film title is vital, if a film has a distinctive or catchy name, it helps to grab the audience and make them want to see the film. It links in with the first impressions of a trailer, as the title can help to make the trailer more eye-catching. The title can set the tone for the film. although the phrase 'never judge a book by it's cover' is something that people should take on, not everyone does, and it is difficult to not judge something when you know so little about it, so making a film trailer right is very important, just as the film title. The better the title, the more likely people will want to watch the film, the worse the title, the more confusing and unattractive the film seems to the viewers.

We decided to put all our initial ideas for the title of our film in a mind map, and then look at the results at the end to decide which title will be most effective and fitted to our film, from looking at our plot and the contents of the film. We came up with quite a few ideas, but had to narrow it down.Are favourites were; Rock-a-bye-baby, D.I.D you? and miss-understood. 

Rock-a-bye-baby;

We thought this was a catchy title as it is a very well known nursery rhyme/lullaby and it has a literal meaning, as her baby passes on, she really does have to say bye to her baby. This creates a negative perspective on this old lullaby.

D.I.D you?;

This also has two meanings to it as the D.I.D stands for her mental disorder (Dissociative Identity Disorder), however, the audience do not realise this until much later in the film, so when the twist of her having this disorder occurs, the audience would realise the true meaning of the title. On top of this, the question did you? also relates to the fact that she killed her baby herself, so this meaning represents when the private detective accuses her after doing research into her behaviour. This is effective as the viewers will realise both meanings of the title later on through the film.

Miss-understood;

This sounds like misunderstood, but by spelling it like this shows how the woman has misunderstood her situation, and how the police etc have misunderstood her. Also effective and catchy, it needs to be so that the audience are tempted to watch this film rather then think it sounds rubbish. 

We decided to use the title D.I.D you? as we all agreed it was the most effective and suited title for the plot of our film. The twist shows in both the film and title this way, making it a catchy and interesting film title. We found that a title like this, or the other two we picked out are more appealing then some of the ideas we came up with, such as who?, need and bad dream, which all seem really bland and boring with no real thought or meaning behind them. Thus leading to us choosing D.I.D you?. 

Story Board;

We have constructed a story board so that we could gain a rough outline of what we wanted for our trailer. We used paint to create the story board which was quick and efficient, so that we could get on with our work but still have a sufficient over view of the story line for our trailer. It is the bare minimum of our trailer, so we have a basis to work around.

The trailer will begin with he funeral of the woman's husband, with her crying over the grave. This will immediately open questions when the audience see the trailer, as they wonder who's the funeral is and what significance this has to the story.

We then see in the trailer, that he woman has had a baby, and the audience realise that her husband had most likely passed away, as a soldier hat was at the grave, while she was pregnant. However, still unsure about what is happening precisely, to keep the audience on edge and want to find out what will happen.

We then see a clip of the baby dead, in a cot, this is to make the audience suspicious about the death, and feel for the woman who has just had her baby. 

Next in the trailer we see who the film distributor is, this is to advertise the production company and the film, which is commonly seen in film trailers, making our trailer fit in with the customs of trailers.

Then, it goes into a clip of the woman's dream, it shows a blurred figure killing the baby/about to with a pillow, the image is not too clear, keeping the audience suspicious.

It changes to the police, which the audience will assume is because someone murdered her baby, making it dramatic and exciting for the viewers.

We then see the names of the main actors which is also common in film trailers. This advertises the film, if there are actors in a film which the audience like, they will be more persuaded to watch the film. Another feature which makes our trailer more realistic.

We then flash back to the dream of the woman, and this time the figure is more clear, and we can tell it is a woman, this adds to the confusion and makes the viewers intrigued to know who the figure is and why they are killing the baby.

It then goes on to say 'from the makers of Distorted' this represents us as being the makers of this trailer, as we created 'Distorted' for our AS project. This is yet another popular tool which is used within film trailers, if the public enjoyed other films which was produced by the same people they will probably want to see more of them.

