The document discusses the planning process for a film trailer, including researching different genres and conventions. It then analyzes the trailers for three films: Easy A (teen comedy), Cherrybomb (teen drama), and The Vow (romantic drama). Key details of the mise-en-scene, camera angles, editing, and target audiences are summarized for each trailer. Budgets varied between the films, with The Vow having the highest budget at $30 million.

1. The Beginning Stages of Planning For Our
Film Trailer
The image attached shows a
check list of all of the things
that were needed to be done
when planning our film trailer,
e.g. deciding on a genre,
researching into films similar or
films belonging to the same
genre, the codes and
conventions of each of the
trailers, developing a synopsis
and developing character types
that we wanted to feature in
our film trailer.
We initially knew that we wanted to create a film trailer that would appeal to a
teenage/young adult audience, but after analysing various film trailers from the
Drama genre, the Romantic Drama sub-genre and the Teen Romantic Comedy hybrid
genre , we chose to abandon the idea of making a trailer for a Teen Romance Drama
film. Before we made this decision, we analysed and researched three trailers from
each of the three categories respectively. I did some background research in to the
three films that I chose to analyse by looking at how much each film had to budget,
the locations that each film chose and the different representations of the different
characters. I also looked at the codes and conventions of each film.

2. Teen Comedy- Easy A
Mise-en-scene
Easy A's lead female character 'Olive' again doesn't represent
the typical character type of having lots of money and being
obsessed with her popularity. Olive's character is relate able to
audiences as she is represented as an ordinary high school
student until she tells a lie that quickly escalates and boosts
her popularity, a common thing many young people do in
order to get people to pay more attention to them and to
boost their social status. Other stereotypical characters that
are seen in the trailer and feature in teen films are 'the best
friend or the helper' played by both characters 'Rhiannon' and
'Brandon', (if we consider Propp's character types) and the
antagonists played by characters 'Mary-Anne' and 'Nina'. The
classic school 'hunk' or romantic interest of Olive's also
features, played by the character 'Todd'. Lots of stereotypical
settings feature in the trailer such as classrooms, school
corridors/areas, teenagers bedrooms and social gatherings
such as house parties.

3. Camera Angles
Overall there were 109/110 edits/cuts. The trailer begins with a close up
shot of Olive who is directly addressing the audience. Wide/establishing
shots are used mainly when the characters are seen in and around the
school environment. Lots of close up shots feature in the trailer between
Olive and various other characters, showing the different relationships
that Olive has with different characters. For example the close up shot of
Olive and Mary-Anne is used to show the conflict and tension going on
between the two girls, whereas the close up of Olive and Todd in the car
shows the intimacy and chemistry between the two. There is also a great
deal of panning involved to establish the character's various
environments. There are also lots of high angle shots, mainly involving
the camera looking down on Olive's character which portrays her
character as inferior, and could represent the lack of control that Olive
has now that her lies have escalated. Opposed to this, there are a few
high angle shots of the characters that Olive is talking to in particular
scenes. There is also a high angle shot on both Brandon and Olive in the
bedroom scene, and when people from the house party are seen
gathering outside of the bedroom door.

4. Editing
There is an extremely quick fade across effect in the trailer
that occurs just as the music track changes, which focuses
into a wide shot but then quickly turns into an extreme wide
shot, and then quickly jump cuts to a close up shot of the red
'A' that Olive has embroidered on to her clothes. Another
quick jump cut occurs to a close up of the character's face
where the character is seen pouting directly at the audience,
which makes the character appear seductive (almost as if she
were trying to seduce the audience). A quick fast forward
effect features and comes to a still so that the camera can
focus purely on Olive. Long shots also occur when
overlooking the city. In terms of sound, Olive is narrating
parts of the trailer as though she is directly talking to the
audience. Non diagetic sound features throughout and the
sound changes towards the end of the trailer. The change in
sound is changed from a happy, upbeat track, to a more
seductive and alluring track, which is significant as it occurs
when the camera reveals Olive's image transformation.

5. Drama- Cherrybomb
Mise-en-scene
Unlike the previous trailer that I have analysed, the trailer for
the film ‘Cherrybomb’ doesn't just focus on one main character,
but focuses on three individual characters. The three characters
that the trailer chooses to focus on are not specifically identified
as to what social group/clique they belong to, however a lot of
the themes that are shown in the trailer are very stereotypical
of Teen Drama films. The trailer included shots of the
characters drinking excessively and taking illegal substances,
vandalism and sex are also included. There was also the
stereotypical location of teenager’s bedrooms. Opposed to the
trailer for Easy A, I found that the choice of locations for the
Cherrybomb trailer more gritty and less Americanised.
For example the Easy A trailer included frames taken from a
scene of a house party, where the house appears rather large
with a over sized swimming pool in the back garden of the
house, whereas in the Cherrybomb trailer the characters are
seen hanging out at a dingy, rough bar. In terms of lighting the
two film trailers contrast heavily with a case of Light vs Dark
occurring. The trailer for Easy A uses bright, dressed up colours
in order to appear cinematic, whereas the trailer for
Cherrybomb uses a mix of dark colours and lots of low lighting
to create eeriness and tension. Other locations include various
streets, a park hangout and the leisure centre.

