Drafting and planning: raw footage

This is one of the additional scenes I added in to my storyboard to make my trailer longer, and I recently filmed it when finishing the filming for my trailer. This clip will need editing however I cannot do that till 7th January as that is when I next have access to MoviePlusX6. However despite this I feel that this is a strong clip.  For starters I feel that I got the lighting correct here as there are hints at light but most of Poezzi is in darkness showing how despite him having a chance to be good he still chooses to do bad. I also opted for a close up of Poezzi to show how serious he is about Castro, and the detectives coming for him as shown by his line 'I love it when they try.' However there is a sense of smugness there to show the audience that he believes in his own ability. The way he looks as well was also planned as I got my actor to not shave off his beard. This is to contrast with the previous statement, as while he believes in his own ability he is not clean shaved, as in previous clips, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/target-audience_24.html, to show that Castro is defiantly causing him some stress and trouble. Overall I am happy with this clip and feel it will be even better when I can edit it.

Drafting and planning:

Here are some picture of the editing I am doing for Poezzi's gang scene. At the moment I am just trying to figure out the best way the clips will work and whether or not I need things like a fade shot. Also I am trying to fit in my copyrighted song of Shipping Up To Boston, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/organisation-choice-of-songs.html, to fit in with the clips. I plant to use around 10 seconds of the song so I fit in with the guidelines of just 15 seconds of copyrighted music. This is a simple enough procedure as I just drop the song file onto the audio track as shown by my first image. Now I am focusing on the frames looking good and the best order for the clips to go in, but feel I am in a strong position in making a key part in my trailer.

Drafting and planning: more editing

As shown by my previous blog,http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/blog-post_18.html, I have recently started editing my trailer and have recently been focusing on the starting part of the trailer. This is the bit where Poezzi gives his orders, before quick segements of his gang causing trouble, and then him being informed about Castro. I decided to skip one scene for this as I felt it would be best to edit all of Poezzi's clips and once so I can see if he looks menacing enough. I opted for the clips my target audience approved off in previous blog posts, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/target-audience_24.html, as they felt they were the best clips to portray Poezzi how I want him to be portrayed, and as I am trying to attract this audience to my film I decided to listing to them. I decided to keep the Poezzi 'do it' scene as I felt it was the perfect clip for that bit with the lighting portraying him as intimidating and it being a nice short introduction to the protagonist. For the quick segment of clips of his gang causing trouble I decided to join around 5 separate short clips together before adding in 'Shipping up to Boston' on top of it. I showed in a previous blog post why I opted for this song, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/organisation-choice-of-songs.html. I got this song by using Youtube Converter to download it then added it into MoviePlusX6. I then selected the file and cut it to about 9 seconds as I am only allowed 15 seconds of copyrighted music, and also because the segment is only that long so the main/ best bit of the song is used to symbolize the havoc they are creating. I then just added in the music over the clips, by putting the file under the clip files on overlay soundtrack 2 (its the file right at the bottom). Finally I cut the scene where Poezzi is informed of Castro just a little bit as I felt if I did not it would be too long, but I still feel it is a strong clip. I still have a lot to learn about the editing software on MoviePlusX6 but at the moment I find the basic things easy to use and feel I am in a strong position for the rest of my trailer.

Similar Products

I have decided to analyse the 1983 gangster film 'Scarface' to have a look at what effective editing techniques they use in their trailer, which I can perhaps add into my trailer to make it as effective as I can. This trailer only has one real editing technique which is just a load of cut shots throughout, yet this is still very effective. This is because it leads to slow paced editing which mirrors Al Pacino's mood throughout most the trailer, as he is quite calm and cool about everything and seems to know what he's doing and enjoys life. Even 2 minutes 48 seconds when there are short snippets of action the slow paced editing and cut shots remain implying to the audience that Al Pacino is still very calm and confident despite people shooting at him.

This is an effect I could use in my trailer for possibly the start, to feature a lot of cut shots and slow paced editing to show how Poezzi is in control and loving life. This could work well especially if I make my trailer fast paced once Castro comes into it to show the audience how Poezzi's life has gone from being very easy, to being quite difficult. I also like how the eerie music slowly comes in as it adds mystery and fear around the character and that music lingers througout. I could use this again towards the start to make my audience fear Poezzi before adding in other music which is what this trailer does.

This trailer has shown me how by simply using just a few editing techniques and the right sounds and music you can still make a really effective trailer and has helped give me some ideas on how to edit the first part of my trailer.

Drafting and planning

As I have now finished filming for my trailer I have started editing all my clips to combine my trailer together. As shown by the image above I have recently been editing just the start of the trailer with the film distributors title and the age certification. This was quite a simple procedure as I found a load of film identifications and saved them into a folder as shown here. This allowed me to simply select the BBC identification as they are the company distributing my film as shown by my previous blog post,  http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/target-audience-and-organisation-who.html. However as the clips featured sound I had to edit it out and add in the sounds I want to feature in my trailer. As shown by my picture I simply selected the file and then selected the mute overlay track located on the left of the files. I then cut down the film identifications original clips to around 6 seconds (combined) by cutting the file. This will allow me to show the audience who is distributing my film for a certain length but it won't be on to much, as this will bore them and they are more interested in the action taking place in the trailer.

