Settings Used

London - We decided that we needed to include London as it was relatively local at around 40 minutes away by train so we wanted to ensure that we included a setting which is recognisable to the audience. This is conventional in an action movie as it makes it seem high budget and professional. We decided that London could be the major location within the trailer as it is a stereotypical location for spy agencies as shown in the James Bond series for example. We ensured that the scenes involving London were largely used at the beginning of the trailer to signpost to the audience of what genre film it it.

Dubai - We were able to acquire some shots in Dubai as a couple of us were able to get out there for familial reasons and this was hugely important in our trailer as it contrasted London with somewhere which is considered exotic to fit in with our idea of a global terrorist organisation. We mainly used shots of Dubai towards the end of the trailer as we didn't have an extensive amount of footage available. We had the chase scene in the desert involving cars and we thought that that was best within our montage at the end.

Iceland - We were also able to get shots from Iceland which helps contrast the hot climate of Dubai and once again showcased the idea of the movie being high budget. We used the shots of Iceland in the middle of the trailer as they were generally slower in pace and so built up tension before the music intensified. The shots were largely used to showcase the idea of the organisation going all round the world.

Scouthut - We got many shots in the Scouthut as it was the most accessible location to us when needed be. It was also away from any public interference (a problem in our AS production) which enabled us to have an extensive shots involving guns. This was prevalent with both the protagonist and antagonist. The shots were used throughout as it reminded the audience of the genre they were watching and added effect to the action qualities of our trailer.

Esher Common - We also got many shots in Esher common as it was local to us as well. It was much like the scouthut as it didn't have much interference and so we also acquired shots involving the props here. It was also used to contrast the indoor styling of the scouthut so it emphasises the plot of the story more to the audience.

Conor's House - We got some shots in Conor's house as it allowed us to have shots involving gun fights. This included the attack on a character and the break in which add to the action qualities of the film. The shots were used in the middle and in the montage as they were dynamic and so brought a sense of urgency to the trailer which accompanies the increasing pace of the music nicely.

Production Credits Used

To make the production credits we used Adobe Photoshop to enhance the images we had selected. We were able to roughly animate them so that they would run smoothly with the pace of our trailer though the use of a fade and flash. We decided on Photoshop as we had some knowledge on how it worked already in term of enhancing the colour or quality of the image and animating it. The software was relatively easy to use and we used relevant tutorials t help if we didn't know exactly what to do.

For our A2 production we decided on creating two production credits as we generally saw that there were two in the films we had researched of the genre. We decided on making both simple as that best represented the genre in our opinion. Triptic Films was designed to suit the locations we were using. with the picture of London being the main feature, this would serve to inform the audience of the companies location and the font helps emphasise the genre of the film.

IFM Studios (Independent Film Making Studios) was created to make it seem professional to the audience as we incorporated a fade and slight flash between the two to make it more engaging to the audience. The use of a wolf connoted danger to us and so we thought that it would be a good logo to highlight the action genre

Main Characters Used

Protagonist: The protagonist generally conforms  to the expectations of our chosen genre. His attire is shown as smart throughout the trailer which highlights his supposed role within the film (a spy for an anti-terrorist organisation). He is shown constantly with a pistol as his main weapon choice which is shown through the action genre e.g. James Bond. The shirt he wears is light in colour as he represents the good side in our trailer. His smart clothing connotes power to the audience but his lack of a proper suit may suggest that he is not the leader of the organisation but rather just an agent. This is stereotypical of this sort of character as he is normally shown to have to stop the 'evil' in the movie at any means necessary.

Antagonist: The antagonist is generally shown in dark casual attire to emphasise the evil style of his character as he acts as the rogue agent working for the terrorist organisation in our trailer. He is constantly shown with a weapon which highlights his violent nature and possible danger to the protagonist. The main role of the antagonist is to mirror the protagonist in any way possible. He acts to contrast the good nature of the protagonist throughout the trailer and is evident on the poster and magazine cover. This is conventional of the character as he is shown as the 'evil' which needs to be defeated by the protagonist and so is usually shown as the darker character.

Protagonists Boss: The boss serves to inform the audience of the plot of the story as he is the one who originally sets the protagonist on his mission. The boss is incorporated in the narration as it continues into dialogue between him and the protagonist, which suggests some sort of working relation. His smart attire helps connote power to the audience as he is constantly shown to be high up in terms of power status. This is conventional in the genre within action thrillers and spy thrillers in particular as there is normally a boss of the organisation whom sets the story to the audience.

