Cinema admissions 2014

These statistics are the cinema admissions for 2014. By researching this I am able to see how many people went to the cinema in 2014 in order to see do people still go to the cinema, which is where film trailers are most regularly shown. 

Since in recent years people are able to view films in other ways other than at the cinema, for example legally, on on-line websites, by researching into the cinema admissions I was able to compare each year and notice weather their had been any change in the people seeing films at the cinema.

Results from these statistic show their hasn't been much change in cinema admissions over the last 7 years, people therefore still see film trailers regularly through going to the cinema. 

Analysing questionnaire results

How will these results benefit me when making my film trailer?

By doing a questionnaire I was able to gain relevant information and opinions from my target audience. Although I had previously decided on Horror as my genre for my film trailer, results from my questionnaire showed Horror to be the most popular genre of my target audience which reinforced my decision making. Furthermore one of my questions included in my questionnaire was, "do you enjoy horror films", although not everybody said yes, this will not affect my decision making as I will go with the majority.

The results I got from asking my target audience what they liked and dislike about horror will be useful when creating my film trailer as I will take these points into account. Moreover, my last questionnaire will be beneficial to the making of my Horror trailer as I will include all positive points of what my audience expects to see in a Horror film trailer in order to meet their expectations.

Questionnaire responses

Question 1.

Question 2.

Question 3.

Question 4.

Question 5.

Question 6.

Why do you enjoy watching Horror films?

• Entertainment
• The Thrill
• "I find them fun and exciting to watch"
• "I like films that create tension and suspense"
• To be scared
• Interesting

Question 7.

What do you dislike about horror films?

• "I don't like films that scare me"
• The fear
• Keep you on edge 
• Too scary

Question 8.

What themes do you expect to see in a horror film trailer?

• Suspense
• Dark scenes
• Fast pace
• Jumpy, heart racing clips
• The main scenes of the film
• Music that creates tension

Horror Film Questionnaire

Before finalising my ideas for my trailer, I created a questionnaire based on horror films in order to hear others ideas and opinions. I decided the certificate of my film trailer would be a 12 and therefore gave out my questionnaire to 20 people ages 12+ in order to gather a generalisable sample.

Short Film Practice

To practice our camera and editing skills before making our short film or trailer, we were given the task to work in groups and make our own short film. We were given a narrative and had to put our own ideas together as to what camera shots/angles we should use in order to make our short film look effective. The narrative of this short film was a student delivering something to another student.

This is an example of a long shot. This kind of shot gives us the full effect of a school setting, by showing the person walking through a corridor in a school uniform. The camera at this point was static meaning as the person was walking she was getting closer to the camera which worked effectively with the transition into the next camera shot as she walks round the corner.

This is an example of a point of view shot. This shot is taken from the point of view of the person about to enter the room, however the for the audience this kind of shot builds suspense since we are unsure as to who's point of view this is coming from.

This is an example of a medium over the should shot. We used this shot in our film as you can clearly work out the setting and what is going on in this frame without it having to be too zoomed out. We used an over the shoulder angle here instead of a normal medium camera shot as by doing this you can clear is the iconic features which tell the audience the person is in a class room.

Editing

Once we had finished filming we used, I used Adobe elements to edit the clips to make it into a short film. My editing included cutting down or cutting out unnecessary clips and creating transition between each clip in order to make the film flow better.

Short Film

Short Film from Bishop Walsh on Vimeo.

Uses and Gratification Theory: Blumer & Katz

Uses and Gratification theory is an approach focusing on the understanding of mass communication. The theory directs more focus on the audience, asking "what people do with the media" rather than "what media does to people" (Katz, 1959). It assumes the members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. Moreover, the approach also suggests the audience are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs and  fulfil specific gratifications.

The theory states their are 4 basics needs of the user:

1. Diversion - escape from everyday issues.
2. Personal relationships - using the media for interaction.
3. Personal identity - learning behaviours and values from texts. Identifying with characters.
4. Surveillance -  useful information eg. news, weather reports etc.

Propps Theory

Vladimir Propp suggested in 1928 that in any story there are only ever a limited number of character types, each of which has their own purpose in the narrative.

Hero

The central protagonist of the narrative. Centralises in some kind of quest or mission undertaken in return for a reward. Traditionally male eg, Superman, Batman, Spiderman.

Heroine or Princess

These act as a reward for the hero for succeeding in the quest.

Villain

The villain seeks riches, glory and power, as well as seeking to stop the hero from succeeding in the quest or mission while presenting a genuine threat.

Donor or Mentor

Gives the hero important information or equipment to help them in their quest. They are often represented as wise or as having special powers but are not able to do the quest without the hero.

Helper

This character accompanies the hero for some or most of the journey of the quest, and can even help the hero to succeed, but cannot by themselves complete the quest.

