Sound update

Today we started to create music for our trailers, we used the software GarageBand to select a range of different instruments to put them together to create a beat we could potentially used for our trailer. 

I'm not certain on the music I am going to use for my trailer but with the use of GarageBand, it has allowed me to try out different tunes that lets me explore the kind of feel of music I am trying to create. My main inspiration for the use of sound is from the 'Eat, Pray, Love' trailer due to the way they have used music that flows well alongside the shots they are showing. This is what I want to recreate with my trailer, I want to include music that fits into the plot of the film, especially during the different moments of happiness and sadness. The music is a key factor in all trailers as it sets the mood therefore I want to be able to create the right kind of sound to engage the audience. 

I have included a screenshot of what I have created so far on GarageBand, I have been mixing mainly only piano and acoustic guitar as I want to recreate a mellow tune for the beginning of my trailer where the character isn't very happy with her situation. I like the use of both the sounds together as I think they fit well although I may not use it in my final piece as it is slightly more upbeat than I would have wanted. However, I could use it in the middle as the story line picks up and perhaps with some vocals as my original plan is to have vocals throughout the majority of the trailer. 

Filming update #2

Filming for our trailers are so close to start now however I still have to continue and finalise the planning of the trailer before we can. Last week, I began to start my storyboard which I have decided to do electronically as I thought it would be easier for me and it would allow me to be more accurate with the images I was including. Within a week, I have managed to get the main initial shots for my trailer and am just planning on the transitions and music to include. For me, it was such a more enjoyable and easier experience to complete my storyboard this way and I hope I can recreate as many of these shots as possible.

Here's a snapshot of a few shots included in my storyboard: 

I used the original storyboard plan to complete mine although the details such as sound are not clarified yet as I haven't finalised anything yet but I do have ideas for what I want to include. I look forward to fully completing it soon and finally being able to start filming the scenes I have planned out but until then I will update you soon.

Institution Research

For my institution research, I was originally inspired to look further into the companies that the film 'Blue Valentine' used as they were a low-budget film and thus intrigued my interest into analysing the film. However, after researching into the companies that they used, many of them did not have further films or a website and the others weren't suitable for the genre of my film. Therefore, I began to specifically realise British Romance films and I have decided to focus on a few films before I finalise the institution company I want to use. 

While searching for films associated with my genre, I stumbled upon a film called 'Not Another Happy Ending', which immediately interested me by the title. I will do an analysis on the film soon afterwards but for now, I want to focus on one of the institution companies they used 'Synchronicity Films'. 

  The company seem to be well-known despite only having three productions. The three productions are Weekend, Crying With Laughter and Not Another Happy Ending. All the films vary from each other with their genres which is what I like about the company. They are in association with different and unique films such as Not Another Happy Ending as it has the conventions of a typical romance film but with a twist in the plot. 

The main reason for the success of the company is because of the creative director of the company, Claire Mundell. She has co-produced all three films and has been apart of BBC productions. Therefore, she has had a great platform to start the company and her achievements through BBC have aided her to further her success. On the website, below the information on Mundell, it states that 'Synchronicity Films is currently in the advanced stages of development with writer and producer, Jacquelin Perske, working in partnership on a six-part, domestic-set, emotional thriller, The Cry for on BBC1.' This shows that the genre and themes of the films they choose differ and the company like to vary them out to bring an element of originality. 

Locations

The plot of my trailer is based around self-discovery therefore my locations are going to be varied from a multiple of surroundings. One of the main places that I am planning to film is in and around London, especially as there is easy access and towards the time of year there are many events happening that I can feature. 

Here are some examples of the places that I will be planning to film at:

 It is similar to my mood board, however the locations are more specific to what I plan on filming in comparison to the vague ideas shown on the mood board. I have used local places and events that I hope to attend in order to film. The experience will be really enjoyable as it means I am able to travel to various different parts of London and discover them for myself. I look forward to starting the filming process and I plan on arranging dates now to schedule when I should begin filming. 

Audience Feedback - Romance Drama

As mentioned in my previous post, I created two survey's and this is my second one related to the genre which is romance drama of my trailer in depth so I was able to unpick more information from the target audience of what they were used to and how I can divert away from those stereotypes.

The first question allowed me to get a sense of how often the audience watch the genre of my trailer so I could be able to briefly know how many people would be likely to watch the film. Luckily the amount of people that did respond were mostly female therefore the information given to me is more relatable to my research and to the creation of the trailer.

This is similar to one of the questions I asked previously on the last survey and I enjoy these type of questions as it allows me to see the opinions of my target audience. For example, with this question by being able to know the various different films that are favoured by the audience, I can acknowledge the plot and shots of the film to see what to include in my own. 
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Leading on from the last question, by asking this I was able to receive the responses on particular reasoning's on why the audience watch the romance drama films. For this question, the majority chose the plot of the film which then informs me that for my trailer I need to create an engaging plot and show that clearly for the audience to understand. 

