Who are your audience & what have you learned from your audience feedback?

Our target audience are both sexes, ranging from eighteen to thirty years of age. We believe our decision to focus upon two characters within our film; one male one female, will appeal to both sexes as their characters are portrayed as equals, going through the same situations but handling them very differently in the film.

We also believe that our film will appeal to a more educated group of people, as rather than ‘spoon feeding’ the audience, our film encourages people to think, and relate fragments of it to wider society, as is reflects the raw brutality and harsh truth that lies with drug addiction and living a life of poverty.

We collected quantitative feedback from an audience of forty people, who scored the storyline, originality, editing and music quality of our trailer out of 10 as shown in the table. From this we learnt that the editing was the most favoured part of the trailer, and the storyline was the least favoured. This was an inevitable conclusion as we decided to use a mixture of fast and slow paced shots shown in a variety of locations and times within the film to leave the audience feeling both distorted and slightly disturbed, rather than giving too much of the narrative away, spoiling the ending and leaving no room for temptation to go and see it at the cinema.

Another method we used to collect feedback from audience members was more qualitative, as we asked them straight out what their thoughts and feelings were of the trailer, if they would in fact go and see it and if there was any constructive criticism they could give us. This proved to be a highly successful method as we encountered a lot of honest opinions rather than just numerical feedback which isn’t as precise.

Overall, the majority of comments were positive such as “the music sets the tone really well”, “the production logo is impressive” and “the voiceover is so sincere, it made me empathise with Eve’s character”. Although, there was some constructive criticism, for example, “drug addiction is a very common theme” and “the voiceover was quite faint”, both of which could not be helped given the recording equipment we used for our low budget film and the fact we were recording in a school. Also, we knew that drug addiction was a common theme through our extensive research of film trailers, but decided to portray it in a far more truthful light, rather than glamorise and ‘sugar-coat’ it as most big Hollywood blockbuster films do. We also decided to use a drug that was not as well known as those used in larger budget films such as cocaine, cannabis and heroin.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Panasonic HD Video CameraThis was used to film all of our footage for the trailer. The main tools used on it were the zoom, adjusting the focus, and altering the white balance for the shots in the tunnel to create a cold ambience. An advantage to using this camera was that, compared to the camera we used last year, the quality was much better, providing a clear and smooth imagery. Additionally, it was much easier to use as it saved the footage onto an SD card rather than a tape, eradicating the risk of overwriting. One of the major flaws we had with this piece of equipment that due to the camera being HD, the file type was not recognised by our editing software. We solved this issue by putting the footage onto a program which did recognise HD footage and then saving it as an AVI and transferring it back to the college computers.

TripodUsing a tripod improved our camera work as the shots were steady in each scene, and it allowed us to easily adjust the height, angle, and enable smooth panning. This was especially useful when filming in Burnley, as to achieve the effect of the public speeding up whilst we were stayed in the same position on the bench, the camera needed to stay in the same place and stay perfectly still, which the tripod allowed us to do easily. It was also helpful when filming in the tunnels, as it allowed us to adjust the angle of the camera when the terrain was slanted. There was no issues with this piece of equipment as it was easy to use and was of great help to us.
Digital Camera
We used this digital camera in order to take pictures for characters' costumes, the props we intended to use, and for the film poster. The pros of this is that it provided us with the perfect photograph which we wanted for the poster. The only downside to this camera is that compared to other items on the market today, it is not as high quality, and the photo was slightly grainy. However, I overcame this problem through tweeking the picture in Photoshop.

Pinnacle Studio 10+
This was the editing program which we used to compose our trailer. The advantages to this program was that it was straightfoward to understand and used, and had the essential editing tools which we needed. However, there were many cons to Pinnacle. The first being that on multiple occasions, when we tried to add certain effects, such as adjusting the speed, it would corrupt the footage, and we therefore has to do them as seperate AVI files and put them back together later. Also, we had issues with using our selected songs in Pinnacle, as it would not recognise our WAV files. We overcame this by converting them in Audacity and we were then able to use the music.