Drafting and Planning

Here are 3 unedited clips for my trailer and is a re-shoot of the detective scene. Despite some positive feedback from my target audience about the original detective scene, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/target-audience-response-to-detective.html, I felt that it was not long enough or dramatic enough so decided to re-shoot it. This gives off a better effect due to their being 3 different camera shots/ techniques. Therefore when I edit it it will start off with the original long shot, before cutting to a close up of the detective saying 'gangs' then cutting away to the gang leaders as shown by their pictures on the board. Therefore when I edit it all together it will be like one bit off footage, and this way you get to see how serious the detective is about catching both gangs as well as showing the audience a view of them. Also by doing this technique I also can make the classroom look more like a detectives office as the long shot will show the audience the desk, and chairs etc and then the close up and cut away will show them the board and the pictures off the two gang leaders. I feel that when I edit this it will look much better than the original footage, and will help make my trailer look more effective.

Drafting and planning

Here is a clip I filmed of some of the detectives talking about Poezzi and his gang. This scene will feature at the start of the trailer and I did it to give the audience an idea of how dangerous Poezzi is before seeing him. This is why the detective talking pauses slightly and talks a bit slow to add that mystery and fear around Poezzi and his gang.  I picked my teacher's classroom to film this and used his whiteboard to try and make it look like a detectives office. However I left the board blank and this conversation is supposed to be just casual talk between the detectives as Poezzi's troubles are causing news in the city. When it comes to editing I think that I will start and end this with a fade out as it will feature at the start of my trailer as this will make it more dramatic when setting the idea of Poezzi in the audiences mind. Also by mentioning Poezzi's name and how dangerous his gang is it will reveal to the audience why the film is simply called Poezzi as his name is not mentioned for the rest of the trailer, which is a simple thing to add in but is needed to join the whole thing together and not confuse my audience. Overall I am happy with how this clip came out as I feel the cast are wearing the right clothes for just a causal conversation and feel that they look the part as does the location, as it does look a bit like a detectives office.

Similar products

This is the trailer for the film 'the business.' This film is sort of a comedy about gangsters as shown by the trailer throughout, so is not very similar to my trailer 'Poezzi.' However there are a few things I like from this trailer which I feel I can add in for filming in the last few days before my deadline. For starters I like the character development of Frankie through the trailer as it starts of with him not having much and then having loads as shown here.

 This shows how he goes from a standard low time gangster to a major one with a lot of money and how he seems more relaxed with that way of life as well as enjoying it. This is a charchter development I could use with Poezzi. As shown by a previous blog post, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/target-audience.html, my target audience feels I should add some character development into my trailer. Therefore as shown by this scene I could do it briefly as simply as this one by starting the trailer as the confident, unbeatable leader he is, before showing how stressed and pressured he is by Castro challenging him implying to the audience he might be about to loose his tag as the best gang leader.

Another thing I like about this trailer is the brief voice overs they use in it at certain bits. For example simply from 36 seconds to 39 seconds there is one. This is something I could use in my trailer to describe Castro's gang once he appears to let the audience know some information on him thus getting their attention more. This could be a useful technique I will probably used.

While this trailer is not similar to mine, it has shown me two very good techniques as well as how I can use/add them in to my trailer, which will prove very useful for when I finally finish making my trailer and hopefully it will make it a very effective trailer.

Target Audience: Response to raw footage

As shown by my recent blog post, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/drafting-and-planning-raw-footage.html, I filmed some raw footage of Poezzi being informed off a problem by one of his gang members a few days ago. I really liked both the shots used but did not know which one would be more suitable to my genre so decided to ask a few of my target audience what they thought.

As shown by the positive feedback I received my target audience believe that the second clip is the best one to use for my trailer highlighting a number of reasons why, such as the contrast between the low key lighting and the flames to make it seem he is thinking of something, as well as the lighting creating mystery through a shady effect. Also Steve points out that the build up to the dialog suits my drama as it present Poezzi as dangerous and authoritative. All of these are excellent points as to why the second clip is the best to use for my trailer and I am glad that my target audience showed me this as I could not decided which clip was the most suitable to use.

Organisation/ drafting and planning

**Insert Picture**

As shown by the image above I have decided to draft 5 more scenes for my trailer, tweaking two and adding in an extra three. I did this because I felt that original storyboard did not feature much of Poezzi so decided to add in two extra scenes featuring him as well as tweaking the two detective scenes so that my trailer is longer, and builds up more tension and suspense around Poezzi. The extra Poezzi scenes I have added will include a close up of him saying I love it when they try, to fit in after the detective scene where they declare going after both gangs, then it will cut to him punching a few men. Finally I will add in a bit where Poezzi is struggling to cope with Castro and have one of his men shout they are loosing the way to show the struggle Poezzi has as the trailer goes goes on. The detective scenes I have tweaked a bit. As shown by my previous blog post, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/drafting-and-planning-detective-scene.html, I will use this mid shot but then cut to a close up of the detective and the gang as he says 'both gangs' thus showing how serious the mission at hand is. Finally I have shot the scene where some of the detectives are talking about Poezzi so that the guy talking pauses to build suspense and fear around the gang.

