Thursday, 16 December 2010

Lifelong Controversy album tracks.

  1. I Still Believe.
  2. Skin Off My Skin.
  3. I Walk Alone.
  4. You're Disconnected.
  5. 23.
  6. Every.
  7. Back down.
  8. At The End Of The World.
  9. Knock Me Down Throw Me To The Floor.
  10. Hair Trigger Personality.
  11. This Is Your Confession.
  12. To The Seconds That We Lost.
  13. Lower Your Eyes

These are the names of the tracks featured within my band's album which will be shown on the back of the digipak I am going to create. "23" is the track I will be producing a music video for, known as "What's my age again?" by Blink-182. All the track names on my album are lyrics from popular past and present rock/punk artists. These artists include Alter Bridge, Green Day, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Metallica, Linkin Park and Biffy Clyro. I have chosen to take lyrics from tracks produced from these bands as I believe they represent the modern era of music transformation from the punk roots of Sex pistols and Ramones to the modern alternative rock and punk style of the 21st century from Alter Bridge and Green Day.

Thursday, 9 December 2010

Album cover analysis 3.

Cardiology is Good Charlotte's 6th album. The term Cardiology is a medical specialty which deals with heart disorders. Diagnosis of the field includes treatments for heart defects, coronary artery disease and heart failure. This has been incorporated into the Good Charlotte's artwork by including a large heart as the central image for the album. The main image of this album is of a heart. Branches are seen coming from the main valves of the heart which could represent life being pumped out of the heart and thus creating the tree of life. The arteries and veins sprowting from the bottom of the heart are made to look like roots of a tree to further suggest that the heart is being used as a metaphor for being the tree of life.

Album cover analysis 2.




Nightmare is Avenged Sevenfold's fourth album which was dedicated to James 'The Rev' Sullivan, Avenged Sevenfold's drummer, who died on December 28 2009.

This particular album cover is an illustration. The illustration is surrealist as it's not trying to depict reality. The image looks fairtalesque as the small bright white full moon, stars in the night sky and demonic figure lurking over the small girl gives the audience that impression.

The album art works main focus is on a young girl in bed being tormented by what appears to be her nightmares. The colours used in the artwork helps depict a nightmare. Dark blues and black are a convention of a nightmarish image and these colours have been used on the album art work of this particular album cover in order to keep these conventions in tact. The use of dark colours help create an atmosphere of fear and eeriness.

The girl is the central image of the album cover. Her huddled up pose and dilated eyes indicate to the audience that she is afraid. We see her holding a toy teddy bear close to her face which is a stereotypical image of when a small child is scared. The stereotypical view is that a child will hold a treasured item, usually a cuddly toy, close to them when they are afraid which is what the girl is doing in this particular image.

The gravestone and cross featured behind the girl in the image could be sign of respect for 'The Rev', Avenged Sevenfold's drummer, who passed away before the release of the album thus the album was dedicated to his memory.

The headboard of the bed which the girl is laid in is made from bones which relates to the theme of death in the album artwork and also refers to the Grim Reaper type character included in the artwork. The demonic Grim Reaper character also links back to the theme of death as the Grim Reaper is a personification of death. This links back to images of the gravestone and cross along with the fact that the album is dedicated to the death of 'The Rev'.

Wednesday, 8 December 2010

Album cover analysis 1.




Punk fashion.

There are many different styles of Punk fashion. These styles include Street punk, Glam punk, Hardcore, Oi! Skinheads, Skate punk and pop punk. The two styles of punk that will feature in my music video will be Skate punk and pop punk. Skate Punk. T-shirts, plaid button-down shirts and hoodies are common items of clothing included within the skate punk fashion. Skate punks commonly have shaved buzz cut hair styles or short hair. However, some skaters have long messy hair. Pop Punk. Skate punk and Pop punk are very similar. However, Pop punk originally includes band hoodies, wristbands, caps, shirts with thin ties, 'Skinny' jeans, Converse and baggy pants. Spikey hair and Mohawks were the most common hair style within Pop punk at the time of it's origin, however, long hair has now become fashionable within Pop punk. Stereotypical punk colours are black, reds and greens. Make up is also a common accessory of punk fashion as some bands put on eye make-up in order to make their eyes look darker. Piercings are another convention of punk fashion. Piercings such as "snake bite" piercings and various ear piercings are another common accessory.

