Film animatic and storyboards

The storyboards have acted as my main draft for my trailer for quite a while, thought it would help more in my trailer's assembly if I kept a short animatic storyboard of the clips in order and how I would have them portrayed in the film. This includes shot length etc. I think that my storyboard number will need to be increased as some shots are not portrayed accurately enough.

Cast and crew

To the great extent of my movie I will need around 10-13 actors and the following roles will need to be filled.

Main - John James
Mentor -Sam Taylor
Love Interest - Steph Egre

Villain - Richard Knibb
Undead fencer - Jonathan Bernstein
Undead Prefects x 3 -
Mugger/ Feeder vampire - Seb Robertson

Other vampires (any number) - Rebecca Curtis, Alice Butel
Fleeing girl - Pretoria Potter
'Wake up' vampires -

Crew:

Cameraman # 1:
Cameraman # 2:
Director 1st Unit: John James
Director 2nd Unit: Sam Taylor

Planning for the Main Task

Trailer
Script

Mentor: "Every person has a secret, it is human to conceal things about ourselves that we believe to be not normal"

Mentor: "But what do you do when you are not normal perhaps not even... human"

Main: "What are you?"

Love Interest: "You're a vampire"

Mentor: "Vampires are not like the stories you have been told, we can walk in the daylight and control our bloodlust... if we wish it"

Mentor: "But there are those who can't"

Villain: "The human race is a primitive form of what it truly can be. We are the next stage in evolution"

Mentor: "We must protect the humans, it is possibly the very meaning of our existence"

Main: "They're all over the school!"

Storyboards

The following storyboards are described by scene

1-3: A young woman is running down a car park in long shot, fade out. The same woman is now in mid shot running from the side, fade out. Close up from the front of her running. A car appears around the corner of the car park, tyre squeal sound effect added as it turns. Match on action of her feet. They turn to face the car. Fade out with a boom. The revs of the car are still heard.

4-6: Two people are walking down the waterfront, one is the mentor the other is the main. The Mentor's dialogue begins dialogue "Every person has a secret ... not normal". During this dialogue we are shown the mentor talking and the Main's reaction. The Main is on the side closer to the sea. The final shot has a quick fade out after "Normal"

7-8: We are shown two flashes after the last piece of dialogue. Each includes a fade in from black and a fade out to black. The first is the main being bitten on the neck in close up to incorporate both characters. The second is a gun being held that comes into shot.

9-12: Fade in from black to see the mentor having a gun raised at him, this is a point of view shot from behind a car. The dialogue interjects from the voiceover "But what ... even". Cut and then there is a nice perceptive shot of the gun and the attacker as the gun is raised. There is a cut and fade to black as we hear a gunshot. We fade in from black to see a hole in the mentor's clothing where the bullethole should be he reaches inside the clothing grabbing the bullet, the camera tilts up as we see him hold up the bullet and smiling "...human". This cuts to the the attacker looking in shock. We cut back to the POV and we see the mentor punch the attacker in the face, dropping him. We see the point where the mentor was standing as he walks away and we see the bullet drop to the floor.

13: We see a single long shot of the Main and mentor walking, the Main stops and the Mentor turns to look at him and we fade to black.

14-17: As we fade in from black we see a hand pulling out a sword from a bag, this moves into a close-up of an angry face. This cuts into a POV of behind the main that moves in closer. We see a mid-shot of this attacker raising the sword. A match on action of the blade coming down. We cut to the main who has blocked this attack fade out

18: Fade in. We see a close up of the Main asking the Love Interest "What are you?". Cut to a mid shot of her smiling. Cut to a mid shot from the side, she leans in, cut to a close up she replies "You're a vampire". Cut to a close up of the main's reaction. Fade out.