We next see a close up of the woman's eyes, as she looks stressed and the audience wonder why, then the door slams behind her locking her in a psychiatric ward.

The Plot Synopsis of the Trailer;

This post is to show the plot and the story line for the whole film, so that we have a story to base our trailer around. This will help us to plan and organise the events and the feel of the trailer, giving a story behind it and so that it makes sense.


A woman who is around 5 months pregnant finds out that her husband has just been killed in Afghanistan, very distressing news for a pregnant woman. She has the baby, and tries to move on and push her depression out for the baby's sake, although not realising the later affects of this. She takes her baby home happily, a part of her husband still exists. But then soon, anxiety grows as she struggles to cope as a single mother, and the baby sadly passed away due to infant death syndrome, often referred to as 'cot death' (as the family believed).

The mother (main character) does not believe that her baby died of natural causes and that something/someone had murdered it. Ever since the death of her child, she has unsettling dreams about a figure killing her baby, and everyday the death haunts her and convincing her more and more that it was not natures doing. 

So decides to call the police to open murder enquiries, although, they do not find any substantial evidence that anyone was involved in the death of the baby and list the death under natural causes. Her mind still not at rest, her dreams and visions become more frequent and more vivid. The 'figure' becomes more apparent to the point which she notice's it is a woman figure. This makes her more on edge and her actions become more 'out of place'.

She then hires a private investigator, in hope to find some answers and of solving this mystery. He finds no real evidence to begin with, but does find the whole story suspicious, and is intrigued by her fixation that someone murdered her baby. He does further research into it and into her past life. He realises that her symptoms show that of Dissociative identity disorder, he realises how it has all driven her to this mental disorder, and it must in fact of been her who had killed the baby. He straight away gets her help.

She does not accept that it was her, sending her to insanity as her disorder grows stronger, she is taken to a psychiatric ward, where they lock her in on her own. 

The End.

Main Character Research and Media Representation;

Before writing the plot for our film trailer we decided to choose who the film would be based around; The main character. The main character is vital to our film and our trailer, as the events will take place around her, making her a central part of our planning. We decided that we would have a woman character for our main character, and will then have a kind of mental illness... Here is what we said her characteristics will be:

• A young - middle aged woman
• Mental illness
• Pale skin
• Slim
• Depressed (due to past events)
• Bags under eyes (due to stress)
• Pregnant/a mother

  
  

  We have decided to make her have a mental disorder, but we needed to decide what mental illness she will have, and then base the story around this. We need to know what happens to people with the illness so that we can be accurate with our story and character.

  
  

  We began by researching schizophrenia as we thought this to be common in films and characters who are portrayed to be 'mental'. schizophrenia is characterised by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly gives the victim auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganised speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social dysfunction. We thought that this was a good description of what we wanted our character to have, but then we though about how we wanted her to have believe something that isn't actually happening, and be convinced, and we knew that this had a different title, and therefore did further research to find the right disorder.

  
  

  After researching different forms of mental disorders, we came across the right one for our character, it is called Dissociative identity disorder, this can be defined as having a 'spilt personality' meaning a person can display multiple identities/personalities,

  each alternate personalities have a unique set of memories, behaviours, thoughts and emotions related to each specific personality.This is perfect for our character and for us to base the film around. This disorder is closely linked with schizophrenia. 
  
  
  Media Representations
   The media already has existing ideologies and conventional stereotypes of gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality and disability which are often shown through the chosen actors/actresses, lighting, sounds and camera angles, movements and shots. Seeing as our main character is going to have a medical condition, one key feature which we should consider through the filming process of our trailer, is how we represent the medical system and how it is already conveyed through the media. What most people know about the medical system and existing illnesses is often due to the media, this is where we find out (read and watch) what we know about the system and the stereotypes attached, unless an individual has a personal account of certain aspects of the way the medical system is run or how illness/disease is treated. One major aspect to point out from our trailer is the fact that there will be nurse in the hospital scene, which means we should compare how women are conveyed in the medical system in the media. Ours fits into the stereotypical idea that nurses in hospitals are women, people associate nurses to be women as this is seen as a 'feminine' job title and is conveyed by the media this way, our nurse is also played by a women, fitting in with existing media.
  
