Black Swan

'Black Swan' has been a great inspiration in the making of my trailer as its edgy, thriller feel is hugely successful in enticing an audience. I first saw the film on the big screen without reading any critic reviews before hand, and had a very open mind about what to expect. I had no idea of the storyline or how the director would take the 15 certificate stance very seriously. Through out the film I was in awe of the physiological twists and turns and left me with a buzzing brain as to what scenes were reality and which weren't.

The trailer above is incredibly effective in attracting an audience without giving too much away-
It begins with a beautifully cinematic image of a ballerina alone on a dark stage which contrasts perfectly with her all white demeanour- significant as the story of black swan follows an innocent creature that merges with its own dark side.
In the next 3 short sequences Natalie Portman's character 'Nina' is revealed as the main protagonist of whom is a professional dancer at a dance company with many members- showing the intense pressure of competition they must be under to be the lead.

A scene that features within the film is one that gave much inspiration for my own trailer. 'The Fear and Desire of the Strange' focuses on psychological unstableness and therefore it is essential to portray the characters in the trailer to be experiencing this.

This clip shows the character Nina to be hallucinating and can be interpreted by the audience in many different ways, for example:
1. It could be due to the drink and drug abuse that appeared in the sequence before, where Lily convinces Nina to let loose from the pressure of her life.
2. It could be her psychological descent.
3. It could be symbolic of her dark side- given the supernatural elements.

The target audience of this film was initially received as mainly for women who enjoy the arts and cinematic imagery. However the controversy once the film was released came from the shocking content of which the audience that saw the film may have found too much. Personally I perceived it as pure genius to lure in an audience and then to shock them to the core with the basics of ballet but with a supernatural twist. The certificate being 15 was considered too low by many reviews, as it was the most complained about film to the BBFC of 2011.

Unfortunately I am unable to post the bath scene on blogger as it is blocked by YouTube- however I would just like to add how much of a inspiration the scene was when creating our own version.

Diary Entries

Thursday 3rd January: Devised a production plan in which the script began and the approx dates for the filming were discussed.
Wednesday 9th January: Confirmed the cast for our trailer- Laurie, Harriet, Dow, Alsan and myself.
Tuesday 15th January: Created our own film distribution company- 'ClockWork Pictures'.
Monday 21st January: Created a series of shots that were going to be used in our actual trailer and used a flip-cam to practice the shots using a model. These scenes including the model leaving the school toilets, filmed by a medium still shot and then an additional medium close up shot from a side on angle. LINK TO VIDEO POST

Gender and Age Statistics

Diary Entry 26/03/2013

In target audience research I came across the work of- Stuart Fischoff, Ph.D., Joe Antonio, B.A., Diane Lewis, B.A. 
(Paper Originally Presented at American Psychological Association Convention,Chicago, August, 1997) 
Journal of Media Psychology, Volume 3, Number 1, Winter, 1998

He conducted a survey of both females and males with various ethnicities and age, in an attempt to see any correlations to their profiles and the films they choose to watch. The graph above shows the difference between typical female and male film genres of which they enjoy. Unsurprisingly more males watch Action films compared to only 4% watching Romance. Perhaps the most significance divide is shown by the Sci-Fi genre, these statistics may be reflective of the current attitudes of gender and the correlation it has with film genre. This graph is a great resource in deciding what genre of film to pursue and how it would aim effectively at our target audience. There are significant films shown in the table that are apparent in both female and male's most watched films, such as 'Schindler's List'. This was an incredibly successful movie and therefore unsurprisingly is ranked high for both genders. 

Age is also a significant factor to consider for a target audience and is one that cinema attendance may help uncover. It would be foolish to consider a niche market with an equally as niche target audience, in which all the statistics show would be undoubtedly unsuccessful. 14-24 year olds are the main attenders of cinemas and therefore a reliable target audience, which has influenced my own for my trailer- ''Fear and Desire for the Strange'', which aims predominantly at 15-18 year old (mainly females).

This graph clearly shows a higher proportion of teenagers are going to the cinema rather than young children and adults. The amount may be slowly declining due to the internet and DVD distributors such as Love Film and Netflix, it is still a considerably more appealing market to aim at in terms of making a high income.

