final teaser trailer

The code and conventions of thrillers

Codes and Conventions of Thrillers:

• Has a very fast pace
• Uses straight and jump cuts to keep up the pace
• Music that adds to the tension
• Low key lighting

The codes and conventions of a theatrical trailer and a teaser trailer

Theatrical trailer:

• Longer than a teaser trailer
• More of the storyline is revealed
• Shows the dates the film will be released

Teaser trailer:

• Usually up to 90 seconds long
• Shows a small amount of the storyline
• Won't show the exact date of the film, it would say something along the lines of "coming soon"
• It is released before the Theatrical trailer

post production editing

due to varying weather conditions the amount of light varied in each scene.

we had to use tools on Imovie in order to correct this.

moreover to make the pace of our teaser trailer match the pace of our music we had to speed up some of our scenes by using this tool:

this enabled us to make out teaser trailer's speed slick.

Location

We chose this area to be one of our locations as it is a wooded, secluded area.

a perfect place or a muder to occur.










we also chose it becuase it is next to this open field, which was perfect for our chase scene:

Certification

We found it was best suitable for our teaser trailer to have a certificate of 15, due to the following BBFC certification guidelines:

Suitable only for 15 years and over

No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

Thanks to the BBFC, we were able to make sure our teaser trailer was suitable for a 15 certificate.

Music choices

For our final trailer we had to change music because of copyright issues on our previous choices. We decided to choose two songs from artists we had discovered were unsigned. We chose to crop these songs and then merge them into one for our trailer separated by a sound effect.
Our first song was stigma-

Our second song was... -

The songs we had previously chosen but were unable to use because of copyright issues were
Chase and Status- Fire in your eyes backing track - from 10 seconds in.

Pendulum- The tempest instrumental- from 1.53 seconds in.

We merged these songs together to give the audience a change in music because we felt this would keep their attention better.

Poster - Completed

We then added text to our poster and came up with a completed design:

We went for the image with the lips and eyes pixelated as we felt it was more striking and creepier than just his eyes being pixelated. We had the title at the top, and then just the portrait shot of the protagonist on a black background. We felt this was the most effective and simple way to attract our target audience. This also makes the text stand out, due to the luminous green colour. We chose this colour as it features heavily in some games, such as Call of Duty, so serves as an intertextual reference. We then included our slogan or tagline, "Some live to play. Others play to live" along with the date of our release. We then had the text at the bottom in a smaller size, with the credits about producers and directors etc. This was because it is a code and convention of film posters, so we needed it on ours.

Choosing an Actor!

Our teaser trailer is based on a teenage boy's obsession with video games. We knew that choosing a teenage boy under the age of 16 was going to be a challenge due to parental permission, and the type of things they would be exposed to (in terms of violence), was limiting. Our only option was therefore to choose an boy older then 16 so there would be no constraints to the times we needed them to film and the type of things they would be doing.

The first actor we considered was James Eustace:













18 years old
6ft
Blonde
Thin

The second actor we considered is Miles Watson:













Miles is:

18 years old
5ft 7 inches
Dark haired
Muscular

Our third option was Marc Lequime:

18 years old
6ft 3 inches
Dark haired
muscular

After consideration we felt Miles was our best option for "Gameboy" as we felt the other two males were too tall to play a boy in his middle teens. In addition, with his muscular stature we felt the violent scenes would look more convincing.

Poster pictures - Further development

Following discussion on our poster image, we decided to keep it simple. We decided to pixelate the actor's features such as his eyes and his lips.

We at first just pixelated his eyes:

We felt this was really effective as it was simple and slightly creepy at the same time.

We then pixelated both his eyes and lips:

We felt this was also effective and more striking than the first image so we've chosen this to be our final poster image.

Poster Images - Pixelated

We decided to then pixelate his face on it's own to see if it was good enough to be our poster image on it's own. These show the different levels of pixelation that we experimented with. We then unanimously decided that it wasn't good enough and it wasn't clear that it was connected to our film. 

Initial Poster Image

This was our first idea for our poster. It was influenced by the Gamer poster, with the face of the actor, and the face of the game avatar being transposed so that you could only see the actor's key features. This was acheived with a square type brush, so that it gave the impression of being pixelated.

Opinion was initially divided over this image, but all felt that it needed to be much clearer that it was a game avatar, to ensure that our intended audience was attracted to the film.  

Website Design

This is a screenshot of our final website design for the homepage. 

The page features a large photo of our main actor, which has his eyes pixelated. This was also our poster image. We felt it stood out on the page and instantly made it clear that he was the protagonist of our film. We included key features like the actor's name, the date and rating on the page. 

We also included an option to "share" the page through popular social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. 

We also included a rating from a relevant media. We went with the gaming magazine, 360-Gamer which we felt had the same target audience as our film and that our film would appeal to their readers. 

Restricted

We felt that our film was a 15 certificate and also noticed that a lot of the films have 'Restricted' boxes on their posters and websites. So, we made our own restricted icon so that it fitted with the colour scheme of our film, which of course is bright green and black.

Typography

We decided to use the site http://www.dafont.com/ to find our font as it has much more varied fonts compared to the standard ones on programmes such as Word and Paint.

We decided on the font 'Terminator' which we felt had a game-like feel and was reminsicent of retro-games such as Pacman and Space Invaders but also had the modern feel of games such as Call of Duty and Halo.

Slogans/Tag lines

Slogans/Tag lines

We needed to come up with a slogan/tag line as this is a  code and convention of media products. This slogan would then be used across our ancillary tasks to tie the tasks together in a smooth and subtle way.