19-23: As dialogue kicks in "Vampires are not ... bloodlust". We fade in to see the Main staring out at the sunset in a long shot and we cut to behind. Fade to white, slightly from above we see the main look up, cut away and we see the sun. Cut back and he looks down. Cut and the Main is in mid shot walking toward the camera moving into a close up before fading out.
We see a shot through a window of people walking past and we cut to a mid shot of the main watching them with a slight zoom into a close shot. Fade to black.

24-25: Whilst the screen is still black "But there..." is spoken by the mentor. Fade in to a shot of a drop of blood on the floor and tilt up to an open cubicle door. "...are those of us who can't". Suspense music kicks in. Cut to a shot of the main looking up from the blood. A shot from the toilet cubicle sees the Main open the door and recoil in horror. Cut to white abruptly with an odd sound effect.

26-29: Fade in from white of a black shiny shoe step onto cobbles fade to white with the odd sound effect. Cut to a long shot of pidgeons flying away from the villain as he walks through them. Fade to white with the odd sound effect again as we see him smiling.
He speaks in a close up "The human race..." we cut away to see the Main blocking an attack from a manand punching him in longshot. Raverse shot in mid to see kicking a man across a open field reverse shot as he hits a wall. We fade to white and go enter a close up of the villain bitng a man/woman on the neck "We are the next ..." cut to the villain getting up and walking away in long shot. Go back to the same close up "... stage in evolution. Fade to white.

30-31: Fade out from white to see the mentor, in a zooming mid-shot to close up. He says to the camera "We must protect the humans...". Cut to a gun being cocked, cut to an over-shoulder shot of the mentor and the villain standing at opposite ends of an alleyway with the villain being further away then flash to white with a thunder boom sound and reverse over shoulder of the mentor, cut to black

32: dissolve into a POV shot of the Main waking up to see the other vampires. One of them tells him "Now you are truly living"

33-35: Follwing a set of flashing images of vampires, cut to a long shot of the Main kicking an opponent in the chest from the side. Then over shoulder shot to see the main doing a reverse kick the opponents face, cut to see the Main assuming a fighting stance. "So you're going to save us all?" fade to black

36-37: Fade in to see three prefects ascending the stairs outside the common room, cut to close up of the central one. Fade to black, close up of the main "Yes"

38-39: Cut to a tilting up image of the school. Cut to an image of the love interest in mid shot "This is stupid, a fledgling facing an experienced Vampire" cut to a close shot of the Main "That's why its going to work".

40 +: Atmospheric music and appealing shots from Act 3

• The mentor appearing from behind a car and shooting
• The main striking a prefect with a snooker cue
• Gear changes and a car chase scene
• The Main disappearing behind a car
• The Mentor hiding behind a wall
• The Love interest holding a gun to a man's head
• The Main swordfighting the undead fencer
• The Main shooting a gun
• The villain beating up the Main
• The mentor kicking an undead in the face

>40+: Cut to black, the mentor says "Thankfully, the best place to hide is right out in public" The main taps a vampire on the back, an over shoulder of the vampire with the main in shadow. And a POV from the opponent of the gun raised to his eyes. Cut to black and show the title.

As is probably necessary instead of having a definitive idea for the film trailer. I will simply film everything I need and then create the teaser trailer. If needed I will either create a short or long teaser.

A short teaser may be better than a long one in some ways, as it can provide a greater impact and mystery. Unfortunately this is only for big budget films, who can afford to create a teaser trailer with no similarity to the next teaser or the Theatrical trailer.

I think that in its present form my trailer can only really be filmed as a long one, as it gives so much content and so much away of the story.

Ideas for a short teaser

• The Woman from the opening is followed to her car by the villain, to a voiceover of the mentor, the two scenes of the mentor and the Main arriving and the Villain following the Woman. The woman is trapped between the car and the Villain. The Main and Mentor get out of the car and walk forward.
• In school teaser, the Main is shown around school before and after becoming a vampire, cut in with at the end bit of atmospheric clips

Poster

For the posters i will create a set of the following. All of the photos will be taken during a photoshoot and a variety of poses will be photographed so that I can be sure to get the best possible.