References:

http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/sfischo/media3.html

http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/wcrmagepattern.aspx

Cinema Attendance

This graph shows the worldwide progression and decline of cinema attendance throughout the years. As the economy grew alongside the media it is clear that attendance began to grow from 1995 to 2004. However with the influx of the internet and other media types such as DVD rental from 2005 an uneven decline began. It is, however, significantly more attended than 1995 however with pirate sites that show newly released films for free, people are less inclined to spend money on cinema tickets. Illegal techniques used to watch the latest films for free is not a moral issue for most viewers as particularly in Britain, there has been a recession, in which jobs have been harder to find and the prices of most products has risen. An economic downfall appears to change the ethics of many people, who find that if films are available for free then they are entitled to watch them if they wish. 
There is a similar issue with the music industry as prices soar, the amount of illegal downloads does also.






Choosing a film genre to pursue is dependant on many factors, such as which are the most successful currently? From this chart, in the recent years, Contemporary Fiction has dominated nearly half of the top-grossing films. This type of film is a fictional premise which is neither wholly associated with adults nor children, therefore having a wide audience reception. Fiction and fantasy appear to be the most successful genre of films, which was used by my own film trailer idea however narrowed slightly by its main appeal to teenagers. These statistics are not shocking, as though out these years, films such as the Harry Potter series (which was the high-grossing franchise of all time) took the world by storm. This example supports the statistics shown in the table which infer that Fiction are the most successful films. Others such as the Twilight Saga, The Hunger Games and The Life of Pi.

Film Trailer Information

A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. The purpose is to appeal and drawn in an audience by presenting extracts of the film to them in places such as the internet, television, the radio and the cinema etc. The length is generally short and approximately 2-4 minutes long, depending on whether it is a teaser trailer (which are shorter). 
The content are extract clips from the film, and are usually what are considered the 'best bits' without revealing the whole storyline, which is a mistake many film distributors make, meaning the audience do not feel like they need to see the film as they have already seen the best bits. This has influenced my own film trailer as I suggested that the ending sequence will leave a looming cliffhanger, which appeals to an audience as they will want to know the ending. 
The production form may vary depending on the maker, some may be; animated, 3D, digital or hand-drawn. 

Examples of effective trailers from a range of genres:

Film Company name- ClockWork Pictures

Diary Entry 13/03/2013

Clockwork Pictures

My group and I have decided a film making company name- 'Clockwork Pictures'.
We chose this as it implies a professional, modern and high-quality company of which audiences will be drawn to. It is very similar to well-known UK and United States based production companies such as:
- DreamWorks Animation
- 20th Century Fox
- Universal Studios
- Paramount Pictures
- Columibia Pictures
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Pixar Animations Studios
- Walt Disney Pictures

These companies produce many films that we consider would be matching in our film trailer genre and target audience. They have produced films such as Transformers, The Longest Yard, War of the Worlds etc...

The Da Vinci Code Trailer Analysis

27/02/2013

The Da Vinci Code Trailer Analysed:

• Dominant colours dark blues, deep glowing reds, greys and silvers. 
• Trailer opens with whispers and light choral music
• Sound bridge; audience hears suspicious whispering before shot of man whispering his confession
• Montage of Parisian icons at start such as the Louvre.
• Most of the trailer takes place in either dark rooms/ buildings or at night
• Pan shots of large historical buildings onto close up of man praying in a whisper to himself as though begging for his life. Cut then shot of man self flagellating.
• Mysterious monk- face obscured by a black cloak hood
• Rapid editing; tension increases throughout.
• High quality marble floors, rich oak and mahogany
• Ancient classical paintings
• Sumptuous mansions connoting wealth, luxury, success.
• High angle shot of Hanks’ character looking up at painting so that camera then pans down towards his shocked and fascinated face- he knows something we don’t.
• Fast editing for tension.
• Gothic birds- eye shot of mutilated corpse of old man in museum. Lit by candles
• Repeated close up shots of eyes
• Theme of voyeurism

The film trailer was effective in engaging an audience reaction and interest in many different ways. It begins with the statement: ''symbols are a language...''

Many examples of signifiers and signs were used to convey an emotion, event or action. As the film includes a story based on various religious elements it is necessary that the film trailer also included this for example the candles surrounded the dead man whose body is structured in a religious stance.