Form and Genre evaluation

1. EVALUATION:HOWDID WE USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGECONVENTIONS OF
GENREAND FORM? –David 8030
Throughoutthe past 9 monthswe have beenworkingtowardsapromotional package,which
consistsof a trailer,filmposterandmagazine cover;fora filminthe political dramagenre andnow
we have finallynearlyfinished.AsIevaluate ourworkthoughI realise thatone of the mostnotable
difficultieswe facedwasbalancingformandgenre.Forinstance,whileresearchingandplanningfor
the trailerI foundoutthat a trailersformand structure onlychangesa little bitratherthana lot to
compensate the depictedgenre,andeventhenitdifferspergenre i.e.actionhaslesscharacter
developmentthana romanticdrama.The formof a trailerisalsoverydifferenttothe formof an
openingsequence whichwe createdinourASworkmeaningthatwe were at firstquite surprisedat
some of the restrictionsatrailerhasincomparison.Bothof these issuesbasicallymeansthatitwas
challengingforustobalance the form of a trailerwithan accurate representationof ourchosen
genre andplot.
Alternatively,the situationcanappliedtothe makingof the filmposterandmagazine cover,more so
the magazine coveras while we hadtobalance the needstomarketand promote ourfilm, we also
had to actuallysell the magazine astheynotonlypromote otherfilmsof differentgenresbuthave
interviewswithdirectorsandactors/actressestoo.Inlightof the difficultywe thenfacedhopefully
thispostwe puttogetherwill thenshedsome lightonthe decisionswe made toourproductsin
relationtothe formand genre.

2. 1) Following the trailer form
a) Institutional features
Ratings Card –
We knew it was important to create a ratings card for our trailer as it is vital in order to stay
within the conventions of a trailer. A ratings card is used within a trailer to inform the
audience that this is an official movie, but also inform the audience the age rating of the
film. There are two types of rating cards that are globally known and that is the Motion
Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings card, and the British Board of Film
Classification (BBFC) ratings card. The BBFC includes an age rating while the MPAA does not
and it also looks much more authentic as it has the BBFC logo and signatures from their
officials.
MPAA Ratings Card:
BBFC RatingsCard:

3. Ident –
We wanted our Ident to represent the name of our film company and I think we did an
excellent job in replicating this. The Houses of Parliament in the background links in with our
London theme of the movie and this with the computer mouse click enforcing the view of
“Selecting” the media. The ident was made on Adobe AfterEffects and we stuck to normal
ident conventions by having a small animation and a jingle to compliment it.
Title-
The title of the trailer gets revealed at the end of the trailer after a sharp fade to black
following a disturbing scene of the protagonist being vaccinated against her own will. The
title of our trailer does not necessarily fit in with the standard conventions of a trailer title as
we have added an animation onto our title. The “I” in “Immune” has been replaced by a
squirting syringe which we created in Adobe AfterEffects. This was something we had not
seen before in previous trailers and we thought it would look unique and original to include
the animation.
End Credits-
In the end credits, you can see us crediting the actors/actresses, producers, the director and
various members of crew that assisted in the making of our filmand we made this using the
billing block from our film poster as a template. Apart from the end credit block being a very
significant convention, it is also important in the sense that it contains exterior links to our
social media promotional campaign that the audience can go to, for example we have used
the Twitter @ImmuneMovie to allow the audience to interact with our cast. We have also
included our films webpage so the consumer can access unique content, and a release date
so they have a rough idea of when our film will hit the screens.

4. b) Structure
The first thing we learnt when we began planning our trailer was that the structure was
different to Todorov's narrative for films
Unlike Todorov's narrative; which structured a film into five parts - the equilibrium, the
disruption, the resolution, the restoration of order and then the new equilibrium; a trailer
structure is described by Stephen Garret as the 3 Act structure;
 Act I - Establishes the characters and the location, usually at a slow pace with long
takes (in relation to the rest of the trailer)
 Act II - Introduces obstacles which complicates the characters world and shows their
reactions, here the pace and shot length increases in speed
 Act III - Trying to find a solution for the obstacle through a montage sequence, this
can showcase the highlights of the filmto help 'sell' the idea
Despite this being the conventional trailer structure, it does tend to change slightly per
genre as previously mentioned. Due to this we have then developed the conventional trailer
structure to fit our particular genre's needs.
In relation to our trailer, we can clearly see the three act structure within our editing
timeline. We stuck with Stephen Garrets theory and used the three acts as a way to break
down our trailer and showcase our best scenes.
 Act I – We used this act to set the location of London and also used the news report
to give the audience a large amount of information in a subtle way. We included long
takes to ease the audience into the trailer.
 Act II – the second act then begins with the complication of the two protagonists
being followed which then leads to added pressure on the two causing civil conflicts

