Skills Audit

For my AS course work I picked Country Music. This lead to a few complications when it came to RMA's (Real Media Artifacts). I found RMA's hard to come by in this country as the genre of music is not overly popular here. However when I did eventually manage to acquire some RMA's I was able to identify some good Codes and Conventions. However I did learn that it is important when researching to also double check how easy RMA's and other documents are to come by based on the task and genre presented.

Also when planning my magazine I put a lot of faith into one model for the main images this later lead to complications when she had to pull out and I had to use another model. So this time I am going to have a couple of possibilities when it comes to actors and actresses so that I don't end up in that position again. 

The Film Industry

http://nicolemargetts.wix.com/film-industry

Comparison of 'The Ring' and 'Orphan'

The Ring and Orphan both have different directors, writers and actors; however in some ways they are very similar.

Both trailers feature people who are trapped in their own way. For example Ester from Orphan seems to be trapped wherever she is. For example at the beginning when she is at the orphanage she is trapped because she doesn't have parents to take her away, and later when she is in the bathroom stall she is not only trapped physically but within herself as well. In The Ring the people who watch the video are trapped because they can seemingly not escape the fate provoked by the video. The little boy seems unable to resist what the mysterious girl tells him to do and this consequently means he is trapped within her control. Also the girl that is hinted about in the trailer seems to be trapped somewhere and that is why the video kills.

 

Another similarity within the films is fake or mutated innocence. For example children are usually associated with innocence however within these movies children are used to create fear. In The Ring the little boy is being controlled by another person who is manipulating his innocence in order to carry out her biding and in Orphan, Ester is used to show that innocence can just be a mask. This is shown when she attempts to murder her ‘brother’ and love her ‘father’ in way inappropriate for a child.  
 

Both trailers both use on screen text to portray information to the audience. In The Ring it helps to give the audience a timeline ‘In Seven Days’ and also gives them a glimpse into one of the possible outcomes ‘You Die’.  In Orphan the on screen text  helps us to understand the situation ‘Something  Is Wrong With Ester’ and also makes the audience intrigued to know what is wrong with Ester, this is amplified when it says ‘You’ll Never Guess Her Secret’.

Narrative Theory

Narrative theory is a set of constructions and conventions that help us to experiance a story as we 'read' it.

 

 

Everybody has a different idea of what narrative theory is. Tim O'Sullivan argues that all media tells some kind of story. He says that media texts "offer a way of telling stories about ourselves" not necessarily our own stories but stories set in cultures familiar to us.   

Pam Cook believes that standard Hollywood narrative structure should have linearity, narrative closure and a fictional world that contains verisimilitude. Todorov agrees with her to a point saying that there are 5 stages to narrative theory. These are:

1. A point of stable equilibrium
2. A force that creates some kind of disequilibrium
3. Recognition that the disruption has taken place
4. An action fixed against the disruption
5. And the restoration of a new state of equillibrium

Ronald Barthes agrees with Todorov but puts it in a slightly simplier way. He says theres establishment of the plot, followed by a development, an enigma, an increase in tension and finally the resolution. This can be seen in the film 'Creep', to begin with there is the establishment of the plot where she goes out partying, goes to get the underground train service home but falls asleep whilst waiting. The development then is that she wakes up, no ones there and is locked in. The enigma comes in when she realises that shes all alone, until she sees the creep which increases the tension. This tension continues to increase as he attempts to kill her. And finally the resolution is when she kills the creep.

 

According to Kate Domaille every story can be fitted into one of the eight narrative types. These are:

1. The Fatal Flaw
2. The Indomitable Flaw
3. Dream Comes True
4. The Chase
5. Selling Your Soul
6. The Gift Is Taken Away
7. The Love Story
8. The Love Triangle

This can be applied to quite a lot of films for example, any Disney film ends with the 'Dream' coming true, or Romeo and Juliet the beautiful love story. However this does get harder spot with some more modern films like, Paranormal activity. It could potentially be put under the heading of 'The Chase' but not securly.

Vladmir Propp studied the narrative structure of Russian Folk Tales. Propp concluded that regardless of the individual differences in terms of plot, characters and settings, such narratives would share common structural differences.

Laura Mulvey argues that within films the male point of view is dominent. She says that females within the film are used for vouyerism within the male gaze. Women are therefore objectified by the camera and the audience are expected to view it from the male point of view regardless of gender. This can be seen in films like The Ring, where there is a pretty blond girl as the lead character, or Legally blond where you can't deny that she is 'hot' from the males point of view.  

 

 

  

Orphan

The opening sequence of this trailer shows a school and of girls playing, this shows innocence and equilibrium within the scene; this is a common horror convention used to show that no one is afraid currently and that the world is a ‘normal’ place.

