1. Overview

For our A2 media portfollio we have been given the oppertunity to create a trailer, magazine front cover and a film poster for our very own film. This means we are givin the oppertunity to take any direction we like, we decided we wanted to look at a genre of film relating to British Youth Crime as we beileve it is something we could create a visually interesting and be fun for us to create.

 We have chosen to create a promotion package for a new film along with two ancilary texts including a film magazine front cover, featuring the film and a poster for the film.


The blog is in numerical order.

Posts 2 - 8 are our Research posts
Posts 9 - 12 are various other areas that we explored
Posts 13-16 are our Planning and Development Posts
Post 17 is our final outcomes
Post 18 is our Evaluation 

2. Audience Research

After completing our trailer research we decided it would be important to complete research into audiences before starting to create our trailer. In order to establish not only what appeals to them but also what doesn't to help us to create a trailer that calls out to them effectively. Therefore we created a poll online people of different ages to watch the trailers for skins, kidulthood and harry brown and complete a number of responses.  The poll link is shown below:

http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/506794

This link takes you to the results of the Poll

http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/506794/results

We also created another questionnaire for 15-20 year olds asking them what themes they thought are most likely to be in a Youth related film. We gave them 4 options;

Crime/Violence

Drugs

Alcohol

Sex

Here were the results:

Therefore we chose to include more violent crime scenes in our trailer.

We also conducted a focus group of 10 people aged 16-18  asking questions related to our film trailer.
Here is the conversation:

• What do you identify and value as being important to you either materially or otherwise:

Boy 1: My blackberry and my mates!
Girl 2: Ha yes my phone, my friends and my family.
Girl 1: Having fun, going out and my family.

• Who feels that things like your phone and laptop etc. are very important to you? Raise your hands.

(all raise thier hands)

• Who feels that going out with your friends and having fun is one of the most important things to you? Raise your hands.

(all raise thier hands)

• So what would you say are the main issues that effect you in your everyday lives?

Girl 1: ID!! (laughs)
Girl 2: Yeah definitely you've got to go out!
Boy 1: I don't know really at this age its just like school and go out and that's about it.
Girl 3: Issues? School work!
Girl 1: Everyone has thier own issues at home or within friendship group I suppose.

• So you wouldn't say films like KiDULTHOOD reflect real life then?

 Boy 1: Umm, no and yes.
Girl 3: Well they do to some extent, in places like London etc. but I think there a really extreme version! All those things wouldn't happen in  one day obviously but I suppose that's why its interesting.
Girl 1: Yeah I think we've all experience similar situations but not to that extent.
Boy 2: Appart from guns and things like that you don't really get a lot of gun crime round here!

• So in terms of drugs how many of you have been offered drugs before?

(all raise their hands)
Girl 4: Yeah I would say that's quite a typical teenage thing, everyone has a different view on drugs but it doesn't mean every teenager does them.

• Would you say teenagers in general have a casual attitude to things like drugs?

Girl 4: Yeah, they do. But I wouldn't paint everyone with the same brush though.
Girl 3: They do but youve got to think, so do some adults so I would say its more a culture thing than age.

From these results we can assume that films like KiDULTHOOD do portray well a teenagers life but on an extreme scale. Something that all the teenagers seemed to identify with drugs and sex and violence on some scale which is why films like KiDULTHOOD appeal to this audience because they can identify to a certain extent. Also most of thier answers portray them as being quite hedonistic and materialistic so that is something we can use to attract our target audience.

3. Genre and Trailer Research

 To create our Film Trailer we decided it would be important to carry out research into trailers of the similar genre. In order to establish the codes and conventions of a film trailer and for the genre of youth crime. We hope to look at and analyse shots, lighting, edits, mise en scene(location), audio and general themes including characters and story lines. We also hope to establish audiences these films target. We hope by achieving this we can create a trailer that reflects and portrays the genre correctly. 

                               KiDULTHOOD

KiDULTHOOD released in 2006 is a British drama. The film is about a group of 15 year old teenagers from a rough area in London. It follows the characters for 24 hours after been given the day off school due to a suicide of a class mate. It shows their struggle as they face the choice between a life of violence and crime and their strive for a better life.

The Daily Mirror described it as 'as potent as a shot of vodka before breakfast-harrowing, uncompromisingly bleak but thoughtful look at the anguish of the young and poor in Britain.'

 However,The Times said, 'What KiDULTHOOD does is take all the violence, sex and intoxication experience in a teenage year and condense it into a single day, because that's far more marketable than a film about 8 kids spending 4 hours sitting on swings wondering what to do.'