Titles Used

During our AS production we found that the titles were generally of lower quality as they were rushed to an extent and so we wanted to focus on making them seem professional in comparison. We decided that we needed to allocate specific time to the creation of the titles as this would allow the trailer to be more immersing to the audience.

The titles we incorporated were all in the same font as we wanted to emphasise the action qualities within our trailer. The previous film credits were placed towards the start of the trailer to engage the audience straight away and the font stands out against the dark background and is eye catching to the audience viewing the trailer. The final title also stands out as it is a similar shiny grey but we ensured that they were animated to add greater effect overall. We animated the titles to include bullet holes to suit the genre of our trailer.

Directors Narration over the film

The directors narration was helpful in letting us analyse the product post production and after audience feedback. This lets us have a much more detailed overview of the final product and helps us to reflect more when looking over the project. It is important to remember that this analysis can help someone who has never seen the film understand it a bit more. As far as marketing and distributing goes it can also help sell the product to hear the directors opinion on what is really happening therefore helping expand on ideas which may be implanted into the audiences head and settling a few debatable points if any surface.

Equipment used

Tripod

Another piece of equipment that I have is a Miranda 500 tripod. Its legs extend twice and the total height of the tripod with the camera on top is about 5 foot off the ground. The tripod allows the camera to capture smooth and steady shots which you can do for taking images and also video. It is not hard to understand how to use the tripod so it wasn't hard for the others to understand.

Canon 500D

The main camera used for the majority of our filming, it was of very good quality and created a very good image, the main problem we had with camera was the fact that it didn't have a ;ens with optical zoom, this of course caused problems when we had to film form a distance, for example in an alleyway where you can't stand next to each other because it is too confined. The camera was useful for most of the shots especially in Dubai where we needed a top quality camera in order to film such a beautiful location.

 Adobe premier elements 

The original software from last year and a more basic version of Cyberlink Powerdirector. Still good for its simplicity but yet it doesn't create the quality production we were looking for with specific special effects being really hard to implement such as the fade in shadow of the title or the gun shot sounds on a blank screen. The software still worked well when considering that we only really needed it as a backup if the Cyberlink Powerdirector turned out to be a dead end as it could be more complicated.

 Blogger

Blogger was the most important part of the research and planning process, it helped make the whole trailer planning process a lot easier as you could display all your ideas simply and easily on a blog. It was essential for most of the shots we gained to have an idea of what we were filming, with blogger we could plan the filming of particular scenes in specific locations pretty simply just by following the script, however even though we had blogger to plan we found it easier when filming to improvise our shots as it meant we could get a lot more shots to help fill the two minute time limit.

 Cyberlink Powerdirector

Cyberlink Powerdirector was the software of choice for editing as it provided us with an easier way of creating the presentation we desired, the actual quality of Powerdirector is very good, the editing aspect is far more efficient and the rendering is far quicker and less common as compared to Adobe's equivalent. At the start of the year we had to make the decision whether to stick with Adobe or not, the reason we chose Cyberlink Powerdirector instead is because of practicality and quality, in terms of going round Conor's to edit it was essential that we could edit whenever we want rather than relying on going to the media editing rooms to do it, this as is also helpful as the quality of the software is better as it is basically an upgrade on Adobe with an easier interface and simple controls when it comes to editing an image or sound etc.

Comparison between three texts

Trailer with annotations

     Final Poster for the trailer                                                            Final Magazine for the trailer

how the 3 texts complement each other in advertising your film and appealing to your target audience

Trailer

The trailer compliments the other two texts really well, normally peoples attention in this case the potential audience is caught by the poster or magazine cover whether that be a split second eye catching image on public transport or in a famous magazine company e.g. TotalFilm. Therefore the people who usually view the trailer already have an idea of the contents through extra reading, this is usually how fan bases start. However with the dawn of social media it has become much more common for the trailer to be observed first rather than a poster, nowadays it is as simple as sharing the trailer on Facebook where all your friends will be able to see it. This is especially useful when trying to find a large audience base for the film. It is usually the case that film makers try to gain the attention of the audience without giving too much of the story away, our trailer is very effective in doing this, both the poster and magazine help highlight what the film is about through the use of a select few images. These images especially of the guns help to establish our film as a standout action/thriller film, the guns being the giveaway and helping us stick to the typical conventions of the genre. The trailer will appeal to our selected target audience (15+ boys) because it  has a lot of usual conventions of both action and thriller films, the constant presence of guns along with the exotic locations and the odd chase scene help us to keep the attention of the audience throughout the length of the trailer. The name Syndicate is what we want to stay in the heads of the audience after they have watched the trailer, the last shot being our animated title sequence, this helps us complement the other two texts as the audience would constantly be on the lookout for the name subconsciously, therefore in a busy environment if their eyes catch the title clearly shown on the poster and magazine their interest would be peaked and it would serve as a constant reminder of the film coming out therefore increasing the efficiency of the advertising campaign.