• The main
• The mentor
• The love interest and the villain
• The main and the mentor together

Magazine Cover

For the Film Magazine cover I will create the following:

Using some unused photos from the photoshoot, I will create the magazine cover, likely to feature a character.

Research into target audience

In order to help me establish what I am going have as the subject matter for my trailer, I will use a questionnaire to help me establish what people want. I will also explore where people more commonly see a teaser trailer or theatrical trailer.

1. How old are you?
5-10
11-14
15-18
19-21
22-35
36-50
50+

2. What attracts you to go and see a film, before it has been released (Tick as many as required)
Trailers in all forms (Teaser, tv spot)
Poster
Magazine publicity
Website
Reviews
Television documentaries


3. What attracts you to see a film, after its release (Same as above)
Trailers (Teaser, tv spot incl.) 
Posters
Magazine publicity
Website
Reviews
Television documentaries

4. What kind of film do you prefer
Action
Epic
Romantic
Comedy
Sci-fi
Disaster

5. Where do you most often see a film trailer
Internet
Cinema
DVD
CD
other

From this research i deduced that a movie poster acts a reminder to a potential audience that  a certain film is being released rather than acting as a main form of marketing campaign.

The trailers and tv spots were the main method of people being attracted to a film before its release with the television documentary a close second, this is likely due to the majority of people being asked are within the 15-18 bandwidth meaning a probable increased exposure to tv.

Following a film's release the trailer and tv spot rank extremely high still so it is extremely important that i get it right. Reviews and other forms of print rank higher now due to word being spread about the film's quality. 

In general the highest proportion of genre selected is of the action genre, again predictable due to the 15-18 range target audience. Although a certain proportion asked for romantic, this is possibly due to the fact that i had not separated boys from girls on this occasion. 

I was again not surprised by the fact that now the most common place for people to see film trailers is on the internet with the cinema coming a close second. This is due to the popularity of video-sharing sites such as youtube and the film industry has had to adapt to this by allowing the film's trailers to be released and effectively it is free publicity. 

Results of findings

Assuming the fact that the majority of my target audience is in the 15-18 and 19-25 region:

• I want the trailer to be full of action and to appear cool so that this age group will watch it. This could be accomplished by the use of music in the trailer.
• I would possibly need to think about releasing the trailer on the internet as well as in cinemas and on the website  
  

Results of research into similar media texts

Trailer
My research shows that the definition of a teaser trailer is not well defined, it can be defined as a trailer released well before a cinematic release or theatrical trailer. The length of a teaser trailer is also not well defined. In many of those i have watched they have been of varying length, anywhere from a minute to 2 minutes 30 seconds. With this lack of definition in the length of a teaser i will choose what i believe to better which is coincedentally the 2 minute 30 trailer as it seems more like a real trailer.

The trailer that has stuck in my head is that of 'The Wolfman', I was immediately hooked by the trailer and held to the screen with the voiceover and the surrounding clips. I continued to watch the trailer of my own accord. I will try to emulate this in my own trailer.

This trailer will have the typical 4 act structure for a trailer:

• Act 1 - Features an introduction the main characters and the world
• Act 2 - Tells the audience about the current situation of the charactersm, usually all this and the above show clips from act 1
• Act 3 - Introduces the villain or the threat the the main characters and shows the main characters' initial response. These are usually clips from act 2 and the beginning of act three.
• Act 4 - features atmospheric clips from all three acts along with a fitting music track.

Magazine Cover

Must include all the necessary codes and conventions of a film magazine including:

• A masthead
• A main story
• Main model image
• limited side stories
• Possible free offers

It also must appeal to a broad audience and not just focus on the audience attracted by the main image. 