Photoshop CS5
Photoshop was used to create our production logo, film poster and title plates for the production. The pros of using this program was that as I am so familiar with the program, I found it easy to make a realistic and professional looking logo and film poster in a short period of time. Additionally, I was able to create the title plates with the appropriate logos, but edit them so they matched the colour scheme of black and white. The only negative was that Pinnacle didn't recognise the usual file types which they were saved as, and so they had to be converted.
Vimeo
Originally, the trailer was uploaded to Youtube, however, the quality was much worse than it was on Vimeo, so this is the main platform we decided to showcase it on. The pros to this website was that it enabled many people to view the trailer and give feedback, and we could simply post the video link onto social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in order to get more exposure. Vimeo is also free, and easy to navigate. However, a disadvantage was waiting for a long time for the video to upload and convert.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

http://vimeo.com/40441534

Ancillary Task - Website

http://www.wix.com/rs13media2011/weightless#!home|mainPage

Ancillary Task - Film Poster

'Weightless' Film Trailer

http://vimeo.com/39206543

Filming - House

We filmed in Rebecca's house today in order to set the scene of the character Eve's broken home. We used black eyeshadow and mascara for her eyes, and used water to spray on her face in order for the make-up to run and to make her look upset. Red and blue eyeshadow was also used to create a swollen look around her eyes, so to emphasise her crying.

We took a high angled medium-long shot of Eve crying on the stairs in order to convey the sadness and lonliness she feels; being an outsider in her own family. Problems we found with this part of the filming was with the focus on the camera - using deep focus on Eve in the background, and soft focus for the banisters in the foreground. We avoided this problem by changing the area we filmed from, to the top of the stairs, giving a clearer and more central view of Eve crying on the stairs.

We also filmed a long shot of Eve in her room quickly packing some clothes to show her haste in running away. We used a low angled long shot of her running down stairs and a long shot of her exiting the house to emphasise her leaving. We also filmed a long shot of the front of the house with Eve's Dad shouting for her to come back to show the agressive nature of her Father.

Given the location we were filming in today, we decided to take advantage and shoot other clips that we intend to go in our trailer; when Eve is suffering from the effects of the drugs. We took medium shots of her lying motionless in the bath with the black eye make-up on to show her crying. Her face and hair were sprayed with water to give the feel that she really was in the bath.

The only problem we had with filming Eve in the bath was our idea for her to go under the water. However, with the actress being fully clothed and there being no water in the bath, it was difficult to get a smooth motion of her doing so. This problem was also avoided by our decision not to include this clip in our trailer.

Filming - Park

Today we re-filmed some of the park scenes:

1. Where Eve is sat in the shelter
2. The two characters talking and getting to know each other
3. Shots of the sky which we filmed on a roundabout and will be used to overlay with text during the editing process.

The weather was perfect for the atmosphere we wanted to create, and the park was also empty, which meant that we had the freedom to experiment with filming, for example, spinning on the roundabout.

The only problem we encountered was that the tripod made it difficult to complete the panning shots, as it was very jerky even after a lot of adjusting.

Filming - Tunnels

We went down to the tunnels today equipped with the camera, tripod, and a few bin bags for Ayajul to fall on as it was quite muddy.

We originally started with the camera being on the outside of the tunnels filming us inside, however, this didn't really look effective as we were hard to see. Then, we placed the camera on the inside of the tunnels in order to form silhouettes, which was really effective as it created a tense and gloomy atmosphere.

Filming - Burnley

Today we filmed the urban shots in Burnley. We did have issues with people walking infront of the camera, and looking into the lens, but we will be able to rectify that in editing. Also, we attempted to do the shot where we walk backwards, however, we figured that this would be too difficult to achieve as we could have walked into people.

Filming - Park

Today, we filmed in Stubbylee Park which set the scene of the first meeting of Eve and Jermaine. We used an extreme-long shot of the couple holding hands and walking up a path alongside a stream. Our intention is to edit this by speeding it up and having jump cuts to initiate an obscurity among the two and a passion for speed which will later be shown through their dangerous drug-taking.

Problems we had with filming today is that the shots we not to the standard that we desired: some of the shots were shaky and the lighting didn't reflect the mood we intended such as the picture shown above of the long shot showing the two characters covered with shadows of trees.

Filming - Gym

We used brown eye shadow, bown eyeliner and some dark blushers to make Eve look exhausted and bruised.

For Jermaine's arm, we used the same techniques as we did with Eve's, although we built around the picture of a bruise with red lipsticks rather than powder because we wanted it to pick up the light.