In terms of target audience, the film is rated at a Cert15 although it has been questioned whether the issues were too strong for this catagory due to the film containing scenes of a sexual nature, drug use, violence and bullying however in order for the film to be classed as a 15 it cannot promote these things and the BBCF felt that it neither promoted or encouraged drug use and violence was not the focal point of the film. The aim of the film is to deal with the issues that the teenage characters face which would naturally be targeted for a young audience. Therefore if the BBCF passed it as '18' this audience would have been denied access to this film and the lessons to be drawn from it. We therefore hope to look at how the trailer address and calls out to this audience.

Trailer Analysis

The trailer opens with ‘revolver entertainment’ an independent film distributor that operates in both London and LA.

It then fades into the white and black frame with ‘Kidulthood’ it is simple and not flashy reflecting the film, this fades and there is a series of sharp cut edits before leading to an establishing shot of the London city at sunrise. The cut edits include; dj decks, a girl smoking, a boy with a gun, and a boy rapping.

All the characters featured in the shots are young and wearing youthful clothing i.e. baseball caps and hoodies a very stereotypical look for teenagers, the mise en scene represents youth i.e. at a party. All the characters are also doing things that are themes of the film i.e. the gun represents violence, the girl smoking represents drugs etc. Each character is looking directly into the camera there fore this is a direct mode of address; an attempt to draw in and stimulate engagement with the targeted audience. All of these things are a process of interpellation and attract and address their teenage audience and within the first 5 seconds of the trailer the audience are drawn in and can relate to the themes and characters of the film.

Throughout the rest of the trailer the film features several unique and unusual shots including a panning shot underneath the main character and a shot upside down as he walks away this could be because their target audience are teenagers meaning their expectations would be different therefore they may want to see something different and this shows the film does not follow the usual codes and conventions. The main character is black representing urbanisation of London and the cultural diversity, the lighting is dark reflecting the darkness of the themes of the film.  The camera work used is not steady and almost documentary style trying to portray realism.

The locations in the trailer include a school due to the age of the characters, the tube an iconic thing representing London, run down flats representing their socio economic situation. Finally it includes the streets of London and shops.

Harry Brown

After looking at kidulthood we decided we wanted to look at a similar genre of film but with a different target audience.

Harry Brown 2009 is a suspense and crime film rated at an 18. It follows one mans journey in a modern day Britain where teenage violence runs the streets. When Harry's only companion; best friend Leonard is brutally murdered by a local gang of teenagers he reaches breaking point and is compelled to act out and is forced to bring some kind of justice. Through out his bid to clean up the run down estate his actions bring him into conflicts with the police.

The film is set at an 18 due to the use of strong violence and language throughout the film. It also contains drug use and has sexual content. Therefore it would be believed the film would be targeted at anyone over the age of 18 and due to the themes in the film it might be thought to be targeted at a younger adult however, the main character in the film is played by Michael Caine, a well known and loved British actor and winner of several academy awards which could be seen as an attempt to cal out to a more mature audience. However The film also features up and coming rapper and singer Plan B who is well known by many of the younger generation therefore it could be the target audience is slightly broader than just the 18-30 category.    

Trailer Analysis

The trailer opens with the Canadian-American entertainment company, LIONSGATE logo. Followed by an establishing shot of a standardized block of flats. The flats show all the elements of council flats, being tall, simple and many of them. This straight away shows the audience that the film is set in a potentially rough area. 

 A series of quick edits then show, the main character (Harry Brown played by Michael Caine) peering out of a window at a violent gang fighting in the street. This hits the films over 18 target audience following the theme of strong violence.  Other scenes to portray this include Cars being set on fire in the streets by youths accompanied by the diagetic sound of car alarms and items on fire being posted though elderly peoples letterboxes. It’s clear from the trailer that the film follows a constant struggle between the elderly and youths within this area.  Juxta position is used to portray the contrast between the violent youths and the elderly people. With such a contrast of characters in the film, it could be argued that the target audience are of a broad age gap. Michael Caine is loved by many of the older generation whereas the youths in the film are played by actors who appeal to the younger generation such as Plan B.

The lighting throughout the trailer is extremely dark. Most scenes are during the night, either set in the gloomy flats, a subway, a crack den or on the streets. Even scenes during the day are set on dull, rainy days. This mise en scene supports the dark themes addressed within the film. 

