Shamar Latty

Evaluation for Film Trailer

For the film trailer the task was to create a two minute long clip based on the

genre Gritty British Realism. Once I was aware of what I needed to do I started

to come up with ideas in which would be useful to feature in the trailers

storyline. The initial idea that I came up with was for there to be a narrative at

the beginning of the trailer with the character explaining his move to London

and what he expected his new life to be. Whilst the narrator is speaking I

would have footage of London’s iconic buildings in the background such as Big

Ben & the London Eye and then it will switch to the gritty side on London. The

reason for this is because I wanted the audience to see the contrast between

the two views of London.

The influences that had given me the idea for my trailer was mainly from

previous films I have watched such as Kidulthood as in the film they smoke

and sell drugs. Also I got suggestions from my teacher and my students in my

class in which I then in cooperated them into my trailer

Before filming for the trailer could commence I had to produce a storyboard in

order to have clear understanding of what I wanted to include during the two

minutes and think of a gritty storyline which would relate to genre set by the

examiner. Similar to my preliminary film storyboard I mentioned the type of

camera shots I will be using and the purpose of these camera shots. As well as

the storyboard I also needed to create a shooting script as it would help me

direct during the filming stages and allow me to remember all the resources I

needed for the footage. The main resource that was needed was the camera

in order to film the scenes and fully charged battery incase the other battery

went flat. As the theme of the trailer was gritty I had to include props such as

drugs and alcohol and because I wanted my trailer to be realistic as possible I

used the two main drugs that many people are aware of which was weed and

cocaine. As we could not use the real thing I had to find an alternative, which

looked exactly like the substance. The alternative that I found was thyme (for

the weed) icing sugar (for the cocaine) and I used an empty alcohol bottle and

filled it with water. Another prop that I used during my trailer was money as

this is also involves.

When I began filming the scenes for my film trailer I wanted to include a

variety of camera shots angles and movements. The reason for this is because

by adding different angles it makes the quality of the footage look better and it

will keep the audience in engaged in the scene as more than one thing is

happening. Once my trailer was completed I began the editing all the footage. I

used the same editing software that I used when I was editing my preliminary

film as I found it much easier to use; also I preferred the special effects they

had. This editing software was final cut pro.

There were many challenges that I faced during the process. The main

problem I had was finding suitable locations that matched the genre of the

trailer. I went on the hunt to look for a decent estate to film on but many of the

estates I found were not gritty enough. I solved this problem by deciding to find

Shamar Latty

a different location to film in as all the estates didn’t look gritty enough to suit

the genre. Another challenge I had to face was casting my actors. As I couldn’t

decide on who I wanted to use for my film trailer I ended up being the

character in my trailer as I thought it would have been easier as I wouldn’t

have to relay on others. However I did use two other people for scenes when I

was dealing the drugs. As well as this another issue I faced was when I was

editing my footage on final cut pro they didn’t have any gritty music on there

programme so I had to find gritty music from other websites that would allow

me to download it for free.

The mise-en-scene of my trailer allows my audience to know what time of era

the film is set it. They are able to see this because of the type of locations that

are shown in my trailer, for example you can see The London Eye, Big Ben, and

Trafalgar Square. These locations are very popular and are very modern in

today’s society. Another way the audience can tell the mise-en-scene is by the

quality of the film trailer. The scenes were filmed on a HD camera and this

shows that the film is set now as films that were made 20 years ago were

either filmed in black or white or the quality of the footage was not as good.

The realism of my trailer is meant to relate to real life situations that happen to

teenagers on a daily basis such as crime and drug dealing. A high percentage

of teenagers are always involved in illegal activities whether it’s an illegal

substance like drugs or carrying a weapon (knife). Because I wanted my trailer

to relate to the target audience who are teenagers I decided to base my trailer

on drugs.

What I liked about creating my film trailer is that I got to work with different

people that I have never really worked with before. Also I had more experience

in creating a piece of footage as I had learnt from my mistakes I made on my

preliminary film which made me more aware of what to do. Another thing I

liked about creating my film trailer was adding voiceovers and gritty music. I

think the voiceovers helped the audience understand the trailer even more

and the type of music also highlighted the genre of the trailer. A negative side

about my film trailer is that it I didn’t have enough scenes for the trailer to

evolve a bit more for the audience to understand it a little bit better. However,

because of the voiceover it allowed the audience to understand what was

happening throughout the scenes. Overall, I am pleased with my film trailer as

I was able to stick to the genre (Gritty British Realism) and create a storyline

which many teenagers will be able to relate to as it is a very popular topic that

many teenagers are aware off. I also put a lot of time and effort into filming

and editing the footage.