Coming up with an idea...

Brainstorm of film ideas

At first I couldn't come up with a solid idea and i decided to brainstorm some to get my creative juices flowing and to try and capture the 'idea' that i am attempting to create. Along with ideas i also came up with different styles films, such as POV and a silent film. Along with the style I made thought provoking words and notes around it to produce a plot and storyline.

Furthermore, I researched what is included in Psychological thrillers and came up with a list of things that should be included in the idea of my film and the codes and conventions of this particular genre.

-Stream of consciousness : This includes me having to come up with a protagonist and describe whatever he/she is thinking and always engaging the audience with the characters state of mind being the centre of the narrative. Other techniques such as visuals and symbolic memories will help with this particular key technique of  Psychological thrillers.

-First person narrative: most films of this particular genre follow a first person narrative that follows the protagonist and he/she always talks and refers to themselves as 'I'. This technique is very effective as it develops an invisible bridge that joins the audience and the character. Additionally, it makes the audience become directly involved as a relationship is formed as the character is always talking, creating the effect that he is almost speaking to you directly.

-Back story: The past of the character (if one) that is the centre of attention as to why the narrative is. This deepens the storyline and leads to why the protagonist does what he does and why. It is important to have a back story as it doesn't leave psychological thrillers open as there needs to be some order and intrigue to build a relationship with the Protagonist.

Even though i will not be going in deep into these techniques I need to make it evident that they are not only in my trailer but in my whole promotional package.

With these techniques combined it makes the formula and skeleton of a psychological thriller and i have to flesh it out with an idea that covers all these techniques.

After some deliberation and weighing out which idea would work best with the genre codes and conventions I came to a conclusion and I decided to go with the dream/nightmare idea on the top right of my brain storm as I believe it will be the most appropriate idea to do a promotional package as I am not limited to certain rules like those if I chose the POV film. I also decided yo go with this idea as I believe it is the one that will appeal the most to my target audience, following in the footsteps of films such as Inception and Shutter island. My next steps will be creating more of a detailed story and creating a pitch for it. In addition to this, I will also thinking about additional features so I can create my promotional package and ways in which i can advertise it.

Picking a Genre...

After thinking a while about the genre I was going to try and develop an idea for, it became apparent that it had to fit in and tie in with my chosen target audience demographic. In addition to this, my research came in very useful at this point, as Cloverfield was targeted at a 'YouTube genration', referring to the increasing online age. With all this in mind I began generating film ideas and put them into categories and did a survey about what genre film is most popular amongst my age group...

Survey Conducted

With my survey I asked 37 people and gave them a list of different film genres where each person got to choose two genres that they enjoyed watching the most. From my survey I found that there was three genres that were very popular: Horror, Mystery and Thriller. With this information I decided to do some further thinking about how I could fuse these genres together and come up with a new genre that included all three. In the end I came up with the idea of  going down the psycho thriller/horror 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 another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_thriller

I found this definition of Psychological thriller in the context of the typical Psychological thriller. If I am to carry out a film of this genre I will have to pay close attention to the conventions of this genre and follow the codes. In addition to this, I am hoping to mix this genre with a bit of horror to create that 'punch' factor. Even though I am only doing a promotional package with a teaser trailer I still have to bare in mine all these things, as it is the teaser trailers that hooks the audience.

I chose this genre as it is very popular with the teenage demographic with films such as Paranormal Activity and Inception generating the buzz that started from this demographic. This genre obviously captures the attention of my chosen demographic. With is, it also opens a broader field in the resources I can use and the field to paint my ideas and products. Another reason I chose this particular genre is because it is a genre that, in the past, is known for its viral marketing campaigns and would follow the codes and conventions if I chose this genre to base a viral marketing campaign around.

Analysis of trailer

Inception trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HilwtqaN4Gs - Teaser trailer Currently has over 2,700,000 views

The Inception teaser trailer is very short, standing at 1minutes and 5 seconds. This is key to any teaser trailer as in this time slot it will not reveal to much of the film and give the audience a feel of the film, 'Teasing' them as they want to know more.