  
  Another factor which shows the existing representations is the fact that our main character develops a mental illness (which we have previously researched into thoroughly) and that this is a sensitive subject (hence our chosen age rating for the film '15'). The media represents this as a weakness and also gender representations of women tend to be that they are the weaker sex and that they would be more 'prone' to mental illness. After research into this, I have come to the conclusion that our film follows the conventions of the mass media representations as our chosen main character is a woman, and it does portray a weakness and that idea of stress causing further issues and that she is a 'motherly' feminine figure.

Target Audience Results

We then decided to use graphs to show our results from our questionnaire, so that we can clearly see the things that the audience liked most and liked least. this will be beneficial when trying to decide what to include and what not to include in our trailer.

Question 1; What gender are you?

We decided to ask an equal amount of males and females so that it balanced out and our results weren't favoured by one or the other.

 

Question 2; What age range do you fall under?

We mainly had answers from the age range of 15 to 18 and 19 to 25 as we asked many people from our class due to the limited time space we had to complete our questionnaire. We also got a few other various age ranges from walking around the school to ask other people to fill out our questionnaire, then we see what the public in general prefer when they watch a film/thriller trailer.

Question 3; Do you enjoy watching thriller films?

We asked this question to find out if that many people actually enjoy to watch the thriller genre, we found out that more people said yes then no, showing that many people will enjoy to watch this genre and thus want to watch our trailer. although more then half said yes, there were still a fair chunk of the people we asked which said no, meaning that we will have to try and make our trailer as effective as possible in order for people to be drawn into our film and want to see the rest of the film whether it is a thriller or not. 

Question 4; What is your favourite thriller film? And why?

We asked this question to find out which films which fall under the thriller genre that people enjoy today, this will give us the chance to look at these films and their trailers in order to see what features are included within the trailers and to help us see what we must include when we create our film trailer. We can then see what makes a successful thriller film too. These results show that out of the 20 people we asked, 'Shutter Island' was the most popular, proving it to be a successful thriller, although these results do show many films which are liked by the public. We will look at the reasons for liking these films and use that to our advantage to prepare for our own project.

Question 5; What emotion do you expect from a thriller?

We asked this question to find out what the public feel/want to feel while they experience a thriller. The emotion which a film holds is very important and can be vital to make the film fit into the genre it is meant to be. From these results, we can see that tension was the most common emotion people said that they wold expect to feel whilst watching a thriller film. Closely followed by shock, this shows that we will have to include aspects of tension and shock into our plot and into our film trailer to make it meet the needs of the audience.

Question 6; What aspects do you think make a successful film trailer?

This question is to see what the public think is good to include in a film trailer and to make it effective. Here we can see that a fast pace is very important and we must include a fast pace in our film trailer for it to be successful. Flashing images was also something which the public say is good to include in a film trailer, we should take the information from this and consider these details when creating our film trailer.

 

Question 7; Do film trailers influence you to go and watch a new film?

This is a vital question, as it will tell us if film trailers actually make people want to go and see/buy the film. As we can see, a vast majority of the people we asked said that yes, the film trailer does make them want to see the film. This proves how it is extremely important that a film trailer is good and effective, as it plays a big role in making the audience want to see a film.

Question 8; What is your preferred sub-genre of a thriller?

We asked this question to find out which sub-genre is the most popular for a thriller. We have decided to do a 'psychological' thriller and the results from this question shows how this is a successful genre of thriller, and closely after is 'Supernatural'. This graph also shows that legal, spy and political thrillers are not so popular and have a niche market compared to the others shown on the graph.

