2. Identify which one of your products you are focusing on and its
purpose
• The product I will be focusing on is my A2 main coursework task
• It is a teaser trailer for a film called 'Casey's Journal' in the genre of a
teen drama
• The purpose of our teaser trailer was draw an audience in to the
storyline of the film and to show them elements in the teaser which
would make them want to go and watch the full film
3. Bring in the concept- briefly define
•Narrative is the art of telling a story, it is how the story is told
•Bordwell and Thompson approach narrative by breaking it down
into plot and story
•Plot is used to describe everything visible and audibly presented
in the film before us
•Story is the set of all the events in a narrative, both the ones
explicitly presented and those the viewer infers composes the
story
4. Apply theory to your media product with reference to detailed examples
• In the beginning of our teaser trailer, we use a mid-shot of Casey in her
bed, paired with a voiceover of her saying that it is her last day of school
tomorrow
• From this the audience can infer that Casey is a student who attends school
• In the middle of our teaser trailer, you can see a close up of Casey writing
in her journal the words 'I'm so done' followed with a mid-shot of her with
her head in her hands
• It is obvious from this that Casey is upset by friendship issues as a message
between friends alludes to this.
• At the end of our trailer, a teacher asked Casey to tell her exactly what
happened in an over the shoulder shot. Casey's facial expressions show
that she is disappointed in herself
• From this, the audience may think that Casey has got revenge, this is also
suggested by a text screen that we use that has the words 'Will she get her
revenge?' In it.
5. Bring in the concept- briefly define
• Roland Bathes' ideas are useful in considering to what extent my
teaser trailer used minor and major enigma codes to generate and
maintain audience interest in the film.
• Enigma codes are images or sequences which control how much we
know in the story
• He also introduced the idea of images or sequences which work as a
form of visual shorthand making complex ideas immediately
apparent and carrying the story forward. These are called action
codes.
6. Apply theory to your media product with reference to detailed
examples
