Initial film plot/idea

We had a Brainstorming session to come up with a basic idea/theme of our film trailer.
We all brought a few ideas to the table, but every group member seemed to be happy with the idea of going with a retro police based action film.
Upon agreeing this we discussed possible plots for the trailer and decided that we would be better of researching these types of films and coming up with ideas for scenes.
We did however decide that the trailer would feature two main policeman chasing multiple criminals.

The idea for doing this type of film came form watching a music video by Example called 'Last Ones Standing'

Questionnaire Results/Analysis

These are the results of the questionnaire that we constructed before filming. This is extremely useful for us as we want to know what our audience like best in action genre film trailer. All of these questions give us an idea of how to construct our trailer in sync with the music, effects etc. Basically we want to make our audience have the choice of what they want in our trailer as they are who are going to watch it.

For question 1, the outright top answer was for the trailer to make the audience want to watch more. We will therefore attempt to add scenes in which the audience will be left on a cliffhanger, wanting to find out what happens next

. In question 2, the top answer for the music to be incorporated slowly. We were quite surprised by this, but this has giving us a lot to consider as we attempt to use the right music at the right pace in order to create the right atmosphere for the trailer.



For question 3, our audience felt that we should use elements from other genres in order to improve the trailer. We are now going to look at other genres and see if it works well within t1980s police era that we want to create.

For question 4 we knew from the start that we would end the trailer with an explosion, a common dramatic effect used in existing action film genres, which we felt would be the perfect ending to our trailer. However, we have given these options to see what we could end our trailer with. The majority felt that it should suddendly stop in order to make the audience think of their own ideas of what is to happen. We will now look at the scene list and decide how and if we should incorporate this.

For Question 5, our audience felt is was important to add effects to our piece, but not THE most important. This was exactly our thinking as we wanted to make sure over the effects that the camera angles and storyline were good, and that the effects were an effective added bonus. Our audience also felt that film titles should be added to the end of the trailer. This was interested for us as we had ideas of slowly intergrating them throughout, but when we complete our trailer, we will decide which is best. Overall, the questionnaire that we sent out was extremely useful as it makes the audience feel like they have an impact on our trailer; and we want that to happen as we want them to enjoy our trailer.

Pre Production Questionaire

To create this survey we used a website called surveymonkey.com
We will collect the results and analyse them in approximately  Two Weeks time

Here is a link to the survey:

https://mail.cambsed.net/OWA/redir.aspx?C=3a4d78cbe4f54847b5ad8915910e90d2&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.surveymonkey.com%2fs%2f8JTVBND

or alternatively an image of the survey

Conventions of a Police Based Action Film

Due to the fact that our initial idea is about a 'police action film',i have decided to do a quick post detailing the basic ideas and conventions based around a 'police action film'.

From what i can see from doing my basic research most of these type of film have a duo of cops,that chase down criminals eventually leading to a capture of a particular criminal .

A lot of these type of films have an iconic car used throughout the film,and also a lot of detail is put into costumes and locations,especially in films like 'Starsky and Hutch' as this film was filmed twenty years later than it was set.

Here are some of the previous police based action films that i have looked at.

Starsky And Hutch:

Miami Vice:

Beverly Hills Cop:

Conventions Of An Action Genre Film

Action film's usually contain a 'hero' or multiple 'hero's' who face some kind of uphill battle to conquer an adversary,and en-route to conquering this adversary they usually overcome a series of high octane challenges.
This Genre of film is known for its ability to grip and excite audiences through there many jaw-dropping and Big effect scenes.There are usually full of these type of scenes to try and 'wow' the audience whilst telling a story along the way.The Genre 'Action' quite often crosses over with other Genre's such as 'Comedy' and 'Romance'.
Action films quite often take place in Large city's(The Dark Knight 2008) or places that represent danger such as Egyptian Tombs(Raiders of the Lost Arc (1981).

