IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

RESEARCH IN TO CONVENTIONS OF TRAILER GENRES!

To start with i have researched using ‘YouTube’ at the trailers which fit under the particular genre which i have chosen to base my trailer on, romantic. I have firstly pulled up a list on google.com of the top romantic films to find out which ones to look at. This list brought up all sorts of trailers from different ages from ‘Casablanca’ to ‘the notebook’ After typing these films into YouTube to find their trailer to go with the film i was able to see the conventions which have been used.

I was able to link to a variety of different websites to find out the latest romantic films and the types of audience who currently watch them. I wanted to find out the forms and conventions which would not only appeal to the genre of my trailer but also my target audience as i would not be able to attract the attention of my target audience if the trailer didn’t interest them enough.

CONVENTIONS OF ROMANTIC FILMS!

To start with i have researched into the conventions of a romantic film. I found out while researching into the forms and conventions that each separate genre has different forms and conventions to fit in with the film.

Conventions of a romantic film:--Two main characters are usually shown, a boy and a girl.-The shots flow together.-The music is soft and relates to the connection between the characters. -The shots are bright.-The shots which are shown are filmed in fields, forests, houses and other areas to reflect the romance which is trying to be shown.-The trailer is very much concentrated on the two main characters. -No voice over-Titles to say what is happening in the film and information about the characters, producers and other films which have been made by the same director. -Like many trailer, the audience is left on a cliff hanger.

FILMS WHICH INSPIRED ME!

When using Youtube.com to research romantic films i came across some films which inspired me more then others for different reasons. At the start of ‘Time Travellers Wife’ the shots are off a pan across then fading into a pan upwards. This gave me the idea of my first opening shots. I wanted to create the same effect with two pans fading into one another. I decided to use a pan of a field and a pan up a tree as an establishing shot. This is also an area which is linked to romantic films therefore the location helped to show the genre of my trailer. The majority of the films i have researched only include two characters, a boy and a girl, therefore i have used this in my work to show that it is a romantic film. More characters could have changed the feel to the trailer making people think its a family film instead of a romantic film aimed at teenagers. When researching into the trailers i realised that many of the trailers end on a note where the situation is just about to go wrong or something sad is going to happen. I wanted this to happen in my trailer therefore at the very end of my trailer i have added in a section of footage where the two characters are holding hand and separating as if something is happening and they are going to split up. I feel this effect works well with my trailer as the rest of my trailer shows the two main characters having a laugh and getting to know each other, if i had left the trailer like that as it was then people wouldn't become as drawn to my trailer making it unsuccessful to my target audience. When people watch a trailer they want to be left on a cliff-hanger so they will go back and pay money to watch the whole film.

FILMS WHICH INSPIRED ME!

I have found out by researching into other romantic films that they tend not to have a voice over, the narrative is shown by the pictures and subtitles which pop up in-between the different shots. Many films such as Moulin rouge, The Notebook, Time travellers wife and Love Happens use titles to help explain the narrative and give the audience more information on the film. I wanted to use this idea in my trailer therefore i had to decided on a suitable background and font to use. When decided on a background i looked at the types of background existing trailers have used. They have used all kinds of things for the background including a moving, almost animated, background, colourful background, a scroll as a background and in some of the trailers the shot image is used for the background. I wanted a background top fit in with the genre of my film trailer, therefore after experimenting with a numerous different backgrounds i have decided to stick with a background of a weathered piece of paper. I wanted to use this as this reminded me of old romantic love letters from the olden days. I have decided to have the majority of my titles on this, however i have brought one of my titles on top of the shot as i felt this was the easiest way to establish the actors names in the trailer, these titles came on next to the characters themselves as they were acting.

I had to use a suitable font to be extended on to the top of the background which i have chosen. I wanted the font to fit in with the rest of my trailer and the genre of a romantic film. I have decided to use a calligraphy style font to represent someone's writing. This works well on top of the background as the background looks like an old fashioned piece of paper where love letters were written on.

FILMS WHICH INSPIRED ME!

When creating my trailer I wanted to keep a happy feel to the trailer up until the end. I feel I have created this effect through the lighting I have used in my trailer. I have made sure all my shots are light and therefore it helps to keep a happy mood throughout the film. When creating my trailer I have looked at existing romantic trailers to try and get a feel for the different types of shots they have used. In the trailers of ‘The Notebook’ and ‘TimeTravellers Wife’ the producer has decided to show the majority of the shots of the two characters happy and playing around. I have taken this idea and tried to use it in my trailer. I wanted the majority of the shots to be happy mood so that the audience are clear this is a film about the two characters and it isn’t all bad. I have added in the very end piece of drama to show that the film isn’t just about the two characters being happy and that ‘not everyone is perfect’.

I have decided to use the phrase ‘Not everyone is perfect’ as this is a phrase which people use outside of films. When couples have arguments and disagreements they say not everyone is perfect. Many typical Disney films show a ‘Prefect’ prince charming in them where as in the real world this isn't realistic. I have created this title to come in at the very end of my trailer to show the way in which something goes wrong. I wanted to leave my audience on a cliff hanger and I feel this is works well in doing so.