With this new scenes I have set myself days to film them, with the detective scenes taking place on the 8th December, one of the Poezzi scenes taking place on the 9th December, and then the rest happening on Tuesday 15th December meaning I miss out on my personal deadline of 12th December but will still have enough time to re-shoot if needed.

Drafting and Planning: Raw footage

Recently I recorded the scenes for my trailer where Poezzi is informed by his second hand man that 'there is a problem,' with the problem obviousness being Castro and his gang. Here I decided to shoot two different scenes one just a standard one where Poezzi is at his desk but then another when he has lighter in his hand. I feel that they are both good shots with the lighting just how I wanted it and I feel all the actors fit the part well.



Here is the first shot I filmed using a long shot of Poezzi at his desk and his henchman telling him there is a problem. By using this shot I am showing the audience Poezzi's office as well as the nature of Poezzi as he has his hand on a gun, as well as having an alcoholic (water in a bottle) drink and cigars (fake) on the desk. What I like about this clip is the fact that when being informed off the problem Poezzi gets a cigar out of his jacket thus showing that he is not to bothered about the information. I will use this to show character development as later on in the trailer you will see how Poezzi is struggling to cope with Castro and his gang. The cigar thing was a nice addition from my actor because when filming this shot I told him to 'do what he wants' to get a more natural action and I believe that it came out well.




This is the other clip I shot of Poezzi being informed of the problem. This clip is more practical than the other one because it is closer and more central to Poezzi and his man, meaning that you can only see the black wall, so I don't have to crop the shot thus keep the quality of the shot. Once again I like the lighting in this shot as you can see the characters faces clearly but the rest of the shot is dark and murky giving off an intimidating side. The difference with this shot is that Poezzi is messing about with his lighter before and during he is informed off the problem, thus showing that he does not think to much of the situation but then at the end he puts down the lighter and goes to get up, therefore showing the audience that despite the situation Poezzi always deals with it very swiftly.

Drafting and planning/target audience

Here are some fonts I have created to feature at the end of my trailer once all the footage is shown. This is a crucial part of the trailer despite being so simple because not only does it let the audience know the name of the film but it also needs to look professional and fit in with the film genre. Therefore I created 5 suitable fonts to feature at the end of my trailer. The only difference is that these will be in white and on a black background as that is what films I am basing 'Poezzi' off, such as  Black Mass do in their trailers as it gives it a more sinister and serious look. However I did not know which font would be the most suitable one to use at the end of my trailer so asked my target audience as they are the people I am trying to attract.

  Once again my target audience helped a lot with most of them thinking that the second font is the best and most suitable font to my genre. I can see why they picked this as it is a simple but effective font as it is big and bold but not to fancy thus showing the audience that my film is quite serious and also a bit intimidating due to how straight forward the font is. However Steve went against everyone else claiming that the first and third font are the most suitable due to them being edgy and unique. I agree with him here especially with the first font as I could keep it in black to give it a bolder approach as black is associated with darkness and fear which is what Poezzi spreads throughout the city. Also by choosing one of these fonts I will be giving my film its own image because as pointed out it is a unique font. However despite Steve's view I will not be using the third font. This is because I do not think it is serious enough, as I feel it would suit a gangster film about modern day gangs, such as 'Straight Out of Compton,' but my film is based on old school gangsters such as the one's in Legend and the Godfather and I feel this font does not reflect that serious side of the film. However I am pleased with these fonts and pleased with my target audience feedback as they have helped shown me which fonts are the most suitable to put in my trailer thus helping me finish another part of it!

Target Audience: response to detective scene

Recently I posted a blog post on the detective scene I had shot my for my trailer, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/drafting-and-planning-detective-scene.html. I was happy with this scene but had a bit of doubt over whether or not the shot I used was correct and whether on the whole it was a good clip, but luckily my target audience commented on the post to give me some useful feedback.

As shown by this image I got a very positive feedback from my target audience. I was praised for the use of the pictures I did in which I printed off pictures of the two people playing Poezzi and Castro and stuck them on the board to make it look more realistic and was also praised for the choice of casting as it looked professional and had a 'British feel' to it which I am aiming for as it is a British crime drama, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/target-audience-and-organisation-who.html. However I was also told to do a second shot this time with medium close ups to show how serious the detectives were taking the situation and to present them better. I will do this as I was planning to re-shoot it to focus more on the gang pictures and on the lead detective. Overall though I am pleased with the positive feedback I got from my target audience and am pleased with how the clip turned out.