It also must have a strict colour scheme that is maintained across the cover and the model is usually the base for the scheme

Website

Must contain:

•  a basic description of the film
  
• A video section (containing the trailer)
• A gallery featuring images from the film
• Extras such as downloadable content

This must also follow a colour scheme and remain synched to the other products, especially the trailer itself 

Early Drafts of the Project

Trailer

I have currently have two ideas for my film either one of a Lord of the Rings style epic, or a teen vampire still in school.

Upon further revision of this I have decided that it would be far more cost effective to create the teen vampire still in school as the Lord of the Rings style epic would cost too much for me alone to finance. However the teen vampire idea is far cheaper and easier to create the mise en scene as I am still in a school and therefore it is easier to create.

Website

I will create the website using Wix.com and work from a template and build around the other two texts and expand on them. I will use video and picture media to create the subtleties of the website. It will also include content from the other two projects

Magazine cover

For the Magazine cover I will use the photos obtained during the photoshoot and select the image with the greatest amount of impact for the magazine cover. The image will most probably be of a main character, or perhaps more.

Research into similar media text

Trailer

Trailer 1 - The Matrix Reloaded TeaserThe trailer begins with the matrix code scrolling down the screen which immediately tells the audience the film series as it is so recognisable. This trailer uses a voiceover from Laurence Fishbourne (Morpheus) to describe the situation. They use many flashing images that are difficult for the brain to process accompanied by a flashy sound effect with every changing image.We are then given the studio names, followed by slightly longer clips of dramatic pieces in the film, and then cutting down these clips to be intermittent with the matrix code. 

The dramatic slides stop as an old fashioned television would possibly representing the matrix.

We are now treated to a very modern "Wake up" by rage against the machine, displaying a few short clips that portray some of the film's action.
The focus of the trailer is to tell the audience that the end of the war is nearing and the events of the film will decide who wins.

Camera shot

1. The camera shots are used as a set up for the story similar to the opening of a film, various loacations are used. They use close ups and mid shots almost entirely for characters

2. For actions, only the cool looking shots are used. Such as Neo leaping up to a balcony in a long shot.

3. The Villains are usually empowered in these shots, using a low-angle

Editing

1. The editing cuts use the fade outs, such as fade to black and fade to white

2. Only shots that look appealing are chosen and atmospheric, they are usually cut together quite fast

Sound

1. The sound effects for the trailer include a futuristic sound used for the matrix crawl

2. The music used during act 3 is "Wake up" by Rage against the Machine

Mise-en-scene

1. Eveything within the film is within 'the Matrix world' so everything has to fit from costume to decor

2.In terms of costume, the good guys wear black and the bad guys wear anything including white

3. Everything within the matrix has a slight green tinge in the lighting

4. Actors from the last film return

5. Weapons, glasses, spaceships are all staples of the matrix world

Trailer 2 - New Moon teaser

This was another early teaser put out to combat Harry Potter 6 close to opening week, by distracting some of the more hardcore twilight fans.
We are given clips of the pivotal scene within this sequel, Bella's birthday, even a using slo-mo to distinguish how fast the vampires move. Similar to the matrix it cuts from scene to scene using screen to black, then a black to screen. The trailer clearly displays the problems of being with a vampire to the audience as Bella gets hurt regardless of Edward protecting her from his brother.
The new film heartthrob :@ Jacob is introduced as being 'buff' by having a scene completely out of continuity with the rest of the trailer appear with his shirt off (1:26). This clearly attracts a female audience. The trailer also introduces him as Bella's new protector as he dramatically transforms into a wolf in a mid-air jump to protect Bella, not only does it look cool but makes you want to see more


This follows a three act structure fairly well. Act 1 is Bella's birthday before the party, where everything is as fine and normal as can be. Act 2 is the party where Edward is forced to protect Bella from another vampire, she loses edward, just like a typical act 2 everything goes badly. Act 3 Bella is being threatened again by another vampire, this time she is protected by Jacob who transforms into a wolf, the problem is solved she has a new protector from the vampires