The Great Gatsby film trailer

I found this theatrical trailer interesting as it manage to bring across to the audience the genre of the film and the themes throughout, this was mainly done through editing, for example jump cuts, this gave us short clips of main scenes/events in the film which effectively incises the audience into wanting the watch the film and piece all the clips together. I found the editing in the trailer very effective as it kept the audience focused and grabbed their attention as the audience had to stay focused due to the fast pace scenes. 

This trailer has given me ideas for when I begin to create my own film trailer as I have been able to see the effectiveness of editing, sound and camera shots within a trailer and how they grab the audiences attention.

Film trailers

Trailers are an important part of film making, providing the audience with short clips of the film acting as a teaser to draw in the audience, promoting the film and making them what to go and see it. There are three different types of trailers;

•  A teaser trailer, this is a shortened down version of a trailer shown in advance of the release date, which teases the audience by giving them only a short clip to interests them in the film. 
• The second type of trailer is a theatrical trailer, this is a longer trailer shown a few weeks before the release of the film.
• The last type of trailer is a  DVD trailer, this is mainly shown on TV and the internet in advance to the DVD release, promoting the audience into buying the film.

Short film research

Dear Foreigner 

The second short film I researched was dear foreigner

http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p00nks13

This short film was completely different to the typical short films.It didn't follow Tordorov's Theorys like any other short film we have researched. Moreover this short film is unique in the fact, there is no use of a camera, instead a voice over is used effectively to tell the story creating imagery in the audiences head. Furthermore colours are used in this short film to represent the feeling/emotions of the voice over allowing us to symposium with her. Additionally, throughout, the voice-over relates back to the title of the film be speaking about the man as 'the foreigner'.

Short film research

Paper Hearts

As part of the short film research, I researched some of my own short films in order to find out the codes of conventions they follow,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p00pdf9j

This short film followed Todorov's theory by having the equilibrium at the start of the film, which was the dysfunctional father son relationship, then the disequilibrium when the young boy finds out his father is sleeping on the streets, to the new equilibrium which becomes the typical father son caring relationship.

Although the film is short, it is able to create tension for the audience as we are constantly on edge to find out what is going to happen to this relationship. There is many close ups of the young boys face, to show his unhappy emotions, allowing the audience to connect with the character. At the end of the film there is slow digetic music allowing the audience to sympathise with the characters, this sympathy can also be portrayed  through the fact it is a father/son relationship which many people can relate to.

Introduction to Short Films

In our second lesson we were introduced to short films in order to decide whether it is short films or a trailer we wanted to base our coursework around.

In the induction to short films, we found out how short films are structured. The first day being;

Todorov's Narrative theory.

Equilibrium - Disequilibrium - New Equilibrium

This describing how short films always have a beginning middle and end.

We then talked about the mode of address, we did this by watching a few short films and discussing them with the rest of the class. The mode of address is how the audience is addressed within the film, this could be through, direct address such as dialogue and eye contact or through a voice over.

Enigma is also an important feature of a short film, this is a narrative device that teases the audience by presenting a puzzle to be solved.

The action code is the narrative device by which a resolution is produced through action, this can be useful when making a short film as it builds up tension for the audience.

Linear narrative can be used in a short film as a basic plot where there is no flashbacks or digression, however you could also use parallel action by which the narrative has two scenes happening as the same time with jump cuts between them both, this makes the plot more interesting for the audience, however may appeal more to an older audience as it could mean it is hard to follow. Another narrative device we talked about was anit-narrative which is when the text seeks to disrupt the narrative flow in order to achieve a particular effect, for example, repetition of images.

film trailers

Lucy Film Trailer

In addition to choosing to make a film trailer for my coursework, during our introduction lesson, we watched a number of film trailers and were asked to choose our own film trailer, and present what we thought was good/bad to the class on order to build up ideas of what is effect and what is not before creating our own film trailer.

I presented the trailer 'Lucy' to the class:

Camera and editing is used effectively is this in this trailer in order to show the characters feeling and emotions. For example throughout the trailer there is repetition on a close up of the characters eye. 

This grabs the audience is attention as it gives a direct address making the audience feel as though she is looking at you, like a personal connection. The eye also changes colour through the trailer which foreshadowed the fact she is changing. 

Moreover the pace of the film trailer is effective as the fast pace relates to the pace of the actual film, also building up tension for the audience the faster it gets. Furthermore, I also thought the editing of this film trailer was very effective since it included jump cuts of different senses, giving you just a brief overview on the film in which didn't really make sense which draws the audience in to go and watch the film.

Introduction to course

As part of the A2 coursework we have been asked to produced a promotion package for a new film. This will include a trailer, together with a film magazine front cover, featuring the film and a poster to go with it.