Drafting and planning: Detective scene

As I have set myself a deadline of 12th December to get all of my footage done, as highlighted by my recent blog post, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/organisation_22.html, I have started to film a large amounts of my scenes for my trailer. This is the detective scene where the lead detective announces that they are going after both Poezzi's and Castro's gang. As shown in my storyboard post, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/drafting-and-planning-second-storyboard.html, this scene will be shown then cut to the gangs fighting and running from the police to emphasize to the audience the two big tasks Poezzi is facing. However I think this scene is perfect for my trailer. This is because I chose my Sociology teacher to play the head detective as he looks the part with his suit and he fitted the role perfectly in my opinion. I also used a classroom for the detectives room as well as printing out pictures of the cast for Poezzi and Castro, to stick on the board to give off the impression that this is a serious meeting between the top detectives on how to deal with both gangs. I might have to crop out just a small part of the frame so certain things are not seen such as the celebrations box however this could add to the impression that this is a detectives room as it is just a normal daily object used in most places. Also if I feel this clip does not look good enough for the trailer I might re-shoot it will a close up of the head detective giving the orders to focus more on the gang pictures and the head detective to show how badly he wants to catch them. Overall I thought the location and cast for this scene is correct and am really happy with how the scene came out.

Organisation: Trackers

Here is a tracker of my blogs which have been created by my teacher. This tracker shows me how many blog posts I have made overall as well as splitting them up into the 4 key areas, target audience, drafting and planning, similar products, and organisation, which shows me which areas I am doing well in as well as areas where I need to improve. As shown by the tracker I currently have a total of 35 blogs which I am happy about as it is quite a high number of blog posts to have at this stage and it shows me that I have a lot of important blogs to look at to help me make an effective media trailer.  I have quite a nice balance between the 4 key areas and am glad that I have the highest amount of blogs under organisation, as that is key for me this year, as I need to organize cast, shooting dates, props, locations etc to make my trailer good. However I am a bit low of drafting and planning which is something I will need to address, because I will struggle to construct my trailer if I haven't done enough planning and drafting. However if I can up that I will be pleased with my blogs as I will have a nice balance which sets me up nicely for the construction of my trailer.

Target audience

Recently I recorded the footage for Poezzi's first scene in the trailer in which he gives the orders for his gang members to start committing crime before it cuts to quick snippets of action in the trailer.  I planned to make the lighting low key so it would make Poezzi mysterious and intimdating but feared that it was two dark. Therefore I uploaded three different clips I recorded and asked my target audience which one they thought was the best and whether they thought it was to dark. These were the three clips I asked them to us
.


                                                                                                         

As expected I got some very good feedback from my target audience as shown here. Most of them preferd clip 2(middle one) or clip 3 (the top one)  which was what I felt the strongest clip with the top one, so therefore was pleased that the audience showed me which one they felt was best.  I was also pleased with the fact that most of them said that the low key lighting was good as it added fear and ambiguity to Poezzi which is what I am trying to create with the character in this scene as it is his first scene in the trailer so I need to get the fear and power of Poezzi through to the audience. Paige did suggest that  I could use a little bit more high key lighting which I will try and do through the editing program MoviePlus X6. However I feel that it will take away some of the mystery from Poezzi, but if it looks effective I will use it in my trailer. Overall I am happy that my target audience feels that I have got the lighting and shot type correct here as it is such a crucial part of my trailer. This leaves me in a very strong position for making the rest of my trailer.

Organisation

At the moment I feel that I am in a very strong position with gathering footage for my trailer 'Poezzi.' However I still have some scenes to shoot and re-shoot so have set myself a deadline of 12th December to try and get all my footage done, so then I will have enough time to go back and re-shoot certain scenes which are not good enough to use in my trailer. On Tuesday 24th November I plan to re-shoot the scene of Castro's gang appearing. As shown by my previous blog I have already shot this, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/target-audience_20.html, and while I feel the scene is alright I want to try and make it a bit longer so will re-shoot it. I will also get Poezzi's voice over, as well as Castro attacking one of Poezzi's gang member and the detectives discussing Poezzi's gang. Once I have gathered all of this I will have most of the start of my trailer completed. Then on Friday 27th November I will do some more shots of the Birmingham skyline to allow me a wide range of choice over which shot is the best one to use, before finally on Saturday 28th November going down to my local police station and asking if I can shoot some of their cars for the quick snippets of action towards the end of the film. However if I am not allowed to I will just cut it from my trailer. Hopefully everything goes well on those days and by the end of the week I will have a clear idea of what I need to include and change to make my trailer as good as possible.

Target audience

This is some edited footage of Castro's gang appearing which I can use in my trailer. I have cut it down to just a snippet and know that I need to edit out the sound, however I decided to get people in my class to comment on the YouTube clip to see if the actors fit 'the bill' of gang members. This is crucial for my plot because if the cast don't look the part then it will be hard to pull in my target audience as the trailer won't look serious.

As shown by the image here most people are happy with my casting as they which is a good think as it means that they look the part and fit the bill of looking like gangsters. I have also been praised for the mid shot I have used as it clearly shows that Castro is the leader and portrays him as powerful and dominant. However most of my target audience feels that Castro's other two gang members should both have their hands in their pockets instead of just one. I did this because I did a shot where they both had their hands in their pocket but I felt Daniel (one with the glasses) didn't look serious enough.  However as my target audience think it would be better as it would make Castro look even more powerful as well as making the gang on the whole look better I will re-shoot this scene with the gang members having their hands in the pocket and Castro having his free. It was also suggested that I should perhaps try I medium close up of the gang to make them look more intimidating. Once again when I re-shoot this scene I will do this to see how good it is. Overall the feedback from my target audience has been very helpful in their feedback and I am pleased to know that my cast do look the part and I won't have to re-shoot them.