Filming - Gym

Before we went filming at the gym, we worked on the visual effects on my arm. This was done to convey the effects of the Russian drug Krokodil, which rots the flesh and bones of the user. To achieve this look, we first found a picture of rotting flesh and then cut it out so we just had the wound. Next, we glued the picture into place on my arm. After it had dried, me and Casey used different shades of red lipstick, purple eyeshadow, black eyeshadow, black eyeliner, and dark shades of blusher to blend the picture in with my arm, and to make it look realistic. The only issue we encountered with the products we used was that there was some glitter in the eyeshadows we used, however, this did not show up on the footage.

When we went to the gym, we planned to film in the partially built swimming pool, however, the lights in this area were far too bright and as they were on a sensor we couldn't turn them off. However, we found a better area to film; a small, dark room filled with clutter, which we felt made it look abandoned and worthless; our intended environment.

Production Logo

We created this production company logo through Photoshop. The idea of a woman in this position; looking as though she is falling backwards is similar to the idea of the young girl in our production, who throughout the film is involved in out-of-body experiences.

This image shows the woman floating through the nebula; one of the effects that one experiences when under the influence of the illegal drug shown in our production.

The colour scheme is both bold and eye-catching, the pale white skin and dress of the woman contrasts with both the black background, and the multi-coloured nebula that separates the two. The stars are shown through the woman to add a subtle transparency and to make the nebula more prominant in the image; hence the name for our production company; 'Nebula Studios'.

Institutional Information

The film will be made with British money, personnel and resources, and will exhibit social realism; the most 'typically British' of all film genres as it shows our society in a 'real' way.

Therefore, we believe Film 4 would be the perfect producers and distributors for out film, as they have produced successful films such as Trainspotting and This Is England. An ideal director would be Danny Boyle, as he has been involved in many well-known productions in this genre, and also has strong connections with Film4.


As the film is medium to low budget, it would be funded by the British Film Institute (BFI), Figment Films, Stealth Films, and Cipher Films. These companies have all been involved in successful British films, each contributing smaller amount of money than big production companies such as Warner Bros. as they do not have the same spending power.

The planned release date would be in May, as it is cheaper to do and will give our film more market exposure as we will not have to compete with the big summer marquee films. It is to be shown at multiplexes and on social networking sites to gain recognition. Additionally, the trailer would be international as we believe that with the little dialogue demonstrated in the trailer, it would be able to appeal to other nations, such as Russia who has a ferocious drug culture and the public may be interested in seeing the film with subtitles.

Sound

For our soundtrack and sound effects, we are using tracks from the Pro Scores CD, as all pieces are royalty and copyright free.
The song we have picked for opening the production is a four second snippet from a track called 'Together'. We only took this small clip as the sound is very eerie and grabs the audience's attention. The main song we intend to use in the production is called 'Significant'. This is because this track conveys both sadness and happiness and will accompany the voiceover and footage well.

We were influenced to use this kind of song as the trailer for Candy also exhibits a heartfelt and moving song which was very effective in conveying the themes of the film. After filming the injection scene, we knew that the clip had to be accompanied with a piercing sound in order to increase the impact of the scene. Therefore, we chose the 'FX3' sound effect as it is high-pitched and shuddersome.

Animatic

http://vimeo.com/39188101

Key Character Types

The two main characters of Eve and Jermaine could be considered anti-heroes. This is because they are considered the protagonists of the film who differ from the typical hero. For example, the typical hero is brave, clever and charismatic. However, anti-heroes are flawed, they are not villains and they are not heroes. In our film, the characters flaw is drug addiction, exhibiting characteristics opposite to that of the typical hero. They are driven by their own desires and needs, such as funding their drug habit. This is more gritty and relatable to the target audience, as every human has weaknesses, which aren't always shown in traditional protagonists.

This character type can also be seen in the character of Mark Renton of Trainspotting. The traditional hero qualities that are portrayed in him are that he is relatively attractive, intelligent and can fit into society. However, his major flaw, which rules over his life, is his heroin addiction to cope and escape from his depression and hatred towards other people. His acts would be seen as deviant from the norms of society but not evil.

Eve is also very similar to Candy, from the film with the same name. They both exhibit a flawed character type, as she was raised by a strict mother which led her to drug abuse in order to relax her from her hard lifestyle, eventually leading to a dramatic downfall.

In society, a common media portrayal of teenagers is that they are reckless drug and alcohol users. They are often illustrated as selfish, nihilistic pleasure seekers who are drains on society. The emphasis is mainly on male drug users, and that women are influenced into using.

