Vlog featured in film trailer

In part of my film trailer, in order to introduce the protagonist, I created a Vlog (video blog) that is published on YouTube. It was not featured for a long period of time so only key parts of the vlog have been put into the final edit. 

The dialogue within the vlog is written to show how there is not much going on in the protagonists life. ('Single, without a job.")  When he mentions how he plays a lot of 'WoW' (World of Warcraft) it cuts to a scene of him sat at the computer playing the game. World of Warcraft is often associated with people who spend most of their time indoors playing the game and not having much of a life at all. 

The majority of the dialogue will be used as a voice-over to accompany scenes to show the setting and situation. This was recorded on my iPad because the quality would not be as good as a proper camera giving off the illusion that it was recorded through a webcam for a 'web-show.'

Alongside the video of the vlog there is an image of the amount of views it has had. It shows he isn't having much luck at all in life and he is basically wasting his time. 

The start of my film trailer, first edit.

I still have footage to gather for the rest of my trailer, however I do have the footage necessary for the intro and this is the first edit that will eventually go into the full trailer.  

It is obvious that is still requires some work, lighting on certain shots, such as the 'looking over the phone' needs to be re-shot in order to fully see the protagonist. The voice-mails and overlapping of the speech is a good idea but I feel as though it needs to run a little smoother. 

Cast Members

Main Protagonist: Sam Shaw

Played by:  Sam Shaw (me)
Age: 17/18  

Role: Main character, will be doing most speaking parts and acting.

The reason I have chosen to star myself as the protagonist is because, although part of film making is to find a hire a cast, I feel as though the character I wish to create will be much easier to portray myself rather than instructing someone else to do it. Plus it is easier to find time to film and if I were to have a friend act for me the chances are we wouldn't work to our full ability.









Side Characters:

.) Mum

Played by: Tracey Oliver
Age: 43
Role: Plays mother of Sam, lectures him on not having a job and breaks the news of grandad's death.

The reason for choosing Tracey to act with is because she is my Mum and it will be easy to film with her as and when plus there's always the fact that I am more comfortable acting in front of my own Mum.





.) Grandad

Played by: Bill Nesbitt
Age: 67
Role: Featured in scenes where he is ill and in bed and when he wins the lottery.

Although my Grandad does not play a massive part in the film he does play an important one. The reason for choosing him was because I needed someone of his age, he was willing to do it and it was easy to be able to film him. 





Extras: 
.) Shop owner
.) Barmaid/Bartender
.) Grandma - Rings up and talks about Grandad 
.) Friends of Sam Shaw's. 

Costumes within trailer

PJ’s / Sleeping wear	.) The Simpsons T-Shirt .) Elmo boxers .) Socks	The reason I chose the character to wear pyjamas is because it shows immaturity and on top of that using showing character from TV shows also emphasises this point. Showing Homer Simpson on the t-shirt makes a comparison between him and the protagonist and with Elmo on the boxers it shows how this character is hardly flattering. The socks add to the laziness of the character.
Casual Outfit	.) Hoody (red) .) Jeans	The casual outfit need look unfashionable, the reason being is because it shows how the protagonist does not care for his appearance. The bright red hoody, due to it being a bold colour, enforces the immaturity in the character but also it connotes as being a rather angry ambiance to the character, this creates enigma for the audience as they do not know why.
Suave Outfit	.) Shirt (white) .) Trousers .)Tie (black) .)Glasses / Shades	The suave outfit is to represent how his life has turned around and gone from an unfashionable ‘loser’ to a more sophisticated, outgoing guy. The white shirt is not only smart-looking but due to its colour it connotes as being innocent which is creating irony. As for the tie, it adds to the ‘smart attire’ making the protagonist appear wealthier. The tie is also known as a symbol of business and money. The glasses/shades create an enigma for the character, not being able to see his eyes properly makes it appear as though he is hiding something and you cannot fully make out his identity. The shows how the character has changed through the course of the narrative.
Suave Outfit (Dirty)	.) Dirty shirt (white) .) Dirty trousers .) Missing tie .) Broken glasses	The suave outfit was to symbolise money, however when the outfit and his appearance is corrupted this can also show how the character is beginning to fall apart. The broken glasses can now reveal who it really is.