Target audience and Organisation: Who will distribute my film?

Despite planning my trailer and beginning filming I have yet to decide who will distribute my film 'Poezzi.' I need to decide whether it will be a major distribution company or a small independent company. This decision needs to be correct as it can help me attract more of my target audience.  The two companies I was thinking of distributing my film are Universal or BBC films so will evaluate which company would be best to distribute my film in this blog.

Universal film studios's is a major film distributing company and is part of the 'Big 6' when it comes to film distribution.  It was founded in 1912 by Car; Laemmie, Pat Powers, Mark Dintenfass, William Swanson, David Horsely, Charles Baumann, Adam Kessel, and Jules Brualtor. It has produced plenty of famous films on large budgets such Jurrasic Park and Jaws and has a revenue of 4.239 billion dollars. There would be plenty of benefits with having Universal as the film distributor for Poezzi as I would be able to pull in a larger amount of my target audience as people will be drawn in by a universal film due to it's success with other famous films. Also the gangster style films I have studied such as Legend, GodFather, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/similar-products.html and Reserviour dogs, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/similar-products-reservoir-dogs.html, have been distributed by major film companies and have all been a success which would make my audience assume 'Poezzi' will be a success and they will be attracted to the film.

• The other film company I am contemplating to distribute is BBC films. While the BBC is a big company as it is a public service broadcaster in the UK, it's films are usually low budget. Some films that have been produced and distributed by BBC films the Mrs Brown movie and Saving Mr Banks. However despite BBC films not being as big as universal I still think it would be good for Poezzi to be produced by it. This is because Poezzi is a British based crime drama so it would make sense for it to be produced and distributed by a British company.  Also because of how big the BBC is in the UK I am confident I would still be able to pull in a fair bit of my target audience, especially as films made by BBC films are aimed at younger people.

Verdict

While I agree that both of these companies would be good to produce and distribute Poezzi as well as helping me pull in my target audience I feel that it is best that I choose BBC films. This is because while I can pull in a much larger audience by choosing Universal I don't think that the British crime drama would fit in with films they produce where as I feel it is a perfect fit with the BBC because they are both British, and I can still pull in a fair bit of my target audience. 

Organisation

Over the last week I have been filming a number of scenes for my trailer. I did filming on Tuesday 10th November, Thursday 12th December, and Friday 13th December. Roughly I have recorded 6 scenes for my trailer. I did this so I can see what angles are best for each shot as well as allowing me to get comfortable with the camera. I am also filming 2 scenes today located in the alleys for the chase scene, as pointed out in a previous blog, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/organisation-locations_13.html. Once I have done this I will upload and edit them on Movie Plus 6 before putting the edited versions onto YouTube and getting my target audience feedback on each clip. On Tuesday 17th November I will also get Poezzi's voice over for the start of the trailer as well as the film logo's and audience rating picture. I still have to decide whether the film is a major film or an independent one. Finally on 27th November I will record some more skyline's to decide which one is best for my trailer. Once all this is done I will have a whole month to collect my final scenes for the trailer as well as deciding what scenes can be done better an re-shooting them thus putting me in a strong position.

Drafting and planning

Here I have edited one of the skyline shots I have taken. I have cut down the footage so it is very short as the skyline won't feature to much in my trailer. However I probably won't use this shot in my trailer, but just used it to get a flavor of the editing program, movie plus 6. I also added in a song by Yelowolf called 'till its gone.' This is the song used throughout the trailer of Johnny Depps new film 'Black Mass.' The song has a real nice beat and slowly builds up as it gets further on. Therefore I thought the song would fit in the skyline bit to set the scene although I won't be using it in my actual trailer.  The software I used  is very easy to edit and add music to and this session has made me confident in it for when I come to edit my trailer. I will continue to edit some more things on the program to get better at it but feel very confident in it at this point.

similar products: Mean streets trailer

I recently decided to analyse the trailer for the 1973 film 'mean streets.' This film uses some different techniques to pull in their target audience and these are things I could use to pull in my target audience.

The first thing which interested me in this trailer though was this mid shot 16 seconds in. This is because of the location as it is a bar and he is playing snooker. This portrays the gangster as powerful as you can clearly see him in his suit, showing he has style and wealth, but also the club is empty which hints to the audience that he owns this club. This once again demonstrates the gangs wealth and power and is a location I could use in my trailer as I work in a social club so could set up it up as Poezzi's 'office' if the shoot in the drama studio does not go to plan.

Also the trailer shows hints of comedy in it from 28 seconds to 32 seconds with the gangster lip syncing to the song. This is a classic technique used in most movie trailers to pull in their target audience, especially in gangster films as it shows the audience that the film will not be serious throughout and won't just feature corruption and violence though pulling a few more in. I am already trying to add in a bit of comedy in my trailer to pull in my target audience.