The inception trailer starts off, like any other trailer, with the company's name, in this case Warner bros. Straight after this it shows the name of the director (Christopher Nolan). Nowadays the director is very important as well known directors will get more attention and response to others and by stating the directors name the audience can almost imagine the style the film is going to be like. The opening footage of the trailer is a close up of what seems to be a spinning top that falls, this is very ambiguous and doesn't give anything away. straight after it stops spinning it reveals the director's associated film ''The Dark Knight', which in this case is key as it is a well known film and was very successful, hinting that Inception will follow in these footsteps. This then smoothly goes into an aerial establishing shot of a busy road in the city, with numerous highrise buildings, creating the scenario that something big and a potentially dangerous mission is about to go underway. After this, there is a close up of Leonardo Dicaprio's face and a man being dragged away from the helicopter, revealing some of the action. This is followed by short sequences of action that include: a fight scene, water bending, another close up of Leonardo Dicaprio and a clock. The tag line of the film is shown   'Your mind is the scene of the crime' on a special effects background showing what looks to be a city bending in different ways. The title card of  'Inception' at the end of the trailers is in the shape of skyscrapers and shows that this film has the attributes of a psychological thriller. I know I will have to be able to do all this effectively, stringing together sequences to effect creating suspense and not releasing too much information about the whole idea of my film. Obviously I will not be able to do it to the grand scale of that of Inception, but i shall try and do it to the best of my capacity with the resources I have.

The editing style of the teaser trailer is medium paced through the first half of the teaser trailer and gradually as more action is being revealed the editing is a lot faster and more abrupt cuts are used. The medium paced editing is appropriate because there is a lot of information that needs to be absorbed by the audience. The editing style of this trailer follows the industry codes of editing, knowing when to speed it up and when to slow it down. I understand from analysing this trailer that I should follows these institutional conventions as it will benefit me in making my trailer as realistic as possible. essentially, I will attempting to use the same formula of editing when it comes to my teaser trailer.

Throughout the whole trailer there is no dialogue, only a soundtrack in the background. This use of non digetic sound allows the suspense and tension to build up, leaving the audience wondering what this film is going to be like. The music starts off with short, low bursts of what seems to be echoes and it slowly builds up and gets faster as the cuts get faster with eerie music filling the atmosphere. The ending has the echoes louder and every time an echo occurs the title changes, this the accuracy I am aiming for.

The sound for my trailer will probably be the hardest part of the whole editing process as everything has to flow and certain sounds have to be in time with certain parts of footage.seeing as the music is added in the editing stage , this could potentially take hours looking at what footage goes well and needs to be edited to go with a certain bit of music. Of course i do not have to do music it could be dialogue and music or it could also be a voiceover for the entire trailer. These decisions are easier to make during the editing phase as i will have all the visual content and resources to work out what is the best non diegetic and sound effects are the best for my trailer.

Reflective entry...

After completing my research and planning process I have decided to do a reflective entry on how I think things are going so far. Throughout my research and planning I have been thoroughly looking at current existing media examples, looking at the codes and conventions of the film industry and films that have used viral marketing. In addition to this, The research I have carried out has led me to make creative decisions for my coursework based on institutional knowledge in areas of a distribution (viral marketing) and how films are made (Production, development etc). The research side of things was pretty straight forward as I knew exactly what i wanted to research and explore. I believe that my research has gone very well and has allowed me to be inter textual, as I have been relate to existing products avoid the industry dont's, such as binary oppositions for this particular style of films in the viral market.

However, the planning side of things was a little bit more tricky as I had to plan everything I was going to do up to this stage with precision and accuracy to maintain a discipline that would carry me through this particular stage of my process. Furthermore, this would help me in my attempt to be as professional as possible and not do things by my way, but do things by the way that the industries do things.

Compared to AS, the research and planning stage has been a lot more rigorous and more attention to detail has to given. Also, In the A2 course there is that aspect of not doing things all time to make it how I want it to be but how it has to be. Although, it is rigorous it allows me to critically evaluate my work more effectively and improving my work to be a professional as I can make. In conclusion, I believe I have done this process to the best of my ability and to the most professional standard and I will attempt to carry on doing this throught my coursework, till my very last blog.

Starting with the Main task...