This helps the audience recognise what the genre, tone and characters are like. It also appeals to people interested in this area but also challenges teh stereotypes as it shows the stuggles of both characters which lead to their drug use.

Cast and Costumes

Eve
We decided to have the main character, Eve as an 18 year old. Our reasons for this is because this particular age distinguishes between a 'teenager' and an 'adult', and legally, eighteen is a permissive age whereby a person has far more freedom and life changing choices to make, hence our decision to cast our main character as an 18 year old who does make wrong decisions, but initially choses the right one before it's too late.

We also decided to cast Eve as a slender girl of average height with a pale skin and mousy hair colour, light blue eyes, quite plain coloured and ordinary clothing for a teenager, contrasting with the extraordinary situations she finds herself in within the film; clothing such as jeans, trainers and single coloured tops which become more dirty and dishevelled as the film progresses due to her lifestyle of poverty.

Jermaine
We decided to cast the role of Jermaine as a gaunt-looking 19 year old of average height, with dark skin and black hair. We wanted this character to be more advanced than Eve both through age and through experience with illegal drugs. We also wanted him to be attractive in a charming and unobvious way so that his character becomes more interesting for an audience and the relationship between Jermaine and Eve becomes more obscure and intense.

In terms of costume, we wanted Jermaine to look lethargic by dressing dishevelled and disolute, such as dark colours, denim, and casual t-shirts.

Eve's Dad
We decided to cast Eve's Dad as a stocky man of a height that's slightly below average. Our reasons for this are to to show the difference between the physical appearance of Father and Daughter, and also the emotional by directing him to act agressively towards her as a small child, then later when he smacks her across the face.

We wanted to show the conservative nature of Eve's whole family through this one man, therefore the costume we chose for him is smart/casual, for example, jeans and a collared shirt.

Locations

Burnley - this will provide the trailer with the urban setting, as seen in similar films such as Trainspotting, which is based in the city of Edinburgh.

House - this will be used to film the scenes with the young Eve, conveying a stable environment with her conservative family.

Stubbylee Park - here there is a shelter where we can film the bus stop shot without being interrupted. Additionally, the quiet garden area in the park provides a romantic atmosphere, which is in contrast the lifestyle the drugs create for them.

Gym - the area we will choose to film in is still being built, and looks quite run down as it has been left for a while. The area has no windows, making it easier for us to create chiaroscuro lighting effects with our own lighting.

Waterfoot - the isolated tunnel gives an eerie vibe and will also create silhouettes of the characters.

Props

Bottle of cider
We have chosen to use a plastic bottle of cider as it is one of the cheapest form of alcoholic beverage you can buy, which symbolises the poverty both Eve and Jermaine are going through, and that with the little money they both have, they are wasting it on addictive substances such as drugs and drink. Also, we decided to show the characters drinking this bottle of cider in a park, i.e in a public place, which is both unorthodox and worrying, and brings along with it negative connotations and uses the stereotypical convention of youths drinking in public places.

































Crucufix and Rosary Beads
We decided to include these in our production to capture the religious element, and the conservative, traditional nature of Eve's family. We decided to show Eve throwing these at her house to symbolise rebellion, and the freedom and liberation that this young female character feels once she is rid of this religion, her home, family and initially, her past. It also gives negative connotations to the Church, and shows her becoming detached from a faith that was never really hers to begin with.













Equipment to make Krokodil
We wanted to include these props and show the characters creating the Russian street drug, 'Krokodil' as it's the most important drug being used in our production. We will use flour as the Krokodil, and from researching the drug, we have found that the easiest way to make it is by heating the powder on a spoon with a lighter until it turns into an orange fluid, where you then add lighter fluid and other dangerous substances. We decided to use a pink lighter for Eve, as it connotes femininity and adds a more delicate and personal touch to this illegal act of making Krokodil. We also used a blue lighter for Jermaine as this contrasts with Eve's, and connotes masculinity and also defines the characters by their choice of lighter, both falling within their gender domain. We decided to keep these items as simplistic as possible to show the ease of making this illegal drug.




























Syringe
We decided to use a syringe in our production, and have Eve using it to show a different form of drug use, other than melting the Krokodil on a spoon, and to show the seriousness off her addiction, and how injecting drugs into the body harms the outside of the body aswell as the internal, as it causes damage by flowing into the bloodstream, slowing down the central nervous system, causing the heart rate to slow, blood pressure to drop and initially causing heart and lung failure.













