Thomas Welsh

1. E V A L U A T I O N Q U E S T I O N 1
I N W H A T W A Y S D O
Y O U R M E D I A P R O D U C T S
U S E , D E V E L O P , A N D
C H A L L E N G E F O R M S A N D
C O N V E N T I O N S O F R E A L
M E D I A P R O D U C T S ?
T H O M A S W E L S H

2. TRAILER LENGTH (00:01:37).
8/5/2018 A2 Media Studies: Evaluation Question One 2
The length of my trailer is one minute and thirty seven seconds, as you can see from the
links below, which are of the film noir genre (which my trailer is a modern take on), this is
a conventional time for a trailer, as the two examples are 2:03, and 2:05 long. This is
slightly longer than the length of my trailer, however, as I mentioned my trailer is a
modern take on the genre, and is edited to be somewhat faster paced. This is slightly
challenging to standards of the traditional genre, and is part of my modern take,
developing the convention, and possibly creating its own convention in this case.
“hidden fear trailer 1957 film noir”
https://youtu.be/dcF5sADOZLU
“Trailer For Chicago Confidential,
1950's Film Noir”
https://youtu.be/fN5QzPJaf3w

3. THE PACE OF MY TRAILER.
8/5/2018 A2 Media Studies: Evaluation Question One 3
My trailer is fast paced compared to the conventions of the traditional film noir and
detective-based thriller genres, as I utilise lots of fast cuts and sped-up clips throughout. I
chose to challenge this convention to help set my trailer aside as a definitively modern take
on these genres, displaying the fast paced action that more modern films and viewers are
accustomed to. This is not to say that I have redacted information on the plot from my trailer
for the sake of this pace; the faster pace was curated to illustrate the tension that would be
perceived within the full movie. The fast cuts and scene transitions seen in my trailer are not
directly challenging to the existing conventions, however the shorter amount of time spent
within each scene/set of directly related scenes is challenging to the traditional form of the
trailer. However, I believe my trailer develops on this convention as the shorter scenes and
faster transitions and cuts are used as a tension creating mechanic (used heavily in the
thriller genre), and serve to increase the ambiguity in the plot of my film – whilst still
adequately giving the audience enough information to understand the basic story line. The
faster-than-usual pace of my trailer works as a simple yet effective tool to keep the audience
captivated throughout the length of the video.

4. MISE-EN-SCENE.
I also portrayed this tension through the mise-en-scene of my trailer, using props such as the
rings, (one of which was bought specifically as it has a recognisable ‘peace’ symbol on it, the same
symbol that was stamped onto the neck of the first victim seen in the trailer) which are used to
connotate an atmosphere in which the viewer suspects every character in the trailer, by them
being shown in multiple places, such as the scene of the second crime, and on the fingers of one
of the interviewees of the detective.
The contrast with the costume/dress of the detective and everyone else seen in the trailer
connotes the possibility that the detective is not who he seems, which is added to the weariness of
the characters that would be otherwise perceived as ‘good’ or ‘neutral’. This is a conventional
theme in noir films, as they often cause you to take a step back and analyse the characters from a
different angle – “can good people do bad things”. The noir genre is conventionally thought
provoking and gritty, something I carried over into my trailer.
8/5/2018 A2 Media Studies: Evaluation Question One 4

5. GRAPHICS USED TO CONNOTE GENRE – 1.
Noir trailers contain a lot of typography, used somewhat to compensate for the bad sound quality that many
recordings had in the 1940s/50s. Therefore, keeping with my modern take on the genre, I used some of these
typographic elements to inspire my trailer, but did not use them to explain the story of the film, a convention
used in traditional noir films. I created my trailer to have good continuity that the audience can follow.
• Here I used the common trope of a stage light, which I animated within Adobe After Effects to highlight and
shine over the text for my production company with a direct beam that is often seen over the main character
in a noir style film poster or other advertisement material. I developed this convention to signify the genre of
my film within the first 5 seconds of the trailer.
8/5/2018 A2 Media Studies: Evaluation Question One 5

6. This graphic uses only greyscale colours, meaning it fits to the form of standard noir trailer. In addition to this
the design used large black space to create silhouettes of the type, a common theme within the noir genre,
where silhouettes, and lighting that establishes large shadows over people or objects, to create obscurity and
keep the audience engaged.
GRAPHICS USED TO CONNOTE GENRE – 2.
8/5/2018 A2 Media Studies: Evaluation Question One 6

7. GRAPHICS USED TO
CONNOTE GENRE – 3.
This design relates to the
typography commonly seen in
noir films that I mentioned
earlier, it takes direct inspiration
from these films, meaning the
title conforms to conventions. It
challenges them in a minor way
with the use of a more modern
font, which I believe signifies the
change to a more modern
setting within my film idea and
trailer.
8/5/2018 A2 Media Studies: Evaluation Question One 7

8. SOUND EFFECTS
IN MY TRAILER.
I did not use any sound effects in the main section of my trailer. This is due to the nature of
all of the sound in my trailer being diegetic, and therefore was recorded by the Zoom
microphone I used whilst filming the scenes. The sound effects would also be somewhat
overshadowed by the soundtrack present in the composition. A solution to this would be
lowering the volume of the music for portions of the trailer that have sound effects, however
this would cause the trailer to lose some of its continuity, and may only serve to break the
immersive affect of the trailer on the audience. This is also a common trait for noir films,
however, detective, and thriller films often use sound effects to create tension. In my hybrid
genre I have chosen to use the mise-en-scene of my trailer to give hints about the plot, as
well as fast editing and montages to create this otherwise missing tension in my trailer.
One portion where I did use sound effects was in the animated production logo that I
created, sound effects on the title cards would conventionally be present in noir films
however my modern take on the genre means that I have the freedom and technology to
create a more immersive atmosphere, adding greater depth to this portion of the trailer.
<LINK TO ANIMATED PRODUCTION LOGO WITH EFFECTS.>
8/5/2018 A2 Media Studies: Evaluation Question One 8