This question was included specifically for my trailer and for my own knowledge as I do not want to follow with stereotypes, unless I really have to. Therefore, this question was important for me to see where the audience thought the most cliches were at and for this, it was said that the story line was the most cliche area in the genre. Furthermore, taking this on board along with the previous question, I need to ensure that the audience is intrigued and that the plot is unique.

From the last question, especially as it was something I am trying to avoid, I decided to be more specific. Before even knowing that the story line would be considered the most cliche in the genre, I decided to be more specific into the kinds of story lines which has now helped me later on as it connects with question four. The most common cliche is girl meets boy story line which is shown in all romance drama films, I have still yet to decide the relationship status and story in my own trailer but I am certain it will not include a girl meets boy scenario. 

Audience Feedback - Target Audience

 As a part of my audience feedback, I decided to create two different types of survey's both relating to my trailer and the kinds of main features that the audience would want to see based from their answers. I chose two different survey's, one based on target audience to get a general understanding of the type of people who would be interested in my trailer. My second survey was based on my genre which is romance drama which is more specific and allows me to see the likes and dislikes of the target audience so I am aware of what I should include. 

The first few questions were set just to see the gender of my target audience which I knew beforehand would most likely be the female population. Furthermore, I can now carry on with my planning for my trailer with the full expectation that the audience will consist entirely of women, with the chance of perhaps a few men. 

The second question is again relating back to the target audience and allows me to get a feel of who they are and what their interests may be. Now, I know what my target audience find engaging I am able to use this especially into my characters to make them more relatable to the audience. Especially since, my main female character will be shown to have been in full-time education in the trailer so it allows the audience to know she is relative to their age group and both the audience and character would have struggled the same kind of issues. 

Still following on the questions relating to the audience, I continued asking personal questions to carry on building up a profile of the target audience so I am aware whether or not they would be more likely to watch the film. Therefore, those who picked 'go out with my friends' would be suggested the most likely to go to the cinema providing me with the information of how many people that would be out of a group of 40 in this case. 

This question links in from the last one as it gives me a specific indication on whether or not the audience would be more likely to watch the film or not, especially by seeing how often they go normally. As mentioned before, it provides me with more specific information especially from a group of 40 so I can know how many people would come from the group and if there were more.
 

Question four is particularly important as it informs me on what the audience watch, I was  glad to see that a few people picked romance as the feedback is beneficial to the making of my trailer. Along with the amount of people who would pick it out of the people who took this film, it makes it easier to narrow down how many people would potentially see it if it were released.

                                         

This was one of my favourite questions to not only ask but also to get the feedback from, this is because I was able to get a varied amount of opinions from the group of people who had taken the survey. Especially as each of them are different to one another and it allows me to have a wide range of likes and dislikes in multiple films. Many of the films mentioned were in fact a part of my genre which provided more information to me, I also enjoyed looking through the answers and reading them myself as I was able to relate to the target audience. 

Inter-titles

When looking at inter-titles, I decided to start by looking at the main inspiration for my trailer which is 'Eat, Pray, Love'. So I looked at the inter-titles in the trailer for the film as it is the film that I am relating my trailer to. 

 There are only a few inter-titles within the whole trailer as the main focus is based on the scenes that occur. Therefore, the inter-titles that they have included are very simple and bare. They have used a plain white background and sans serif text, similar to the font of Arial. They haven't over-exaggerated the look of the titles as they still want the audience to pay attention to the scenes in the film. But with the use of the inter-titles that relate to the film, they ask the audience themselves a question as shown through the screenshots. They are trying to connect and allow the audience to connect to the main female character as she goes on her journey. 

The same details are used for the second set of inter-titles that are shown, once again relating back to the plot of the film. The rhetorical question used and the statements make the audience question the life choices they  have made themselves. This has purposely been done to enable the audience to relate to the film so they are more likely to watch the film as they have sparked up an interest and engaged them through the messages. Throughout, the entire trailer the inter-titles are kept the same to make it familiar to the audience and as mentioned before just to keep the main attention on the events happening in the trailer itself.

With the final titles themselves, they have continued on with the same font and colours to carry on the simplicity. I like the inter-titles for this film as they have used colours such as white and black that have connotations of both light and purity, as well as power and elegance. 



Overall, as mentioned I really like the simple detail on these inter-titles so for my own titles I wish to create a similar look and allow the audience to pay more attention to the scenes being shown. The only change I would make is the font as I think it is quite plain and I would want my titles to look a little more sophisticated and not as basic. However, other than that especially for the final title of the film, it fits the genre of the film very well as they are all straightforward and effortless.