SKINS

Skins is a British teen drama which follows a group of teenagers in Bristol through their sixth form years. It explores issues involving Drugs, crime, sex, dysfunctional families, mental illness and death. With a cast change every two seasons Skins keeps you on your feet with ever changing story lines. Series one followed 'Tony' (a 17 year old popular boy within his school) and his friends. Series three then follows 'Tony's' younger sister 'Effy', and her friends. 'Effy' who only had a small part in the first two series starts a new college, where she meets new friends and faces new challenges and choices. 

Although the film is rated an 18, the majority of the characters are under that age. Apart form the stereotypical parent figures who are often played by real life comedians.This may seem ironic as the show is aimed at teenagers and their main audience would be 15 to 18 year olds. One reviewer stated this 'cant really write a review rented this out and only watched 2 episodes then turned it off wasn't for me think you have to be a teenager to watch' Due to the conflicting rating and target audience the show has always been viewed as controversial, which has probably contributed to it's success.

Trailer Analysis

The mise en scence through out the trailer portrays a wild, teenage party we see that it is set in an average looking house that appears to get ruined. The trailer is so significant that its had a cultural influence; the programme has given rise to the term 'skins party', referring to a debauched night of heavy drinking and recreational drug use.

Similarly to the kidulthood trailer the skins trailer opens with a number of sharp cut edits. It starts with a person dressed as a bear jumping on a sofa this then cuts to a strobe light on dj decks and then to the main part of the trailer which consists of what is made out to be an out of control teenage party showing; things breaking, people kissing, people in only underwear, water pistols, a mattress being thrown, people sleeping in a bath and more all these things portray a theme of  a sexual orientation and being out of control something that is assumed as a stereotype of the modern day teenager. reflecting the song used in the background. The song is call ‘standing in the way of control’ by the gossip, the Soulwax Nite Versions remix of the song featured heavily in the advertising campaign for the 2007 E4 television drama.

In May 2007, NME magazine placed "Standing In The Way Of Control" at number 23 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever, which could of been.

Overall although the trailer portrays an unrealistic view of a teenage party what it actually does is shows an extreme hedonistic ideology of a modern day teenager which immeadeatly appeals to the teenage audience because it is so dramatic that it catches thier attention because they believe they can relate to the trailer because they may have experienced a few of the themes within the trailer i.e sex, drugs, being drunk or being at a party and this trailer glamourises all these things making it an attractive and exciting show for thier teenage audience.

4. Narrative and storyline research

There are several theories when it comes to narrative structures on which we could base our own storyline in order to create an effective story on which to base the trailer on.

Here is the conventional narrative structure pointed out by Tzvetan Todorov. It can be broken down to three stages, a beginning (state of equilibrium), middle (disruption to the equilibrium) and end (reinstate the equilibrium). Equilibrium is a state of balance, normality in which the characters would usually find them selves at the begining.

Below is Tzvetan Todorov conventional narrative structure complete with five stages:

Stage 1
Equilibrium

Stage 2
Disruption to the equilibrium by some action or crisis.

Stage 3
The Character(s) recognition that there has been a disruption, setting goals to resolve problem.

Stage 4 The Character(s) attempt to repair the disruption, obstacles need to be overcome to restore order.

Stage 5
Reinstatment to the equilibrium. Situation is resolved, a conclusion is announced.

Its essential to remember films need to be seamless as the events unfold, with all the questions raised answered and all the loose ends tied up unless you want to go against conventions, have a cliff hangar, or create doubt in the minds of the audience and leave them questioning.

Overall a film should have "clear goals with believable chararcters if its to maintain a sense of credibility and to help keep the audience captivated"

Vladimir Propps, seven 'spheres of action' theory.

Vladimir Propp states there are seven 'spheres of action' which characters can be well .... characterized to. These spheres are catagrised as the hero, villain, donor, helper, princess (though this can be exchanged for a prince), dispatcher and false hero. Not all spheres of action are needed to be addressed for a film as its also well to note characters can portray more than one sphere and vice versa, spheres can be composed of several characters.

Vladimir Propp seven spheres of action:

Hero: Individual(s) who's quest is to restore the equilibrium.

Villain: Individual(s) who's task is to disrupt the equilibrium.

Donor: Individual(s) who gives the hero(s) something, advice, information or an object.

Helper: Individual(s) who aids the hero(s) with their set task.

Princess (Prince): Individual(s) which need help, protecting and saving.

Dispatcher: Individual(s) who send the hero(s) on their quest.

Fasle Hero: Individual(s) who set out to undermine the hero's quest by pretending to aid them. Often unmasked at the end of the film.

