Conventions

Conventions of a film trailer:

• Trailers attract the audience and make them want to see the film.
• A trailer gives away the genre, some genres are more obvious a come out straight away, other films have hidden genres and can be hard to figure out.
• A trailers sells the storyline to the audience and gives them a feel of what the movie is like.
• A trailers shows the audience the main characters and also what their roles in the film is and what they can expect of them in their new role.
• A trailer is put together with interesting clips from the movie that dont give to much away but still give a film of where the film is going and keeps the audience quessing about what will happen in the end.
• The trailers show the begining or just clips of the begining that build up to and exciting end or a sad end depending on the film.
• A trailer always shows the date of its release and the name of the film.
• There is sometimes a voice over from maybe a person in the film or a famous voice over that everyone reconises.

Conventions of a film poster:

• A film poster must be eye catching and be alerting to the audience, makes a person stop and look at the poster.
• A film poster has a large title of the film and the date that it will be released.
• The poster must be easy to read and eye catching.
• The poster must have a picture of something related to the film, possibly a main character or a set from the film where all of the action will take place.
• The poster will attract the right audience and they will be the ones going to see it.
• Famous actors/actress will possibly be on the front cover as people will go and see a film with their favourite actor/actress in.
• There is always a tagline used on the poster that might be a line from the film or one that they have made to promote the film such as "why so serious" which is a line that the joker uses in the batman film.
• Age is always shown on the the poster so that the correct audience go and see it.
• The actors/actresses and the director or prodocuers names are shown on poster to promote the film as more people will go see it if they know the names in the film.

Conventions of a film magazine front cover:

• Magazine title is clearly shown on the front, it will be obvious and eye catching aswell as the picture on the front and the text.
• The cover will be attractive and eye catchin to the chosen audience.
• Famous actors on the front cover as their fans will by the magazine and go and see the film.
• The colours and the film will go with the type of film and the genre of the film.
• The price and the barcode will be on the front or the back so that people know what they are paying and, if there is no barcode on the outside it could be on the back page on the inside.

Conventions alos include the genre, Captions, non-diegetic music, Production company, narrative , editing and the close ups.

Terminology

Plot Summary
Most trailers have a three-act structure similar to a feature-length film. They start with a beginning (Act 1) that lays out the premise of the story. The middle (Act 2) drives the story further and usually ends with a dramatic climax. Act 3 usually features a strong piece of 'signature music' (either a recognizable song or a powerful, sweeping orchestral piece). The last act often consists of a visual montage of powerful and emotional moments of the film and may also contain a cast run if there are noteworthy stars that could help sell the film.

Voice-over
Voice-over narration is used to briefly set up the premise of the movie and provide explanation when necessary ('In a world...'). Since the trailer is a highly condensed format, voice-over is a useful tool to enhance the audience's understanding of the plot.

Music
Music helps set the tone and the mood of the trailer. Usually the music used in the trailer is not from the film itself (the film score may not have been composed yet). The music used in the trailer may be:

• Music from the score of other films
• Popular or well known music, often chosen for its tone, appropriateness of a lyric or lack-there-of, or recognisability
• 'Library' music previously composed specifically to be used in advertising by an independent composer
• Specially composed music
• Songs, which may include knock-offs of recognizable (but expensive to license) songs

Cast, Crew, and Studio Information
A cast run is a list of the stars that appear in the movie. If the director or producer is well-known or has made other popular movies, they often warrant a mention as well. Most trailers conclude with a 'billing book', which is a list of the principal cast and crew. It is the same list that appears on posters and print publicity materials, and also usually appears on-screen at the beginning (or end) of the movie.

• Studio production logos are usually featured near the beginning of the trailer. Until the late 1970s, they were put only at the end of the trailer. Often there will be logos for both the production company and the distributor of the film.

Technical Elements

• Sound Mix: many movie trailers are presented in Dolby Digital or any other multichannel sound mix. Scenes including sound effects and music that are enhanced by stereophonic sound are therefore the focus point of many modern trailers
• Video Resolution: movie trailers, preceding feature films are generally presented in the same format as the feature, being in the general terms 35mm film or a digital format. High bandwidth internet connections allow for trailers to be distributed at any resolution up to 180p

Film trailer, Magazine front cover & Film poster Research

Film Trailers

The purpose of a film trailer is to promote and up coming film to the public and the people who will most probably go and see the film when it comes to the big screen. Film trailers so key parts in the film that entice the audience to want to know what happens next therefore they go and see the film to find out. A trailer is to advertise a film that will be exhibited to the cinema in the future.

Film magazine front covers

The purpose of film magazine front cover is to promote a film to audiences that tend to buy magazine and browse them. Certain magazine front covers are more appealing to some audiences rather than others as they are aimed at certain age groups so the magazine will know what to put on the front the enable them to reach the audience they want and the people who buy there magazine. Most people these days don't buy magazines because of the internet but certain magazines such as total film have interviews with film stars that cannot be seen anywhere else.

Film Posters

The purpose of a film poster is to promote a film before it hits the cinema. These are released months before the film comes out to give and insight to what they film is about and reach people out and about rather than on the internet and through a magazine front cover. Film posters are made in a campaign to promote a film as the distributors will sit down and decide what methods will get their film noticed and how much people will respond to it. A lot of information is put onto a film poster to ensure that the film sells such as the name, actors that are in the film the rating which is given by the BBFC. Most film posters have a well known actor/actress on the front on the magazine this is because if the audience see a actor such as Brad Pitt on the front cover they will go see the film because he is such a good actor whereas if a unknown actor was on the poster it would make people more hesitant to go and see the film.

Summary of your A2 Coursework Brief

This is my first blog for year 13 A2. During the next year my blog will post blogs about topics discussed in class and my coursework requirements. The task this year is to create a either two 60 secs trailers or a 120 trailer, also explaining how the film can be marketed using a film magazine and a poster that i will produce. This work has to be completed by December 2011.