Theatre make-up
Make-up plays a vital part in our production, as we used it to create all of the wounds, briuses and withered looks on Eve's and Jermaine's faces. Make-up was the best possible way we could show the physical effects that Krokodil has on the body, as it could easily blend, build up and be removed. We wanted to emphasise the physical effects, as the rotting flesh is a metaphor for the Eve's life, which too, was rotting away and becoming non-existant. The fake blood we used was particularly for Jermaine's wound on his arm, as it gave more of a shimmer that blood would in dark lighting, and was easier to see against his dark skin. It was also used to convey the brutality of the character's lifestyle. The green eyeshadows and black eyeliner were used for his bruising, again to make it look realistic. The red lipsticks and pink/purple eyeshadows were used for Eve's wound on her arm, acting as different shades of blood and decaying muscle. These were very successful at blending in with the picture of the rotting skin and gradually incorporating the bruising around it. Finally, the brown and black eyeshadows and eyeliners were also used for the faces of the two characters, darkening under the eyes to give a more filthy and exhausted look.

Voiceover

For our trailer, we decided against the conventions of using dialogue for the characters, instead we chose to have a voiceover in the form of a poem play throughout to create mood through a more artistic way, emphasising themes within the trailer such as drug use and the effects of it. Our intentions were to express the thoughts of the main character; Eve, without giving too much of the narrative away, hence our decision to include a rhythmic form of literature to correspond with the jumpy sequence of scenes we have.

"Nobody saw it coming.
This whispering attempt at devotion
At emotion
A sudden drop before our feet
And risky nights us thick as thieves
My great escape to white shores sands
Avoid, evade, your thoughts and plans
Our love, my love, was doomed
To live as like the life in demand

As falling stones
My weary head found your chest
Our timeless love
Our timeless danger

Spent
Closest afternoons in flux
A badly structured dream
That fast
Turns nightmare."

Shot List

1. Medium shot high angle from the side Eve sat on stairs, crying
2. Medium long shot of Eve leaving house, throws rosary beads to the floor
3. Close-up of the beads
4. Medium long shot of Eve's dad at the door shouting for her leaving
5. Medium shot of her crying in the shelter at the park
6. Low angled shot of Jermaine walking up to her
7. Long shot of him brushing hair away from her face, she looks at him
8. Medium long shot of them drinking alcohol in the park on a blanket
9. Close up of Eve waking up - bruises on face
10. Extreme close up of drug equipment: lighter, needle – half a second
11. Two shot of girl laid on boy’s chest
12. Close-up of them making drugs – powder on spoon, lighter under spoon
13. Extreme close-up of Eve injecting
14. Medium shot of her looking at Jermaine
15. Hand held tracking shot played in reverse walking forward; everyone is walking backwards
16. Long shot of boy and girl sat on bench (for a long time, sped up so people walk by quickly)
17. Medium shot of Eve and Jermaine comforting each other
18. Extreme long shot of them walking through the park
19. Medium shot of them sat laughing in the park
20. Two shot of couple arguing and fighting
21. Medium Close-up of girl and boy smoking
22. Medium shot of Eve in pain from her arm
23. Close-up of girls face, make-up smudged – crying/stoned
24. Extreme close-up of the same shot - 1 frame
25. Medium close-up of the same shot - 1 frame
26. Medium close-up of Eve screaming
27. Extreme close-up shot of eye flickering– dissolve into next shot
28. Extreme long shot of girl and boy stood at end of tunnel, pushes him over and runs (shot from middle of tunnel)

Possible Titles and Font Styles

http://www.dafont.com/string-and-wire.font
This font would be suitable for our production title because it is unstable and unattached, representing the main character and how she is not in a safe state from her drug use and how she is distant from her family.

http://www.dafont.com/rupturedsans.font
This represents how the main character is broken emotionally from her strict family and then broken physically and psychologically from the drugs she has taken.

http://www.dafont.com/nervous.font
This 'nervous' font conveys the unsteadiness of the main character, whose reality falls in and out of focus.

http://www.dafont.com/seedy-motel.font
This font embodys the dirty and gritty nature of an addict's lifestyle.

