Commentary for my two trailers -
For my trailer I used a canon camera. It was light weight making it easy to move around with the camera when changing location or taking hand held shots. For most of my shots I used a tripod, this was to keep the camera steady and allowed me to make smooth movement. An example of this is the panning at the start of both my Theatrical and my Teaser trailer and in other scenes of my Theatrical trailer.
I used loads of different locations for my trailer which is one the main conventions I have used and followed through out my trailer. This should draw audience's in as its a lot more interesting for the audience to watch. The main location I did use was Esther bedroom, This is where she finds the book, is seen reading the book or is upset about something she has caused because of the book. This tells the audience that this is the main location and used for the film and that the film is based around her and this book
I tried to change the lighting a lot in my trailer I had low key lighting for a lot of the shots inside and experimented with the saturation of the shots outside, to create an eery atmosphere. At the start, most of the shots are slightly brighter than the rest of the shots in the trailer, this is create a contrast for the shots after she finds the book. This created a dark and thrilling atmosphere which again shows how I've used and followed the conventions of my genre.
Editing to the beat of the non diegetic music I selected is also a main convention of all trailers that I wanted to use This makes my trailer seem more professional. The music I used also helps create an intense atmosphere which is created towards the end of the trailer because of the build up in the music towards the end.
The end of a trailer is the most dramatic part, as the start is the build up to what is going to happen at the end. For my trailer i wanted to follow this, by the end of my trailer you see Esther looking really distressed then the final bit is where she throws the book at the camera and the screen goes black. This links in with the music and makes the trailer have a more climatic ending.
My Teaser trailer is very much the same as my Theatrical trailer. I've cut it down to 60seconds, and I've only used shots showing all the main bit of action, The only bit that different to my Theatrical is the ending. For the ending I've followed the conventions again of building up of all the action to creating a dramatic ending. But this time I've taken most of my shots and cut them too 1 or 2 seconds long, creating a fast montage which gets quicker and quicker towards the end. Also linking it to the music which makes it look even more dramatic.
Theorists also had a huge influence in my trailer, Mainly Levi Strauss's binary opposites as i want to show Past vs Future which is what the main narrative is about, also Love vs Hate is another theme of my trailer, as apart of the narrative is based around Esther and her boyfriend Cameron. The shot shown is where he turns on her, pushing her up against a wall, this is showing the hate Cameron now has for Esther, even though she still loves him, In a drama thriller these sort of binary opposites create all the action and conflict. Following his theory help me stick to my genre's conventions of needing a lot of drama and action. Todorov's narrative theory has also influenced my trailer. All film trailer conventions follow his theory of the 5 key narrative sequences when creating a trailer. These are Equilibrium, Dis Equilibrium, Recognition of the disruption and Repair. His final one is New Equilibrium however this isn't shown in a trailer otherwise it will reveal the ending. I followed this so my trailer would look more professional. I used the start of my trailer showing the Equilibrium of Esther living normal walking into her bedroom looking for something, Then the Dis Equilibrium is her finding the book and reading it and her recognition of the disruption is when she is trying to change what happens in the book but actually makes things worse for herself. Showing all this in my trailer draws the audience in more, making them want to know what else happens in the book and if she will stop trying to change the future.
My print products also use,challenge and develop conventions. My Poster uses all the conventions, which are Film title, actors names, slogan and production companies. I did this to keep it looking professional. The image i used shows both the significance of Esther and the book, which is another convention I've followed. One of the conventions i challenged was not adding the date of when the film is released, i did this as i didn't think it needed to and i didnt want to make my poster look messy.
I've used and followed all the conventions for my billboard, the same information on my poster but i also included the date. I did this as billboards attract a lot more attention so it was more important to include the release date. I have again used the conventions on my DVD cover i have included a variety of images and kept the same image i used for my poster to show continuity.I also added reviews which is seen in my teaser trailer, this will again attract audience. Finally my magazine front cover has also used all the conventions, such as Masthead, headline, coverline, p ug, banner and issue number/date/website. One of the things i have challenged is the image, as there is no eye contact shown in the image, This is because all of the attention shouldn't be on her it should be on the book.
These are the conventions of real film print products
Analysis of my print products - How I've used, developed or challenged.