Props for film trailer

Alarm Clock	This will be the first initial sound that starts the trailer off, not only does it wake the protagonist but it also appears to 'wake the trailer' and get it off to a start.
Mobile Phone	Voice-mails will be played through the mobile phone to show that people are trying to contact the protagonist however he isn't appearing to answer even when his Grandma calls. This shows how the character is ignorant and alone. A voice mail also shows how he has a job interview but he chooses to ignore it, this further shows how the character is lazy and would rather sit around doing nothing.
Toothbrush	The toothbrush highlights the protagonists daily routine, his lack of enthusiasm shows that it is an everyday habit and like everything else, nothing is new.
Cereal & Bowl	Sugar puffs are not the healthiest of cereal and the honey monster creates a sense of immaturity, the character has not quite grown up yet.
Computer w/ headset	The headset adds more to the scenes when playing games such as 'World of Warcraft' because he is not only speaking to strangers but it also shows that he would much rather speak to them than his friends and family that are trying to contact him.
Lottery Ticket	The lottery ticket is a main prop as it highlights the 'disruption' within the narrative. Although he doesn't win, this is still is what eventually will change his life.
Hairbrush	The hairbrush symbolizes how he is starting to care for his appearance and is beginning his change.
Deodorant	Lynx deodorant advertises how it attracts women and this will soon be a priortity of the protagonists.
Bottle of Alcohol	Alcohol is one of the many reasons why the protagonist begins to go off the rails, it shows how he is taking it straight from the bottle without spending the time to put it into a glass.
Pint Glass	A change in container for the alcohol creates the illusion of many drinks. He is mixing and trying different things compared to his usual energy drink cans.
Shot Glasses	There are usually strong drinks in a shot glass and drinking multiple at a time highlights how he really not caring about consequences.
Cans	Cans are not the most aesthetically pleasing and often associated with a more lower class form of drinking, especially in public.
Money (Notes)	Notes symbolize a lot of money rather than coins. Using notes freely will show money is no longer a problem for him.

Risk Assessment

Fairly self explanatory but a risk assessment is required in in production in order to make sure everyone is safe throughout the development of the media piece.

Equipment I am using!

In order to film my trailer I have been given (lent) a camera from college. Usually this would be a camcorder of some sort however, luckily for me I am privileged enough to take home a fairly big and more professional looking camera. 

For my film trailer I do plan on having dialogue, therefore the microphone on the camera will hopefully be more effective in picking up the voices of the characters. It could be seen as a major downfall if all the camera could pick up was mumbles, but then again I do require the speaker to talk clearly in order to make sure the dialogue is heard.

Production Diary

13/11 - Storyboard is just about finished and will be put on the blog shortly, filming can now begin

15/11 - Booked a camera today to be able to film all of tomorrow and some this weekend!              
             However I am  in need of a cameraman. I at least want to get the majority of the filming       
             done tomorrow, that way I  can spend the rest of my time re-shooting and perfecting                             
            shots if necessary. 

16/11 - First day of filming, so far not so good. I've tested out the camera and made sure the 
             shots I wish to take are possible and look presentable, which fortunately they do! 
             However, with no one to help and take control of the camera whilst I am acting, I cannot 
             film until later. What I decided to do instead was gather more props and other items to 
             be used within the setting. This consists of items such as energy drink cans, pizza
             boxes and so on. This will help create a 'slobby environment' in which my character 
             lives in. 

             After work I decided to try and get some filming done, therefore we (my brother and I) 
            walked to The Schooner pub which our Dad owns. Here we can shoot the bar scenes 
             where it shows the main protagonist drinking shots and pints as well as other pub 
            scenes. This went particularly well, better than expected, however we are unable to play 
            it back so will have to see how it really looks when I begin editing. 

17/11 - Not able to film much again today! The only scene I was able to film was my Grandad 
             lying in bed 'ill' as well as him winning the lottery. Although it didn't go quite to plan, due
             to my Grandad ad-libbing slightly, however it still might work. 

18/11 - Last chance to film before having to give the camera back and I'm at work... I have 
             planned to film after work with Adam Harrison however, because nights get dark early 
             we are only able to film indoors.

19/11 - Given the camera back today and reviewed all the footage I have taken. I recorded 
             hardly anything! On top of that, something went wrong with the tape and therefore  
             the scenes in the pub and at my Grandad's are not visible and damaged!

             Reviewed all my footage and I'm not too happen with what has been taken. Going to 
             be more organised and re-shoot as well as get the rest of the trailer footage therefore I 
             have booked the camera again for this weekend coming! 