5. and doubt behind the rebellion. Shot length increases and the audience begin to
understand the dilemma of the characters.
 Act III – This is our montage sequence and is used to build up tension and suspense
by using quick shots with small screen time which showcase our most shocking
scenes. This is also complimented with the fast paced music which keeps the
audience of the edge of their seats.
Furthermore, we have then not strictly followed the conventional format of a trailer but
instead developed it as we have included more shots in our montage sequence that help to
'sell' the filmrather than to further the narrative
c) Selling Techniques
Throughout our trailer there are several unique selling points that would grab the attention
of the audience and would hopefully influence them to come watch our film.
Our Cast:
 David Campbell - We chose David to play James as he is an upcoming actor with
plenty of potential and he already has a small but established fan base behind him
which he obtained in his previous film The Lonely One. He also fitted in perfectly with
the film as a teenage, middle class boy from London playing a “teenage, middle class
boy from London, forming a rebellion, taking on Government officials”.
 Beth McKenna – Beth was chosen as a supporting actress because she worked along
side David in his previous filmand so the fact that they are again working together
could be a selling technique as their fans may want to see how their chemistry has
changed.
 Supporting Actors- Usually in drama films, the main lead is cast as a well-known
actor with plenty of pedigree. This is because the cast for dramas tends to be small
as we follow the lives of certain individuals, this convention is evident in Seven
Pounds where the protagonist is played by Will Smith and the film follows only him
throughout. However, as we have cast our main character James as David, who is
relatively new in the business, you can see that we've developed this convention.
This can be seen in how we have employed a widely renowned actor and actress in
the supporting roles. The actor, Nebin Babu and the actress, Sarah Towlson, are both
big names in the business. While Nebin is popular in the drama genre, Sarah has
several accolades throughout her work across all genres. Because of this our film can
still appeal to the more mainstream audience who enjoy both Nebin's and Sarah's
work as well as our film having the opportunity to receive press attention.

6. 2) Establishing Genre
Due to the requirementsof ourgenre,we knew thatdue tothe trailersverycompressedformwe
had to successfullyandefficientlymake sure thatthe audience wouldheavilyinvestinour
characters andtheiremotions.Consequently,thiswasone of the more difficultaspectsof ourtask
as we had to conveyourcharacters ina limitedamountof time andspace.
a) Characters andNarrative
The narrative conveyedthroughthe trailerisone the mainandmost widelyusedwaysof
establishingthe dramatothe audience.
James Campbell – Jamesisone of the twomainprotagonistswithinourfilm“Immune” andisthe
one withthe largestscreentime.Atthe beginningof the trailer,we see himdiscoveringaUSB stick
leftforhim,byhis mum,inwhicha videomessage isleftsaying"If youare watchingthis,itmeansI
am dead!.....stopthembefore theykill youall",because of thisJamesuncoversmore abouthisand
findsouthimmum usedtowork forthe governmenthenceshowingthe political aspectof the
genre.We see Jamessaddenedandshakenface afterwatchingthis,lateroninthe trailerwe also
see several shotsof Jameshaving anemotional breakdown(Image 16),anddoubtinghimself (image
20). We alsosee Jamesstartingto forma strong bondof friendship/romance withAshley(image 25),
all of these allowsaudiencestoconnectwithJames,anddevelopthe genre.
Ashley McKenna: Ashley is follower of James’ mums work and understands the seriousness
of Project E. She reaches out to James on Skype and fills himin with all the information she
knows. It was important for her to meet James in person so she flies out to London so they
can talk about the immunisation in private. Throughout the trailer we see Ashley dictate

