Cherrybomb (2009) Trailer Analysis

The trailer for the film 'Cherrybomb' is one of my main inspirations when looking at my genre and the conventions that accompany it.

The blue dolphin production logo is shown right at the beginning along with the non-diegetic music that is calm and creates the mood and idea of being underwater and floating. The music then becomes a little more upbeat but still has that calming sound in the background whilst the first shots are played.

The first four shots introduce us to the main characters, implying to the audience that there is some sort of relationship between them based on the order of the shots of each character being next to each other. Each shot is different for each character maybe hinting at their personality to the audience, e.g. the close up could suggest this character is more intense and open whereas the mid shot of the female could imply she is more closed and secretive. Looking at their costumes implies that the female has all the power here as she is fully dressed whereas the male characters look naked. This contradicts stereotypes that men are more powerful and rejects the media representation that it's a social norm for women to be naked and objectified for the male audience but this trailer seems to switch this so that the female looks more dominant. The actors used are quite well known so introducing them straight away will engage the audience as they will recognise them and want to continue watching the trailer and then eventually watch the final film. This won't work for my trailer as the actors I will be using will be unknown to a audience and so using their names to attract my audience won't be effective. The titles are well positioned with a simple and plain font not taking away focus from the footage. They go well with the genre of the film and imply that it's a more mature film. 

The first piece of dialogue is heard which comes from a different character than is being shown on screen. This may be because the character being shown is either more important or more dominant than the one talking and so the audience automatically associates this character with control and power. 

This shot shows what the audience has presumed to be the main character towards the front of the frame with other characters in the background. This suggests that she may be a little different than everyone else, a bit of an outcast, possibly relating to the audience with the feeling of being left out and alone at some point. This is overlapped with dialogue asking about the female character, highlighting her mysteriousness and how little information we are getting to know about her.

The change of non-diegetic music occurs when the lighting also changes, creating a partying, livelier atmosphere which is something I would like to use in my trailer. I also like the range of locations used in the trailer, this is an element I am going to have to think about in order to make the trailer look professional by having lots of locations. 

The shots are now edited closer together to fit with the speed of the music and the liveliness of the scene being created. I will have to follow this idea pattern in my trailer so that I can try to create the same mood. 

Slow motion is used in the trailer for 'Cherrybomb' which creates the feeling of intoxication onto the audience, they connect with the characters making them want to be a part of the story line as well. This is something I feel I could include in my trailer to create the same effect. 

Overall, I think that this trailer will be one of my main inspirations when planning my trailer as I liked that they've used a variety of locations and used different editing skills to create different effects.

Wild (2014) Sound Analysis

The trailer starts with ambient sounds with a voice over, suggesting the film is very natural and the settings will be away from civilisation. It also implies that the female speaking will be the main character of the film, her voice is very quiet and soft making the audience feel safe as she quotes lines from a book which can be seen as calming.

The non-diegetic music then starts as we see her walking suggesting her journey has begun, it is instrumental as the voice over continues, making the audience focus on the dialogue she's saying. Other characters voices then overplay the footage of her isolated implying she may have run away to overcome her problems. 

The music used is very relaxing and makes the audience connect with the character in her tranquillity of being alone in the wild. Some of the dialogue put into the trailer mixes up your emotions making the audience feel different things for the character by saying "My mother was the love of my life" makes you feel happy, however with the other characters saying "You're using heroine" it contradicts those feelings towards the character. 

The same music is played from beginning to end to bring the audience on the same journey as the character and to connect them both. 

I like the way the dialogue is placed at the right points to match both the music and the footage of the trailer, it's put perfectly to use the audiences emotions to engage them and to interact with. I would like to use some aspect of this in my trailer, however I won't be using as much voice-overs as this doesn't conform to my genre.

Genre Conventions Of A Romantic Drama

Changed Initial Ideas - Prezi

I changed my genre to a romantic drama and so all my ideas changed for the trailer have changes. I believe that this trailer will be more interesting and more exciting to create.

Changes To My Ideas

Looking back over my initial ideas, I've decided that the final outcome of my trailer may look a bit boring and won't offer anything different that hasn't already been done before to the audience. I have now chosen to change my genre to Romantic Drama and my target audience will be more mature, I feel this way I can create something a bit more unique that the audience will be interested in.

Audience Research: Survey Analysis

I have posted my survey onto twitter and received 55 responses, this way I got a wider variety of people answering my questions. Using survey monkey I can look at each individual response to see which type of person preferred each option to have a better idea of who my target audience would be.

Question 1:

I asked this question so that I could see which gender more preferred my genre of film, this makes it easier to narrow down my target audience based on what type of person would like my film more. 

For example, this male participant likes horror, comedy and si-fi films, this is different from what mostly female participants answered suggesting that my target audience is mostly female. 

Question 2:

Based on who answered the questions favouring towards the theme and genre of my movie, the age of my target audience would be teens or early twenties. Although I had a mix of different ages the older participants tended to choose films in which the characters were of similar age. I found that participants chose films where they could relate to the characters and their problems which is my target audience would be young adult. 

Question 3:

This question gave me more specific detail as to who out of the 55 responses is more likely to go and see the film if it was released which will help me aim the trailer at those particular individuals. I found that it was mostly a younger audience who visit the cinema more frequently. 

Question 4: 

I asked this question as it then links into the previous question, if someone said they didn't go to the cinema very often I could then see what they do instead so that I could trailer my trailer to a specific audience. I found that the younger audience mostly liked to go out with friends and watch TV. Below are some of the responses I received from this question.

 

Question 5: 

This question allowed me to see which media platforms consumers use to learn about new films, and so when the film is released I will know how to advertise the film in order to create the largest audience. 

Question 6:

For question 6 I asked respondents about their favourite genre, this allowed me to narrow down my target audience to the ones who answered Romance and Drama. I found that those who chose the answer as Romance or Drama were mostly female and were of the two youngest age category options.

Question 7: 

I asked this question to see what kind of romance films are more popular amongst my audience so that I could take parts of those films as inspiration. 

Question 8:

I asked this question to see what kind of romance films are more popular amongst my audience so that I could take parts of those films as inspiration. 

Question 9:

This question allowed me to see what the audience wants from a film, this helps me decide on characters that are going to attract the widest audience and engage the most people. 

Question 10:

I needed to ask this question to see what factors influence the audience most when deciding whether or not to watch a film. This means that I can focus on certain aspects more closely as that's what will influence the audience most. 

Overall, I have learnt from this that my target audience wold be females aged 15-25, this then makes it easier to focus my planning and production on the trailer with features that would attract this specific type of audience. 

Mood Board

This is a mood board of images that have inspired me when thinking about the trailer I am going to create. I have come up with some ideas for my trailer and have a plan on what I want my trailer to look like. 

Most of the images are quite dark as my trailer will have a lot of darker lighting as that will set the atmosphere, however towards the beginning warmer lighting will be used so that it gradually sets the tone and helps tell the story. My two main characters will be a male and a female and the story line revolves around the two characters and their life decisions. The locations will mostly be outdoors or in a place that corresponds with what the characters are doing and teenage life. The picture I have chosen taken from skins is how I want my female character to look. The characters will be young (teenagers) wearing dark clothing and dark makeup for the female character. The other pictures represent the theme of the film and also the type of actions that may be included in the final trailer. 

Audience Research: Survey

 I created a questionnaire on survey monkey to find out more about my audiences likes and dislikes. This questionnaire will be sent out over social media so I can hopefully get a range of responses of different ages and genders.