24/11 - This morning I thought it would be a good idea to get the establishing shots for my 
              media as well as other outdoor footage. I had a friend to help me do this and we
              managed to get some key shots within the trailer. Despite it being a foggy morning it
            does make for quite a nice effect. 

25/11 - Today was a good day to re-shoot and gather more of the indoor shots including some
              dialogue scenes. We filmed for quite some time and got a good amount of footage, 
              however after a while of using the camera the battery died. There is still some footage  
             needed but I should get it all done by this weekend. 

26/11 - Put all the footage on the computer and I am much more pleased with what I have this 
             time around, editing it all together should be fairly easy to do as well. 

27/11 - Spent the night editing the start of my trailer. Due to the lack of footage there is only so 
              far I can edit however I will be taking the camera out again. I changed my soundtrack 
              choice for the beginning of the trailer, instead of 'Billionaire by Bruno Mars' I am now
             using 'Time to Pretend by MGMT.' The first edit looks fairly good, you can see it here, 
             but it still needs perfecting and possibly shortening. 

30/11 - This is the last weekend of filming. There are a few shots left to do. Today I recorded my 
              'Vlog' that will be featuring in my film trailer. Tonight I will be re-shooting the pub scenes 
             because the last footage was damaged. Editing is well on the way and with the added 
             footage I should be able to get the whole trailer fully drafted soon enough. 

Soundtrack for the ending of film trailer

For the ending of my film trailer, I believed it seemed fit to have an 'epic' finish however leaving it on a slight cliffhanger, giving the trailer a sense of enigma thus making the audience want to go see the movie. 

The soundtrack I have decided on is 'Feeling Good by Muse.' The reason being is because I imagine in the film trailer a bag has been left outside the house door meaning the protagonist has been kicked out of his home, the music then fades in and as the soundtrack kicks into the main 'drums and riff' he throws the bag over his shoulder and walks away. 

Despite it looking 'awesome' as he does so, the lyrics also relate to what happening/happened in the trailer. 

Birds flying high, you know how I feel. 
Sun in the sky, you know how I feel. 

Reeds drifting on by, you know how I feel. 
It's a new dawn, 
It's a new day, 
It's a new life, 
For me... 
and i'm feeling good!

This is the first verse of the song, and this is what will mainly be featured in my film trailer. The particular lyrics I like in this verse is 'It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life' because that is what has happened to the protagonist of my story. Everything has changed compared to the start of the story and these lyrics really highlight that. 

The song really connotes how the main character has become and the title 'Feeling Good' shows little remorse. 

Storyboard

Soundtrack for the start of my film trailer.

I know that in my film trailer I want more than one soundtrack as I believe it really adds to a film trailer to portray different moods and emotions within a scene. Previously I featured more moving music which would emphasise more emotional scenes within my trailer. However, after thinking of other ideas for my trailer I decided on two more soundtracks. 

The first soundtrack would be the instrumental from the song 'Time to Pretend by MGMT.' I have chosen this to be my opening soundtrack to my film trailer the reason being is because compared to 'Billionaire' it is more lively but not as up-beat as 'Gangnam Style.' Despite the fact I am using the instrumental another reason for choosing this particular soundtrack is because the lyrics relate to the story of my trailer. 

I'm feelin' rough I'm feelin' raw I'm in the prime of my life.

Let's make some music make some money find some models for wives.

I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin and f**k with the stars.

You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.

This is our decision to live fast and die young.

We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.

Yeah it's overwhelming, but what else can we do?

Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?
Forget about our mothers and our friends
We were fated to pretend.

These are the first few verses of the song. Phrases such as 'Prime of my life' relate to the age of the protagonist in my film trailer, 18. Other phrases such as 'make some money' is a cataphoric reference to what is going to happen in the story and on top of that 'Forget bout our mothers and our friends' also highlights how the protagonist abandons everyone. Altogether I believe this song not only sounds good for the intro, but it also connotes as quite a meaningful soundtrack alongside the film trailer. 

New ideas for plot and story line!

Originally the main protagonist was going to gain money from inheriting his Granddad's lottery winnings then going off the rails, that is still happening. But to add more to the story, the protagonist invests in his own business, what he does is left unsaid, but he continues to go out before finally being kicked out of his home and left by himself.

Not a big change, however I feel it adds more to the story.

Audience Profile

The audience of my film trailer will be aged 12 - 18, therefore focusing on a younger yet maturer audience. This will then mean that the S.E.G group for my audience will be 'E' due to the audience most probably earning very little if not nothing and being in full time education. On top of that, the audience psychographic would be that they are achievers. The reason being is because my film shows someone becoming rich, which is what the audience too would like to achieve.