5. Magazine Research

We also had to create a film magazine cover to accompany our trailer and poster. In order to do this successfully we had to first analyse other film magazine covers in order to establish codes and conventions of a film magazine. The first magazine we decided to look at is  Empire magazine, is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Media Group. Bauer Media Group is a large publishing group that is based in Germany but operates in 15 countries world wide. It also publishes chat magazines such as take a break and Bella as well as music magazines such as Q and Kerrang. The target audience is males age 18-24.

The name Empire connotes something on a large scale and something above everything else which automatically hails the audience in because it makes them feel that by buying the magazine they belong to something big.

As you can see the mast head is in red a colour that denotes passion and is associated with power i.e red carpets for celebrities.

Each issue has a name e.g 'The 18th Birthday Issue,' The preview issue' and 'The hot issue.' Not only does this give the magazine a theme it also differentiates itself from other magazines and makes it feel unique which is an incentive for the reader to want to buy it.

Each issue also features a celebrity as the main focus on the cover, this gives the magazine familiarity and recognition. 

                                                             

This issue particularly focuses on the new Harry Potter film. The main image is of the main character looking directly into the camera which is a direct mode of address, calling out to their target audience. The images are of the 'characters' rather than the 'actors' therefore promoting the film as much as they can. This will attract true fans of the film rather than fans of the actors.

The film that is being promoted is Harry Potter, however the cover line just says "POTTER 7" this gives a sense of familiarity to the target audience, which the distributor is assuming that the audience knows well. This also makes the reader feel as if they belong.

It also has a section of hero's and legends words commonly used in the fantasy genre which Harry Potter is, which again creates a theme and all calls out to to the target audience.

Its made to look as though hes just broken glass to create a dynamic exciting feel to the issue.

It features a mast head, cover line, a strap line, an issue number and a website address. The bar code is also on the right hand side of the cover.

In This issue it features a topless Megan Fox; a sex symbol especially for the target audience of men of the age of 18-24. Shes looking provocatively into the camera which is a direct mode of address and an attempt to call out to the targeted audience.It is also slightly low angle to give her a sense of vunerablility. She also looks directly into the camera as an attempt to stimulate eye contact with the readers.  Her tattos are showing to give the feel of intmacy; to make the reader feel like shes exposing things that she wouldnt normally.

The cover is simple in white to give a clean fresh look.

6. Poster Research

In order to create a Poster for our film, we analysed a few exisiting film posters from a similar genre. This is so we can follow the right code of conventions and address the right target audience with or poster.


KiDULTHOOD

The poster shows 7 youths on the what appears to be a roof top with  an estate behind them, this immediately shows that its not a typical studio film. Every character is looking directly at the audience, this is called a direct mode of address and is used as an attempt to stimulate engagement with the target audience for the film.

The mise en scene including costume shows a stereotyped view of a modern teenager i.e. hoodies on the male characters and the male characters are black reflecting again refelecting modern urbanisation. One of the characters is holding a baseball bat showing the films theme of violence.

The lighting is very dark to portray that the film contains dark themes, this is also reflected by the solom expressions on all the characters faces showing that this is not a happy film. 

The slogan at the bottom of the page says Before adulthood comes KiDULTHOOD reflecting the film is about the void between being a child and an adult.

The review at the top of the page shows 5 stars refelecting that this is a good film and it states "powerful, moving and unforgettable-kicks the door of its hinges" this again reflects the theme to its audience that its not a light hearted film.

HARRY BROWN

This poster is highly edited. Single images of the actors have been taken and then placed together to create a poster. The is a bulls eye sign in the centre of the poster, this shows that Harry Brown was in the Marines when he was younger. The image of Harry Brown walking towards us is slightly larger than the images of the youths. This emphasize his power and strength against the youths. There are also positive Newspaper reviews at the top of the poster. Used to draw in potential viewers who aren't sure on whether to watch it or not.

The main image is a studio shot. We can tell this by the pure white background. This juxta positions the image of Harry Brown as it's a low angled shot expressing he is intimidating and could be dangerous. He is also carrying a pistol which has been enlarged to emphasise what he is capable of doing with it. Harry's face is covered in this poster adding mystery to his character. This is done because throughout the film Harry is an unknown killer to the police.

'Michael Caine' is written in big, bold, black letters, the same size as the tittle of the film. This is too attract Michael Caine fans who may not have been interested in the genre of the film but are big fans of his.

This poster is a location shot. There is a burning car in the background making the background of the poster completely red. This suggests anger, blood and death. Again supporting the themes without the film.
The slogan 'Every man has his breaking point' suggests that this man is just like every other. This means audience members can relate to Harry Brown, which makes this character more and more likable. He is also directly looking into the camera therefore creating a direct mode of address.