Weightless - the feeling of being high off drugs, the idea that life is meaingless/has no weight;
Lucid Nightmares - drug addiction is a nightmare you can not wake up from;
Distortion - demonstrates how drugs distort your view of reality;
Echoes of Destruction - conveys how the addiction has destroyed their lives;
Out of Body - the feeling that the person has when they are on a high;
Easy Way Out - to get out of her problems, Eve takes drugs and runs away to escape.

We conducted a poll of forty people to determine which font best suited our chosen title.

Result - 8

Result - 16


Result - 7


Result - 2

Genre, Theme and Audience Appeal

The genre of our film trailer is 'Social Realism'. The key genre elements we wish to employ in our trailer are the dramatic effect that drug use has on the body, specifically the Russian street drug, ‘krokodil’.

We also wish to employ the thriller genre element of violence through the two main characters, and we also want to show the overall relationship between those characters, how they have similar life styles but yet have different endings.

The marketing points of our film will be the CD of the soundtrack as the music is mainly contemporary and will appeal to a vast audience of late teens and early twenty year olds. Merchandise such as posters and miscellaneous items will also be sold to promote the film and we shall advertise our film through social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Myspace; as younger people are a large demographic on these sites.

Our trailer will be shown in cinemas and on social networking sites such as YouTube and Facebook. The target audience for our film will be 18 - 30. Our film relates to this group of people in particular because younger people are more likely to be inclined to drug taking and facing addiction and crime.

Synopsis

Our film explores the serious issue of addiction and emphasises the effects of it.

Weightless is the tale of a young girl named Eve, who was brought up into a strict, unloving family. She was raised as the 'black sheep' of the family, both neglected and unloved. She felt something was missing, and so went to seek attention and love elsewhere.
She caught the eye of Jermaine; an impulsive young man who had recently moved into her neighbourhood, although Jermaine was not the best influence for young Eve. After getting her hooked on illegal drugs, the two made a pact to stay together forever, but little did Eve know that meant running away from their families, becoming dependant on drugs and leading a life of addiction and poverty.

Our film is of the social realism genre, due to the dramatic and realistic lifestyles of the main characters, Jermaine and Eve who experience serious issues such as drug addiction and poverty.

Pitch

Title - Lucid Nightmares/Distortion

Psychological thriller
Main character: female - late teens
Setting: to be decided

The main characters family gets murdered
Because of that event, she turns to LSD to get away from reality
She has many hallucinations but she develops severe paranoia and believes that the murderer is after her, watching her all the time - even though he's locked up
Her state slowly deteriorates
She gets sectioned and eventually recovers

The Purpose of a Trailer

A marketing campaign is a company’s effort to increase awareness for a particular product or service. Marketing campaigns are needed in the film industry to promote films and in a way, film trailers are seen as marketing campaigns, as their purpose is to promote the film.

When a film is released at the cinema it has only a short space of time to become a ‘box-office hit’. The marketing campaign plays a vital role in telling the potential audience about the film and in encouraging them to see it in the cinema. The company who own the film and loan it to the cinema to show for a period of time are called the distributors, because they distribute the film around the country.

The distributors want the film to be as successful as possible so they create a
marketing campaign which aims to raise awareness of the film and arouse interest. In this way the distributors stand the best chance of making a profit on the film.
The trailer is very important in distributing a film, as it determines whether or not audiences will want to see it. Other than hearing about a new film from friends or family, or seeing it on a poster or website, I ultimately make the decision whether or not to go to the cinema and pay to see a film by watching the trailer for it, as the trailer shows clips from the film, and pieces them together to create the general story of it, whilst not giving away the ending and enticing a potential audience to go and see what it is. Posters are important in capturing the initial interest of the audience but they cannot convey the excitement and atmosphere of film in the same way as a trailer does.

Film Poster Analysis

Analysis for ‘Candy’ film poster

The film poster for the 2006 film ‘Candy’ uses Chiaroscuro lighting to add deep focus to the two only characters shown, which cover the whole of the poster. In terms of mise-en-scene, these two characters are the only people or objects visible to the audience, suggesting they are the focus of the entire film. The characters consist of a male and a female, holding hands and touching each other’s face, which shows the intimate relationship the characters have, they also share certain similarities such as their hair looking quite dishevelled and what appears to be gravitating behind them, suggesting the two are lying next to each other; another example of their closeness.

