Focus Group Feedback on Influential Trailers

Taken 2 Trailer Feedback:

Link to the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpaT8NzkLgE

• Logo of the distribution company
• Funeral shows death will be part of the film
• Voice over from character bridges over the action, gives backstory (narrative device)
• Establishes the location, establishing shot
• Violence is shown early on to grab attention, done in flashback
• Jumps around in time and space (moving locations)
• Explosions
• Loud stings alongside action
• Black screens separate present from past and breaks things up into sections
• Dramatic music cuts in and out
• Titles show when release is
• Important character introduction
• Introduces relationships
• Explains whose good and whose bad
• Music and location change, dialogue is narrative device
• See shots of the bad guys, but they are not privileged
• Represented as sinister, dark clothes/cars
• Loud drum beats are threatening and are used to cut on the beats
• Disruption in the story as mother gets captured by bad guys
• Dialogue again is a narrative device tells us whose been taken and the daughter is also a target
• Sets up the story for the rest of the film
• Attempts to make a resolution
• Action with fighting and guns to show you what will be in the film
• Chase scene
• Vehicles used
• Title with main actors name
• We don’t know what the resolution is (enigma)
• Trailer ends on a cliff hanger
• Main title of the film
• Loud boom as the final credit info comes on screen
• Legal stuff from distribution company

From this focus group feedback there are many, very important things that we can include in our trailer and there are things that I, as an editor, need to think about. Firstly, the style and placement of the logo of our distribution company within the trailer is very important and for our own product we can take influence from the effects and placement of the logo within the Taken 2 trailer; the logo itself is irrelevant as it would be the same for every film. Establishing characters and locations is something that is done early and falls under the category of how the trailer is structured and how we can follow this pattern in our own trailer. The structure that we could see from this trailer is that first the characters and location are introduced, then we get a sense of the threat in the film and how that affects the protagonist, this is followed by the motives of the protagonist and his journey to achieve his goal, the rivalry between the protagonist and the antagonist is shown and then finally we get the mystery of whether he achieves his goals or not just before the main title and legal information comes on screen. Another thing that will affect our product is the use of action and choreographed fight scenes, which is something we are going to have to think about including in our film seeing as the genre matches and the plot is similar, but this could be hard as these scenes take a lot of time and planning and usually require a decent size budget to pull off. The music of the trailer is very important for establishing the genre of the film being presented, it also dictates the pace and creates the emotion that you want the audience to feel when watching. This means that the music in our product will have to perfectly do all of these things and the sound effects will support this, this means that I will have to spend more time choosing and/or composing the music and sound effects for this trailer. The text graphics also give an indication as to genre and give the viewer information about the film such as release date and main actor, this means the titles I use in our product will have similar content but their style and colour will represent the genre and tone of the film. In the Taken 2 trailer they were dirty and dark and this represents this thriller/action genre well and represents the dark tone of kidnapping and the antagonists in the film well too.

Planning - Initial Ideas

Ideas for Our Trailer:

Ideas for Our Logos:

Pitch Feedback - "First Arrest"

Audience Feedback:

In this video the audience that we gave our second pitch to gave us some feedback on how we can improve our idea in order to make it easier for us to make look professional, also we were given ideas as to what we can include in our trailer in terms of editing techniques, camera shots and sound effects to make the trailer suit the genre. The purpose of having two pitches was to let the audience decide which one we should produce as we were struggling to decide which of our two ideas we wanted to use. Our group answered any questions that the audience had about the trailer in order to improve their understanding of how the final product would look and how we are going to get that final product.

The feedback that was given to us included getting us to think careful about what we are going to show and how they are going to be shown in the trailer in terms of which kind of shot type we should use and how I could edit all the clips together; also, the kind of information about the story we are going to show so that the plot is clear but not too much is given away. Another thing I need to think about, alongside the writer, is how the trailer will be structured and the editing techniques that will be used such as flashbacks, text graphics and making things like gunshots look realistic. The majority of our feedback was getting us to think about the details of the trailer in terms of micro features, especially camerawork and editing, and how the trailer is written so that the scenes that we will include and shoot relate to the story, look realistic and are understandable.

The things that I, as an editor, need to take away from this feedback is that I need to plan the structure of the trailer well and plan what kind of sound and techniques that i will use in the trailer in order to make it professional and fit the genre. The pace and structure of the trailer are the most important things and these were brought up multiple times so they are definitely things that I need to thoroughly plan.

Pitch Feedback - "Starting Over"

Audience Feedback:

In this video the audience that we gave our pitch to gives us some feedback on how we can improve our idea in order to make it easier for us to make look professional, also we are given further ideas as to what we can include in our trailer in terms of editing techniques, camera shots and sound effects to make the trailer suit the genre more. Our group also answers any questions that the audience has about the trailer in order to improve their understanding of how it would look in the final outcome and how we are going to achieve that look.

The feedback that we got involved making sure that the titles fitted not only the genre of the film, but the conventions of other movie trailers in terms of their timeline. Our audience mentioned that the editing was a key part to the success of the trailer as it controls how the genre is portrayed and how the tone of the film is understood by the audience. It was brought up that we should consider the structure of the trailer in terms of clips so that the plot can be introduced to the audience but not to give too much away and that lots of locations and differents scenes need to be shot and involved in the trailer in order to achieve this. The stars for our film is another thing that we will need to consider along with extras as they are going to be important to our trailer and to it being effective.

The key things that I will need to remember and implement into my work is that the structure of the trailer is very important and so I will have to look into influential trailers and similar trailers and look to see how they are structured in order to make ours look professional. Also, making sure that the titles are professional, conventional of a teaser trailer and that they are reflective of the genre of our film so that they fit well and do not stand out as being strange or wrong.

