Film Trailer Plan

I intend to use many of the techniques I observed in my research, in order to adhere as closely to the stereotypes of the genre (science fiction) and form (film trailer) as possible. However, in order to give my trailer unique appeal I will employ techniques which do not necessarily correspond to a rigid pattern. Ideas drawn from my research will be referenced, and my own idiosyncrasy will be explained.

The focal peice of sound in the trailer will be the song 'Requiem for a Dream'. As the song is 6:34 it is too long for the length of my trailer, so I will use the 'cut' tool in Adobe Premiere Pro to reduce the length. Several rock songs were used in the trailer for 'Iron Man', but by using the same song throughout my trailer i hope to be able to create a sense of narrative.

As I lack the high-end audio recording equipment necessary to emulate that of the film industry, very little dialogue will be spoken. This is a mere practicality, but precedents exist in film trailer where dialogue has been eschewed for a music track; specifically the Advent Children trailer. Narrative will instead be provided by 'slides' of text; which will be placed over (in front of) video clips, and on their own to give special emphasis. A 'slide' will be used to display the title of the film, and this can also be animated to draw viewer attention (as most film titles are simply static slides with text I feel that by subverting this convention I will create a superior effect.)

The majority of the film trailers I researched are between 2:20 and 2:30. I intend to keep roughly to this guideline, however if i am satisfied with the amount of content in my trailer I will not purposefully overextend it to meet this target. This is because a sense of excitement and intrigue must be instilled in the viewer, and if a trailer contains unnecessary information or reveals too much of the plot it loses its 'teaser' quality. As explained above, the use of a single music track and slides of text in place of dialogue may mean the trailer will become boring to a viewer sooner than it otherwise would have, therefore the length may need to be shorter for this reason too.

Film trailers use a wide variety of shots; establishing shots to set the scene, close-ups of emotional reactions and important dialogue, long shots of action etc. I intend to use multiple types of shot, shown in quick succession so as to keep the viewer 'excited' at what they are seeing. I also intend to use different shot transitions; fades at the beginning of the trailer and 'cuts' when the tempo of the music increases. This is so that the viewer pays more attention to the trailer as it continues, and as the tempo of the shot changes, as well as that of the music, reaches crescendo, the film's title is shown; thus creating maximum viewer awareness of the film name.

I intend to film at an abandoned farmyard near my village; so as to create a fitting dystopian atmosphere often found in science fiction (books and visual peices).

Costumes will include hooded jackets; to create enigma as to the identities and personalities of the characters. Plain, dark coloured jeans will also help keep the focus on the faces of the characters too.

Phallic symbols will be included to give the characters status and power; and thus gain the respect of viewers.

Character names will not be mentioned; as this heightens the mysterious 'enigma' factor of the trailer.

A coherent 'house style' will be applied to the trailer; in the form of a visual effect (created in a graphical enhancement program such as Adobe After-Effects) which will be applied to all 'live action' shots in the trailer; in order to compensate for the varying locations and light conditions in which I will be filming and do not have the resources to manually alter sufficiently.