A Critical Analysis of the Animatic Process of Your Group's film Trailer.

An animatic is a series of photos and/or drawings with music and a voiceover, it is used to give the filmmaker and director and idea of how a piece of film would look and if certain elements such as camera angle, lighting and mise-en-scene work or need to be changed in the final product. The process of an animatic consists of drawing out shots you would like in your piece of film, putting them into order then transferring this into photo format. the next step is to edit the photos together, showing each image for an appropriate amount of time and making sure the sound matches up with it.
             The first part of the animatic, is in chronological order which, along with the titles, helps to set up the background story to the film synopsis, however, the second part is not necessarily in chronological order but more in an order that builds up tension with fast-paced editing as the action becomes more and more exciting. The titles again, also go along with this. There is also a title near the start of the trailer which fades to black and the screen stays black for 2-3seconds while a high-pitched noise is heard creating tension.
              Looking  at our original storyboard, we decided to do 3 shoots and capture all images in each setting at the same time. Luckily, none of our settings needed to appear both in day time and night time and we were fast enough so as to not obstruct the time needing to be shown in the images, so we only had to visit each once.
              We only used two main locations which were next to each other as our whole synopsis centres around the idea of the lake, and the majority of the action takes place either at this lake or in the forest next to it. The main prop in our synopsis is the mask, however unfortunately we could not get hold of this mask at the time of the photos being taken and so were unable to take shots including this prop. We also used props such as a car and a tent, to represent the idea of the journey and camping in the forest. We chose our actors on who, matching our character descriptions, was available at the time of shooting and was willing to take part.
                      During the storyboarding process, my group made quite a few changes to the initial plot but once we had completely decided on the plot we thought would work best, we decided not to make any alterations as, not only were we relatively happy with the storyline we had acheived but we did not really have time to make changes. However we did decide to simply show the boy being pushed then the next shot, show a splash in the lake, this was to represent the boy beng pushed in without actually having to show it.               
                     We placed the shots into the editing software and chose how long each shot would last by lengthing or shortening it on the timeline. We then took the transitions and titles available and edited them in to fit our sequence. We put music over our piece finally, using just one continual piece as it seemed to fit our animatic. We chose our shot lengths on how important the shot would be to the storyline, for example an establishing shot of the lake would be longer than others as it creates the baclkground to the story. We also took into consideration, the pace as a mood creater, as we used short sharp transitions when most of the action was happening to create excitement.
                      Our transitions were mostly fade to black or fade to white as these create quite an eerie atmosphere and are also stereotypical of horror movie trailers. We wanted to use stereotypical elements as it helps to reinforce the genre and therefore emphasise the mood and atmosphere of the trailer.
                      The titles we used were as follows: "12 months later" "the lake is revisited", these two titles give some background to the story. We also included titles such as "1, 2, Eddie's coming for you." as a stereotypically horror reminiscent title, creating tension at the promise of something happening. The word 'you' also helps to engage and involve the audience. The font we used was chosen as it created an eerie feel.
                        The soundtrack we chose was named "Stagnant chill" and was chosen as it seemed to fit our edited animatic perfectly. However, we have since taken feedback into consideration and decided to apply some more upbeat music where the happier scene takes place. The music currently creates a very creepy atmosphere which fits well with the majority of the trailer but not the happier scene.           Our animatic helps to appeal to our target audience as it features characters of around the same age and a storyline that would somewhat appeal to that age group, going camping as a group. In my opinion, we need to change our music track for the reasons in the paragraph above,  also I think our trailer would work better if we used more action shots that feature for a shorter time to create a more 'cat and mouse' kind of feeling. We also need to try and connect the two mise-en-scenes of the forest and the lake more. We also need to add in the diegetic sound.

                      The five key images I have chosen from our animatic are, the lake as it where the majority of the action happens and what the storyline centres around. Next, is the girl hiding behind the tree as this creates the code of enigma of questions such as, why is she hiding? who/what is she hiding from? will she survive? Also, the characters running through forest which creates excitement at a type of cat-and-mouse style chase.
                     The fourth image I chose was, the image of the shadow inside the tent, as it allows the audience to almost associate the tent with safety but also leaves a code of enigma in that of questions such as who is in the tent? why are they in tent? what are they doing? And my final key image is another shot of the lake, but this time looking over, almost as if something will rise from it, hence the name "Risen." this creates tension and excitement for what will happen.
                      I typed up the original plot, although it was not used, put forward ideas for storyboarding and helped in the editing process, such as choosing music to fit the images. However I was not available for the dates when the images were taken. I also came up with the name of the product as "Risen" as it signifies both rising from the dead and rising from the lake.

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Storyboards:

My Role in Animatic

I type up the original plot, although it was not used, put forward ideas for storyboarding and helped in the editing process, such as choosing music to fit the images. However I was not available for the dates when the images were taken. I also came up with the name of the product as "Risen" as it signifies both rising from the dead and rising from the lake.