Question 9; How do you normally discover that a new film has been released at the cinema?

This is to find out what method is most effective at gaining the public's attention towards a new film, this graph shows that trailers shown on TV is the most popular method, this is due to the fact that television is a part of everyday life and most people will see the adverts. The next one was through friends, as word of mouth gets around quickly, especially if the trailer looks good. The least popular were magazines, so we know that the public do not learn about a new film through magazines as often.

Question 10; Do you prefer to see the titles at... beginning, middle or end?

This question is to where people like to see the titles during a trailer, and most of the people we asked said at the end, showing that we should think about this when it comes to creating our film trailer and we should include the titles either in the middle or at the end, as at the beginning was the least popular. 

Question 11; Are you influenced to go and watch a film based on the cast/director?

We asked this question to see if the public go and watch a film based on who directed it and who stars in it. three quarters of the people we asked said that yes, they are influenced by this to go and see a film, which shows that people say who is in the film and who directs it in order to make people want to go and see the film and therefore, we should include who is in the film in our film trailer.

Target Audience Questionnaire

This is an example of our questionnaire which we designed in order to find out what the audience wanted from a thriller film so that we good get a clear outlook on what the public want so we can include these aspects in our ideas and film trailer. This is a good method as it is easy to produce, simple for the audience to answer and gives us an opportunity to see what existing thriller films the public like, so that we can get a feel for what makes a successful thriller film. We asked 20 people to fill out our questionnaire, which is just enough for us to get all the information necessary.

Target Audience Questionnaire;      Please circle your answer or write in the spaces provided.

1. What gender are you?

Male       Female

2. What age range do you fall under?

Under 12        12-14         15-18        19-25        26-50

51+

3. Do you enjoy watching thriller films? And why?

Yes                 No

 4. What emotion do you expect from a thriller?

___________________________________

 5. What aspects do you think make a successful film trailer?

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­__________________________________

 6. Do film trailers influence you to go and watch a new film?

Yes                 No

 7. What is your preferred sub-genre of a thriller?

Psychological     Conspiracy      Political      Crime     Legal      Supernatural     Romantic           Spy

9. How do you normally discover that a new film has been released at the cinema?

Posters      Trailers and TV     Trailers online     Trailers at the cinema    Magazines    Through friends  

Other_____________

10. Do you prefer to see the titles at…

The beginning        The middle        The end

11. Are you influenced to go and watch a film based on the cast/director?

Yes           No

Deconstruction: Film trailer of 'Insidious'

Insidious falls under the genre of horror, we thought that doing this we could compare two closely related genres; psychological thriller and horror. Horror needs to make the audience feel fear and adrenaline, often uses dark settings and lighting in order to create gloom. They often contain demons, monster like creatures or ghosts or even just plays tricks with the mind.

First still image;

The first still image is used to show the audience the Production company of the film, we can see that from this very beginning it is most likely going to be a horror film due to the fact that the background is a dark red and the writing is black, the red represents death, blood and gore expected within horror films and the black represents the dark side and dark happenings within.

Second still image;

The second still chosen shows a mid-close up of what we assume to be one of the main characters of the film. This is to allow the audience to get a glimpse of whom the film will be partially evolved around. The audience can gather a lot from the film from his facial expression, as you can see fear, shock and even bewilderment. When we hear a voice say "are you ready" this gives the trailer suspense and makes he audience want to carry on watching to discover what he is ready for.

Third still image;

The next still image is of what we assume the parents looking into the hospital ward of their son. This is an example of an over-the-shoulder shot which is looking over a persons shoulder at another or the object in focus. This represents that his parents are watching over him and we suspect that the child is vulnerable as he is in hospital and that his parents are going to try and protect him. The sound of the ticking in the back ground helps build the suspense through this trailer, making the audience feel on edge.