I have decided to start off by doing the main task of my coursework, which is the promotional package which includes a teaser trailer. My reasoning behind my decision is that I believe I can work off the main task and it well help me to produce my ancillary tasks with all my resources, such as the promotional package where I can develop ideas and have endless possibilities. Another reason for this is that I want start with, in theory, the hardest part of the project and I will give produce a detailed plan so that I can meet deadlines and discipline myself to give reasonable amount of time for each of my tasks. Additionally, Starting with the main task will involve me having to work and plan in most of my free time in order to get everything ready and prepared in time.

The first thing i have got to do, before making a schedule, is coming up with an idea for a film and its promotional package. After this i will have to visualise ideas for my ancillary tasks. I will be doing this as to compile a detailed schedule and plan will easier once I've got my ideas down and i feel passionate about my idea. I will also be coming up with more than just one idea as not only will it open my mind to different approaches i can also ask fellow peers and asking which one is the best idea. By doing this I will also be avoiding making it how i wanted it to be personally but critically reflective and see if it follows the conventions of the industry.

There are also a couple of things I should bare in mind when coming up with a film idea and should constantly be asked:

- Is it an appropriate idea for my target audience?

- Would it fit into the film industry today?

- Does it follow the industry codes and conventions?

- Is it understandable?

- Is it as good as i can make it?

With these questions in mind I can begin thinking of ideas that tick all the boxes and answer these questions positively.

Areas of the film industry I will be studying...

Since my task is to do with film making, I thought it was appropriate to research the different areas of film making and which ones i should be using for my coursework. From my research, i found that there are 5 key stages in film making and some apply to me more than others, but all are important none the less.

Development of an idea: The thought of an original idea that will be interesting and be appropriate for my selected target audience. The development of my idea will come after my research of films, giving me ideas for my promotional package of my film. This is a key stage in my planning as it will all start from the development of my idea and finding ways in working around it to produce the final product. The development stage will involve me to bring together all my ideas and come up with a solid idea for what I want to do. Essentially, this is the hardest part as i have to start from here and create most things in the development stages such as story boards, schedules and scripts.

Pre-Production: Pre-Production involves the planning and designing of the main objective. This stage is going to involve me having to plan how every stage is going to run. I will also use this stage as a process of selecting the cast for my trailer and the crew (if needed), which might include a person that is in charge of costumes, someone that can operate the camera etc. This is also the stage where all the development comes into place and the use of storyboards and schedules will provide a structure and path that will be easy to follow and show professionalism in the sense of making my work and process as professional as possible.

Production: Probably one of the longest stages of my process, the Production stage will involve me having to record the 'raw' elements of my teaser trailer and promotional package. This includes the acting, mise en scenes and the narrative of my trailer. I will have to use my schedule to follow a structure to my work so everything comes together efficiently. The production stage will never be one day and I might have to produce a schedule for different shooting days for different parts in order to create the structure I want. In addition to this, my expectation for the end of this stage is to have a lot of footage to work with, so that i am not limited. It might even mean that I film the same part more than once, creating different approaches to that particular part.

Post Production: This stage will probably be the longest as it requires the most attention to detail. This area is where I will be editing my trailer and adding in other elements such as a soundtrack (if needed), editing the dialogue, title cards and transitions. This will ensure that the trailer will flow and sound right. This lengthy process might last about a week as every detail of footage needs to be revised and I might produce a couple of samples and survey them, before the finished product is made.

Sales and Distribution: For the distribution of my promotional package i will be doing as extravagant as putting it on TV, but there are so many ways in which i can can distribute that are equally, if not more effective, than a TV advert. I will be trying to use the Internet as my distribution method and i am hoping to create a YouTube channel with my work on it so that the whole world could potentially see it. This stage of my process will involve me find the best and most popular way of distributing my work, as it is a promotional package.

Target audience...

After coming up with my idea, I had to think about who would my idea appeal to and the ways I could advertise to this age group. My chosen Target audience are teenagers (roughly 15-19). I have chosen target this age group as they are the most current and 'Online' generation. what I mean by this is that this age group is the one that spends the most time online for leisure purposes (such as browsing and watching videos). In addition to this, they are the group that are targeted conventionally by the industry for viral films. That sense of mystery creates rumours and groups of teenagers and friends discuss these topics and show each other and most importantly become a big societal demographic electronically on the web. Another reason as to why my target audience is this age group is that I am 17 and I know my age group interests better than other age group, this plays to my strengths as i feel the most comfortable in this field of work.