The female character on this poster looks to be smiling at the male character, however her eyes are very squinted and her mouth is very wide which indicates she is not only smiling but laughing. She also appears to be rather plain in terms of make-up as she doesn’t seem to be wearing much, and as stated previously her hair is dishevelled and somewhat wavy; suggesting to an audience that this character is not really ‘into’ looks and breaks the female stereotype. Although, she has light blonde hair which is seen as feminine and creates the stereotype ‘dumb blonde’ or ‘ditsy’.

This character also adds colour to this poster as she is wearing a low cut top which could be a dress, although the medium two shot of the assumed couple does not reveal anything below the chest. This piece of clothing consists of bright colours such as green, blue, red and yellow which when put together connotes happiness and fun. She is also wearing light pink nail polish which is also feminine and shows she has put some effort into her appearance.

The male character in this poster is wearing a light blue t-shirt which connotes neutrality and masculinity. He is also looking back at the female character with squinted, happy eyes and an open, smiling mouth which too, suggests he is laughing. Although his head is level with hers, creating equality between the two, he has his hand covering half of her face which gives him some power over her and shows that he is in control and holds more status on this poster.

His hair is brown and curly, although appears wet and so indicates to the audience that it is greasy and unkempt, similar to hers. Whereas the female character is plain, he on the other hand is wearing an earring and has a small tattoo on his neck which signifies rebellion and individuality.

The font used for this film poster is sans serif which is considered plain, although this contrasts with the bright coloured colours used for it; green, blue and pink which together connote happiness, however the title of the film, ‘Candy’ is in pink which suggests this film is feminine and so the film appeals to female audiences more than male.

This film poster does use conventions which follow the dramatic romance genre, by relying only on a picture of the two main characters, showing them lying next to each other closely which shows the close, intimate relationship they have. However, the poster fails to show the conventions of the dangerous lifestyles they have within the film, which involves drugs, drink, prostitution and mental instability.

Analysis of Dark Knight Film Trailer

The title is just The Dark Knight, not Batman: The Dark Knight. The audience know that this is from the Batman franchise due to the logo in the background and the use of Batman in the trailer. The title for the Dark Knight has a blue filter to make it appear colder, more dangerous and more serious. The background is predominantly black which links in to the idea of ‘Batman’- he operates mainly at night, and in this film, his 'dark' personality is portrayed. The letters are bold, sans serif making it more masculine, less formal and modern to appeal to the target audience of young males and other thriller fans. ‘The Dark Knight’ is more morally ambiguous than usual super-heroes. ‘Knight’ and ‘night’ are homonyms which creating a play on words signifying that is he is a vigilante in the night-time; as opposed to Harvey Dent who is the 'White Knight', fighting crime with the law in the daytime. Black on black emphasises the authority which suggests that the film is not purely based on death. The letters are spread out and are in capitals, making it clearer to read and making the name appear more significant. The studio titles are set against a dark shadowy sky scape and the Warner Bros. logo which is normally gold with blue skies and fluffy clouds has been changed to a much darker sombre image which signifies the mood and genre of the film – dark, mysterious and scary.

In terms of non-diegetic music, there are sudden percussive sounds coming in with the clips, adding drama and suspense. The music is mysterious and heroic due to its low pitch, fast tempo and harsh pulses, reflecting the mood of the film. There are silences before the Joker speaks which act as dramatic pauses and make The Joker’s voice seem more dark and sinister. For example, when the Joker says “Good evening ladies and gentlemen” there is a blank screen which creates an ominous effect and unease in the audience as we are unable to see who is speaking. With diegetic sound, the narrators of the trailer are in fact the characters as The Joker begins it by saying “Where do we begin”. He was used as an introduction as it makes the trailer darker in tone and links to Ledger's death as a selling point.

The genre is action, thriller and hero film; the conventions of which are fast paced clips, suspension through exciting music, many explosions and the use of dark colours in the character clothing, set design, and filters used on the footage.

The key audience is mainly male teenagers (15+). This can be gathered from the explosions and the connotations of the colours used. The trailer appeals to their key demographic by using very masculine colours e.g. black, blue. However, thought there are a lot of explosions, there is also character exposition and development of wider themes, such as romance and humour, which appeals to a broader audience. It also appeals to adults for nostalgic purposes as Batman is a well known and an established franchise.