Poster
The poster is very effective in complementing the other two texts, not only is it very distinctive in look but it also possesses all the information needed in order to create a successful advertising campaign. The use of the title is symbolic of all movie genre's not just the action/thriller genres with the big bold title trying to catch the attention of whoever it can.The review system is also very effective in increasing the efficiency of the advertising campaign, with glamorous reviews from a lot of well respected businesses. In our poster we tried to use the most well known reviewing companies in regards to film, this way it would catch the eyes of the audience, especially if specific people look for reviews from specific companies e.g. IGN who can alter their decision on whether they go out of their way to watch the film. The fact that most of the poster is black but yet the actors and production and distributing company logo aren't is symbolic of most movie posters as they are crucial aspects which can gather the attention of audience viewers. The actors involved can be a major influence when film makers try to attract an audience, for example Leonardo DiCaprio in the Revanent where just the name can gather a cult following. For us the names are clearly presented at the top with the slogan "from the acclaimed visionaries of the Summoning and Vindictive" therefore catching the audiences attention especially those who enjoyed the original films. The production and distributing company logo's are also really important in selling the product at the advertising stage, the need for them to be clear is imperative as it can grab audience members straight away. Prime examples of this are companies such as Disney and Pixar who have a mass following every-time a new film comes out as they have such a loyal fan base. The poster establishes the genre of the film very simply through the use of guns with the two main characters with the smaller hand held weapon of the main protagonist as well him being in the middle whereas the antagonist is shown with the much larger gun and behind the main character to show how he is an essential part of the plot. The fact that only Conor's eyes are shown is essential with the idea of the action/thriller genre as his character is supposed to be secretive and his identity a mystery.

Magazine
The final magazine compliments the other two texts very efficiently as it is an overview of the entire plot as exhibited in the trailer as well as being the less detailed version of the poster. The reason for this is because usually where magazines are concerned the main image as shown above are on the front page as its big eye catching news which will gathering the most amount of audience to view the magazine. Therefore any crucial information about the films release, whose in the film and behind the scenes aspects are further on in the magazine therefore encouraging the purchase of the entire magazine based purely on the front cover. Our own magazine company was AbsoulteFilm as an alternative to TotalFilm, we did a similar logo with the red letters of film displayed massively in order to gather more of a relevant audience (those who are interested in film). The absolute being the hint that our magazine company only discusses film.When advertising a new release in a magazine it is very important that it makes the front page, other productions simply only get a slight notice with just the title and a page number for within the magazine being present. For us the film is presented on the front page with a picture which highlights the two main most significant characters who could have a massive influence on the advertising campaign. We also included the slight backdrop of London as a slight hint to the main setting of the film, this is important as the significant landmarks are clearly established in the trailer therefore to add a slight hint in the magazine cover is imperative. We decided to use very well known movies on the front cover of our magazine as it shows how our film is the most highly anticipated film of the year in front of all the big names even Mad Max Fury Road and Disney's release of Star Wars. We used the idea of an Oscars nominations to show how good our film is, in reality mad max had 10 nominations and star wars 8 so if our film was on the front you would expect at least 10 nominations and stiff competition from the Revanent for the best action/thriller film. We used the slogan "thriller of the year" to help gain the audiences attention, it is quite usual for movies to use specific comments from well established companies in order to show authenticity for the final product, we chose thriller of the year as it shows the truly prestigious nature of the production. We also used "the action continues inside" as it helps promote the advertising campaign as well as prompting sales of the specific magazine.Once again it was very important that we establish the magazine as the action thriller genre as that is what we are marketing the movie as, the use of guns once again highlight the audience we are looking for (15+ boys) as sometimes it can be generalized that men like action films more as they are less freaked out by gore.However there is less of a depiction of gore for that exact reason, despite the fact that we are appealing to boys with the action elemtents we don't want woman to not want to come especially seeing it is the thriller of the year. There is a massive marketing aspect behind film magazines, usually it is more likely woman who buy reviews of movies as they are more likely to buy magazines in general unless they are someone working in the media industry. Therefore it is very important that the magazine cover appeals to bot genders in order to get the biggest audience to view the film as possible.

Nine shot analysis

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.