Forth still image;

The fourth still image shows a low angle in the perspective of the main woman character in the film, she is looking up towards the sound she has just heard on the baby monitor, the fact that she is looking up towards what ever it is making the noise makes her seem vulnerable and makes the thing upstairs in control and have a sense of power. The loud shout at the end of this scene makes the audience jump, giving the trailer the scare-factor it needs for a horror film. This lighting through-out this part is dark and gloomy, which fits into the horror genre perfectly.

Fifth still image;

in the fifth still image we see the main character standing in the doorway and behind him a creepy looking figure of a person or ghoul, we can tell that he is unaware of it watching him and standing behind him, this makes the audience fear for him and scared of what/who it is behind him, giving mystery to the trailer making people want to go and watch it to find out. This shows how we must include these kind of catches to draw people into our film trailer. The lighting here is even more darker then before and shows the fact that this is a dark film and falls into the horror genre.

Sixth still image;

The sixth still image shows a extreme close-up of a characters face, this is an effective way to show the emotion of a character, this shows the fear on the woman's face and the worry she is feeling at that moment in time, it gives the audience a feel for the emotions and so they feel it for the character too. The focus of this shot is on her face and the background is out of focus, drawing attention to the character rather then the background. The talk over is a goo way of explaining a part of the film without giving the story away, making the viewers want to know what was meant by the talk over.

Seventh still image;

The seventh still image is to show how they used the font to make the title of the film appear within the trailer effectively. It is very big as it crosses the screen and is the main image at the time so that the audience are focused on the title of the film. The background is flashing which gives it a more uneasy feeling as the audience feels as though it is all 'jolty' and unsettled, fitting the genre of horror.

Eighth still image;

This still image represents the darkness within horror films as the whole setting and lighting here is very dark shades and shows a shadow behind the window, showing the unknown element of the film and the trailer, giving the trailer a creepy effect, scaring the audience slightly but also intriguing them to know who or what it is that is behind the window. The sound in the background is intense and adds to making the audience feel uncomfortable.

Ninth still image;

This is the final time we see the title of the film on screen, it is clear and reassures the title of the film so that the audience are clear on what the film is called. The black background relates to the genre of horror as it represents the dark happenings within the film and the associations with dark colours. 

To watch this film trailer click on the link below;

Insidious official film trailer

Deconstruction: Film trailer of 'Crazy Stupid Love'

After deconstructing two thriller film,s, we decided to deconstruct a film from a completely different genre to compare the differences and to explore further into the features of a different genre. Crazy Stupid Love falls under the genre of Rom-com; a mix between romance and comedy, so features of both would be expected in this genre. There will be elements to make the audience laugh but also to feel love and romance.

First still image;

The first still image captures shows the comedy element of this film trailer, we can see from the facial expression: laughter. Also at this point, the man who we assume the film is going to be based around is looking up to the man laughing, this could show that he is Superior to him and maybe his boss, mocking and laughing at him because he can.

Second still image;

This still image represents the romance side of the trailer, the woman is looking up to the man, perhaps with admiration, this shows the typical side of romance of the woman 'being in the mans arms' and is stereotypical of the film genre. As this scene is happening, the man is using flattery to make the girl smile and fall for him by saying "There's lots of beautiful women in this bar, but i can't take my eyes of you." Also typical of romance films. 

Third still image;

The third still image shows a close-up of another, presumably, main character who will make up much of the content of the film. We can tell that this is a light hearted film compared to the previous two thriller films I deconstructed as he is smiling rather then showing fear and worry.

Forth still image;

This still image also shows an element of comedy showing a young, typically, good looking man standing naked in front of the typically, standard regular man, this comparison can make people laugh as it is a mockery over the man sitting down. 

Fifth still image;

This still is used to show what production the film is; Warner Brothers pictures. This is a popular company which is globally recognised by the public, so can attract customers to watch this film after seeing this trailer. Music starts in the background at this point to emphasise the next part of the trailer and to bring attention to the writing on the screen. Black against white also makes it bold and clear to read.