Friday, 3 December 2010

Main cast member - Karl Spurgin.

Karl Spurgin's role in my music video will be as the drummer for my band. I have asked Karl to play a main cast member as I trust him to put a lot of effort into his role as he was eager to play a part in my video.

A drummer is a person who plays drums for a band, typically a drum kit. Most contemporary bands include a drummer. Drummers are most common in Rock and Jazz genres. The drummer conveys a rhythm throughout a song by using the drum kit to play the beat of the song.

Karl's costume will represent a stereotypical image of punk/rock clothing. His costume will include jeans, skater trainers and a band hoodie. I have chosen to include these items of clothing within Karl's costume as they are similar to his own personal style of clothing and I have decided to have two of my main actors, Aaron and Ricky, emulate famous punk/rock artists/band members and the other two to dress in stereotypical punk/rock clothing.

Main cast member - Ricky Boreham.


Another one of my friends, Ricky Boreham, has taken a role as one of the band members for my music video. Ricky's role within Lifelong Controversy will be the bassist of the band. I have chosen Ricky to be one of the central characters of my music video as he owns a Bass guitar and has learnt how to play the instrument. However, the actors within my video will not be playing their instruments whilst filming, it will be mimed. Ricky's knowledge of how to play bass will be helpful as he will understand the movements and style in which bassist follow. I believe would produce a good performance as a bassist for my video.

There are different types of bass instrument such as bass guitar, keyboard bass and double bass. The bass line is produced from the bass player, by playing an electric bass guitar. The bass line is the rhythm pulse of the song.

Ricky's costume for my music video will be a similar style to Mark Hoppus', the bassist from Blink-182. I have asked Ricky to follow Mark's style of costume for my particular music video as Blink-182 belong to the same genre of music as Good Charlotte are. Blink-182 are an ideal group to copy the style from as they are one of the most recognised bands of the modern generation. I chose to base Ricky's costume on the same style Blink-182 fashion as Ricky's own personal style is based on theirs and Blink-182 are his favourite band so their style is ideal to base Ricky's costume on.


















Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge formed Blink-182 with Travis Barker joining 1998 taking over from original drummer Scott Raynor. Blink-182 have produced 5 albums since they formed and a sixth album is currently in the works. These albums are Cheshire Cat, Dude Ranch, Enema of the State, Take off you pants and jacket and the self titled Blink-182. Blink-182 have sold over 25 million albums worldwide.Their most recognised songs include "The Rock Show", "What's my age again?", "All the small things" and "I miss you". In 2005 Tom left the group and formed Angels & Airwaves. However, Mark and Travis continued to stay together and formed +44. The trio reunited 4 years later in February 2009 as a result of Barker's near death experience in a plane crash.

Here is an example of a Blink-182 track. "Adam's song" is from the album Enema of the State and is one of their most popular tracks.

Main cast member - Aaron Hill.


I have asked one of my friends, Aaron, to be a part of my music video which I will produce for my A2 Media coursework. Aaron's role in the music video will be to be the lead guitarist for my original band, Lifelong Controversy. The reason I have chosen Aaron as the lead guitarist for my video is because he knows how to play guitar and he owns an electric guitar himself. This will be a positive as I will then not have to supply the instrument for him to pretend to play during the filming of my music video.

The lead guitarist typically plays the melodies and solos of the song. The lead guitarist of a band is usually supported by a secondary guitarist, also known as a rhythm guitarist. The lead guitarist uses a lot of chords and rifts which are often accompanied by a distorted effect. The two guitarists may pair together to form a guitar tandem and share the lead and rhythm roles during the song which creates a dual lead/dual rhythm guitar role.