Original Group Film Synopsis

A family move house, to a remote country area, however the mum and dad are called away on an urgent family issue, leaving the children, a boy and girl of 17 and 18 to look after the house. After a while, the pair start to get bored and decide to explore the new area, when they come across a seemingly abandoned house and take a look inside. When they step in side, the wind blows, slamming the door shut and startling the girl, who then knocks over an expensive looking urn. Ashes fall out over the floor. They hear, a loud a bang and a creaking door from upstairs, they both look to each other and run out laughing and teasing each other over how scared they were. They return home and carry on as normal, only the girl starts to complain about feeling uneasy and if someone else is around, her brother dismisses this, saying she is being stupid and telling her to calm down. Her feelings start to get worse, but the brother still doesn't believe her and begins to get angry with her for “being so stupid”. One night, the girl wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, and claiming something was watching over her bed, her brother is very annoyed by this, making her out to be a liar and causing drama, possibly trying to scare him. They get into a fight and he takes to ignoring her, she starts to feel very alone. He heads to the shower to relax, and on coming out, notices a message written in the steam on the mirror, thinking it was his sister playing tricks, he looks around to find her, but she is sat outside crying. He grabs her and tells her what has happened and that he now believes her. They run into the house and try to contact their parents but find that the phone line has been cut, they hear what sounds like heavy breathing and run upstairs, as night falls they decide to sleep in the same room to keep each other company just in case something happens. The next morning, the girl wakes up and turns to her brother finding him dead and her top splattered in his blood, she catches the heavy breathing sound again, and thinking that the killer is still around, forces herself not to scream and runs to hide in the closet shaking and peering out of the keyhole. Realising that there is no contact to the outside world, and that she has no other way out, she makes a break for it. Only, while running, she passes a mirror, catching a glimpse of someone she doesn't recognise, she goes back to take a closer look, and sees a haggard old woman. She screams and runs out of the front door, right into her parents, who after being worried by the telephone line not working, return home early. At this point she is still splattered with blood and rambling about being possessed. They find the body of her brother yet can get no information out of her and so, after much grieving for the happenings, take to her a mental institute.

Revised Group Plot Synopsis

In a small quiet village, there lies a lake, surrounded by a forest which goes by the name of Fisherman's Lake. A few years ago the lake was one of the village's main tourist attractions but all that soon changed after the death of a young boy named Eddie. It all happened back one summer when all the college kids came down to camp for the weekend at Fisherman's Lake.
One night the group of teenagers Eddie was with dared him to swim out into the lake, knowing he was a weak swimmer, Eddie tried to play it cool and swam out into the lake but as his feet left the ground, he couldnt keep himself up out of the water. The group just watched and laughed at Eddie, thinking he was messing around until they watched him drown. Sarah screamed as she watched Eddie struggle but the rest of the group panicked and dragged her away. They promised to each other that they would never mention the event ever again.
A month later Eddie's body was found in the lake and Eddie's mother was distraught, she did everything she could to try and stop people from visiting Fisherman's Lake and eventually she succeded. Fisherman's Lake got shut off from the village and no one ever visited the place again.
Now on the anniversary of his death, Fisherman's Lake is reopened and Sarah is back to spend the weekend at the lake with the girls. Whilst there, she cant help but think about the night Eddie died, so she goes off alone into the forest to try and overcome her horrible experience, and on her return, she has found that some of the girls have started to go missing, as she tries to discover what is going on and where her friends have got to she is met by an old friend from the past who's back to get revenge on the teens that left him to die...

Dead Silence Trailer Analysis

                   

Genre:



The film can be put into the genre of 'horror' or 'psychological thriller' we can see this by the prop of blood used, as blood and gore is a stereotype of a horror film. There is also the diegetic sounds of screaming and heavy breathing which are stereotypical to these genres. There is fast-paced editing used to create tension near the start and end of the trailer, again usual used in films of these genres.



Target Audience:



The trailer does not give a certificate, but the characters portrayed in the film appear to be predominantly male, although the villain is a female which breaks the stereotype of horror movies, generally having a male attacker. The characters tend to be around their 20s, apart from an older male who plays the part of the donor. This leads me to believe that the target audience would be both genders, mostly male at the age of around 18-30.



Length, shots and transitions:

The trailer lasts 2:14 and uses around 223 shots with 49 transitions, the most popular being fade to black and white flash. However a dissolve can also be seen at times. The number of shots stands out to me as a shot is used for every second if not more.




Sound:



Diegetic


Screams – showing fear, stereotypical of horror/thriller films



Heavy breathing – also a stereotype of these genres, shows fear/tension



Footsteps and exaggerated sound of creaking floorboards – creates the idea of being followed



Loud smashes – shows action, creates excitement





Dialogue "There's an old ghost story around here about a women named Mary Shaw.", "she was murdered, the men cut out her tongue" etc. - stereotypical themes of death, murder violence.



