Fahmi NassirDean Mullings

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

TRAILER

Title - MeaningWe chose to have “Vive La Révolution” as our title because it translates to “Live the

revolution” however, the French say it to mean “Long live the revolution”.

The reason why we wanted our title to be “revolution” based is because our whole film idea was about a revolution occurring in the society we live in today. We then translated it into French because the French revolution that occurred

in 1789 was based on liberty, equality and fraternity; same with ours. Also, because the war was called “Vive la Révolution”, we had the opportunity to

capitalize on a ready made name in order to market it well. We found that this phrase would only emphasise the meaning and theme of our film if we made it

the title, so that is the action we made.

To get this font we searched through a website (www.dafont.com) that allows ‘free for personal use’ access to certain fonts. This particular font was called ‘Credit River’. We chose this because we felt that it complimented our title really well with the bold letters and the shape of them. It helped give off a war type feel to the title and made

it look more fierce and outstanding.

Title - FontWe looked through standard fonts on Adobe Illustrator and we didn’t feel that they had what we wanted. So we done some research on how we could get access to

other fonts.

Setting/Location (1)The city

We decided to input a time lapse of London at the start of our trailer.

The reason why we used a time lapse of London at the start of our trailer is because the voiceover that occurs during this time period speaks about

society and our whole film idea is based on altering the ways of society; so we believed it would gel together well with the rest of our trailer.

Setting/Location (2)The headquarters (HQ)

We chose to carry out the chanting scene in Dean’s back garden.

We done this because first of all, it was hard to expose a group of KKK members to the public whilst recording due to the potential threat and danger it could cause and the fact that we would be breaking the Public Order Act. Also,

Dean’s back garden was a perfect fit for a HQ type of area according to our film type.

Setting/Location (3)The empty field

We chose to carry out the shooting scene in an empty field. This was done in school because we were unable to reveal the KKK to the public due to the restrictions of

the Public Order Act.

We done this on an empty field to show the unlikely chance of Luke (the guy getting shot) escaping from the KKK; but to also give the audience some sort

of false hope that he would actually manage get away.

Setting/Location (4)The empty hallway/staircase

We chose to stab Mason in an empty hallway/staircase. This was done in school because we were unable to reveal the KKK to the public due to the restrictions of

the Public Order Act.

We chose this particular location because we wanted to give off the impression that we were chasing Mason and we caught him in the middle of his attempt at

getting away.

Setting/Location (5)The tree

We chose to hang Rachel outdoors on a tree rather than hanging her inside. This was done in school because we were unable to shoot a hanging scene in public due

to the restrictions of the Public Order Act.

We chose to do this because the scene looks very spacious and empty; which leaves the audience asking how we managed to pull this off and adds enigma

to our trailer.

Setting/Location (6)Dark environment

To create the dark environment, we had to wait until night time and shine a light on the KKK member. We then had to record the shot zooming in to him gradually.

We also added in some Colour Correction to give it the mystical black and white effect. The reason why we chose this specific setting for this scene is

because the darkness really complimented the KKK member in terms of contrast and creating suspense. This setting just seemed to be the most

effective for it’s purpose.

Costumes and PropsKKK Costume

This costume was not easy to get hold of. We obviously couldn’t buy it at any local retail stores; so we knew that if we wanted to get hold of it, we’d have to

buy material and actually make it.

Rope, Safety Harness & KnifeCostumes and Props

Thick rope - Noose Thin rope - Support Knife

Back brace (Our replacement for a safety harness in the first attempt.

CameraworkShot 1 – London City

Adding on to what was said in the “TRAILER – Setting/Location (1)” slide, we chose to have this time lapse as an establishing shot to represent society (we thought a view of one of London’s most popular attractions and the number of people constantly walking by it represented that). The speed and darkness of the skies used in this shot was used to represent how fast society is moving.

Camerawork

This second shot was used to expose the main characters and the theme of our film. It also reveals the fact that the people underneath the KKK costume

are not your typical “White” members. Also, this pan shot compliments the voiceover that is running through the period of time that this shot runs through

in our teaser trailer.

Shot 2 – KKK members (Medium Shot Pan)

CameraworkShot 3 – KKK meeting (Series of Close Up/Medium Shots, split up 360° shot)

This shot was used to signify to the audience that the clan was having a group meeting; possibly discussing a sinister plan that would end in chaos? Who

knows. However, it’s purpose was to intrigue the audience and trigger some thinking.

Shot 4 – KKK leader (Series of Close Up/Medium Shots, split up 360° shot)

Camerawork

This shot was used merely to compliment the voiceover; strengthen the emotion in what is being said and prepare the audience for some action. The

audio being played during this shot (drum strikes) also helps create the expectation of high - paced action coming soon and has the same fast time

ticking affect as a sand timer before preparing for an attack.

CameraworkShot 5 – Luke’s death (Series of Medium/Long shots)

This series of shots were hand-held, jerky shots; used to emphasise the impact of Luke running away from his death. However, we made the last shot (of his head blowing up) run much smoother to show that it is “game over” and

him moving is no longer a choice he can make for himself.