Group Deconstruction- Starsky and Hutch

For our group deconstruction we chose the starsky and hutch 2004 remake. We chose this film because it is an action film and includes some themes and ideas we may include in our trailer. In the beginning of the trailer we see the green notification message. This shows the audience that the film will be appropriate for all ages. The trailer opens on an establishing shot of the Bay City police station. This shows the audience the genre of the film before they even know the title. the scene then takes the audience inside the building to the office of one of the senior officers, two people come in, they are not wearing official uniforms so the audience can tell that they are either part of a separate unit e.g. detectives or that they are criminals however the way in which they come in with smiling jokey looks tells the audience that they are not criminals this helps to set a time for the film as now all police have to wear uniforms. They sit down and start talking. One of the two men asks the other to touch his hair. This tells the audience that they are friends and makes them think they are partners. The senior officer talks to them with a sharp tone and the two other men stop playing about and sit up straight. The Warner brother’s logo then zooms in in many different boxes which then merge into one. This helps with the setting and time of the film as this is typical of films of this genre from the 1970's. This effect is used again in the next shot where the audience can see an old red ford gran Torino; this is an iconic image of the early 70's TV show of starsky and hutch. The car is shown from different angles doing different stunts; this is symbolic of a police car chase. The dimension films logo then swings on in front of a black background, this swing effect mirrors the car as it swings around into a U-turn. This is followed by a short clip of starsky and hutch chasing down a street on foot this is also shot with the same multi screen shot towards the end of the clip. This is followed by another quick shot of the car followed by a shot of starsky showing some karate down an empty corridor, this helps determine the genre of the film. The scene then changes to a shot of an interrogation room with starsky throwing a chair at a wall and then pulling a cigarette out of the suspect’s mouth and crushing it in his hands. This shows the audience the film is set in the time when police violence was allowed. This is followed by a scene with both starsky and hutch outside starsky seems to be getting worked up and angry whereas hutch seems calmer. This tells the audience tat the two characters are very different. It also helps to create an idea of the relationship between the two of them. The next shot is of hutch in a strip club. This helps the audience to get a better understanding of his character. This scene quickly changes to them in the office. Whilst starsky is typing up his paperwork hutch is talking to him. This shows hutch as being less responsible and as not doing his paperwork. This is followed by a couple of shots of starsky running on a rooftop and jumping off, landing on another rooftop and rolling along it. This is followed by a short close up shot of the police captain who tells them they deserve each other in a sarcastic, mocking tone. This shows the audience that the captain does not like them very much. This is followed by a clip of the famous car crashing out of a wooden fence and zooming down the street, sliding round and stopping just next to hutch, which still seems calm. This tells the audience about both characters. This is followed by a slow motion scene of starsky and hutch walking away from the car towards the camera. This is quickly followed by the appearance of a man walking through a purple bead curtain. The audience who have previously seen starsky and hutch will automatically recognise him as huggy bear by the clothes he is wearing. The members of the audience who do not recognise him may think he is the main antagonist due to the way he walks in and the low camera angle. This view will be changed by the sight of hutch hugging huggy. The scene then changes again to the main antagonist sitting in a deck chair, the large sunglasses and odd moustache will identify this to the audience. The next shot is of money in a suitcase being opened the shot is taken as a point of view shot but it is unclear as to whose view this is. This shot helps the audience to