Planning - Pitch No.2: "First Arrest"

Title: First Arrest

Genre: Thriller

Characters: Jane Ingram (ex police woman) Cameron James (the first arrest) Calvin Hart ( Hitman 1), Callum Thomas (Hitman 2), Tim Ingram (husband of Jane)

Plot: An ex police woman has relocated to London and is on her way to her new job where she realizes a mysterious man in the distance following her every move. She frantically tries to get away and takes different trains and buses however still fails to cover up her tracks. Whilst walking through an alley she is attacked by the men only to find that the man that was following her all of this time was one of her very first arrests for murder.

Target Audience: the target audience for this film would be 15+ due to a small amount of violence and swearing within the film. We aim to appeal to all audiences from 15 and above however would like it to appeal to females due to the fact that they can sympathize with Jane.

Micro-features:
Camerawork: Pan shots when Jane and the Hitmen are running around the city-helps audience keep an eye on the action. High angle and low angle shots to show her vulnerability and their strength against hers. POV when shes running to show her take on the whole situation and to portray to the audience that it is very frantic.

Editing: Time lapses to show time passing quicker- also shows how busy the town is etc. Fade to black to show the next scene/ next clip/ to change a time frame quickly. Rapid cut to white to show her dizziness and confusion when she gets too hot and has ran for a long time. Fade in from white when the Hitmen open the boot of the car to show her eyes adjusting to the light to show shes been in the dark for a while.

Sound: Climax building music preferably played by a piano at the beginning to build it up this will build up tension and put the audience on edge. Breathing sounds when shes running and when the screens blank and from where she has been captured. Small stings in the sound when the credits/titles come on the screen to make the trailer more mysterious and to add continuity.

Similar Films: 

Taken - It is a fast paced trailer which shows running a lot of the way through it, also indicates people being taken away from their normal lives.
Legend - The trailer was very fast paced again and includes features such as fade to blacks, stings in the sound when the credits come on and overlap of speech-which we would like to use in our trailer.

Audience Appeal: films that involve a kidnapping aren't very common which would appeal to an audience who enjoy thriller and action due to the fact that it is unusual and the plot isn't used all the time. People will think of Taken which was a very good film which audiences enjoyed. It is a film which can be made into a sequel if successful.

Group Roles:

Jess - Producer, Location Scout, Production Designer (set, costume and props)

Maisie - Director, Writer, Storyboard Artist (joint), Marketing

Theo - Cinematographer, Technical Director, Storyboard Artist (joint)

Michael - Editor, Sound Designer, Composer

Video:

Roles

I am the editor for the group, this means that I have to read the script, shot list and storyboard in order to understand the context and aims of the film. I will be editing the film using my editing software and will be responsible for creating the correct atmosphere and continuity via cutting. I am also the sound editor, which means I add music, sound effects and additional; dialogue to the film which is also part of the editing process and can otherwise be known as the sound designer. As a sound editor I also have to record or find any sound effects that are going to be used in the trailer, and re-recording any unclear dialogue. I am also responsible for creating the logos for our production and distribution companies and I'm responsible for researching editing techniques. My final role is that I am the composer for the film so I'm in charge of finding any copyright-free music or recording my own music for our trailer.

Planning - Pitch No. 1: "Starting Over"

Title: Starting Over

Genre: Thriller

Characters: Jack Walker (main), Jenny Harrison (Journalist), Tyler Sinclaire (Gang member), Tyrell Monique (Gang Leader)

Plot: Jack Walker is an 18 year old boy who every time he goes to sleep he forgets everything that had happened on the previous day, so every day he goes and does all these wild things because he wont be able to regret them in the morning. But one day he gets in a fight and a local journalist breaks up the fight and asks him a few questions and learns that he has memory loss and so decides to write a book about him and keep a record of his days to help him remember. However, the boy who he had a fight with, Tyler Sinclaire, was a local gang member and got his gang to try and track down jack is order to try and beat him up or even kill him. The film tells the story of Jenny and Jack trying to get Jack's memory back and the gang who are trying to track them down to kill him, but Jack can't get knocked out or he'll forget everything that has happened.

Target Audience:15+ the main target audience would be older teenagers. This is because the film is about an 18 year old boy so the audience are able to relate to him and his adventures.

Micro features: 

Camerawork - Low angle and high angle shots to show the dominance between characters. Close ups to show emotion of the characters. Establishing shots to set the scene.Hand held camera work for fight scenes-makes it more realistic.

Editing-slow motion and time lapse. Text graphics. This is all used to create a suspense to build climax and get the audience engaged. Flashbacks through fade to white background-typical convention. 

Music - builds in volume and in suspense towards the end of the trailer. Stings whenever text graphics appear. Lower the music volume when there is dialogue, or voice over.

Audience Appeal: The audience appeal for this trailer will be that it takes a number of elements that make up Hollywood block busters and puts them together to make a totally unique story line that appeals to a wide range of people. The themes in this film are things that can appeal to a wide age group as well so there would be a very big audience for this film.

Influential Films: 50 first dates- this is what the based the plot round however 50 first dates is a romantic comedy therefore we wanted to change the genre.

Group Roles:
Jess - Producer, Location Scout, Production Designer (set, costume and props)
Maisie - Director, Writer, Storyboard Artist (joint), Marketing
Theo - Cinematographer, Technical Director, Storyboard Artist (joint)
Michael - Editor, Sound Designer, Composer

Video: