3. Definitions
Depression
Terms associated with social realism
Real lives -
Through previous research I was Death and Economic struggle
able to determine the Loss Social issues
conventions of social realism…
such as
Racism
From these definitions I was able to determine what the conventional ideas behind
social realism are . I decided I would focus on loss and Pain. I adopted these
conventional themes as then I could class my trailer under the genre of social realism.

4. These definitions helped me to establish which props would be suitable for my
trailer. If I wanted to portray these conventional themes of social realist films
then I needed to make sure props used were suitable. I wanted to stick to
conventionally portraying these themes such as depression with conventional
items associated with them. These included the use of drugs and alcohol.

5. “This Is England”
“This Is England” was an important
inspiration when making my Trailer.
The gritty film explored many issues
typically associate with Social realism.
Having seen the most recent tv series spin
off as well as the film , I was able to clearly
see the conventional features used and
could then take them forward when
making my own trailer.
The program deals with conventional issues of society
such as loss. I was able to adopt this conventional feature
in my own trailer. I wanted this to be the priority, so this
theme became the main feature of the plot. In previous
research I found a particular shot from ‘This is England’
that inspired many of my own camera angles. The
extreme close ups portrayed the conventional themes of
social realism as they showed the intense emotion of for
example pain and loss. I used this within my own trailer to
show my main characters emotional turmoil and I feel this
conventional feature helped to portray my main theme.

6. One of the most important parts of the trailer is
how it starts. Conventional ways of starting a
trailer portray the age restriction title page to
appear first. I found this through previous research
and decided I would use this conventional feature.
I wanted to use this conventional feature as I feel it
establishes the type of audience the trailer is
suitable for and therefore will appeal to.
Conventionally , through my research, I found that
the Ident of the film also appears at the start. I
wanted to again use this conventional feature as I
felt it worked best at the start and was able to give
the audience a feel whether for example it was an
independent film company etc. I produced my own
Ident and therefore placed it at the start of my
trailer. I also placed my Ident at the start due to my
idea of ending my trailer in a more dramatic way.

7. The conventional way to end a trailer is to feature
credits. Through my research I was able to observe
this. I wanted to use this conventional feature as I
wanted to feature extra information about my
trailer such as the companies involved. When
researching into trailers I found the social realist
trailer for Fish Tank. I noticed that the title
sequence reflected the actual title of the film. This
was done by making the words themselves appear
to be underwater. I picked up on this technique. I
therefore created my last title page with thorns on.
This therefore reflected the title of the film and so
used this feature. Another conventional feature I
noticed at the end of Trailers, is the date in which
the film will be released. I wanted to feature this
because this will enable the viewers to know when
they can expect it.

8. Social realist trailers conventionally feature slow tempo, minor pieces of music. I found
that when analysing trailers, the music would reflect the main theme of the storyline. I
observed this especially in ‘Fish Tank’. The music would reflect the aggressive
atmosphere that would in turn build up tension. This therefore reflected the main
theme within the film.
I wanted to adopt this conventional feature and use it in my own trailer. Choosing the
piece of music was very important as I wanted the dramatic atmosphere to be
portrayed clearly. I used this conventional feature by picking two dramatic songs that
reflected the chaos within my trailer.

10. Thorns Fish Tank
An establishing shot proved to be a regular conventional feature used in a trailer
(which I found out through previous research) . The particular shot was often used at
the start of the trailer to enable the audience to establish where this film’s set. I
wanted to use this feature at the start of my own trailer to achieve this effect.
However I feel I developed this conventional feature by being far more ambiguous.
Taking ‘Fish Tank’ as my inspiration, the start of the trailer features a tower block. As
I pointed out through my analysis , this told a lot through just a very short clip. I
wanted to have an establishing shot that the audience would have to think about
more. My pan of the hill tells them where the sequence is set but does not give away
too much about the meaning of this place. I wanted to leave a lot up to the audience
themselves.

11. Reviews
Another conventional feature of a trailer I found was the occurrence of reviews. In order to
make the trailer seem more appealing , trailers would use reviews by for example film
magazines, to give a good impression out. I wanted to use this conventional feature because
I felt that not only would it help relate my trailer to my film magazine , but it would portray
that this film is considered good. The layout I had my reviews set out in is also a
conventional style. The review is often placed above the name of the media source which is
usually in a smaller font. I feel this gave my trailer also a more professional look.

12. Title pages are another conventional feature of Trailers that I used. When looking at
trailers I saw that in order to give the audience a better idea about the storyline, it was
necessary to have extra information on some shots. I feel by using this conventional
feature I was able to help portray my storyline as well as maintaining a sense of
ambiguity due to the small number used.

13. To introduce the characters (main) within a film , the names conventionally appear by the
characters face. I wanted to use this conventional feature in order to achieve this. I felt that
the trailer was more appealing because the audience would be able to see who exactly is in
the film. This also adds a more professional look .
Dialogue is also conventionally used in most trailers. I only wanted a small amount of
dialogue because I did not want too much of my plot to be revealed. I feel the amount of
dialogue used was appropriate and although conventionally more would feature, I feel by
challenging this I have created a more ambiguous atmosphere.

14. Conventionally the title of the film is displayed in an eye-catching way. I
wanted to use this conventional feature to make sure people remembered
the title of this film. I noticed through research that the Title of the film
usually appears at the end of a trailer and is large, bold and easy to see. I
therefore made sure that my title was appealing and would stick in my
viewers mind. I made it large and bold and placed it at the end of my trailer
so it would be fresh in my audience's mind when they had finished watching.