MEDIA LANGUAGE
At A2, I made the promotional package for a new film called RISK. This compromised a trailer, a film poster and a film magazine cover. My trailer for RISK introduced a psychological thriller with an ensemble of diverse teenagers as they are faced with the decision of killing someone due to them being controlled by 'The Doctor'. The audience is introduced via scenes of the teenagers being injected with the mind-controlling substance, which sets the ominous tone of the film. Our miss-en-scene also needed verisimilitude to make this convincing so sets the dark and eerie settings, such as the abandoned sheds, where Cara is murdered and a abandoned science lab for the injection scenes.
Alternative: At A2, I made the promotional package for a new film called RISK. This compromised a trailer, a film poster and a film magazine cover. My trailer for RISK introduced a dramatic psychological thriller in which a group of students take part in a risky scientific medical trial which subjects them to mind-altering substances injected in their blood stream, designed to test the science behind distant mind control. The young people find themselves swept into dangerous behaviors that verge on the criminal (including murder), exposing themselves to involuntary self-destruction when 'The Doctor' finds them expendable (such as stepping into oncoming traffic). lll
Trailers, as a genre, have a set of conventions such as inter titles, ellipsis, motivated edits and fast paced editing with hard cuts (which I will discuss when I write about editing), focus on the protagonists (to establish key players for audiences who need to pick up very quickly the bare bones of the narrative); tracking shots to link narrative sequences; emotive sound that establishes mood and anchors visuals; text that offers key information (release dates, stars, director, institutional information, 'puffs') and overall should generate a sense of anticipation, drama and excitement.
Our production is part of a promo pack that includes a film poster and film magazine cover, both of which have their own visual language and sets of conventions regarding layout, framing, typography, colour choices, font sizes, 'house' style (for magazines --> The header for a magazine), bar codes, dates and prices, QR Code, billing block (posters), social media and website links (posters). The most important part of the media 'language', however is that the promo package as a whole delivers a cohesive, integrated visual package that creates a visual synergy in making the production (the film) memorable.
CAMERAWORK - Camera Movement, Camera Angle and Shot Types
Exp: All of our camera work (by which I mean camera movements, camera angles, shot types) was designed to serve the overall aim of the production, which is to generate intense interest in the trailer as a means of persuading audiences to see the film itself.
EDITING - ___________
Exp: Our inter titles function as cues to guide the audience through the narrative. For example, in RISK, the inter titles provide key narrative anchors about the protagonists and the jeopardy that they face, which increases by the second during our 2-minute trailer, ratcheting up the tension and suspense. For example, the text 'three test students' is intercut with 'that take the risk?' culminating in 'only one can be cured' with an immediate shift of miss-en-scene from medical facility to a drone shot of woodland and culminating in
'From the producers of Focus' is a distribution tactic that inspires audiences by building a relationship with the audience.
MISE EN SCÈNE - ___________
Exp: If audiences have seen Ghost in the Shell, they will be familiar with the disconcerting use of neon colours and electronic visual codes to suggest danger, as I do in our film trailer.
SOUND - ___________
Exp: In common with most trailers, there is highly selective and few uses made of dialogue as the genre requires maximum impact with the minimum information, thus a great deal of information is conveyed visually through action codes and through non-diegetic sounds that sets the emotional temperature, building up to a climax that is compelling enough to drive audiences into cinemas. In RISK, the voiceover in the establishing shot is dialogue in which the doctor addresses the students which serves as guinea pig: 'Welcome to the trial' and shortly after. 'Are you ready to take the risk?'. The word 'RISK' is reiterated throughout the trailer as well as on the poster and magazine cover as it is the film title and emphasis the thriller genre. The soundtrack build tension throughout both by the use of increasingly fast and tense percussive beats and very importantly in our film work, electronic 'noises' that signify they way the students' brain waves are being controlled and manipulated. The visual representation of these 'noises' is also key: visuals that look like glitches or electronic static, represented by distorted lines neon colours that create a sense of disorientation for the audience and herald the dangerous finale of the trial that drives them to commit murder.
Editing at this final point is fast-paced with a series of rapid hard cuts, using specific types of camera angles such as close ups of a long blade hidden behind the back of one of the students approaching a screaming girl who has been boxed into a corner by the group. This creates unbearable tension for the audience, leaving them on the edge of their seats in anticipation. Unlike conventional Hollywood editing, a trailer should not move smoothly through the narrative explaining every detail, but through ellipsis, it should sketch the narrative arc and leave enough enigma to draw audiences into the cinema.
REPRESENTATION
Identify characters,events or issues within the production to discuss
In our trailer, we introduce 4 teenagers who are the subject of a medical examination by 'The Doctor'. The students are unaware that they are going to be subject to mind control processes that manipulate them into undertaking risky and illegal acts, such as committing murder on command. The 4 students lose their individual personalities and work as one. Ruthless machine when the receive simultaneous text messages commanding them to carry out the murder of Cara, who they chase, corner and trap in an isolated shed in a wood. Despite, the heartrending pleas of the victim, one of the three pull out a long-bladed knife, hidden behind their back to stab the victim to death. This representation taps into current panics of knife crime in London, which according to press reports is rife, particularly amongst young people, who are increasingly choosing 'shanks' as their weapon of choice.
'The Doctor' has a semiotic code that communicates to the audience that he is mysterious and ominous through the visual representation of the long-drenched white coat, face mask and a stethoscope. This leads to
The Doctor is constructed deliberately as an anonisimised figure as a representative of Big Pharma in conjunction with secretive government departments who are using expendable student as guinea pigs in mind control trials. His attire establishes him as a stereotype, but one who truly transgresses conventional representations of doctors who normally are perceived as trustworthy, protective, upholders of the Hippocratic oath (what they swear they will do to protect as much as possible)
Sound codes are very important as we establish through diegetic sound (dialogue), The Doctor's constant reiteration of the word 'RISK' which cues the audience to understand the nature of this experiment.
In a trailer, it is crucial for audiences to pick up quickly narrative roles, such as the identity of the protagonists and the antagonist. For Levi-Strausse, narrative representation and constructed through binary opposites: in our case the three students are the naive, trusting victims of a heartless secretive government/Big Pharma
What representational concepts are highlighted? i.e. race, gender, cultural attitudes, etc.
What representation has been generated?
Discuss the specific elements of character representation, i.e. mode of address, facial expressions, clothing, behavior, etc.
Have any stereotypical representations been generated?
Does the production conform to or subvert any dominant ideologies?
______________________________________________________________________
In our film, we decided to include a vast amount of representation
Youth:
Regional Identities:
Fighting against Big Pharma:
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