From the polls on my blog it shows that 75% (as of 13/11/2012) are male, and out of both genders 93% are aged between 16 and 19. This goes to show I have a particularly young target audience. On top of this, from all the subjects the top three favourites were Media with 71% of the votes, Art with 50% of the votes and English with another 50%. This just shows that the audience are a fairly creative demographic. 

As for favourite film genres the top three were Comedy with 78% of the votes, Drama with 57% and action with 35% and on top of that the majority of the votes prefer a good story line in the film rather than the soundtrack or other aspects. These three genres put together can make a potentially great film, which is what I intend on doing. Looking at these statistics I it goes to show the audience are a creative and ambitious demographic, wanting to experience something unique and gripping. 

A few things about the stroyboard

It has been difficult to create my storyboard as there are so many different ideas and ways to go about my trailer that I would like to experiment with. Therefore, my final product will not follow the majority of the storyboard, however it is helping create a good starting point as well as showing how my ideas have developed. 

Locations for film trailer

.) Bedroom - Energry drinks, pizza boxes, tissues and dirty washing all over. Creates an untidy environment. 

.) Kitchen

.) Living Room

.) Local Streets 

.) Corner shop

.) Humber Bridge

.) Hessle Square

.) Areas of town, large building 

These are pictures of my bedroom, the reason being is because it is one of the main locations for my film trailer. Here my room is unnaturally tidy, so when it comes to filming I will make it a little more realistic like a teenage boy does live in there. (Verisimilitude.) 

This is a picture of my settee in my living room. The reason I have taken a picture of this is because it is 'featured' in several shots within the first few scenes of my trailer. The settee is fairly large therefore when the main character sits alone on it, it emphasises how he is by himself.

This is a picture of my house. This is were the main character will be living and this will shown through establishing shots I plan on shooting.  

This is a picture of the pub I will be using within my film trailer, outside will not be featured in the trailer but the bar inside will be. 

More influential media texts

My ideas for my film trailer are always changing and even when I begin filming I know that some scenes and previous ideas will be changed and altered.

Previously I was more set on having quite negative scenes shown in my film trailer (which I still am) however, for the start of the trailer I wanted a more calm and positive theme, one that seems intriguing rather than depressing but then also having the negative scenes later on to show more aspects that would be appealing to my audience. 

When choosing my soundtrack I am looking for music that does not contain the lyrics, strictly just the instrumental. The reason in doing this is because it will be more back ground music and the main focus of the sound will be the dialogue. The background music will also effectively help create a mood for the dialogue. 

An idea for my starting song is the instrumental to the song 'Billionaire' by Bruno Mars. 

The idea I have in mind for this song is playing at the start due to it being a calm instrumental it provides contrast with the following music which I picture to be a lot more upbeat and fast-paced. 

There are many reasons for choosing Billionaire as a soundtrack, one being the lyrics despite not being able to hear them. ("I wanna be a billionaire so f**king bad.") This particular line relates massively to my film trailer idea. A boy who wins the lottery, he's not a billionaire but it's near enough. Before even knowing the story line in the trailer a mood has been set but the soundtrack, opening up the main plot of the trailer. 

Another convention of the song is it's laid-back beat. I will have this playing when the protagonist is getting ready and being on his own. It shows there are no cares in his world and the soundtrack amplifies it. 

Once the slower scenes are other I want to feature a faster paced 'party-like' soundtrack. A choice for this is 'Gangnam Style by PSY.' 

Gangnam Style at the moment is a very known and distinctive song and due to it being mainstream means that it is more likely to attract a wider audience. Before showing the protagonist in a party-like situation, the music begins to play and from the beat and the bass from the soundtrack it already connotes as quite a vibrant and lively ambiance.

Gangnam Style works well within my media because due to the contrast of genre between the first soundtrack played (Billionaire - Bruno Mars) not only shows the change in mood for the scene but also for the main protagonist. Going from a laid back life to a much more vibrant life highlights what happens in the plot of the movie and changing from one genre of soundtrack to another really assists in amplifying that. 

Another soundtrack I am considering on using is a dubstep soundtrack 'Bangarang by Skrillex.' The reason being is because. like 'Gangnam Style' it connotes as a rather lively atmosphere which shows a great contrast with the opening scene.