Non-Diegetic


Slow-paced violin music which speeds up to match the editing pace creating tension and suspense



High pitched screeches when something shocking is shown – enhances tension and therefore shock



Voice-over at the end of trailer, children's voice "Beware the stare of Mary Shaw, she had no children only dolls, and if you see her do not scream, or she'll rip your tongue out at the seam." - adds more background to the story, also relates to audience by using "you". Themes of violence and death are used again as a horror stereotype.



Plot, narrative and titles:



In the beginning of the trailer we see the logos of Universal and Twisted Pictures allowing us to know who produced the film. We then witness a young woman walking through what seems to be an empty house, we know she is looking for someone from her diegetic dialogue of "Jamie? Jamie?", we then see her walk into a bedroom lifting a sheet. The trailer then speeds up dramatically as a number of shots are shown with fades to black in between with the diegetic sound of the women's screams over them. From this we can assume that she has been injured or possibly killed. A title is then shown saying "From the writer and director of saw" allowing us to associate the film with other horror movies. The trailer then cuts between shots of sharp objects and dolls faces confusing the audience. The next shot is a medium close-up of a young man, allowing us to empathise with him. We learn from diegetic dialogue between him and an older male character, that there is "an old ghost story" about Mary Shaw, the main character and villain, who was "a ventriloquist who lost her voice." A title then appears stating "Comes a new experience" creating suspense as the audience want to know what the experience is. We also learn that she was suspected of taking a young boy, and so was murdered. The dialogue bridges the scenes of the character's talking, Mary on stage, the search for the boy and Mary's murder. We are then told families have been found "without their tongues" as the scene jumpcuts to the younger character holding pictures of bodies with the tongues cut out.  The next shot is a title saying "this March" letting the audience know when the film will be released. The dialogue then tells us "she was buried with her doll collection" as the shots cut between numerous shots of close-ups and extreme close-ups on dolls faces causing them to look almost distorted and disorientating the audience. Another title is shown telling the audience "they will come alive". The diegetic dialogue of "Her children, she called them" bridges the scenes, the word children emphasising the idea of them coming alive. More shots of the dolls are shown but this time at medium close-up revealing more to the audience. This then cuts to yet another title "with a vengeance." the word vengeance relating to revenge, another usual theme in horror films. There is then scenes of two male characters attempting to destroy the dolls, mixed in with a possible flashback of Mary Shaw with a young boy. The two scenarios are bridged by a child-like voice reciting the rhyme "Beware the stare of Mary Shaw, she had no children only dolls, and if you see her do not scream, or she'll rip your tongue out at the seam." this fades to silence, as the scene fades to black. The movie name then flashes up accompanied by a high-pithed screech and followed by a billing card.


Characters and their relationships:

The characters shown in this trailer are mostly male, although the main character and villain is female breaking stereotypes of horror film villains. However the first victim shown is female, adhering to the stereotype of a weaker female to be overpowered. The two male characters in the trailer seem to share a strong bond as the younger male character feels he can ask the older male questions while the older male acts as the donor giving him useful information. We learn from this information that the villain's name is Mary Shaw and that she was a ventriloquist having "no children, only dolls." this could mean that she did not have strong relationship with any other character's. The female victim we see, appears to be looking for someone, while calling the name "Jamie" giving the idea that she has some relationship with another character by this name.



Code of enigma:

The trailer reveals quite a bit about the film to entice the audience but also leaves a number of questions to be answered such as:

- Who is the female victim in the beginning?

-Who is "Jamie"?

-What is the shape under the sheet?

-Did Mary kidnap the young boy?

-Who has dug up the dolls?

Mood and expectations of the film:

From this trailer, we expect themes of violence, death and murder, in particular with the victim's tongues cut out. We also expect a character named Jamie, a ventriloquist character and a number of props such as ventriloquist dolls. The mood is quite dark and sinister, the trailer creating a high level of tension through fast-paced editing and sound. The audience are kept wanting to know what will happen next.



Conventions in film trailers:


Here is a list of 10 conventions that appear in this film trailer:

Voice-overs (tell story and give credit information) - "Beware the stare of Mary Shaw..."

Producers logos shown – at the beginning

Dramatic camera angles show events or characters – close ups the dolls

Action is interspersed with actor or director credits - "from the writer and director of Saw"

The trailer builds to a climax, where it ends - fast paced editing and sound

Music plays an important role in creating atmosphere – music matches pace of editing

Key points are sometimes conveyed through titles - "They come alive"

Conversations between characters – conversation between 2 male characters

Billing card (production co, release date, stars etc.) - at the end

Film's title may not show until end – shown after billing card

Film trailers as a promotional device:

The film studio has chosen to use this film trailer to market it's product as it shows the genre and so interests the audience directly. It could also be said to target the audience through character representation, such as the character's being mostly male and of an age range of 20-30, creating an idea for the target audience. The code of enigma also enhances the interest as it leaves questions which can only be answered through watching the film.

Discussion of film synopsis