6. Camera Angles
The trailer chooses to open with disequilibrium, with a quick extreme shot of one of
the male character’s eyes quite bruised. The close up shots that feature are all
character driven. In one section of the trailer there is a close up of one of male
characters smiling before quickly jump cutting to the same character causing conflict
with another character. By choosing to put these two shots together could be used to
represent how the mood of the plot changes quite quickly, and suggests further
tension will occur. There is a low angle shot of the male character as he undresses
making him appear ‘desirable’ to the audience. There is also a low angle shot of the
female character whilst she is smoking and drinking alcohol. This shows that she is
not being portrayed as innocent and naïve, with the camera looking up at her makes
her appear superior to the audience. Other low angle shots of all three characters
drinking and smoking are included, and some of the wide shots show the characters
joyriding, suggesting that they are merely taking on the character role of ‘the
rebel/outcast’. There is an extreme close up of the female character, again like the
male character used to appear seductive and desirable. There is a high angle shot of
the two male characters taking illegal substances in the bathroom making us as the
audience feel that we are looking down on them, almost as if we are ashamed of
them because we know that taking drugs is morally wrong? Another high angle shot
is used for the bedroom scene between the male and the female character. As the
audience we almost feel like we are imposing on them as it is quite an intimate
moment

7. The technique of using two close ups put together near the
beginning of the trailer occurs half way through the trailer, when
two more close ups are put together. The first close up is of one of
the male characters’ face displaying feelings of fear and terror, and
could be used to foreshadow the next shot where the female
character is seen being hit in the face by her father (presumably)
and falling to the floor. There is also a high angle shot looking
down on one of male characters before he destroys a CCTV
camera. A few long shots were included to establish certain
locations. The last shot of the trailer ends with an extreme close up
of the male character’s face bloodied and bruised, suggesting that
this was the outcome of his rebellious actions.

8. Editing
The names of the companies involved with this production have a quick ‘fade in-
fade out’ effect, along with the second company involved having a quick fade across
effect and spotlights appearing behind the company name. Before the second part
of the company name appears the trailer jump cuts to the first shot of the trailer
before quickly cutting back to the company name ‘Generator Entertainment’. The
trailer then chooses to cut back to the first shot of the male character beaten with
quick black and white fuzzy lines cutting in between (almost mirroring an old
fashioned ‘TV style’ effect). The trailer then uses continuous quick cuts for the
collection of shots that have been clustered together. A white ‘flickering’ effect has
also been applied to the names of the cast members. The pace fastens and
becomes more intense half way through the trailer with a random selection of text
popping up in certain parts of the trailer, disorientating the audience.
A sepia effect has also been applied where certain shots that are character driven
have been slowed down for a brief moment to create tension for the audience. Just
as the trailer is about to end the shot focuses on one of the male characters about
to vandalise a security camera and the scene quickly reverts back to the other male
character sitting in an interview room having been beaten. The use of scattering the
letters of the title ‘Cherrybomb’ in the swimming pool could be used to represent
the disorientation of the plot of the film. No dialogue is used in the trailer, until the
shot where the male character is sitting in the interview room, directly addressing
the audience and says “What do you wanna know?” but non diagetic sound is
played throughout. The budget for the film was £1.-1.5 million. Filming took place in
Belfast and took up to four weeks to film.

9. Romantic Drama-The Vow
Mise-en-scene
The trailer focuses on a young married couple Paige and Leo. Following the
traditional codes and conventions of a Teen Romance Drama, the trailer opens with
the two main characters reciting their vows to each other, addressing the vital key
theme for any romantic drama-love. The male character represents your classic,
stereotypical ‘hunk’ and the female character represents the typical pretty, ‘girl next
door’ character type. There are lots of warm colours used in the first opening
scenes of the two having just been married, with the female character’s wedding
dress a soft, pale pink colour which connotes emotions such a love and happiness
and the character’s white wedding bouquet represents the character’s purity and
innocence.

