Trailer Analysis - As You Are (2016)

The trailer opens on what appears to be a birds eye view shot of a forest, there is just ambient noise played over the top of the shot while quotes from reviews are placed on top of the shot. They then disappear as a male character stumbles out from the trees yelling for help in distress. This begins to create a tense atmosphere for the audience as there is already a problem at the start which none of the audience is aware of.

It then cuts to the same male character entering what seems to be a police interrogation room which only adds to the sense of confusion the audience would be experiencing. It the cuts the male character walking down a school corridor alone, the lighting used is very dark which adds the the tense atmosphere already created through the previous shots used. It then cuts to a two shot of two male characters who as shown to be having a brief conversation but from this the audience gains the idea that characters are going to be involved with each other some how.

It then cuts to this wide shot which looks into a teenagers bedroom. It shows the two male character having fun over multiple days, you can tell that the shots are supposed to be at different times from the speed that they are cut between and the change of light and clothing. This establishes to the audience their growing friendship.

It the cuts back to the interrogation room but its filmed in low quality to show what the recording of the footage in the room would of looked like, this hints that part of the story may be told in a documentary style.

The audience is then introduced to a female character after a fight breaks out between a group of male characters. It made clear to the audience that she is also going to be one of the main focuses in the movie as she has more screen time then other smaller characters and has many close ups on her face.






Looking at As You Are enabled me to see how a wide range of locations are used when portraying a story line as a whole. It also let me look in to the use of colours and how they can help set the tone of the trailer and change the atmosphere when needed.

Trailer Analysis - The First Girl I Loved (2016)

The trailer opens with multiple over the shoulder shots showing a conversation between to female characters. The conversation appears to be quite casual and comfortable, no non-diegetic music is used at this point as the trailer is beginning to establish the relationship between the two characters.

They then cut to a close up on this female characters face as she asks the question 'Do you have a boyfriend?', Up beat music then begins to play and helps the trailer transition into the next scene. It then cuts between multiple shots of the female character and a guy hanging out. The upbeat music continues to play as a the characters voice over begins which suggests that she is in a conversation with he guy. She tells the male character that she 'likes somebody' and the up beat music continues as it cuts to a shot of the other female character before suddenly cutting off as the male character questions the friends. The fact that the music stops helps create a sense of awkwardness and tension between the characters.

Soft melodic music begins as shots are shown beginning to establish the relationship between the two female characters as it grows. They use a slow motion shot when looking at one of the girls from the others perspective to show that her interest is on her. It tells the audience that the two female characters are going to become love interests to each other as the movie continues, As things continue a tense atmosphere is created as the shots become quicker and the music becomes fast paced.

This shot is placed multiple times in a fast paced sequence as it shows the audience the extent of the relationship between the two female characters, the red filter used gives connotations of love and anger to the audience this helps show just a few of the themes that will be explored throughout the movie.






The First Girl I Loved allowed me to understand how pace can affect the atmosphere of a scene. This was shown in romantic and serious moments when the scene would slow down. I think this is a feature I will take on board when editing my trailer in its later stages.

Poster Analysis - First Girl I Loved (2016)

 

With this poster the two girls featured on the front are not looking at the camera but at each other which shows the audience that they are love interests for each other. This also follows the style of many other posters for romance films. The two female characters are the central image on the poster which means that the audiences attention is only on them. 

The main title has a font which replicates the look of someones hand writing, i really like this effect and its something i want to try and recreate for my poster. I makes the film already begin to feel more personal. I also like the filters put over the top of the image as it makes the image appear softer as they use a pink filter. It makes it seem almost like its a memory as it almost has a fade effect over the top which makes it appear almost fuzzy. 

Along the bottom of the poster they have quotations from reviews saying how it is 'Remarkable' and '[A] sublime coming-of-age film'. I think this would make the movie seem more appealing as it has good reviews. It also has the sundance logo at the top as it won an award, this would make avid movie goers more inclined to go see the movie as it was successful.

Diary Entry 4

I have decided to focus more on the genre of 'Coming of Age Drama', I chose to do this because I watch the most movies from this genre so it should be easier for me to recreate a film that follows some of the genre conventions.

Poster Analysis - As You Are (2016)

 

In this poster the Title is the main feature as it is placed right in the centre. However if you look in some of the letters you can see the characters partly. There appears to be a filter over the top of the images to give it an almost aged looked. I think this helps the poster tell the audience that the movie is set in a different time era.

The colour scheme used on the poster is grey and blues, which sets a sad tone for the movie. It hints at the audience that the movie is going to be quite dark as well as having a grungy vibe to it.

 They have also featured the Sundance Festival logo as the movie won an award. It won the U.S Dramatic Special Jury Award which I think this is a good thing to feature on the poster, as people would recognise it and possibly want to go see the movie more. Across the top of the poster is the actor's names which are in quite a small font and in dark teal colour. There are a couple of names that people might recognise such as Charlie Heaton (recently been in 'Stranger Things') and Amandla Stenberg (was in the first 'Hunger Games'). The poster also features a link to the official website of the movie across the bottom.

Looking at this poster gave me ideas on what features to include as I know I want my final poster to have a resemblance to other posters from the Coming of Age/Indie genre.

Storyboard

Mood Board

This mood board consists of images which I found that represent certain aspects of my idea for the trailer I will be producing. I included locations that I would like to film in and I also put in costume ideas for characters. The majority of the pictures I have chosen have bright colourful clothing as I want my characters to be quite eccentric and out-going, however the pictures which focus on the crazy party life of the characters are quite dark and intimidating. I think my mood board consists of many possible locations I could use for my trailer.

Audience Feedback

This piece of feedback helped me finalise the idea of having my main protagonist be a female as this research shows that the majority of my audience would be female. Using a female protagonist would mean that the audience would be able to identify with the character more.

Looking at this feedback helped me realise that I should be targeting my trailer towards a teenage audience and therefore I should include scenarios that this age range would be able to relate to.

This feedback gave me ideas of what to include in my trailer as this piece of research helped me learn what people do in their free time. Looking at this gave me scenarios that I could include in my trailer to make it more relate able to my target audience.

This feedback helped me realise that an important feature that I would have to include on my Poster at a later date. I realised that social media links would be important to include to make my poster seem more professional as it is a way that the majority of my target audience would find out about my movie.

This piece of research helped me understand what kind of character people would expect to see in a Coming Of Age movie. This meant that I was then able to begin thinking more deeply about what personality I was going to try in my main protagonist. It also helped me think of issues that I could have my main character go through.