The producers aim to appeal to the widest audience as possible. They do this by trying to get a low film certificate, and using a variety of conventions to attract fans of different genres: such as action or romance aspects. They do this for commercial success, and to secure future funding for possible sequels and therefore, further profit. However, whilst trying to widen their audience, they must still make sure that trailer demonstrates that the film is different from other releases in the genre with a unique selling point.

One unique selling point is that usually although super-hero films include action, they are not as 'dark' or serious as this film. This makes it seem more adult and thriller like; although it still got a 12A rating. The character of Batman is also a unique selling point in this film. He is a well established hero and they make a point of this by including the logo in the flames and the title. Similarly, the Joker is unique to the Batman films. Although the film stereotypically has hero and villain characters, this film makes it unique by making Batman seem morally ambiguous as he is not always just good. This reflects real life and makes it more like a thriller, creating another unique selling point. This will allow the audience to relate to the film.

Another selling point is Heath Ledger's role in the trailer. His part in the film gained huge attention after his sudden death, combined with his posthumous nominations and awards.

Analysis of Candy Film Trailer

The trailer for ‘Candy’ begins with soft non-diegetic music playing along with the production company logo, ‘ThinkFilm’. A low angled medium close-up shot is shown of a man diving into water, which straight away signifies neutrality and tranquility for an audience, suggesting this film is a romantic one. A non-diegetic voice over begins with a deep male voice, most probably the thoughts of the man jumping into the water as a two shot is shown of the man kissing a woman under the water. The soft non-diegetic music starts again with an underwater shot of bubbles rising to the surface, again connoting calmness and neutrality.

Another two shot is shown of the couple swimming underwater, which dissolves into a close-up of a water ripple onscreen. The non-diegetic voice also starts again with, ‘when I first met Candy’ as we see a medium shot of the girl opening a door, suggesting to the audience that the woman is the eponymous hero; Candy. The girl is wearing a colourful summer dress which connotes happiness and sets the scene in terms of what time of year this is. She also has blonde wavy hair which suggests she is a feminine character and a ‘free spirit’ by wearing her hair down as well as such a colourful dress.

A low angle long shot is shown of gold stars falling from the sky, which is shown to be a match-on-action shot as they are shown falling on Candy from a high angled close-up shot. A long shot is then shown of people in formal attire, Candy in the middle holding balloons and smiling, suggesting this is her family and they are celebrating a special occasion. This shot which connotes happiness and excitement is then contrasted by a cut to a two shot of the couple sitting outside in what appears to be an neglected garden with bricks strewn everywhere and overgrown plants, which signifies a certain isolation and strange, obliviousness the couple have toward the world around them, which brings the two closer together, allowing the audience to focus on their relationship.

A medium two shot is then shown of the couple in a car alone; again, showing their isolation from the outside world. This then leads to other two shots of the couple, lying in bed next to one another, kissing, and just looking at one another which makes the audience feel uneasy at this strange, dysfunctional and warped relationship the two have, which is portrayed more as an addiction than love.

A medium shot of a middle-aged woman dressed smartly is shown crying and asking, ‘what happened to my beautiful little girl?’ which suggests she is the mother of Candy and is concerned for her wellbeing and safety. The couple are then individually shown in medium close-ups, crying and looking exhausted and ill. A two shot is then shown of Candy slapping the man across the face which shows the audience that the relationship is becoming dangerous and violent. The exhausted looks on their faces suggest they have been taking drugs and the violence proves this assumption further as the effects are highlighted.

A black screen is shown at the climax of this heated, volume increasing, speed increasing part of the trailer, before the contrasting first clip is shown again, only with Candy underwater, not her lover. More two shots are then shown of the two hugging and kissing, but not in a passionate way as before, more so a desperate and needy way as they are both suffering with drug addictions. The male’s non-diegetic voice over starts again with, ‘I wasn’t trying to wreck Candy’s life’, which suggests to the audience that he was the one to start her using drugs.

A long shot of Candy getting into a parked car on a street at night is shown, suggesting she is prostituting herself, as a close-up is then shown of her lover watching in a car behind. Close-ups of him and Candy are then shown smiling and happy, before a high angled close-up of the man screaming in a shower is shown, connoting fear and pain, usually a convention used in horror films to portray danger. More two shots are shown of the couple; happy, smiling, kissing and cuddling, before the white bold title fades in with a black background, ‘Candy’ followed by, ‘more is never enough’ which is an ambiguous phrase for an audience, as it could be referring to the love between the couple, or the drugs they take.