Thursday 24 October 2013

Secondhand Lions trailer analysis

In order to fully understand the genre conventions of specific drama trailers involving children, I thought that it would be useful to do a further trailer analysis on Secondhand Lions. This will help me to clearly define what I should be involving in my trailer.




The shot at the start of the trailer immediately establishes the setting for the film and several of the main characters. Themes of hostility are established from the very start with the aggressive narrative from one of the two men, showing the audience that the film will contain hostility, perhaps throughout. This is very effective at conveying a large part of the general theme of the story right from the very start of the trailer without revealing too much of the story (something which I am aiming to achieve in my own trailer).

The young boy's costume is a complete juxtaposition to the setting which he is in showing another theme of displacement within the film. This first introduction of the character is effective at showing the boy's discontent of the situation with which he is in, but does not provide any explanation as to how he has got there, building a sense of curiosity within the audience which will compel them to want to find out the full story by watching the film. The boy's apparent lack of knowledge of the country environment when he calls the pig 'doggy' also builds on this mystery as the boy is clearly miles away from home and completely out of his comfort zone and away from all that he knows.

The music played at the start also juxtaposes against the hostile and unhappy nature of the characters that are shown in the first moments of the trailer. This further builds a sense of mystery within the audience, enticing them to watch the film, as it raises questions over whether the happy music is connoting the end result of the film. The narrative begins hostile at the start but gradually thaws out over the process of the trailer until the characters are talking like close family members by the end of the story.

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Shot ideas


One of the issues raised in our pitch was the need to clearly establish which shots we will use in the trailer in order to convey the general idea of our story without giving too much away. With this in mind I started to brainstorm some different ideas of shots that would show a progression in the story without giving away the final result. I highlighted each point to emphasize the important parts of the shot that will be most effective in conveying the story and the boy's changing state of mind without having to explicitly say what is going on.

In doing this I have found that cinematography will play a large part in conveying the different stages of the story, such as the use of high-angle shots to convey vulnerability and low-angle shots to convey power. Mise-en-scene will also be vital as the state of the boy's room is a central part of showing the progression of the boy's state of mind. 

Tuesday 15 October 2013

Initial storyboard



This storyboard is intended to show the brief overview of the whole story. It shows the boy's relationship with his lego and the ultimate destruction of his 'perfect world' and the seizing of control over his life back from his mother. I feel like it is effective in conveying the isolation of the boy as he is not shown to venture outside of his room and the close relationship that he has with his lego as there is not a scene shown without it. The mise-en-scene is obviously not how it will be in the actual trailer, as the room shown was the only bedroom background available to use on Pixton and was not able to be altered, however, the overall tidiness and cleanliness of the room is clearly shown. I feel that this storyboard is very effective in conveying a brief synopsis of the story.

I will be creating a more detailed specific storyboard of exactly what will be in my trailer soon.

Thursday 10 October 2013

Further audience research



After finishing this slideshow I then looked further into researching the specific films that I spoke about in my initial research in order to see whether this would return more positive results. However, there was still no specific information linking to audience statistics and the opinions of audience members. This means that inevitably my audience research is not going to be as accurate as it arguably could be as it will be based on data that appears to be marginally biased and not representative of the population as a whole. It is not all bad, however, as the information will still be largely useful in giving me a rough idea of who will be interested in my film idea.

In order to gain as much information as possible before I make my conclusion I am considering creating and carrying out a questionnaire in order to gain the opinions of my peers, friends and relatives. 

Wednesday 2 October 2013

Blog feedback


Our blog was marked in order for us to be able to assess what grade we are currently working at. Although it does not say so on the assessment sticker, I am currently working at a B1 grade meaning that I am almost reaching the A grade. In order to do this I am currently thinking of different ways in which I can present my information. 

Initial audience research