identify the plot of the movie. This is quickly followed by another scene of the main antagonist, on a boat, holding a man up on the side of the boat at gun point. He shoots him and we see a panic stricken woman duck to the floor. This shows the audience that he is an evil uncaring man and makes the audience happy to know that he will be brought to justice This scene fades to black and the next one fades in, starsky and hutch are talking to huggy outside, by their cars. They ask him some questions and he answers them, the scene then changes again to their car flying through the air and the titles of other movies made by the same company slide on to the screen. As the first one hits the car the image behind the red writing changes to sepia. The next title is already behind the car and the camera has zoomed round to the back of the car as it lands. The scene then shrinks into the centre of the next one as starsky and hutch are now on motorbikes and are driving together down a dusty highway. Starsky is applying a moustache as they go and they are both disguised as bikers. The scene then quickly changes to a fight in a bar with starsky and hutch taking on all the other people in the bar. This shows the audience that they are both able to fight which may insinuate that their will be a fight later on in the film. The next shot is of starsky running towards the camera on a street and like with the car titles his name is shown in big red letters telling the audience who the actor is and who the character is. The shot then changes to a group of cheerleaders practicing on a football field, starsky and hutch are their talking. Then the scene changes again to them both in a small kitchen drying dishes and still talking this shows that they are more than partners in the police team and helps the audience to better understand the relationship between them. The camera flicks to a shot of their girlfriends talking in the other room and then back. The next shot is of hutch holding his badge up and looking angry as he turns on the spot the red letters then come over his face and state the actors name and the characters name. The next scene shows both of them sitting in the talking room of a prison holding phones up to talk to a criminal. he comes out wearing a blue shirt with two symmetrical dragons embroidered on the back and a hair net on this shows that he is working in the kitchens and he does not have to wear a prison outfit, they talk to him and he makes hutch show hi belly to him this shows the audience that he is a comic character and helps to back up the idea of this film being an action comedy. The next shot is of huggy bear and the titles slide in telling the audience the actors name and the characters name. The next scene is huggy dressed as a golfer walking on to the green to play golf with Reece Feldman (the main antagonist) the camera then zooms up to a satellite dish on top of a nearby house. The shot then changes to starsky and hutch listening to what huggy and Reece are saying as huggy is bugged. This shows the audience that huggy is good and that starsky and hutch have thought up a plan. The next scene is of them both driving at night in the car with the cherry on this shows they are going to arrest someone. This quickly changes to them in a club dancing and then to a close up of hutch laughing. This is followed by starsky crashing through a door and rolling to the ground which is quickly followed by a shot of Reece getting away on his boat. The audience think he has gotten away but then the car is seen to be driving off of an open bridge into the boat. The title of the film then flashes up behind lots of the clips already seen playing out through different coloured filters behind the words as they spin round. The next scene is of starsky and hutch dressed as mimes at a party, starsky shoots through a garage door thinking he has just shot into an empty garage. Hutch has Reece in handcuffs and the guests at the part are all running away. The garage door is then opened to reveal that starsky has actually just shot a horse. This makes the audience see starsky as a bit headstrong, building his character. All the guests look at him and scream as the horse dies; he asks the pony if it is ok and then the titles flick up again. This is followed by the release date in red on a black background to make sure the audience know who this is aimed at. This is followed by a quick flicker of the credits and website for the movie