The town is covered in snow which makes the scene appear very cold, and unforgiving. Snow also represents isolation and being trapped, this mirrors ‘Ester’ who throughout the trailer remains isolated. Winter has connotations of being cold and dark and this is reflected throughout the clip. When the family approach their home, it is very large which implies that the family are wealthy, however the girl continues to wear the same Victorian-style clothing throughout the trailer, this suggests that she is quite a dark, mysterious character but it also makes her stand out which is shown when the girl at school teases her about her outfit. During the toilet scene, Esther is enclosed in the cubicle which suggests that she is trapped not only physically but within herself as well.

When she burns down the tree house, the fire is the first time warmth is portrayed in the trailer. However this fire is not supposed to represent warmth and homeliness it links to destruction and the Devil. This connects well with Esther and her character because just like fire she can seem warm and innocent but the minuet either one gets out of control it’s deadly.

Occasionally during the trailer there are frames containing text. These help to give subtle hints about the film itself. For example one frame says “Something’s wrong with Ester” and another reads “You’ll never guess her secret”. This creates a foreboding atmosphere as the audience wishes to know what her secret is and why she wishes to hurt her new family.

As the trailer progresses, the cuts become quicker in order to build up tension. Fades are used to indicate a change in time or location and link well to the snow and the text cards as they fade to white. During the voiceover and at the end of the trailer, the screen goes black to create a sense of uncertainty within the audience, before displaying the title of the film and the credits. This keeps the audience on the edge of their seats wondering what’s going to happen and if everything is going to be alright.


At the beginning of the trailer, dialogue from the film is used to update the viewer on the events which have occurred, this is a very common convention within trailers as it is an easy way to back-track on a story and set the scene. At the beginning of the trailer the non diegetic music is quite quiet, as it is portraying equilibrium within the scene, however as the tension and uncertainty builds the music gets louder, before a crescendo when we hear a loud scream. There is also a large amount of diegetic noise within the trailer, such as the children’s voices as they play which helps to create a sense of authenticity within the trailer. The dialogue helps to update the viewer on the events that are unravelling and the eerie noise of the swings creaking help to add ‘creepy’ atmosphere to the scene.

The bird’s eye view establishing shot helps to set the scene of the trailer, and again creates an authentic feel as we see what appears to be a stereotypical American town. The two shot of the adopting mother and father also help to create the view that they are the perfect stereotypical couple; being framed together helps to show the audience the couple’s close, ‘normal’ relationship.


When Esther is in the classroom, the camera is positioned through an opening in the door, and we see her back which makes it seem like someone is watching and following her. A common convention of a trailer is to have equilibrium at the beginning, and this occurs in the orphan trailer, as we see lots of long shots and close ups of the family; making them seems happy and normal. Low angles are repeatedly used to show that Esther is the dominant character and that she is in control. High angles are used on the family, especially the mother to show vulnerability in the trailer. As Esther looks directly into the camera, there is a close up which helps to link her to the viewer, as it is as if she is staring straight at them.

Over all this trailer sticks quite well to the stereotypical conventions of horror trailers and creates tension and uncertainty within the audience making them want to know what happens.

 

What is the Function of a Trailer?

 

Film trailers are an important part of film marketing. Trailers often have big budgets because film studios understand that a trailer is one of the easiest and best ways to create hype for the up-coming movie.

One film can have multiple trailers showing the audience various exciting details but not giving away anything major. These trailers are known as teaser trailer which are then followed by the main trailer which releases a little more information and also tells the audience when the film is to be released.

The names of the main stars often star at the beginning of a trailer. It is important to let the audience know who they can expect to see in the movie. 

Sometimes trailers also use the director and/or producers names in order to create further hype. This helps audiences to connect this film to previous successful films. For example Tim Burton is mentioned in the majority of film trailers he has helped to make because the audience can identify with him and his other movies.

Technical Skills

Skills I Have Developed During My As:

 

• I have improved my time keeping skills meaning that I kept to my deadlines
• I have learnt to use a range of different technologies
• I have improved my writing when it comes to analysing RMA's

Technological Skills I Have Learned During My As:

How to use...

· Photoshop

· Serif

· Final Cut

· A Mac Computer

· Tripods

· Dolly

· Technical Language relevant to subject

Technological Skills I Have Developed During My As:

I have developed my skills in...

· Movie Maker

· Using Camera's

· Audience Feedback



 

Analysis of 'The Ring' Trailer

The film trailer has a number of elements that help the audience to identify the genre of film, such as the darkness of the onscreen image, being set during the night and expressions on the child’s face are very neutral and almost sad looking. The woman, who is presumably the mother of the child, is looking distraught when the child is watching a video tape which would suggest something bad is related to it, also at the beginning of the film a woman talks about how after watching a video tape they will die in 7 days time. The suggestions of death, the darkness and expression of emotions linked to fear are all iconic of the horror genre.

