Pitch Ideas

Below is a mind map I have created that suggests some initial ideas that I could include in my film pitch.

Character Profiles: Male

Below are some male actors that I thought would 

fit the role of the male protagonist in my film well.Here are the names and photographs of the actors I have chosen, and a brief description of why I think they would suit the role.

Jeremy Irvine

 He is known for his roles in:

A Night in Old Mexico
Gally

 2013The Railway Man
Young Eric

 2012Great Expectations
Pip

 2012Now Is Good
Adam

 2011War Horse
Albert Narracott

I thought Jeremy would be perfect for my male main character after watching "Now Is Good", a film from which I took huge inspiration from when coming up with a pitch! He plays the charming softy extremely well and his handsome looks really helps to attract a large target audience.

Douglas Booth

Douglas Booth is a British actor, I have watched many of his films including the "Riot Club" where he plays a outrageous, scary devastatingly charismatic toff called Harry, a student at Oxford university.
"LOL"one of my all time favourite guilty pleasures is the film in which I thought Booth showed promise for the role in my film, despite his violent and gung-ho attitude in "The Riot Club". He is well know for films like... Romeo and Juliet, Great Expectations, Noah and new release Jupiter ascending. I enjoyed how in "LOL" he played the goofy best friend, who was also a secretly talented musician.
                                                                   

                               Matt Lanter

I know Matt Lanter from his role on TV show "90210" a programme based on the lives of the rich and famous in beverly hills. Apart from this character I haven't seen Matt Lanter in many other well known films.
He is an american actor, in my film I will use a British actor but despite this I think his character fits the role I wish to cast well.
                                                                  












Jamie Blackley  

Finally Jamie Blackely, He is an English actor who was discovered by film when he was cast for a character in the famous TV show "Misfits".

I was particularly impressed with his performance in "if I stay", where he played the boyfriend of the main protagonist who was stuck in limbo after a devastating car crash. He behaved in exactly the way i wish my character to do.
He is Known for his roles in:

Soundtrack and Voiceovers

This post explains the importance of Soundtrack and Voiceovers in trailers.

Soundtracks are extremely important in trailers as they set the pace of the film, they give the audience an idea of the tone of the film. The scores tell the viewer exactly how to feel at various points throughout a film or trailer.

Music from romantic drama trailers can be instrumental as it helps to put emphasis on the dialogue amongst the characters, while still greatly impacting the tone of the trailer. For example, in Titanic, the music gets louder and faster at certain points, such as when Rose runs away from her fiancé and towards Jack, adding dramatic effect.

Both Forrest Gump and Titanic have instrumental pieces played throughout the trailer.
This music builds suspense, and the soundtracks and type of music used differs depending on the genre of film.

Voiceovers

Throughout the trailer for the film 'Scorch Trials' Voiceover is used through out, however instead of a prerecorded voice being played over the top of the clips the voiceover is speech from clips in the film.

Character Profiles: Female

In this post I have listed Actresses that I would like to base my main protagonist upon. All these actresses have been involved in films of a similar genre to mine.

Dakota Fanning

1. Hannah Dakota Fanning is an American actress who rose to prominence after her breakthrough performance at age seven in the 2001 film I Am Sam.
3. Born: February 23, 1994 (age 21), Conyers, Georgia, United StatesHeight: 1.63 mSiblings: Elle FanningParents: Steven Fanning, Heather Joy ArringtonTV shows: Taken, Biography
   Dakota Fanning appealed to me expecialy because of the role she played in the film "now is good" . She played a teen experiencing the harsh life of a young girl with cancer. her performance of someone with a terminal illness was outstanding and when casting my actress ineed to find someone who can be convincing when playing a character with a illness. Her particular character in this film also inspired my own trailer idea as she wanted to pretend she wasnt ill and live life to the full, she even created a bucket list! I thought this was inspiring!

Lily Colins

1. Lily Jane Collins is a British-born American actress and model. She is best known for her roles in the films The Blind Side, Abduction, Stuck in Love and Mirror Mirror.
3. Born: March 18, 1989 (age 26), Guildford
4. Height: 1.65 m
5. Parents: Jill Tavelman, Phil Collins
6. Siblings: Joely Collins, Simon Collins, Nicholas Collins, Matthew Collins
7. Upcoming movie: How to Be Single

Lily Colins is the perfect person for my female lead as she has the approprate mix of shy girl and fiesty Brit! She ha played quite preppy school girl roles in the past however in one of her most recent films "Love Rosie" she plays a young mum and she actually fits in to the role extremely well showing her versitility as an actress.

Britt Robertson

1. Brittany Leanna "Britt" Robertson is an American actress. Her film debut was in The Ghost Club, for which she was nominated for a Young Artist Award.
3. Born: April 18, 1990 (age 25), Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
4. Height: 1.59 m
5. Nationality: American
6. Parents: Beverly Robertson, Ryan Robertson
7. Nominations: Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

I think Britt Robertson would be a great choice as an actress to star in my trailer, i was particuarly impressed with her performance in TV show "Life as we know it". She played an unpriveladged teen who spend her life traveling in foster care, until she met her birth parents. Her performance really inspired me and she was an extremely likable character. Her age is well suited to the charater I wish to cast.

Deja Vu - Trailer analysis

For the trailer analysis task i have chosen to look at the action, sci fi, thriller Deja Vu.