Action genre deconstruction-V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta:
The trailer starts off with with a few quick flashing shots containing a girl and a dark shadow.These few shots before the credits start to roll offer the illlusion of confusion to the viewer.Also over these first few clips the viewer is led to beleive that during the film the girl will be in trouble from the fact she looks distressed and appeares to be being followed.THis is a good method of involving the viewer and creasting a connection from an early stage.

Next are a few scenes showing a mask man,but from these scenes you dont learn a lot about him which leaves the viewer wondering who he is?and what his role in the film is.
The clips are strung together very cleverly and show just enough of the action to really leave the viewer asking for more.
They show a few clips of explosions,fighting,and even scientists which really leave the storyline up for debate.

Now they include a few more clips of the masked man with his knives that shows him spining them which gives the viewer the sense that he is a professional,this included with a few frantic shots of the police creates a sense that he is an top priority wanted man,and that he has done something very bad.

The scenes now start to become split with a few scens of writing which in from you its from the same makers as the matrix which tell you it will be packed with action.This is then follewed by a few more frantic scenes of breakings and what appears to be kidnapping which just further plays on the viewers mind as to exactly what this film is about.

The directors of this trailer in my opinion have done a great job of involving the viewer and leaving the fillm open for debate(they havnt given away to much of the storyline),this film trailer does exactly what it is supposed to,it makes you want to go and watch/buy it.

Potential Target Audience

This is our potential target audience. We have done some thinking about the type of age group we wish to aim our product as and this is what we have come up with.

This is our Target Audience member.
He is aged 18 and falls into our target audience (18-35) year olds.

Our target audience member would enjoy a variety of film genre's such Action, Comedy, and Sci-Fi. He also enjoys fast paced films that have the ability to grip your attention with an action packed storyline.

He would enjoy a vareity of music both oldish and new ( from  1980-now).
He would also listen to a variety of music types such as Pop, R&B, and Dance.
When watching a film he doesnt mind which type of music is used aslong as it suits the film.

Our target audience would wear a very casual style of clothing that is comfortable and practical.

In his spare time our Target Audience member would spend his time either Studying, Relaxing, Watching TV/Films, Listening to music, and Socialising.

The image i have used is a picture of an 18year old teenager from our school, this means he fits bang into our target audience of Teenagers/Young Adults. A lot of Teenager/Young Adults are intrested in Action films and this is why we have chosen them as a target audience. We are hoping to make our trailer, poster and magazine cover attractive and enjoyable to this type of person, and we will aaim to do this throughout the stages of the task.

Target Audience

After choosing to do a film trailer of the Action genre,we decided to research into which target audiecne would be intrested in this type of film.

We decided after a lengthy discussion to make our target audience teenagers/young adults and we feel that the Action genre is something that would speak out to them.

We think that our target audience will be pulled in by high-octane fast paced scenes that contain lots of gripping action.

We feel that this is the best age range of people to target an action film at as with younger groups there are age restriction and with older groups wouldnt really be interested.

We feel that if we make the right type of action film it will definitely reach out to teenagers/young adults, and whilst we think it may reach some people in other groups the majority of people it would reach out to would be these age groups.


With regards to gender we feel that the this type of film will mainly reach out to Males as lots of the fast paced action scenes, stunnign effects, and a strong male presence in the film.

Although we do feel that we could potentially try and develop our film to make it reach out to Females aswell as Males.

Second Logo

Through watching other trailers we noticed that usally more than one production compny is used. So we decided to make another logo. Below is the watermark entertainment logo.

The difference between this logo and our first logo is that this is an animation,we couldnt however upload the animation, but this will be seen in our trailer.
This animation was created using a peice of software called SerifDrawPlus

Group Logo (Phoenix Pictures)

This is the logo we have created for our prodject.
We used the internet to find an image of blue fire background to add to the image of the phoenix and writing that we created. I emailed the owner of the blue fire image to ask for permission to use it in our logo.

I created the logo and peiced it together in adobe fireworks.We took a lot of time to produce the logo itself mostly as we were trying to get the balance in coulours right. But we are happy with the final the logo as it is simple and wouldnt look out of place on our film.

Meeting/Genre Change

Meeting: We held the meeting during our lesson on thursday .
Before the meeting started it was suggested that  a possible change of genre may be more suitable for our group
The main points that came up were

• Changing our genre from horror to Action
• Using the deconstruction process to help us choose between 'Horror and Action Comedy'
• Sorting out costumes and scripts asap
• My deconstruction and the group deconstruction will be based on Action ,and Harry,Jack's,and Michaels will be based on Horror
• Finding locations

Start of project and Brief

Brief:
A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with:

• a film magazine front cover, featuring the film
• a poster for the film
• 
  

Today we started our project.We decided on which groups we will be in.
My group:
Michael
Harry
Jack
And Me
We also had a breif disscusion to decide on what film genre we will choose and have chosen to do 'Horror' as we feel we have a few decent ideas on how to make a succesfull Horror trailer.
We will soon be meeting to have a disscussion about further ideas in the Horror genre.

Time Plan

This is a copy of the time plan we plan to follow for our media studies A2 task

Please click the image to make it larger to a reasonalbe size