Shot 6 – Mason’s death (Series of Close up and Medium shots)Camerawork

This series of shots were close ups/medium shots to really emphasise the emotion in the character’s face and really boost up the sympathy that the

audience feels. The transition from showing that the character ‘Mason’ has been caught to the stabbing is very quick, hence why we let the last close up

drag on, so you have time to really see him suffer and feel sorry for him.

CameraworkShot 7 – Rachel’s Hanging (Long Shot)

In this scene we used a long shot as it reveals the whole character from way above her head to way below her feet. This makes the audience wonder how we’ve managed to ‘fake’ a hanging scene, at the start we tease the audience

by only showing her hanging for about a second but by the third shot, we allow around 3 seconds so the audience can try and find our ‘trick’ however still will

not find anything in the shot as it’s a camera trick not a special effect.

Shot 8 – KKK (Medium shot/Close up Zoom In)Camerawork

We constructed this part of the trailer as the section that introduces our film idea and exposes the plot of the film. This is the informative section that was

deliberately made to keep the adrenaline levels and the nerves of the audience calm.

The “3 part structure”Part I - The calm before the storm

We constructed this part of the trailer as the section that introduces our film idea and exposes the plot of the film. This is the informative section that was

deliberately made to keep the adrenaline levels and the nerves of the audience calm.

The “3 part structure”Part II - The storm

We constructed this part of the trailer as the section that makes the audience feel as if something is about to happen but not knowing when and then

causing jumpy outbreaks at the point of the murders.

The “3 part structure”Part III - The recovery

This scene is all about mystery and attractive, eye catching camera tricks. This scene takes you away from expecting gun shots or explosions and leaves you

with many questions, possibly why she’s hanging? Why the murders before took place? And finally, when is the film out?

GenreThriller

In terms of breaking out of typical thriller teaser trailer conventions we haven’t challenged them; we haven’t given a female character a main role or even a child a

main role however to really make the audience feel fearful, some of the killing scenes we’ve allowed to stretch on for longer than the typical amount of time.

Key character traits (1)The KKK

As our film is supposed to resemble a lot of violence and anger, we purposely used the connotation that the appearance of the KKK automatically means there’s going to be violence. By editing out the eyes we’ve simply took the

connotation and took advantage of it to our benefit.

KKK: Typically represented in films to associate with some sort of violence

Key character traits (2)Women

Women: Usually very vulnerable characters in thrillers

Women are usually seen as vulnerable in thrillers and in a lot of cases are felt sorry for when tortured/attacked etc more than a man would, so we took this information and come to the decision that the person getting hung would be a woman, therefore creating more of a tense, horrific emotion for the audience.

Key character traits (3)

In a lot of thrillers there are casualties (usually involving innocent people who actually have nothing to do with the main story). Having these in our film was a must as it gave us the opportunity to make the audience sympathise for them

while we used special effects to kill them in the most dramatic way.

CasualtiesCasualties – Very innocent however still get killed

Special effectsThe headshot

We created this headshot by cutting out a small hole in his head at the first frame.

We then made the hole bigger and bigger after every frame until his head was no longer there. After that we imported movie files of blood shooting in different directions and a blood explosion to make it look like his head actually blew up.

This process was done on Adobe After Effects.

Visual effects (1)Spitting blood

We disguised the blood by mixing tomato ketchup and water together.

Mason (the guy getting stabbed) then put the mixture in his mouth and slowly spat it out once being stabbed on recording. The colour wasn’t originally as red

as we wanted it to be but we later sorted that out through Colour Correction, on Adobe After Effects.

Visual effects (2)Hanging scene

We then tied a rope to the safety harness underneath her clothes by her hips area. After that, we just had to tie her to the tree by the rope attached to the

safety harness and have someone in the tree holding up the noose around her neck. The reason why we didn’t tie the noose to the tree was to ensure

maximum safety.

We disguised the hanging scene by making Rachel (the girl getting hung) wear a safety harness underneath her clothes.

Shot transitionThe method of transition we chose to go with on most of our transitions is

“fade ins” and “fade outs”.

The reason why we chose this method is because we done some research on the method of transition that official trailers use and most teaser trailers

used “fade ins” and “fade outs”.

Length of trailerOur film teaser trailer is 1 minute and 11 seconds.

Now that we’ve studied teaser trailers, we’ve realised that a lot of the very known films can get away with a 13 second teaser trailer; however, as

a new, unknown film it isn’t the same case as people have no idea what to expect. Therefore,

we left the first 45 seconds to basically introduce our film and the other 26 seconds to show

snippets of the action and mystery to expect within this film. Typical teaser trailers vary from 1 minute to 1 and a half minutes, trailers vary from one minute to two minutes and teasers vary from 10 seconds to 30 seconds so we had to make sure

it wasn’t too short but also not too long. Therefore, by settling with 1 minute and 11

seconds, we was very satisfied with the type of trailer this is; it’s very clear from the content in it

and by looking at the length.

THE END