7. James and support him through his personal struggles as well as keeping his head screwed
on straight. The two then have a connection and the underlying romance to the story will
connect with audiences so they understand why the pair are willing to do anything for each
other.
b) Mise-en-scene
The Mise-en-scene is a very important element to our trailer as the more the location; props
and costumes look believable the more likely the audience is going to connect with our
characters. So if we filmed the scenes that would normally take place in a crowded city, but
film it in a town rather than the audience trying to immerse themselves in the world they
will be distracted by low level of authenticity.
Location: It was important that our location had some aspects of politics and the
government to convey the political genre of the film. So we had a large chunk of our filming
done in London, as we used The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in a lot of our shots so
that we could achieve a high level of authenticity and that our characters world is
believable.
Props: Throughout the trailer we had several props that helped establish and convey the
style of the film and genre. The main props being:
 USB stick: Contains a message left by the mother of the main character which acts
like the ignition, starting everything off. (Image 4)
 Laptop: Used to introduce Charley and Ashley through the Skype conversation
(Image 6,7), also used to show the video of the Charley's mother through the USB
stick, and used to acquire further information about 'Project E'.
 Syringe: Used by the government to control the masses, a sign of control and power,
that the government can force upon anyone it sees as an enemy. (Images
2,13,29,10).
 Briefcase: A significant prop representing a mix of secrecy, mystery and politics. We
see the Ashley always carrying this, leading audiences to question why it must be at
her side at all times, and what is contains. This is further enhanced by the fact we
see the government official stealing it and seeing through its contents. (images,
10,12,14,15,19,24).
 Investigation board: Used by Ashley to explain to James about the main culprits
behind the conspiracy, potential targets of the government, and used to help give
more insight to the audience.
Costumes: Our costume choice was influenced by the backgrounds behind each character.
Although there was no conventional costume outfit for our characters (except the
government agent), we knew what types of outfit our characters would wear. Ashley wore
mainly plain dark colored clothes, to highlight the fact that she has been through a lot more
than James (image 9). While the government agent wore a suit, which is a typical
convention that is for anyone working for an agency, reinforcing the political elements of
the trailer (images 18,19,26)

8. c) Camera Work
We used fairly conventional and usual camera angles throughout our trailer with the
majority of shots being mid-shots and close ups. This was so that we could not just capture
the facial emotions of our characters but also their body expressions to give a full picture to
our audience.
 Using mid-shots also gave the audience context of the situation they were in.
 Establishing shots are used to show the main location and settings of the
film (London).
 Close ups also help the audience to connect with the characters which was an
important aspect we needed to achieve as there is a lot of emotional content( Image
4, 25). We also used close ups to show the panic and terror in our trailer, providing
entertainment to audiences and making them sympathise with the characters
(images 2,13,27,28,29,20)
 Two shots were used to show the two main characters forming a friendship and their
increasingly growing bond for each other (images 8,10,11,12,20,23,24)
d) Editing
Throughout our editing in the Act I we focused mainly on trying to establish the location,
narrative and the characters and their current relationship in relation to the other
characters. We found that a combination of L and J cuts was useful for this.
Our trailer begins with a news report than run an L cut and the audio from this continues
over to various other shots (images 1,2,3). This included the close up of someone receiving
an injection and a government official making a speech. These shots helped to introduce the
current states of things in the country and give more information for audiences about
events like the idea of the teenagers being required to receive vaccinations.
To help structure our trailer we edited to non-diegetic music, e.g. at image 23 the non
diegetic music slows and quietens down to almost 0, so we reduced the speed of the clip to
make it feel like the scenes were in sync with the intensity of the music This was useful
especially in our montage where the pace of our trailer sped up and we had to match
dramatic shots to dramatic beats and parts in the music. This was to make it easier for us to
structure our montage as we knew each shot needed to be because we could identify the
faster pace of parts of the track and so could assign the faster shots to synchronise with that
section.

9. e) Sound
Practically all of our dialogue consisted of voiceovers as it allows us to convey the narrative
of our plot to the audience in a quick and efficient way. This is because we can continue the
dialogue over the action due to a trailer not needing to be in a chronological format. It also
follows the convention of our genre, it uses a lot of dialogue and voiceover when exploring
the narrative. The voiceover is mostly spoken by news reporters as they are used in the
trailer to explain the condition and the events that revolved in the story. The main character
dialogue is shared between our protagonists James and Ashley and together they both
explain or introduce small parts of the conspiracy.
 In the first Act of our trailer we use quite tense non-diegetic music with string
instruments playing to a strict beat.
 In Act II the non-diegetic music becomes increasingly tense as there is a strong drum
beat emphasising significant shots for example the characters emotions.
 Finally in Act III we have a montage where the pace of our non-diegetic music speeds
up and the pace of our shots, there is then a drop in the intensity of the music and it
quietens, enhancing suspense and thrill in audiences, the non-diegetic music then
slowly increases in intensity and volume and to the climax at the end of our trailer
the non-diegetic music's dynamics increase to its loudest point.