Aaron's costume in my music video will be similar to that of Benjamin Kowalewicz, the leader singer from Billy Talent. Billy Talent are a punk rock band who formed in 1993. Billy Talent belong to the same genre of music that Good Charlotte and Blink-182 belong too. Benjamin usually wears a dark coloured t-shirt (usually black) and skinny jeans. This is similar to Aaron's style of clothing as he usually wears dark coloured clothing accompanied with skinny jeans. I have asked Aaron to dress in this particular way because Billy Talent are a popular punk rock band of our generation so their style is ideal to copy for my music video. Billy Talent are Aaron's favourite band so he can help recreate their style in his own particular costume as he understands the what their particular style is.














Billy Talent are a Canadian band formed in 1993 under the name of Pezz. The band consists of lead vocalist Ben Kowalewicz, Lead guitarist and backing vocalist Ian D'Sa, Bassist Jon Gallant and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. Due to legal trouble, Pezz was renamed Billy Talent. Pezz released their only album, Watoosh !, in 1993. Since then Billy Talent have released three albums, Billy Talent, Billy Talent II and Billy Talent III.

Here is an example of a Billy Talent track. "Red flag" by Billy Talent is a perfect example of the band's style of music "Red flag" is one of their most popular and recognised tracks.

Main cast member.



My role in my music video is to be the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. I have chosen myself to play a particular part in my music video as I know the lyrics to the track I am producing a video for perfectly. This is important as if I chose someone to play the lead vocalist role who didn't know the words may produce a poor quality mime. I also have access to a guitar so I could easily mime play a guitar. The lead vocalist, also known as the front man or front woman, of a band is the member of the band who sings the main vocal parts of a song. Lead vocalists sometimes have dual roles and play and instrument as well as singing. Bands such as The Beatles, Blink-182 and System of a down have more than one main vocalist. Rhythm guitar is used to provide a rhythmical pulse throughout a song. Rhythm guitarists aim to create a strong rhythmic and chordal sound which is different to a lead guitarist who aims to produce a high-pitched melody. My costume for my music video will be based on Billie Joe Armstrong's style, lead vocalist and lead guitarist from Green Day, American punk rock band. I have decided to base my costume on Billie Joe's costume as his band, Green Day, are an iconic punk rock band. My costume will consist of a formal shirt with a thin tie accompanied by black skinny jeans and boots which is common costume which Billie wears. My costume will not break any conventions of punk rock/pop punk genre as the items of clothing included within my costume will follow the punk style. Green Day was formed in 1987. Green Day have sold over 24 million records in the US alone and have sold over 65 million records Worldwide. Green Day have sold over 24 million records in the US alone and have sold over 65 million Worldwide. They have won Grammy awards for Record of the year for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", two best rock album awards for American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown and best alternative album for Dookie. Here is an example of a Green Day track from their seventh album American Idiot which was released in 2004.

Cast.

My main cast members in my music video will be the band members. The band will include a singer and rhythm guitarist, lead guitarist, bassist and a drummer. I will have other cast members within the video, however, they will not have a major role within the music video.

Each of my main cast members will wear a specific costume which I have asked each other them to wear. However, when considering what each member of my cast would wear, I took into mind the style of clothes they should wear and what their costume should represent about themselves. The costumes will be influenced from the punk rock/pop punk style which has evolved over the years since it's origin and the bands who are part of the genre.

Wednesday, 24 November 2010

My band name.



I have used a series of different fronts in order to see which looks best for my band name, Lifelong Controversy. These fonts were found on the website http://www.dafont.com. When looking for fonts I wanted to use a font which looks like it belongs to the punk/rock genre.

Friday, 19 November 2010

Analysing music video 3.

Analysing music video 2.




This particular music video by Green Day is based upon a film titled 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' which was an American 1975 drama film which was based on the 1962 novel by Ken Kesey. The narrative behind this film was that of a criminal, Randle Patrick McMurphy, who is transferred to a mental institution.

Analysing music video 1.



This video by Michael Jackson clearly belongs to the horror genre as it includes lots of conventions which belong to the horror genre. The video starts off with a black background with red text stating "Michael Jackson's Thriller". Red and black colours are a convention of horror movies as they are often associated with evil and danger.

The video begins with Michael and an un-named female character acting out asif they are characters within an 80's horror film. Both Jackson and the female character are wearing conventional 80's high school clothing which includes football jersy's and long dresses.

Whilst acting, Jackson then transforms into a Werewolf and begins to chase the female character. This is another convetion of horror films as usually a character will be hiding a deep dark secret, such as in this case Michael is a Werewolf, and then turns evil and attempts to kill the main female character.

The lighting throughout the video is dark and eery which is another convention which indicates to the audience that this video is based on horror films. The only light within the video is the light from the full moon which gives the video an eery effect. Typically within horror films there is low lighting and the main light source is usually natural light from the moon.

During the video, Jackson and the female character walk alone down a road with low lighting and appear to be cornered by zombies. Zombies are a typical enemy found within horror films and they have been used within this video as they help the audience to recognise that this video is ment to be a horror video as zombies are an iconic figure within horror films.

LIIAR.

Language - Editing, cinematography, sound, Mise-en-scene.

Institution - Record company, The Band/singer.

Ideaology - Genre. What does the genre suuggest.

Audience - Who the band and record company aim the music at.

Representation - How are they representing themselves. Creating an imagine of the band.

Blink-182 tracks.











Here are some examples of Blink-182 tracks taken from some of their albums. Toilet humour and teen angst are a common feature within Blink songs but songs such as 'Adam's song' and 'Stay Together for the Kids' embrace the bands darker side.

Band research.

Blink-182 is an American pop punk band formed in the early 90's. The band's members included bassist Mark Hoppus, Guitarist Tom DeLonge and drummer Scott Raynor. 'Cheshire Cat', the band's debut album was released in 1994 and was later followed by 'Dude Ranch' which was released in 1997. Scott Raynor eventually was replaced by current drummer Travis Barker during a tour in 1998.

Blink then later released four more albums, 'Enema of the State' (1999), 'The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back!)' in November 2000, 'Take Off Your Pants and Jacket' (2001) and finally a self-titled album which was released in 2003. Some of Blink's biggest singles include 'What's my age again?', 'Dammit', 'All The Small Things', 'I Miss You' and 'First Date'. Blink-182 are a pop punk/punk rock band who have influenced many modern day bands such as All Time Low, Paramore, Good Charlotte and Fall Out Boy.

During Blink's time together both DeLonge and Barker opted to join other bands whilst on time off from the band. Travis and Tom formed Box Car Racer with David Kennedy with their self-titled debut album released in May 2002. Whilst the side project with Tom was in progress, Travis was asked to join Transplants, a rap rock band, who released their album in October 2002. During Christmas 2002, Blink-182 regrouped in order to begin work on their new album.

However, even after all their success DeLonge left the band in early 2005 due to disagreements on touring and after he declined to record a new album. He later went to form Angels & Airwaves whilst Mark and Travis formed +44. Angels & Airwaves have so far released 3 albums, 'We Don't Need to Whisper' (2006), 'I-Empire' (2007) and 'Love: Part 1' (2010). Whilst DeLonge enjoyed further success with his new band, Hoppus and Barker also formed their own band entitled +44 who released their debut album in 2006, 'When Your Heart Stops Beating'. However, on September 19th, 2008, Travis barely survived a plane crash after performing at an event. Travis and two other passengers were the only survivors. Travis suffered second and third degree burns to his torso. After his horrific accident, DeLonge and Hoppus began to reconcile after their heated exchanges during the band's final days and eventually all three former band mates agreed to reform Blink-182.




Bottom to top: Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge, Travis Barker.


Genre.

The genres to which Blink-182 belong to are pop punk, punk rock and alternative rock.

Pop Punk.
The Pop punk combines elements of punk rock with pop music. The genre merges melodic pop music with the tempo of punk music. The origin of punk rock began in the late 1960s and early 1970s which helped lay the base for the pop punk sound which became popular around 1974. The Ramones' were one of the first bands to emerge with the punk rock sound. Contemporary pop punk roots are from bands such as Buzzcocks, Generation X, The Jam, The Undertones and Bad Religion.

Pop punk underwent a resurgence in the early 1990s. A DIY approach became popular to pop punk bands at the time and during the same time period independent record labels such as Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph Records started to emerge.

Between the years of 1994 and 1997 Green Day, The Offspring and Blink-182 became the three heavyweight bands within the pop punk genre. Green Day released their first album, Dookie, in February 1994. The band was contracted to Lookout! Records at the time. LookOut! Records was one of many independent records labels which emerged during the 1990s. Dookie sold 20 million copies Worldwide. Due to their first major success, Green Day later performed at Woodstock '94 and won a Grammy for best alternative album. The Offspring then released their album titled Smash which was released after Green Day's Dookie.The band's sound had changed. They developed a pop punk sound that was different from their earlier work and their first single, "Come out and play" became a popular hit. "Dammnit" by Blink-182 became a chart topper during this time period which established their status within the music industry.

Blink-182 released Enema of the State in 1999. The album sold over 15 million copies Worldwide and included the #1 single "All the small things" and the #2 single "What's my age again?". Good Charlotte released their second album, The Young and the Hopeless, in 2002 which went triple platinum. Four years prior to this, The Offspring's album, Americana, which included singles such as "The Kid's aren't alright" and "Pretty fly" which also helped establish the new genre of pop punk. This style is still popular in our culture to this day.

Punk Rock.
Punk rock is a combination of protopunk and garage rock music. The punk rock genre originates from a mixture of Rock & Roll, Protopunk and garage rock. Punk rock is a fast paced sound which embraces the DIY idea which became popular in the early 1990s which many bands followed. Punk rock belongs to the rock genre and was developed between 1974 and 1976. Bands such as The Ramones and The Sex Pistols were and still are recognized throughout the music industry in 1976. These two bands followed the Punk rock genre. This genre became a major phenomenon in the UK during the late 1970's. Mainstream bands such as Green Day and The Offspring took on the Punk rock genre and by the beginning of the 1980s the Punk rock sound became more aggressive and became known as hardcore.

Alternative Rock.
Alternative rock is a genre developed from rock music which became popular in the 1980s and 90s. Alternative rock consists of Punk rock, Indie pop, Britpop, Hardcore punk, Hard rock and grunge. Before the 1990s, Alternative rock was known as College rock . The term "Alternative rock" only became popular in the 1990s. R.E.M were one of the first alternative rock bands and are still one of the most successful alternative rock bands since the emergance of the genre. Their debut album, Mumur, which was released in 1983 entered the top 40 immediately. Biffy Clyro, Muse, Flogging Molly, Foo Fighters, Keane, Oasis and Paramore are popular Alternative rock bands of the 21st century.

Lyrics.

I took her out it was a Friday night
I wore cologne to get the feeling right
We started making out and she took off my pants
But then I turned on the TV

And that's about the time she walked away from me
Nobody likes you when you're 23
I'm still more amused by TV shows
What the hell is ADD?
My friends say I should act my age
What's my age again?
What's my age again?

Then later on, on the drive home
I called her mom from a pay phone
I said I was the cops
And your husband's in jail
This state looks down on sodomy

And that's about the time that bitch hung up on me
Nobody loves you when your 23
I'm still more amused by prank phone calls
What the hell is caller ID?
My friends say I should act my age
What's my age again?
What's my age again?

And that's about the time she walked away from me
Nobody loves you when your 23
And you still act like you're in Freshman year
What the hell is wrong with me?
My friends say I should act my age
What's my age again?
What's my age again?

That's about the time she broke up with me (Please stay)
No one should take themselves so seriously (with me, please stay)
With many years ahead to fall in line (with me, please stay)
Why would you wish that on me? (with me)
I never want to act my age (please stay)
What's my age again? (with)
What's my age again? (me)

What's my age agaaaaaaaaain?

Blink-182 "What's my age again ?"



This is the Blink-182 track I have decided to use for my music video. I have decided to choose a track from Blink-182 as they are a World wide recognised pop punk band. I have chosen to create a music video for this specific track as it is one of the most popular tracks the band has produced and is a personal favourite of mine.

My idea for this video is to include a drummer, singer & rhythm guitarist, guitarist and bassist to act as a fiction band I have created. The video will consist of the band members walking into a garage/recording studio and finding that their instruments have been stolen and replaced with guitar hero and rockband instruments. When discovering this, the band then decide to use these toy instruments and play the track. Throughout the video the band members will be seen in different scenarios including each band memeber in which they act like children; riding bikes with stablizers, having tantrums, playing at parks etc etc. This will link into the tracks name "What's my age again?" as it will be featuring the teenage band memebers regressing to children and acting younger than what they actually are.

Brief.

  1. A promotion package for the release of an album to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:
  • a website homepage for the band;
  • a cover for its release as part of a digipak. (CD/DVD package);
  • a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).

Group breakdown.

After lengthy discussions me and my other memeber of my group decided that it would benefit us both if we worked alone. Due to disagreements in work ethic and ideas we have decided to part ways and work on individual projects. I have decided to create a music video as I originally intended before joining a group.

Wednesday, 10 November 2010

Cast members - David Barkworth.























Location photographs.






















Film production logo.

Film logos are used by movie studios in order to brand the films they are producing. The logo is typically seen at the beginning of the trailer and at the end as a closing image. Here are some examples of film logos:






Here is a draft of mine and Matthew's film logo. Matthew created it by using photo shop.



Our logo is a coat of arms. The coat of arms represents our identity, prestige and formality. A coat of arms were used as a heraldic design which was typically seen on a cloak or a shield during the mid-12th century. These coat of arms represented the person's identity, family or rank. In the 21st century coat of arms are still used in institutions such as Universities in order to represent the Establishment. Most coats of arms are personally designed, we have stood to that convention and designed ours. Here are some examples of coats of arms:








The coat of arms we've created will represent our movie logo. We have chosen to use a coat of arms as our logo as it represents our rank, prestige and formality which coat of arms traditionally do. Many individuals and institutions use coats of arms in the 21st century still as they are contemporary and traditional which is why we have chosen to create a personal coat of arms for our movie logo. We have chosen to include our names in our coat of arms as it establishes who is in control of the production, me and Matthew. The 'M' and the 'A' within our logo represent mine and Matthew's first names. However, later on in the production I believe the 'M' and the 'A' should be changed to the first letter of each other our last names, 'E' and 'B', as it seems more formal. The logo is intended to represent our prestige and formality which we would like our audience to see.

Thursday, 4 November 2010

Location description.

Me and my group partner, Matthew Elliot, have analysed locations from thriller and horror films in order to compile a list of features we believe is necessary for our location. These features are:


  • Abandoned area.
  • Dark / low lighting.
  • Rural.
  • Heavily wooded.
  • Quiet.
  • Isolated.
  • Scary.
  • Untamed.

When deciding on our location, we had to consider many factors such as:

  • Distance.
  • Acessability.
  • Laws (Tresspassing).

Video production schedule.

November:
1st - Animatic
8th - Video Shoot
15th - Video Shoot
22nd - Upload and edit
29th - Edit

December:
6th - Edit
13th - Evaluation
20th/21st - Feedback

Change of background track.



Friday, 22 October 2010

Nine Inch Nails - "The day the World went away."

The track me and Matthew are considering using for the diagetic music with our film trailer is "The day the World went away" by Nine Inch Nails. We have chosen to consider this track because we believe the title of the track fits in with our film title, " The Missing ".



Friday, 15 October 2010

Analysing 'The Sixth Sense.'

Genre essay.

The genre me and Matty have chosen for our film trailer is the psychological thriller genre. We have chosen this particular genre after we had researched that particular genre and others as well. We came to the conclusion that the psychological thriller genre would fit out film trailer best.

Psychological thrillers conventions are similar to that of Crime genre conventions in which the protagonists are pitted through a series of tests which they have to overcome in order to receive their hearts desire, usually a person or an item. Psychological thrillers typically are characterised by the atmosphere they create. Moods such as adrenaline, paranoia, terror and anxiety are also a convention of psychological thrillers. A sense of corruption, danger, violence and menace is typically characterised within the psychological thriller genre. Psychological thrillers also typically include heavy plot twists, mind games and cliffhangers. We, me and Matty, plan to stick to these conventions by creating an atmosphere of paranoia and terror within our movie trailer. We plan to do this by using a series of short powerful scenes of the cast members raw emotions being made apparent throughout the trailer. We also plan to include the plot typically included within psychological thrillers in which the protagonists or protagonist have to overcome tests in order to gain their desires as the narrative for our film trailer is that a group of young adults must discover what is happening within the forest in order to find out what has happened to their missing friends.

The protagonists are most often ordinary people. These people are usually ignorant to dangerous situations, unless they are police officers which is becoming more common within thrillers, and they have to assert themselves in order to solve the situation. The antagonists typically cast in psychological thrillers are usually characters with mental problems, criminals and characters with dark and mysterious pasts. The outcome to most psycho thrillers often includes a murder. Once again, our film trailer will follow these conventions as our protagonists will be a group of young adults (teenagers) who are unaccustomed to danger who find themselves thrust into a dangerous situation. Our antagonist, however, will remain anonymous in order to create an enigma which breaks the convention of most psycho thrillers. Our protagonists will be the main focus of our trailer which is a convention of most films and their trailers. It is uncommon for the antagonist to be the main character featured in the film.

Thrillers are usually aimed at a teenage and adult audience are they often contain violence and strong language. Once again our production will follow this convention as our film trailer is aimed at the same target audience due to violence and gore which will be included within our trailer.

The location we have chosen for our thriller is a large wooded area which surrounds a large house. The area is an abandoned, rural, isolated space of land which is a convention of horror/thriller genres. These factors create a scary atmosphere to the area which is a convention of thriller films. The fact that the area is isolated from the public is a convention of thriller genre as this means the characters are alone which helps create the scary atmosphere as there is no one to help them, they are alone.

Pyschological thriller sub-genre.

Our film trailer genre will be a psychological horror. Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the wide-ranging thriller genre. This sub-genre often incorporates elements of mystery, horror and drama in addition to conventions from the thriller genre.

Psychological Thriller – Characters are no longer reliant on physical strength to overcome their brutish enemies (which is often the case in typical action-thrillers), but rather are reliant on their mental resources, whether it be by battling wits with a formidable opponent or by battling for equilibrium in the character's own mind. The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one anothers minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state.

Devices within Psychological thrillers.

First person, stream of consciousness and a back story.

First person - Story is narrated by more than one characters. Refers to themselves as "I". The use of first person narrative helps make the audience feel more involved with the characters are they are making the story more personal by speaking from their own personal experiences.

Stream of consciousness - Describes the individuals point of view. The narrative in psychological thrillers tend to manifest the characters psyche through their words and experiences.

Back story - the history behind the story. Helps the audience understand where the characters have come from and their motives.

Themes.

Reality - Characters have to decide between which is true and which is false within the narrative. Blur between reality and not.

Death - Characters struggle with the concept of death. Character(s) death.

Mind - Characters battle with their own mind. They go on a journey to understand their identity, perception and understanding of situations.

Friday, 8 October 2010

Genre.

Genre is a term of category based on some loose set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed from the conventions of the subject. Here are some examples of different types of genre:

- Horror
- Thriller
- Crime
- Romance
- Science fiction
- Adventure
- Comedy

Here are some examples of Films and their genre's:

Horror - The Exorcist.
Thriller - Psycho.
Crime - Public enemies.
Romance - Titanic.
Science fiction - Alien.
Adventure - The mask of Zorro.
Comedy - American Pie.