By choosing this target audience I have also allowed myself endless resources in the sense that i can come up with many methods of distribution of my promotional package because of the 'Online age'. This means I could post my trailer on a YouTube channel and get publicity and comments to see what people think. I could also put my print work on Flickr or another image sharing website in order for show or even and online criticism, and be adjusting this i can make my work better, guiding me away from that frame of mind of wanting it how I look and focus on the industry conventions and what the target audience wants, representing them as acollective identity in my promotional package.

Well marketed films...

Paranormal activity

Paranormal activity is a low budget horror film that was made by Paramount in 2009. Since it had a low budget, Paranormal Activity didn't really have a very big advertising campaign, but I am researching it for the fact that it is a very simple idea that made success. The plot follows a couple who believe are being haunted and they set up a video camera ('Found Footage'), the film is shown entirely through the eyes of the video camera. Paranormal activity's target audience was the teenage audience as it opened an eventful page where users demanded it and the area that had the highest demand got to see it first in their city.

The film had a budget of only $15,000 and generated over $193 million across the globe. Even though I'm not looking for that type of success, this is an example of how a simple idea can be so popular and original can be of a very high quality at the same time.

The style in which the way the film is shot, through a video camera, creates an invisible link with the audience as it is a normal family with a normal house recording as if it was a home video no different to that you see on YouTube. The concept of Paranormal activity and Cloverfield has given me a rough idea of of what I want to do and what genre I can fit it into. Also it has given me an insight to what target audience I want to approach.

This also completes my research of Viral marketing after looking at a mainstream film (The Dark knight) with a high budget, a unconventionally mainstream film (Cloverfield) with a medium budget and a low budget film in Paranormal activity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSSqxrh5kp8 - Paranormal Activity trailer

Another Example of Viral Marketing...

The Dark Knight

Event though the dark knight is more mainstream than Cloverfield I am still going to research about it because of its successful viral campaign it had before the films release, creating the anticipation and suspense for the audience.

Thge dark knight's viral campaign started off through its famous tagline, 'why so serious?' tagline and a website was launched that pictured fictional political campaign which included Harvey Dent, with the caption 'I believe in Harvey Dent'. A vandalised version of this caption 'I believe in Harvey Dent too' was posted and users sent in emails which revealed a secret image pixel by pixel. The hidden image was that of the infamous Joker which was covered it 'HAHA' and a caption saying 'See you in December. This new approach and style to the Batman Franchise brought a breath of life an intrigue in the audience and recreated an monumental buzz about the new batman film.

Later on in 2007, 42 Entertainment launched Whysoserious.com, which had a scavenger hunt for users. This scavenger hunt led to a new image of the Joker and a teaser trailer. A couple of months later another scavenger hunt was launched, sending followers to find clues which uncovered another picture of the Joker and an audio clip of the Joker which played 'And tonight, your gonna break your one rule'. From this it led to another website, where fans could post pictures of themselves dressed up as the joker, and whoever sent in an image received an electronic copy of the Gotham times, which led to the discovery of additional websites for the fans to look at.

The opening sequence of The Dark Knight and a montage of film clips was shown before an IMAX viewing of I Am Legend. A theatrical teaser trailer was released in cinemas and also on the film's official website. After the death of Heath Ledger the promotional campaign of the film focused more on the Joker as to Harvey Dent. After the film's released in 2008, it generated a gross revenue of $1 billion and the franchise is still very popular today: Role play costumes, action figures and there is even a rollercoaster ride that simulates being stalked by the joker.

Even though this marketing strategy is at a different end of the spectrum in comparison to Cloverfield, in the sense of scale, but it still provides similar attributes that that of the viral marketing campaign of Cloverfield, creating hooks and clues for the user, making users work, to find out other clues. This is a quality that I want my work to have. However, I do not want my work to be too abstract and unconventional as I do not think it is the most effective way to carry out the project I am doing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1clvbS_33mk - The Dark Knight Teaser Trailer

http://whysoserious.com/ - Promotional website