10. The use of warm colours allows happy connotations to be drawn from the opening
scenes. Locations include the character’s home, (particular focus on the character’s
bedroom which indicates another key theme of a romantic drama-sex), and un-
stereotypically, an art gallery where the two are married. After the disequilibrium
occurs in the trailer, the colours change to a mixture of deep blues and greens for the
hospital scene, (contrasting with the previous scenes) which is used to represent the
hospital atmosphere and the ill health, caused by the car accident shown in the
previous scene. Low lighting occurs for the next couple of shots in the trailer, with the
warm colours being restored towards the end of the trailer.
Camera Angles
There are a lot of close up shots and wide shots included in the trailer. The trailer
opens with a close up shot of the male character which is then followed by a close up
shot of the female character that he is looking at as they recite their wedding vows to
each other. The use of close up shots for this scene allows the audience to feel
emotional and see the love that these characters have for each other in a more
personal view. The scene then extends to a wide shot which shows the friends of the
couple witnessing the marriage. There is another wide shot after the couple have just
got married which captures the stereotypically wedding shot of the two kissing outside
of the wedding venue. Most of the close ups are of the two characters kissing, one
close up in particular focuses on a plate where the male character has arranged the
food to spell out ‘Move In’, which highlights the development of their relationship and
suggests that the male character has strong feelings for this woman at this point in the
plot.

11. Like Cherrybomb, a high angle shot is included of the two in the bedroom
and again as the audience we feel like we are imposing, and that we
shouldn’t be included in this scene. Another high angle shot occurs when
the female character is seen laying in a hospital bed, making her appear
weak and vunerable. The first extreme wide shot is featured when the
couple are involved in a car accident, leaving the female character with
memory loss, and unable to remember who her. The second extreme
wide shot occurs in the hospital where the male character is slumped on
the floor in despair after failing to make his wife remember him, making
him also appear vulnerable and inferior. Two other important close ups
include the female character analysing photos to try and bring her
memory back, and another close up shots conflict between another man
and the male character. There is also one low angle shot where the
female character is looking up at her wedding video, looking at the
strong, independent woman that she used to be.

12. Editing
Panning is used in the first scene of the trailer to establish the scene and to invite
the audience into the scene. The panning used to show the female character in
the hospital bed to the male character standing over her is done at a slightly
quicker pace to show the sudden intensity of the plot. This occurs when the
female character is seen looking through old photos which could have been done
to show the characters confusion as she tries to piece her life back together. Only
a few quick cuts occurs, once when the security team catch the wedding party in
the gallery and again when the scene cuts to the plate with the message on it.
The shots have been slowed down occasionally when filming the female character.
This allows the audience to view her as the male character views her, as a
beautiful and desirable woman, and allows the audience to also fall in love with
her. The slowed down effect is also used when the truck is seen crashing into the
back of their car followed by a blacked out screen, making the audience feel
abandoned in suspense. A blurred effect was briefly used to represent the female
character waking up after the crash.
The text ‘Can A Once In A Life Time Love’ appears in a black font and quickly
fades out after the following text ‘Find A Second Chance?’ appears. The text ‘Find
A Second Chance’ is displayed in a white font and is brought forward to
emphasise the importance of the message, and is put out there as a direct
message to the audience. There is non diagetic sound with the track changing half
way through, along with the male character acting as a voice over for parts of the
trailer. The film was actually based on a true story of a couple called Kim and
Krickett Carpenter who chose to write a book on their marriage.

13. After analysing all three film trailers, I believe that the film trailers for Easy A and
Cherrybomb are being targeted at a older teenage audience/young adult audience.
This is because the films include more adult themes such as sex, and drug and
alcohol taking. Cherrybomb also includes vandalism and violence. Easy A also
focuses on more adult issues such as sexuality and virginity which may be
considered inappropriate for younger teenage audiences. There is also a fair amount
of offensive language used in both films. The Vow is aimed at a slightly more
younger teenage audience as less adult themes are used, and there is minimal
offensive language. The budgets for all three films vary with Cherrybomb budgeting
at £1-1.5 million, Easy A budgeting at $8 million and The Vow budgeting at $30
million.
The budget for The Vow allows producers/directors/editors to be more creative with
the equipment and editing tools that they have acquired. They have also made
enough profits to afford to rent more suitable locations, provide more materials for
character costumes and expand their production (if they are looking to hire certain
people-directors, editors, producers etc). Using more well known actors that are well
liked by the public are more likely to attract the audience to your product. For
example Rupert Grint who stars in Cherrybomb was a major part of the Harry Potter
phenomenon and has a huge fan base, in a way he will be used as an advertisement
to try and reach the film's target audience. If people are aware that their favourite
actor/actress is starring in a new film, it will attract them and make them want to go
and see the film, even if it is just to see that specific actor/actress.