We really liked the tag lines from Xbox and PS3 which include:

- Live in your world. Play in ours
- This is living
- The game is just the start        --> We really liked this one because it really relates to our trailer and the concept of our film
- Life, Advanced.

However we were unable to use these due to the fact that they are copyrighted and too recognisable as established slogans. Some that we came up with were:

- Is it really just a game?
- Are you really in control?
- Who's controlling who?
- Some live to play. Others play to live.

We decided to go with the last one because we felt it reflected the themes in our film and suits the plot well.

Media Aggression

Some people believe that behaviors like aggression may be partially learned by watching and imitating the behavior of others (social learning theory) . Some scholars have concluded that media may have some small effects on aggression. However there is evidence against this idea, for instance, a recent long-term study of youth found no long-term relationship between playing violent video game and youth violence or bullying. One study suggested there is a smaller effect of violent video games on aggression than has been found with television violence on aggression. This effect is positively associated with type of game violence and negatively associated to time spent playing the games. The conclusion was that there was insufficient evidence to show a link between video game violence and aggression. However, another study suggested links to aggressive behavior. One study suggested that adults (i.e. parents) suffering from dissociative symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder may be more likely to expose their children to violent programs and video games. There were also links between poverty and how much a child would be exposed to more violent media sources.

Idents

We chose two companies to produce our film, these were Lionsgate and Lakeshore entertainment which produced a film called Gamer which we felt was a similar genre and concept to our film. The Lakeshore Entertainment ident also 'bounces' as if it were a game loading and this fits with our music and we were really pleased with this effect.

Obsessive gaming

Video game addiction is the overuse of computer and video games so that it interferes with daily life. Users usually play compulsively, isolating themselves for the outside world as much as possible. They avoid social contact so their complete focus can remain on the game. Achievements in a game are more important to the person that real life achievements, they lack imagination and often will be moody.

Inclusion of video game addiction as a psychological disorder has been proposed and rejected by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Some symptoms of video game addiction may include:
Preoccupation

Someone who is addicted to computer, video, or Internet gaming often exhibits an unusual preoccupation with the game or computer when he is away from it. The teen could seem distracted, irritable, or disinterested and may talk about the game almost constantly.

Downplaying Computer Use

It's common for someone with addictive, computer-related behaviors to downplay the amount of time she spends in front of the TV or computer. The person may make excuses, saying she "needs" to be online, or may outright lie.

Lack of Control

A person who is addicted, or at risk of becoming addicted to gaming, is unable to control the amount of time she spends on the computer. She may go online with the intent to spend 15 or 20 minutes, but will keep extending the time until several hours have passed.

Loss of Time

Along the same lines, a person may sit down at his computer, again with the intent to spend only a few minutes, but completely lose track of time and suddenly find that several hours have passed. It is not unusual for someone with a gaming addiction to play through the night and only realize how much time has passed when the sun begins to rise.

Negative Impact on Other Areas of Life

Because the person spends so much time on the computer or video game console, other areas of life are neglected. He may grow distant from friends and family who had previously been close. Homework may go unfinished, causing grades to slip. In more extreme cases, the teen may even neglect personal hygiene, choosing to play video games rather than taking a shower.

Hiding From Negative or Uncomfortable Feelings or Situations

Some people become addicted to gaming because they use it to self-medicate. When confronted with situations or feelings that are uncomfortable (feeling sad, arguing with a friend, or getting a bad grade), the person may "hide" in the game as a method of avoidance.

Defensiveness

When confronted or asked about his time spent gaming, a person may become defensive. Denial is often an indication that something is wrong, especially if the person seems unconcerned that friends and family feel neglected or left out of his life.

Misuse of Money

Someone who is addicted to video, computer, or Internet gaming will spend a disproportionate amount of money on computer-related items. The person will seem to be continually upgrading hardware, software packages, and accessories. This becomes an even greater problem if the person spends money that should be used for bills, groceries, and other necessities.

Mixed Feelings

As with any addiction, use of the "substance" – in this case, the video game – initially causes euphoric feelings, but that euphoria is quickly followed by guilt. Guilt may be felt either over what the person is doing while online or simply the amount of time he is spending at the computer.

Research suggests...

Web addicts have brain changes similar to those hooked on drugs or alcohol, preliminary research suggests.
Experts in China scanned the brains of 17 young web addicts and found disruption in the way their brains were wired up.
Internet addiction is a clinical disorder marked by out-of-control internet use.
A research team led by Hao Lei of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan carried out brain scans of 35 men and women aged between 14 and 21. Seventeen of them were classed as having internet addiction disorder (IAD) on the basis of answering yes to questions such as, "Have you repeatedly made unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back or stop Internet use?"
Specialised MRI brain scans showed changes in the white matter of the brain - the part that contains nerve fibres - in those classed as being web addicts, compared with non-addicts.

These findings could change treatments for web addiction. Most of the addicts played violent games which some researchers say was key to their addiction.

Source: bbc news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16505521

Violence in games

A recent study has shown that violence depicted in gaming raises the risk of aggressive beviour in young viewers and even adults. The violence shown could have the capability to pose a threat to public health.
Other research has found those who play violent video games showed less activity in areas that involved emotions, attention and inhibition of our impulses. Behavioural studies have shown an increase in aggressive behaviour after someone has played a violent video game. There is also psychological evidence to show that violence viewed on screens or played in games has a negative effect on areas of the brain.



 

Poster Pictures

We started by taking a long shot but it was too dark and he isn't that visible at first glance. 

We then took this photo ^^ but we decided that we would prefer a straight on angle and more of a close up on his face. 

This is more of the shot we wanted but we lost the top of his head so re-took the picture. 

We really liked this shot and we are likely to use this on our poster.