  I also like how throughout the whole trailer there is low key lighting which creates mystery around the gang but also adds intimidation. This is a technique I am going to use in my trailer when I introduce Poezzi to add intimidation about him but I will not use low key lighting throughout the trailer like mean streets does as I don't think it will be effective.

Another technique that the trailer uses is shown from 1 minute 10 seconds to 1 minute 55 seconds. This is a long segment in which Charlie helps his fellow gangster out and shows his caring and sensitive side. This will help pull in the audience as it reveals that Charlie is perhaps a good guy and gets them to root for him out of actually liking him, rather than out of fear and thinking that the gangsters are cool like most gangster trailers do. However despite it being a good technique it will not on I will use in my trailer as I want to demonstrate that Poezzi is not a good guy in any way possible and this is why and how he has got to the top and stayed there for so long.

Drafting and planning

Over the last few days I have filmed 2 different shots of the Birmingham skyline which will feature at the start of my trailer. I have yet to cut and edit out the sound of the skyline but will do that on Thursday. I have used a tracking shot for each video, but will use other shots when I film the skyline again. I also plan to film the skyline in other destinations.
This is the first shot I took of the skyline. Here I was trying to get familiar with the camera hence why I filmed more than the skyline. However I opted for a tracking shot to try and show how big the city Poezzi run's is so that I can express how powerful he actually is. I plan to cut this shot twice first just for the first 3 seconds, and secondly from 13 seconds to 19 seconds. I will then decide which one to use in my trailer if they are the best shots. I film the footage from 13 seconds is better as it lets the audience see clearly the city Poezzi runs as it will be on for 6 seconds, however due to time it might be wise for me to use the 3 second one.




 This is the second skyline I filmed. As you can see it is a bit darker than the first one, which is what I am aiming for as I feel skyline at nights look more effective, but also the darkness will reflect the world Poezzi is in. Once again I have used another tracking shot to carry on getting used to the camera, and will cut this down to just the first 4 seconds, as well as editing out the sound. This clip of the skyline is sort of what I need as it will be roughly the perfect timing for start of my trailer as well as being dark. However I will also try filming in different locations and with different angles to see if I can come up with a better skyline view.

These two shots of the skyline have been very useful for me as they are sort of 'my guinea pig' shots. They still might be used in my trailer but these shots have helped me get familiar with the camera and will also be the shots I use to edit, thus helping me get familiar with the editing program. On the whole this 'experiment' will help me when filming for my trailer overall.

Organisation: Rest of the cast

Here I have gathered pictures of the rest of my cast. As I have already cast the two main charchters, Poezzi and Castro, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/organisation-casting.html.  I have decided to cast their gang members. Here I have split them into each part.

Poezzi's gang
In Poezzi's gang I decided to cast Jake, Connor, Dominic.T, Ben and Nathan. I did this because all of them range from different sizes which is what Poezzi wants as he relies on smarts and speed rather than just muscle to get what he wants. I believe that they all do look the part for the role the only thing I might have to change is certain people's hair so they have more of a 'gangster' look rather than just 17 year old lads. Here I have pictures of some of the cast.

 I did have to borrow some of these pictures of social media due to mine coming out blurred, but the look I am going for it the one shown by Dominic.T at the top. The hands in pocket and the jacket gives him that gangster swagger and his face shows that he is serious about the business and working with Poezzi. Also I will keep Ben and Connor's hair the same (second and third picture) as it has the gangster swept over look although Connor's will need to slightly be swept over. However the key man out this cast is Ben as he is Poezzi's second hand man as well as his muscle.

Castro's gang
Meanwhile for Castro's gang I decided to cast Luke, Daniel, Dominic B and Steve. I decided to do this because they are all quite young looking, which is what Castro's gang are a group of highly rated young gangsters who are feeling there potential quite quickly. I have also added a bit of similarity to Castro and Poezzi's gang by making Dominic B Castro's second man in charge as once again he is the muscle of the group. However as he is not quite broad himself, the new style Castro has opted for is using speed in his business with a bit of muscle hence why I have opted for small guys to play the part.  Here are pictures of them.

 Once again the main issue I will have to deal with is the hair but it should not be to much of a hassle as they all should be easy to sort out. The costume I am going for is shown by what Dominic.B is wearing in the third picture with just a black jacket and a top similar to Poezzi's gang. This will show that despite challenging Poezzi, Castro still has some respect and admiration for him as he gets his gang to wear nearly identical outfits. However I might need to change this for the scene where they are chasing each other as it might be confusing. I will also do two shoots with both Luke and Daniel not wearing their glasses and wearing their glasses to see which one makes them look the part more.


Overall I am pleased with my casting for the gang members roles and this will allow me to      start filming some scenes and editing them ready for my deadline.

Similar products

This is the trailer to the 1987 film 'The untouchables' starring Robert Di Niro. This film is quite different to mine as it is set in the 1920's, unlike mine which is set in modern day but still includes things I can use in my trailer.

For starters the way Di Niro is dressed is similar to the way I want Poezzi to look like when he is giving orders. This will include a suit with a handkerchief in his pocket to show that he is a man of wealth and power.  Also the way Di Niro demands that the officer is killed from 2 minutes 8 seconds to 10 seconds is the way I want Poezzi to demonstrate his authority and power. I could also use this later on in the trailer to add in a bit of charchter development of how Castro's gang is getting to Poezzi, as that will help pull in my target audience as shown by my last blog, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/target-audience.html.

Another thing which I though was effective in this trailer is how the lead detective has such a massive role in it and does everything he can to catch DiNiro as shown by this GIF, with him shooting someone. However as shown by 2 minutes 30 seconds to 2 minutes 35 seconds, it shows how this case has forced the detective to bend the rules to get his man. Once again this is an interesting character  development fitted into the trailer, and it could be an effective idea for me to perhaps give the lead detective a more major role in my trailer to show his development at dealing with two gangs rather than being a side piece to them. I will try and do this but I feel it will be to complex an idea to include without showing the struggles between the two gangs. However I also like the long jackets the detectives are wearing as this makes them look the part and I will try and get some for my detectives.

Also another idea I gathered from the trailer is how early the first bit of action is, taking place just over 20 seconds in with an explosion as shown here. Now as shown by my storyboard, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/drafting-and-planning-second-storyboard.html, I plan to include quick snippets of action early in my trailer (roughly 40 seconds) but if I do it within the first 20 seconds of the trailer, like the untouchables have, I might be able to grab my audiences attention straight away thus helping me pull them in. Like the detective development scene I will try to fit this in as I think it is a more efficient way of pulling in my target audience but if it disrupts the format of my trailer I will keep it the same as now as the action will still come in fairly quickly into the trailer.

While this trailer is set in a different time period to my film idea it has still helped me come up with new ideas on how to make my characters look like serious gangsters, as well as showing me how I can fit in character development which will be one of many ways to pull in my target audience. While some of the ideas are a bit complex I can still fit in simpler ideas, such as Poezzi's anger being show due to Castro, thanks to this trailer which will help me create a more effective trailer as well as sticking to the conventions needed to pull in my target audience and not bore them.

Target audience

Recently I made a tweet asking if I should include character development into my trailer. Most of my followers are the same age as my target audience (18) so it was important I got there views as it could help me pull in my target audience.

As shown by these number of responses most of the people agree that I should bring in character development into my trailer to intrigue my audience more but they also all agree that I should not include to much as it could give away to much about the film. I was quite happy that everyone had the same view and not all different views as it has shown me that I do need to add in about Poezzi's charchter developing to pull in my target audience. It will be difficult to try not to include to much charchter development in the trailer but I do belive I could do it and have two ways to do it. I could show the difference between the start of the trailer showing how Poezzi was clearly top dog but is now struggling to deal with Castro's gang, or I could show how the challenge of Castro has caused him to become much more viscious and violent throughout the trailer. I think that both of these development would be easy enough to portray without giving to much away but think the best way to pull in my target audience would be to have a mix off both as the violence fits in with the certificate of my film,  http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/target-audience-certification.html, but also the change in Poezzi's status could fit in with the song 'Feeling Good,' which I will use in my trailer (http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/organisation-choice-of-songs.html) and also show the audience the tension between him and Castro.  This tweet has helped me add the final bit into my trailer and now I am ready to start filming all of it. 

Target audience: certification

At the start of my project I decided to give my film an 18 certificate, http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/target-audience.html. I mainly did this because films such as Legend and Reservoir Dogs, which I am trying to base my film off, are 18 certificates and it lets me include quite a lot of violence. However recently I have decided to look at what I can include in a 15 certificate as I think that I could make my film that as there won't be enough violence in my trailer for an 18 rated film.

In a 15 rated film you can actually include a lot of things. For example you can include strong violence, strong language, drug taking and discriminating language and behavior. Therefore I could include a few gangster traits such as intimidation with violence and props such as guns and cigars in my trailer and then could pull in a larger target audience then I would have before without drastically changing my idea.

In comparison if I keep my film an 18 rated film, I can use very strong language and violence, discriminating language and behavior, real sex and strong blood and gore. Now for the whole film Poezzi would be in the 18 certificate category just because of the violence which is in the story line as that is how Poezzi gets his to the top of the underworld and how he stays there. However I am not sure I will be able to portray this in the trailer. However as shown by the Legend trailer, which is an 18 certificate there is not to much extreme violence in it so therefore I could keep the 18 certificate without including to much violence similar to the Legend trailer.

Having looked at what I can and cannot include in 15 and 18 certificates I have decided that I will be keeping my target audience at 18 year old's and older. This is because while I could get a bigger target audience without changing my idea by dropping it to a 15 certificate, I think on the whole it is an 18 rated film like Legend and while I am not making the whole film it is important that I keep to the story line, so that I can make the trailer suitable to pulling in the right target audience.

Organisation

Due to the poor weather we have had recently I have not been able to get any filming done as planned. Also my footage of the Berlin skyline did not come out very well due to there not being much lighting. Therefore I have rescheduled to film the skyline part on Wednesday 4th of November from Birmingham city library. I will then film the middle part of the trailer on Saturday the 7th of November and Sunday the 15th of November regardless of the weather. Finally on Monday I will find out if I can use certain classrooms to film in and if I can I plan to have most of my footage completed by 17th November.

Drafting and planning: Movie posters

Today I decided just to stop focusing on my movie trailer and just to have a look at some movie posters and that is also something else I need to create as part of the course. While I will not start making these posters until my trailer is complete I just thought it would be good to analyse some so I can get a flavor of what to include in mine.

This is the movie poster for the GodFather film which is one of the films my idea is inspired by. I really like this poster as it is quite a dark poster only showing the main characters face and his hands holding the cat. This is used to add some mystery and intimidation about the character as you cannot clearly see all of his body. Meanwhile his face has a stone cold expression showing how serious he is about his work and that he is not someone to joke around with. Also there is emphasis on his hands and the cat because he his not holding it in a normal way, thus implying to the audience that he could be killing it thus showing his ruthless side.  However what I like about this trailer is just how simple yet effective it is, and it is clear that he is a gangster by the suit he is wearing and his facial expression. I also like the way the 'G' is for the GodFather as it reminds me of a gun which once again implies he is a gangster. The low key lighting and gun effect could come in handy in my trailer as I want to create as much mystery around Poezzi as I can as well as showing how dangerous he is.

This is a movie poster for the film 'Legend' which is another inspiration for my film and I think this is a brilliant poster. Once again it just has the simple yet effective look with a with background, the title of the film and the two main characters. However the effect to have Reggie in Ron' suit is a cool way to fit in both main characters and to show how opposite they are with Ron looking angry holding a gun, and Reggie looking more laid back with a cigarette. This is an effect I could use for Poezzi and Castro as they are both the opposites to each other and the main characters in the trailer. This is an effect I will defiantly attempt to make because I think it will reflect how opposite yet dangerous both characters are very effectively.

Target audience:Help from the class

Film presentation done from LewisGlennon208

This is my film presentation which I presented in class to show where I am with my film right now.  I presented this in front of my class so that I could get some responses on how to improve my trailer. On the whole the class seem vibrant with my idea pointing out that the thought the link between my ideas and the storyboard and they expressed how good it is that I have already planned out locations, songs, props, editing and cast. They also said my film trailer idea was similar to legend and lock stock and smoking barrels which is good as I have tried to base my trailer on those films as shown in these blogs. http://lewisglennonmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/target-audience-ledgend-trailer.html. However as well as this praise I also had some areas to improve. For example one person pointed out that I probably should not use two tracks, due to my limited time of copyrighted music. However another pointed how I could just record someone singing 'new dawn, new day' as that signifies whats happening to Poezzi which is a real good idea and one I will consider. Also my teacher Mr Stevens pointed out that for the gangster film I have to make sure my cast are not immature when filming. I can see why this is a concern but I believe my choosing of the cast will stop this problem.  This session has helped me a lot as it has shown me what I have done well in terms of ideas and how I can still use them but then on certain one's I can tweak them and expand them to make my trailer as effective as I can.

Research into similar products

I have recently analysed the departed trailer, because it is very similar to my trailer but also because I can use some things in my trailer. For starters instead of waiting to a little bit to introduce Poezzi I could bring him in right from the start with a voice over of him talking about a certain thing. Also instead of waiting and then introducing Poezzi with a close up and low key lighting, I could instead use a mid shot with low key lighting as used in the trailer. By doing this I will still be able to add a bit of mystery to Poezzi thanks to the low key lighting but can also add a bit of fear into the audience as the mid shot will allow them to see Poezzi stature thus implying how dangerous he can be.

From 36 seconds to about 1 minute 2 seconds all the main characters are introduced and the problem arises with the police officer being found out. This could be very useful in my trailer as I planned for around 40 seconds to introduce my characters and the problem at separate times. However this trailer has shown me that in just under 30 seconds I could introduce all of these very effectively and very swiftly so my audience does not get bored.

Another thing used in this trailer which I could implement in my trailer is these cut outs to sayings. By using this in my trailer instead of having just a load of action scenes I could let my audience digest the bits of action they have scene as well as get a real sense of what the story line is. Due to this I will consider using these but will also stick to my main idea of just short action shots before deciding which is the best one.

Finally I really like the use of editing towards the end of the trailer. From 1 minute 34 second to 2 minutes 7 seconds there is slow paced editing of the action scenes. This done for a number of reasons. For starters the slow paced editing lets the song used take over with the lyrics 'smoke on the horizon.' This could well be foreshadowing and will give the audience an insight to the outcome of the film thus pulling them in. However the slow paced editing also helps you focus on the stress the characters are going through showing how dangerous the antagonist is. However from 2 minutes 10 seconds till 2 minutes 17 seconds it cuts to fast paced editing thus showing the audience that the film is packed with action and getting them excited. This is a very effective technique which I could use in my trailer, but due to me being allowed only 15 seconds of copyrighted music it will be hard to pull off.