Early on in the trailer there are frames which help to get across the meaning of the video tape/ recorder and really show for the first time why they are bad items. These frames have the words “There is a video tape”, this establishes the item, “If you watch it”, establishment of the action required for the consequences, “seven days later”, this creates a time period that helps to show lack of time to create a solution, “you die”, these two words represent the consequences of watching this video tape. This helps to create a fear within the audience because as a viewer we can see whose fate this might be.

Right from the start of the trailer representation is evident. The inside of a video recorder is the first thing to be featured. When this movie was made a video recorder was considered a very normal everyday object, however in this movie it is turned into something which is viewed negatively through the use of fear. From the trailer we can determine that macro elements such as the video recorder and the video tape used are the beginnings of something terrible. These macro elements also help to create a subtle narrative as it leads into the overall story. This leads the audience to actually watch the film as they want to know what happens to the characters they have just begun to connect to and what lead to this video tape being 'deadly'.

The trailer quickly makes it clear that the woman, boy and man are the central characters in the film, It does this through a series of close/medium close ups of these characters and through the use of editing, clips of these characters are longer than any other clips. This helps the audience to quickly begin to make an emotional connection to the characters and they begin to identify with them. Just from studying the trailer the main target is the most vulnerable character, the child. This is shown when the child watches ‘the tape’ which just moments before is established as being bad. After viewing the video the child then begins to behave differently by drawing disturbing images. This change in behaviour helps the audience to see a glimpse of the powers within the video tape. A few clips suggest a woman is on some sort of mission regarding the ring, where a black horse also plays a pivotal role, however these clips leave us asking questions as it is not clear their exact roles.

Sound is heavily depended upon in this trailer to create the 'horror effect', for example using non-diegetic macro elements such as, sudden screeching, and people screaming/shouting, creates the element of fear within the audience as they link these sounds with the fear of another. The style of music is very similar to that of other horror movies. Echoing electronic music, which is muffled slightly, creates the feeling of uneasiness and puts the audience on edge. Dialogue is used considerably to explain certain elements of the film which may be difficult to show visually. The elements of dialogue create a strong narrative which helps to keep the audience up to date with what is happening but doesn't give away too much, for example by saying "The images on the tape, they're leading us somewhere", it gives the audience an idea of whats happening but they are still, mostly, left in the dark. This suspense makes them want to find out what happens in the end even more.

 

The idea of using a child to represent something evil is a contradiction to the innocence usually linked to children. The use of the little boy, who is represented as the victim in the trailer, helps us to see that evil is not limited it can affect everyone regardless of who it is. Children can be seen as vulnerable and easily lead this stereotype is emphasized by the unknown figure who tells the boy what to do, for example when he is drawing or repeatedly writing the same sentence over and over. Not knowing who this figure is means that they could be dangerous creating fear in the audience for the boy because we don’t know what she’ll do or what she’s capable of.

Just like many trailers the speed increases towards the middle and then again towards the end and this trailer is no different. The music also increases in tempo throughout the trailer. The use of an up tempo soundtrack and the quick flashes of different scenes relating to the film, gives the idea that the events are happening to fast to be stopped and people consider things that cannot be stopped to be scary as there is no control.

The trailer does not reveal the whole of the films narrative, preventing the audience from knowing what will happen in the end. The originality of the story, about a tape which can make people become possessed is one of its main Unique Selling Points, people who are interested in this genre of horror will genuinely be curious to find out more, such as who will be possessed, who the women is, what she/it intends to do, and how they will combat it. Because the audience has already had a glimpse into the story and begun to identify with the characters; leaving it on a cliff hanger means that they may wish to find out more, and fill in the blanks. A trailer is supposed to raise questions and leave them unanswered because at the end of the day this is a promotional material used entice an audience into paying money to either go and see it at the theatre or to buy the product.

Reflection of AS

This is the trailer my group made for the preliminary task. I feel that as a group we tried really hard to make this trailer as close to the original as possible. We found casting really easy however when it actually came to the days we were filming, some of the actors/actresses backed out last minute. This left us with a tricky situation as we had to find people to fill in for the missing actors/actresses. However I feel that we overcame this issue quickly and have still ended up with a good trailer. Being able to get a real horse for our trailer allowed us to be even more loyal to the original trailer and make it less of a spoof and more of a recreation. I think that this has also made the piece scarier and therefore compatible with the genre. Editing on the Apple Mac 'final cut' software was a new and interesting experience that allowed us to experiment with effects like filters and blurs. These effects allowed us to match the colours in the original trailer and our together; it also allowed us to darken our trailer as it was filmed during the day in the sun and was therefore to bright and happy for the genre of the trailer.