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.