SKINS

Skins has a reputation of being a teen drama full of alcohol, drugs and parties. It's important to portray this when advertising the series so they attract the right audience. This poster has most of the charters looking drunk, or under the influence of drugs. The girl in the middle of the poster is 'Michelle', one of the main characters. Michelle is crying in the poster suggesting upset and drama. Too the right of the image is two characters kissing. This supports the sex theme. To the left is a girl past out which supports the alcohol and drugs theme.

This poster is for the second series of skins with new characters. Again the characters appear to be at a party under the influence of Drugs and alcohol. This time the main character appears to be happy, while her boyfriend tries to restrain her. This reinforces the mental health themes that occur this series. This happy look on her face draws audience members in however as it sets a positive vibe.

The lighting in the poster is different to the others, it's darker and very eary. There also isn't a party going on, instead it's quite a disturbing image. During the first series the character in the poster is hit by a bus and is brain damaged. By him being in the bath underwater it expresses his struggle in being able to do things on his own. This shows the audience that this series is going to be slightly different to the one before because as in the first series this character is the leader of the group and now he has to be looked after by his friends.

7. Location Research

Before we began filming we first wanted to research potential locations on which we could base our trailer around.

SCREENSHOT

We took screen shots to analyse the different locations used in the film. From this image taken from KiDULTHOOD we can see a block of flats and a corner shop in the background. The quality of the flats seems low, as there’s a lot within a small area which suggest council flats. Therefore we took images of local council flats and edited them making them look dull and run down. We could therefore film in this area when representing the characters way of life.

OUR IMAGE

SCREENSHOT
We first wanted to look at a train station as we felt the use of the tube in KiDULTHOOD was very iconic. Although we felt we would like to feature a train station in the film we would have to film on a cloudy day to get the effect of misery. This is a dull day for the characters in KiDULTHOOD as they are mourning the death of a school mate. Seeing as we want to include this theme in our trailer it’s important to make the lighting dull in our trailer also.

OUR IMAGE

This is a shot of our local train station. We wanted some shots in a train station due to it representing youth. Teenagers often get trains into town due to it being quicker than buses. The may also 'jump' trains if its a short journey, meaning they don't have to pay for a bus. Train stations are also used as meeting points for youths meeting friends. 

SCREENSHOT

 From Harry Brown we took a screenshot of a graveyard. This represents the sadness of the loss of a life. Which is a theme throughout Harry Brown and KiDULTHOOD and one we wish to pursue in our trailer. Therefore we also took images of a graveyard as a potential location.  

OUR IMAGE



A grave yard shot was extremely important as our entire film is based on someones death. This is a near by grave yard which we want to use in our establishing shot. Therefore straight away audiences will know the film follows the theme of death but it doesn't give away too much. E.g. who has died and how. 

8. Production Research

Dream works is a large American film studio that develops, produces, and distributes films, games and TV programming. Its revenue was estimated at $4.5 billion in 2008. The logo features a young boy sat fishing on a crescent moon. The Dreamworks animation is set at night to create a feeling of nostalgia and fantasy reflecting the name 'Dreamworks' the logo could represent  type of dream through the clouds etc. Some of its films include a series of unfortunate events, The ring, The cat and the Hat, American Beauty and Gladiator. The Dreamworks animation logo features the same scene but in the day time and the Font is in different colours which could reflect their more family orientated films for example Shrek. 

20th Century Fox is owned by media giant Rupert Murdoch.
The logo was initially designed in the 60s by a landscape artist.
The logo signifies the large scale on which the company works. Its in gold to show denote something expensive and lavish. The overall theme of the logo is to show something big and glamorous.

Again Paramount is one of the largest film distributors in the world. The logo of a mountain above the clouds reflects the name and together it creates a feeling of something on a huge scale.

Revolver Entertainment is a UK based film distribution company. A revolver is a type of gun refelcting the genre that the company produces. The logo is simple and non fussy.

9. Casting

In order to make our trailer realistic and believable as possible we wanted to use real actors apposed to just friends and family. After approaching a local stage school we narrowed it down to 3 girls ages 17-19. Each girl has a different look and a different style which gives us a lot of options here are the potential girls (shown below)

This girl has quite an innocent look and although this could be beneficial to show the extent of change caused by the catalystic event. However i think a character with dark hair would work better as it would express the dull and dark feelings and experiences the character will go though.

Girl 2: this girl looks more quirky and a bit more edgy which could reflect the genre of the film well. She also has similarities to the likes of Effy (skins main character)

Girl 3: Although this girl has a strong look, stronger than the first, we believe that girl 2 refelcts the target audience the best.