Camera shot

1. The focus of this trailer is on the change of Bella's situation, most of the camera shots include her unless it is used for the dialogue of another character

2. The camera shots used here are also mostly mid shots and close ups

3. There is only one cool shot used, to highlight it's importance, using special effects in one leap Jacob jumps over bella and transforms into a wolf#

Editing

1. Fade to black is also used often here

Sound

1. Music is sombre, mirroring the loss of Edward

2. Sound effects include the wolf growling

Mise-en-scene

1. Vampires all wear dark suits or slightly more seductive clothing, Bella wears a coat

2. Lighting adjusts depending on the place

3. Actors are all returning from the last film

4. The vampire actors are all covered in pale make-up

Trailer 3 - The Last Airbender teaser


This was a very early to be released trailer, about a year and 3 months before expected release, the idea of this trailer due to it's large budget is to encourage a hype over the release, as the film itself has already received criticism over its casting and has lost a few die hard fans in the process.


The trailer begins with a chinese accented flute stereotypical of the genre. We see a room filled with candles arranged in a circle, a child practices martial arts and magic around the room to a newly introduced chinese drums. The voiceover's purpose here is to describe the character and his origins and the surrounding world. Words such as "chosen one" and "bring balance to a world at war" are used allowing the audience to picture it.
As the voiceover ends dramatic brass instruments are introduced as we zoom out of the 'temple' we were inside before, we tilt down to see a large cliff face with people apparently scaling it. As we pan across and tilt slightly upwards we can see ships in the ocean, as we tilt further up, in a Star Wars 'Star Destroyer-esque' moment, a fleet of massive destroyer ships fire huge balls of fire at the temple before we are blocked out by the oncoming ammunition.

Camera Shot
1. The mid shot for the opening scene is maintained during the voiceover, occasionally shifting to long shot and moving around the actor, but never showing his face

2. The camera shots tend to hide everything in this trailer to give a bigger reveal, such as the massive ships and the kids face

3. This trailer doesn't use the rapid cuts, this in a way operates like a scene from the film

Editin

1. There are very few cuts until after the appearance of the main title

2. The trailer has been cleverly edited using masked cuts

Sound

1. Chinese drums and pipes have been used at the start of the scene, and later utilises heavier drums with western orchestra

2. Sound effects such as the wind moving are used, and the fire ball crackling

Trailer 4 - Enter the matrix (Theatrical trailer)

This trailer is quite powerful and attractive. It uses the concept of breaking free as a means to attract its audience rather than the action sequences that it used in later films and were only considered a plus here.

The trailer also uses the concept of the possible and impossible and as such the matrix as being 'the veil pulled over your eyes'. This is displayed by Trinity's jump at the beginning of the trailer.

The trailer also uses the atmospheric shots from the film such as the bulletime sequence and Neo leaping backwards off the traintracks.

The Agents are already introduced as the icons of fear by being virtually undefeatable and having a strong negative perception of the human race 'Human beings are like a cancer of this planet, and we are the cure'

Trailer 5 - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

The trailer features the introduction of the dagger of time and Dastan immediately, it also reveals that it has time control effects. It also tells us how others would use the dagger for evil, it also reveals the films purpose 'to take the dagger to the secret guardian temple'.

It then introduces assassins, the evil enemies in act 3 of the trailer and also introduces the Princess as the love interest. 

The 4th act begins relatively early in this trailer around 2/3 of the way through and features many dramatic shots.

Camera shots

Trailer 6- The Wolfman

This trailer is rather long for a teaser trailer at 2:30 in length there is no other way to describe it than meaty. This was released a full six months before the theatrical release.

This trailer also follows clearly the trailer three act structure, this includes something that grabs attention at the beginning. 