Genre's often include sub genres which are genres within a genre. For example the thriller genre has many sub genres. These are:

  1. Crime thriller - Flightplan.
  2. Mystery thriller - Shutter Island.
  3. Psychological thriller - Phone Booth.
  4. Political thriller - The Manchurian Candidate.
  5. Techo thriller - I Robot.
  6. Supernatural thriller - The Others.
  7. Religious thriller - The Da Vinci code.






Wednesday, 29 September 2010

Film trailer title and synopsis.

Me and Matthew have decided to entitle the film we are producing a trailer for as "The Missing." We have decided to give our film this title as it ties in with our narrative.

Our narrative will be be based upon a group of teenage friends going out into a forest. As night falls, members of the group appear to go missing with menacing signs, messages and screams from their missing friends. The remaining members of the group decide to venture further into the forest in order to find their missing friends. Whilst looking for the missing members of the groups other members begin to go missing too with signs to what has happened to the missing teenagers appearing as the night progresses. As more of the teenagers go missing, the mystery intensifies are they soon begin to realise that they are not just fighting to find their friends but fighting for their lives too.

The enigma within our trailer will be who or what has abducted the teenagers ? Where are they ? Are they alive ?

Our movie trailer will uphold the typical codes and conventions of the psychological thriller genre, which is the genre our film trailer will be based upon.

Tuesday, 28 September 2010

Film trailer history.

The term trailer or preview is an advertisement for a film which will be shown in cinemas within the near future. Trailers include a variety of selected shots from the film in which the trailer is advertising. The purpose of the trailer is to attract the audience the film is aimed at. Trailers don't typically include spoilers, however, they do include funny and exciting parts of the film in order to entice the audience and keep them interested. Trailers tell the narrative of the film in a condensed fashion.

Trailers typically include rating cards. These rating cards usually appear before the trailer has started and indicate to the audience that the trailer has been approved by the authority figure behind the film. Rating cards also include MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) ratings which outlines standards for the motion picture outlined by the MPAA, these standards will include violence, sexual scenes or references and inappropriate language. MPAA is a rating system for films.

The first movie trailer in America show in a movie theatre was in November 1913. The trailer was produced for the musical "The Pleasure Seekers". During the 1960's quick editing and montage became popular. However, in recent years trailers have become longer and more eleborate. Trailers have become more commercial.

Film trailers.

The film trailer me and Matthew are planning on creating will be similar to these 4 trailers below:





Monday, 27 September 2010

Video production.

For this task I have chosen to work in a pair with my classmate Matthew Elliot. After discussing both our views about what type of video production we should create we both eventually decided on creating a Film trailer, film magazine front cover and a poster for the film.

Our film trailer will be based on a cross over between 'Paranormal Activity', 'The Fourth Kind' and 'The Blair Witch Project'. The narrative we have chosen to create will include an enigma. The narrative will include a group of teenagers venturing out into a local forest with some of the group of teenagers disappearing. The remaining member's of the group then try to discover what has happened to their missing friends. The enigma will be what has taken the teenagers ? Where are they ? Are they alive ? How will the remaining group members find their friends ?

The perspective of the film will be based from the main characters viewpoint. Their personal experiences will be included within the film from their own perspective as we have decided that the characters will be equipped with handheld cameras.

Our filming will be set in a forest. The cast will include stereotypical teenagers to create verisimilitude in order to reflect the age group back to our society. We have chosen to include a cast of 5 people including girls and boys so that the audience, of both genders, can relate to the characters during the trailer.

Our film trailer will be a 'Circe' and an 'Orpheus' narrative. The video production project we are going to create will be a cross-over between sci-fi/paranormal and horror.

The protagonists in our film trailer will be the group of teenagers and the antagonist will be the person/creature(s) which have taken/killed/abducted some of the teenagers. We are yet to decide what has happened to the teenagers who have gone missing, whether a person is responsible for their disappearance or Aliens have abducted them.

Brief.

A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:

- A website homepage for the film;

- A film magazine front cover, featuring the film;

- A poster for the film.