I have chosen this trailer as it is one of my favourite films and I thought the trailer used some interesting techniques in order to represent the film such as...

The use of repetition throughout the trailer draws in the audience and makes them feel as if they are experiencing Deja Vu much like the main character played by Denzel Washington. The pulsing and fading to black transitions also help to create disorientation for the audience and try to represent the "tricks of the mind".

The voice over throughout is effective in explaining the complex narrative, however not only a narrator is used as clips from the film with speech also feature.

Another important thing to note is the shots used in the trailer flaunt the amazing use of special effects in the film. The opening shot of the trailer features a huge explosion which is included to attract a specific audience who are interested by these effects.

Music is an important feature in this trailer as it helps to build suspense.

The trailer also tells us who the main character is, as he features throughout (Denzel Washington).

Billing and credits are included, also a web link is feature right at the end of the trailer. The font is simple; Bold, black and white. When the font appears especially when the title comes up on screen it shudders this creates a disconcerting effect often used in horror movies.

I think the most effective feature in this trailer is the way all the film techniques have been used to mimic the feeling of Deja Vu and this is important as this is what the subject matter of the film is based on.

Inspiration and Trailer research

In this post I am going to analyse some particular trailers that have inspired me to pick the genre, romantic drama.

Safe Haven

"A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her."

I have been inspired by this film narrative as I am interested in creating a trailer which centres the idea of runaways or someone who is running from a past they wish to forget. Safe heaven features two main protagonists a male and a female, I am also interested in featuring one male and one female character. In the film the female protagonist runs away from a crime... She has to change her identity in order to escape from the police and her mad ex boyfriend. She meets the male protagonist when she runs away, he has no idea about her past until the end of the film when all is revealed. This built suspense and that is what I would like to achieve in my trailer.

Analysis:

The trailer opens with the title of the film 'safe haven'. The font is bold and black and the background is a still out of focused image of the sea front, sound effects of seagulls chirping are included in the background. It fades to black, then the audience is shown the logo from 'relativity media' a global media company who played a part in the production of the film.

The first clip is one with interesting composition and includes some interesting techniques that I would like to incorporate into my own trailer. The clip is flipped upside down and fades from a blur to feet running on a wet tarmac road, this quickly changes to a clip of a girl in her early twenties (main protagonist) running, both shots are accompanies by a voiceover of the character heavy breathing.

The next series of clips are in quick succession and suggest that the main character is running away from the police. A interesting thing to note is the weather and time of day, it plays a key part in setting the tone and mood of the film, and I ask myself would this trailer feel as full of suspense and drama if these clips were shot in the bright daylight?

After this succession of suspense fuelled clips the whole tone and feel of the film completely shifts and this is when the audience can tell that the film contains more than the genre drama!

The feel of the clip changes at 0.25 I think this is down to...

• Lighting- The shots are now being filmed in daylight which automatically gives the film a brighter more uplifting tone.
• Location- The location changes and so does the weather the footage is now shot in a sea side town which is calming and a complete shift from the rainy city streets.
• Music- Soundtrack plays a huge part in the change in mood of the trailer as the music becomes kind of momentous and much more relaxed, its also very similar to some other romance films such as 'the fault in our stars' which uses a lot of music from One Republic and their sound is very similar to this song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQHgbw2N0IM)
• Captions- At this point 2 captions are also included, the first one says 'From Nicholas Sparks' any audience member to have watched any other sparks productions will know his kind of genre/subject matter in a film and this gives the audience an idea of what the film may be like. He has written, produced and directed many films similar to this one such as... The Notebook, The Longest Ride, The Best of Me, Dear John and The Lucky One too name only a few. All these films are tragic love story's with elements of thriller and drama. So the audience can expect this one to be similar.

In this trailer there is constantly a shift in the mood as the main character has obviously suffered a tragedy in the past, these flash backs are shown with a filter/change in colour of the footage, this is something I may want to consider when distinguishing between past and present.

At 0.50 seconds we have met the male protagonist and there is another change in soundtrack to a cover of Fleetwood Macs 'Go Your Own Way', which again shifts the mood of the trailer. From this point the sequence of shots follows the progression of the two main protagonists romantic relationship.

Then at 1.46 The transition between the clips start to build pace. The clips suggest her secret past is catching up with her and she cannot run anymore. At 2 minutes the succession of the clips get even faster and this fits with the pace of the music. All of this heightens suspense!

Finally the film finishes as it begun with the same title screen. And the release date and billing follows.

A final thing to note is that through out the trailer a hash tag is kept on screen that reads...#SafeHaven

As technology is expanding trailers are starting to include social media so that the audience can have online discussion with each other, this works as great advertisement for their films.

The Beach

"Twenty-year old Richard travels to Thailand and finds himself in possession of a strange map. Rumours state that it leads to a solitary beach paradise, a tropical bliss - excited and intrigued, he sets out to find it."
The beach is another great example of a young person exploring the world in order to experience something radically different in their life. I love this idea of incorporating a radical change into a film as it creates an exiting narrative that will keep the audience at the edge of their seat, despite my chosen genre including romance, an exiting narrative like that of the beaches will prevent my trailer  from turning into a cliché romance, this is something that I would like to avoid.

Basic conventions of a film trailer

I have created this presentation to show the codes and conventions of a film trailer and to help me understand what i need to incorporate into my own trailer.