The trailer begins with a man being killed quickly in an unseen way once he turns around with his lantern. The voiceover begins "It was 25 years ago that me father found him, he was torn to pieces and half eaten. Whatever did it was big, and potshot couldn't kill it. After that me father went home and cast silver bullets and wouldn't leave the house on a full moon from then on" The Universal credits then fade to a full moon with the logo fading to cloud.

We are then introduced to the story, a son returns home to his father. His brother has been killed, and there is an investigation occurring from London. They are told they are in mortal peril. And the hero gets bitten by the monster.

There is a lot of dialogue thrown in such as "peril" and "curses". We are shown that the hero has become a monster too. It is known by the villagers that the monster is a human that changes into a beast. The hero is shown to have been found out as the monster.

The hero has a descent into darkness once he is tortured. He is shown to be transforming in front of them. Now the atmospheric music kicks in and we are shown many different atmospheric shots of the beast's rampage. Finally after the title "The Wolfman" is shown we are shown an extra scene of a woman fleeing from the beast.

Website

http://www.whatisthematrix.com

This website uses a lot of cross-media convergence, the colors in the website match the colour scheme of the movie, being the green and blue. The website also features pictures of the characters, increasing the connection to the actual film. The website also uses other media such as desktops and screen savers.

The website also advertises its own products for example the Blu-ray edition of "The Matrix".

It includes a video section including trailers, a gallery of images and downloads

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/sorcerersapprentice/

This website is probably far more appropriate to use as a base than my own. This film has not identified its own brand yet, or been released in cinemas. At present the website itself is very basic and doesn't seem to provide the audience with a greater sense of allure to the film. 

It contains a basic outline to the plot, a small gallery of three images and the recently released teaser trailer. The only consistent thing here is the coloration, this being black and blue.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/princeofpersia/index2.html

The website is very modern, this is possibly due to it being closer to its release date than the above film. It features mostly white and red for the website colour, contrasting the usual vibrant colours associated with the middle east. 

It also contains an about section, a video section and a gallery. Similar to the above albeit at a later stage in production. I should really try and aim for something like this in my project

Magazine Cover

Empire 1 "The Joker"

This magazine follows specific codes and conventions designed to make the magazine appeal to an audience and sell. This is done by creating interest through the content. The main way to do this is through the model and main feature text, usually current and in the interests of the target audience, in this case a big budget movie of a well known franchise. Other cover stories are kept to the side.

This magazine cover may not feature 'The Dark Knight" logo itself but the Joker is an easily recognisable character along with "the bat" image. This creates a Batman connotation. The colour scheme is also very bright, consisting of purples and green to match with the character model himself using green and purple creating a synergy between the image and the magazine. The word "Joker" looks as though it is taken from a newspaper clipping message indicating to us that he is a criminal.

This is our first look at the character so it  quotes "Meet the Joker... Batman's new nemesis". Heath Ledger upon posing for this image obviously was told to pose in a certain way to make the character look interesting. The reason that this cover is so engaging is because of the eye contact made between the model and the reader.

Note that the Masthead stays the same red that it always has been and is recognised as Empire magazine.

Empire 2

Undoubtably the main feature of this cover is bond looking roughed up to go with the tagline under the cover story "Quantum of Solace", "...The bloodiest Bond ever". The cover image is taken in the middle of the desert and some of the colour scheme has changed to match this. The side stories have backdrops with white text to stand out. The other colours featured are red and black, with the exception of the blue top line and horizon.

The theme of this cover seems to be England, which is of course what James Bond stands for and in the desert scene works well. Again the red masthead is present to be recognised as Empire magazine.

Empire 3

Here the colour scheme focuses mainly on light blue. This cover also complies well with the rule of thirds with Optimus Prime standing dead on the line of the third.

Prime is the main feature as it is stated on the topline "World's first look" this meaning that he is the centre of attention and capitalising on the fact that his image will draw an audience.

The side stories comply with the main story feature"2009's must see movies" being Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter 6 and Inglorious Basterds respectively. This is very likely to draw a large audience.

The masthead once again remains the same.