Sixth still image;

This still image shows shot-reverse-shot as they talk over the table. This is an effective way to show a conversation between two people and can be used to see the reaction of the person who is listening to the other person or to see facial expressions of the person talking, this can hold a comedic factor. The setting seems to be relaxed with dimmed lighting, and how we would expect from a nice bar/restaurant.

Seventh still image;

This still image shows once again the title of the film being shown mid way through the trailer, and is a much larger font compared to the other bits of information shown during the trailer. This is to make sure that the audience know what the film is called. This once again verifies that showing the name of the film during a trailer is important, and we must include it in our own.

Eighth still image;

This is an effective way to introduce the famous names of the main characters who are starring in the film. When people know that there is an actor who they like appearing in a film as a main character, they are going to be more inclined to go and watch the film.

Ninth still image;

The ninth still image represents the romance side of this film, a typical scene of a man picking up a woman and staring into each others eyes at night time. People who enjoy romance films will like the aspect of true love and sweet moments such as this. At this point there is no talk over but just the soundtrack in the background, making the moment more intense.

To watch this trailer click on the link below:

Crazy Stupid Love trailer

Deconstruction: Film trailer of 'Black Swan'

Black Swan is another thriller, it falls into the sub-genre of a psychological thriller. We have chosen to deconstruct this because then we can compare two existing thrillers which are both popular, but also because we are intend to produce a film trailer for a psychological thriller ourselves, so we can pick out features which we should include in our work.

First still image;

The first still image is mini introduction which Fox put before films and trailers. This is to show that it is a Fox, searchlight production, which is recognised by many. This goes for many different genre's and it proves that advertising is key.

Second still image;

The second still image introduces the trailer, and presumably, the main character, as she is positioned in the spot light and her voice is talking over the image of her dancing in the spot light. The lighting here is effective as the background is black, representing the title 'Black swan' whereas her dress is white representing purity, showing a contrast between the character and darkness. Her being in the spot light also suggests she will be the star of the show. The music in the background of her talk over sounds pure and high-pitched, matching her white dress and the spot light.

Third still image;

The third still image shows the first bit of writing during this trailer, it is placed on top of black feathers, once again representing the title of the film. The still says "Official selection, Toronto Film Festival 2010" showing the audience that this is a successful film and will be worth watching. This is an effective way of advertising.

Forth still image;

The forth image shows the main character from the second image and a man standing on a balcony above the rest of the people in the still. This is a low-angle, representing power and authority, the man making the speech with the young girl on the balcony clearly is superior to the other people around the balcony as they are below him and listening to him. This is also, obviously his event or an event based around him.

Fifth still image;

The fifth image shows the main character walking through the street. It is filmed as a rear shot. Thus we see the back of her head walking away. The camera follows her as she walks away and has a jolter movement to it as it does, as if we are another person walking behind her and following her. This is to make the audience feel involved in the film as the experience the trailer. As she is walking across the streets the words "you are going to be, amazing" are said, this has an effect on the audience as they sense excitement and believe that she is going play an amazing part in the film.

Sixth still image;

The next still image we used has a much different effect compared to the other one, and special effects begin to take place, causing excitement and new thrills within the trailer. As she stands in front of the mirror and slowly starts to turn, her reflection turns more vigorously and looks at her with an evil looking scowl. This is where we start to see the psychological side of the trailer/film. This has a shocking/thrilling aspect and makes the audience feel fear for the character as her facial expressions expresses fear. The sound effects used in the background gets louder as her reflection turns its head towards her.

Seventh still image;

This still image show a close-up shot of the main character while in the bath, at this point in the trailer, it is skipping from one scene to another, which gives the trailer a fast moving effect, making it exciting to watch. The reason they have used a close-up here is to show the audience the fear she is experiencing. This makes the audience feel the fear with her and feel suspense and wonder what is causing her to feel scared in this film.

