Analysis of the final trailer

It begins with the standard warning pages which allows audience members to know that the trailer they are going to watch is suitable for all ages.

Followed by 'Screen Gems' (the American Film Distribution Company). This is the appropriate form of which we failed to show in our previous trailer, which was noted in our audience feedback. Screen Gems is a extremely successful company and therefore we chose to include it to give our trailer a positive image of which audiences will trust and therefore more likely to watch our film.

The opening shot is a medium (upper body) angle which gives a brief incite into the characters and their location at a school (shown by the courtyard of which I discussed in my locations post).

A previous issue that was pointed out during audience feedback, noted that through out the whole first draft teaser trailer, we had failed to include the films name! Obviously a huge error! Therefore we decided that we definitely needed to include it in our final edit and near the beginning to inform the audience.

The following shot is from the back of 'Jay's head' and although is reasonably close- I would still consider a medium shot. We purposely did not reveal his face near the beginning to add to the mystery and give an image of 'the every man', so the audience could empathise with his future events and emotions.

The next series of clips were an idea formed from previous trailers of which the names of actors starring were shown just prior to a small clip of them in action...

This medium (body) shot was an idea we kept from our original script, as it would let the audience know who is who early on and therefore understand each character.

The white writing against a plain black background was intentional to give simplicity and innocence to the beginning of the trailer- as the visual and audio effects are working together (integration). During these scenes the non-diagetic song playing is Lotus Flower which is a calm/ soothing sound.

After introducing the characters as individuals and giving the respective recognition to the actors, it was necessary to use a long shot to signify them as a group (togetherness/ friendship), as this is symbolic of their later switch in where they are the same group of friends though physically distorted.

Typically like any other professional film company we continued to acknowledge the director, editor and screen play workers who put the film/ trailer together. The background, colour and font all match to add to the high-class image and therefore link the whole trailer together as one project.

Then we drive straight into the story of 'The Switch' as it begins with the friendship of students. To characterise Nina and Jay as the main characters they appear first and the most frequently. The shot was a close up to show Nina's features and to also re-enforce her life as a student (as she is looking inside her locker).

Followed by a panning (medium) shot of Jay to link the characters together...

Nina then continues to walk into the shot with Jay and their friendship is solidified shown by their affectionate nature towards each other.

Now begins the body-swap element...

A worms-eye view shot is filmed of Jay, with the overplaying of (non-diagetic sounds as they were externally added in) his heaving breathing. The angle gives a clear insight into the panic in Jay's facial features and so the audience can interpret that something is wrong.

Also the gradual beat has picked up at this point to a loud, consistent wooden beat.

A virtual effect was added to signify a perhaps mix of personality. It is a clear visual way of foreshadowing the events of a switch of bodies as the audience can see two versions of Jay at one shot. (The shot can be considered a denotation as it is symbolic however not an obvious one).

The next shot shows the exact same effect of doubling-images on Nina. A close up reveals the mental torment she is experiencing as she rocks herself back and forth. The audience still are not aware of the switch element- as the suspense is vital in making the trailer effective.

As the lyrics of the soundtrack begin- the tempo begins to increase. Jay's character is seen running out of the school toilets (suggesting he ran after his panic scene) with the camera panning his movements- giving the impression of the audience observing the event in reality. (Including the audience though sense and emotion is a method used by films to keep them interested and intrigued).

A series of shots are then shown of both Jay and Nina- interconnecting the characters. The shot of Jay above is symbolic of him questioning his own reflection and observing his own identity. Both were shot in the same style to link the individuals together- symbolic of their switch.

The voice over of Jay's video blog account begins over the top of the sound track and whilst the image of Nina on the phone is showing. Voice overs are apparent in nearly all trailers as they add to the storyline greatly. The significance of Jay's voice over Nina's figure (extreme close up) is a polysemic sign of 'The Switch', and the symbols used are perhaps more obvious now to the audience as the trailer is over half way through- this is intentional as we would want them to understand the basic storyline by now.

The next series of shots a very quick and flashing between Jay and Nina who are both in a panic state. This is emphasised by Jay's audio account as these are being shown, with lines such as- 'I keep switching with people... at school'. The last image is the most significance as it showing a merge between Nina and Jay as they appear in the same frame as each other. 

After Jay reveals the body-switching situation the other video blog's follow with Eva and Sasha's character also pleading for help and later turning to drugs to deal with the confusion. The shot above was shot at the angle of a laptop camera as it is a video blog- this element would appeal to the interests of our target audience who use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on a daily basis.

With the continuing sound track and Jay's voice over account a series of shots into the events that Eva and Sasha are experiencing show the same as Jay and Nina. A similar effect of merging moving images together to represent a distortion of personality/ identity is used...

                     (Eva and Sasha merged- with the added sound of Jay's voiceover)

The storyline begins to pick up again as it is nearing the climax of the trailer. A medium body shot of Jay driving his with a worried expression connotes something is about to happen.

As the screen switches to black the sound track ends and the diagetic sound of a car screeching blares... until the eventual sound of a car crash...

Following this is the final soundtrack (which is a bold, upbeat electric guitar style) of the trailer and it a method used in trailers to signify the end but also show short burst of the more climatic areas of the film...

The themes of drug abuse and depression kick in at this point. Our certificate of a 15 typically includes some forms of sexual content, bad language, violence or drug abuse. The image of reflection is used yet again to represent identity and how this films shows how losing identity (in any which way) affects people fatally. 

                                           Extreme close-up shot of Eva's drug abuse.

This birds-eye view shot of Jay appearing to be drowning himself adds to the suspense greatly and is showing the descent of sanity and mental stableness. The inspiration for this shot came from my love of the the film 'Black Swan' in which the dancer submerges herself in water to look up and see herself hovering over her own body. The mind twists that are apparent in our trailer come from other films that have interested us and influenced our decisions. 

Extreme close up- the colours of Jay's eyes signify deterioration and death. The water dripping from his face adds to the despair felt by the character and the audience can see a physical representation of that.

The ultimate (medium-long) shot is of Jay (as he is the main protagonist) with the added voice over of- ''I was her...'' An emotive and dramatic ending as the music pauses for the few seconds that he says this. The climax was most definitely reached by the ending and it was a very successful trailer in revealing the basic storyline and characters without spoiling the whole film (shown by comments in my audience feedback label). 

                  Date of release is revealed so the audience know when to expect the film.

Final note of acknowledgement to myself and my team members. Also the film title is repeated for emphasis. Additionally the film creditors and producers logo also feature. Our team production company is listed also...