Ideas..

FILM TRAILER

• Attract audience to watch the whole film.
• Sets the genre of the film.
• Creates a feel for the setting.
• Suggestion of storyline.
• Introduces some main characters.
• Displays attention grabbing footage.
• Quickly paced clips.
• Slow build -> beginning to exciting end.
• Graphics -> film title/ opening dates.
• May include music or voice over.

E.G. The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)

FILM POSTER

• Eye catching/ captivating.
• Focal picture to be intriguing.
• Large and easily read title.
• Suggests film genre.
• Famous actors to promote film.
• Target audience.
• Tagline/ age certificate.
• “Coming Soon” or release date.
• Directors and Production Company displayed.

E.G. Jaws (1975)

FILM MAGAZINE POSTER

• Name clearly displayed.
• Noticeable front cover.
• Actors image usually main focal point.
• Images target a certain audience.
• Graphics and colour to set mood.
• Font size, shape, colour -> suggests different ideas.
• Cover lines -> indicate good content.
• Price and bar code.

E.G. cinema scope

POSTER IDEAS...

- House - window - person. ----> room focus?

- Outside - forest - shadows - moonlight

- Close up - forehead and eyes

- Black and white/ colour

- Shot of the consequences - leads audience to make own assumptions

- Outline of figure

- Reflection - mirror/ water

- Dark background

- Single, dominant image - feelings of alone/ fear

- Long shot

- Play on title words - e.g. "Dead End"

HOW TO CREATE A GRIPPING THRILLER TRAILER...

(Alfred Hitchcock style)

1] Use the mind of the audience;

Consider how each scene affects the audience.

Engage them by the context.

`tease` the audience.

2] Frame for emotion;

Careful camera work - i.e. close ups etc.

Emotion directly from the actors eyes.

Sudden cuts = sudden surprise.

Strange angle = heighten dramatic meaning.

3] Pretend the camera is not a camera;

Let the camera take on human qualities.

Make the audience feel like they're involved.

Use of silence.

4] Dialogue mean nothing;

Facial expressions pull audience into a characters secretive world.

Focus of scene should never be on words being spoken.

5] Point of view editing;

Subjective cinema.

- take actors eyes, add something for them to look at.

Close up of actor. }

Cutting to shots of what's being seen } Builds tension

Cut back to actor to see reaction. }

6] Montage gives you control;

Control the timing.

Show various pieces of a scene.

"Transfer the menace on screen into the minds of the audience" - Hitchcock.

e.g. Psycho - the killing is not being shown, just before and after - the death takes place in the audiences' head.

7] Keep the story simple;

Simplistic, linear stories.

Easily followed.

Streamlined to offer maximum dramatic impact.

8] Characters must break cliché;

Opposite of what audience expects = more realism.

9] Make two things happen at one;

Contrasting situations.

Use two unrelated things.

Focussed on one, interrupted by another.

Dramatic counterpoint to real moment.

10] Suspense is information;

Showing what characters don't see.

Constant reminders of looming dangers.

Character completely unaware.

11] Surprise and twist;

Never end how expected.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSQyf5YcEv8&NR=1

(A version of the `Psycho` trailer - 1960)