Eighth still image;

The eighth still image shows more special effects used within this film trailer, this scene has a horror effect as a monster like version of the black swan looks towards the camera (which is also towards the main character). This also has a shocking effect on the audience as they do not expect to see this next in the trailer. There is loud sound effects as it looks up from the ground causing emphasis on that particular moment.

Ninth still image;

This still image is leading more towards the end of the trailer and we now see the main character dancing in a black dress which contrasts with the opening scene where she was wearing a white dress, showing a change from pure to dark. This is also a rear shot and we can see the audience from how she would be seeing it also. it gives a sense that someone or something is standing behind her and watching. She is also being applauded by the audience which suggests that she did full fill the statement said over the fifth image, and in fact now she is the star of the show.

Tenth still image;

More special effects appear in out tenth still image, meaning more excitement and thrills. We see here more psychological confusion as she pulls a black feather out of her skin, this represents the change in her and the dark side that is coming out. This shows her mental state and also makes the audience want to find out why this is happening to her and what is wrong with her, as it i a fairly shocking scene to see.

Eleventh still image;

Twelfth still image;

This still image shows the title of the film on the same black feather background which has occurred through the trailer. This also presents the contrast of white on black, which has been the theme through out (showing darkness behind purity.) This shows that we must include the title of the film when it comes to filming our trailer. The feathers move in the background of the text has a nice visual effect to the eye while also having a weird, creepy feel to it at the same time.

To watch this trailer click on the link below:

Black Swan trailer

Deconstruction: Film trailer of 'Shutter Island'

We decided to deconstruct the film 'Shutter Island' as it is from the genre thriller so we can compare and extract the features of existing thriller films. This has been a popular and successful Thriller, so will contain what the public look for in a thriller. The trailer is gripping and exciting, making people want to go and see the film at the cinema or to buy it on DVD etc.

First still image;

The first still image we captured from the film trailer was fairly close to the beginning of the trailer and shows a close up of the main character. This gives off an appreciation to the audience that the film is going to evolve around this character and that his role in the film will be very significant. His facial expression also makes the audience feel slightly tense as it is not a happy expression but more one of worry, concentration and suspense. The close-up allows the audience to feel his emotions through his facial expression. The sound in the background during this still image is a man saying "Give you a briefing about the institution" and then move onto another man saying "all in all it's a mental hospital". This makes the audience want to find out more and to carry on watching the trailer then they might know what is meant by this, or even to watch the film to find out what exactly was meant by these words. Also, a mental hospital was mentioned, this is a very popular aspect in thriller films as many of them tend to be based around someone with a mental health issue, leading the audience to believe that there will be something to do with a mental patient within the film.

Second still image;

The second still image we took from the trailer shows the text fading into the scene of the next clip. This makes the trailer seem to run more smoothly rather then cutting to the text and then straight into the next scene. The font is clear and the colour 'white' is bold, so that the audience can read what production this film is from, advertising the production company for this film. This shows that when we make our trailer, details like that are likely to be used within a thriller trailer. The shot of going into these gates makes the audience feel as though they are there and are walking/driving into these gates themselves (point of view shot). This will make the audience feel more involved, creating more suspense for the audience. As the audience do not know what is through these gates, also creates tension of the unknown. 

Third still image;

The third still image we chose to capture has an element of fear for the audience and a sense of 'horror'. The old lady going "shh" is creepy to see and is child like for an old woman. She has clear mental issues, which relates back to the first still image talk over. We know that she has got mental problems as the talk over before she makes the "shh" sound says "We take only the most dangerous, damaged patients..." this once again creates suspense, as it makes the audience feel uncomfortable and want to know the story behind Shutter Island and the people who are there. The old woman's lack of hair and facial expression makes the audience also feel tense and maybe a little frightened as it is not the 'norm' and contains a creepy atmosphere.

Fourth still image;

The Fourth still image that we took from this trailer, we thought, represents the violence which often occurs within the thriller genre. Violence gives a film a thrilling aspect as it can be tense and exciting and creates action and movement. Here we can see a man who is bleeding reaching for a gun, the gun being the symbol for artificial violence. This lets the audience see that people get hurt, but does not show you who, the fact that the mans arm is wearing a uniform which is for the police/army, shows the audience that the people who we believe to be our protectors and control violence, is in fact vulnerable in this film and loose control. This makes the audience think that this is strange and want to find out why this has happened and whether or not they over come this vulnerability.

Fifth still image;

In the fifth still image we took from the trailer we see a birds eye view of the setting which the film takes place (Shutter Island). This shows to the audience where the film will be based. The music in the background at this point is fairly dramatic and intense, making the setting seem a fearful place. This is effective as we then portray the Island as being a bad place because of the gloomy weather and the sounding in the background. It does not settle on this clip for long as it flashes to different clips, making the trailer fast moving, exciting and full of suspense.

Sixth Still image;

This still image is taken from a low-angle, looking up towards the three men in uniform (one being the main character from the beginning). This represents the power and authority they have over the man sitting down working for them. It shows them looking down upon them making the audience feel their importance. The lighting in the still image is very dull in the background and very basic in the background also, this makes the audience focus on the three men rather then what is in the background. However the foreground is lit up and has complex technology, this shows the contrast between the characters.

Seventh still image;

The still image we got here shows a small book which the woman he previously speaks to handed to him. It says in large, capitalised writing 'RUN'. This creates much suspense for the audience as we do not know what this subliminal message means and why he should run. This makes the audience feel uneasy about the situation now and is a clue that something bad will happen if he does not leave the Island. This is also taken from a point-of-view shot as we see the book from the angle he is reading , as though we are looking through his eyes at the book, this has a dramatic effect as we feel as though we need to take this clue ourselves, and worry about what the message means. The music at this point is loud and un-comforting, also creating tension and a dramatic effect.

Eighth still image;

This still image shows a blank, black screen with white writing saying 'Leonardo Dicaprio'. The reason this has been placed within the trailer is to attract more people to watching the film as he is a famous and well loved actor, if people know he plays a large roll within the film, he's fans and many more people will be more influenced to watch or buy the film. This shows that when we make our thriller film trailer, we will have to include names of who is starring in the film. The white on black is effective as it is clear and bold, this shows contrast of good and bad as black is associated with the dark and white is a more pure and innocent shade.

Ninth still image;

This still image shows a man in prison quickly reached out to grab the authoritative main character. we can see from the still that this contained quick movement as the arm is slightly blurred. This part of the trailer makes the audience jump, which is a thrilling aspect of a thriller film, as we had no idea that the man was about to quickly reach out. This means that we should include in our thriller trailer, something that takes the audience by surprise.

Tenth still image;

We choose to use this still image to show the special effects used in this film. Special effects are commonly used in many genres, including thriller. This makes it more exciting and different as by using special effects we can create exciting scenes which can not be physically created to film, but only through technology. This shows a real woman fading into ashes, this visual effect is very well done, and can shock the audience. The special effects in this film are clearly very well produced and can make it a more exciting experience for the audience. From his facial expressions and the fact that he is embracing the woman that is fading away, we feel a sense of sadness through the emotion of this scene. This makes the audience want to know who the woman is and what she means to the character.

Eleventh still image;

This still is showing the title of the film, showing that in our trailer we must include the name of the film, otherwise the audience will be less likely to go out of their way to find out what the film was called after watching the trailer. The same theme of black and white is used here but this time is even bigger and bolder, to emphasize the name of the film.

Twelfth still image;

The final still image which we took falls right at the end of the trailer, the music dies down to an end. We see the final names of the credits. Showing that some credits should be shown at the end of our trailer. We also see a few logos and the website at the bottom, showing that advertisement is important when making a film trailer.

To watch this trailer click on the link below:

Shutter Island Trailer